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Winter 2008 Madison
Talk about showing up
As in recent years, town and campus traffic slowed to a crawl for Homecoming and Family Weekend. This phenomenon has become more prevalent recently, a symbol of both the growth and the gravity of Madison as a community of increasingly farflung and engaged people. Harrisonburg is mostly understanding about the inconvenience. People know it's important to alumni and parents to make the trip back to Harrisonburg so they can reconnect with one another and celebrate Madison in person and together. To show up. That's life in a university town. And life for a university.
For the Madison visit of Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, traffic ground to another virtual standstill. On the International Day of Peace, nobody could get to Super WalMart in fewer than 45 minutes. Few cared. The Nobel Peace Prize winner had helped to end a cruelly racist South African regime at inestimable danger to himself. Talk about showing up.
Addressing the 7,000 or so people who packed into the Convocation Center, Tutu spoke of his faith in the power of goodness to meet the world's challenges. That's what showing up does. And what Be the Change means.
The turnout magnified the sense of togetherness and the meaningfulness of Tutu's appearance. The same can be said for those who ventured through the rain to Wilson Hall Auditorium to see and hear the School of Music's Homecoming performance of Portraits in Bluestone.
Tutu's words are in this issue and online. So too is the Performing Arts Center groundbreaking ceremony. Portraits in Bluestone will soon be available to download. Madison will bring you more coverage of Homecoming in the next issue.
While JMU can offer you the downloads, the sense of community must be experienced in person. Can an MP3 give you goosebumps? Or bring you to tears? Being there in person sure can.
These days it's easy to conclude that you don't have to show up anywhere anymore. To really appreciate life, and the Madison Experience in particular, yes, you do. For 100 years, Madison has been about engagement. The first step has always been showing up.
Pam Brock
Executive Editor
Winter 2008 Madison
Ready for download
Download the pdfs to the Winter 2008 issue of Madison, the university magazine for alumni, parents, friends and the campus community. Find the table of contents on Pages 2 and 3. It’s your guide to the entire issue.