Madison Week




Governor Kaine Draws Parallels Between JMU and Virginia Success

By Janet Smith, Office of Public Affairs

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine followed in the footsteps of his gubernatorial predecessors to speak at a major event in the life of James Madison University when he delivered the Centennial address Friday, March 14, in the JMU Convocation Center.

Speaking before an audience of approximately 4,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends that filled the center, Kaine praised the university's contributions to the state and presented a self-described "simple" history lesson to illustrate parallels between Virginia's success and JMU's success.

"This century of James Madison that we celebrate today is a powerful, powerful time. It coincides with the greatest period of ascension and growth in the 400 years of this commonwealth."

"The path of this university is sky rocketing," Kaine said. "It's been an accelerated path, a path of opportunity, for 100 years. But I think recent history, the last 10 or 20 years at the university, have shown that the sky is the limit for James Madison. The work that is being done academically on this campus, the service that staff, faculty and students perform, the work that's being done in tandem on economic development projects, such as SRI, just show that you are on an unstoppable path of great progress."

Such was not always the case in Harrisonburg or the rest of Virginia, Kaine explained in his brief history lecture.

"I'm going to tell you a little bit of a story about the path of James Madison's 100 years and the path of the commonwealth in the 100 years that James Madison has been so ably serving our students," Kaine said. "It's a story that doesn't have a wonderful start but it's a story that has a great ending, although more chapters are to be written in the future."

"In 1908, educational opportunities in the commonwealth were nothing to be proud of," said Kaine. "Even through the 1950s, Virginia had one of the lowest attendance rates of school-age children actually going to K through 12 schools of any state in the nation. Our higher ed attendance rate was significantly less than the national average in 1908 and that persisted through the 1960s and '70s.

"And it would not surprise you to know that the economy of Virginia in 1908 was also in pretty tough shape," the governor said. "Virginia had been a leader economically and politically in the earlier years of our nation, but by the time of the Civil War and through the Reconstruction period, the economy of Virginia was really lagging far behind the economy of other states. Again, this persisted through the middle of the century."

In the 1950s, Kaine said, Virginia's per capital income was about 40th in the nation.

"Let me tell you about Virginia today," said Kaine. "Far from being a state where education is not valued, our K-12 schools in Virginia have some of the best test scores and AP performance, SAT performance. When the schools are ranked, an unusually high number of them are schools from Virginia. We have come a long way in higher education because of what James Madison has done and some of the other schools. We are no longer a state that has an adult population with higher education of less than the national average. We are the only Southern state whose higher education average is greater than the national average, significantly greater than the national average. We have a thriving economy."

Today, Virginia ranks fifth in the nation in per capital income.

Kaine pointed to two factors to answer his question: "How did we go from laggard to leader in the century of James Madison's existence?"

The first key development was that Virginia finally recognized the value of education. Although Thomas Jefferson had urged public education as early as the 1780s, the commonwealth was slow to embrace his advice, Kaine said.

Noting that 370,000 Virginians are currently attending institutions of public higher education in the state, Kaine also pointed to investments in K-12 education as critical to Virginia's economic success.

The second factor Kaine ascribed to Virginia's success was the breaking down of barriers that prevented women and minorities from achieving personal goals. He noted that of the 370,000 people attending public higher education institutions, 57 percent are women. "This has been a remarkable century of growth and opportunity for all," Kaine said.

"We have to continue to invest our time, talent and treasure in the educational institutions from early childhood education to K-12 education to a robust higher-education sector in this commonwealth. And in that, James Madison is leading the way."

Kaine cited SRI's decision to locate an east campus in Rockingham County as an example of JMU's leadership. SRI officials told Kaine "they liked the fact that in the science curriculum here at JMU there is a great emphasis on integration of the sciences."

The governor said that work remains to break down barriers along gender and racial lines, but also in global terms. "We have to continue to break down barriers," he said. "The barriers we have to break down are the barriers between us and the rest of the world."

"The commonwealth of Virginia is in a very, very good place right now and it is in a good place because of educational institutions like JMU who are leading us to more prosperous and hopeful future," Kaine said. "I'm thrilled to be with you today and I wish you all the best on this wonderful occasion."

Kaine was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from JMU. One of his predecessors, Governor Charles Robb, was the recipient of the university's first honorary degree, which was bestowed at JMU's 75th anniversary convocation in 1983.

Thomas A. Dingledine, whose family traces its JMU association to the early 20th century, also received an honorary degree - a doctor of humanities degree. Dingledine, a real estate project investor, accepted the award on behalf of his family.

JMU's Centennial was acknowledged by the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County with official resolutions. Representatives designated to speak on behalf of JMU alumni, faculty, staff and students extended congratulations on the occasion during the Centennial Convocation.

The third movement of "Portraits in Bluestone" composed by JMU alumnus Brian Balmages was performed by the JMU Chorale, JMU Wind Symphony and JMU Symphony Orchestra Strings.