In the past 20 years, Sarah O’Connor has contributed to the JMU community in countless ways. As a WRTC Senior, I have heard first hand the time and effort she dedicates to her students to help them develop into amazing human beings that contribute to both JMU and the wider world. She has a calm, patient demeanor that draws people closer to her, and makes people want to learn from her work and her example.
Sarah does not only teach courses related to the community, but publishes her work so others around the world can be inspired by her classes and her programming. Sarah was the co-director for the JMU in LA program from 2010-2020, where she helped establish a whole JMU community in LA, one that brings together former JMU students, current JMU students and the LA movie industry that provides internships. As co-founder of the Humanitarian Affairs minor in 2009, and co-director/advisor until 2017, Prof. O’Connor helped manage one of the largest cross-disciplinary minors at JMU. She advised half of the more than 150 students, helped organize informational sessions, and helped bring speakers to campus to speak to students in the minor and the community at large.
In the WRTC program during the pandemic, she helped to create the Online Teaching Committee, a committee created by faculty to help each other become the best they could be teaching online. In her work with the committee, she has made presentations and shared her experiences to help other faculty members. She has also served as the chair or a member of the Promotion and Tenure committee (the PAC) for a total of ten years. She serves, or has served, on a number of committees including the Diversity Committee, the Digicom Faculty Fellow and the London Faculty Member in Residence (FMIR).
Most recently, Sarah has collaborated with Dr. Shelley Aley to teach a first year writing course with a title of “From Slavery to BLM”, which traces the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement. Sarah also created the course, WRTC 426 Prison Writing, a special topics course. In this course, students examine the diverse rhetorical content of the prison-writing genre and why it is important. Students in the Fall 2019 course helped with the creation of “Second Chance”, a website and podcast, where they interviewed former prisoners who have turned their lives around. Sarah is also a survivor of breast cancer and has written articles and been involved in broadcasts about breast cancer to help others fight the battle.
Sarah’s caring attitude is evidenced by her volunteer work at the Blessed Sacrament Church Food Pantry (2012-2020) and her work with the International Partnership for La Gonâve (2004-2011) that was created to help the people who live on that Haitan islandi. If someone in the department or in her neighborhood is sick, Sarah will be the first one at the door with a meal she has prepared. It is also seen in her work with her students, as she helped many overcome countless challenges in her roles as a professor and advisor. If she sees something is not right and is hurtful to others, she will stand up and bring it to the attention of those who can rectify the situation. I am grateful for the contributions that Sarah O’Connor has gifted JMU, to enlighten others and share her work. Sarah, I hope that this award can be a small thank you for the enormous impact you have made on this community and the world.