{"id":1804,"date":"2010-12-08T21:26:21","date_gmt":"2010-12-09T02:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=1804"},"modified":"2010-12-08T21:26:21","modified_gmt":"2010-12-09T02:26:21","slug":"president-rose-to-step-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=1804","title":{"rendered":"President Rose to Step Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>JMU President Dr. Lindwood Rose announced today that he will be retiring in June 2012<\/a>. While we weren’t on campus for the majority of his time in office, we will be the first to admit that he did an outstaning job. His predecessor, “Uncle” Ron Carrier had\u00a0achieved cult-hero status by the time he left office. Following in his footsteps\u00a0wasn’t going to be easy for anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Rose will be leaving with quite a resume of his own. He took on the role of Acting President way back when I was in school in 1997 and became President officially in 1999. The university grew tremendously under Dr. Rose’s leadership adding\u00a025 buildings,\u00a0expanding\u00a0enrollment to over 19,000 students, and establishing a Phi Betta Kappa chapter.<\/p>\n

This is not JMU Adminstration Blog however. It is JMU Sports Blog, so let’s stick to what we know (or at least pretend to know.)\u00a0The JMU athletic program that Dr. Rose will be leaving is nothing like the one he inherited.\u00a0The decline of the basketball program is a topic too big to tackle now, but I think everyone would agree that the growth of the football program has been outstanding. The Dukes won the 2004 National Championship and are considered one of the top FCS programs in the country. Perhaps more importantly however, the student body and alumni support of the team has moved beyond anyone’s expectations. JMU gamedays are now events unto themselves. And with the expansion of Bridgeforth, things are only bound to get better.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to this. The party line during Dr. Rose’s tenure has always been that JMU has no plans to move up a level to FBS…during this adminstration. Well, now JMU is set to have a new administration in a few years. I’m just saying.<\/p>\n