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FactsSlang
- APL - The Airport Lounge is located on the fourth floor of Warren Hall and is technically named The Loft. It got its name from looking like an airport lounge.
- The Commons - The area right outside D–Hall used for a variety of programs and advertisements, also the place to meet your friends for lunch.
- CRU - Not the rowing team, but the Christian organization Campus Crusade for Christ.
- CMISS - Center for Multicultural/International Student Services, the core of a lot of JMU’s ethnic clubs as well as a few sorority and fraternity organizations.
- D-Hall - Students' nickname for the all-you-can-eat Gibbons Dining Hall.
- Dukes - The short name for the dining facility PC Dukes.
- Frogs - The Freshman Orientation Guides, who help new students get acquainted with the campus in the first week of school.
- ISAT/HHS - Integrated Science and Technology and Health and Human Services buildings (connected).
- JAC - If you want to eat, go to the gym, access your records or survive on campus, you'll need to have your JAC card. Necessary to do anything on campus, even use the computers in certain libraries.
- Mappy - Your guide to getting around campus, given to you on your first day at JMU.
- Trashby - Nickname for Ashby Crossing. It tends to look a bit trashy because of frequent partying.
- The Village - One of the largest communities of residence halls on campus, basically in the middle of campus.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
- Art, and all affiliated classes, is a closed major.
- Bikes are the way to get around as a freshman, especially if you’re a slow walker and tend to be late for things.
- Bring a fan if living in a dorm without air conditioning (the Village).
- Bring nice clothes, just to try and occasionally keep up with the people who dress up every day for class. Or to just have fun clothes to wear for parties.
- Contact your RA or hall director if you have problems with your roommate. The sooner the situation is handled the better, and changing rooms/roommates isn't uncommon.
- Don’t park in the gravel lot if the weatherman is predicting rain because when it rains, the gravel lot floods first.
- Don’t take your winter coats and sweaters home during spring break because you might still need them afterwards!
- General education classes are more difficult than they seem; GSCI 101 is one of the worst.
- JMU doesn’t give too many holidays off. For example, be prepared to go to class on Labor Day and Presidents’ Day.
- JMU is a pretty big party school.
- Online tests are harder than in-class tests.
- Parking briefly in a spot labeled “motorcycle parking” does not constitute parking legally. Neither does using your flashers in front of Dukes. You will get a ticket.
- Some majors, like Media Arts & Design, are very competitive and hard to get into.
- Student assessment day in February sucks for everybody who has 45 to 70 credits to their name.
- There is a train that runs through campus throughout the day at random times. Teachers don’t always take the excuse of “I was stuck on the other side of the tracks” for being late.
- Transfer students are not guaranteed housing on campus.
Tips to Succeed
- Allow at least half an hour before class to find a parking spot.
- Always dispute test questions and bad grades.
- Be involved on campus in clubs and organizations.
- Brush elbows with the townies; they are wonderful, friendly people.
- Check your e-mail, Blackboard, and the JMU Web site at least once a day.
- Do your homework.
- Don’t give in to caffeine and an all-nighter; get enough sleep the night before a final or midterm.
- Get involved in dorm life; if possible, spend two years on campus.
- Get to know your professors.
- Go camping and hiking at least once before you graduate.
- Go to class.
- Keep in touch with the parental units.
- Know how to use Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
- Read the Breeze.
- See movies when they come to Grafton—it’ll save you a few bucks each time.
- Take a public speaking class. It will pay off by the time you’ve completed your umpteenth group presentation.
- Wear shower flip-flops. Seriously, just do it.
Urban Legends
- The hanging in the Wilson Hall cupola story has made its way around the JMU campus for more than 50 years. The story goes that a student was indulging in some hanky-panky with a married professor, but eventually the professor dumped her. The student is said to have made her way to the cupola of Wilson Hall and hanged herself. According to the legend, on some nights you can see the woman hanging in the window of the cupola.
- The Little Bo Peep story is an urban legend that has been making its way around college campuses for more than a generation. The rumor revives itself every year or so around Halloween. The JMU version of the myth centers on Eagle Hall. According to the story, a deranged student dressed as Little Bo Peep celebrated Halloween by taking an ax to her suitemates on the sixth floor of the residence hall. In some versions of the tale, the murder weapon becomes a knife. The number of victims varies. Later versions of the story have the killer wearing a “Scream” mask.
- There are tunnels under the Quad which were closed for unknown reasons to the general public. This spurred on the rumors that they were shut down because of murders in the tunnels as well as them being haunted.
Traditions
- For the Technology Junkies - In 2000, JMU hired Karim Altaii, an ISAT professor who decided it was time JMU had its own hovercraft. Two years later, the 550-pound Fenix, the brainchild of ten integrated science, technology, and computer science students, took flight one foot above the ground. The project took place in the ISAT/CS loading area, and the hovercraft can still be viewed today.
- Godwin Field Festival - On Saturday during Homecoming Week, the Godwin Field Festival gets the Dukes all riled up for live entertainment, games, and food. The whole shindig is aimed at pumping students up to watch the JMU football game that follows the Festival.
- Greek Week - April showers bring May flowers and Greek Week, too. During Greek Week, sororities and fraternities participate in a week-long train of events, including Greek Letter and Greek T-Shirt Days, activities like tug-o-war and kickball, a barbeque, a Mr. and Ms. Greek Coronation, and Greek Sing. Greek Sing takes place annually, and includes a mix of song and dance to support a local or national charity.
- Homecoming Week - During late October, Duke spirit abounds for a week of activities on campus. Events include a talent show, parade, football game, a night of entertainment (this year featured alumnist Phil Vassar), Sunset on the Quad, and the Godwin Field Festival.
- James Madison Week - Madison Week hosts a variety of events to bring attention to the JMU campus. Throughout the week, students and visitors can witness the Wreath Laying at the James Madison Statue in front of Varner Hall, attend sessions, listen to speakers and satirical comedians, or watch the Battle for the Madison Cup, a commemorative debate, and a citizens’ forum. For more information on Madison Week, visit www.jmu.edu/birthday.
- JMU Holidayfest - Early each December, students and faculty have the chance to burrow into the Christmas spirit early on. The Holidayfest includes a concert in which seasonal music is performed by the JMU chorale, symphony orchestra, and brass band. Preceding the concert, audience members are invited to sing carols, enjoy hot chocolate and cookies, and witness the lighting of the JMU holiday tree on the campus Quadrangle in front of Wilson Hall.
- MACRoCk - It all started early in 1997, when the first Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference was put on by WXJM, which is the JMU student-run radio station. Now, it’s an annual tradition that brings punk, emo, and hardcore fans from up and down the East Coast. MACRoCk showcases DJs and managers from East Coast college radio stations, roundtable discussions, a label exposition, and many different concerts held in the Harrisonburg area over the course of a weekend. Thousands of music aficionados flock to JMU in the springtime in the name of student-run radio, independent music, independent thought, and independent business.
- Parents’ Weekend - Invite the parental units up for a couple days in mid-October for a little taste of life at Madison. Parents are invited to attend a variety of events, some of which have included: a Dukes’ football game, a 5k Breast Cancer Walk/Run, a Beatles Tribute Show in Wilson Auditorium, and a concert by the JMU School of Music in the Convocation Center. In addition, the campus never looks finer than during Parents’ Weekend; it is the only time of year you will ever see fresh bark chips spread, new flowers planted, tents erected, and cloth napkins and tablecloths displayed in D-Hall.
- Sunset on the Quad - Every year during Homecoming, students gather on the Quad to gorge themselves on complimentary hot dogs and soda, watch the sunset and listen to the University’s a cappella choirs and other entertainment groups perform.
- The Foxhills Block Party - Anybody who’s anybody, anybody who wants to meet everybody, and anybody who wants to get smashed with everybody will be at the block party in Foxhills early in the school year. Usually, it takes place some time within the first month. The structure is typical—girls, guys, more girls, and beer—except that this party is a block long, from one end of the street to the other. To find it, just open your window; you’ll hear the festivities from a mile away. Cops hear it too, and try to tighten the reins more every year.
- The Kissing Rock - In the Normal School days (before JMU was coed), girls would entice their dates to smooch them on the Kissing Rock; it was believed her stone-standing pecking partner would someday be her husband. One might as well give it a try. The Kissing Rock is still located in the middle of the front of the Quad.
- The Must-Dos - Many students believe their stay at JMU would not be complete without four interesting endeavors: streaking the Quad, traversing the tunnels under the Quad, hiking up into the cupola (the Wilson Clock Tower), and swimming in Newman Lake (the lake with the fountain, located by the main entrance to campus).
School Spirit
Plenty of us boast T-shirts reading, “I Bleed Purple,” “JMU Dukes,” or “Madison.” These paraphernalia signify that, although our football team may not always win and our status will never be akin to that of Yale or Harvard, we are proud to be Madison students. Walking on campus, you can feel that students are proud to be one of nearly 15,000 who call JMU home. Turnout at football games, regardless of the scores, is impressive; clubs and organizations are added to the roster every year, in addition to countless more intramural teams. Students come to mingle and to socialize. Madison is a friendly school where students are involved in their campus and community. Whether it is politically, musically, journalistically, athletically, or socially, the bottom line is that JMU kids want to be associated with their University. Each year, competition for admission to James Madison University becomes more intense and more competitive because the school radiates a positive energy that is hard to ignore.
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