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

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Ill u III III I SOLES FOR THE SOUL A group of newly-trained Resident Advisers (RAs), Hall Directors, Area Directors and Program Advisers sat in Grafton-Stovall Theatre during 1 787 Orientation. They had just watched a presentation by TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie about a program called Starting Something That Matters ' which encouraged RAs and Office of Residence Life staff to positively impact the lives of their peers. Suddenly, the curtains drew and boxes upon boxes of free TOMS shoes appeared - a pair for each person in the audience. The new TOMS owners decorated their shoes with glitter, paint and other supplies after the reveal. The purple and gold TOMS were soon on the feet of the Office of Residence Life staff, readying them for the feats they would accomplish. I ' M LIVING WITH AN That ' s what freshman Corrie Breshears found out when she received her housing assignment for Ikenberry Hall. This was the case for 25 freshmen and transfer students who enrolled in the fall. Resident Advisers usually had a dorm room to themselves, but the freshman class of 4,538 - the largest yet - rendered that impossible. Breshears enjoyed rooming with junior Danielle Johnson, because Johnson already knew her way around and could answer Breshear ' s questions. She knows how to balance being an RA and a roommate, said Breshears of Johnson. But this arrangement didn ' t last long. On Sept. 11, Breshears received an email from the Office of Residence Life with her new housing assignment. This time, with a fellow freshman in Eagle Hall. DIARY OF AN RA: 1787 Orientation with Julie Hirschhorn Sophomore Julie Hirschhorn (second from the right) shows off her new TOMS with fellow Resident Advisers sophomore Jennifer Lambertson, junior Chelsea Woods, sophomore Emily Hunt, and sophomore Caroline Morse. From dealing with ant infestations to designing artsy bulletin boards to guarding front doors until 2 a.m., Resident Advisers (RAs) do a lot. I became interested in being an RA during my own 1787 experience. I was stressed, anxious, homesick and just wanted to sleep in my own bed without the typical (or atypical) dorm life disruptions. However, I admired how at home my RA made me feel and wanted to do the same for future freshmen. Flash forward to August 2012 and there I was: a first-year RA in Shenandoah Hall. After a fun but grueling Olympics -themed week of training, I felt prepared to take on the daunting, yet exciting, events that lay ahead. B ut my mind was still sent into a tailspin when the freshmen moved in. The largest freshman class in university history quickly populated campus, purple JACards in hand. I frequently asked myself, Am I doing this right? Do my residents like me or do they see me as the bad guy? But I ' m not supposed to be self-conscious. RAs are taught to make themselves uncomfortable to make their residents comfortable. One day, I stumbled upon a resident crying with homesickness in the study lounge. My instincts kicked in and I comforted her. I knew I had made the right decision to become an RA. While observe and report was my official job description, I felt like I did a lot more. Whether it was answering my residents ' questions about the confusing bus routes or showing them how much laundry detergent to use, I liked to think that I played an important role in shaping their collegiate experience. I had an all-female floor of only 18 residents, so I was able to get to know each student ' s unique qualities and backgrounds. The 1787 Orientation experience was emotionally and physically taxing for many freshmen, but the actual school year presented more challenges. I assuaged the homesickness, but when a resident knocked on my door freaking out because she had an ant infestation, I was at a standstill - they didn ' t teach us how to perform exterminations during training! Being an RA for the first-floor A- wing of Shenandoah Hall was an experience I ' ll never forget, except for the part about insects inhabiting the rooms. That I can forget about. 1787 Orientation | 29

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Hoppin inNoTime Orientation team acquaints ' tadpoles ' with campus and downtown Freshmen compete in an eating contest during Block Party in the ' Burg. Sure, 1787 Orientation introduced the Class of 2016 and transfer students to many new things such as clubs, organizations and some crazy- First yeaR Orientation Guide (FROG) dances. But on Aug. 25, Block Party in the ' Burg introduced them to the charm of downtown Harrisonburg. THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE... IT ' S SEEING THE COMMUNITY ALL AROUND US. Kelsey McCamey, junior Junior Kelsey McCamey an Orientation Peer Adviser, thought the block party was an important part of orientation. The college experience, in my opinion, isn ' t just going to college, it ' s seeing the community all around us, said McCamey. I believe that Block Party in the ' Burg gives students a chance to really see the community and build respect for it. Free food from local restaurants, games and fun were in abundance as students were free to wander around Court Square and Main Street. Photo booths and caricature artists were also available to the students. I thought it was pretty cool, because it got you to leave campus in a safe environment and it showed you the perks of downtown Harrisonburg in a fun and friendly way, said freshman Sarah Kwon. This was the eighth year that the party downtown took place. Despite drizzles early in the day, the party went on in full-swing. Some upperclassmen would not have considered their orientation experience the same without the block party. We were all vulnerable and unknowing when we first came to college, said McCamey. It ' s a different experience than anyone could ever imagine, and 1 think it ' s important to help [freshmen] receive that experience of learning and enjoying the atmosphere of JMU. WORDS j Julie Hirschhorn DESIGN | Sarah Lockwood PHOTOS j JMU Photography Services Ronald Stewart A First yeaR Orientation Guide (FROG) leads her freshmen back toward campus after Block Party in the ' Burg. FROGs carrried decorated signs throughout the week to help their groups identify them in large crowds. A vendor presents to block party guests under the Turner Pavilion. In addition to introducing them to downtown, 1 787 Orientation acquainted freshmen with university services. 28 | Features

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Welcoming The president on his new job President Jonathan R. Alger stops in San Francisco, during his Why Madison? Listening Tour. On July 1, Jonathan R. Alger became the university ' s sixth president. A scholar in higher education policy and law, Alger hailed from a senior vice president position at Rutgers University Alger sat down with The Bluestone Editor-in- Chief Sarah Lockwood on Oct. 12 to talk about his first three months as president and the university ' s future. What made you pursue this position at JMU? A James Madison University- has a really great combination of the best of what liberal arts colleges have to offer, combined with the best of what you can typically only get at much larger research universities; you have the faculty-student interaction and you have the sense of community. So I think we combine the strengths ot differe 11 ypes of ui live] sities ' r Lo our very own unique mix. It ' s that combination that I thought was really exciting and as I got to know the university better, the sense of community, the values of civility and respect - those are things that really stood out to me. Since we had lived in Virginia previously - our daughter was bom in Virginia - we were really excited to get to come back. It really does feel like home to us. What ' s your favorite part of the university so far? I ' m still exploring and getting to know it more every day, but I ' d have to say my favorite part is certainly the people. I ' ve said many times already that the people are the most important resource that we have here at JMU. Yes, we have great facilities, we have beautiful buildings and grounds, but it ' s the people that make this place special and provide the education environment that we ' re trying to create. And the people take great pride in their work here. Whether it ' s the faculty, the buildings and grounds folks, or the housekeepers, all of the support staff that help make the university run well, the people really care about the university and about each other. And I think that sense of community really makes this a very special place. Did you have to buy a lot of purple ties? I ' ve been working on my collection, yes. Luckily, I like purple and people have assured me that it goes with everything. I agree. Tell me about your Why Madison? listening tour. Well, I knew it was really important coming in to get to know the university and the community before making a lot of decisions. It really matters: the history of where we ' ve been. You need to understand that in order to figure out where we can go from here. This was an opportunity, not just for me being new, but for the whole university community to have a conversation about where have we been, where are we right now and where can we go from here. I thought it was important that we have a collective conversation because the only way for us to go forward is for it to be a team effort. So it ' s been a very active process. We ' ve got a lot of good ideas from faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, a lot of other constituencies who care about the university. And we ' re taking ah of those ideas, feeding them into the strategic planning process and then we hope to reflect back to the community. I ' m sure you ' re still processing everything, but what are some of the main ideas you ' re hearing? Well, the central question on the listening tour is Why Madison? What is it that makes this a special place to learn, to work, to live, to teach. We want to talk about what it is that we ' re doing well. B i1 ther also, how do we improve and build from those strengths? And so I think it ' s been very helpful to think about the question in that way because it ' s a reminder that there are a lot of really terrific attributes of this institution and we ' re at a moment in our history when we can talk about taking things to t h at next level. There are certainly themes that we ' re already hearing. For example, the importance of the faculty-student interaction and how students who have come here have felt that people have gotten to know them, that people care about them, that people care about their 30 | Features