James Madison University - Bluestone Schoolmaam Yearbook (Harrisonburg, VA)

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celebrating history Celebrating Our The community takes a week to pay homage the university ' s namesake. byRachadGrosedose ls tom 3 pay homage to v Conversing with Senior Vice President of Student Af- fairs and University Planning and Analysis Mark Warner, former SGA President Wesli Spencer anticipates the delivery of fiis speecfi at the wreatfi-iaying ceremony honoringjames Madison. Spencer spoke about the importance of education to Madison during his administration. Photo by Mindi Westhoff On a cold and windy March 15, students and faculty gathered around the James Madison statue to commemorate the 255th birthda) ' of the university ' s namesake and begin a week-long celebration. During the wreath- laying ceremony that began at 10:30 a.m.. Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Mark Warner spoke, along with former Student Government Association President Wesli Spencer. Both commented on the importance Madison placed on education. Everyone in attendance enjoyed cake to complete the celebration. Later that day, Oscar-winning actor and ]:)oliti- cal activist Richard Dreyfuss delivered the keynote speech at the Endowed Scholar- ship Luncheon. I ' ve had three ambitions in m life, Dreyfuss said. One was to be an actor, one was to be the senator from New York or California, and the other was to teach history...! didn ' t want to become an of- fice-holder, I just wanted to be in olved in politics. Dreyfuss was a research member at Oxford University, developing a curriculum for teaching civics in American public scht:)ols. Despite its im- portance in our government, he believed civics was missing from American classrooms. Civility is more than manners, Dreyfuss said. Civility is the oxygen democracy requires. Civilitv, he said, requires tools of reason, logic, dissent [and] debate. Dreyfuss expressed how special it was to be present because the university represented the tools of civility needed in democracy. What is happening here today is as strong and fresh a blast of the oxy- gen of civilit that is recjuired by democracy, said Dreyfuss. He mentioned that James Madison noted in Federalist 10 the nccessit) ' of practicing the social contract to agree to disagree. Dreyfuss concluded by assuring the audience that he was not speaking for so petty a thing as partisan- ship, but for the future of the nation. America, I 22 I Features the Lhiited States, from the beginning aspired to be a unique place, he said. America is the finest, most appropriate answer to the question, ' How can people live together and honor freedom and justice and opportunity? ' . ..But America is a process, it is not a done deal. America does not happen by itself. The following day, Dreyfuss delivered the James Madison reading from Federalist 10 at the Madi- son Day Ceremony. At 2:30 p.m., faculty members, community residents and students gathered in Wil- son Hall to once again honor Madison. The event began with a processional of honored facult mem- bers and the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner by voice professor Dorothy Madison. Band director J. Patrick Rooney led the Wind Symphony, who performed throughout the event. Spencer greeted guests, followed by a performance of Fort McHen- ry Suite by the symphony. University President Linwood H. Rose presented an honorary doctorate to former senator Harry F. Byrd Jr. for embodying the values of the university and of Madison. Rose then introduced the speaker for the event, Michael Beschloss. Beschloss was a best-selling author and historian of the presidency. The audience laughed as Beschloss entertained them with anecdotes and jokes about former presidents, including Lyndon Johnson, Franklin D.Roosevelt and Harry Truman. He spoke of how consuming it can become to try to understand the life of someone with such great responsibility. Bes- chloss also stressed the importance of the passage of time when judging a president ' s effectiveness. ' James Madison benefited from the passage of hindsight and time, he said. Because of the wa ' he designed the system, it matters a great deal who is president. Another major event of the week was the Madi- son Cup Debate, sponsored by the debate team. Attendants included students and faculty from the uni ersit . Eastern Mennonite University and the Harrisonburg cc)mmunit . The debate featured 24 college teams from around the countrN, ini hid- ing George Mason University, Yale Univeisity and Liberty University. The debate considered whether or not the theory of intelligent design has a role in mmm

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Hanging around the neck of Apollo Anton Ohno, a gold and a bronze medal gives the United States ' med- al count a boost. Ohno ' s successes were vital to the United States ' standing in the Torino Olympics. Photo courtesy of MCI Campus Holding tJ t3!s;Tfag above his head. Chad Hedrick celebrates after finishing the men ' s lO.OOO-meter speed skating competition. Hedrick secured a silver medal for the United States. Photo courtesy ofMCT Campus a disappointment, prompting calls for Team USA ' s coach Ben Smith to resign following the tournament. The men ' s ice hockey team also entered the Olympics with high expectations. Ranked sixth among the 12 nations competing in the tournament, the team was expected to contend for a medal, if not the gold. The team opened the tournament with a tie against Latvia, a team that failed to win a single game during the tournament. Subsequently, Team USA went on to win only one of their five preliminary games, beating only Kazakhstan and losing to Russia, Slovakia and Sweden. The team also lost to Finland in the quarterfinals. A team that consisted entirely of professional NationSfrlockey I League (NHL)-caliber players limped out of the Kynipics, disappointing both fans and themselves. Team USA was not the only team to perform be- low expectations. Team Canada failed to defend its gold medal from the 2002 games, losing three of their !; six games b 2-0 scores and going h 6me without any medals. This was shocking for a team that, on paper, was more talented than an NHL All-Star team. Finland came from behind to win the silver medal, losing to the powerful Swedes in the gold medal game. Several upsets occurred, such as Switzerland ' s 2-0 win over Canada and their 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic, both powerhouse hockey nations. In the speed skating event. Team USA proved to be inspirational. Most notably, the team made history when Shani Davis became the first black man from I find cmfcug any country to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics tor the 1,000-mcter speed skate. Davis ' s teammate Joey Cheek won the 500-meter race and afterward announced he was donating his gold medal bonus of $25,000 to a charity organized to help children in war-torn Darfur. He later won a silver medal in the 1,000-meter race, adding to his original donation. Headlines out of Torino were dominated b) the feud between Davis and teammate Chad Hedrick, 44 who won a gold, silver and bronze medal in three differ- ent events. After Davis won his gold medal, the majority of the attention was paid to the tact that Hedrick would not congratulate Davis, overshad- o owing the positive history made that day. The feud continued when Davis and Hedrick finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the 1,500-meter race and did not acknowledge each other while on the podium. At the conclusion of the 2006 Winter Olym- pics, the flame was prepared for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and Americans left Torino with a bittersweet blend of pride and underachievement. The United States team would have the 21st Winter Olympics to redeem itself. to be the unsung n£XO of the OhjflAplt games. ' ' — junior Drew Massengill % . R ' Winter Olympics 121

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Imitating the famous figure, this professional re- enactor impersonates James Madison delivering one of his many powerful speeches. Madison was not just a president, he was also a brilliant writer and teacher. Photo by Mindi Westhoff Lying on a table outside of Wilson Hall, pamphlets detailing James Madison ' s life are available for students to pick up, Madison ' s birthday celebration was held annu- ally on March 1 6. Photo fay Tara Hepler high school biology courses. The preliminary de- hates occurred at 8:30 and 11 a.m., followed by the final round at 5 p.m. The Madison Cup was award- ed to Yale University who also took home the first place prize of $5,000. Second place was awarded to the College of William Mary and third place to the University of Richmond. Madison Week also gave students an opportuni- ty to apply skills learned in class. Students in SCOM 461, a public relations campaign class, were assigned Madison Day public relations for a class project. A group of five students were responsible for pro- moting the week and increasing awareness around campus. Graduate Lisa Facinelli, a member of the group, said they used banners, radio announce- ments, flyers, sidewalk chalk, the university Web site and a press release in The Breeze to advertise for the week. According to Facinelli, their hard work paid off. I ' d say it was a success because there was a good turnout for all of the events, she said. We tried to instill a sense of community within theJMU campus and Harrisonburg citizens. The group also designed Madison Day shirts with the logo We are Madison on the back to promote a message of togetherness. I know for our group specifically working on this campaign, we felt honored to be involved in such a campus-wide event and had a lot of fun planning the activities as well as getting out on campus to talk about the events with students, Facinelli said. According to the press release, the goal of Madi- son Day was to encourage the idea of citizenship among students and the communit) ' . This goal was achieved through speakers, debates and student participation. Civility, the breath of oxygen needed for democracy, described by Dreyfuss and instilled by James Madison, was showcased throughout the week. Madison Week 1231