CROSSROADS
FALL/WINTER 2017
OUR SECOND CENTURY
THE MAGAZINE OF EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY
VOL. 98 / NO. 2
CROSSROADS FALL/WINTER 2017 / VOL. 98 / NO. 2 Crossroads (USPS 174-860) is published three times a year by Eastern Mennonite University for distribution to 14,000 alumni, students, parents and friends. A leader among faith-based universities, Eastern Mennonite University emphasizes peacebuilding, creation care, experiential learning, and cross-cultural engagement. Founded in 1917 in Harrisonburg, Virginia, EMU offers undergraduate, graduate, and seminary degrees that prepare students to serve and lead in a global context. EMU’s mission statement is posted in its entirety at www.emu.edu/mission. BOARD OF TRUSTEES KATHLEEN (KAY) NUSSBAUM, CHAIR / Grant, Minn. MICHELLE ARMSTER / Wichita, Kan. DIANN BAILEY / Granby, Conn. EVON BERGEY / Perkasie, Pa. HERMAN BONTRAGER / Akron, Pa. SHANA PEACHEY BOSHART / Wellman, Iowa JONATHAN BOWMAN / Manheim, Pa. RANDALL BOWMAN / Richmond, Va. JANET BRENEMAN / Lancaster, Pa. CHARLOTTE HUNSBERGER / Souderton, Pa. CLYDE KRATZ / Harrisonburg, Va. CHAD LACHER / Souderton, Pa. KEVIN LONGENECKER / Harrisonburg, Va. CEDRIC MOORE, JR. / Richmond, Va. E. THOMAS MURPHY, JR. / Harrisonburg, Va. MANUEL (MANNY) NUÑEZ / Alexandria, Va. ELOY RODRIGUEZ ⁄ Lancaster, Pa. JAMES ROSENBERGER / State College, Pa. AMY L. RUSH / Harrisonburg, Va. JUDITH TRUMBO / Broadway, Va. ANNE KAUFMAN WEAVER / Brownstown, Pa. TWILA K. YODER / Corporate secretary to the board CROSSROADS ADVISORY COMMITTEE SUSAN SCHULTZ HUXMAN / President KIRK L. SHISLER / Vice president for advancement ANDREA WENGER / Marketing and communications director JEFF SHANK / Alumni and parent engagement director STAFF LAUREN JEFFERSON / Editor-in-chief JON STYER / Designer/photographer LINDSEY KOLB / proofreader MARCI MYERS / Mileposts editor JOSHUA LYONS / Web designer BJ GERBER / Mailing list manager All EMU personnel can be reached during regular work hours by calling 540-432-4000, or via contact details posted on the university website, www.emu.edu. POSTMASTER: Submit address changes to: Crossroads Eastern Mennonite University 1200 Park Road Harrisonburg VA 22802
FROM THE PRESIDENT
MENNONITES ON MARS SUSAN SCHULTZ HUXMAN
GREETINGS EMU FRIENDS, wherever you are! Jesse and I were thrilled to see hundreds of you during our fall Centennial celebration. Among the 80 events we celebrated was the honoring of six outstanding EMU alumni trailblazers – Chester and Sara Jane Wenger, M.J. Sharp, Laura Rosenberger, Leonard Dow and Anxo Pérez – all of whom have modeled extraordinary leadership, service and impact. Anxo Pérez, our Alumnus of the Year from Madrid, Spain, founder and CEO of 8Belts.com, an internet-based language learning program that employs more than 100 people in nine countries – said this about how EMU has impacted his life: “I can’t believe how many people at EMU helped me find my calling and helped me make contacts all over the world. In every country, I find Mennonites, many with ties to EMU.” As an aside, Anxo joked: “When we get to Mars, you know what? I think we’ll find Mennonites there!” This eyebrow raising idea – as implausible as it may seem – echoes a prominent theme of Don Kraybill’s Centennial history Eastern Mennonite University: A Century of Countercultural Education (2017, Penn State University Press): How did a separatist “quiet in the land” Mennonite community that opened a “safeguard” Bible school for its seven students in 1917 in the midst of the Great War grow into a world-class, world-engaged university with 1,700 students and thousands of alumni serving and leading, including a Nobel laureate from Liberia, 100 years later? Yes, that’s as astonishing a trajectory as considering: First the moon, then Mars! In this issue of Crossroads, we turn towards our second century. With the four themes of our strategic plan at the forefront – Celebrate, Engage, Grow and Diversify – we hear visionary words from current students and are inspired by our amazing alumni: They all keep this astonishing transformation alive, learning from and living out the countercultural mission of EMU. As you read, be challenged by their words and their lives. These individuals have distinguished themselves as unconventional leaders here and around the globe; have given back to their communities, including EMU; and have been recognized for making positive impacts in their careers. Each page of this magazine underscores an important truth: For a small university nestled in the Shenandoah Valley, our influence extends far and wide. Our values of peacemaking and discipleship, service and community are beautifully and boldly being lived out in the rich lives of our many graduates. As we launch our second century with a bold new strategic plan to celebrate, engage, grow and diversify this “Christian university like no other,” may we not shrink from the possibilities of where we might land! Mennonites on Mars? Perhaps not, but as poet Robert Browning once famously said: “Our reach should exceed our grasp or what’s a heaven for?”
IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES
18 FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE Meet graduate students from EMU's global community of learners.
26 AUDITING AROUND THE WORLD Ashley Hevener '10 followed her instincts to EMU and to the job she loves.
28 HONORING A LEGACY OF GIVING
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A SECOND CENTURY OF TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING
Grandparents' gifts and legacy inspire generations to share the power of an EMU education.
30 IMPACT EMU service, faith, peace, research and art in the Shenandoah Valley and beyond.
32 INAUGURAL ALUMNI AND FRIENDS TOUR Twenty-four participants enjoyed a classic cross-cultural experience.
ON THE COVER A lively crowd enjoys music on the front lawn by The Steel Wheels during Eastern Mennonite University's Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend. Photo by Macson McGuigan
6 VISION FOR THE FUTURE
22 'WHATEVER YOU ASK'
ROYAL FILES
12 PHOTO
16 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
25 FROM THE FIELD
33 MILEPOSTS
17 FAITH FOCUS
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A SECOND CENTURY OF
TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING
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OUR WORLD, abounding with the wonder of God’s creation and humanity, provides never-ending opportunities to learn, serve and lead. As Eastern Mennonite University launches into a second century of transformative learning, members of this community far and wide have a unique role in bringing healing and hope to a diverse world. That focus grows out of the past 100 years and who we are today, looking forward. In 2017, we reaffirm a belief in the power of Anabaptist-inspired education: that education at its best prepares the whole person – intellectually, personally, socially and spiritually. In this issue and on our website (emustories.com), you’ll read about graduates from our first century of transformative learning who are agents of change, serving as Christ’s hands and feet worldwide. You’ll also hear current students offer wise counsel, ask tough questions, and share prophetic insight about where EMU should be heading. Our journey together continues …
PHOTO BY MICHAEL SHEELER
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OUR OVERARCHING GOALS
100
CELEBRATE We celebrate our education that transforms lives. During 2017-18 we celebrate EMU’s Centennial year, highlighting our rich history and distinctive identity which will launch us into a second century of educating students to serve and lead in a global context.
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ENGAGE We will increasingly engage students, faculty, staff and alumni with our community of learning in its local and global context. This includes enhancing opportunities for personal and spiritual formation for all into persons who embrace and reflect EMU’s core values of Christian discipleship, community, service and peace.
EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY STRATEGIC PLAN, 2017-2022
GROW
DIVERSIFY
As we launch our second century, we will position EMU among leaders in Christian higher education. We will strengthen the long-term sustainability of EMU’s mission and fiscal health by increasing enrollment across all programs, enhancing our national profile and academic reputation, and improving financial strength.
We will attract, develop and sustain a thriving team of faculty, staff and administrators whose diversity mirrors our student body, community and the broader church. We will establish policies and practices to support commitment to EMU’s mission and meaningful engagement in teaching, scholarship, vocation and service to our university.
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VISION FOR THE FUTURE
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As EMU continues to seek what it means to fully live out our mission, I hope that our vision will stay focused on what our community would look like if we fully opened space for Spirit, color and difference – for the hands, voices, minds and hearts that represent every nation, tribe, people and language to be invited, desired and loved. My vision for EMU is that the wholesome Christlike values of the Mennonite faith will remain the foundation for why we desire to integrate the newness that will continue to come. May we use radical love and boldness to pursue uniqueness and diversity. ARIEL BARBOSA, SOPHOMORE, DOUBLE-MA JORING IN SOCIOLOGY AND BIBLE AND RELIGION WITH AN HONORS MINOR, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK
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As EMU enters its second century, my hopes are that all students can consider this community their home. Whether an athlete, a student of a different denomination/religion, a student of color or any other variant, I hope that EMU finds ways to better adjust to what all groups consider comforting. I hope for more faculty and staff members to be willing to get involved and advocate not just for students to get by, but for students to be successful! BRIT TANY WILLIAMS, SENIOR, MA JORING IN RECREATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND SPORTS STUDIES, KING GEORGE, VIRGINIA PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK
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My hope is that EMU will continue its compassionate service and dedication to the people of Harrisonburg. I hope that the connections and partnerships between the two will only continue to grow as Harrisonburg itself grows. Maintaining a deeply rooted connection to the people of Harrisonburg should be of the utmost importance to EMU, as it continues to stress the importance of engaging with one’s neighbor, especially those of such a friendly city. MARIO HERNANDEZ, JUNIOR, DOUBLEMA JORING IN HISTORY AND BIOLOGY, TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS PHOTO BY MACSON MCGUIGAN
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My hope for EMU as it enters its second century is that the institution can move as rapidly as the student population on inclusion issues surrounding race, gender, sexuality and others. Engaging in these issues demands a radical level of willingness to experience discomfort and human connection, which can sometimes arrive slower when working through an institution. However, I have high hopes for the leadership that Susan Schultz Huxman brings to EMU as the United States dives into a pivotal and divisive period of history. In addition, I hope to see a large expansion of the music facilities. LUKE MULLET, SENIOR, MA JORING IN MATH WITH AN HONORS MINOR, BERLIN, OHIO PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK
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My hope for the future of EMU is that our community continues to build upon its motto of being “A Christian University Like No Other” by integrating a strong faith background into the classrooms, sports fields and residence halls. As a transfer student, I have been amazed by the inclusion, acceptance and passion cultivated by the faculty and staff at EMU, all aspects that I hope will continue to touch students’ lives. ERIN BRUBAKER, JUNIOR, MA JORING IN EDUC ATION (SECONDARY MATH), GOESSEL, K ANSAS PHOTO BY SCOT T EYRE
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ROYAL FILES
PHOTO
CENTENNIAL HOMECOMING 2017 Community members new to EMU joined those with ties three and four generations strong to celebrate the university's Centennial Oct. 12-15. More than 80 events provided an exciting celebration. PHOTOS BY JON ST YER, ANDREW STRACK, ANNA-LOUISE CECIL AND MACSON MCGUIGAN
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ROYAL FILES
Top: The Steel Wheels concert Saturday afternoon was enjoyed by more than 1,580 ticketholders and many who listened outside the concert venue. // Middle, from left: Future Royals play during the Fall Festival on the front lawn, which included games and inflatables for kids, food trucks and live music. // Dancing on the lawn to music by the Steel Wheels. // The Campus Canvas Run provided a 2-mile trot and a colorful T-shirt keepsake. // Below, from left: The EMU jazz band, under the direction of Bob Curry, entertains in Thomas Plaza. // Sixty-one cyclists cruised through Rockingham County on Friday during the Centennial Century ride, with 100K, 50K and 5K options available.
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ROYAL FILES
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ROYAL FILES
Top, from left: The Centennial theater production "What we bring. What we take. What we leave" garnered accolades during two packed performances. // The Presidents' Forum gathered three presidents emeriti and current president Susan Schultz Huxman for reflection and laughter. // Below, from left: The Centennial art exhibit showcased the work of seven artists. // Author Donald Kraybill '67 signs a copy of the Centennial history. // Alumni gather for the opening welcome on Saturday. // Anxo Perez '97, Jodie Geddes MA '16 (conflict transformation) and Trent Wagler '02 pose after their TenTalks event. // Ben Bergey '11 leads singing during the Sunday morning worship service, which featured a shared litany reading by the 2017 alumni award winners. www.emu.edu | CROSSROADS | 15
ROYAL FILES
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Harrison Horst, who provided student leadership to the revitalization of the jazz band last year, takes a break during rehearsals. PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK
'LEAPING FORWARD IN FAITH' After indulging in Centennial sentimentality, this student calls for action and change. The Centennial celebration was an incredible success, drawing in unprecedented numbers of families and alumni to participate in over 80 events during a three-day period. Much of the celebration was dedicated to remembering and exploring what makes us a unique university, resulting in a flood of feel-good sentiments. I too indulged in the sentimentality of the weekend, but for me, this “looking back” also sharpened what I perceive as a need for us to look forward. This is the question we have all been thinking about but not talking about: How will EMU stay relevant in the 21st century? Despite significant amounts of financial aid, our tuition is still too high. Despite a branding attuned to our differences, we recruit students no differently than any other university. Despite a robust recycling program, we create far too much waste. Despite a voiced dedication to sustainability, less than 10 percent of our energy is renewable. Despite our use of the word “radical,” none of this appears to be changing anytime soon. Our inability to extract ourselves both from an incredibly unjust higher education system and from an extractive, resource-intensive consumer culture should be taken as a sign of institutional decadence, and not lightly at that. I earnestly believe the people making decisions have our best interests in mind, but I cannot help but think that we can be more creative when it comes to generating solutions. It’s a tough gig, but we must be up to the task, for the cost of failure is high. 16 | CROSSROADS | FALL/WINTER 2017
For example, we can more effectively leverage our comparative advantage in cross-cultural studies. What would it look like to have a cross-cultural minor in which students could specialize in developing the global perspective we value so highly? Or what would it look like to have cross-culturals themed to particular global issues, like rapidly increasing urbanization or destabilization due to climate change? These trips could engage our students in new, exciting, and highly relevant ways. To push ideas like this forward, next year’s Homecoming could be a “think-tank” weekend. Imagine if all of the people here for the Centennial were thinking not about the past, but about the future. I can see it now: 2,000 passionate parents, students, and alumni working together in 80 events over three days to brainstorm creative ideas about how to move forward as a university. Our university is familiar with voices arguing that our actions don’t match historical values. But instead of asking whether our path forward aligns with the way we have done things in the past, I am calling for a dramatic reorientation that engages the world in a way that is more true to our values and calling. This is not about taking a step backward. It’s about leaping forward in faith: in faith of a greater plan, in faith that we are called to a radical rather than complacent worldview, and in faith that the next 50 years – the lifetime of my generation – are going to look different than anything we have seen before. Will we be the brave visionaries for a new model of higher education that truly reflects our desire to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God?” Or will we be the passive stewards of education who were not imaginative enough to remain distinctive? Let’s be brave, EMU. Now is the time. THIS OP-ED BY HARRISON HORST, A SENIOR SOCIOLOGY MAJOR AND FORMER WEATHER VANE CO-EDITOR, WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE OCT. 19 WEATHER VANE. IT HAS BEEN EDITED FOR LENGTH. READ MORE AT EMU.EDU/HARRISONHORST
ROYAL FILES
FAITH FOCUS
COMMUTING TO EMS Students make long trek David Gaylor commutes 320 miles round-trip to Eastern Mennonite Seminary each week, traveling from the south-central town of Martinsville and staying Tuesday and Wednesday night. In his second year of studies, Gaylor says he’s been enriched by the experience. “I feel at home and like I have made relationships that I will keep forever,” he said. Bob Michalides travels 220 miles round-trip from Lynchburg. He spends one night each week with fellow graduate student Valerie Showalter ‘06 and partner Justin Shenk ‘06. “True hospitality,” he says. “EMS demonstrates Jesus’ commandment to love your neighbor as you love yourself. There are no strangers in this world, but people created equally in the image of God.” Gaylor and Michalides are among 12 commuter students who travel more than an hour each way to attend seminary classes this semester. Of the 12, 11 are affiliated with the United Methodist Church (UMC) and one with the Church of the Brethren. Since the mid-'80s, EMS has shared a special relationship with the UMC in theological education, having been approved by the church’s University Senate for the training of candidates for ordination. “Many of our Methodist students come here because of proximity, but
Twelve Eastern Mennonite Seminary students commute more than an hour each way to classes in Harrisonburg. Back row, from left: Mike Evans, Adam Stultz, Bob Michalides, Nathan Epling. Front row: David Gaylor, Josh Dalton, Lorrie Aikens, Dawn Reidy, Alanna McGuin. Not pictured: Amber Baker, Anna Lewis-Efaw, Tobias Lutz. PHOTO BY JON ST YER
those who may be closer to other schools say they are often encouraged by EMS alumni, or they’ve witnessed the unique education that EMS alumni pastors have had here,” says director of admissions Les Horning ’86, SEM ‘98. Alanna McGuinn was inspired to a 90-mile commute through the West Virginia mountains on the recommendation of Judy Vetter SEM ’05, a UMC pastor in Romney, West Virginia. “I am becoming an even more effective pastor because of my time here,” McGuinn says. “The education I am receiving is outstanding, but perhaps more important are the connections I have made with both faculty and fellow students.” Mike Evans, a pastor with multiple charges in central Virginia, was encouraged by colleague Gordon Meriweather, who graduated with dual degrees from the seminary and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding in 2015. Evans earned his bachelor’s degree at EMU in 2011 and started his Master of Divinity degree at Wesley Theological Seminary before transferring to EMS. He appreciates the small class sizes, the relationships with professors and classmates, and the diversity of beliefs. “Studying at EMS helps me have an open mind about other believers,” he said. “The different points of view show me a larger Christian world than I would see if I had gone to a traditionally Methodist seminary. This diversity will help me in showing and teaching my congregations how we all fit into a larger body of believers and how love crosses multiple denominations.” – LAUREN JEFFERSON
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TO GRADUATE SCHOOL FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE
I chose EMU because of the flexibility of the program, but I now recognize that the EMU experience has had a much broader impact on my life than I anticipated. Contributing to the broader/global society, minimizing environmental impacts, and involving key stakeholders in decision-making are key tenets. The interdisciplinary focus of the program has truly changed my perspective, making me an advocate for others instead of being a bystander, or at best, a participant in discussions. I experienced a new humanistic perspective through the organizational behavior course, while the nursing courses have deeply impacted my professional practice and helped to strengthen my advocacy for nurses. Discussions on transformational and servant leadership have moved me towards developing a greater capacity to love my work and those I work with. This expression has helped me and others to find purpose, fulfillment and fun. JOHN LUBKOWSI MBA '17 IS DIREC TOR OF PHARMAC Y SERVICES AT AUGUSTA HEALTH, A 255-BED HOSPITAL IN FISHERSVILLE, VIRGINIA. DURING HIS SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE 2017 COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY, JOHN SUGGESTED THAT TAKING THE FOUR-YEAR “SCENIC ROUTE" TO AN MBA WITH A CONCENTRATION IN HEALTHC ARE MANAGEMENT HAD DEEPENED HIS EDUC ATIONAL EXPERIENCE, ALLOWING TIME TO MEASURE THE FULL IMPAC T OF HIS LEARNING. PHOTOS BY ANDREW STRACK
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What I didn't realize was how much of restorative justice is a "lens" through which you look at the world – both professionally and personally. In this program, we were asked to look at our core assumptions about people and move forward from that place. I found that when I did this, it naturally affected everything that I do. The assumptions of restorative justice are a gracious way of viewing the world. It was also helpful to begin to embrace conflict as an inevitable part of life that helps people to grow and improve. When we do this, conflict can actually strengthen relationships in the end. When I come from this perspective, I'm able to help my students manage conflict in a healthy way, rather than shy away from it or push it aside. When I use the restorative justice lens, I am my best self. As I began to look through this new lens, I began to notice differences in how I talk to students about conflict, how I communicate with my co-workers, and how I parent my two sons. CHRISTINA NORMENT, A COUNSELOR AT HARRISONBURG HIGH SCHOOL, WAS AMONG THE FIRST COHORT OF EDUC ATORS TO COMPLETE A RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN EDUC ATION GRADUATE CERTIFIC ATE IN 2017.
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BS-MA IN COUNSELING
MACKENZIE LAPP Mackenzie Lapp, of Bridgewater, Virginia, has degrees in psychology and sociology from EMU. She is a second-year graduate counseling student in the five-year BA-MA in counseling program. Mackenzie has worked with middle and high school students in an alternative education environment and is currently working with college students at her internship placement. She plans to earn licensure as a professional counselor and continue working with young adults.
MA IN COUNSELING
MANAR FAWAHRY Manar Fawahry currently works with refugees and immigrants in northern Virginia. She has designed and led trainings and facilitated dialogues focusing on experiential learning, majority-minority relationships, intra/intergroup dynamics, and gender and structural conflict with diverse groups around the world. She holds a BA in politics with two minors in peace, conflict and coexistence and Near Eastern and Judaic studies from Brandeis University and a master’s degree from George Mason University in conflict analysis and resolution.
MA IN COUNSELING
ANAHELY CRUZ First-year graduate counseling student Anahely Cruz is committed to making positive social change and advocating for underserved and marginalized communities. After earning degrees in elementary and special education from EMU, where she was also a Cords of Distinction honoree and a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Scholar, she taught in the dual immersion program with Harrisonburg City Schools. Anahely currently serves as a student advocate through James Madison University, runs a business, and volunteers at Second Home Childcare Center.
MA IN BIOMEDICINE
ALETHEA GNANAKAN CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
TALIBAH AQUIL Talibah Aquil, a native of Harlem, New York, earned a BFA in musical theater from Howard University and has toured around the world with the dance company StepAfrika! After two years in Rwanda with the Peace Corps, she came to CJP certain of her calling: she plans to use the arts as a form of ministry and healing by working with people in countries that have experienced war, trauma, displacement and/ or genocide.
Alethea Gnanakan’s educational journey across India, England and the U.S. helped her develop a vision for a medical career in aid of victims of famine. She graduated with a BS in pre-medicine from Liberty University and worked as a certified medical assistant at Fairfax Family Medicine in Fairfax, Virginia. She hopes that EMU’s MA in Biomedicine program will be that wind in her sails that propels her to medical school.
MS IN NURSING
MATT JOHNSON Matt Johnson is a charge nurse in the emergency department at Warren Memorial Hospital in Front Royal, Virginia. A Marine Corps veteran, he has worked in several area emergency departments for more than 10 years. Matt wants to gain leadership skills to mentor future generations of nurses as well as offer the community a high quality of care during crisis times. He believes his service is a way to give back to the community in which he and his wife have raised three children.
BS-MA IN COUNSELING
BETHANY CHUPP Bethany Chupp, from Canby, Oregon, is a recent graduate of EMU with a major in psychology and minors in art and honors. A second-year graduate student in the five-year BA-MA program, she works in EMU’s counseling center. Bethany was previously a program director for Drift Creek Camp, and is passionate about working with children who have experienced trauma. She enjoys exploring ways that expressive arts techniques and focusing on the experience of the body can encourage healing.
MA IN BIOMEDICINE
TYLER STEVE CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
MARISABEL KUBIAK Marisabel Kubiak is currently senior technical advisor for Links Global, a strategic communications company. She has led numerous community mobilization and behavior change initiatives, most notably for the World Health Organization, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Fund, National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She holds a master’s degree in public health from University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Tyler Steve, a graduate student in the MA in Biomedicine program from Fredericksburg, Virginia, has worked part-time and full-time as a medical assistant in dermatology for the past six years. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology with a concentration in ecology and environmental biology from James Madison University. He plans to attend medical school, finish a dermatology residency, and then return to Fredericksburg to practice and continue giving care to the wonderful patients he has met over the years.
MS IN NURSING
MIRIAM MITCHELL Miriam Mitchell is the Mennonite Central Committee country representative in Zambia with her husband, Ron. Miriam obtained her initial nursing education, as well as a sociology degree, in her home country of New Zealand. She earned a BSN in the United States and a master’s degree in public health from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. She has worked in well-child health, nursing education and international development settings. She is especially interested in nursing education in low resource settings and the global nursing shortage.
CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
BOUELA LEHBIB BREICA Bouela Lehbib Breica is the first Saharawi to be awarded a Fulbright scholarship. From Western Sahara, Bouela was raised in one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Algeria. After completing degrees in communication and journalism, and translation, he was awarded a scholarship to earn a master’s degree at Las Palmas University, Algeria. He helped to establish the first Department of Translation and Interpreting in the Saharawi Ministry for Public Services. His most recent work was for the Danish Refugee Council as a livelihoods team leader.
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BA-MA CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
ALYSSA MOYER BARAHONA
TIFFANY DICKSON
Alyssa Moyer Barahona has served vulnerable communities in Honduras alongside a Catholic orphanage and a medical mission. While earning a degree in peacebuilding from EMU, she worked with Mennonite Central Committee during the peace process in Colombia, and traveled on a semester-long cross-cultural to the Middle East. Alyssa’s hope is to gain tools and experience with her degree to take back to Honduras and aid vulnerable communities in building lasting peace
Tiffany Dickson is a school nurse and stroke care coordinator at a community hospital in northeast Pennsylvania. She has spent much of her career as an emergency department nurse. Though a goal is to grow and serve as a compassionate leader in health care, more importantly she serves as a role model to her sons Bryon, 11, and Adam, 9, while also honoring her late husband, Cpl. Bryon K. Dickson II, who died in the line of duty with the Pennsylvania State Police.
MS IN NURSING MS IN NURSING
HOLLY RISHEL Holly Rishel is the department chair for the Central York School District’s nursing department in York, Pennsylvania. As a certified school nurse, she oversees the health-related issues and nursing care of approximately 1,400 students. Studying in the MSN program has aided in further developing her leadership skills in relation to team-building, resolving conflict, and forming partnerships among teachers, staff and parents.
COLLABORATIVE MBA PROGRAM
MS IN NURSING
JEANNINE UZEL Jeannine Uzel is the director of public health nursing for the Virginia Department of Health in Richmond, Virginia. She leads the public health nurses in district health departments across the state. Her career has included home visiting case management, mass influenza vaccination clinics, weather-related emergency shelters, school nursing, and the provision of clinical safety net services throughout urban, suburban and rural areas. EMU’s MSN program has led her to discover new ways for implementing change in areas of community health promotion and population health.
ANNA HERDECK GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Anna Herdeck resides in Chicago, Illinois, where she is director of fundraising for a nonprofit organization working to improve the health of highAndean communities in Peru. She was previously director of operations with the organization in Peru. Anna has broad experiences in public health: After graduation from Goshen College, she was an AmeriCorps health education volunteer at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Chicago and a Peace Corp health volunteer in Honduras. She then spent five years in program management roles for PCC Community Wellness Center in Chicago.
MYRIAM AZIZ Myriam Aziz, a native of Lebanon and 2017 graduate of EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, is a teaching fellow at EMU. She worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as a senior resettlement assistant in the Syrian crisis before resigning to accept a Fulbright scholarship to attend CJP. She has also worked on rehabilitation projects with Habitat for Humanity Lebanon. She has a degree in political science and international affairs from the Lebanese American University, Beirut.
MASTER OF DIVINITY
VALERIE SHOWALTER Valerie Showalter is associate pastor at Shalom Mennonite Congregation in Harrisonburg. She and partner Justin Shenk, both 2006 graduates of EMU, were community hosts in a United Reformed Church through Mennonite Mission Network in London, England, for three years. Valerie's work in London and afterwards has focused on community organizing and faith formation through facilitating theology roundtable discussions, craftivism (craft + activism), and countless cups of tea.
GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN EDUCATION MA IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP
MICHAEL J. TRANUM As chief technology officer for DuPont Community Credit Union, Michael oversees several operational, support and software development departments. He has spent more than half of his 20 years in information technology with communityfocused, not-for-profit credit unions. He and his wife Sara live in Rockingham County and have three sons.
MASTER OF DIVINITY/MA IN COUNSELING
STEVE GIDDENS Steve Giddens, pastor at St. Stephen's United Church of Christ in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is a U.S. Army veteran with three combat tours and 12 years of honorable service. He used his educational benefits to earn a degree in outdoor education, with an emphasis on therapeutic applications, along with a minor in farming and equine agriculture therapy. After an internship with SCUBA Warriors, working with wounded veterans in Washington state, Steve is answering his call to pursue a dual Master of Divinity degree and MA in Counseling degree.
MASTER OF DIVINITY
ADAM KING In his third year of studies, Adam King has focused his research on the potential for people of faith to combat racism, challenge social privilege, and attain LGBTQ equality within the church and in society. He is associate pastor at RISE Faith Community in Harrisonburg. Adam lives in Broadway with his wife Kadie and his 8-year-old son, Jack.
JAY SUPKO
GORDON DAMAN
Jay Supko has served in public schools for 36 years, with the last 15 in administration in Harrisonburg City Schools. He is most comfortable working with English language learners and children of poverty. He holds masters’ degrees in public school administration and supervision from James Madison University and in sports medicine from Ohio University. A lifelong learner, he plans to play a role in promoting and utilizing restorative practices throughout Harrisonburg City Schools.
Gordon Daman, of Niverville, Manitoba, Canada, is president of Red River Group, which offers real estate appraisal and consulting to numerous financial institutions, law and accounting firms, and various levels of government. Gordon began his career in the nonprofit sector in the education and human services fields and earned a professional appraisers designation from the Appraisal Institute of Canada in 2008. A former town council member and mayor, he is currently involved in the Manitoba Municipal Board, as well as a number of community nonprofit organizations.
MBA
MA IN EDUCATION
DORAN STEGURA
LINDSAY CARSON
Doran Stegura has provided managerial, logistical and analytical support for various U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemakings, documentation and software development projects for over 25 years. She currently works for CSRA, a large government contractor. Her clients include the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality and Great Lakes National Program Office. She has a BA in environmental economics from St. Lawrence University and an MS in public health in environment management and policy from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
MA IN EDUCATION
JENN ESBENSHADE MASTER OF DIVINITY/MASTER OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP
SHANKAR RAI Shankar Rai is a Bhutanese of Nepali descent, now a U.S. citizen. He pastored at Bhutanese Nepali Church of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Unity Church of Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a founding member of two 501c(3) organizations, Bhutanese Community Development, and Bhutanese Nepali Churches of America.
Jenn Esbenshade is the director of the Spanish Immersion Program at Lancaster Mennonite School. She holds a bachelor’s in Spanish education and a master’s degree in English as a Second Langauge. She has been working in the field of education for the last 20 years. Her teaching has spanned the ages of elementary to college and taken her from rural Guatemala to center-city Philadelphia. Her passion has always been to help her students achieve their goals.
COLLABORATIVE MBA PROGRAM
Lindsay Carson is working towards her reading specialist certification at EMU. She has taught fourth grade at Lancaster Mennonite SchoolNew Danville Campus for the past five years, where she has enjoyed developing the Teaching Garden, a learning space for planting, harvesting, cooking and stewardship education. Lindsay, who holds an Anbaptist Educator Certification, was a curriculum writer for the new Anabaptist faith formation curriculum, ENCOUNTER, through the Mennonite Schools Council. She is a 2012 graduate of Eastern University.
COLLABORATIVE MBA PROGRAM
RUBEN DYCK Ruben Dyck, of Chihuahua, Mexico, is a youth pastor with the Blumenau Mennonite Church. Since beginning there six years ago, he has taken on additional administrative roles. Learning about leadership, administration and organizational behavior has helped in his context, and also as he walks with some of the congregation's business owners in challenging times. He has a bachelor’s degree in youth ministry from Steinbach Bible College.
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‘WHATEVER YOU ASK, LORD’ Regina Chacha '85, carrying on the international ministry she and her husband started, earns recognition alongside icons of American arts and politics in Vanity Fair magazine.
VANITY FAIR – a glossy magazine touting coverage of celebrities, culture and politics – might be one of the last places you’d expect to find Regina Horst Chacha '85. Thanks to a providential connection, though – in Tanzania, at that – Vanity Fair is just where this Eastern Mennonite University graduate and daughter of a Virginia Mennonite pastor has landed. Regina, who in Tanzania is known as “Mama Regina,” was nominated to the magazine’s Hall of Fame for her ongoing work with City of Hope, a ministry of two schools, an orphanage and a clinic that she and her now-deceased husband John Chacha '84 founded in Ntagacha, Tanzania. The other 2016 Hall of Fame inductees were Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda; Olympic gymnast Simone Biles; author Megyn Kelly, who hosted at Fox News at the time of the award; Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding
John Chacha '84 wrote more than 20 books before his untimely death in 2015. PHOTO BY MACSON MCGUIGAN
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director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture; and then President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The August 2017 issue of the magazine featured a photo and article describing Regina’s story as one that defies the odds. If anyone is surprised, it’s her – and not just by the Vanity Fair recognition. “When I look at how I thought things would be for me, back when I would have been in high school,” she said, “I never would have dreamed I would be involved in things the way I am.” FROM EMU TO INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY Born in Canada, Regina was one of four daughters who grew up near Winchester, Virginia, after the family moved to take on a pastorate at Stephens City Mennonite Church. But it wasn’t until she was a student at Eastern Mennonite College that she became interested in doing her own missions work. At EMC she made friends with international students, had a roommate from Ethiopia, soaked up the university’s emphasis on service, and became a founding member of Student Missions Fellowship. It was a “pivotal time” in her life. She spent the summer after her sophomore year working at what is now Spruce Lake Retreat. With other staff, she attended a conference where she remembers being challenged to say, “Whatever you ask, Lord. I’ll do whatever.” “I made that commitment,” Regina recalled recently. It was a “no restrictions,
no holds barred” statement that she counts as a “crucial decision” in her story. During the following year at EMC, she became better acquainted with another Fellowship founding member, John Chacha, then known as John Chacha Nick. “Where before I was more of a hometype person – I didn’t really want to travel much, and things like that – John got me more and more excited about missions,” she said. After John graduated from EMC in 1984, he returned to his home countries of Tanzania and Kenya and continued to be active in missions. Regina went on to graduate in 1985, and that fall they became engaged over the telephone.
Because he was not granted a visa to the United States, her father married the couple in Canada in the church he had previously pastored. A few months later in 1986, they were able to return to Virginia and settled in Martinsville, where they had friends who were starting a church. During that time John continued writing what would eventually be more than 20 books and developed a curriculum for church-based Bible schools. Regina taught for nine years in the public school system. They also traveled to help bridge gaps between segregated Christian groups. Regina remembers visiting an all-white
Regina Horst Chacha '85 poses with Liberian students from City of Hope who study at the Mountain Mission School in Grudy, Virginia. This photo appeared in Vanity Fair magazine's 2016 Hall of Fame coverage.
church in South Africa where John was the first black person ever to speak. “You could feel the tension when he got PHOTO BY © MARK SCHÄFER started, but he just had a way of breaking down barriers and within a little bit after he started speaking, people were pulling out their notebooks and taking notes, together and serving the sick from both and it really was effective,” she said. sides, and teaching children from both Eventually, in 2007, one of John’s sissides in our school, then the government ters suggested that he return to his home started paying attention and did a big village in Tanzania. City of Hope began gun roundup and started doing some with a children’s home and a medical prosecution where necessary,” she said. center located right at a battleground “It really changed the community.” where different clans fought, in part over cattle theft. They called it Amani (transTHE CITY GROWS lated as peace) Medical Center. City of Hope has gained recognition “When we started bringing the leaders over the years: In 2009, the Tanzanian www.emu.edu | CROSSROADS | 23
Regina Chacha with daughters Sarah (left) and Rose in their Martinsville home. PHOTO BY MACSON MCGUIGAN
president visited, and this year it received the Mwenge wa Uhuru (Freedom Torch) for the third time. This awarded honored its work in agriculture and water collection, and, most recently, the secondary school chemistry and biology lab facilities. In addition to the clinic, which has served thousands, the organization now includes a children’s home for more than 100 orphans; Destiny Primary School with 450 students; and the Dr. John Chacha Secondary School and Institute of Leadership, which opened in January with 45 students. As the City of Hope expanded, it became a project for the whole family. One daughter works in a sewing and design program for students there, and their other five children are also involved. Tragically, in the spring of 2015, a truck accident killed John and a student, leaving Regina at the helm. “I’m really thankful for how, because of the things we were doing together, he prepared me for leading now that he’s 24 | CROSSROADS | FALL/WINTER 2017
gone,” she said. Now the ministry’s international executive director, Regina has continued the work, this year making five trips to City of Hope. She is also the guardian for 33 children from City of Hope who study at the Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Virginia.
the challenges remain immense,” it proclaims: Regina said that City of Hope still needs a school bus, teacher housing (a government requirement), a better solution for water, and more land for growing food – and those are just needs relating to the new secondary school. But Regina persists with the ministry’s “huge vision” because it will have AND NOW VANITY FAIR? a “big impact and influence people for From early on, the Chachas envisioned the Kingdom,” she said. Eventually she City of Hope as a place where people wants to add a nursing school as well as from the U.S. could come to serve in other vocational training programs. and learn about another culture. In 2011, “Throughout all of my life, I’ve seen the one of those guests happened to be Lord’s hand,” she said. “I’ve seen answers Stacey Sauerberg, whose husband, Bob to prayer and I’ve seen God moving in Sauerberg, is the president and CEO of ways that are amazing. I just want to enCondé Nast, which owns Vanity Fair. courage people to trust in the Lord and Now, in honor of his wife, who died seek His will, His plan, His guidance. in late 2016, Sauerberg has established Don’t be afraid to believe for big things, The Stacey Sauerberg Women’s Leaderbecause He’s a big God.” ship Initiative under the umbrella of City And so actually, in a way, none of it – of Hope, with the goal of empowering not her story, not her work with her huswomen. band John, and not her recent acclaim in In part, Vanity Fair’s recognition of Vanity Fair – is at all surprising. Regina’s ongoing work comes “because – CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ '00
ROYAL FILES
“A LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION PREPARED ME FOR THE JOB THAT WAS AVAILABLE WITHOUT LIMITING ME TO ONLY THE JOB I WAS TRAINED ”about his Jonathan TO NofzigerDO. '11 talks work in Liberia while visiting Eastern Mennonite University in the fall. PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK
FROM THE FIELD
AN EBOLA RESEARCHER’S TRAINING biochemistry and … theater?
IMAGINE A SCIENTIST WORKING IN A LAB, and you might envision gleaming, sterile equipment in a strictly controlled environment. For one Eastern Mennonite University graduate now studying effects of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Liberia, keeping samples in a four-degree window for days on end while navigating obstacles like electrical fires and limited infrastructure requires a “flexible way of thinking.” Jonathan Nofziger manages the daily operation of clinical laboratories at several locations that are part of the Partnership for Research on Ebola Virus in Liberia, which is looking at long-term health effects of EVD in survivors. In that role, Nofziger supervises laboratory technicians collecting and processing samples, operates and performs detailed troubleshooting and maintenance on laboratory equipment, and maintains computer and networking systems used in the lab. Maybe it’s no surprise that Nofziger was a biochemistry major at EMU and has a master's degree in public health from George Washington University. But he points to something else on his resume, too, that prepared him for his current role as research associate for Advanced BioMedical Laboratories LLC: the liberal arts variety of his education, specifically theater. “A major reason I got this job was actually because of my electrical skills that I gained while working at theater at EMU,” he said recently. “Without that I might not have gotten the job – or at least I would be struggling to do
the work I need to get done.” Nofziger’s job includes doing anything required to keep labs functioning and projects running smoothly – no small feat, considering that the obstacles can appear insurmountable. Occasionally he asks himself, “If I had a normal job, would I be bored?” Testing equipment and maintaining samples require constant, stable electricity, but the local grid is less than adequate, necessitating generators and extension cords to keep freezers powered so that blood samples can be kept at -80 degrees celsius. Washed-out roads in a climate with a six-month rainy season impede travel. The constant battle against dirt, humidity, and protracted supply chain timelines – which can take months – requires spending hours every day making sure equipment is fully functional and ready for running tests. A recent series of electrical fires happened when building renovators incorrectly reconnected wires. Later an upper-story water leak destroyed the hospital wing’s electrical system. Getting off the grid and onto generator power is a pressing need, he said. A key benefit of one of his machines in particular, he said, is its “thorough troubleshooting manual.” Such work requires broader training than just being taught a specific skill set. “EMU provided the direct mentorship with professors to encourage that kind of thinking, but also the hands-on skills I use every day,” he said. “A liberal arts education prepared me for the job that was available without limiting me to only the job I was trained to do.” Although his research focuses on EVD survivors – the 2014 EVD outbreak in Liberia has been declared ended by the World Health Organization – Nofziger knows the disease could reappear. During a recent presentation to an EMU biology class, Nofziger said that he finds it exciting to be part of research that he knows is going to have an impact in a country comparable in size to Virginia which suffered nearly 5,000 deaths in nearly 11,000 cases during the 2014 EVD outbreak. “Three years ago there was no effective treatment and no vaccines for ebola,” he said. “It really is amazing what happens when the world gets together and decides to solve a problem. I’m glad to contribute to that effort.” – CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ '00
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Ashley Hevener '10 (pictured here in 2013) began working for Kearney & Company, based in Arlington, Virginia, after graduation. PHOTO BY JON ST YER
AUDITING AROUND THE WORLD Thanks to her EMU education, this globe-trotting auditor has cultural and relational skills to guide clients to better decisions about how money is spent. ON AT LEAST TWO OCCASIONS, Ashley Hevener '10 has known, deep down, almost instantaneously, where she wanted to be. One was a campus visit to Eastern Mennonite University that changed her already-made plans, and the second has taken her to 21 countries. As a high school junior in Kansas, Hevener decided she wanted to go to an East Coast college, and after a weeklong excursion to visit different schools, settled on a Boston school. But at the 2005 Mennonite Convention, an EMU 26 | CROSSROADS | FALL/WINTER 2017
recruiter invited her to visit the campus. “I was on campus for three days, and I fell in love with it, the people, the atmosphere,” she said recently. “I called my mom and said, ‘I’ve got to turn down the Boston offer. I’m going to EMU.’” After graduating from EMU with degrees in accounting and business, Hevener earned a master’s degree in accounting from James Madison University, and had four second-round interviews in D.C. that resulted in job offers. The first interview would have sufficed, however
– when she left the interview, she again called her mom and said, “I have to work here, or I’ll die.” BLACK AND WHITE Hevener admits she is prone to hyperbole, but she has always liked unambiguity. She’s a numbers person, after all, something that her satisfaction in accounting coursework brought into focus. “I’m a nerd at heart,” she said. “I really like the puzzle aspect. I like the black and white aspect, that debits equal credits. In class, if I could not get the answer to equal out, then I knew something was wrong. There was no grey area, and for just how I thought, that was the best thing.” That made one class particularly challenging, though: auditing. It’s a subject and accounting field that Hevener describes as “theoretical and hypothetical,” much less black and white, and more grey. Coming out of that class, she said to herself, “I don’t know what that is, but
Ashley Hevener '10 talks with Mario Valladares '17 at a business recruitment fair hosted at James Madison University in fall 2017. PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK
I hate it. I never want to do that.” And then her career took her directly there, into auditing. Now, she said, “I love it.”
make sure clients are spending federal money in alignment with contractual terms,” she said, but that doesn’t mean she has to embody a “gotcha” accountant stereotype. “There’s a correct way of letting people know they maybe need to change things, to deliver news in a way that allows them to walk away not feeling completely destroyed,” she said.
EXPERIENCES Hevener points to several undergraduate GREY experiences at EMU that especially Hevener is at Kearney & Company, an equipped her for her work, including accounting firm in Alexandria, Virginia, managing both the men’s and women’s that serves the federal government. She volleyball team. manages six auditing projects for which “I had a planner, a schedule,” she said. she travels extensively, working with up “I was balancing a full school load, going to 50 clients in any given year. She is to practices and games, and on the hook “always learning new things,” she said. for the coaches and athletics director. I As an auditor, Hevener has to get to had to make sure that any one of my know the programs she’s examining so stakeholders didn’t feel less important that she can understand where risks than any other. And it was built in to might exist in their processes, and then my college life – I never realized it was develop test procedures around those happening.” risks. It’s completely different for each Another draw to EMU for Hevener client, she said, although often she can – for which her appreciation has only apply what she has learned from working grown – was its cross-cultural program. with one client to other situations. She spent six weeks one summer in There’s still the “black and white” of Nigeria, where she wore traditional Afnumbers, but Hevener’s role is to look at rican clothing, had her hair weaved, and the bigger picture – with the added chal- was given a Nigerian name by her host lenge of being compassionate. “I have to mother. On campus, she was surrounded
by people from other countries, or many who had spent significant time living abroad. Hevener’s more recent travels for work have been domestic, but past trips to developing countries with coworkers have made her realize the profundity of the cross-cultural program. “Half of them don’t have an appreciation for the experience, and they can’t wait to get back to the United States,” she said, “and the other half are kind of interested in it, but really just walk around in shock and awe.” Seeing her colleagues’ discomfort in foreign settings has made her realize “how many Americans either don’t have the opportunity to travel abroad, or choose to ignore that there are that many different cultures. That was something that I definitely picked up at EMU.” BORING? NOT QUITE Hevener knows that the fields of accounting and auditing can sound boring. But she said she gets to work with a lot of different people, and she actually likes going to work. “When I look at how many hours I work and the fact that I don’t hate my life,” she said, “I think it speaks a lot to my company.” – CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ '00
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HONORING A LEGACY OF GIVING
Dennis and Sharon Showalter, both 1973 graduates, are guiding a scholarship endowment in honor of Dennis's grandparents, HDH and Flora Showalter (above, far left and right), who were early supporters of EMS. Family members have been invited to join and contribute to the legacy. TOP PHOTO COURTESY OF DENNIS AND SHARON SHOWALTER; BELOW BY JON ST YER
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H.D.H. AND FLORA SHOWALTER were among the first donors to the fledging Eastern Mennonite School in 1916, contributing funds for maintenance of the run-down former resort hotel, known as the White House. The couple farmed 10 miles north on Trissels Road, where they raised nine children. Dennis Showalter ’73 remembers his grandfather well, though by that time, HDH was retired and had lost his voice. HDH was a songleader at Trissels Mennonite Church and was well-known for his singing. The early generosity of HDH and Flora ensured the school would eventually grow to the university it is today. Generations to follow would benefit. “Six of HDH and Flora’s children attended EMS,” Showalter said, “along with at least 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren who have attended EMC and EMU.” The HDH and Flora Showalter Endowed Scholarship – with a priority for students of African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American descent in the computer science, mathematics or engineering program – honors the Showalter legacy of supporting EMU. “We want all students to have the opportunity for an education at this school, which we value so much,” said Sharon Showalter ’73. “It’s still a community which is giving back to us and we wanted to join in that spirit.” Dennis and Sharon met at EMC as first-year students. They went on to careers in special education and nursing, respectively, spending most of their years in West Liberty, Ohio. They’ve recently moved back to Harrisonburg to be closer to their children and grandchildren, but another benefit has been an opportunity to reconnect with EMU and witness “the wonderful things going on here,” Sharon said. That information comes firsthand now: a baseball fan, Dennis recently conversed with a pleased parent while watching a game. They have also taken in concerts that showcase student musicians and enjoyed the intellectual offerings of numerous speakers. Slowly, news about the endowment is moving through the extended family. “We’ve been inviting family members to join in honoring HDH and Flora, and in strengthening EMU’s endowment,” said Dennis. “We want to continue the legacy of giving that our grandparents displayed.” – LAUREN JEFFERSON
John and Michelle Sharp, parents of M.J. Sharp '05, accept the Life Service Award on their son's behalf. PHOTO BY JON ST YER
M.J. SHARP ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP Michael Jesse “M.J.” Sharp ’05 was posthumously honored with EMU’s Life Service Award during the 2017 Homecoming and Family Weekend. Two of his best friends shared reflections during the alumni awards luncheon. Here’s Keith Grubaugh, from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, talking about what the moment meant to him and why he is giving to the Michael J. Sharp Peace and Justice Endowed Scholarship Fund. Listening to the other recipients share their experiences at EMU and how those experiences helped shape their lives, I developed a real sense of how EMU has faithfully gone about its mission for the past 100 years. Andy Gingerich and I each had the privilege of reflecting on how we experienced MJ fulfilling what he saw as his calling in life. We also tried to offer insight on why MJ was so special to the world as a peacemaker and how we all are called to play our parts in creating a more peaceful world. Although this was incredibly challenging and emotional, it was an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. Andy and I were incredibly fortunate to have coffee with several Center for Justice and Peacebuilding students during the weekend. We learned what this program is doing, what kinds of people are enrolled, and how this small, but amazing group of people hope to make the world a brighter place.
Yes, MJ was an incredible person and my best friend, so I’m excited to honor his memory, but meeting these students and learning about this program is what has motivated me to give as I can, as often as I can. I believe we are all called to do our parts in making a difference in the lives of those around us, and I believe that is exactly what we are doing when we support this scholarship. We are helping to prepare a new wave of peacemakers that will come to EMU to learn the skills they need to go back out into the world and pick up the torch that my dear friend was carrying in his own special way. Thank you for considering this scholarship as a part of whatever it is you are able to give.
Each academic year, Eastern Mennonite University gives more than $14 million in financial aid to current undergraduate, graduate, and seminary students. A portion of that aid comes from more than 250 endowed scholarships established and maintained by generous advocates of the EMU experience. Endowed scholarships can take many forms, supporting students in certain majors, those with specific professional or spiritual goals, or those from different geographic regions, socio-economic statuses, or cultural backgrounds. Help us provide meaningful and enduring financial assistance to every student seeking a transformative education by establishing an endowed scholarship today! At the cusp of our second century, the world needs EMU-trained servant leaders now than ever before. Contact one of EMU's associate directors of development to learn about endowments you might be interested in giving to, or how to set up your own. Call 540-432-4200 or 800-368-3383 or email devoffice@emu.edu
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1.
IMPACT SERVICE, FAITH, PEACE, RESEARCH, ART 1.
From left: Senior Amanda Williams, junior Bekah Mongold and Hannah Daley '17 take a break during data collection in Bergton, Virginia. Williams and Daley, recipients of the first EMU Summer Research Grant, explored the relationship between canopy cover and water temperature. (Photo by Andrew Strack) 2. Mike Deaton leads music at the eighth annual Interfaith Peace Camp, a program of the university’s Center for Interfaith Engagement. The five-day camp hosted 33 campers ages 7-12 and 14 counselors ages 13-18 from Jewish, Muslim and Christian backgrounds to engage with each other and the three monotheistic religions that trace their lineage back to Abraham. (Photo by Joaquin Sosa) 3. Nourah Alhasawi stands in front of a portrait of a veiled non-Muslim woman. The photography process and interviews of each woman were part of a capstone project to fulfill requirements for a master’s degree in conflict transformation. Alhasawi is a professor of Islamic Studies at Princess Nourah University in her home country of Saudi Arabia. EMU news coverage of her exhibit drew several thousand readers. (Photo by Randi B. Hagi)
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4. A visitor views the DACA Stories Exhibit on Thomas Plaza in October. Among those featured was senior Keyri Lopez-Godoy, who will graduate this spring with a degree in elementary education. The DACA Dialogue Planning Committee hosted the exhibit, with other activities, to raise awareness about undocumented students and members of the community. (Photo by Andrew Strack) 5. After hurricanes Harvey and Maria, a coalition of Y-Serve, Campus Ministries and the women’s volleyball team, as well as individuals such as Florida native Ryan Faraci, came together to sponsor a relief effort. Buckets were packed with supplies and delivered to Mennonite Central Committee for distribution. (Photo by Macson McGuigan) 6. A $1.2 million grant will aid EMU’s graduate counseling program in expanding mental health services, provided by graduate students during their required practicum, to rural Shenandoah Valley communities. At the same time, services have been expanded on campus. New counseling center director Tempest Anderson stands outside the center's new location in Suter House. With her, from left, are graduate students and staff members Amanda Styer, Bethany Chupp, Katie Curran and Rebecca Peifer. (Photo by Macson McGuigan) 7. Participants in the second annual Town Hall on Race, sponsored by the Black Student Union (BSU), engage in small-group discussion about race relationships on campus. Then-BSU co-presidents Oksana Kittrell and Tae Dews noted that the crowd included a diverse representation of campus constituents – a sign, they said, that more people are taking the need for conversation seriously. (Photo by Dylan Buchanan) 8. The annual Family Fun Night brings children and their parents from nearby Waterman Elementary School into Yoder Arena for fun and activity with education and sports management and recreation majors as well as athletic team members. The annual event includes several hundred people from Harrisonburg’s ethnically and linguistically diverse community. (Photo by Dylan Buchanan)
– LAUREN JEFFERSON
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The EMU Alumni and Friends tour group hears the history of Herod the Great's Roman-style port city Caesarea, famous for the story of Peter and Cornelia, and Paul's final journey to Rome. PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF SHANK
‘LIFELONG IMPACT' New Alumni and Friends Tours debut with a classic cross-cultural experience to the Middle East. BEFORE THE FALL 2017 ALUMNI AND FRIENDS TOUR to Israel and Palestine, Betty Holsinger Shenk '75 “knew it would be great.” It turned out, though, to be more than that. “This was a trip of a lifetime,” she said. “Its impact will be lifelong.” During the two-week trip, 24 participants learned about and discussed the region’s biblical history, explored archaeological sites, engaged in current social issues of Palestinians and Israeli Jews, and enjoyed local food and unique geography. Professor Linford Stutzman '84, SEM '90 and his wife Janet Stutzman SEM '91, who have led many semester and summer international cross-cultural trips for EMU, guided the group. Participants included alumni, parents of EMU alumni “and friends of EMU students who had always heard about how wonderful our cross-cultural experiences are and wanted one of their own,” said Jeff Shank '94, director of alumni and parent engagement. A hallmark of EMU cross-cultural trips is making personal connections with local residents, and this trip was no exception. The group visited the “Tent of Nations,” a family farm under threat of Settlement expansion; heard the firsthand account of how an Arab Israeli became a business partner with an Israeli Jew; and met two guides – a Palestinian Muslim and an Israeli Jew – who are both friends and co-workers. The tour was the first for alumni and friends offered by EMU, but more travels in this unique immersive and educational format are in the works. A trip to Cuba, led by Elaine Zook Barge '75, MA '03 (conflict transformation) and her 32 | CROSSROADS | FALL/WINTER 2017
husband Nathan Barge '84, leaves March 2018. (While the trip is full, a wait list has been started.) The Stutzmans will lead a fall 2018 Mediterranean Voyage. In summer 2019, Professor Jerry Holsopple '80 will lead an exploration of Lithuania’s music, art and culture. For some members of the Middle East tour group, the inspiration to attend came from hearing about other people’s travels to the Middle East as part of EMU’s undergraduate cross-cultural program. Many friends of Kendra Martin '05 went on that trip and returned having been “impacted, deeply,” she said. This travel experience brought her “full circle” and allowed her to experience firsthand what her college friends had told her about. Maddie Clemens '16 had a “life-changing” semester on the Middle East cross-cultural trip led by the Stutzmans in 2014, and was eager for the rest of her family, including sister Abby Clemens '16 and parents Becky and Doug “to experience the people and places that had so greatly impacted her,” said her mother. This fall, the four participated in the Alumni and Friends Tour, together. “We couldn’t have asked for a more enriching experience,” said Becky Clemens. Leon Miller '68 lived for “three wonderful years” in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the early 1970s, and went on this trip with his wife Sandy. He said that seeing Jesus’s teachings in his historical, political, cultural and geographic context was “enlightening.” The trip traced 2,000 years of the biblical story and 4,000 years of human history and offered Kendra Martin something she’d been wanting: motivation to read the Bible. “The Bible was feeling like a big collection of stories about people in places I had no context for,” Martin said. “Now … the Bible, its characters and the hope we have in Christ are coming alive with dust, sights and tastes.” —CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ TO LEARN ABOUT FUTURE TRIPS, VISIT EMU.EDU/ALUMNI
MILEPOSTS FACULTY & STAFF Joan Griffing, professor of music, performed in the Berlioz Requiem with the Virginia Symphony and Chorus as part of the Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk in May 2017. Her chamber group Musica Harmonia performed as part of the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts 2017-18 Masterpiece Season at James Madison University this fall. Braydon Hoover '11, associate director of development, is the co-sponsor of EMU’s new Rotaract Club, a Rotary Internationalaffiliated club for college students. Braydon is a member of the Harrisonburg Massanutten Rotary Club. Roxann Allen '04 Kioko, instructor, business and economics department, successfully defended her dissertation “Beyond Beneficiaries: The Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility in Nonprofit Firms” in the Strategic Leadership PhD program at James Madison University. Roxy teaches courses in the undergraduate business, CJP, and MBA programs. Roger Mast '85, professor of physical education and recreation and head men’s soccer coach, is a new member of the board of trustees for Crossroads to Brain Injury Recovery, Inc., which helps those affected by brain injury lead more independent and productive lives. Kimberly Schmidt, professor of history and director of the Washington Community Scholars’ Center, has been honored by Women Writing the West as one of four finalists in the historical fiction category of the WILLA Literary Awards for her novel Magpie’s Blanket (University of New Mexico Press, 2016). Timothy Seidel, professor of applied social sciences and director of the Center for Interfaith Engagement, was honored with the best dissertation award from the Peace and Justice Studies Association. Anna Westfall, professor of visual and communication arts, opened the 2017-18 academic year at the Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery with an installation titled “Searching the Unseen,” featuring organic steel sculptures, light and sound. Paul Yoder '07, MA '11 (education), professor of teacher education, and his wife Katrina Martin '07 Yoder contributed a chapter to Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting Social Studies Back into the K-8 Curriculum (ABC-CLIO, 2017). Katrina teaches
fourth grade at Waterman Elementary School, where she serves as the instructional team leader. “This chapter examines the traditional Cinderella story through a cultural lens, and was our first joint scholarly endeavor. We were so pleased with the process that we already have another book chapter in the works,” they said.
NEW SCHOOL HIRES EMU GRADS Harrisonburg City’s newest public school, Bluestone Elementary School, includes many EMU alumni among the teaching staff. Front row, from left: Rose Jantzi '14, Rhonda Blosser '86, Marisa Shank '06, Abby Stover '11, Peyton Erb '11, Kristin Wenger '11. Middle: Dorothy Hershey '17, Kim Schmucker '09, Andrea King '16, Taylor Waidelich '15, Sheri Musser '05, MA '09, Regina Shultz '92. Back: Jenna Martin-Trinka '07, Lucinda Swarzentruber '83, Ebony Dennis '10, Mary Bendfeldt '88. (Photo by Andrew Strack)
1960-69 Dr. J. Robert Eshleman '56, Apple Creek, Ohio, was honored with the Lifetime Service Award by Eastern Mennonite School. After graduating from EMHS in 1952, Robert went to dental school at the Medical College of Virginia. There he was chair of the restorative dentistry department from 1983-92 and honored several times by the college. He earned EMU’s Lifetime Service Award in 2009. Donald Showalter '62, Broadway, Va., was recognized by Best Lawyers for his work with trusts and estates at Wharton Aldhizer & Weaver. Mervin Bontrager '62, Hesston, Kan., retired in June 2017 after 51 years as a clinical social worker. He concluded his career with Prairie View, Inc. Mervin earned an MSW degree from University of Buffalo in 1966 and completed coursework, but not the dissertation, for a doctorate in the field with the Institute of Clinical Social Work from 1996-2000. “Over the years I have come to appreciate my experience at EMC, and look upon it as having had a very positive impact upon my life’s journey,” he wrote in an update. Outside of work, he enjoys woodworking, gardening, and raising hogs and cattle. Kenneth Eshleman '64, Mechanicsburg, Pa., has published Harold and Arlene: Ministers to Many, a biography about his parents, EMS graduates and long-time Harrisonburg-area community leaders. Harold Eshleman went on to earn a two-year degree at EMS in 1931 and finished his bachelor’s degree at Bridgewater College. A schoolteacher for 43 years, he was also a pastor at Chicago Avenue and Park View Mennonite churches. Arlene Heatwole EMS '26 was an unpaid church secretary, hostess and caregiver. To purchase the book ($15.95 with sales tax), email keshlem@comcast.net
1970-79 Galen Groff '71, Dangriga, Belize, retired after 26 years as a missionary with Eastern Mennonite Missions. He and his wife Phyllis, who served with him, remain in Dangriga,
volunteering in church development and supporting regional missionary work.
joined Eli Lilly and Company as an organic chemist in pharmaceutical research, developed software for the x-ray crystallography group and, in 1989, earned his master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University. John led the effort to build ELVIS, Lilly’s worldwide intranet, one of the first corporate intranets constructed.
Ken Stoltzfus '72, Dalton, Ohio, writes that he is “sort of” retired: working full-time on his website www.john2031.com, developing church-related study resources, and supporting Bible translation. He served as a pastor in Mennonite and non-denominational settings for 13 years; invested several years in Kenya teaching in churches; and worked as a commercial pilot, flight instructor and aircraft mechanic, and as an entrepreneur in aircraft parts businesses. He has “one incredible wife, Elaine; three married sons (one now with Jesus); nine grandchildren; and six great grandsons.”
1980-89
Sara Wenger Shenk '75, Goshen, Ind., has been appointed to a third four-year term as president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. She became president in 2010 after 15 years on the faculty of Eastern Mennonite Seminary.
Rose Miller '82 Lehman, Beach City, Ohio, is a receptionist at Community Hospice. She is married to Joel Lehman '83.
R. Sharon Yoder '75, Cumberland, Md., recieved Allegany College of Maryland’s Sanner Award for Outstanding Teaching. She is an associate professor of English. Conley K. McMullen '78, Harrisonburg, Va., received the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society’s 2017 Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew Award, presented in recognition and appreciation of distinguished service to botany and the public. Rich Swartentruber, class of '78, Salem, Ore., retired as a science teacher at North Salem High School after the 2015-16 school year, but continues in his 25th year as North Salem boys soccer coach, and 31st year as a high school coach. John Swartzendruber '79, Indianapolis, Ind., presented a Suter Science Seminar over Homecoming and Family Weekend with Eric Moyer '03. Both are members of the Engineering Advisory Board that has supported EMU’s new four-year engineering degree. John retired in 2015 from Apparatus and Lilly Global Infrastructure. After graduating from EMU, he
Anne Yoder '81, Swarthmore, Pa., is the archivist for Swarthmore College’s Peace Collection. Anne developed a new website cosandgreatwar.swarthmore.edu featuring the personal writings of World War I conscientious objectors, both those objecting on religious grounds and non-religious grounds alike.
Glen Kauffman '82, Harrisonburg, Va., a financial advisor at Everence, was present at the launch of EMU’s Rotaract Club, Rotary International’s college affiliate, in September. A 30-year Rotarian, Glen sponsored Braydon Hoover '11 to a membership in the Harrisonburg Massanutten Rotary Club some years ago. Braydon is the new Rotaract Club’s advisor. Beryl Jantzi '82, Harrisonburg, Va., is Eastern Mennonite School’s Alumnus of the Year. He is director of stewardship education at Everence. Timothy Johnson '82, Philadelphia, Pa., is a financial administrator with the law office of Keelin S. Barry, a firm which specializes in court-appointed guardianships for elderly and incapacitated people who can no longer manage their own affairs. He is married to Carol Martin '82 Johnson, now in private practice as an art psychotherapist specializing in trauma therapy. They have two children. Mark L. Sensabaugh '82, Bridgewater, Va., is a marriage and family therapist at Journey Counseling Ministries, located in Harrisonburg. Carol Weaver '82 Good, Reading, Pa., is a school librarian with Reading School District.
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She and her husband Stephen J. Good '81 attend South 7th St. Christian Fellowship. Joy Wenger Martin '83, MA '13 (counseling), Harrisonburg, Va., former coordinator of academic access in the EMU Academic Success Center, now works at James Madison University as assistant director in the Office of Disability Services. Sharon López '83, Landisville, Pa., is president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and a partner in Lancaster’s Triquetra Law. She is the first Latina president since the association was founded in 1895. As president-elect, López created an appointed group of members who identify new approaches to increase membership through outreach, marketing and mentorship.
ACRS BOOK LAUNCH Authors and editors of Volume 4 of the Anabaptist Center for Religion and Society (ACRS) memoir series gathered for a book launch at Homecoming and Family Weekend. The book, titled Making a Difference in the Journey: The Geography of Our Faith, Brethren and Mennonite stories integrating faith, life, and the world of thought, is available through Cascadia Press. Back row, from left: Nancy M. Farrar, Fred W. Swartz, Richard (Rick) Yoder '69, Joseph L. Lapp '66, Lawrence (Larry) Hoover, Robert Earl Alley SEM '72, Allon H. Lefever, Lee M. Yoder '63. Middle: Peggy B. Shenk, Lee Snyder, Beryl H. Brubaker '64, Shirley H. Showalter '70, Paul Swarr '51, Vernon E. Jantzi '64, Kathy D. Fisher '73. Front: Audrey A. Metz, class of '62, Nancy V. Lee '52, Ray C. Gingerich '60. (Photo by Anna-Louise Cecil)
Sonya Stauffer '85 Kurtz, Souderton, Pa., is lead pastor at Zion Mennonite Church. Husband Roger Kurtz '85 is now department head of English and philosophy at Drexel University. Sue Blauch '86, Harrisonburg, Va., was among nine referees assigned to the 2017 WNBA Final. Andrea Schrock Wenger '86, Linville, Va., will complete 14 years of service with EMU in mid-January, nearly 12 of those as director of marketing and communications. She plans to launch a life coaching practice (andreawengercoaching.com), which will build on her EMU communications, management and personnel experience; 14 years with Mennonite Central Committee; a master’s degree in community psychology; and life coach training. Karen Delano-Johnson '87, Fredericksburg, Va., has worked for 28 years as a child protective services investigator with Stafford Department of Social Services. She and husband Hanson Johnson attend Salem Fields Community Church and have two adult children. Krista King '87 Powell, Waynesboro, Va., is a self-employed CPA. She is married to David L. Powell and the couple has two children. Elizabeth Witmer '87 Dunmore, Queen, Pa., is vice president of medical affairs at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, a 300bed hospital in Johnstown, Pa.
1990-99 Rose Shenk '90 and Bruce Buckwalter '91, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, are country representatives for Mennonite Central Committee, Ethiopia. The couple has four sons, three of whom are in school in Africa, while the oldest is at Goshen College. Read their adventures at buckshefusethiopia.wordpress.com.
HIKING Lois Myer '65 Hess and Ernie Hess '65, with son Phil Hess '91 and daughter Audrey Hess '94, at the Hiker’s Elm Tree in Hanover, New Hampshire. Since 2001, Lois and Ernie, of Lancaster, Pa., have been chipping away at their goal of hiking all 2,189 miles of the Appalachian Trail before they both turn 75. With the deadline approaching, they completed the last 75 miles at the New Hampshire/Vermont border area this fall. Audrey and Phil surprised their parents by joining them on the last two days, traveling from Gettsyburg, Pennsylvania, and Big Sky, Montana, respectively. Audrey is a public health consultant in a farm to school program with the Department of Education, and Phil is medical director of the Big Sky Medical Center. (Courtesy photo)
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Steve '91 and Charlotte Gascho '91 Hunsberger, Telford, Pa., and their children were honored with the Adventures in Excellence Award by the Penn Foundation. Steven is Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce’s executive director; Charlotte is a partner in the Landis, Hunsberger, Gingrich and Weik law firm in Souderton; Colin is a high school junior; Ian is in eighth grade; and Lily is in fifth grade. Steven is a member of the Souderton-Telford Rotary Club and currently on the board of directors for the local Mennonite Economic Development Associates chapter, Indian Creek Foundation, and North Penn United Way. Charlotte is on the board of directors at EMU, Clemens Family Corporation, and Harleysville Savings Bank. She also serves on Blooming Glen Mennonite Church’s leadership board. E. Dean Mast '91 and Jan Steffy Mast, class of '91, Lancaster, Pa., own The Old Country Store in nearby Intercourse. The store
was recently selected by Better Homes & Gardens Quilt Sampler (spring/summer 2017) as one of the top ten quilt shops in the nation for its “exceptional customer service, outstanding crafts and handmade quilts, and extensive fabric department.” Rita Ruebke '92 Wainwright, Richmond, Va., has taught for 21 years as a K-5 exceptional education teacher with Henrico County Schools. Phillip Thompson '93, Rockbridge County, Va., was appointed superintendent of Rockbridge County Schools. He was previously assistant superintendent and has spent 22 years in education. He has a master’s degree and doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Virginia Tech. Gilberto Perez Jr. '94, GC '99, Goshen, Ind., was named dean of students at Goshen College. In this role, he provides institutional leadership for residence life, campus ministries, counseling and health, campus safety, intercultural student support, and retention. Jen Schlabach '95 Litwiller, Harrisonburg, Va., joined CT Assist as director of business development in October 2017. CT Assist, a healthcare staffing company, is owned by EMU alumni Scott Yoder '96, CEO, and Jair Drooger '97, COO. Minnette Burkholder '95 Hostetler is director of human resources. Tom Eshleman '96, SEM '05, Akron, Pa., is lead pastor of Groffdale Mennonite Church and works one day a week as the global delegate to the international church bodies with which Lancaster Mennonite Conference maintains relationships. These include groups in Asia, East Africa, and Central and South America. Jessica King '96, Lancaster, Pa., is running as a Democrat in 2018 for a seat representing the 16th Congressional District. She took a leave of absence from her role as executive director of ASSETS, a business training and lending nonprofit in Lancaster. John Jackson '97, Harrisonburg, Va., is counseling manager with the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. Karin Shank '97, Raleigh, N.C., is a senior research analyst at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. She enjoys working with pharmaceutical, agricultural and medical device entrepreneurs to inform their innovations and business decisions. Darrel J. Reinford '98, Mechanicsburg, Pa., graduated from the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Development Institute of Greater Harrisburg. He is the executive director of Christian Churches United of the Tri-County Area, a partnership of churches in Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties. He previously worked for Paxton Ministries in Harrisburg and volunteers with the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness. Alan Schroeder '98, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, is director of global advancement at the British Columbia Ministry of Education where he leads the development of the ministry’s international education programs. Moniqua Acosta '98, Lititz, Pa., is director of volunteer services as Landis Homes in Lititz. She previously spent nine years at Mennonite Health Services as program and member services manager. Lisa White Cameron '99, Lancaster, Pa., has been promoted by YWCA Lancaster to director of empowerment services, which includes leadership of racial justice programming. Cameron also leads the parent education center and the county’s designated rape crisis center.
Tina Campbell '99, Lancaster, Pa., has been named interim executive director of ASSETS, a business training and lending nonprofit in Lancaster. (See Jessica King '96). She joined ASSETS in 2015 as director of development.
2000-09 Mark '00 and Sarah Hawkins '02 Schoenhals, Thailand, and daughters Heidi and Hannah were reappointed for a 3.5-year term in Thailand through Eastern Mennonite Missions. They serve the local church in leadership development. Tamara Greaser '00 Kratz, MA '06 (counseling), Harrisonburg, Va., was named Teacher of the Year for Cub Run Elementary School. Mike Martin '00, Harrisonburg, Va., owns Next Level Athletic Development, a company he started in 2012 after teaching physical education. He works with 50-60 clients, many of them high school and college athletes, to improve performance. Matthew Lowen '01, Brooklyn, N.Y., is a senior program associate for the Safe Alternatives to Segregation Initiative with the Vera Institute of Justice’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections. Through partnerships with state correctional agencies and alongside datadriven research and analysis, he works as part of a team to reduce the use and reliance on solitary confinement across the country. Brad Miller '02, Denver, Colo., is director of student affairs at the University of Colorado College of Medicine. Carrie Dengler Wenger '02, Linville, Va., is director of the week-long Interfaith Peace Camp, a program of EMU’s Center for Interfaith Engagement. She plans and implements programming about the three Abrahamic faiths. In summer 2017, the camp hosted 33 campers ages 8-12 and 15 junior counselors ages 13-18. The camp is staffed by an interfaith, intergenerational team of community members. Douglas H. Wrenn '02, State College, Pa., was the featured speaker at October’s Longacre Business and Economics Lecture Series at EMU. The assistant professor of environmental and resource economics at Penn State University spoke on “Learning by Viewing? Social Learning, Regulatory Disclosure, and Firm Productivity in Shale Gas.” Ariana Kauffman '03, Hesston, Kan., is Bluestem Communities’ new vice president of marketing. For the past seven years, she has been Bluestem’s director of fund advancement for Schowalter Villa in Hesston. Kauffman earned her MBA from Friends University and an AA at Hesston College. Eric Moyer '03, Seattle, Wash., is a lead project engineer at Boeing’s new 777X Composite Wing Center facility in Everett. A member of EMU's Engineering Advisory Board that has supported the new four-year engineering degree, he presented a Suter Science Seminar with fellow board member John Swartzendruber '79 over Homecoming and Family Weekend. Angela Swartzendruber '03 Hackman, Harleysville, Pa., is a behavioral health specialist at Tandigm Health, a healthcare company supporting primary care physicians in the Philadelphia area. Sara Unruh '03 Hiebert, Hutchinson, Kan., was promoted to chief executive of Bethesda Home in Goessel. She has worked at Bethesda since 2010 and was the assistant administrator since 2013.
Rosa Bare '04, Harrisonburg, Va., is director of business development at the NPR affiliate radio station WMRA. Kendra Forry '04, Harrisonburg, Va., was named Teacher of the Year at J. Frank Hillyard Middle School in Broadway. Travis Kisamore ‘05, Chambersburg, Pa., his wife Bekii, and children Esperanza and Theodore completed a 10-year service assignment with Eastern Mennonite Missions on an island in Chile. Andrea Skyrm '05 King, Goshen, Ind., is a senior staff accountant at Lawton (Elkhart), with a focus on tax-related services for businesses and individuals. Clinton Miller '06, Canton, Ohio, is a practice manager at Pleasant Wealth, LLC, in Berlin, Ohio. His wife, Aubrey Helmuth Miller, owns a soap company called Redbudsuds, based in Canton. Kimberly Slee '06, MSN '12, Orrstown, Pa., was appointed co-interim chief executive officer of the Fulton County Medical Center (FCMC) in McConnellsburg. She joined FCMC in 2003. She was formerly the health system’s chief operating officer and prior to that, chief nursing officer. In addition to her two degrees from EMU, she earned an MBA in health care administration in 2016 from Eastern University. Cynthia Kilheffer Hudson '06, Columbia, Pa., manages the Cardiac Rehab Department at Lancaster General/Penn Medicine. She has taught at EMU Lancaster and at PA College of Health Sciences. She is an American Nurses Credentialing Center-certified nurse executive.
GUNS INTO PLOWSHARES Esther Kniss '71 Augsburger speaks during the November dedication of “Guns Into Plowshares,” a sculpture that she and son Michael Augsburger '80 created from more than 3,000 handguns collected from the Washington D.C. streets. The sculpture was originally located on D Street NW, outside the D.C. police department headquarters. The sculpture will remain on site for two to three years before returning to Washington D.C. (Photo by Macson McGuigan)
Kara Bender '07, St. Louis, Mo., is a national organizer/trainer for Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training, which seeks to dismantle systemic racism and build antiracist multicultural diversity within institutions and communities. Mark Risser '07, Berkeley, Calif., a postdoctoral research fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, discussed his research into statistical methods for characterizing changes in extreme precipitation during an October Suter Science Seminar. Eric Trinka '07, Harrisonburg, Va., is a doctoral student at Catholic University and collaborator with EMS’s Biblical Lands Educational Seminars and Service program. BLESS offers a graduate-level, missional education program combining cross-cultural learning in or from the biblical lands with academic inquiry. Isabel Castillo '07, MA '17 (conflict transformation), Harrisonburg, Va., was recognized as a “Movement Honoree” by Sojourners at its June 2017 Healing and Resistance Summit in Washington D.C. Angela Dietzel '08, Strasburg, Pa., is a thirdgrade teacher at Locust Grove Mennonite School. Maria Bowman '09, Washington D.C., began studies in the Master’s of Public Health program in Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland. She and husband Abraham Weiner celebrated their first wedding anniversary Sept. 24, 2017. They were married in Salem, Ohio on the farm of grandparents Doris and Ralph Witmer. Seth Crissman '09, SEM '15, Harrisonburg, Va., and other members of the Walking Roots Band, who first started playing music together while students at EMU – Jackson Maust '09, Rachel Yoder '15, Greg and Kristina Landis Yoder '09, and Michael Yoder – are donating a portion of the proceeds from their first Christmas album to Mennonite Central
COMPASSIONATE CARE AWARD Michael Sumner '15, Churchville, Va., an emergency room nurse at Sentara RMH in Harrisonburg, earned a DAISY Award for compassionate care. The program honors extraordinary nurses through a national program called The Daisy Foundation. Sumner also teamed with colleagues Vanessa Sandoval '15 Yoder, Kelly Perry '15 and Anna Burrows to win an award for their research project at the Sentara Nursing Academy. He is married to Debra Yesalavich '92 Sumner. (Photo by Andrew Strack)
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Committee. View the details at www.thewalkingrootsband.com.
She was awarded Direct Care Employee of the Year in 2016.
Ben Moyer '09, Sellersville, Pa., a customer service representative at Franconia Insurance & Financial Services, was named 2017 Customer Service Representative of the Year for the state of Pennsylvania by the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research. He was one of 37 finalists to compete for the national title. Ben joined Franconia Insurance & Financial Services in December 2011.
Jon Leaman '13, New Paris, Ind., recently joined Kruggel Lawton CPAs as a senior staff accountant. He earned an MS in accounting at James Madison University and is married to Kate Steury '14 Leaman.
2010Samantha “Sam” Gangwer '10 Larson, St. Louis Park, Minn., is chaplain resident at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital. She will serve there until August 2018. She finished an MDiv at Wesley Theological Seminary in May. Sam is married to Alexander Larson. Sarah Roth Shank '10, MA '14 (conflict transformation), Wellington, New Zealand, is pursuing a PhD in restorative justice and public policy at Victoria University of Wellington.
DEDICATED SERVICE Twila King Yoder SEM ’98 retired in December 2017 after 18 years as executive assistant to the president at Eastern Mennonite University. Beginning in June 1999 with Joseph Lapp (1987-2003), she has since served with Loren Swartzendruber (2003-2016) and Susan Schultz Huxman (January 2017-present), as well as three interim presidents: Beryl Brubaker (May 2003-December 2003); Fred Kniss (May-August 2013 for Swartendruber’s sabbatical), and Lee Snyder (July-December 2016). “Twila has served EMU with distinction, grace and good humor,” President Huxman said. “It takes a special person to roll with the complex and ever-changing expectations of presidential engagement. She will be missed by me and so many others in our campus community.” Twila and her husband Steve Yoder ’78, SEM ‘98 have four adult children, three of whom graduated from EMU. She looks forward to time with family and another “chapter” of meaningful work. “It has been an incredible blessing to serve an institution I love in a role that has been so life-giving for me. I will miss all the people that give life to this incredible place.” (Photo by Macson McGuigan)
Sondra R. Siegfried '10, Rome, Pa., was awarded an $8,000 National Board for Certified Counselors Foundation Rural Scholarship. Sondra is a master’s student in the school counseling program at Messiah College. The award is for counseling students who are from rural communities and committed to practicing in rural areas upon graduation. Sondra has volunteered with at-risk and Native American youth in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and she would eventually like to obtain her counseling licensure in Michigan to provide short-term intensive wilderness and adventure therapy services in that area. Charlotte Wenger '11, Somerville, Mass., is an editor with Page Street Kids/Page Street Publishing. Budding authors and illustrators may be interested that Charlotte is looking for narrative picture books of all genres for ages 4-8; occasionally board books for ages 0-3; and visually driven concept books. “I’m always on the lookout for what hasn’t been done yet – stories that haven’t been told and voices that haven’t been heard,” she writes on www.manuscriptwishlist.com. Gabriel Brunk '12, MAOL '17, Dayton, Va., is communications and outreach coordinator at the Fairfield Center. Katrina Goering '12, Seattle, Wash., is a student in the Master’s of Public Health program at University of Washington. Rebekah Maldonado-Nofziger '12, Seattle, Wash., is a public health nurse with Public Health-Seattle and King County, working with child care centers and preschools. She is earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in community health nursing from the University of Washington, with an expected graduation date of 2019. Andy '12 and Hannah Wenger '12 Richter, Souderton, Pa., have a new son (see births). Andy is sales manager at Richter Drafting and Office Supply Co. Inc. Hannah is executive assistant for Family Food, LLC, a company that provides evidence-based nutrition counseling to clients in convenient locations.
CROSS COUNTRY Ryan Swartzentruber '16, Isaac Schertz '17, Grantley Showalter '17 and Jordan Leaman '17 rode 3,492 miles across the United States in 59 days over the summer. They started in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and ended in Lincoln City, Oregon. (Courtesy photo)
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Francis Sims '12, Kigali, Rwanda, is a primary school physical education teacher and athletics coordinator at Kigali International Community School. He is married to Audrey Wolcott '12 Sims. Jennifer Blankenship '13 Hitt, Mount Crawford, Va., is a health and physical education teacher with United Methodist Family Services.
Corben Boshart '13, Elkhart, Ind., earned an MA in theological studies at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. Olivia Mast '15 Dimmig, Phoenixville, Pa., is a nurse with the Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Chester County Health Department, which supports first-time mothers. She is also working on a master’s degree from Immaculata University. R.J. Sims '15, Bowie, Md., was featured in the Daily News-Record for his tenacity in paving the way to a professional basketball career. After graduating with a degree in computer science from EMU, Sims worked for the law firm Oblon and sought a roster spot in Europe. He has since played two seasons, in Lithuania for Palanga and in France for Union Tarbes Lourdes. Rebekah York '15, Elkhart, Ind., is a graduate student at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. Rachel Bowman '16, Washington D.C., is beginning a doctorate in justice, law and criminology at American University. She had previously served with PULSE in Pittsburgh. Ryan Gehman '16, Lancaster, Pa., is head men’s and women’s cross-country coach at Lancaster Bible College. Previously, he had been head distance coach at Lancaster Mennonite School. Rebekah Johnsen '16, Lititz, Pa., is director of residential living at Landis Homes. She joined the company in 2014 as a substitute campus supervisor and on-call emergency nurse. Jolee Paden '16, Washington D.C., is joining the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) staff to launch a ministry at George Washington University in January. She will become the first woman staffer with FCA in the D.C. area. For the last year, Jolee has been working at Back On My Feet, a national nonprofit organization that helps homeless people gain independence, living skills, housing and employment through the power of running. Robert Cook '17, Washington D.C., is working on a master’s degree in history at American University. Robert, who also earned a teacher licensure at EMU, shared a poster at the Virginia Council for the Social Studies Educators conference in Richmond. The featured work, a curricular unit for high school government classes, was based on his honors capstone project and his senior history thesis in which he analyzed the consolidation of high schools of Rockbridge County. Robert was a Cords of Distinction honoree, as well as winner of the Outstanding History Student award. Jordan Leaman '17, Harrisonburg, Va., has joined information systems at EMU after cycling across the United States with friends in summer 2017. Hannah Mack-Boll '17, Lancaster, Pa., took second place in the C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest for her speech “What is Your Intention?” She received $225 in cash and a $200 scholarship to a peace-related conference or seminar of her choice. Her home congregation is Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster.
GRADUATE SCHOOL Ashley Bowman MA '08 (education), Bridgewater, Va., was named Teacher of the Year at John Wayland Elementary School in Bridgewater. Margo McIntire '98, MBA '08, Harrisonburg, Va., and her husband Ron have started Paella Perfecta, serving the national dish of Spain at special events and festivals. They also provide catering. Cheryl Woelk MA '11 (education), Seoul, South Korea, is an educational consultant who facilitates courses, workshops and teacher training on integrating peacebuilding in language education. She enjoys collaborating with teachers at Connexus Language Institute and promoting Language for Peace, a project hosted by Mennonite Partners in China, which provides a network for language educators engaged in peacebuilding. Lisa Knick MA '12 (education), Stephens City, Va., is an English Language Learners teacher and reading specialist with Clarke County Public Schools. Lisa has taught in Frederick County, Waynesboro City and Winchester public schools. Lois Olney MS '12 (nursing), Lancaster, Pa., lives part-time in Chiang Rai, Thailand, where she enjoys retired life and the active expatriate community with her husband, as well as bicycling, reading, writing and traveling. She works as a seasonal RN supervisor at a small continuing care retirement community, Countryside Christian Community, in Annville, Pa. Paul Smeltzer MA '16 (education), Lancaster, Pa., is principal of the Locust Grove Campus of Lancaster Mennonite School. Previously, he spent six years with the Coalition of Christian Outreach doing college ministry at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for efforts made in ministering to diverse populations.
CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND PEACEBUILDING Emmanuel Bombande MA '02, Bangui, Central African Republic, is senior mediation advisor for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA). Lam Oryem Cosmas MA '04, Kuron, South Sudan, works for Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, near the Ethiopian border. Founded in 2005 by a Catholic bishop emeritus, the community provides integrated intervention for area pastoralist communities through education, agriculture and conflict transformation. Kirstin MA '05 and Merwyn MA '05 De Mello, Bangladesh, completed a three-year contract with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Afghanistan and are now MCC Peace Advisors in Bangladesh. Michael Shank MA '05, Peeksill, N.Y., joined New York University’s Center for Global Affairs as an adjunct assistant professor. Lehmah Gbowee MA '07, Monrovia, Liberia, has been invited to serve as a council member for the World Refugee Council. She is executive director of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa. She was also among three women peacebuilders honored during a special Daughters for Life Foundation Gala Dinner in Washington D.C. The Sept. 16 event raised money for scholarships for Middle Eastern female peacebuilders to attend the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. Nadia Bazzy MA '08, Canton, Mich., is the interim director of the University of Michigan
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan and earned her marriage and family therapist license from Oakland University. She will represent the victim-advocate community. Brett Burnham MA '09, Carbondale, Ill., completed his EdD at Columbia University. Paulette Moore MA '09, Ashland, Wis., presented a documentary on indigenized filmmaking and conservation to a conservation photography class at EMU. Moore is an independent filmmaker, artist and Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) educator of mixed native and British heritage and an enrolled member of Six Nations of the Grand Reserve in Ontario, Canada. She is also associate professor of indigenous media and philosophy at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. Jeannine Cinco MA '10 Cole, St. Louis, Mo., is a project manager with Bilingual International Assistant Services. She has been working for four years with immigrants and refugees who have survived torture, helping them to find and maintain employment. She uses “many of the tenets of peacebuilding in her work, including trauma awareness and conflict resolution.” In November 2016, she married Steve Cole. P. Marshall Yoder MA '10, Harrisonburg, Va., was recognized by “Best Lawyers” for his work in collaborative and family law with Wharton Aldhizer & Weaver. Daria White MA '11, Harrisonburg, Va., successfully defended her dissertation “Being and Beholding: Comparative Analysis of Joy and Awe in Four Cultures” to earn a PhD in psychology from James Madison University. Veronica Laveta MA '11, based out of St. Paul, Minn., has been an international clinical advisor for mental health at The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) since 2014. Her role includes supervising field expatriate psychotherapists and providing clinical oversight to CVT’s direct service program in Jordan as well as capacity building with partner organizations in South Africa, Iraq and Turkey. Maiwa’azi Dandaura Samu MA '12, Jos, Nigeria, earned a PhD from NOVA South Eastern University in 2015 and works for Justice & Human Security Initiatives. As a consultant, he carries out projects on restorative justice practice in Nigeria and West Africa, and is involved in management of the Southern Kaduna Fulani/Southern Kaduna indigenous peoples and Boko Haram psychosocial trauma support systems. Patrick Campbell MA '14, Charlottesville, Va., is senior planning manager for mass care operations, focusing on large displacements and emergency response, for the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. He was previously disaster program manager for the Red Cross in Virginia.
BOOKSHELF
Bradley Croushorn '93 has published three new choral hymns, "In Your Mercy, Lord" and "Veni, Sancte Spiritus" (OCP Publications), as well as "We Trust in God Alone" (Augsburg Fortress). He is associate editor at Alfred Music and director of music ministry at Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In “Music From the Past,” John Horst '60, emeritus professor, has collected a CD of traditional EMC/ EMU favorites including The Holy City Oratorio (see the choir in the photo at left) recorded on campus in 1963 as well as selections from touring choirs and favorite hymns recorded at campus events. Cost is $5 plus shipping. To purchase, email horstjl@emu.edu or write to 1110 W. Dogwood Dr., Harrisonburg, VA 22802.
Religious freedom is often presented as a timeless American ideal and an inalienable right, appearing fully formed at the founding of the United States. That is simply not so, argues Tisa Wenger '91, associate professor of American religious history at Yale University, in Religious Freedom: The Contested History of an American Ideal (UNC Press, 2017).
Tobin Miller Shearer '87, Missoula, Montana, has published Two Weeks Every Summer: Fresh Air Children and the Problem of Race in America (Cornell University Press, 2017). Shearer directed Mennonite Central Commitee's Racism Awareness Program in the 1990s and writes of the program's transformative years from 1939-79, during which some hosts' actions perpetuated racial inequity rather than overturning it.
Patricia Grace King '89 won the 2017 Miami University Press Novella Prize for Day of All Saints. A former English professor at EMU, King has also worked with Witness for Peace in Guatemala and as a peace educator with Mennonite Central Committee.
Marilyn Raatz MA '14, Cape Town, South Africa, is a lecturer teaching conflict transformation at Cape Town Baptist Seminary. Sue Klassen MA '14, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, leads STAR-based trauma awareness and resilience workshops in upstate New York and Ontario, Canada. She also volunteers with women in prison through a chaplaincy restorative justice program and through Alternatives to Violence Project. She chairs the missions, peace and justice ministry at Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church.
Walking Toward Wholeness: A Poetry Journal (Masthoff Press, 2016) is the latest creative endeavor of Rose Marie Zook '77 Barber. She is pastor at Eugene (Ore.) Mennonite Church, district pastor for Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference and a certified spiritual director.
Gwendolyn Myers GC '14, Monrovia, Liberia, has been elected to the Global Shapers Community Advisory Council on governance and
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accountability at the World Economic Forum, representing Liberia and more than 5,000 Shapers around the world. She will serve two years, until June 30, 2019. Amina Abdulkadir GC '15, Somalia, was awarded the first Women Peacebuilders for Water Award by Milan Global and the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy in Italy. She is a researcher at Peace and Development Research Centre, where her work is focused on the decentralization of power to local authorities. Georgia Clarinda Tako Molia-Hanna GC '15, Gizo, Solomon Islands, has been named the first female Chief Peace and Reconciliation Officer for the Western Provincial Government of Solomon Islands. Bridget Mullins MA '15 and Aaron Erb MA '15, Pittsburgh, Pa., were married in September in Aurora, Ohio. Aaron is coordinator of restorative justice at the Center for Victims in Pittsburgh. Bridget is senior program coordinator at Amizade.
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Naemo "Nimo" Somo GC '15, Wajir, Kenya, was among 10 finalists for the first Women Peacebuilders for Water Award by Milan Global and the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy in Italy. She works on land and water issues.
Kristy King '92, Olympia, Wa., was named among “40 Under 40” by the Business Examiner, a newspaper in Tacoma, Washington. She owns FIT4MOM in Olympia, which offers pre- and postnatal fitness classes for every stage of motherhood. (Courtesy photo)
Laura Wells MA '15, Silver Spring, Md., is overseas marketing manager for Catholic Relief Services, working with institutional donors and peer agencies in Baltimore. Jacques Mushagasha MA '16, Harrisonbug, Va., helped to host an event in September in Washington D.C. at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church engaging American Christians to stand for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jacques is a native of DRC. Jing Zhang MA '16, Needham, Mass., is a graduate student at Northeastern University working on a master of science degree in corporate and organizational communication. Andrew Daniels MA '17, Woodbridge, Va., has recently accepted a position as an International Fellow at Peace Players International in Northern Ireland. The organization uses basketball to unite, educate and inspire young people to create a more peaceful world. Andrew is in charge of operating all programs in south Belfast.
SEMINARY Paula Picard Bowser SEM '82, Englewood, Ohio, retired from full-time pastoral ministry in 2015. She is a poet and regular contributor to Brethren Press. Her latest release is entitled Women of the Hebrew Bible.
ANIMALS Ethan K. Horst '07, DVM, Akron, Ohio, with his cat Hoshi (not happy with many dogs barking while the photo was taken), works in a multi-veterinarian practice, Turkeyfoot Family Pet Center. He specializes in small animal and exotic medicine which includes dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, parrots, and the occasional ferret. He participates in Mennonite Central Committee fundraising bike rides and hopes to add veterinary mission trips to his service work in the near future. (Courtesy photo)
Joe Hackman SEM '11, Harleysville, Pa., and Mark Schloneger SEM '05, Goshen, Ind., accepted the first-ever Dove’s Nest Children’s Dove awards at the Mennonite Church USA Convention in Orlando on behalf of their churches. Joe is the pastor at Salford Mennonite Church, nominated for the award for their activities in Child Abuse Prevention Month. North Goshen Mennonite Church, where Mark pastors, was recognized for taking courageous steps to keep children safe during the past year.
MARRIAGES Kris Short '93 to Tyson Martin, Berryville, Va., July 31, 2015. Stephen Farrar '95 to Diane Bowman '94, office coordinator for biology and chemistry departments, Harrisonburg, Va., July 23, 2017. Rachel Good '11 to Matt Gurfin, June 3, 2017.
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Aaron Erb '14, MA '15 (conflict transformation) to Bridget Mullins MA '15 (conflict transformation), Sept. 3, 2017. Katherine Burling '15 to Kevin Martin '14, Harrisonburg, Va., May 6, 2017. Olivia Mast '15 to Brent Dimmig, Phoenixville, Pa., April 19, 2016. Abby Bush '16 to Wesley Wilder '16, July 29, 2017. Seth Suttles '16 to Emily Myers '16, July 1, 2017. Maria Martin '17 to Jonathan Augsburger, Oct. 7, 2017. Aaron Oda MA '16 (conflict transformation) to Susannah Wagner, July 1, 2017.
BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS Grant Rosenberger '99 and Laura Dell’Olio '99, State College, Pa., Adrian Dell’Olio Rosenberger, April 3, 2017. Jared Hankee '02 and Mindy Nolt '01, Lancaster, Pa., Cyrus Reed Nolt Hankee, March 28, 2017. Jesse '02 and Anna Fitzgerald '02 Bergey, Harrisonburg, Va., Magnolia Wren, Jan. 12, 2017. Jeremy Good '03 and Joanna Snyder, Silver Spring, Md., Alena, Feb. 22, 2017. Roxann Allen '04, MA '07, instructor of business, and Felix Kioko '17, Harrisonburg, Va., Remy Munyambu Mutinda, Sept. 18, 2017. Weldon '04 and Jennifer '04 Miller, Marietta, Ohio, Alethia Rose, June 20, 2016. Joseph '04 and Lori Doll SEM '15 Friesen, Harrisonburg, Va., Ruth Salome, Nov. 29, 2016. David '05 and Crystal Musser '04 Rohrer, Rockingham, Va., Nora Fern, May 31, 2017. Josh '06 and Christa Kerr, New Cumberland, Pa., Drew Robert, Feb. 5, 2017. Alyssa Gerig '06 and Wayne Scheler, Albany, Ore., Maxwell Steel, Nov. 3, 2016. Josiah '06 and Carmen Kennel '07 Garber, Washington Boro, Pa., Heidi June, June 16, 2017. Vanessa '07 and Ryan Bunting, Lancaster, Pa., Grace Siarra, Aug. 8, 2016. Jennifer Ruth '07 and Benjamin Gundy, Pittsburgh, Pa., Theodore, March 16, 2016. Joy Shaiebly '07 and Brad Shelly, Manheim, Pa., Linken Ward, March 30, 2017. Zachary '07 and Lauren Michel '08 Hawke, Princess Anne, Md., Morgan Jeannette, Aug. 18, 2015. Kevin ‘07 and Melissa Ressler, Lancaster, Pa., Iriana Awino Sandrock, May 9, 2017. Curtis '07 and Amanda '09 Yoder, Reedsville, Pa., Hayden, June 7, 2014 and Mila, Aug. 16, 2016. Jennifer (Jenny) Horst '07 and Craig Strasbaugh, Orrville, Ohio, Aubrey, Aug. 7, 2015. Megan Fansler '07 and Richard Dispanet, Mathias, W.Va., Grantlee Scott, April 27, 2017. Jacqueline (Jackie) Marie Shock-Stewart MA '08 (conflict transformation) and Matt Stewart, Beaver, Pa., Felix Joseph, April 13, 2017. Jackson '09 and Katie Lehman '09 Maust, Keezletown, Va., Julia June, April 26, 2016. Nicholas Detweiler-Stoddard ‘09 and Erika Detweiler ‘07, twins, Jace and Luke, October 23, 2015.
Michelle Kennel Shenk '09 and Timothy Kennel Shenk, New York City, N.Y., Madelaine Kennel Shenk, April 21, 2017.
Hempfield High School (Pa.) and the University of Virginia and was curriculum consultant for the Rockingham (Va.) public schools.
Stephen '11 and Monica Stouffer '09 Kniss, Chicago, Ill., Jordan David, Dec. 7, 2016.
J. William “Bill” Detweiler '51, Kidron, Ohio, died April 6, 2017, at 87. Bill graduated from Faith Theological Seminary and pastored Pleasant View Mennonite Church, Kidron Mennonite Church and Mennonite Christian Assembly, all in Ohio. He and his twin brother, Bob, contributed to the Calvary Hour radio broadcast until Bob’s death in 1989. He received the Distinguished Service Award from EMU in 2001.
Michael '11 and Laurel Swartzendruber, Wayland, Iowa, Nora Mae, Feb. 8, 2017. Matt '11 and Kelly Brewer '10 Dean, Charlottesville, Va., Emory Joseph, July 11, 2017. Boris Alejandro Ozuna Urueta '11 and Rebeca Barge '09, Harrisonburg, Va., Elias Alejandro Ozuna Barge, April 12, 2017. Dora Smith MA '11 (conflict transformation) and Derrick Cook, Bakersville, N.C., Willeby Rose, June 16, 2017. Mattias '11 and Erica Yutzy '09, MA '11 (counseling), Harrisonburg, Va., Azra Quinn, Feb. 9, 2017. Brendon '12 and Heidi Boese '11 Derstine, Harrisonburg, Va., Ella Mae Derstine, Aug. 6-Oct. 2, 2017. Brook '12 and Laura Musselman, Mountville, Pa., Silas John, Nov. 4, 2016. Andy '12 and Hannah Wenger '12 Richter, Souderton, Pa., Ari Harrison, Sept. 20, 2017. Matthew Bucher SEM '15 and MA '15 (conflict transformatin) and Greta Shenk, Samuel Thomas Bucher, Nov. 7, 2017. Bob May MA '16 (conflict transformation) and Olma Eleanor May MA '16 (education), Robert Alexander, Aug. 29, 2017. Ryan, professor of history, and Hannah Good, Hyattsville, Md., Naomi, Sept. 23, 2017. Julia, professor of biology, and Darrell Halterman, Harrisonburg, Va., Lily Ann, May 15, 2017. Jasmine Hardesty, director of planned giving, and Ashley Driver, Broadway, Va., Olive June, Sept. 27, 2017.
DEATHS
Harry Lee Kraus, Sr., MD, HS '43, Class of '51, Harrisonburg, Va., died Sept. 1, 2017, at 91. He graduated from Bridgewater College in 1951 and from the Medical College of Virginia in 1955. Harry married his high school sweetheart Mildred Brunk. He founded Denbigh Family Practice in 1956 in Newport News, Va., and served the community faithfully until his retirement in 1988. After his “retirement,” he was a medical missionary in Kenya and Albania. Elizabeth “Betty” Leatherman '51 Kulp, Souderton, Pa., died Sept. 10, 2017, at 91. She was very involved at Spring Mount Mennonite Church, especially in coordinating fellowship luncheons and snacks for summer Bible school. Edna R. Zook '52, Scottsburg, Ind., died June 14, 2017, at 92. She and her husband Jesse pastored Austin Mennonite Church. For over 25 years, she babysat for children, had a baking business, and was known as the “cookie lady.” Pauline Peachey Lehman '53, Harrisonburg, Va., died March 22, 2017, at 87. She taught at Belleville Mennonite School and Pembroke Township Schools, where she also served as librarian. She enjoyed writing stories, Bible lessons and poems. Vera Stauffer '53 Kauffman, Harrisonburg, Va., died May 3, 2017, at 90. She taught nursing at St. Frances Hospital for eight years and at West Virginia Wesleyan College for 10 years. She was also a patient education instructor for four years at Rockingham Memorial Hospital. She was an active member of Park View Mennonite Church and in a local kayaking group.
Daniel H. Bender, Harrisonburg, Va., died April 12, 2017 at 90. Daniel moved from Iowa to Virginia to start the first financial aid office at EMU. He was employed from 1966-70 as a financial aid officer and later worked as a plumber, electrician and farmer.
Jacob Paul Shenk '53, Gilford, N.H., died Aug. 16, 2017, at 75.
Florence Strong Detweiler, class of '35, Mechanicsburg, Pa., died April 15, 2017, at 100. She served the Slate Hill Mennonite Church family for nearly 80 years, mostly in children’s ministry. She also taught eight grades at Franklintown School.
Elsie V. Gingerich, class of '54, Kalona, Iowa, died June 12, 2017, at 98. She was actively involved in church planting and teaching Bible school for many years. She also did some housecleaning and was a school cook for 20 years.
Ethel Leaman Mellinger '38, Lancaster, Pa., died March 28, 2017, at 97. She worked at Vine Street Mennonite Mission for 15 years and then moved to Sarasota, Fla., where she taught at Sarasota Christian School for 23 years. Upon retirement, she lived in Harrisonburg, Va., and was a member of Park View Mennonite Church.
Alvin Beachy '55, New Carlisle, Ind., died Sept. 19, 2017, at 88. He pastored Mennonite churches in several states and also taught elementary school. He was a member of Hudson Lake Mennonite Church.
Rosa “Rosie” Kurtz Mullet '38, Pantego, N.C., died Jan. 21, 2017, at 95. She was active in mission work, ministering in the backwoods hills of Kentucky as a young woman and later serving in Belize with her husband. She wrote numerous poems, stories and essays, producing two grade-school science books and four storybooks. Sara Stoltzfus '47, Painesville, Ohio, died at 92. J. Lester Brubaker '50, Lititz, Pa., died June 15, 2017, at 93. He was involved with Christian education for 50 years at Lancaster Mennonite School, EMU, and the Lancaster Area Council of Mennonite Schools. He also taught at
Clair Groff Metzler, class of ‘56, Ephrata, Pa., died April 19, 2016, at 82. He served with the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He later was an electrical technician for over 27 years until he retired. He was a member of New Creation United Methodist Church in Lancaster. Ralph Lebold ‘58, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, died Oct. 31, 2017, at 83. After graduating from EMC, he earned degrees at Goshen College Biblical Seminary and Crozer Theological Seminary as well as a doctorate of ministry from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto. He held several leadership roles in the church and in Mennonite higher education, including president of Conrad Grebel University College (1979-89) and director of theological education with Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary(1989-97).
SERVICE Nathan Hershberger '12 and Kaitlin Heatwole '11, with son Leo, recently completed three years of service with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Iraq. Kaitlin was MCC Iraq program coordinator and Nathan taught English at three church institutions in Erbil, including St. Peter's Seminary. In September, they visited Eastern Mennonite Seminary to share their experiences. Nathan is now pursuing a PhD in theology at Duke University. The couple reside in Durham, North Carolina. (Courtesy photo)
Glenn W. Steffen ‘58, Lititz, Pa., died Oct. 12, 2017, at 83. He worked in insurance claims for 42 years and was a longtime member of Oley Mennonite Church. Marian Yoder Payne, class of '58, Richmond, Va., died Aug. 6, 2017, at 83. She taught third grade and completed two graduate degrees in reading and administration at Shippensburg State University. She then became the Shippensburg School District reading supervisor. She and her husband James '58 were founding donors of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and offered strategic gifts during the past 23 years. Donations may be made in her memory to the Payne Family Endowed Scholarship at EMU. Rhoda King '59, Litiz, Pa., died Sept. 15, 2017, at 88. She was a charter member of Sandy Hill Mennonite Church and devoted her life to teaching in Christian schools in both Virginia and Pennsylvania. Jack Doil Kerns '60, Harrisonburg, Va., died March 19, 2017, at 81. He was a minister at the Timberville Church of the Nazarene and in the supply ministry in various churches throughout Virginia. Esta Yoder Hostetler, class of '60, Middlebury, Ind., died May 29, 2017. She worked as a secretary at various locations, including Mennonite Central Committee, Hesston College, Midland Hospital and Goshen College. Ruby Brenneman '61, Kalona, Iowa, died April 15, 2017, at 81. She taught kindergarten and first grade for more than 30 years and also volunteered through Mennonite Board of Missions as a volunteer service teacher for one year. She also served as hostess for Mennonite Central Committee from 1965-67 in Akron, Pa. She was a member of Wellman Mennonite Church. Delores A. Gnagey, class of '61, Saginaw, Mich., died April 11, 2017, at 77. She was a CPA for 17 years, worked in private accounting for five years, and was employed at a law firm for 18 years. At Ninth Street Community Church, she was the financial coordinator and a church deaconess for six years. She was also a Big Sister in the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America organization for 31 years.
L. Sanford Alwine, class of '61, Carlisle, Pa., died June 9, 2016, at 77. Sanford loved people and devoted his life to nurturing relationships through vocations in child welfare, community mental health, college teaching, marriage and family therapy, and spiritual direction. He assisted in the founding of two schools of spiritual direction and, along with his wife, established a spiritual retreat center. Marlene Keller '63 Benner, Waterloo, Canada, died July 13, 2017, at 75. She taught art and home economics at various schools, including Eastern Mennonite High School. Besides teaching, she also helped her husband Dick Benner '69 run The Loom fabric and gift shop in Harrisonburg, Va. Together they developed a weekly newspaper in Everett, Pa., and later owned Ziprint in Charlottesville, Va. She was a member of Waterloo North Mennonite Church where she was well-known for her gift of creating worship arts. Nora J. Sommers, class of '63, Berlin, Ohio, died March 2, 2017, at 77. She was a private duty nurse and published three books, writing two and compiling one. Ruth Martin '64, Lititz, Pa., died March 28, 2017, at 87. She taught for 13 years at Ephrata and Kraybill Mennonite Schools and was later employed by Eastern Mennonite Missions in Salunga, Pa. Carroll J. Lehman '64, Rindge, N.H., died July 26, 2017, at 75. He taught music at Hope College and Western Washington University before moving to Keene State College in 1978. He retired in 2015 after teaching at Keene State for 37 years. He traveled the world touring and performing and was a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Music Educators National Conference, and the Music Teachers National Association. Frances Brubaker '65, Lititz, Pa., died July 16, 2017, at 99. She taught at Paradise Elementary School and earned a master’s degree in counseling education at James Madison University. She served as dean of women at EMC and then in retirement, with EMU’s Servanthood Program. After returning to Lancaster County, she volunteered with the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society.
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CREATIVE FUNDRAISING BY ALUMNI EMU alumni continue to support the university in creative ways. "One of the great pleasures of our work here at EMU is working with alumni when they approach us with innovative giving opportunities," said Vice President for Advancement Kirk Shisler '81. "In the last three months, we've had several EMU alumni and friends initiate creative gifts, which has resulted in much needed funds as well as some really special connections. Our Mileposts section in the Crossroads magazine is a perfect place to highlight their out-of-the-box thinking … certainly the kind of thinking we’ve come to expect from EMU alumni and generous donors!"
Vintage car sale proceeds support Suter Science Center Campaign
Dr. Alden Hostetter ’79, longtime medical director of pathology at Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg, and his wife Louise Otto ’79 Hostetter auctioned their ’54 Hudson Hornet on eBay. “The highest bidder was a happy collector in southern Illinois and more than $16,000 was donated to Phase II of the Suter Science Center renovations,” Louise said. The Hostetters acquired the Hornet in 1997 from Harold '31 and Arlene Heatwole '26 Eshleman, prominent members of Harrisonburg’s Mennonite community. Their sons J. Robert Eshleman '56, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Kenneth Eshleman '64, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, came to visit the car while it was on display during Homecoming and Family Weekend.
A book signing for the Suter Science Center
Dr. Joseph Martin ‘59 made his alma mater the site of a book launch celebration in 2011, when he released Alfalfa to Ivy: Memoir of a Harvard Medical School Dean (University of Alberta Press). During Homecoming and Family Weekend, Martin offered its sequel, Reflections on Science, Religion and Society (Friesen Press, 2017), a collection of 14 essays from commencement addresses and other academic settings. A book-signing event drew more than $43,000 in donations for the Suter Science Center campaign. A limited number of signed copies are still available in exchange for a donation to the renovation fund. Why is EMU such a dear place in Martin’s heart? It’s where he met his future wife Rachel Wenger ’61 in 1958. Besides meeting his lifetime companion, Martin says the intellectual, progressive experience of an EMC education “opened my eyes wide,” he remembered.
Scholarship supports Middle East peacebuilders Norm Rittenhouse, of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, recently auctioned household items, antiques and farm equipment, contributing a portion of the proceeds to a scholarship he started in honor of his wife, Alice. The Norman and Alice Clemmer Rittenhouse Endowment for World Peace will provide an annual scholarship award for students from the Middle East to attend the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. Though the couple did not attend EMU, both their children, Eric ’82 and Jennifer Rittenhouse Seavy ’85 are graduates. While at EMU, Eric befriended Palestinian Esoud Sharif ’81, who became like a member of the family. Eventually, Norm and Alice visited Esoud’s home and witnessed the region’s struggle for peace and justice. From this grew their desire to support young peacebuilders through CJP.
Do you have a unique contribution to make to EMU? Contact Vice President for Advancement Kirk Shisler ’81 at kirk.shisler@emu.edu or call 540-432-4499 for more information.
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Roy L. Brubaker '67, Mifflintown, Pa., died June 16, 2017 at 75 in a farming-related accident. He and his wife, Hope, spent 12 years with Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities in Somalia and Kenya. He also pastored Lost Creek Mennonite Church, was a school administrator at Juniata Mennonite School, and owned an organic vegetable and berry farm. Richard L. Gunden '68, Ellicott City, Md., died April 26, 2017, at 71. He worked as a warehouse manager in a New York perfume factory and later as a staff member in a Chicago hospital during World War II. He was CEO with The Ability Center of Greater Toledo and then vice president for advancement at EMU. Richard Benner '69, Ruckersville, Va., died Nov. 4, 2017, at 78 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Dick served as the first director of development at EMC from 1968-73, taught in the language and literature department, and was faculty advisor to the Weather Vane. Dick’s wife of 55 years, Marlene Keller ‘63 Benner, died in July 2017. Wendell Nisly, class of '69, Kalona, Iowa, died June 22, 2017, at 70. He served two years in 1W service in Florida, drove a truck, worked as a salesman, was an insurance agent for Menno Services, served as treasurer for an area relief sale, and was a certified weather spotter. John Otto '71, Champaign, Ill., died Aug. 27, 2017, at 71. He performed alternative service as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, earned a JD at the University of Michigan Law School and practiced law for several years in Michigan. He then moved to Champaign and joined the firm of Zimmerly, Gadau, Selin & Otto, where he practiced law until he retired in 2011. C. John Kerstetter '72, Harrisonburg, Va., died Jan. 14, 2017, at 75. He was born in Belgian, Congo, to missionary parents. He taught science at Page County High and in Newport News, then moved to Sarasota, Fla., in 1978, where he resided for 37 years. There he also taught and was a mechanic. Rose Moyer '74 Bergey, Chesapeake, Va., died Sept. 30, 2017, at 65. She taught at Mt. Pleasant Christian School for more than 36 years. Along with her family, Rose made many significant contributions to Bergey's Breadbasket, their family-run business. She was an active member of Mount Pleasant Mennonite Church. Samuel Johnson '75, Keezletown, Va., died August 17, 2017, at 69. After serving in the military during the Vietnam War, Samuel committed his life to working for peace. He earned a BS in religion and industrial arts at Wilmington College and later an MDiv from Earlham School of Religion. He and his wife Margaret Wenger '69 were active in the local Friends Meeting, and in later years with Shalom Mennonite Church. They co-founded the Harrisonburg Farmers Market. Samuel also joined other organizations promoting peace, social justice and environmental integrity. Michael D. Augsburger '80, 63, passed on April 11, 2017. The son of Myron '55 and Esther Kniss '72 Augsburger of Harrisonburg, Michael was an avid pilot, owned his own construction company, and had an adventurous spirit that took him around the world more than once. After retirement, Michael spent much of his time in Thailand. Upon his return to Harrisonburg, he succumbed to cancer. He will be remembered by friends and extended
family for his kindness, unique wit, deep intellect, artistic talent and great hair. (See “Guns Into Plowshares” sidebar.) Gregory Paul '83, Greenville, N.C., died May 7, 2017, at 63. After years of writing and publishing crossword puzzles (some for the New York Times), he graduated from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2009. In Buxton, N.C., he practiced classical homeopathy. Douglas Moyer '91, Stephens City, Va., died May 17, 2017, at 48. He was an IT professional with the Warren County School District and received the Staff Person of the Year award in 2011. Sarah Pharis '02 Dwyer, Staunton, Va., died Aug. 19, 2017, at 38 after battling ocular melanoma. She worked for the American Shakespeare Center for four years before attending graduate school at Loyola University in Maryland. She also taught at Woodland Montessori School in Harrisonburg before needing to quit her job to deal with her illness. In 2012, a play about her life, “Sarah and the Dinosaur,” was written by Ingrid DeSanctis '88 and performed at EMU and at the ShenArts Theatre. Kumar Anuraj Jha MA ’07, Kartoum, Sudan, died in a car accident Nov. 30, 2017. He was a child protection specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). His wife Jill Landis Jha MA ’10 and their two young daughters were also in the car but survived the accident. Jha started his work on children and armed conflict from a field office in Nepal in 2001 with Save the Children in the midst of the Maoist conflict. He later led the UN Mission’s Child Protection Section and provided management, monitoring and oversight of the release of 2,000 children from the Maoist army, which was one of the largest UN undertakings in Nepal. Mara Martin Roberts MA '11 (conflict transformation) died Sept. 28, 2017, after a five-and-a-half year battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband David Roberts; their sons Samuel and David; and extended family. Chad A. Reinford '14, Louisville, Ohio, died June 23, 2017, at 26. He enjoyed camping, hiking and rock climbing. He attended the former Stoner Heights Mennonite Church in Louisville and worked for Robin Industries.
Degree Key CLASS OF - attended as part of the class of a given graduation year GC - graduate certificate MA - master of arts SEM - attended or graduated from the seminary Mileposts is compiled by Marci Myers, who may be reached at myersmk@emu.edu or at 540-432-4589. Editorial Policy Milepost entries are printed on the basis of submissions from alumni or on the basis of publicly available information. We do not verify the accuracy of information that alumni provide, nor do we make judgment calls on the information that they wish to be published, beyond editing for clarity, conciseness and consistency of style. The information provided to us does not necessarily reflect the official policies of EMU or of its parent church, Mennonite Church USA.
CENTENNIAL BEQUEST CAMPAIGN 100 YEARS MORE For our 100th academic year we have initiated the Centennial Bequest Campaign with the goal of increasing our Jubilee Friend Society memberships by 100 new households by June 2018. Become a member by including EMU or any of our programs in your estate through the following ways: Will/Living Trust Charitable Remainder Trust Charitable Gift Annuity Life Insurance Policy IRA, 401(k), 403(b), other retirement plan Donor Advised Fund Primary or secondary beneficiary of bank account or asset Join during the campaign and receive the book Eastern Mennonite University: A Century of Countercultural Education by Donald Kraybill ‘67. Help make the EMU experience available to students for another 100 years!
WILL YOU HELP STRENGTHEN EMU'S FUTURE? New Jubilee Friend Society members, Carroll ’62 and Nancy ’66 Yoder established a Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA) using the funds they received from inherited farmland in Iowa. This allows them to receive life income and give a future gift to EMU. To honor their careers as professors, they designated their future gift to be used for nursing and literature scholarships. When asked why they chose to make a gift to EMU, they proclaimed: “Why wouldn’t we want to do something for EMU?” “EMU has been so good to us. We had our careers at EMU and were able to serve the church broadly. We led nine international cross-cultural trips, had 11 nieces and nephews graduate from EMU, and both of our sons attended the university. Even in retirement, EMU still feels like family.”
If you have already included EMU in your estate plan, please let us know! To learn more, visit EMUPlannedGiving.org or contact: Jasmine Hardesty, Director of Planned Giving at (540) 432-4971 or jasmine.hardesty@emu.edu
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PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID Harrisonburg, Virginia
1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg VA 22802-2462 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Parents: If this is addressed to your son or daughter who has established a separate residence, please give us the new address. Call 540-432-4294 or email alumni@emu.edu.
Celebrate EMU's Centennial with a year-end gift! Make your contribution by December 31st. Give online at emu.edu/giving/donate or mail your check to the Development Office at EMU, 1200 Park Rd. Harrisonburg, VA 22802. For assistance call 800-368-3383 or send email to devoffice@emu.edu
LovEMU
Giving
DAY 4.10.18
Get ready to SHOW THE LOVE on April 10, 2018!