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JMU to hold winter commencement on Saturday; Snapchat VP to serve as speaker

Crystal Graham
graduation caps in air
(© fotoinfot – stock.adobe.com)

James Madison University will hold its winter commencement at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Atlantic Union Bank Center in Harrisonburg.

Undergraduate degrees will be awarded to 850 students and 174 students will receive graduate degrees.

The top three most popular undergraduate majors were nursing, health sciences and biology.

Business administration, physician assistant studies and occupational therapy were the top three graduate programs.

This year’s commencement speaker is Jennifer Park Stout, a 1998 JMU graduate and vice president of global public policy for Snap Inc., the maker of the technology application, Snapchat.   At Snap, Stout oversees internal policy development, policy engagement with governments, safety outreach and social impact partnerships.

Stout spent more than 20 years in the U.S. government serving in a variety of roles including as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, special assistant to President Barack Obama in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, chief of staff to the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and deputy assistant secretary in the bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department.

In addition to her bachelor’s degree from JMU, Stout holds a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University.

The commencement ceremony is a ticketed event. The event will also be live streamed.

Other general information on the December 2023 commencement is available at jmu.edu/commencement.

 

Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is the regional editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of Virginia Tonight, a nightly TV news show on PBS. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television.