In This Issue

• Announcing JMC’s 2026 Alumni Award recipients

• Congratulations to the Class of 2026

• The Hoekstra Endowment: 20 years of impact at JMC

• Recent news from Case Hall

• Help tell the story of Madison’s alumni community

• Alumni notes and updates

Editor’s Note: Our April 2026 newsletter incorrectly identified the title of JMC’s commencement speaker. His correct title is United States District Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings.

2026 Alumni Award Recipients

2026 Distinguished Alumni Award: The James Madison College Alumni Board of Directors has named Wendy F. Hensel, president of the University of Hawai'i and a 1992 graduate of the college, as the recipient of its 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award. The award recognizes JMC graduates who have achieved prominence in their fields.

Hensel earned her B.A. in American Public Affairs: Political Economy from JMC in 1992. As an undergraduate student, she was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar and recognized by Condé Nast as one of the Top Ten College Women in the United States in politics and national affairs. She also interned at the U.S. Supreme Court before completing her J.D. cum laude at Harvard Law School in 1995.

Hensel's career as a legal scholar and university leader has spanned Georgia State University, the City University of New York and now the University of Hawai'i. Read more on JMC’s website.

2026 Honorary Alumni Award: The Honorary Alumni Award recognizes those who have significantly contributed to the progress and development of JMC. The 2026 recipient of the Honorary Alumni Award is JMC Prof. Emerita Colleen Tremonte.

The alumni board recognized Tremonte’s more than 30 years of service to JMC and her dedication to interdisciplinary studies. Tremonte was one of the founders of the Comparative Cultures & Politics major and was recognized for teaching achievements throughout her career, including the University Lilly Teaching Fellowship (1997-1998), a MSU Teacher-Scholar Award (1998-1999) and the Mid-Michigan Alumni Club Quality in Undergraduate Teaching Award (2001).

The JMC Alumni Board of Directors is currently seeking nominations for both of its 2027 awards. Learn more on JMC’s website and submit nominations via Google Forms.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026

James Madison College officially celebrated the Class of 2026 during the college’s Spring Commencement Ceremony at the Wharton Center on May 2. United State District Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings (an ’84 Madison alumnus) served as the college’s commencement speaker. Sam Wright (IR ’26) addressed graduates as the college’s commencement speaker (watch his speech on YouTube). View photos from the event on Flickr.

Thank you to the Madison alumni who sent in notes of congratulations to graduates of the Class of 2026. They were distributed to JMC’s newest alums after they crossed the Wharton Center stage.

In the YouTube video below, JMC professors share their alma maters by answering: “Who are you wearing at commencement?”

Giving Spotlight

Douglas Hoekstra joined James Madison College in 1969, two years after its founding, as a graduate student working for founding dean Herb Garfinkel. He became one of the college’s earliest faculty members and remained at JMC for 36 years, until he passed away in May 2006.

In 2007, students, alumni and friends of the college established the Douglas J. Hoekstra Endowment for the Study of American Politics and Political Institutions in his memory. The endowment supports Madison students in field experiences and internships, an applied component of Madison’s curriculum that Hoekstra particularly valued. For nearly 20 years, scholarship recipients have worked at the state and national level in legislative offices, on campaigns and in government agencies.

Three recent recipients reflect on what the scholarship meant to them and how it has shaped their career paths. Read more about the endowment and make a gift to the fund online.

More College News

Detroit Career Exposure Program: JMC students spent three days in Detroit for the spring Career Exposure Program. They visited alumni at Ford, General Motors, Gilbert Family Foundation, City of Detroit, the U.S. Department of State, Detroit Regional Chamber, ACLU of Michigan and Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters. Alumni also spoke with students about careers in law, labor and organizing.

Outgoing Senate President: Taylor Toth decided to run for JMC Student Senate before she'd taken a single class at MSU. Four years later, she graduated as the outgoing president — along with a double major in PTCD and SRP, three Spartan Volunteer Service Awards, a co-presidency of Empowering Women in Law, and a year and a half at the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

Education Abroad in Brazil: JMC seniors Addy Russel and Max Rehn spent six weeks in Salvador through the Politics, Culture & Society in Brazil education abroad program. A paper they co-authored with two UFBA students will be presented at the Brazilian Studies Association Conference this summer.

Graduate Achievements: Abigail Carrigan (SRP ’25) authored a sustainable agriculture and food systems plan for Livingston County that earned awards from the Michigan Association of Planning and the American Planning Association.

Call for Alumni Stories

The college is gathering stories for an upcoming feature series on Madisonians whose careers were shaped by a connection with a fellow JMC alum: a mentor who opened a door, a classmate who passed along a job lead, an introduction that redirected a career path.

The connection can be recent or decades old, leading to a first job, a mid-career pivot, a longtime partnership or anything in between. If you’d like to share your story (or nominate someone else’s), provide more details via Qualtrics. Contact JMC Communications Manager Jane Deacon (locket20@msu.edu) with questions.

Visit Days at JMC

MSU will host Green & White Days on campus on July 17 and July 20-23, 2026. These events allow high school students and families to tour campus, learn more about student organizations and campus services, and visit colleges. Each day, JMC will host information sessions from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. in Case Hall. Help us spread the word and invite interested students to RSVP online.

Connect with the JMC Alumni Board of Directors
Interested in connecting with the James Madison College Alumni Board of Directors and supporting alumni engagement initiatives? The Board of Directors invites JMC alums to share their information via Google Forms.

In Memoriam: Larry Bartrem

Lawrence “Larry” Duane Bartrem, a 1975 James Madison College graduate who spent his career raising funds for nonprofit organizations, died May 14 in Memphis, Tennessee, after a long illness. He was 73.

Larry graduated from Grand Ledge High School before enrolling at James Madison. At MSU, he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and served as chief of staff to the president of the Associated Students of Michigan State University. He met his wife of 45 years, Caron Ann “Annie” Limberg, at a national Explorer Scout conference; they were married a year later at MSU’s Alumni Memorial Chapel.

Larry’s professional career began with the Boy Scouts and continued at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the American Red Cross. He received many honors for his work, his family notes, but was driven by a desire to help others rather than by recognition. In his last years, he led the campaign to establish the M. Richard Zinman Endowed Professorship in Classical Political Philosophy at JMC.

At Larry’s request, there will be no memorial service. Those who wish to honor his memory may make a gift to the M. Richard Zinman Endowed Professorship.

Alumni Notes

Aaron Bealor (IR ’26) started a new role as a Word Processing Assistant with the Department of Attorney General.

Colin Cumming (SRP ’2014) joined the Division of Engineering and Applied Science at Caltech as the Director of Development. In this role, he will focus on securing major gifts and deepening relationships with alumni and friends of the division. He has been part of the Caltech Advancement team since 2023 and brings more than 10 years of development experience, including roles at Georgia Tech and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Allison Greenblatt (PTCD ’26) recently started as a Pretrial Services Clerk at the 30th Circuit Court in Lansing, Michigan.

Harrison Greenleaf (IR & PTCD ’20) finished his PhD in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He will begin a teaching track position at UNC Chapel Hill in the fall.

Marek Jaros (PTCD ’25) is attending School of Advanced Studies (SAIS) in Bologna via a cooperative program with the Vienna Diplomatic Academy.

Becky Manore (Hubert) (SRP ’04) was selected as a 2025-26 Michigan Regional Teacher of the Year. Manore is a 9-12th grade Spanish teacher at Grand Ledge High School in Grand Ledge, Michigan.

Safiya Webster-Sandifer (SRP ’23) recently completed a year in mental health community organizing and coalition work at the Detroit Justice Center, in addition to three years of work as a paralegal in areas such as civil rights law and poverty law/movement lawyering. She is also entering her final year of her Master of Social Work program at Boston University. Webster-Sandifer married Ali Sandifer (PTCD ’24) in April 2023.

Connor Wynne (IR ’24) was accepted at the University of Texas School of Law and will be participating in Weil Legal Innovators (WLI) program, Class of 2026-27. Through this program, Wynne will be deferring the first year of law school to serve as the AI Legal Research Fellow at Upsolve.

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