Haynes (STEM) RLC

The Haynes Learning Community is a community for incoming first-year STEM majors at JMU who feel that they can contribute to and benefit from the goals of the program. Students will live and learn together while taking math classes in cohorts and exploring mathematical research together. Students of ALL backgrounds and ALL levels of mathematical ability are encouraged to apply.

The Haynes program is run by the Department of Mathematics & Statistics and will have openings for 16 Haynes Scholars. For more information see our program website.

Goals of the Program:

Celebrate and value all forms of community cultural wealth and backgrounds that contribute to student body diversity at a predominantly white institution.
Bring JMU STEM majors from CSM and CISE together in a residential and academic environment where all people feel they belong.
Create a community that considers how race and inequities have impacted JMU students’ lives.
Provide opportunities for success in STEM mathematics courses and hands-on experiences with undergraduate research in mathematics.

Who should apply?

All students are welcome to apply to be Haynes Scholars, and selection is without regard to a person’s race, color, national origin, or other protected characteristic. Students applying to be Haynes Scholars will be asked to describe how they will personally contribute to and benefit from the four Goals of the Haynes Scholars Program.
Students of ALL mathematical levels who want to succeed in first-year calculus, explore mathematics in creative group research projects, and become leaders in their own STEM departments.
Students interested in majoring in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or other STEM-related disciplines.

What do students in this program do?

Live and learn in a diverse and supportive community in Hoffman Hall and get to know and work with former Haynes students in STEM majors.
Take math classes together in cohorts, with support from each other and from Haynes student leaders.
Take a course with Haynes Learning Community students and faculty on leadership, equity issues, and exploratory research projects in mathematics and the sciences.

The Haynes Learning Community is named after Dr. Euphemia Lofton Haynes, who in 1943 became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics. Later in her career, Dr. Haynes chaired the Washington, D.C. Board of Education and helped end the tracking system that discriminated against poor and minority students in DC.