Commencement
The Honors College May Medallion Ceremony will take place Thursday, May 12 at 1 pm in the Festival Ballroom.
Invitations have been sent to all graduating seniors with a registration deadline of Friday, April 22. Due to limited seating capacity all graduates will receive six (6) guest tickets. These tickets will be distributed at the Honors Senior Celebration on Thursday, April 28. Individuals who do not have tickets may view the ceremony from the overflow seating area in the Festival Highlands Room.
We look forward to celebrating this joyous occasion with your graduates. Additional information and details about the Honors College Medallion Ceremony can be found online.
Summer Honors Institute
The JMU Summer Honors Institute is a unique week-long program where talented rising high school juniors and seniors get a first-hand look at life in a dynamic university and its Honors College.
As a JMU Summer Honors student you can:
- Experience the excitement of life at a great university
- Take hands-on courses with outstanding faculty
- Explore careers and academic majors from the sciences, humanities, arts, business, and social sciences
- Learn about how college Honors programs can help you make the most of your college experience
- Attend admissions workshops and enhance your college applications
- Live in dorms and explore the JMU campus
- Go on field trips, explore downtown, and do other fun activities in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley
Up to 30 talented high school students who have completed their sophomore or junior year will be accepted to attend following a competitive application process.
For more information on scholarships or additional questions, contact Melissa Heatwole at heatwoml@jmu.edu or call (540) 568-4226. Apply today!
2022 Spring Symposium
April 22, 12 – 3 p.m., Madison Union Ballroom
The Honors Symposium showcases academic research and creative scholarship by JMU Honors students. Student presenters will serve as panelists, and will offer brief presentations about their Honors Capstone Projects or other Honors research and scholarship, as well as answer questions.
We hope that JMU students, faculty, family and friends will attend the Symposium to learn about unique, interdisciplinary work conducted by Honors students. Registration is not required to attend.
Smith Island Experience
This spring Adjunct Professor, Eric Fitzgerald, took a group of students to the Chesapeake Bay as part of the course "From the Valley to the Bay" which combines original research, community service and civic engagement in the context of environmental and social aspects of life in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The class includes field experiences, research investigations, online discussions, book discussions, and a final community action project. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed extends over six states and 64,000 square miles including forests, farms, industries, wildlife habitat, cities, suburbs, 18 million people, and more than 50 major rivers and streams. The Chesapeake Bay itself is North America's largest estuary. Through learning about environmental, geological, historical, social, political, and economic issues related to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, students will gain an interdisciplinary understanding of the interrelated issues that connect what happens in the Shenandoah Valley to the environmental and economic health of the Bay. One of the attendees Grace Warren, '22 created a beautiful photographic review of the event, enjoy!
Student Highlights
Xaiver Williams '23
Campus Compact, national coalition of colleges and universities working to advance the public purposes of higher education, has named 173 student civic leaders who will make up the organization’s 2022-2023 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows. Xaiver Williams, a student at James Madison University, will join students from 38 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico to form the cohort.
The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes students who stand out for their commitment to creating positive change in communities locally and around the world. Read Xaiver's story.
Kendra La Fave '22
From the Levant to Oxford, England: Honors College senior Kendra La Fave bookended her college experience with two study abroad trips, both connected by a recent publication in an academic journal.
La Fave, an international affairs major and humanitarian affairs minor, wrote a blog for the Oxford Middle East Review that was published Jan. 5. It combines her summer 2019 trip to Israel and Palestine with her fall 2021 semester in Oxford. Read about Kendra's experience.
Rod Morales '22
Rod Morales has a helper’s heart. Both the greater Harrisonburg community and JMU are better because of Morales’ presence.
For Morales, volunteering is a natural extension of a pay-it-forward mentality that got a boost from being welcomed as one of the new kids when he moved to northern Virginia from New York in the middle of his freshman year in high school. Read Rod's story.
2022 Valedictorian
Madison Sarlo '22
Madison Sarlo was nominated as a valedictorian for the class of 2022. Sarlo is a psychology and biology double major in the Honors College, specifically interested in neurobiology and helping people understand more about brain disorders like schizophrenia. Her capstone project was titled, “Political Polarization and Terror Management Theory: How Death Anxiety Deepens the Divide Between Liberals and Conservatives (Or Does it?).” After graduation, Sarlo will be a Medical Assistant for Advanced Dermatology in Northern Virginia.
Congratulations Madison on this wonderful achievement!