Letters to the Editor (Editorial Policies)
Posted on September 21, 2006

Time to act classy, JMU

As JMU’s head football coach, I would like to thank our team’s many supporters within the student body and ask for their help as we continue to build a program for which everyone associated with our outstanding university can be proud.

The support we receive has been a vital part of our success, particularly during and since our drive to the national championship two years ago. Few programs can boast of the backing our Dukes receive. Our students turn out in great numbers, and their enthusiasm and energy does not go unnoticed by our players.

We want that enthusiasm to continue, and even increase, but we also want to encourage our students to support us in a manner that represents them and JMU positively. Inappropriate language and gestures directed at our opponents not only reflect poorly on all of us as a university, they are also a concern for other fans and guests, many of whom attend with children.

We don’t seek to put a damper on student spirit, but we ask that the enthusiasm be conveyed in an appropriate manner. Support of our football team can be outstanding and creative without being rude or abusive.

We ask that our students be there for us, be loud and creative and continue to make Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field as much of a home-field advantage as it can be. Just do so in good taste.

Everyone associated with JMU football hopes to see all of our students Saturday when we play Northeastern.

Mickey Matthews, JMU football coach

Student Duke Club acts above the belt

Shocked and astonished. These were my feelings after reading an article in The Breeze on Sept. 7 about the “sketchy” JMU Duke Club. This article presents a skewed picture as to why the Duke Club requires a tax-deductible donation to obtain tickets in certain sections of Bridgeforth Stadium for Family Weekend.

First, Family Weekend always sells out; this has happened even before our football team became national champions. 

Second, student ticketing also hasn’t changed. For the three years that I have attended JMU, a paper ticket was needed for Homecoming and Family Weekend. All a student has to do is show their JAC Card at the ticket office in the Convocation Center. This year is no different. Students can pick up their Family Weekend ticket starting Sept. 25. 

For other fans, such as JMU parents, there have always been two ways to buy tickets: first, by purchasing a general admission ticket, and second, by purchasing a Duke Club priority section ticket. The second way has existed as long as the Duke Club has been around. One only has to pay a $50 tax-deductible donation to become a Duke Club member and have access to the priority section tickets.

Football tickets went on sale March 1, and all general admission tickets sold out quickly, which meant the only option for anyone looking for tickets was to join the Duke Club. The Duke Club made the decision to hold all of its tickets for parents, not for alumni or other fans.

The Duke Club is a huge part of the JMU athletic department. It raises an enormous amount of money for student-athlete scholarships. Any $50 “surcharges” described are not an additional “ticket fee.” Rather, a ticket in the priority section is a Duke Club member benefit and the $50 Duke Club membership funds scholarships for my peers.

Paige Sumner, spirit/social director, Student Duke Club & junior management major

Dixie flag symbolizes hatred and history

I feel compelled to respond to the letter by Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Braswell concerning the Confederate flag. They set up what appears to me to be a rather simplistic argument. They cite the historical use of the flag outside of and prior to its employment in white supremacist organizations as evidence that the flag is not a hate symbol. While such prior use legitimates the right of those who invoke it for Southern heritage, it does not nullify its equally symbolic use as a symbol of white supremacy and slavery by others.

The swastika existed before the Nazi period as a positive spiritual symbol in some ancient religious systems. Despite that, I’m not sure most people would excuse its present use on the grounds of that earlier history or deny that others would see it as a symbol of Nazism or fascism, particularly Jews who were victims under its reign. I personally have no problem with those who see a symbol as positive, but their perspective does not in some way invalidate those who see it differently. In fact, both interpretations are equally legitimate and it is the attempt by either side to impose their interpretation on the other that is the problem.                              

The Rev. Dr. Nikitah Okembe-RA Imani, sociology and anthropology associate professsor