The Breeze JMU’s award-winning newspaper since 1922
march 24, 2022 VOL. 100 NO.23 BREEZEJMU.ORG
Dukes create posts of positivity By MICHAEL RUSSO The Breeze
If you walk through JMU’s campus or scroll through Instagram, you might find a trail of sticky notes or a series of infographics with kind messages. The phenomenon began last month as students dealt with the aftermath of the Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 suicides on JMU’s campus and the Feb. 1 shooting at nearby Bridgewater College. Three roommates — Abigail Radtke, Sydney Kowalsky and Gracie Twigg — wanted to make sure everyone at JMU felt seen, heard and loved after the community’s tragedies, Radtke said, and thus began the Sticky Note Project. “We’re a campus of 25,000 students, so it’s hard to make a big impact as just three people,” Twigg, a sophomore, said. “We wanted to do a little something that, maybe, even if a couple people saw it [while] walking and were like, oh, that’s very cute … We just really wanted to have that impact.” Under the Instagram handle @ stickynoteproject_jmu, the project’s founders regularly post their own sticky note messages around campus with phrases like, “The world is better with you in it”; “In case no one has
Abigail Radtke enjoys posting the encouraging messages around campus. “It makes me smile to see other people smile,” she said. Photo illustration by Matt Young / The Breeze
told you this recently, I’m so proud of you”; and “Give yourself permission to be imperfect.” As of March 23, the account has 238 followers. Radtke, a fellow sophomore, said the majority of them came in the first two weeks of starting the page, and a shoutout from @ jmumissedconnections, a popular account
run by JMU students, helped boost numbers on the platform. Additionally, Radtke said they typically receive one to five new followers per day and cited the week before spring break — the midpoint of the semester — as another peak for engagement. Sometimes, the friends will post pictures
JMU softball pitchers carry weight of World Series By SAVANNAH REGER The Breeze
JMU softball has used all six pitchers on its roster this season. Cambria Lee / The Breeze
Sophomore pitcher Alissa Humphrey sits on the ground near the end of her practice at Veterans Memorial Park. She’s parked right next to the bullpen, a ball in her hand and with her legs slightly off the ground, doing cardio work. Her braided hair bounces back and forth as she moves. It’s the same hairstyle the sophomore wore as she stood in the circle in Oklahoma City, pitching to the No. 1 Sooners in relief of former JMU pitcher Odicci Alexander. In the broadcast on ESPN in a record-breaking year for the Women’s College World Series (WCWS), all eyes watched Humphrey finish out the game for the Dukes, ending the Cinderella run in college softball’s final four. It’s that stage, that viewership and the pressure that comes with last year’s run that not only affects Humphrey but the entire pitching
rotation. The Dukes are figuring out how to use all six pitchers to the best of their ability while also, as Humphrey puts it, fighting their own internal battles. “I think everyone expects [Humphrey] to be Odicci right away,” JMU softball head coach Loren LaPorte said, “but Odicci wasn’t Odicci until year five. I think they’ve got to grow a little bit and learn that growing is okay.”
The internal battle
LaPorte said in the preseason that in every interview Humphrey gave, she was asked about Alexander and how she’d become the next JMU ace. The last three starting pitchers for the Dukes have all gone professional — all to the USSSA Pride. The head coach said the stress the team puts on themselves post-World Series is high — partly due to the schedule they’ve played.
see IN THE CIRCLE, page 24
of the notes they put up around campus, and they also receive photo submissions and direct messages (DMs) from their Instagram followers who discover the well-intentioned notes. see STICKY NOTES, page 18
JMU welcomes new Dean of Students Hollie Hall By SARAH FOSTER contributing writer
JMU’s new Dean of Students Hollie Hall completed her first month in the position after starting Feb. 15. “[I’m] looking at ways that I strengthen what’s already being done,” Hall said. “There’s so many amazing things going on here, and I’m looking for every way that I can partner and collaborate.” Hall previously served as the assistant vice president of wellbeing and student support at Alfred State College in Alfred, New York. She has a background in mental health with a master’s degree in counseling, and she said she worked in community mental health before the director of counseling services at Alfred State College reached out to her. “He kind of recruited me to come and work on the college campus, and I kind of fell in love,” Hall said. “[Working in] higher education just kind of came to me … that wasn’t the path that I thought I would be on.” see DEAN OF STUDENTS, page 5
