James Madison University sits in the peaceful and bucolic Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. While UVA, William & Mary, and Virginia Tech are favored by the top Virginia students, JMU provides an excellent education and boasts 139 bachelors, masters, and doctorate degree programs. JMU is particularly known for its undergraduate business program. It’s a safe environment for its 19,000 students. After winning a DI-AA football championship, JMU now competes in the Division I ECAC and Sunbelt Conference. Behind me is the 24,000 seat Bridgeforth Stadium.
In my next life, I’m going to study hard and try to get into Wake Forest. Last spring, I had the pleasure of visiting UVA, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, and NC State. But Wake is the most beautiful campus I’ve ever seen. Originally located just north of Raleigh in the town of Wake Forest, the college moved west to Winston-Salem in order to accept a gift of land from the Reynolds tobacco family. I’m pictured here in front of the historic Wait Chapel, named for the college’s first president. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Wait Chapel on October 11, 1962. On March 17, 1978, President Jimmy Carter made a major speech on national security in the chapel. In 1988, it hosted a presidential debate between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis and, in 2000, between George W. Bush and Al Gore. A private memorial ceremony for Dr. Maya Angelou was held in Wait Chapel on June 7, 2014. Attendees included First Lady Michelle Obama, President Bill Clinton, and Oprah Winfrey. Famous alumni include golfer Arnold Palmer; basketball stars Tim Duncan, Muggsy Bogues, and Chris Paul; football player Brian Puccolo; actor Carroll O’Connor; and television producer David Chase. I was disappointed not to see students sitting outside the bookstore under the lilac trees. But (Myrtle) Beach Weekend was getting underway.
The massive expanse of Dartmouth’s Dartmouth Hall dwarfs me. The year it was built, 1784, appears at the top. It burned in 1904 and was rebuilt by 1906. It currently houses various language departments and the humanities department. Framed by Dartmouth Hall to the east, Baker Library to the north, and the Hanover Inn to the south, Dartmouth’s quad is bustling and beautiful. Walking around the quad, I ran into a member of the media obtaining b-roll footage of Baker Library. He was covering the forums that Dartmouth has been holding regarding Muslims and Jews and how they could co-exist on campus. Dartmouth has been able prevent violence on campus by being proactive and encouraging civil dialogue. There’s been no violence on campus, unlike Columbia.
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