May 2017 Stories
Mike Miriello ('09M)
Opening Doors

Celebrating the Class of 2017

Jim Heffernan ('96)
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A total of 4,365 students joined the JMU alumni family during spring commencement, May 4-6.

Nearly 600 master’s, educational specialist and doctoral degrees were conferred during The Graduate School ceremony on Thursday night at the Convocation Center. Commencement speaker Arthur Moats (’12), Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker and two-time nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for his volunteer and charity work in the community, encouraged the 3,768 undergraduates at Friday’s University Ceremony in Bridgeforth Stadium to be their best selves and to help better the world.

The weekend also featured ceremonies for each of JMU’s eight undergraduate colleges, including the new Honors College; a special pinning ceremony for graduates of the School of Nursing; and Army and Air Force ROTC commissioning events.

Graduation photographs by Mike Miriello (’09M) and Elise Trissel

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Art history professor Laura Katzman’s scholarship and JMU’s reputation for faculty-student collaboration helped the Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art land an exhibition of the work of American artist and political activist Ben Shahn.
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Alex Paullin’s (’14) Madison Experience led him on a canoeing expedition with National Geographic along the Okavango River in southern Africa, where his idea to help spread the word about climate change through music was born.
Opening Doors

Celebrating the Class of 2017

A total of 4,365 students joined the JMU alumni family during spring commencement, May 4-6.
Advancing Culture

‘Drawing on the Left’

Art history professor Laura Katzman’s scholarship and JMU’s reputation for faculty-student collaboration helped the Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art land an exhibition of the work of American artist and political activist Ben Shahn.
Philanthropy

Supply, demand and opportunity

David Vaughn (’17) has a degree in finance and a job with a leading private equity firm in D.C. beginning in July. So why is he so adamant about supporting the new College of Business Learning Complex?
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Alumna approaching 108th birthday

Pearl Scott Almond (’30) graduated from Madison when it was still known as the State Teachers College at Harrisonburg.