Best Wishes, President Alger
March 19
Congratulations, Starting August we will have 2 children at JMU. My wife and I are very excited about their future with you and JMU!
Earnest Gorham ('83), alumni
March 18
Congratulations, sir, on becoming the sixth president of the best university in the state, JMU. I am a proud graduate of the class of 1987 and an even prouder Mom of a future graduate of 2016. We know that you will guide JMU with wisdom and with an eye always towards what is best for your students. Blessings to you and your family as you officially embark on this new journey!
Terri Hobson, parent
March 18
Congratulations to joining the most energetic, refreshing learning community I have ever experienced. Look forward to seeing you at a future event!
Pamela Keller-Arledge, MSN FNP BC, Masters in Nursing May 2011, alumni
March 16
Jon, Maryanne. and Eleanor: We see you have had a busy week (but which one isn't?) and David's text last night said "impressive." Hope you all had a good day today at Montpelier (that was a nice speech), and we wish you all the best in the years to come.
Dermott and Sue Breen, friends
March 15
Dr. Alger, on this occasion, I want to wish you the very best and thank you for what you have already done for our university. I am a graduate of JMU, having arrived in the very first year of JMU vs. Madison College, and am a proud parent of current student in the class of 2014. I intend to encourage my fellow alumni to contribute to the school that helped to define our lives. Congratulations!!!
Kaye Darone ('80), parent
March 15
Dearest President Alger, It is a great pleasure to welcome you to JMU. I want to Thank you for your "personable touch" you have already placed here. Wishing you the best and for a great future, personally and as the President of JMU.
Shana Pettit, staff
March 15
Welcome to James Madison University and the Harrisonburg community! I wish you much success in your Presidency of this distinguished university. Proud to be an alumni!
Karen Irby Rose ('84), alumni
March 15
Congratulations to President Alger and his family! Welcome, officially, to the JMU Family. Best of luck in this amazing journey.
Vincent and Lori DiMaiolo, Parents
March 15
Best Wishes President Alger!
Selamawi Tilahun ('13), student
March 15
Good luck!!! all the best for you and for your family!!! We are from Argentina, and our daughter is a JMU student. She is very very happy to be Duke!
Waingortins family, parents
March 15
Caught a brief view of you delivering your speech- lookin' good! Congrats again on this great life achievement!
Susan Alger, friend
March 15
I am on the Alumni Board of Directors and was unfortunately unable to attend in person (but am watching the live streaming) due to work commitments. It has already been a pleasure to work with you and meet your lovely family and I am truly excited for the next chapter in JMU's history. Go Dukes!!
Bridgette Walsh ('01), Alumni
March 15
I want to welcome you and your family to the JMU family. It is a very special place and I wish you the best. I am sure you have the full faith and support of all my fellow students (I know you have mine) and we are anxious to see what this university can become under you leadership.
Richard Dean ('14), student
March 15
Best wishes during your Presidency of our proud University. My wife and I are alumni of James Madison and are very pleased that you have taken the time to listen to the students, former students, and faculty leading up your inauguration. We hope to see continued stability but also growth at James Madison University under your leadership.
Jonathan Kim ('04), alumni
March 15
Best of Wishes for days to come at JMU. We thank you for your service.
Yvonne Hess ('16), Parent
March 15
Congratulations and best wishes President Alger. It's unfortunate I'm graduating the moment you become elected, but I'm looking forward to all of the great ways you'll improve upon an already great educational experience.
Tyler McAvoy ('13), student
March 15
I wish you many wonderful years at JMU.
Cheryl Lantz, staff
March 15
Thank you for coming to James Madison University and for taking the time to listen to us. We are extremely blessed to have you as our leader. Best wishes.
Deborah Gordon, staff
March 15
Welcome, again, to our JMU family. We are glad that you and your family are here!!!
Anne Neale ('83), alumni
March 15
Welcome to JMU.
Dr. Ali Shahzad, staff
March 14
Congratulations!!! President Alger! Hope you can give JMU a brighter future and make the purple deeper in JMU!!! Tomorrow I will volunteer in your inauguration! I am so glad I can be a part of Madison Week, and I am so honored that I can volunteer in it!!! Wish tomorrow will be a gorgeous day!
Fay Yang ('13), Student
March 14
I am looking forward to congratulating you in person tomorrow as I proudly represent Towson University ('94 M.A. alumna and staff member) as a delegate at your inauguration tomorrow!
Teresa Hardin ('89), alumni
March 13
Welcome and Congratulations! After graduating in 1983 with an Accounting degree from JMU I continue to return for football games and special events. Even though the numbers have increased, the campus is still beautiful and the people are friendly. I feel that JMU has always made students feel that they are special and not just a number. That is what sets JMU apart. I wish you much success and happiness as you become the leader of our great university ...JMU!!
Linda Varlen Smith ('83), alumni
March 12
I just want to congratulate you and thank you for taking on this respectable and honorable position. You truly are making a difference in and around James Madison University as well as the surrounding Harrisonburg community. I hope you take the opportunity to get to know the students on this campus because you are affecting them in so many ways. Please continue to work hard and stay dedicated to this incredible university. Thank you and congratulations again.
Kayla Knox ('16), student
March 12
Best wishes to you and your family! The school has changed in such a great direction since I entered Madison College in the fall of 1975. I hope you take its growth further.
Jennifer A. MacDonald ('79), alumni
March 11
While I will not be able to be in Harrisonburg on your Inauguration Day, I do wish you the very best as OUR new president. We look forward to many amazing years with you at JMU.
Barbara Sjhafer Ohmsen ('55 Class Agent), alumni
March 11
Congratulations! I applaud your bold vision for engagement and citizenship. No better place than Madison's namesake to renew our historic commitment to civic engagement. Our nation needs JMU to train for constructive exchange of ideas, peaceful cooperation among a diverse citizenry with myriad perspectives on hard-to-solve problems.
Drew Stelljes ('97M,'99PhD), alumni
March 11
My JMU school ring states "Knowledge is Liberty." I still look at that ring from time to time and think to myself, we got that right. Big ideas, big dreams and a "can do" attitude is what made us the great country we are today. I look forward to doing my part to help you continue JMU's mark on our nation's future.
John Casler ('85), alumni
March 11
May your presidency be inspirationally successful as you carry out JMU's reputation for highly personal administrative interaction with students and staff!
Virginia Aliotti, Madison College alumna and JMU emeritus faculty member
March 10
Congratulations on your upcoming inauguration, may God bless you as you drive our great family to greater and greater heights.
Makau Maitha ('00), alumni
March 10
Congratulations and Best wishes! May your time at JMU be rewarding and enriching both for you and dear JMU. My fond memories of completing my undergraduate studies at JMU were a time of exploration and personal enrichment. May you keep JMU striving for students to be their best!
Dr. Lynn Duffy ('86), Psy.D., LCPC, NCC, CCTP & BCPCC, alumni
March 10
Thank you for new vision of JMU! I was at a recent "Why Madison" event in Charlottesville and understand the challenge you have for fundraising/development at the University. Turning the love for JMU into a future for JMU is quite an undertaking. However, Dr. Alger you have the capacity and the people to do it. You are a dynamic speaker and have a very engaging personality. Your warmth and sincerity is the key to any development undertaking. I know that JMU will continue to be a great school in the state of Virginia and across the country. However, do not lose sight of what makes JMU a special place—the people, the personality (and let alone the purple passion). Reach beyond, but let those know that we will not become too big that we cannot "hold open a door, share a smile and show the true spirit of being a DUKE!!"I am a member of the Class of 1987 and have a daughter that is a rising sophomore. Thank you again for all you are doing for JMU!!
Elizabeth Liles ('87), parent
March 10
Congratulations! I look forward to watching the continued growth of JMU under your leadership.
Lucy Stultz ('66, '69M), alumni
March 10
Dear President Alger, holding great respect and admiration, it is with immense honor, humility, and joy that I celebrate with you and with JMU your official presidential inauguration. I wish I could be there...Better yet, I wish Mr. Madison could be there, for the both of us miss JMU quite considerably. Yet I believe that this is a time for new beginnings. JMU is in the best of hands, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who has appointed Mr. Alger into this presidential seat. JMU, may your arms embrace this man who will lead you on into a new future, making JMU and the world a better place!
Sarah Maria Everett ('12), James Madison University's former 'James Madison girl,' alumni
March 10
Congratulations Dr. Alger! My wife Ellen and I wish you all the best as President of JMU. We welcome you to our community. Friends from MPC. Go Dukes!!!
Bill Painter ('83), alumni
March 10
Best of luck! I wish you well in your new home and future at JMU!!
Felicia Morris ('90), alumni
March 9
My best wishes to you as you take the leadership and development of JMU forward!
Steve Gerome ('98, '04), staff
Feb. 28
Welcome to you and your family, and may you be here for as least as long as I have. I came to work here at the time we went from being Madison College to JMU. I have seen lots of changes, especially in Dining Services—from being self-op, to Marriot management, to now being Aramark. One common bond that we have here at JMU is the pride we have in our University, and since I work in dining service, it is also the pride we have in what we do. It is so good to hear some students say that the food is one of the reasons they come here.
Nancy Reffett, staff
Feb. 27
Congratulations on your inauguration as the sixth president of the magnificent academic institution we call James Madison University. It was a pleasure meeting you in August 2012 on your "Presidential Listening Tour" at the Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia. My answer to "Why Madison" is simple - "Why Not?" My daughter Megan (Class of 2010) and I look forward to being on campus March 15. My very best wishes to you.
Karen Wood Grizzard ('76), alumni
Feb.25
As a graduate with my Master's Degree in Counseling/Education, I have been able to send students to James Madison with the conviction that they will benefit as I did from attending a large and active university with a unique flavor of down home concern. It is rare to have such a strong working relationship with your faculty mentors in a setting that offers quality teaching, a setting that encourages outdoor and out of the box experiences. I was so fortunate to be a young man, from New Hampshire, who could teach skiing at Massanutten in the morning and bury myself in an outstanding Master's Degree program in the evening. While I have retired from school counseling this year, I have helped to send a current student to JMU; and a person from New Hampshire that I introduced to JMU 12 years ago is now a JMU staff member. I wish you continued success President Alger in what I am sure is a big job.
Eugene F. Fox ('77M), alumni
Feb.25
May you have the vision, the courage, the integrity and the stamina to continue the journey of excellence established by your predecessors.
C. L. Anderson ('60), alumni
Feb.20
Congratulations President Alger! I am certain you will really enjoy being in the JMU community. I have worked at JMU as a Career Counselor and Academic Advisor for 10 years and it's a great university! As a Master Career Development Professional with 20 years of experience, I have always encouraged students to find their passion and niche in life and work hard to achieve their goals! It will be so wonderful to have you leading us in our quest! Warmest regards,
Christine Harriger, staff
Feb. 16
Our family would like to congratulate you on your Presidency. We wish you the best of everything as you enter this new chapter in your career. The JMU community is amazing & behind you!
Tim & Patti Cypull, parents
Feb. 16
Congratulations President Alger and all the best for a bright future at JMU.
Sandra Williams-Reid, parent
Feb. 14
Welcome to our JMU family! I feel that everyone at JMU will flourish under your leadership. I am excited for the years ahead as you "Make Your Mark on Madison." Enjoy your special day. Go Dukes!
Trudy Ham, staff
Feb. 5
Alyce and I wish you the best during your inauguration week and at the formal ceremony on March 15th, 2013. We will not be able to travel to Harrisonburg to attend. We appreciate receiving an invitation and look forward to a future opportunity to spend time together during your travels or when we visit Harrisonburg again. All the best. Regards,
Dan ('79,'86) and Alyce ('79) Nardi, alumni
Feb. 1
Congratulations President Alger! Welcome to the JMU family! May your years as President be prosperous and fulfilling.
Don Barstow ('93), staff
Jan. 25
Hi Jon: Greetings from the "other" Madison. All the Ashley's send their congratulations and our very best to you and your family on this occasion. It's especially gratifying to see a great lawyer have the opportunity to become a great leader in higher education.
Chris Ashley, friend
Jan. 25
I wish California was not so far away, or I would be with you for certain. In lieu of that, I send best wishes, hugs, and a bushel full of congratulations! We are so proud of you and know that you are going to be an outstanding President.
Christine Helwick, friend
Jan. 25
Congratulations and best wishes to you and James Madison University. I'm an old Texas DA but a fairly new university general counsel (since 2010). Absolutely love it! I had the good fortune of meeting you when you spoke at NACUA's 2011 General Counsel Institute in Washington, D.C. Greatly appreciated your sage comments and advice there and on NACUA's Listserv (and Susan Wheeler's as well). I am proud and honored to know and to be associated with people who serve the public like you. May God continue to bless you and your family and James Madison University.
Barry Macha
