Celebrating the Impact of Graduate Student Scholarship & Creativity

On April 11, 2025, students from master’s and doctoral programs shared their research and creative projects with peers, faculty, and the campus community during the Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship & Creative Activities. Each year, this event celebrates the excellence of JMU’s graduate students' creative and scholarly activities.

During this event, graduate students shared work on such topics as mental health, nutrition, education, justice, leadership, and life as an international student. An artist shared his murals, and a pianist gave a brief performance. Students described effective reentry programs for people convicted of crimes, local community support programs, or mentorship in grad school.

The conference themes were quite diverse, as might be expected from a campus-wide program that included students from communication, biology, nutrition, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, public administration, studio art, writing, leadership studies, and many other fields. Some students described research that was based on data they had collected. Others told personal stories or shared creative work. It was exciting and inspiring to see students explain their work with such clarity and passion. You could see the effort, the thought, and the heart that went into each project. I felt proud to be part of a university that supports and promotes graduate student work.

The day ended with a recognition reception honoring students for outstanding oral and poster presentations. Graduate School Achievement Awards also were presented to students for their innovation, civic and community engagement, and to other students for outstanding theses and dissertations projects. The Graduate Student Association presented Impact Awards to Folojimi Kalejaye, a Communication and Advocacy student, and to faculty members Amanda Evans and Kenson Hiatt from Graduate Psychology. The recognition reception added even more excitement to the day. As names were called and awards handed out, we celebrated work on peer mentorship, community reentry, public art, food and nutrition, international student experiences, trauma care, nonprofit leadership, and more.

Graduate students contribute so much to their academic fields, their communities and the university at large. We congratulate all participants and award winners for their incredible contributions and achievements.