The Duke Club is taking to the road this spring. Duke Club staff, coaches and student-athletes will visit 10 cities during the annual Spring Tour. Come hear coaches and guest speakers while you connect with old friends and make new ones. Get the scoop on upcoming JMU sports schedules and meet student-athletes. Collect JMU memorabilia through raffles and auctions and enjoy good food and fun. Visit the Duke Club Web site for complete details.

Duke Club Spring Tour Schedule:

• April 11 / Central Virginia
• April 13 / Northern Valley
• April 17 / Roanoke
• April 22 / Shenandoah Valley
• April 27 / Northern Virginia
• April 28 / Fredericksburg Golf Tournament
• May 3 / Metro D.C.
• May 4 / Richmond
• May 11 / Baltimore
• May 24 / Hampton Roads

Auction winner Jim Riley with JMU football head coach Mickey Matthews, former linebacker Trey Townsend and quarterback Justin Rascati at the 2005 Richmond Spring Tour.

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Greater Madison will host the third in its lecture series, "Partnering with the Community," April 5 from 8 to 10 a.m. in the Board of Visitors Conference Room (Festival Center). JMU Vice President for Student Affairs Mark Warner ('79, '81M, '85Ed.S.) and JMU's Community Service-Learning Director Rich Harris ('77) will discuss "Engaging in Service." Greater Madison has updated its mission to include a more active role in facilitating communications between the university and the community. The tentative plan is to hold a Partnering with the Community meeting every other month and cover topics including: supporting the local economy, promoting education and health, celebrating Madison's Centennial and university updates from JMU President Linwood H. Rose. For more information about Greater Madison, please e-mail JMU Director of Parent Relations Sherry King at kingsf@jmu.edu.

The Baltimore/Annapolis alumni chapter is up and running again. "We're still growing," says chapter President Lauren Bronich-Hall ('98). "The span of land that we cover as a chapter is quite large. Right now, we're focusing on the Baltimore-Metro area, although our chapter includes Annapolis. We hope to be more inclusive and plan to have a crabfeast in the Annapolis area." The chapter seeks to be a resource for area alums to "rekindle our great memories of JMU," adds Bronich-Hall. Of the 2,000 alumni in the Baltimore area, 20 have regularly attended the sporting events, happy hours and Relay for Life events held thus far. They have attended the annual Alumni Leadership Conference on campus and a Madison on the Move event, an alumni association program that aims to connect alumni with their alma mater by showcasing an outstanding faculty member, such as Phil Bigler ('74, '76M), director of the James Madison Center. In the works are: happy-hour outings, an alumni event before the JMU-Towson baseball game in May, an Orioles game outing in July and a crabfeast at Sandy Point Park this summer. If you are able to assist in organizing the crabfeast, contact Alison Pardalis at alison_pardalis@hotmail.com or Lauren Bronich-Hall at lbronic1@jhmi.edu. "We're hoping to expand beyond our happy-hour events and include more family-oriented and networking events," says Bronich-Hall. "However, the ability to expand is dependent on its members." The chapter has an enthusiastic leadership committee consisting of Bronich-Hall, Webmaster Rebekah Porter ('03), happy-hour coordinator Jason Heiserman ('99M) and many other Dukes. Get involved: visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JMU_Baltimore/.
By Darcie Roberge ('06)

Please join the Metro Dukes March 4 as chapter volunteers help out at the D.C. Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C. Volunteers will help prepare the 4,000 meals that the kitchen donates daily to local community agencies. Kitchen tasks include chopping vegetables, sorting fresh produce, mixing salads, portioning meals, etc. No experience is necessary. The group will meet at 8:45 a.m. and will be done around noon. If you are interested in helping, please e-mail Amy Leidhesier at aimbud@yahoo.com.

The Greater Chicago Area Alumni Chapter held it's inaugural "Purple Thursday" Happy Hour Feb. 9 at Tilli's in Lincoln Park. The event, which will become a monthly event, was a "great success," says Danielle Turley ('00). Purple Thursday Happy Hours will be held on the second Thursday of each month at various neighborhoods throughout the Chicago area, so be sure to check the Chicago Dukes Web site for the most up-to-date information and schedules. Chicago Dukes chapter President Raminder Chadha ('93) says, "2006 is already looking to be a fantastic year for Chicago-area alums as we have solidified a date for a Cubs game and an August "Welcome to Chicago" event for new grads that includes volleyball and a barbecue. There are a few service-oriented events planned, as well." The next Purple Thursday Happy Hour will be March 9 at 7 p.m. at Piece in Wicker Park. And, Chi-Towners, get your dancing shoes on. The chapter will host a Salsa Night at Buzz Club in the River North neighborhood March 22. Free admission and one free drink ticket are available to alumni who RSVP by March 17. Visit the Chicago Dukes Web site at www.chicagodukes.com for more information.

Chicago Dukes Lauren Keenan ('03), Danielle Turley ('00) and Lauren King ('02) enjoy the inaugural "Purple Thursday" Happy Hour at Tilli's Feb. 9.

Kathy and Mike Thomas celebrate the $1 million gift to the School of Music with JMU Associate Vice President for Development Weston Hatfield (center) at the Watergate Hotel before the faculty concert at the Kennedy Center in January.

In addition to the JMU community honoring its eponym on James Madison Day, March 15, the university will also announce its first-ever capital campaign, the Madison Century Campaign. College of Business alumni have been gearing up for the campaign by creating a committee to assist in fundraising, chaired by four CoB alumni. Mike ('76, '77M) and Kathy Thomas ('78) and Craig ('80) and Kimberly Bram ('80) are excited to be a part of the CoB committee. "We have always had a soft spot for JMU," says Craig Bram. "Beyond finding each other, JMU's academics were great and what a beautiful place to hang out. Spanky's was around back then, and we had a great time tubing in the winter on the hill at Rockingham Hall and running on trails across Interstate 81 where the new complex is located."

Mike and Kathy Thomas met while both were resident advisers in Shorts Hall, one of the two co-ed dorms on campus in 1976. Mike, who has served on the CoB Executive Advisory Committee, was very active in the business school, intramural sports and residence hall programs. "JMU is where Kathy and I met, where many of our very closest friends still to this day were made and where we got the education and experiences that set us up to be successful in life," he says. "With a daughter now at JMU, it is fun to hear about certain programs in Wilson Hall, the Quad or Reddish Knob, and know that these were all part of our experiences so many years ago."

The three main goals of CoB's Madison Century Campaign Committee include: "reconnecting as many alumni to JMU as possible with outreach and the new Kinterra initiative jump-started by the EAC; increasing private giving to a level commensurate with the stature of JMU; and preserving the Madison Experience that was so important to us as students—the excellent student-to-faculty ratios, top-notch faculty ... a quality campus filled with curious, energetic, personable leaders for tomorrow."

Craig and Kimberly Bram live in Richmond, and have two children, a daughter in college in South Carolina and a son in high school. Mike and Kathy Thomas live in Reston and have four daughters, one at JMU and another applying. "As people gain awareness of the state of private giving," says Mike, "the opportunity to see JMU reach beyond even what it has become today is really exciting."

By Katie Fitzgerald ('06)

The Tidewater Chapter marks the third anniversary of its "Third Thursday" Happy Hour in March. An estimated 100 alumni have attended at least one of the 30-plus gatherings, resulting in several business networks, many new friendships, at least one job offer and a few love connections and marriage. Location details are available on the Tidewater Chapter Web site. Additional Tidewater Chapter events include an "edu-WINE-cation—JMU style." JMU's director of Hospitality and Tourism Management Brett W. Horton will talk about matching foods and wines April 27 at the Towne Bank Conference Room. His presentation features a wine tasting and will be preceded by a social hour. Attendance is limited, so RSVP online at the JMU alumni Web site event calendar. The chapter's third annual beach party is June 10 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Ocean View Fishing Pier in Norfolk. Admission is $22 for adults and $6 for children ages 6 to 12. Children 5 and under are admitted free. Tickets must be purchased by June 7. For more information, contact Kelly Stefanko at (757) 664-4047 or e-mail TidewaterChpt@alumni.jmu.edu. Or, register at www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/JMD/eventscalendar.html. Prize donations are needed for the beach party. Do you work for, own or know of a business that would enjoy the promotional opportunity of a sponsorship or prize donation? The beach raffle is the biggest fundraiser for the Tidewater Chapter Scholarship. Be part of it by contacting TidewaterChpt@yahoo.com.

JMU alumni are invited to a reception on Capitol Hill March 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 1302, Longworth Office Building. Visit with friends and classmates, meet JMU President Linwood H. Rose and enjoy light refreshments. This is the fourth annual event sponsored by the Capitol Hill Alumni group and the Metro Dukes Alumni Chapter. For more information or to RSVP, please contact: JMU Associate Director for Institute for Infrastructure & Information Assurance Ken Newbold ('01) at newbolkf@jmu.edu.

Elliott Sadler, driver of the Nextel Cup No. 38 M&M's Ford Fusion, clinched a second victory in one of the Daytona 500 qualifying races—the Gatorade Duels. Sadler's win is the first ever for NASCAR's new Ford Fusion. "Man, this is a great feeling," Sadler said after the victory. "To get Ford Fusion's first win in NASCAR is great and something I will always remember." Sadler played basketball at JMU under then-head coach Lefty Driesell. After he injured his knee, Sadler turned to Busch Series racing in 1997. In 1999 he made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut and got his first win at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2001. In February, Sadler finished fourth in the Daytona 500, and 23rd in California Speedways' Auto Club 500. Next time you're catching up on NASCAR news on the SPEED channel, look for John Roberts ('88), host of NASCAR's "Victory Lane."

Elliott Sadler

Janice S. Owens

Janice Stiffler Owens ('81) of Macomb, Ill., presented a gallery talk in February at the Buchanan Center for the Arts, where her work is on display through March 18. The Monmouth Branch of American Association of University Women hosted the talk. Owens draws from nature and the environment in her artistic process, and she creates assemblages from natural and found objects, forming symbols, which reflect her cultural and ethnic heritage as well as life experiences. Owens grew up on the East Coast and earned a bachelor's degree in art education from Morgan State College. She also earned a master's degree in studio art and an MFA in painting and drawing from JMU. Since moving to Illinois in 1981, Owens has been employed at Western Illinois University. She is director of University Scholarship Activities and coordinates WIU's Minority Achievement Program to assist in the attraction and retention of minority students with high academic achievement potential. As scholarship director, she organizes and monitors all scholarship awards to ensure proper recognition for outstanding students. She is a member of the National Academic Advisory Association and the Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education.

Dr. John E. Davis, professor emeritus of biology, died Feb. 3. He taught at Madison from 1968 to 1986. He graduated from the Kentucky Military Institute in 1939 and attended Randolph Macon College before entering the U.S. Army Medical Corps in World War II. He served as a surgical technician with the 167th General Hospital in France. After the war, Davis attended the University of Virginia, earning his B.A., M.A. and doctorate in philosophy. He joined the Madison faculty in 1968 as chair of the department of biology. He was subsequently named provost of the college, responsible for the development of all instructional programs, curricula and courses of study. He later returned to full-time teaching, before retiring in 1986. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Katherine Smith Davis of Harrisonburg.

March 15—James Madison Day and Campaign for the Madison Century announcement, www.jmu.edu/birthday/

April 5—Greater Madison Community Series, JMU Vice President for Student Affairs Mark Warner, 8-10 p.m., JMU Board of Visitors Conference Room

April 7-9—Board of Visitors Meeting, Parents Council Meeting and Spring Reunion Weekend for the classes of 1966, 1961, 1956 and all Bluestone Society members. During the weekend, the Class of 1956 will be inducted into the Bluestone Society. Members of the classes of 1957, 1958 and 1959 will also be invited.

April 21-23—JMU Black Alumni Reunion Weekend; Information: chapter President Vanessa Evans, vevans26@earthlink.net

May 6—Commencement, Bridgeforth Stadium, 9 a.m.

Sept. 2—First home football game against Bloomsburg State (Penn.), www.jmusports.com

Oct. 7—Family Weekend, www.jmu.edu/parents

Oct. 20-21—Homecoming 2006, www.jmu.edu/homecoming. Reserve your hotel accommodations early. If you would like to participate in JMU's annual Homecoming Gala, please submit your name and address to the Office of Alumni Relations by e-mailing alumni_link@jmu.edu (please put Homecoming Gala 2006 in the subject heading).

For more detailed information on any of the above listed events, please call the JMU Office of Alumni Relations, toll free 1-(888)JMU-ALUM. (Also visit www.jmu.edu/alumni/calendar/index.html.)

A close encounter with Oscar-winning actor and Oxford University student Richard Dreyfuss and a 12-college debate on teaching intelligent design in biology classes will be featured at the annual celebration of JMU's founding and President Madison's birthday in March. Dreyfuss, best known for the films "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and his Best Actor performance in "The Goodbye Girl," will speak at several events at JMU March 15. Currently a senior associate member studying democracy at Oxford's St. Antony's College, Dreyfuss is an admirer of James Madison and strong supporter of education (who portrayed teachers in "Mr. Holland's Opus" and the TV series "The Education of Max Bickford"). He is to speak at a luncheon for scholarship recipients and donors, deliver the Madison reading at the James Madison Day ceremony and judge the finals of the Madison Cup debate. At least 12 universities—Cornell, Yale, George Mason, Wake Forest, Towson, Richmond, Maryland, Mary Washington, Pittsburgh, Virginia and JMU—will field debate teams to vie for the Madison Cup to argue for and against the resolution: "That the theory of intelligent design, in both its historical and its contemporary versions, has a proper role in America's high-school biology classes."

If you cannot be on campus for Madison Week, be sure to go to the JMU Web site to view many of the events online. Other Madison Week events, listed below, are free and open to the public:

TUESDAY, MARCH 14

• 11 a.m., Room 404, Taylor Hall—"George Mason: An Uncommon American Hero," Dr. Robert Hawkes, George Mason University
• 7 p.m., Memorial Hall Auditorium—"Intelligent Design," Dr. John A. Campbell, University of Memphis

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15

• 8:30 and 11 a.m., Taylor Hall—Preliminary debates in the James Madison Commemorative Debate and Citizen Forum
• 10:30 a.m., James Madison statue—Wreath-Laying Ceremony
• 2:30 p.m., Wilson Hall Auditorium—Madison Day Lecture, Michael Beschloss, historian and author
• 5 p.m., Wilson Hall Auditorium—Final round of the James Madison Commemorative Debate and Citizen Forum; presentation of The Madison Cup, approximately 6:30 p.m.

The Montpelier Wind Quintet, JMU's resident woodwind quintet, will perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 15. Beth Chandler, flute, Michele Kirkdorffer, oboe, Janice L. Minor, clarinet, Susan N. Barber, bassoon, and Abigail Pack, horn, will present works by Gyorgy Ligeti, Lalo Schifrin, Carl Nielsen and Malcolm Arnold in the Terrace Theater. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased by calling the Kennedy Center box office at (800)444-1324 (toll free). For more information, check the Web site at www.kennedy-center.org. The concert is the third in a nine-concert series at the Kennedy Center showcasing outstanding musical talent at JMU. Last September, violinist Wanchi Huang and pianist Gabriel Dobner performed in a concert that included the world premiere of a composition written by JMU composer Jason Haney. In February, Dobner and Lori Piitz performed piano four-hand compositions. In the next two years, student musicians in such ensembles as JMU's Wind Symphony and Jazz Ensemble will perform at the Kennedy Center.

More than 300 Madison students will spend their March 6-10 Spring Break in sunny locations on both U.S. coasts, on Caribbean islands and in Mexico and Central America. The JMU students will embark on Alternative Spring Break adventures that focus on helping people living without homes, recovering from the ravages of hurricanes, settling into new homes, or dealing with disabilities or physical or mental illness. Other trips focus on environmental issues and several involve working with children and youth. The 300 students—divided into 23 teams, each with two student co-leaders and at least one faculty or staff "learning partner"—are each paying $220 for domestic trips and up to $1,200 for trips requiring airfare for service experiences designed to connect students with community members while enhancing personal growth, mutual awareness and lifelong learning. The Alternative Spring Break program at JMU has become so popular that a lottery was required this year to determine student participation, said Lorelei Esbenshade, associate director of Community Service Learning.

Professors from Chinese universities could be teaching and observing Madison classes and programs as early as next fall, and Chinese students could soon follow. A proposed agreement between several Chinese universities and JMU on exchanging faculty and students is among topics to be explored by three faculty travelling to China. Dr. Jerry Benson, dean of the College of Integrated Science and Technology, Dr. Robert Reid, dean of the College of Business, and Dr. Ping Wang, associate professor of computer information systems, left on a 10-day trip to China Feb. 25 and return March 8. The trip will feature visits to six universities that appear to have similar missions to that of JMU. In addition to JMU hosting Chinese students, the JMU representatives will look into the possibility of JMU students studying there. "China is reaching out at this point in time in terms of their economic growth and where they're moving as a country, so the timing seemed right," said Benson. Wang, with 20 JMU students, spent time in China over the past two summers and researched universities he thought would be good exchange partners with JMU.

The JMU Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, in cooperation with Blue Ridge Clean Fuels, Virginia Clean Cities, Virginia Tech and Southern States Energy Board, will present the 2006 Virginia Biodiesel Conference, "Small-Scale Production and Use" at the Festival Conference and Student Center. For more information, go to the conference Web site at www.cisat.jmu.edu/biodiesel/.

JMU will host the fourth annual Undergraduate Research Conference of student research presentations and posters of the 12-college Colonial Academic Alliance, March 31 and April 1. The CAA C STARS (Colonial Student Annual Research Symposium) was previously hosted by George Mason University in 2003, the University of Delaware in 2004 and Hofstra University in 2005. For more information on the conference, visit the Web site at http://cit.jmu.edu/acadaffairs/caa/.

With the goal of collecting one item of food for every student enrolled—that's 16,546 cans or boxes—a campuswide food drive got under way at JMU Feb. 28. The campaign, "Hunger Knows No Boundaries," runs through April 26. The collected food stuffs will be donated to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which serves the hungry in nine cities and 25 counties in Virginia. For more information, visit the Web site at Hunger Knows No Boundaries.

The men's basketball team opens Colonial Athletic Association Tournament play against Northeastern March 3 at the Richmond Coliseum. The game will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will be among four first-round tournament contests. Northeastern, which is in its first season of CAA play, is the tournament's No. 5 seed and JMU, the 12th seed. Northeastern begins postseason play with a 17-10 overall record and a 12-6 CAA mark; JMU is 5-22 overall and 3-15 in the CAA.

The women's basketball team, which has won more than 20 games this season and is 12-0 at home, will play in the CAA women's tournament in Fairfax, Va., March 8-11. The JMU women's team (21-5, 13-4 CAA) ends its regular season March 2 at home against the tournament's No. 1 seed, Old Dominion.

The CAA, through College Sports Direct TV, is making available for Internet viewing the opening and quarterfinal rounds of the CAA men's basketball tournament and all of the games in the CAA women's tournament at http://caa.xosn.com/.

Former Madison and professional football standout Charles Haley is among the inductees for the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2006. Haley was JMU's first Division I-AA first-team All-America while playing for the Dukes from 1982 to 1985, and was the first player to be a member of five winning Super Bowl teams while with the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. His induction will take place at the hall's 35th annual awards dinner April 22 at the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel & Waterfront Conference Center.

Games between the last two Division I-AA national champions, meetings with teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference during consecutive seasons and the renewal of series with a pair of in-state opponents highlight JMU's next three football schedules announced by Athletics Director Jeff Bourne. JMU, the 2004 Division I-AA champion, will play 2005 champion Appalachian State this fall in the opener of a two-game, home-and-home series. The Dukes will face ACC members North Carolina and Duke in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and they will renew a series with Virginia Military Institute in 2006 and one with Liberty in 2008.

Madison sophomore Braden Gellenthien set a national collegiate record at the Virginia State Indoor Archery Championships Feb. 25. He shot a 597 out of a possible 600 points to win the men's compound title. Sophomore teammate Jedd Greshock finished second, scoring a 585, while Michael Ashton finished third with a 573. Freshman Stephen Schwade finished fourth with a 571, which gave JMU the top four finishers, as well as the men's compound team title. The Dukes defeated Penn College 1,755-1,664.

Madison junior Lesley Dickinson has been named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III Women's Basketball Second Team. Dickinson is a psychology major with minors in business and criminal justice. She has a 3.38 grade-point average. Athletes for the team were nominated from Division I schools in District III, which includes Virginia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Members of the sponsoring organization, the College Sports Information Directors (CoSIDA), from the district selected the team.

The Madison softball team was picked second in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason coaches poll after posting a 28-27 mark last season. Hofstra was picked first by the eight CAA softball coaches and received seven of the eight first place votes (coaches are not allowed to vote for their team) and a total of 49 points. The Dukes received the other first place vote and tallied 40 total points while Towson followed behind in third place with 34 points. Delaware was picked to finish fourth with 30 points while newcomer Georgia State (23 points) and Drexel (22 points) round out the top five. UNC Wilmington (14 points) and George Mason (11 points) were picked sixth and seventh respectively. Also, Madison softball coach Katie Flynn was appointed to the Division I Softball Coaches Committee. The committee is comprised of only 10 members, which include four coaches and six administrators from across the country.

Freshman Russell Smyth won the 200-yard breaststroke at the four-day 21st Colonial Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by George Mason University, where JMU finished fourth overall. Senior Brad Burton, sophomore Brian Freitag and junior Josh Fowler earned major points for Madison at the championships. Freitag earned his second silver medal in the individual medley, adding a second-place in the 400-yard distance to his 200-yard finish. Burton scored 17 points for the Dukes with his second-place showing in the 100-yard butterfly. Fowler finished third in the 100-yard distance of his specialty, the backstroke. On the women's team, junior Allison Keel won the 200-yard freestyle that put the JMU women's team into fourth place. Keel claimed her first CAA title with a winning and school-record time of one minute and 51.30 seconds. Keel also anchored the Dukes' second-place and JMU-record setting 200-yard freestyle relay with a 50-yard split time of 23.23, a time that breaks her own school record of 23.48 set in last year's CAA meet. Senior Christine Filak, freshman Meghan Heil and senior Megan Loucks joined Keel on the relay unit that will go into the JMU annals with a time of 1:35.29, bettering the previous record of 1:35.61 that stood for 13 years.