Etched in bluestone: The Class of 1976 comes home to Madison

50th-year reunion — a weekend of reminiscing and rekindling

News

When the Class of 1976 returned to James Madison University the first weekend of May, a lot had changed: new buildings, repurposed residence halls and a reimagined library. But something unmistakable remained.

SUMMARY: Fifty years after graduating from what was then Madison College, the Class of 1976 returned to a transformed campus and found that some things never change.

"A lot has changed in 50 years… Some things, however, remain the same: The friendships we build and the memories we create."

Ceremony opening, 2026 Bluestone Society Induction

Spring Reunion Weekend brought dozens of 1976 graduates back to Harrisonburg for a weekend of rediscovery. Events included a sneak peek inside the nearly complete Carrier Library renovation, a tour through campus, class photos on the Quad, Women for Madison tea party, a class gift unveiling, and induction into the Bluestone Society, a milestone for alumni marking their 50th reunion year.

“It’s absolutely one of our team’s favorite weekends of the year,” said host Paula Polglase (’92, ’96M), director of the JMU Office of Alumni Relations. “We really set this weekend up for you to learn about new places, new spaces, and to be introduced to things you might not know about yet.”

A library reborn

No moment in the weekend generated more awe than the sneak peek inside the new Carrier Library. Due to open this fall, the library has undergone its most significant transformation since it opened in the 1930s and was expanded in the 1970s. The renovation and expansion were supported by donors.

Bluestone reunion attendee, Nancy Moyers and two people to her either side sitting and laughing. — “Seeing the library was like a holiday,” said Nancy Terry Moyers (’76) (center). “It is absolutely gorgeous.”

The Bluestone Reunion group received rare early access. Reunion committee member Nancy Terry Moyers (’76) described two rooms at the front of the original building, carefully restored, and one of the original staircases preserved amid the new construction. “You’ve got the new, and you still have a little bit of what was,” she said.

Past, present and purple

The weekend kicked off with Friday morning’s “Past, Present and Purple” presentation.

A collage of images: top left - two ladies seated, smiling; top right - crowd seated, laughing; bottom right: crowd in rows of tables, their backs facing to the camera, focused on listening to the presenter at the podium. A close up of the presenter at the podium - bottom left. — Lexy Stover (’23) (bottom-left), member of JMU’s Campus History Committee, led a presentation about JMU’s origins: from its 1908 founding as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women, to the Carrier era that transformed it into the JMU of today.

Lexy shared hidden stories:

The first student, 16-year-old Beatrice Marable, a farmer’s daughter, was only able to attend through a scholarship.
Walker Lee, the early campus staffer, knew every student’s name better than the president did.
The two literary societies' colors were yellow and violet, and eventually became JMU’s official gold and purple.
The Quad’s signature bluestone was quarried right on campus.
JMU’s basketball team got its name because President Duke bought the first uniforms.

Biggest of all: the name “James Madison University” only became official in 1977, just one year after this class graduated from Madison College. For many in the room, it reframed everything they thought they knew about where they’d gone to school.

The presentation also reminded the group that some of the most important changes happened while they were students; the full shift to coeducation had only occurred in 1966, and the class of 1976 was among the first to experience Madison as a truly coeducational institution.

A group from the Reunion photographed candidly on a JMU tour — “[JMU] has changed dramatically. Nothing over on the west side was there when we were students,” reflected Jane Gardner Midnight (’76).

The ties that last 50 years

The weekend was as much about each other as it was about the campus.

Janice Frye (’76), one of the reunion committee’s organizers, arrived with the same group of women she’d spent her college years alongside. She said they were strangers freshman year, roommates by sophomore year, and lifelong friends ever since. To make it possible for the women and their spouses to spend the Bluestone weekend together, they rented a house.

Janice and her three friends to her right posing for the camera with Bridgeforth stadium in the background. — “For the last 50 years, we’ve all kept in touch. We’ve been to each other's weddings. We’ve celebrated babies. And now some of us have grandbabies,” said Janice Muse Frye (’76), left, with her close friends of 50 years: Star Livingston Airhart (’76), Marge Gunning Hollohan (’76) and Kathy Reed Holley (‘76) (L-R).

The class also came together in a more tangible way. By Saturday evening, the Class of 1976 had collectively donated $76,308 to JMU as their class gift — a total that continued to climb as Vice President for Philanthropy and Engagement, Nick Langridge (’00, ’07M, ’14Ph.D.) spoke during his remarks. “Paula raced over right before the program started and said, ‘Nick, you have to update your script, because it increased,’” Langridge said jokingly, pen in hand. “I’m really good at zeros… So if you’d like to add one, I welcome further increases tonight.”

The giving total was a true celebration of who the Class of 1976 has always been — and proudly remains.

IMage of 4 committee members surrounding the check that states $76,308.62 paid to the order of James Madison University by Madison Collage Class of 1976 for 50th Class Reunion. The members are unveiling the large check. — Educator Nancy Moyers (left), who helped gather the class gift, said, “The Class of ’76 had a lot of teachers, so … whenever we could give something, we would. That’s the way we went about it. $5, $10, $20. We didn’t care. We just wanted everybody to participate.”

Inducted, at last

Saturday evening’s induction dinner, the closing event, brought the weekend to its emotional center.

round tables with alums all looking at Madison Singers actively singing in Festival Ballroom. — The Madison Singers, under the direction of Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy, opened the ceremony with a performance that — as Polglase noted — produces a “100% cry rate.”

Eleven members of the Madison Singers ensemble were performing their final concert as JMU students. The singers took a moment after the performance to mingle in the room, trading wisdom with alumni. One student, when asked what advice they received, said simply: “They told me to just keep singing.”

Langridge reflected on what the weekend and the class represented. Invoking Tennyson’s Ulysses, he closed his remarks with a challenge: “I encourage you to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield; in learning; in curiosity; in connections with one another; in giving; in living life to the fullest. And the fact that you showed up here today tells me this is a room full of strivers.”

a collage - to the left, an image of Ellen presenting the medal to Nancy Moyers. To the top-right, a flat lay of medals; to the bottom-right a group of women around the dinner table raising their glasses in celebration. — One by one, to the sound of “Portraits in Bluestone,” composed by JMU alumnus Brian Balmage (’98) for the university’s centennial, the class of 1976 received their medallions. They became, officially, members of the Bluestone Society. Pictured left: Ellen Hineman (’89) presents a medal to Nancy Moyers (’76).

“I hope you will wear your Bluestone medallion with pride anytime you are back on campus,” Polglase said. “We love it when we see our alums wearing theirs.”

The class of 1977 will be inducted next spring, April 23-25, 2027.

Photos by Rachel Holderman, Ella Stotzky (’26) and Cody Troyer.

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by Arushi Sachan (‘20)