Forging community connections

Karina Kline-Gabel (‘92), assistant dean for the College of Arts and Letters, understands that welcoming and belonging are not new concepts. How we define those terms, though, has evolved. "To be welcome and belong means that you simply feel like you're in the right place, without trying to fit in,” she says. “When you belong, you belong as yourself."

Her wisdom draws on personal experience. Born in Harrisonburg and raised in Colombia and Virginia, she experienced life as a first-generation immigrant in Harrisonburg at a time when there were only four Spanish-speaking families in the area. When her family spoke Spanish in grocery stores, she recalls, local community members would ask what language they were speaking. "Harrisonburg had not yet become the thriving, diverse city it is now!"

Such experiences drove Kline-Gabel to focus professionally and personally on building bridges across communities for CAL and at the university level. Her courses at JMU about Spanish language and culture, for example, incorporate community-building practices; as she says, "Students need to understand the people and their cultures before gaining the ability to learn their language." Her wildly successful SOMOS JMU Conference in 2023 featured the iconic civil-rights activist and labor leader, Dolores Huerta, whose presence helped bring hundreds of participants from across the university as well as local and state Latinx community members.

In the dean’s office, Kline-Gabel works with faculty, undergraduates and prospective first-generation college students. "It's important for JMU to diversify our learning community,” says Tyler Jones (‘24), a member of Kline-Gabel's CAL Student Inclusion Committee, which invites students to share ideas and actively participate in shaping their JMU experience. “This includes professors, students and staff from different communities. You can't attract one group without the other.”

Kline-Gabel coordinates a timeline of welcoming and belonging events for new CAL faculty, including panels related to research and teaching, social gatherings and opportunities for broader reflection. She also works closely with individual student groups, such as the Latinx Student Alliance and, through connections in the Latinx community beyond Harrisonburg, has brought unique opportunities to current and prospective JMU students.

Last April, she accompanied twelve Latinx students from JMU and Harrisonburg High School to the White House in Washington, D.C., for a screening of "The Long Game," a film about an underdog high school golf team in Texas that won the 1957 state championship. Sol Ortega, White House Senior Advisor for Public Engagement, organized the event to elevate Latino/a/x voices and stories, highlighting the important contributions by the Hispanic community to our state and nation.

A student’s success in higher education depends on access and preparation, and Kline-Gabel consistently works to broaden the horizons for prospective students. The Virginia Latino Higher Education Network, of which Kline-Gabel is president, offers scholarships and college-access programs and is the only statewide non-profit dedicated to helping Latinx students achieve their academic goals. Here at JMU, her summer Latinx Leadership Academy helps rising high school sophomores and juniors develop leadership and academic skills.

Even just starting the college-access conversation early, using accessible language and confronting the challenges that specific communities face, can make a huge difference in an individual student's life. Kline-Gabel's Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC) campus visit brought first-generation middle school and high school students from underrepresented communities to JMU to start those conversations. “I loved visiting JMU, it was so pretty and students seemed really happy here,” shared one participating AHC student. “After the visit, I got to share with my parents that I want to go to college. We've been talking more about it and before I wouldn't have felt comfortable bringing the conversation up with them.”

CAL and JMU remain committed to inclusive excellence, and Kline-Gabel will continue to raise student and faculty voices and cultivate a community in which everyone belongs.