For the past year, local artist David Draime has been working on the latest addition to downtown Harrisonburg’s large-scale murals — titled “Unity in Diversity.” The mural is designed by a group of Iranian students who’ve been denied their freedom of expression due to their faith.
EDITORS Emma Notarnicola & Landon Shackelford EMAIL breezenews@gmail.com
By NEWS DESK The Breeze
Monday, at approximately 6 p.m., the Lambda Beta chapter of Kappa Delta Rho (KDR) Fraternity’s deck collapsed at its address on the 300 block of Old South High Street, causing injuries and street closures, according to a Harrisonburg Government Facebook post.
“At this time, five patients are being transported from the scene, all with nonlife-threatening injuries,” according to the same Facebook post.
Additional individuals sustained “minor injuries” that were treated by first responders on-site; Harrisonburg police have closed Old South High Street for the “foreseeable future,” according to the post.
Old South High Street reopened to the public at approximately 7 p.m., according to an update to the original Facebook post.
“A deck on the back of the house collapsed about six to eight feet off the ground,” Harrisonburg Director of Communications Mike Parks said, adding, “We do not know at this time how many individuals were on the deck at the time that it collapsed or how many people were in the area.”
Parks added that the Harrisonburg Community Development’s building official determined “the majority of the home is safe to reoccupy tonight.”
Parks said the next steps will be to contact the residents of the home and notify them that they can reoccupy their house.
“[We should] use this as an opportunity to remind people to be safe when you are having events,” Parks said, “be safe with how many people you put on decks, be mindful of any limitation there may be with the amount of people who could be in a home or on a deck and always err on the side of caution.”
Parks added that deck collapses have happened before and said this collapse “could have been a lot worse” since there were only minor injuries that were all nonlife-threatening.
“The more that people could be safe and just mindful of that sort of thing, the better, and the better their event will go,” Parks said.
CONTACT the news desk at breezenews@ gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
By EMMA NOTARNICOLA The Breeze
With Dukes returning to school, big parties and celebrations have occurred throughout campus and the Harrisonburg area, but these events come with a high risk of dangerous problems occuring.
Fire Chief for the City of Harrisonburg Fire Department
Matthew Tobia shared eight helpful, life-saving tips with The Breeze to help all students get through not only Weeks of Welcome, but their entire time at JMU.
“Anytime that you have a large number of people anywhere, there’s always the opportunity for something unexpected to happen,” he said.
These tips can prevent the unexpected from becoming something life threatening.
1. Go with someone
“First and foremost you need a wing person,” Tobia said, “You need a partner in everything that you do.”
Having a partner can help navigate tricky situations and provide extra hands and ideas when precarious circumstances occur, Tobia said.
“You need a best friend who is going to help ensure that you get home from whatever activity you are participating in,” he said.
Tobia added that it’s equally important to have someone you trust by your side so they’ll stick with you when the going gets rough.
“That wing person needs to be like your actual wing person, because if they bail on you, they’re not your wing person,” he said.
For many students, Tobia added, this is their first time without their parents or a “safety net.” Because students, especially first-year Dukes, are put in a new situation, and a place they aren’t familiar with, it’s important to have someone to lean back on, he said.
“That’s why it’s so important to have a wing person,” he said. “While it is important to learn by doing, it’s also important to stay alive while you’re doing it.”
2. Have a plan and listen to your intuition
On top of having someone to lean back on and trust, it’s equally as important to have a course of action you can utilize throughout the night, Tobia said. He added that when a situation is rough, it’s important to have a plan to make sure everyone in a group can return home safely.
“If there's a little voice in your head at any point that says ‘I should not be here,' don’t be there,” he said, “Listen to that voice in your head.”
Trusting yourself and trusting the people you’re with is incredibly important, Tobia said, adding that Dukes should remember that they'll have many more chances to experience things, and staying in an unsafe environment isn't worth risking your life.
“You’re going to have so many opportunities … to be part of the ‘in’ crowd … and you’re going to have all kinds of exciting events happen in your life, if there’s a tiny little voice in your head that says that this doesn’t feel right, walk,” Tobia said
3. Be cautious and aware of your environment
In new environments, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and especially your exits, Tobia said.
“I think it’s important for students in particular to be aware of their surroundings,” he said.
Emergencies can happen out of nowhere, so students need to be aware of alternative methods to escape a building.
“It’s important to be what we call situationally aware — look around, see what’s going on,” he said.
Exits are particularly important, he said, because in emergencies crowds typically all rush toward the entrance they came in.
“Everyone’s going to go back out that front door; unfortunately, what happens is that could become a pinch point,” he said.
Overcrowding and stampedes can become very dangerous very fast, so identifying alternative exits can potentially save your life.
“You should just take a second ... and look around and see if there’s another way out of a building or house,” he said, “If you need to escape quickly, you can do so and move away from where the rest of the crowd is going.”
4. Call 911 in an emergency
Although there are many steps you can take in preparation, it’s inevitable that emergencies will happen, Tobia said.
When something like that happens, students should call 911 first.
Once you’ve contacted emergency services, they’ll dispatch the proper resources: Harrisonburg Police Department, Fire Department, Rescue Squad or JMU Police.
“We are able to support each other, and we already know when we arrive on the scene which agency is initially going to take the lead and which agencies are going to play a supporting role,” he said.
Tobia said the emergency response team uses a system called “unified command,” in which they have a representative from each team to guarantee resources are being used efficiently.
Additionally, the emergency response team works with JMU, sometimes very directly and immediately — Tobia said Vice President for Student Affairs Tim Miller visited the scene of the deck collapse earlier this week.
“[Miller] came to the scene, and that really adds another layer of support that we really value because he has a very strong relationship with the college students,” he said.
When in an emergency, Tobia said, emergency response teams can offer the best response and coordinate a strategic plan through radio frequencies and representatives.
“We are literally one phone call away,” Tobia said.
5. Get out of the way
When in an emergency situation, it’s vital to get out of the way and allow emergency responders to reach whoever is injured.
“If you are not injured and you are not involved, please just back out of the way to allow emergency responders to do their jobs,” Tobia said.
Tobia said that occasionally, students and young people will start to film in emergency situations — something he greatly discourages.
“If you’re focusing on videoing whatever’s going on in front of you, you’re not paying attention to what’s going on around you,” he said.
Along with this, he added that parents can see videos of their children in these situations before they can be contacted by proper officials.
“I don’t think anybody ever has any bad intentions when they’re posting things on social media, but it can have really catastrophic impacts for the families of our JMU students,” he said.
6. Be safe and make good choices
“The number one killer of all people under age 21 is traumatic events, like by far,” Tobia said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide are the top three causes of death for adolescents.
For this reason, it’s important to take precautions like wearing a bike helmet, checking smoke alarms and only having drinks that you know for sure are safe.
7. Be respectful
One thing that Tobia said is important is to be respectful to emergency services “even when you’re drinking.” Not only are these emergency responders risking their lives to help, a lot of them are also former Dukes themselves.
“I’m so proud to say that the Harrisonburg Fire Department has seven JMU graduates working,” Tobia said.
On top of this, an overwhelming amount of current Dukes volunteer with the Rescue Squad. The squad currently has 250 members, and those individuals handle about 10,000 calls a year.
8. Be responsible
Responsibility ties into all of these tips, but it’s important to mention by itself, Tobia said.
“For Dukes that are hosting these parties, I think it’s really important that people just be responsible,” he said.
This is especially important for those hosting events with over 100 people, he added.
“You really have an obligation to make sure that while everyone’s having a good time, everyone goes home at the end of the event,” he said.
Additionally, Tobia said, older Dukes need to look out for younger ones.
“Dukes progress through their time at school," he said, "because when you’re a freshman … it’s exciting, you’re exploring, you’re spreading your wings … but you’re also not necessarily aware of what you’re not aware of.”
Dukes should try to remember these tips throughout their entire time at JMU, Tobia said. However, they should above all remember to “just keep breathing.”
“You can’t control other people. You can only control yourself,” Tobia said. So be the very best person you can and recognize that you can do hard things, that you are smart and that you are important and that a whole bunch of people really want you to be around for a really long time.”
CONTACT Emma Notarnicola at breezenews@gmail. com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
By EMMA NOTARNICOLA
The Breeze
After two years under renovation, the new Carrier Library is starting to take form, projected to open before fall 2026. The building’s construction has progressed significantly, especially externally.
Carrier is “more modern, spacious, and user-friendly,” Dean of Libraries Bethany Nowviskie wrote in an emailed statement to The Breeze.
The goal of the new Carrier is to display JMU’s history, while also looking toward a bright future ahead, according to the university’s website. JMU hopes Carrier will inspire students and members of the Harrisonburg community to learn.
A convergence of past and future, JMU’s website says the new Carrier will serve as a crossroads intellectual and architectural. The university hopes the new Carrier will be a place where students can learn about anything they need with the thousands of books simultaneously connecting them to the past, future through the construction of the more “modern” space, Nowviskie said.
“We have uncovered features of the Carrier Library that were hidden for years,” Nowviskie said, including new column capitals and bluestone brick.
The team restored the column capitals of the original library from when it first opened in 1939 to “highlight the beauty of the hidden ceilings,” Nowviskie said. Previously, these decorative features were covered by the drop ceiling installed in the 1960s.
In addition to elements from the historical building, Carrier Library will also includes advancements that provide students with access to top-of-the-line technology and utilities — including an experimental technology classroom and media center, according to the same article.
The outside of the building represents this combination of classic and modern, with the historic bluestone front entrance while the entrance facing the Hillcrest Annex has been “expanded and rounded out with an arc of windows and interior balcony,” Nowviskie said.
Carrier will serve as the literal crossroads on Main Campus. JMU also hopes the new library will serve as a connection between nearby buildings, according to the article from JMU Libraries. The article further describes that construction removed a physical barriers between different areas of campus and opened up more pathways to encourage “the flow of people, ideas, and creativity.”
To accomplish this, the Carrier will have a second entrance — the Stan and Rosemary Jones Wing, named after donors — facing Grace Street, with the other existing entrances redesigned to include a new “welcoming arc,” according to the same article.
These reads aim to demonstrate the university’s values, the article, including JMU’s “openness and commitment to engage with the broader community and the world.”
This “beautiful, light-filled” wing will have space open to students 24/7, a coffee shop, study rooms and more, Nowviskie said.
As the outside of the building reaches completion, the inside of the library continues to develop. Nowviskie introduced some new interior features that students can expect in the library:
The Grand Reading Room
One major facet will be its Grand Reading Room. A JMU article describes this new room as the “gem” of the Library that will “stir powerful emotions” and emphasize a calm, awe-inspiring environment.
The reading room will be next to the wall of windows featured on the western side of the building and will primarily utilize the natural light from the windows. At night, the reading room
will illuminate the campus with light from inside the library. In the article about the Grand Reading Room, Kelly MillerMartin, the director of facilities operations for JMU Libraries, described the area as a “jewel-like beacon of light, highlighting the heart of the library.”
Amongst the many reading and study rooms in Carrier Library, Miller-Martin called the Grand Reading Room the showpiece.
Decorated with furnished wood panel ceilings, the reading room stretches across almost the entire width of the third floor, granting a “breathtaking” view of campus, the article reads, while also allowing for space to prevent overcrowding.
According to a JMU article titled “Flowering Highlights 2024,” the Carrier will become the new home of the Furious Flower Poetry Center JMU’s Black poetry academic center.
Funded by the Flowering Framework — a combination of JMU Libraries and the Furious Flower Poetry Center — and the Mellon Foundation-a grant supporting the Furious Flower Poetry Center-the inside of the new Carrier will feature a dedicated space for the center, where it can continue to encourage writers.
Another addition to the library is the Future Media Studio, which is open to all students, faculty and staff, according to the JMU article “Unlocking Creativity: Introducing the Future Media Studio in Carrier Library.” This new space will be the first media center where students of any major can come and utilize the “state-of-the-art” media equipment and studio.
Faculty and staff can also use this space, according to the same article, to record lectures and provide materials for their classes withaccess to the library catalogs.
The article goes on to say its equipment will include studio lighting, a green screen and virtual reality equipment.
Other additions throughout the interior of Carrier include: a “large well-equipped” anatomy room, “Futures” classroom (an application of state-of-the art technology in a modern classroom), a kitchenette for student use, a relaxation room and a social space, according to “The Future Carrier Library” article from JMU and Nowviskie.
Along with these new developments, Carrier will see some logistical changes, such as universal bathrooms on every floor and improvements that will guarantee Carrier meets Americans with Disability Act (ADA) standards, according to the same article.
“Carrier will be much easier to navigate and find your way in,” Nowviskie said.
From its initial closure in May 2023, Carrier Library has come a long way.
The interior construction will continue through the spring semester and early summer, with finishing touches like installing furniture, moving books, installing new technologies, and setting up staff and student office spaces, Nowviskie said.
“In terms of collections, when Carrier reopens, books and journals on the arts, humanities and literature will be housed together there,” Nowviskie said, adding students can engage with “rare books and manuscripts that are special to JMU.”
Most books and journals on business, engineering, health, math, science, social sciences and technology will stay in Rose Library, with the collections in the Music Library and Memorial Hall’s Educational Technology & Media Center (ETMC) remaining where they are currently housed.
According to the timeline provided in the same article, major construction of the now 56,000-square-foot Carrier will end in December 2025, with collections and staff offices moving in beginning mid-2026, the grand reveal is planned for September 2026, Nowviskie said.
“We are delighted at the progress on both new construction and the renovated spaces in Carrier,” Nowviskie said. “I think returning students will be very excited to see how much work happened over the summer.”
CONTACT Emma Notarnicola at breezenews@gmail.com.
For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
By NEWS DESK The Breeze
While international students at other Virginia universities saw their visas revoked and faced deportation last semester, a JMU spokesperson said the university isn’t aware of any Dukes affected so far.
“University leadership is aware of immigration enforcement at campuses, impacting students,” the spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to The Breeze. “At this time, we are not aware of any current students who have had their visa canceled. We will continue to provide support and resources to our campus community as the academic year progresses.”
Beginning last semester, the Trump Administration increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in and around universities after scaling back guidance that previously discouraged enforcement at schools, including public campuses like JMU.
ICE’s presence has also increased in Harrisonburg. In July, WMRA reported that several people were detained on Interstate 81 at the Exit 251 ramp.
Of the many international college students’ visas revoked across the country in April, several were from Virginia universities:
• Fifteen from George Mason University (GMU)
• Nine from Virginia Tech (seven current students and two recent graduates)
• Three from the U.Va. (one current student and two recent graduates)
• Three from Virginia Commonwealth University (two current students and one recent graduate)
Many of these students were then detained and deported back to their home countries.
Compared to the Virginia schools affected by ICE, JMU has a much smaller number of international students. In fall 2024, 1% of JMU’s student body (roughly 230 students) were international student, according to the university’s website. That’s compared to:
• GMU’s 4,266 non-resident international students in fall 2024 *
• Virginia Tech’s nearly 4,000 international students *
• U.Va.’s approximately nearly 2,500 international students *
• VCU’s 1,200 international students *
The spokesperson didn’t clarify whether ICE and JMU have been in contact, even with follow-up questions.
* Information taken from the university’s official website.
CONTACT news desk at breezenews@ gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @ BreezeJMU.
EDITORS EMAIL
Isabel Lewis & Charlie Bodenstein
By SIXUAN WU The Breeze
Walking down South Main Street to Court Square, visitors are greeted by a work station surrounded by paint and brushes. If they were to look up, they’d find serene faces of various ages, genders and ethnicities looking back at them, spread across the wall of the Taj of India restaurant in shades of white, blue and lavender.
For the past year, local artist and owner of Draime Fine Art Studio School, David Draime, has been working on the latest addition to downtown Harrisonburg’s large-scale murals — titled “Unity in Diversity.” The idea for the mural stemmed from a group of Iranian students Draime has been teaching through online courses. These students are Bahá’ís — members of the largest non-Muslim religious community in Iran who have been banned from higher education for generations because of their faith.
After watching a video of Draime’s American students working on a mural in California, the Iranian students expressed interest in designing a mural themselves, even though they don’t have the freedom to work on such a project in their own country due to their religious beliefs. Draime, along with his friend and teaching partner, San Diego-based artist Neda Towfiq, then offered to recreate the students’ design in Harrisonburg.
“It’s heartbreaking to think these are wonderful young people who have so much to give, but they’re denied by their country,” Draime said. “And so the chance that we could have them do a design for a mural and paint it for them, to me, that in and of itself is so rewarding because it’s giving a voice to the voiceless.”
Draime recruited seven artists from the community to work on such a large-scale project, including several students, some from JMU. They also happen to come from four different countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ukraine and the United States.
One artist, JMU graduate student and Nigeria-native Ver Ikeseh, said he was drawn to the project because of its diversity — how the mural features many figures that represent the various peoples and cultures of the world.
“With the diverse community in Harrisonburg, everybody is supposed to look at the mural and be able to identify with something [they] can relate with,” Ikeseh said.
Working with multiple artists on the same project presents its own set of challenges. For Ikeseh, who has a more abstract art style, one of the biggest challenges is adapting his style to a hyperrealistic project of such a large scale.
“It’s very different,” Ikeseh said. “David wants it to be as realistic as possible, so it’s not my typical kind of style, but it’s also a good challenge.”
To preserve the original vision of the Iranian students and the overall harmony of the project, each artist had to compromise their style and ideas while working on the mural together, which is a process that takes time and practice.
“The first few months were very difficult, but these students were dedicated to coming up with something that would work, and so after about three or four months, it started to come together,” Draime said. “Over time, there was just an emerging spirit of cooperation and sensitivity to each other and learning about each other’s strengths and bringing those out … so that the resulting design is a nice blend of more than one artist’s vision.”
Funding for the mural is provided by fundraising and applying for grants through Arts Council of the Valley, a local non-profit that aims to connect the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County communities through art. Jenny Burden, the executive director of the organization, said the project requires about $40,000 — $7,000, which was received through the Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham’s Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts.
“When David first told us about [the mural], we were so excited about it because it’s perfect for Harrisonburg,” Burden said. “Harrisonburg has so many different cultures represented here, and they’ll be represented on that wall right in downtown Harrisonburg, and it’s going to be all these different cultures in harmony with each other, depicted on a wall for all to see. It’s a very exciting project and meaningful project.”
While the project is still in progress, and the majority won’t be finished until late October, the mural has already sparked discussions among Harrisonburg residents and tourists.
Ikeseh said that he already views this mural as a landmark of the city — something that will continue to stand against the test of time.
“We hope to finish a project that everyone who comes around will be able to connect to — a mural that’s able to start conversations, especially considering the political landscape of the country at the moment,” Ikeseh said. “We just want to give people more of a sense of belonging in a city like Harrisonburg, where everybody really needs each other.”
Draime said he’s been “overwhelmed” by the positive responses he’s received from passersby, and he hopes the mural will foster a sense of belonging to all who see it, regardless of where they’re from.
“Because of all the tension and the turmoil in our country about immigrants and about questions of diversity, this mural is a powerful message that is positive,” Draime said. “It’s non-political, but it speaks to the crisis of our time, in that it’s a demonstration and an expression of the beauty of humanity in all its diversity.”
CONTACT Sixuan Wu at thebreezeweb@gmail.com. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
By CHARLIE BODENSTEIN The Breeze
The band behind the hit song “Are You Bored Yet” will take the stage at the Atlantic Union Bank Center as this year’s Fall Concert musical artist. The University Program Board (UPB) broke the news on its social media, and tickets to the Oct. 3 event are for sale on JMU’s website.
“This is gonna be the best concert of all time,” one user commented under UPB’s Instagram post.
“Fell to my knees at work … gonna buy a ticket SO fast," another user commented.
Wallows’ performance, which starts at 8 p.m., deviates from JMU’s recent trend of hosting hip-hop artists for the Fall Concert. The last three performers were Swae Lee (2024), Yung Gravy (2023) and Flo Milli (2022).
Wallows — a group that originated in Los Angeles — is an alternative rock and pop-rock band with an “’80s-influenced sound with hints of post-punk, synth pop, and power pop as well as more down-to-earth contemporary bedroom pop,” according to All Music, an online music database. The band
has nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify and four albums released.
The band had its first taste of stardom in 2019 after the release of its debut album, “Nothing Happens,” which landed at No. 75 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album featured its most popular song, “Are You Bored Yet” with singer Clairo, which recently passed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
Before musical success, Dylan Minnette, one of the group’s guitarists, starred on the polarizing Netflix drama series “13 Reasons Why” as protagonist Clay Jansen. His role in the series garnered attention for the up-and-coming band. Minnette has also appeared in other movies and TV series' such as “Goosebumps” and “Scream" (2022).
The Fall Concert is one of many events UPB organizes throughout the year for Dukes. It also hosts other campus events such as Late Night Breakfast, movie nights and the Festival Fun Fair.
CONTACT Charlie Bodenstein at thebreezeculture@gmail. com. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
By ISABEL LEWIS The Breeze
While touring colleges and attending CHOICES, one piece of advice from students is unanimous across all universities: join student organizations. But where do you start?
The first step is knowing what clubs are available. At Friday’s Student Org Night, you’ll be flustered and overwhelmed with the hundreds of choices jumping out at you. If you’re struggling to find your place on campus, look into the nooks and crannies and you’re bound to find a group that feels like home.
From electronic dance music clubs to mentoring elementary-aged students, there’s a place on campus that can pique your niche interests. Though it may take some searching and trial and error, hopefully, this article can put you on the path toward finding your space at JMU.
The Bluestone Yearbook
Yearbook doesn’t end in high school; its content range just gets larger. The Bluestone yearbook covers the vast amount of clubs, sports and, especially, Dukes. Members have the opportunity to be writers, photographers and designers, with flexibility to change roles after one of their three yearly deadlines. A unique aspect of this organization is that Bluestone pays their members for their work.
This year, The Bluestone’s theme will be “Timeless,” senior and The Bluestone’s Editor-in-Chief Rye Baker said.
“I just wanted to emphasize how enduring JMU is both in spirit and its alumni and people, and I think there’s just something so special about this atmosphere that needs to be emphasized as a forever kind of thing,” Baker said.
“The writers really love doing it because it gets you involved with the campus,” Baker said.
A key belief of the organization is the importance of physical journalism and encouraging creativity.
“We are trying to hang on to the last bits of physical journalism, since everything is moving online. I think what makes us special is that we really do hold on to that human creativity,” Baker said. “We are fighting to keep print in this world.”
This club is meant for people who believe they can’t dance but have always wanted to learn.
“We’re targeting people that don’t know how to dance and have always wondered, ‘oh, I’ve always wanted to go on the dance floor, but I never know how,’ or target the guys that want to invite a girl out to dance, they don’t know how,” senior and Latin Dance Club President Nicole Cespedes said.
Cespedes, an international student from Bolivia, was used to traditional and folk dances, but was surprised when she signed up for a class that only taught salsa bachata.
“It was a lot of having to use partners, meeting people,
touching people’s hands when dancing because that’s what partner dancing is, which I wasn’t really used to,” Cespedes said. “But I got used to it after a month, and I met my bestest friends from it.”
Apart from providing a community for aspiring dancers, Cespedes said the club tries to communicate mainly in Spanish, providing an immersive environment in another language.
“Our purpose was to strive for exposing Latin dance and its culture while also creating a good community, good friends and having fun with dancing,” Cespedes said.
Alongside practices throughout the week, the organization has held larger events such as formals and has gone to events in Charlottesville with U.Va.’s Latin Dance Club.
“We believe that everyone knows how to dance. No matter what their background is, everyone has a dance talent in them; they just have to be pushed to expose it,” Cespedes said.
This music-based organization takes a large part in music events held at JMU and in Harrisonburg, including the Dogpile Music Festival last semester. The organization prides itself on its openness and self-expression.
“Something, especially with the EDM club, that I love so much is the openness,” EDM club president and senior Matthew Stawecki said. “I feel like I can be myself and the self-expression that comes with that.”
Stawecki reflected upon his opportunities to get into DJ’ing through the EDM club, which he wouldn’t have explored otherwise.
“A big thing is just sharing a love for music,” Stawecki said. “It’s nice to meet people who have like-minded interests in that as well, and who are very open, welcoming and able to teach you and the things that you probably wouldn’t have learned about the kind of music you like in the first place.”
Throughout the semester, the organization plans to host events on campus and have a club outing to a music festival. On-campus events include performances in Warner Commons, on The Quad and in Taylor Down Under (TDU).
Alexander Hamilton Society
This club probably isn’t what you’re thinking. No, there’s no dancing, singing or rapping. Rather, you’ll find Hamiltonian principles of the United States being a global power for good. The Alexander Hamilton Society (AHS) is a renowned national organization focused on debate with respect and alumni working for the government in Washington D.C.
U.S. foreign policy and defense are popular topics of debate in this non-partisan organization.
“Our main opinion is that the United States should be involved globally, around the world,” AHS President Christopher Nelms said.
The club regularly debates these topics in group discussions — in particular, parts of the world the U.S. should be most involved in.
“We’ll pick a topic around the world, maybe a current situation or a region of the world, and we’ll sit down and we’ll discuss it,” Nelms said. “We’ll have some articles, we’ll read, and then we’ll gather together and we’ll talk about it.”
The club hosts speaker events featuring government officials, typically from Washington, D.C. They will host their next speaker event on Sept. 10 in the Festival Ballroom with Jennifer Cafarella, who directs the Strategic Initiatives at the Institute for the Study of War.
The organization has connections to careers post-grad in the government and with large corporations. The organization is mainly funded by Boeing, who acts as a large employer to graduates from the Alexander Hamilton Society, Nelms said.
JMU’s chapter of College Mentors for Kids is an organization that partners with two local elementary schools — Smithland and Spotswood — to connect elementary school students to students in higher education.
“We do different activities on campus that immerse the kids and college culture and all the different resources we have available on campus while providing them with a college mentor,” club president and senior Abbey Flowers said. “College Mentors places an importance on constant mentorship with their ‘little buddies’ — the elementary-aged students,” Flowers said.
An important rule which college mentors must follow is not stereotyping or profiling their little buddies. The elementary-aged students come from a diverse set of backgrounds and were chosen for the program because they could benefit from having a mentor.
The organization strives to give young students a positive outlook on the future, especially regarding college and future career opportunities.
“It’s a really good way to volunteer and give back, but also get something out of it,” Flowers said.
Activities that the College Mentors have participated in with their little buddies include trips to the planetarium, STEM experiments, exploring the nursing school
and the football facilities as future career and education opportunities.
“College Mentors is special to me because of all the connections I’ve been able to make,” Flowers said. “I really feel like I’ve grown as an individual and a professional because of my involvement with college mentors, and that’s something I’ll always be thankful for.”
CONTACT Isabel Lewis at thebreezeculture@gmail.com. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
EDITORS Preston Comer & Gavin Avella
By PRESTON COMER The Breeze
Both JMU head coach Bob Chesney and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy had the same reaction when asked about redshirt senior running back Jordan Fuller: they mentioned his physical appearance.
Fuller, who transferred to JMU in May, is listed at 5-foot-11, 229 pounds.
“Have you seen Jordan Fuller?” Chesney joked when asked about him. “He’s competitive as can be; he can do everything. He’s fun to watch and a player I have a lot of experience with, and I know does everything right.”
Fuller sustained a season-ending injury last season during his third game with Holy Cross, and Chesney said JMU is being careful and taking its time to avoid “putting him in a position to re-injure himself.”
Even though he played less than three games in 2024, Fuller tallied 67 carries for 283 yards and four touchdowns. In 2023, Fuller carried the ball 156 times for 1,046 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Kennedy described Fuller’s appearance as looking like a “creature,” saying he has “muscles on muscles.” Kennedy also looks forward to how Fuller’s strength will boost the Dukes’ running back room.
“He adds a different type of running game,” Kennedy said. “He’s a great runner between the tackles, and he’s going to run a lot of people over.”
Fuller recognizes what he adds to the running back room physically, but he also wants to use that to strengthen the offense’s mentality with downhill runs, whether he’s running over defenders or making a tough 5-yard run out of nothing.
Fuller followed in his former teammate Jacob Dobbs’ footsteps — transferring from Holy Cross to JMU and being named to Bruce Feldman’s 2025 College Football Freaks List. Feldman releases this annual list, which “chronicles the strongest, fastest and most physical players in college football.”
Fuller snuck into the list at No. 97 of 101 players and was highlighted for squatting 660 pounds, benching 365 and cleaning 335.
Fuller doesn’t think too much about the nod due to the busy schedule with fall camp, and he said his teammates bring it up to him more often.
“They love to bring it up as a way to pump me up and shout me out a little bit,” Fuller said.
Since he doesn’t focus on it too much, Fuller thinks the coolest part about making the list is how proud it makes former trainers, going back to his high school playing days.
“That’s a list a lot of strength trainers pay attention to more than anyone else,” Fuller said. “That was the biggest part to me, them feeling like ‘Oh wow, I have an athlete I trained on this.’ For me, it’s not something that’s going to change the way I work or I look at myself.”
Fuller said that Dobbs, who is now a member of the Dukes’ coaching staff, showed him “how to work” when he entered Holy Cross as a freshman.
“It was never a competition [where] I was trying to be stronger, more athletic than him,” Fuller said. “It was kind of like he was my big brother in that sense. He showed me how to eat, start dieting correctly, take care of my body and work hard in the weight room.”
Now, as a redshirt senior, Fuller has taken on a big brother role of his own, helping younger players train their bodies and correct their diets the same way Dobbs helped him. However, Fuller joked they usually don’t like his advice.
“It’s usually just to eat ground beef and rice, and they’re usually like ‘well shoot, I don’t want to eat that,’” Fuller said.
In terms of the weight room, Fuller feels that he was lucky with his genetics and that former Holy Cross and current JMU Director of Athletic Performance Chris Grautski has helped him the most.
“A bunch of guys have been through his program that have drastically transformed themselves,” Fuller said. “You just have to have trust in his plan and really give it everything you have and not question the program. I’ve had complete faith in him throughout this.”
Not only is Fuller reuniting with past coaches, but also his former quarterback in redshirt senior Matthew Sluka, who said Fuller adds as much mentally to the field as he does physically.
“He’s a really smart football player,” Sluka said. “There’s protection checks and stuff that he used to help me out on. He’s good, he understands what he has to do.”
CONTACT Preston Comer at breezesports@gmail.com. For more football coverage, follow the sports desk on X and Instagram @TheBreezeSports.
By GAVIN AVELLA The Breeze
In the modern landscape of college football, loyalty and unwavering commitment to a single program, coaching staff or institution is increasingly few and far between, with an uptick in portal use and transfers throughout all of collegiate athletics, thanks to the NCAA’s 2021 NIL ruling.
However, graduate JMU offensive tackle Pat McMurtrie seems to be one of the few exceptions to the Wild West era of college football where players change schools and commitments like they do clothing.
When asked why he chose to bring McMurtrie as one of the Dukes’ two player representatives to Sun Belt Football Media Day, head coach Bob Chesney chuckled and gave a short but sweet answer:
“Well, in the end, McMurtrie is the only First-Team AllConference Sun Belt player to return to his team,” Chesney said.
Having initially committed to Holy Cross to play under Chesney straight out of high school as a two-sport varsity athlete from St. Joseph’s Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey, McMurtrie said the choice to follow Chesney down the East Coast to Harrisonburg was a simple one.
“I’ve been around [coach] Ches[ney] for a while, so I love playing for him, but I didn’t really know what to expect when I got here,” McMurtrie said.
Since joining the Dukes for the 2024 season, McMurtrie has helped propel JMU to the forefront of conversations about potential Group of Five College Football Playoff bids since making the jump from FCS to FBS.
The Dukes boast a 19-5 overall record and .792 win percentage in two seasons of FBS competition and are fresh off the program’s first ever-bowl victory at the Boca Raton Bowl.
Not skipping a beat from his time at Holy Cross, McMurtrie started all 13 games at right tackle for the Dukes in 2024, earning First-Team Sun Belt and JMU Offensive Lineman of the Year honors as well as the title of the Sun Belt’s highest rated tackle for not allowing a single sack over the course of the 2024 season.
When asked about personal goals and expectations for his seventh and final season of collegiate football, McMurtrie said he’s tried to assert his knowledge and experience as a leader in some more unheralded ways.
“I would say I’ve definitely tried to be more of a leader,” McMurtrie said. “I’ve always been a pretty quiet guy, so I’m not like a big scream-to-get-the-guys-hyped guy, but I try to just lead by example.”
Even after losing two graduating starters from last season — center Tanner Morris and guard Cole Potts — McMurtrie feels confident in the room’s ability to maintain its high level of play due to it’s snaps and experience.
“Obviously, guys played in games, whether they started or not, there were a lot of guys that played in games last year,” McMurtrie said. “So that experience is, like, huge, because you’re not in a situation where someone’s new to playing in that atmosphere, everyone’s been there.”
Similarly, McMurtrie had a glowing review for the running back positional group, which returns the Sun Belt leader in yards per carry, George Pettaway, speedster Wayne Knight, as well as adding transfer Jordan Fuller from Holy Cross and welcoming Ayo Adeyi back from a season-ending injury.
see McMURTRIE, page 16
from McMURTRIE, page 15
“I’ve never really been a part of a room that deep with that many guys who have played,” McMurtrie said. “It’s exciting because all the running backs, they kind of each bring something a little different, but they’re all really good at what they do. So having guys that are all a little bit different, but also all effective like that, that’s exciting.”
McMurtrie also heaped on the praise for the quarterback room, which has seen a significant amount of turnover this offseason with the additions of transfer quarterbacks; redshirt senior Matthew Sluka (Holy Cross/UNLV) and junior Camden Coleman (Richmond). Having played with Sluka before, McMurtrie made a point to highlight the incredible athletic ability of the quarterback and said some of the things Sluka can do “are insane." McMurtrie also commended the returning redshirt junior Barnett and incoming transfer Coleman.
Commending Barnett on his dedication and unwavering commitment to rehabbing his torn ACL and praising Coleman for his poise and arm talent showcased at Richmond and this offseason in practice, McMurtrie made sure to emphasize both players effectiveness.
When asked about the connection between his former Holy Cross teammates, coaches and staff members who've since reunited at JMU, McMurtrie said he couldn’t have been more thankful for the experience.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, man,” McMurtrie said. “You never really know how it goes when you leave. I don’t know when the next time is I’ll see [these] guys, just in general, not even football.”
CONTACT Gavin Avella at breezesports@gmail.com. For more football coverage, follow the sports desk on X and Instagram @TheBreezeSports.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2 - 4 PM
Levitt AMP Hburg Music Series Shows
Wed., Sept. 3 at 6:30pm Jesse Roper (Roots Rock / Modern Blues)
Wed., Sept. 10 at 6:30pm Kommuna Lux (Ukrainian Urban Folk)
Skeleton Festival
Free community festival
Saturday, October 25
Veterans Parade
Main Street parade
Sunday, November 9
Winter Wonderfest
Free community festival
Saturday, December 6
EDITOR EMAIL breezeopinion@gmail.com
Caroline McKeown
Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts & Pats is the place to do it. Submit your own at breezejmu.org.
A “just-call-it-Taylorplease” dart to The Union for making it confusing for first-years trying to make it to their Monday morning advising meeting but ending up in Warren instead.
From a freshman student who is trying their best.
CALI GILMER contributing columnist
It’s summer in Harrisonburg, and the last thing on anyone’s mind is snow, but now is exactly when the university should be planning for winter.
JMU’s current inclement weather policy needs serious updates before winter weather returns. When snow hits, in-person classes are canceled, but academic obligations often continue. Students are expected to attend Zoom classes, complete asynchronous assignments or reschedule meetings with professors, creating inconsistent and inequitable learning experiences across campus. While this patchwork policy may appear flexible on the surface, it sacrifices academic quality and student well-being.
JMU should adopt a smarter, studentcentered approach by building inclement weather days directly into the academic calendar. Doing so would promote equal workloads, support consistency and preserve the unique campus culture and mental health benefits that traditional snow days offer.
A “thanks-to-the-buslady” pat for being so kind and pleasant.
From a student who loves public transportation.
A “hello-you” pat to my high school friend for following me on Instagram.
From a someone who is delulu and hoping it means something.
A “where-is-it” dart to E-Hall and its lack of pesto.
From a student who has deep emotional ties to the pesto.
Under JMU’s Inclement Weather Policy 1309, professors have wide discretion in how they handle class cancelations. Some cancel class altogether, while others shift online or assign independent work. There’s no standardized procedure. On a given snow day, one student might attend three virtual classes from a snowed-in apartment while another receives no instruction at all. This inconsistency creates more problems than it solves.
In an email from JMU’s Office of the Registrar, a spokesperson confirmed that “in at least the past 30 years, the university has not built inclement weather days into the calendar,” and that “there are no plans to build inclement weather days into future calendars.”
That leaves students to navigate the chaos that often follows a closure. Missed lectures are squeezed into already packed schedules. Workloads pile up. Communication with professors becomes more difficult.
“When some of your professors cancel class and others move it online, it just throws everything off,” senior Oleksandra Popova said. “You’re trying to keep up with Zoom meetings in the middle of a snow day, but it doesn’t feel like a real class. It feels like a scramble.”
The impact extends beyond temporary inconvenience. JMU designates official makeup days for missed classes — such as rescheduling a Feb. 11 lecture to Feb. 22 — but those dates are often too delayed to be useful, especially in courses with fast pacing or group assignments. For students who rely on in-person discussion or access to campus resources, these delays make it more difficult to stay on track.
Assuming every student can seamlessly transition to virtual learning during closures also ignores significant barriers. Some lack access to reliable Wi-Fi or quiet learning spaces. Others face power outages or need in-person support to understand complex material.
“A lot of students don’t have good internet, or a quiet space to log in,” Popova said. “And even if you do, you’re missing the in-person interaction with your professor. That’s how a lot of us actually learn. You lose that when everything shifts online.”
Policy 1309 protects students from being penalized if they miss virtual classes due to technical issues or living conditions. But that still places the burden on students to explain their situations and potentially fall behind regardless.
The need for official snow days isn’t only academic. It’s about campus culture, balance and student mental health.
“There’s something really special about snow days,” Popova said. “It’s this rare time where campus slows down, and people go outside and connect. You’re sledding down hills with people you just met. It’s a mental reset we don’t get very often.”
That kind of spontaneous connection is part of what makes the college experience memorable. In a time when student mental health is under national scrutiny, eliminating moments of rest and joy in favor of continued online work is a missed opportunity. JMU promotes wellness and self-care as part of its mission. It should recognize the value of a day when students can take a breath without the stress of falling behind academically.
Building two or three inclement weather days into the academic calendar would address many of these problems. These days could be activated as needed and repurposed later if unused. They would function similarly to reading days or final exam preparation days and provide structure in place of confusion.
This approach wouldn’t require massive changes to JMU’s operations. The university already has established procedures for weatherrelated closures, including communication systems, payroll adjustments and class rescheduling protocols. Proactively building snow days into the semester would ensure smoother transitions during winter weather. Perhaps most importantly, it would eliminate the current guessing game. Students wouldn’t have to wonder which classes are meeting, what platforms are being used or how attendance will affect their grades. Every student would have the same expectations, the same academic break and the same chance to reset before returning to class.
JMU’s current approach may be functional, but it isn’t working well. It places the responsibility for adaptation on those with the least power to make policy changes. It creates unfair learning experiences, increases stress and erases one of the few spontaneous joys in college life.
Before the snow returns, JMU has the opportunity to protect both academic consistency and student well-being. Students deserve more than a canceled class or a last-minute Zoom link. They deserve a fair, consistent policy that supports learning and recognizes the value of rest.
Snow days shouldn’t feel like a scramble. They should feel like snow days.
CONTACT Cali Glimer at gilmersc@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
CAROLINE MCKEOWN Opinion Editor
Throughout every individual’s dating experience at JMU, I guarantee they will go through the beauty and the pain of a prospective love disappearing on them. The flame trickling out might hurt at first, but maybe it’s better than the force of a bandage being pulled off quickly?
In 2024, the majority of Tinder users were in the 18to 24-year-old range, which lined up perfectly with the underdeveloped frontal lobes of college students trying to find someone to buddy up with in this new, scary college world.
For students, college is a hunting ground for students to find not just themselves, but also a partner. Whether it be for life or a date function, that is up to whatever lie they tell themselves. This is why it’s so important that people don’t date with emotions.
Now you’re thinking, ‘what’s this woman even talking about? I thought love and emotion should take precedent over everything in a relationship.’ A solid point, which I do agree with, but only after the third date.
These first three dates, you shouldn’t even be thinking about marriage or a white picket fence, but if you even like the person across the table from you. In those first few dates, you evaluate the person only as a friend. If you catch a weird vibe, ask yourself if they were just a friend,
would you keep them in your life? If not, ghost them.
People ghost potential partners for lots of reasons. The convenience of not having to have those hard conversations about the red flags people see in one another takes the cake.
While some of the conversations might be silly or unimportant in the long run, the chance of risking one’s safety to bring up some controversial points is a case where we can all support in the realm of ghosting.
“People’s feelings are important, especially if you care about each other,” junior Sheldon Phillips said, “but never more important than your safety.”
Going on a date with a person a few times doesn’t mean you owe them anything, in any sense.
“In cases where there’s a risk that the person you’re talking to might have a violent or abusive reaction to you trying to have a difficult conversation with them, I think ghosting is absolutely a better option than putting yourself in harm’s way,” Phillips said.
If you are getting any weird vibe, don’t respond to their text. The tiny things matter in the long run, too. The person you are dating now has the potential to be the person you marry. You notice they object to deodorant, they cuss out their mom in front of you, or you just don’t have a vibe with the person; it’s more awkward to write a text to the person explaining that ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’ Not just for the writer, but for the receiver, too.
No one in the entire world wants to hear reasons why someone doesn’t like them or even a “Hey, I don’t think this is working out, I wish you the best!” It’s salt in the wound in a very emotionally charged situation because usually the receiver can put two and two together as to why it didn’t work out. Yet if you ghost them, they can just blame you for not responding, and no one has to worry about their feelings being hurt.
Now, after you get past the third date, that’s when you should start to look at the other person with a more emotional gaze; can you see them meeting your friends, your parents, your nonna, etcetera.
This is the same step where it gets morally gray to ghost them, where both sides start to see there’s a real connection. If you don’t see it working out, to keep the other partner from still believing in the possibility of love after you leave, you should provide them with an explanation.
While I’m a believer of ghosting being a good thing, there’s a sweet spot to ghost a person with the least amount of moral consequence on the ghoster.
CONTACT Caroline McKeown at breezeopinion@ gmail.com. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Eleanor Shaw breezeeditor@gmail.com
NEWS EDITORS Emma Notarnicola & Landon Shackelford breezenews@gmail.com
COPY EDITORS Kayla Katounas & Joelle McKenzie breezecopy@gmail.com
PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Hannah Kennedy breezepress@gmail.com
CULTURE EDITORS Isabel Lewis & Charlie Bodenstein thebreezeculture@gmail.com
PHOTO EDITORS Kailey Garner & Annabel Dewey breezephotography@gmail.com
ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Sixuan Wu thebreezeweb@gmail.com
SPORTS EDITORS Preston Comer & Gavin Avella breezesports@gmail.com
AUDIENCE EDITORS Ella Warren & Madeline Buynak thebreezesocials@gmail.com
(8/18/25): A previous online version of the deck collapse story misspelled the phrase “err on the side of caution.” The website and the print version have been updated with the correct spelling.
OPINION EDITOR Caroline McKeown breezeopinion@gmail.com
ART DIRECTOR Julia Tanner thebreezeartdirector@gmail.com
TV NEWS DIRECTOR Alexa Bonilla jmubreezetv@gmail.com
SUNDAY - THURSDAY 11:00 AM TO 9:00 PM
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Patti Varol
By Amanda Cook
Take potshots (at)
Tear (apart)
Baking amts.
(to)
“Shiny Happy People” band
Madison Marketplace is open for business, and all text-only listings are FREE ! Post job listings, announcements, rentals and more using our online placement tool. Ads run two weeks online and in two print editions.
JMU Student Housing at Copper Beach- 4 bedroom/4.5 Bath
Location: Copper Beech, 1.7 miles to campus $830/month, first month rent FREE, co-ed (JMU students) Newly renovated and fully furnished! Includes: Deck, in-house laundry, parking, and more. Popular community! Interested or know someone who is? Please contact cb.studenthousing@gmail.com and reference The Breeze Ad.
Two Bedrooms, partially furnished, shared bathroom and kitchen private sink and vanity in each bedroom. May be shared by two people. Both required to sign lease. Electric, gas and water included. TV and internet available. 10 miles North of Harrisonburg. Lease and security deposit required $1,300. Call 540-746-7445
Transportation Services Airport transfers, wine tours, special events Motorcoach trip to Liberty football game Sept 20 Contact AdventuresN-Travel.com Call or text 540810-1196 mikepackett@aol.com
