Madison inaugurates sixth president, Jonathan R. Alger
With all the pomp and pageantry worthy of such an occasion, James
Madison University inaugurated Jonathan R. Alger as the sixth president in its
105-year history during a ceremony Friday morning at the JMU Convocation Center
that drew thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, community
members, local officials and state dignitaries.
During his inaugural address, President Alger expressed his gratitude
for the vision and leadership of his predecessors, each of whom “opened the doors
of opportunity” for generations of Madison students. “Indeed, opening doors has
been a theme at this institution ever since our founding,” he said.
Drawing on feedback and experiences from his nationwide listening
tour with various stakeholders framed around the simple question “Why Madison?”,
President Alger outlined his goals for making JMU the national model for the
engaged university in the 21st century and encouraged everyone in the Madison
family to “dream big together.”
“We are a community committed to learning, with a conviction
that all people are interconnected,” Alger said, adding that this combination
of learning and engagement is captured in JMU’s mission statement to prepare
students to be “educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and
meaningful lives.”
As Madison has evolved from a teacher’s school for women to
a liberal arts college to a highly respected comprehensive university, it has
held fast to its core values of faculty-student interaction, teaching and
scholarship, interdisciplinary collaboration and a strong tradition of public
service, Alger said.
Going forward, President Alger highlighted the areas in
which JMU will invest its energy and resources, beginning with the Madison
Future Commission, a group of 150 faculty, staff, students, alumni and members
of the Board of Visitors who will shape a new strategic plan that will guide
JMU through the year 2020. “This process will include a hard look at the
serious realities we face, including new educational technologies, changing
demographics, our funding model and issues of access and affordability,” he
said.
Alger also emphasized the launch of a new initiative, “The
Madison Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action.” Beginning this summer, all
incoming JMU students will be taught a set of ethical reasoning skills that
they can apply in their personal, professional and civic lives. This same set
of skills will be infused in General Education courses, academic majors,
residence halls and other co-curricular experiences.
In addition, as the university named for the father of the
U.S. Constitution and an advocate for the civil society, JMU will strive to
model the kind of civil discourse needed for a well-functioning democratic republic,
Alger said. “As a society, too often we seem unable to have thoughtful
discussions on the major challenges we face. This must change.” Toward that
end, JMU will reinvigorate its relationship with Montpelier, the Madison family
estate in nearby Orange County, to bring more attention to the life and legacy
of James Madison and his wife, Dolley.
“Imagine the societal effect of graduating over 4,000
enlightened citizens annually who possess ethical reasoning skills and
understand the founding principles of Madison,” Alger said. “We can be that
institution.”
Echoing concerns raised during the listening tour, Alger
said JMU will also commit itself to increasing diversity on campus, not just in
race, ethnicity and gender, but also in socioeconomic background, age, religion
and disability.
Finally, JMU will partner with the surrounding community to
ensure that its programs and services are widely available, and will strengthen
its culture of philanthropy, beginning with the upcoming comprehensive
fundraising campaign. “We must develop new revenue sources if we are to succeed
on the national and international level to which we aspire,” he said.
Elected officials, former colleagues and members of the JMU
family offered Alger their congratulations and well wishes Friday.
“This is a very special place,” said Gov. Bob McDonnell,
whose daughter, Rachel, graduated from JMU in 2010. “It has always been, and
will always be, not only a place of academic excellence, but also one of
student-centered focus. You have built a warm learning environment where young
people from all over Virginia and all over the country want to come to learn
from excellent faculty. They feel cared for and appreciated and loved and they
know that people want them to succeed.
“President Alger understands the enormous potential and
opportunity for this university to grow and expand in its programs and create
new access to the American Dream,” McDonnell said.
Kathleen Curry Santora, chief executive of the National
Association of Colleges and University Attorneys, of which Alger served as past
president of the board of directors, called JMU’s new leader “one of the best
listeners I’ve ever met. …. He listens, he is accessible and he cares deeply
about the people with whom he works. And his actions are informed by values.”
Richard McCormick, president emeritus at Rutgers University,
said as the author of the Supreme Court brief that would become Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor’s historic opinion on universities’ use of affirmative action, Alger
has helped ensure that “the doors to colleges remain open to men and women for
whom they might otherwise be closed.”
Community leaders Ted Byrd, the mayor of Harrisonburg, and
Fred Eberly, chairman of the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, also
offered their congratulations to President Alger, as did members of the JMU
family, including Alumni Association President Jamie Jones Miller (’99); Matt Klein,
president of the Student Government Association; Richard and Tina Turner of the
JMU Parents Council; David McGraw, speaker of the Faculty Senate; and Christina
Landes on behalf of JMU staff.
“So let us go forward from here confident with the knowledge
that we can accomplish great things together,” Alger concluded. “The James
Madison University of the future will not be identical to what we see today. We
must be prepared to understand and adapt to a rapidly changing world. But we
should also recognize that we are well positioned for this moment. Let’s take
time to reflect on what is most important in our lives, and let’s dream big together.”
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Jim Heffernan (’96)
March 15, 2013
