The Breeze JMU’s award-winning newspaper since 1922
JMU experts uncover racist history of college yearbooks
february 16, 2023 VOL. 101 NO.19 BREEZEJMU.ORG
By MORGAN BLAIR The Breeze
JMU sociology professor Stephen Poulson has taken it upon himself to shed light onto dark history in Virginia colleges, and he said he’s using the schools’ own yearbooks to do so. Poulson went through the old yearbooks of multiple Virginia colleges and said he looked for examples of racism and racist imagery in them. In some of JMU’s old yearbooks, he found many examples of blackface and racial slurs, as well as some glorification of racist acts. These can be seen in JMU Libraries’ Special Collections archives. “I’d say if the scrapbook we receive is pre-1950, I’m more surprised if I don’t find something problematic than if I do,” Tiffany Cole, an archivist at JMU’s Office of Special Collections, said. Poulson said he first became interested in finding examples of racist acts depicted in yearbooks, particularly of white students in blackface, after it was reported by The New York Times in 2019 that former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam appeared in blackface in his own college yearbook at Eastern Virginia Medical School. “There was the picture of someone [later revealed to be Northam] dressed in blackface beside another man dressed as a member of the KKK,” Poulson said. “That kind of precipitated this investigation.” Poulson’s book, “Racism on Campus: A Visual History of Prominent Virginia Colleges and Howard University,” explores examples of blackface and other racist depictions in college yearbooks. He studied the old yearbooks of Virginia colleges like Old Dominion University, University of Virginia (U.Va.), Longwood, Washington and Lee, as well as JMU, and compared them to that of Howard University, a historically Black college (HBCU). see YEARBOOKS, page 10
This week, The Breeze is publishing a special edition inside this paper to commemorate 100 years of school and organization history. Photo by Abi Middleton / The Breeze. Graphic by Ben Moulse / The Breeze.
The Breeze celebrates 100 years of publication By SHIRIN ZIA FAQIRI & SAVANNAH REGER The Breeze
On Dec. 2, 2022, The Breeze officially turned 100 years old. Suffice to say, this organization has reached heights likely unthinkable for the first staff in 1922. The current staff of The Breeze has created a special edition inside the weekly paper to commemorate this milestone — The Breeze’s official centennial special edition, inserted in this week’s paper. The Breeze has evolved from a bi-weekly newspaper into a multimedia enterprise composed of over 100 staffers,available online, in print and now, in recent years, a weekly live broadcast. The organization has covered women’s rights, world wars, terrorist attacks, changing cultures and pandemics, along with the ins and outs of daily life
at JMU. Although at one time financially supported by JMU itself, The Breeze has become its own entity — it’s independent from the university and cover events in suit. As the current staff looks back on the last 100 years, we honor those who came before us. We keep investigative and in-depth news at the forefront to this day — we’ve covered COVID-19, mental health, sexual assault, diversity issues and more, and we’re the most robust news source for JMU’s student body. But this edition is about remembering the past: What made The Breeze The Breeze, and in turn, looking at the history of JMU itself, because this organization serves to inform and document the experiences of JMU. Over the course of the past few months, The Breeze has worked to compress 100 years of history into the paper you hold in your hands right now. We made the special edition in broadsheet style as an
ode to how newspapers were traditionally printed. Learn about the school, the history, notable alumni and how JMU’s education has evolved. Learn about JMU’s first-ever national championship in sports and the fashion trends through the years. Be a part of JMU basketball’s “electric zoo” and read old Darts & Pats. Digging through old editions of the paper, appreciating the past and learning about the trials and triumphs of the past 100 years, you’ll see the current staff have put their hearts into making this paper one to remember. Thank you to the JMU and Harrisonburg communities for 100 years of support. CONTACT The Breeze staff at breezeeditor@ gmail.com. For more coverage, follow The Breeze on Twitter @TheBreezeJMU.
With Early Action on the rise, JMU sees increased first-generation, minority applications By ABI MIDDLETON The Breeze
JMU Early Action acceptance decisions have officially gone out for the class of 2027, revealing yet another drastic increase in applicants and a rise in the diversity of those applying. JMU received a total of 24,156 applicants this year, setting a 30% increase in Early Action applicants within the last academic year and an 83% increase
within the last two years, according to a Dec. 14 JMU press release. This is in comparison to the 2021 pool of 18,533 applicants and the 2020 pool of 13,190 applicants. Melinda Wood, associate vice president for access and enrollment management and director of admissions, said in the same press release that JMU’s positive national exposure is contributing to this increase, citing JMU’s top 75 Public National University ranking from US News & World Report,
rise to R2 and an athletics program. Wood spoke to The Breeze on the probable cause for this increase, explaining that JMU joined the Common App, a single online application form used by hundreds of colleges, just last year, leading to an expected increase. “Naturally, we’ve seen it increase in applications because students today prefer the Common App,” Wood said. “It’s the way that they can seamlessly manage their applications.”
Not only is the Common App platform preferred by students, it’s more accessible for minority applicants, Wood said, leading to an increase in firstgeneration college applicants, applicants of color, out-of-state applicants and international applicants. “The Common App is designed to reduce barriers for students,” Wood said, “and now that we’re in that platform, students can apply to JMU.” see EARLY ACTION, page 4
CENTENNIAL SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE