JMU donors, student scholarship recipients and university leaders gathered to celebrate the impact of giving at the 33rd Annual Stewardship Luncheon in March. Highlights from the event included a dance performance, the announcement of a historic gift, poignant remarks from the president, a presentation about JMU’s athletics success, a personal scholarship story, and remarks by a student and professor about their special JMU bond. Watch the videos below:
Vice president’s welcome
Nick Langridge (’00, ’07M, ’14Ph.D.), vice president of University Advancement, recaps a milestone year of achievements including academics, giving, athletics and more. [13:33]
Moving poetry
JMU’s Virginia Repertory Dance Company performs awash, with choreography by dance professor Matt Pardo followed by remarks from Nigerian poet and essayist Gbenga Adesina. Adesina is the Furious Flower Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in Black Global & Diasporic Poetry. [10:41]
Achieving big
Coach Bob Chesney, voice of JMU sports Curt Dudley, and volleyball player and Communications major Julia McNeley (’26) celebrate extraordinary moments in JMU sports — and the community that makes the JMU Nation so special. [15:42]
A colonel’s historic gift
Nick Langridge shares a sneak peak of the upcoming Madison magazine cover story, which recounts the extraordinary life of the late Col. Frances Weir (’49). This fall, she bequeathed nearly $6 million to JMU — the university’s largest cash gift and largest gift solely for scholarships. [3:16]
Out and up
Brad Barnett, JMU’s associate vice president for Access and Enrollment Management and director of Financial Aid and Scholarships, gets personal about his challenging upbringing and the “course correctors” who inspired him to pay it forward, and thanks donors for doing the same. [15:42]
Empowering differences
Scholarship recipient and education student Kamille Booth (’24) bonds with former professor Laura Desportes over their devotion to exceptional education, showcasing JMU’s hallmark professor-student relationship. [9:09]
President’s remarks
Ahead of his transition to American University, President Jonathan R. Alger reflects on the landmark successes the university has achieved over the past 12 years and thanks attendees for their warm embrace of his family and for “carrying on the JMU tradition of learning from each other.” [11:13]
