James Madison University

James Madison University placed three award-winning teams in the 2013 Google Online Marketing Challenge.

The James Madison University chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma recently inducted thirty-five students. Beta Gamma Sigma is an international honor society that provides the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive in a baccalaureate of graduate program at a school accredited by AACSB International.

Nick Geer, a May graduate of James Madison University, has been accepted into the FoodCorps program. The 22-year-old will spend 11 months at the St. Mary's Nutrition Center in Lewiston, Maine, where he will be teaching local schoolchildren the value of good nutrition and how to build and tend school gardens, as well as partnering with area farmers to put high-quality food on school lunch menus.

A pair of JMU students each earned $20,000 scholarships while two others received a total of $7,500 to study languages abroad this summer.

JMU Senior chemistry major Courtney Wardwell is one of 60 students selected from around the country to present research during the annual Posters on the Hill event April 23-24.

James Madison University was represented by 12 students from various research disciplines at the 2013 Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Conference held at the University of Delaware April 12-14.

Eight undergraduate researchers represented James Madison University at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research from Wednesday, April 11 to Saturday, April 13 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Two James Madison University students earned first-place awards at the Mid-Atlantic Region II Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Marlee Flynt, a senior at James Madison University, has been named the Virginia Nursing Student of the Year. Flynt is the third consecutive JMU student to receive the honor.

Christopher Murguia of Virginia Beach has been named the 2013 recipient of the Frasure-Kruzel-Drew Humanitarian Demining Fellowship sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

Area students from James Madison University presented their research Jan. 31 at the Energy and Sustainability Conference in Richmond, Va.

Baltimore Ravens linebacker D.J. Bryant won’t be the only JMU Duke in New Orleans next week for Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. 11 students from James Madison University's School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management will be in New Orleans next week serving as volunteers for events leading up to the big game. The JMU students will be working four events during the days leading up to Super Bowl XLVII: NFL Experience: Assist with interactive stations such as autograph stage, punt/pass/kick events, youth clinics, NFL memorabilia display and Super Bowl trophy exhibit. Super Bowl Boulevard: Welcome tourists into the city and assist them in any way possible, communicating game, event, transportation and hospitality information. Celebrity Beach Bowl: Assist with a flag football game among NFL greats and Hollywood’s brightest stars. NFL Tailgate: Assist guests during official tailgate party of the NFL, which includes current and former NFL players, VIPs and football fans.

The James Madison University Debate Team is currently ranked third in the country by the National Debate Tournament and fifth by the Cross Examination Debate Association. The rankings are based on team members' performances at regional tournaments held throughout the academic year. Area team members include:

Several area students spent Thanksgiving break serving others as part of JMU’s Alternative Thanksgiving Break program. Instead of returning home to their families and friends and celebrating over turkey and mashed potatoes, three groups of nine students traveled to Louisiana, Massachusetts or Georgia during JMU’s Nov. 17–25 break. On the New Orleans trip, students spent time with patients living with HIV/AIDS at Project Lazarus. The organization provides assisted living services to people with AIDS who are unable to live independently or do not have family that can take care of them. As a group, the JMU students had the opportunity to interact and get to know the residents through cooking meals, attending health and wellness classes with them, tending to the garden and more. Students traveling to Boston worked with the New England Center for Homeless Veterans. They focused on providing assistance to veterans who are facing homelessness. While in Boston at NECHV, the JMU students worked in their store, assisted in the kitchen and interacted and socialized with the veterans. Students learned about the strength and hardships of being a veteran. Students volunteering on the Georgia trip worked specifically with an agency called Safehouse coordinated through the Medici Project. Safehouse supports and works with at-risk children such as teenage mothers or children of incarcerated parents. The students had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and programs catered to the needs of the agency. At the end of the week, the students put together a Thanksgiving dinner for those who needed it most.

Nine students from James Madison University presented at the Geological Society of America’s 2012 Annual Meeting & Exposition in Charlotte, NC. The following local students presented:

Nine geology students from James Madison University presented research at the Geological Society of America’s 2012 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Charlotte, NC, from Nov. 4-7. The following local students presented:

The majority of college students today are too young to remember the Bosnian War (1992-95) or the U.S.-led intervention, but for a group of student filmmakers from James Madison University the experience of visiting the war-torn country this past summer and documenting its struggles on the road to reconciliation is one they won’t soon forget. For five weeks in June and July, eight JMU students under the direction of Shaun Wright, assistant professor of media arts and design, participated in a unique study-abroad program examining the role of media in a post-conflict society. Their journey produced two short documentary films: “Future Tense,” which offers a youth perspective on the deep divisions that persist among the region’s major ethnic groups — Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks — and what can be done in order to move forward, and “A Mother’s Walk,” which follows the Mothers of Srebrenica on one of their yearly visits to the remote hillsides where their sons, husbands and fathers were massacred by Serbian troops under the command of Gen. Ratko Mladic. Area filmmakers included:

Several local students were recently inducted into James Madison University's chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, an international honor society for business students. To be eligible for membership in Beta Gamma Sigma, an undergraduate student must be a junior or senior and rank in the upper 10 percent of their respective class. Graduate students who rank in the upper 20 percent of their class are also eligible. The following area students were inducted on October 17, 2012:

Deep Run High School graduate Adam White will be heading to Japan on Monday, Sept. 3, to begin eight months of intensive Japanese language study. His travel, tuition and other expenses are being funded by a $20,000 Boren Scholarship.

A team of James Madison University students have won the Americas region of the Google Online Marketing Challenge. The team of marketing students teamed with Triple C Camp in Charlottesville, Va. to increase relevant traffic to the camp's website.