Larry Rogers: Team Player
Larry Rogers’ Yearbook Photo, 1979 (Bluestone)
In 1977, the same year that Madison College became James Madison University, Larry Rogers came to the school as a student athlete for the football team and played on the field that is now Bridgeforth Stadium, next to Godwin Hall. Having transferred with an Associate’s, Rogers stayed here to get his Master’s in Counseling in 1981, remaining a part of the Harrisonburg community as a teacher and football coach in the school system. Having settled down here, he became further involved in local engagement and city politics, both founding the local Boys and Girls Club and running for city council in 1994. In 2004, he made history as Harrisonburg’s first African American mayor, and that same year, he joined JMU’s board of visitors – he served as mayor for two years and on the board for eight.
On his career, Rogers once reflected on his grandfather, who had served as the first African American city council member in Bluefield, Virginia, his hometown: “I always had in my head that he’s up in heaven pulling strings for me… I understand that some of the things he’d done is still impacting the community.”
In 2008, Larry Rogers elevated Harrisonburg to the national stage when he invited then presidential candidate Barack Obama to come and visit the city when campaigning in Virginia. He urged this knowing that Harrisonburg was a diverse town that was representative of the state as a whole, saying, “If you come to Harrisonburg, then you’ll win Virginia.”
Today, Godwin Hall is probably best known to visitors as a building that people pass by on their way from a tailgate party to Bridgeforth Stadium, eager to watch the latest football game. But the athletic complexes here at JMU have been the home to so much more, as a part of the larger Harrisonburg community and indeed, the country.
Meeting future President Barack Obama, 2008 (The Breeze)
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