James Madison University Top Questions

In my opinion the students at JMU are open to differences and differences in opinion. These things stimulate intellectual conversation and help shape perspectives by learning those of other people. We stand up for what we believe in around campus. Students organize all types of student awareness campaigns. When many of our sports teams were taken away due to title nine students organized a petition to protest this.

The other experience I have had to deal with personally is my religion. I have not found very many students on campus that are Catholic. This has not made my JMU experience negative but it has made it different from my home life and hometown. Since not too many of the students attend regular weekly mass it has been hard to maintain that routine. The campus does offer catholic mass though throughout the week so it is not to say that the campus does not acknowledge the religion. I am merely saying it has been an adjustment for me to maintain going to mass even though my friends do not. Students dress casually to class. Everyone mostly wears jeans. Some wear sweatpants and pajamas to class though it is not overly common. Different types of students interact all the time. Through group projects and clubs I have had to work and develop relationships with students very different from me. Its not to say I didn’t want to or it was hard. Surprisingly it has benefited me. I met many people I would not have normally walked up to and befriend. I would say about half the people I meet are from Virginia. However, this does not stereotype people to being in state or out of state. As I have found (being out of state and unknowledgeable of Virginia) Virginia is a very diverse state. Northern Virginia is very different from Central/Southern Virginia. The differences don’t cause quarrels however. Everyone gets along out of state or in state. Most students are from the east coast though.

I am catholic. I attend weekly mass at the CCM house on campus. Most students dress very preppy to class. There are not many sweat pants or pajamas worn. Yes different students do interact. I think that many different types of kids are friends. Most students are from Virgina, alot from New Jersey as well. Many JMU students are from wealthy or stable backgrounds. Yes, I think that many students are focused on their future and what they will eventually earn.

It's easy to get the impression that all of the students here come from bum-fucking-nowhere. It's not so much that everyone is as much as it is the fact that the bunch that are make themselves noticable. I really don't know how many times I've heard "There were less than ten black people at my high school" or "Wait, so all you Asians don't talk the same?" Being Asian, I'm used to dealing with ignorance, but never on this scale. And, even then, ignorance never really bothers me but it's people that are ignorant and don't give a fuck about fixing it that make me want to start fighting people. It's cool that you don't know what kinf of Asian I am, I'm ambiguous looking, I'll give 'ya that. But when I hear someone go, "Well, it's all the same thing anyways" a bit of my soul dies. Moral of the story: Rednecks need not be present in bulk to make your life miserable. Another thing, I said it only seems like there are a shit ton of rednecks. The true dominant demographic is Affluent White people. No fucking joke, I was in a class where the professor asked people to guess what they think the median annual household income for the NATION is. These douchebags guessed anywhere from $80,000-$150,000. Hell, I take back what I said, these are just rich rednecks. I hear the same lack of minority exposure stories from these people. The depressing part about it all is that these are the children of some of the most powerful people in the world, and they're on the path to the same and they still harbor these ridiculous misconceptions about the world around them. Frankly, the University's recruiting efforts aren't helping.

It's not a very open campus, in terms of gay/lesbian population. There is at least 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the population that claim to be Christian/Catholic. Very liberal and Democratic students may feel somewhat out of place, since JMU is in Virginia, one of the more southern states. Girls like to wear Ugg boots and Northface jackets, but if you're in science classes, it's rare to see that. Most students here are very open to interaction and making friends no matter who you are and what you believe in. In the dining hall, you'll see the sports team (because only buffets can feed them), the freshmans who are obsessed with the food and gorge on it until they weigh themselves on a scale, the caving club, and a group of girls that are now upperclassmen but miss dining hall food. We have around 7 dining places, so I'm describing D-Hall, which is our most popular buffet styled dining hall. Most JMU students are from Virginia. They mostly come from middle class families. Students are not politically aware/active at all, which is common in a lot of college campuses. They are predominantly moderately right/apathetic.

No student should feel out of place at JMU. There are so many different types of people and cultures here that it doesn't really matter where you come from. I have personally experienced several different cultures and students promote themselves and where they're from very well around campus helping others to understand and get a feel for different backgrounds.

To be honest, racial diversity is a non-issue. Most students are white Christians, but there is a fairly big Jewish and non-religious population too. The LGBT population here is well supported as well. Students dress pretty homogeneously: North face jackets and jeans almost always. The 4 tables at the dining hall are the "Artsy kids" the "Preppy kids" the "Athletes" and the "Slackers" Most students are from middle class families, but you can really find all different kinds of interesting people here.

Race- This campus IS NOT by any means and ethnically diverse campus religion- i was surprised to notice in a poll freshman year that over 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of campus was declared Roman Catholic as a religion. I myself as a catholic actually attended some of the Catholic services held on campus which rarely had more then 100 members in the congregation... tells ya something there huh?! Out of place- people who are strongly against drinking alcohol to have fun... you will be bored if you dont

Most students wear whatever...Ive seen everything from pajamas to North Face and jeans to suits...it depends on the agenda for that day (i.e if you have a presentation, an interview later, etc.) Most JMU students are from NOVA (Northern Virginia, or out of state in areas like Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut). There is a good mix of political activism and I would say students can find a place whether they are republican, liberal, or in between. We have student groups including college republicans, college democrats, an earth club, etc.

James Madison is full of polite, mostly white, people. JMU is lacking as far as racial diversity goes, but I have met a few Asian friends and nobody I've met of any ethnicity has felt out of place here. Even though the campus isn't very racially diverse, the student body here is diverse in every other way. Well, except that the majority of students are either from Virginia or New Jersey. Those aside, Madison has it's fair share of preps, skaters, jocks, and people from other walks of life. Overall, everyone is very chill and accepting of others. The campus is only around ten percent greek, so most parties are off campus. Personally I like it better that way because there are so many places to go, and people to meet.