Hokie Hope

April 20, 2007 - Last Monday the work week began as others. Windy, rainy and cool following a final reminder of winter, but as the day unfolded we quickly realized that the week would be unlike any other. As the news of a madman’s horrific actions reached us, we were all numbed by the ghastly consequences of his hatred. We were instantly filled with questions. Appropriately, our first thoughts were about our own family members, friends and associates in Blacksburg. Were they safe and physically alright?
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Staff Address

August 18, 2006 - Good morning. Thank you, Susan and Jason for your leadership! Welcome to the start of our 98th academic year. Thank you all for coming. I see both familiar and new faces. If you are new to JMU, welcome. We are excited to have you as part of the Madison team. We look forward to your contributions. We are also excited to have our old (I mean seasoned) employees. A special thanks to our part-time employees. You are critical to the success of the range of services we provide to other staff and to students, and your efforts are also deeply appreciated. All of you are the backbone of this university, and working together as a team we ensure that our academic community runs efficiently and effectively.
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Opening Faculty Meeting

August 26, 2005 - Welcome to the new academic year! I hope your summer has been pleasant, and I know that you join me in looking forward to a great year at James Madison University. To those of you who are new to Madison, a special “welcome.” It is my hope and expectation that you will find this to be a friendly and nurturing environment for your professional development. To those of you who are returning for another year, “welcome back.” To those of you who never left, there is always the midterm break!
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Address to Classified Staff

August 19, 2005 - Good morning and welcome to the new 2005-06 academic year. As Neil Young said in the song, “It is good to see you, or, good to see you again!” First, I would like to thank Jason and Susan for their leadership as well as all the members of the employee advisory committee. I hope your summer has been pleasant, and I know that you join me in looking forward to a great year at James Madison University. Next Wednesday, we will welcome our largest freshman class ever to Madison--3,800 students! Full Text. 

Address to Faculty and Staff

August 15 and 20, 2003 - "Begin with the end in mind." That is what Steven Covey tells us. Know where you are going; know what you want to be. A valuable lesson, because as someone else once said, "If you don't know where you are going, you are sure to end up there."

Shortly after becoming president five years ago, I asked the question: "How do we want the world to describe us at our Centennial birthday in 2008?" Where did we want to end up? Full Text.

James Madison Statue Dedication

September 17, 2002 - Thank you, Michael.  We appreciate your coming from Montpelier to take part in this very special ceremony.  It's always a pleasure to continue the close relationship between Mr. Madison's home and the university that proudly bears his name.

I think Michael would agree that it is an arrangement that has served the mutual interests of our organizations. JMU archeological teams have worked at Montpelier since 1987 and efforts by these teams have been responsible for many exciting discoveries about the history of Montpelier and those who lived on the estate. Full Text. 

Letter to Alumni, Parents, and Friends

September 2002
Dear Alumni, Parents of Students and Friends,

Those of us whose lives are directly connected with higher education have two New Year's celebrations annually. Like everyone else, we salute the passing of one year and welcome the next as December 31st becomes January 1st. But we at JMU have a second New Year - one that falls in late August or early September as the new school year begins. It is annually a literal rebirth for the University as thousands of bright young men and women return to our campus, eager for the knowledge and wisdom they will gain from our dedicated faculty. Full Text.

A Time of Caring, Response to September 11

September 16, 2001 - t is very gratifying to see so many of you here this afternoon. It is important that we come together to support and comfort those who need our love and friendship, those who are among us, and those we will never meet. We are individuals with personal needs, but it has been evident all week in gatherings like this one that we can come together as a community to help one another.

The time will come for us to determine how we will respond to the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Full Text. 

Address to Faculty

August 24, 2001 - Good morning. It is a pleasure to see each of you as we now begin a new academic year.

Welcome to new faculty who are just joining us. To those of you who have been away for the summer, welcome back. To those who never left - as that famous Italian philosopher, Emeril Lagassi, often says: "Bam" and "Let's kick it up a notch!"
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Address to Classified Staff

May 11, 2001 - The first thing I do when I begin to prepare my annual remarks to you is to reconsider what I said to you last year. After all, I wouldn't want to say the same thing twice, would I? I don't know if you will recall or not, but last year I spoke to you about "Dragons be Here," among other topics. Ancient mapmakers assigned the phrase to unknown territories. The point I tried to make was that we shouldn't be afraid of uncharted waters; we shouldn't be afraid of dragons. When I said that, I just didn't know that we would face so many of them this year and that the majority of them would be generated internally. As it turned out, they weren't so much dragons, as they were diversions. Events or actions that diverted our attention and our energy from our primary objectives. Full Text. 

Greater Madison Fall Banquet

October 12, 2000 - Let me begin tonight where the University's year began, the opening weekend. The relationship between the university and the Harrisonburg community is extremely important to me. I am not a CEO who just came in from LA or Miami with no ties to the Harrisonburg. I have been in Harrisonburg my entire professional life and it is painful to consider the deterioration in relationships that transpired this year. As members of this community and as supporters of the university, I want to assure you that we are working within the university and with the city not only to avert a replay of this fall, but also to promote a healthier relationship in general. Full Text.

Inaugural Address

September 17, 1999 - Lt. Governor Hager, members of the General Assembly, Rector Harrell, members of the Board of Visitors, other members of the platform party, special greeters, delegates from sister institutions, distinguished guests, faculty, staff, students, and friends: Good morning! After entering to the welcome of Gabriel's trumpets I fully expected St. Peter to be an official greeter! It is wonderful to have so many of you participating in this day in the life of James Madison University. I am particularly pleased to welcome the presidents of other colleges and universities. Thank you for coming.

Marcel Marceau, the famous French mime, wrote, I am sure not spoke, "Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words." I suppose it is fortunate that I have prepared remarks to share today, because the words in my mind are most assuredly overtaken by the emotions in my heart. Full Text. 

Centennial Commission, December 10, 1998

December 10, 1998 - First, I want to say that my preference, in keeping with the approach we would like to take with this meeting, is that I share somewhat informally what I would like this Commission to accomplish. However, this is a significant event in the life of the University and we want to share my introduction, and ultimately your work, with other members of the JMU community through the website created for the Commission. With that preamble, let me share the following prepared remarks.
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