Harrisonburg resident Greg Versen, professor emeritus of social work at JMU, shares his thoughts on the presidential race and Obama’s visit to the city on Tuesday.

I arrived in the Shenandoah Valley from Mississippi in 1977, joining the social work faculty at the “brand new” James Madison University. The university had about 6,800 students and only one campus. Harrisonburg was a small community with a vibrant downtown. I was told that Harrisonburg’s racial diversity was around 3 percent minorities, most of whom were black. Politically, the city and surrounding county were conservative. Solid Republican, you might say.

During the ensuing decades, things began to change. The city grew, the university grew, and the community makeup began to change. The once vibrant downtown moved to the mall. Today, we see a renewal taking place in the heart of our city.

Politically, Virginia began to reflect an openness to change, even radical change in the eyes of some. I am referring to the successful campaign of Douglas Wilder for the governorship of Virginia in “the Capital of the Confederacy.”

As a native of Vicksburg, Miss. — “The Gibraltar of the Confederacy,” the city that fell to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on July 4, 1863 — I saw Wilder’s 1990 election as the nation’s first black governor, and the governor of Virginia at that, as a clear signal that change was afoot for my adopted state.

Today, Harrisonburg has one of the most diverse populations in the state. More than 20 languages are spoken by students in our public schools. I see bilingual signs in places of business throughout the city and county. Social work graduates as well as others seeking employment are sought after if they speak a second language. Public servants are being challenged to become bilingual. This is not the Valley I came to in 1977. Today the Valley reflects a rich tapestry of the larger world of which we are a part.

Tuesday, an event took place on the campus of James Madison University that clearly certifies that the Valley and the Commonwealth of Virginia have changed.

Nancy Jones, local historian, recently pointed out that it has been almost 150 years since a presidential nominee campaigned in Virginia. The fact that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama came to Harrisonburg, “packed the house” and made several visits to various parts of Virginia indicates that much has changed, even if it has taken almost 150 years.

Democracy is alive and well in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County and also in the greater Commonwealth. One cannot drive anywhere in the state and not see signs supporting political candidates of all stripes for local, state and national office. This is what makes America great and a democracy admired around the world.

Yes, change is coming. To Virginia, to Washington and the world at large. These are exciting times, challenging times. Next week, those who will be elected to serve us, regardless of political party, face a landscape that has changed as never before since the Great Depression. Regardless of the outcome of the election, it is my hope that all of us will look upon this election as one in which we participated and that each of us did our part to rekindle the fires of freedom and democracy that our forefathers lit more than 200 years ago.