Hosted by Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services and CoachLink coach, and Micah Shristi, director of international student services, the ceremony featured a musical drum performance led by Makinto and his son, Joël Friebe-Makinto.

Since 2016, the ceremony has celebrated graduates who honor their African and international roots. Each receives a handwoven stole of kente cloth, a symbol of prestige in many African societies, or a satin sash featuring the flags of countries they feel connected to.

Sashes at Saturday’s ceremony bore the flags of Albania, Argentina, Barbados, Burkina Faso, the Cherokee Nation, China, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Honduras, Iceland, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Oromia, Palestine, Peru, Puerto Rico, Senegal, South Sudan, and Uruguay.

Class of 2026 graduates take part in Saturday’s Donning of the Kente Ceremony in EMU’s MainStage Theater.

Joël Friebe-Makinto (left) honors his father, Makinto. Celeste Thomas (right) welcomes attendees to the ceremony.

The ceremony celebrates achievement, encourages recipients to continue striving for excellence, and provides an intimate end-of-year experience. Each recipient selected a family member, friend, mentor, administrator, or faculty or staff member to place the stole or sash around their neck and offer remarks, sharing joyful and heartfelt stories and words of praise about each graduate.

Graduates wore the stoles and sashes at Commencement to honor their collective heritage and reflect on shared struggles and successes.

“Our hope is that they feel the support of their village,” Thomas said. “Additionally, we hope the ceremony signals the college’s desire to meet the needs of all its students.”

Micah Shristi honors a graduate during the ceremony.

Since 2016, the ceremony has celebrated graduates who honor their African and international roots.

Participants

The following graduates were recognized:

Makinto, a general theological certificate major from Harrisonburg, was donned by Mukarabe Makinto Inandava and Joël Friebe-Makinto.��

“You’re a clear example of how, no matter your age or where you are in life, you can accomplish anything,” Friebe-Makinto told his father. “You are a continuous inspiration for me and someone I can always look to for guidance.”

Esdras Burgos, accounting and business administration major from Charlottesville, Virginia, was donned by M. Esther Showalter.

Arelys Martinez Fabian, a Spanish language & Hispanic studies and education (PreK–12) licensure from Winchester, Virginia, was donned by M. Esther Showalter.

Zazkia De la Vega, a marketing and business administration major from Cusco, Peru, was donned by M. Esther Showalter. 

Ankita Adhikari, a computer science major from Pokhara, Nepal, was donned by Micah Shristi.

Donovan Arnason, a digital media, photography, and design major from Stafford, Virginia, was donned by Phyllis Braxton Arnason.

Elili Asefa, a nursing major from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was donned by Baati Ayana.

Irais Barrera Pinzon, a political science, Spanish language and Hispanic studies major from Richmond, Virginia, was donned by Wendell Shank.

Mimi Bayongwa, a social work major from Riverdale, Maryland, was donned by Dia Mekonnen and Perpetue Kaimba. 

Lemi Amanuel Bekele, a biochemistry major from Kansas City, Missouri, was donned by Micah Shristi.

Shristi recalled receiving an email from Bekele, who was waiting for his admissions decision in 2019. “He sent me the following email, and I quote: ‘Please answer me. To wait for your answer I am in the forest in a tree to get data and it’s too dark and cold,’” Shristi read aloud. “That same determination carried Lemi through his years at EMU.”

Jean Betancourt, a business administration major from Meridian, Mississippi, was donned by Angel Betancourt.

Nia Boyd, an art and writing studies major from Richmond, Virginia, was donned by Lenice Sudds.

Kylik Daquan Bradshaw, a liberal arts major from Crewe, Virginia, was donned by De’Andra Oliver, Te’Ahra Oliver, Theron Oliver, and Kayanna Bradshaw.

“Through every season, you have shown resilience, courage, and determination beyond your years,” Bradshaw’s mother said. “But your greatest gift has always been your heart, your love, your loyalty, and your strength. Even when you were challenged with difficulties, you never let it break you.”

Chase Comer, a political science and history major from Timberville, Virginia, was donned by Amy Miller.

Ruach Dhieu Ruach Deng, a computer science major from Bor, South Sudan, was donned by Micah Shristi.

Odesa Elezi, a nursing major from Harrisonburg, was donned by Luis Elezi.

Jasmin Escamilla Ruiz, a digital media, photography, and design major from Bluemont, Virginia, was donned by Irma Ruiz Ramirez. 

LaToya Fernandez, an MA in restorative justice major from West Hartford, Connecticut, was donned by Lyric Bryant.

Genesis Figueroa, a political science, Spanish language and Hispanic studies major from Millersburg, Ohio, was donned by Mia Figueroa.

Leah Frankenfield, a psychology major from Moraga, California, was donned by Rachel Tusing.

Sofia Garcia Pini, an MA in restorative justice major from Buenos Aires, Argentina, was donned by Joe Cole.

Jamila Gaskins, an MA in conflict transformation major from Los Angeles, was donned by David Evans.

Emily Guin, a nursing major from Lovettsville, Virginia, was donned by Juan Guin.

Jacqueline Jackson, a nursing major from Staunton, Virginia, was donned by Jacqueline Badger-Jackson.

Jayda Lenae Jones, a social work major from Goodview, Virginia, was donned by Kim Jones.

Yohanna Kebede, a computer science major from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was donned by Haweni Tolosa.

Emae Klompenhouwer, a social work major from Newport News, Virginia, was donned by Remco Klompenhouwer.

Ramata Lam, a biomedicine major from Baltimore, was donned by Kaitlyn Upshaw.

Mallery Salemah McShine, an MA in restorative justice major from Fredericksburg, Virginia, was donned by LaToya Fernandez.

Dia Mekonnen, a social work and political science major from Silver Spring, Maryland, was donned by Deanna Reed.

Abraham Mekonnen, a computer science major from Harrisonburg, was donned by Noel Abeje. 

Last summer, Mekonnen interned at Morgan Stanley in New York City. This summer, he is headed to Northern California, where he will work for Palo Alto Networks. “How many people can say they’re hopping from Wall Street to Silicon Valley at 23 years old?” his close friend Abeje said. “Here’s the thing about Abraham: when the rest of us go to a mall, we typically just shop. Abraham asks the storekeepers how much they made that week and whether they’d recommend entering the industry. He’s constantly studying the world, ambitious, resilient, and relentlessly curious.”

Fadi William Michael, a marketing major from Bethlehem, State of Palestine, was donned by Jim Leaman.

Diego Morales Torres, a computer science major from Ponce, Puerto Rico, was donned by Team Oosthuizen.

Zipola Nayituriki, a social work major from Harrisonburg, was donned by Mary Ann Zehr.

Tasia Ocaranza, an MA in education major from Staunton, Virginia, was donned by Kathy Evans.

Taylor Helenna Parker, a digital media, photography, and design major from Charlottesville, Virginia, was donned by Mikaela Brooks Fauver.

Royale M. Parker, a business administration and psychology major from San Bernardino County, California, was donned by Ruby Parker and Roy Parker.

Jennifer Perera, an MS in biomedicine major from Miami, was donned by Jose Perera.

Robyn Chardaé Pratt, an MA in education major from Newport News, Virginia, was donned by Sandra Pratt.

Sarah Prroj, a business administration major from Shkoder, Albania, was donned by Micah Shristi.

Sharon Salinas Morales, a restorative justice in education major from Harrisonburg, was donned by Andrew Claassen.

Jacob Sankara, an MA in conflict transformation major from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, was donned by Gloria Rhodes.

Roumany Sefin, a business administration and medical lab science major from Port Said, Egypt, was donned by Jim Leaman.

Zoe Seifu, a nursing major from Harrisonburg, was donned by Nati Seifu.

Anisa Yousef Sharhabeel, a business administration major from Rockingham, Virginia, was donned by Rita Tutu.

Shayleigh Michelle Sims, a biology and secondary education (6-12) licensure major from Palmyra, Virginia, was donned by Kathy Evans.

Emily Suarez Nunez, a nursing major from McGaheysville, Virginia, was donned by Silvana Nunez.

Guadalupe Tenorio Ramirez, an accounting and business administration major from Hopewell, Virginia, was donned by Lindy Backues.

Cheylan Ury, a psychology major from Staunton, Virginia, was donned by Shaion Ury.

Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus poses with Class of 2026 graduate Emily Suarez Nunez following the ceremony (left). Alumni returned to campus on Saturday to honor friends at the ceremony (right).

“We’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together,” Shristi said in his closing remarks. “What a beautiful space.”

The Donning of the Kente Ceremony is sponsored by Multicultural Student Services, International Student Services, and the Black Student Alliance.

Watch a video recording of the ceremony below!

The cultural ceremony celebrates graduates who recognize their African and international roots. Each graduate receives a handwoven stole of Kente cloth, a symbol of prestige in many African societies, or a satin sash with flags from the countries they feel a connection to. 

Sashes bore the flags of countries including Afghanistan, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, and Sudan.

The ceremony recognizes and rewards achievement, encourages recipients to continue striving for excellence, and provides an intimate end-of-the-year experience. Each recipient chose a family member, friend, mentor, administrator, faculty or staff member to place the stole or sash around their neck during the ceremony and speak about them. Those speakers shared joyful and heartfelt stories and words of praise about each graduate—at times bursting into laughter and, at others, holding back tears.

Graduates wore the stoles and sashes at Commencement for inspiration and to honor, celebrate, connect, and reflect on their collective heritage and communal struggles and successes.

Hosts of the ceremony were Celeste Thomas, director of multicultural student services, and Micah Shristi, director of international student services. 

The following graduates were recognized:

Yishake Abate, donned by Micah Shristi;

Ruth Abera, donned by Shannon Dycus;

Bethel Abiy, donned by Hellena Gebremedhin;

Elphas Andudu Adam Elnail, donned by Evans Adam Elnail;

Ariam Yonas Addisu, donned by Carlin Kreider;

Epherem Yoseph Amare, donned by Ephrata Amare;

Asmait Asgedom, donned by Deanna Durham;

Sha’Dymon Blanton, donned by Floria Hicks and Laurette Tucker;

Amber Bonds, donned by Jacqueline D. Bonds and Nathan L. Bonds;

Réka Bordás-Simon, donned by Gloria Rhodes;

Maru Dorothy Chepchirchir, donned by Valentine Jemutai;

Jailyn Diaz, donned by Martha Delgado and Julio Diaz;

Chidubem Ekoh, donned by Ndidi Ekoh;

Addi Fowler, donned by Jaqueline Fowler;

Karim-Ja’Quan Frazier, donned by Stacey Gibson;

Hellena Gebremedhin, donned by Rebecca Tezazu;

Denait Gebretsadik, donned by Tsegay Berhe, Marta Gebretsadik, and Saba Gebretsadik;

Emanuel Assegid Habte, donned by Hasset Dagnew;

Sulaiman Hashimi, donned by Jim Leaman;

Adesola Jessica Johnson, donned by Dayspring Johnson;

Erika Lopez, donned by Molly Ford;

ML Lormejuste, donned by Royale Parker;

Nicole Marie Mayorga Quintanilla, donned by Gerardo Mayorga and Lourdes Quintanilla;

Frehiwot Mekonnen, donned by Abraham Mekonnen;

Aneisha Emerlyn Moore, donned by Adesola Jessica Johnson;

Damon Morgan, donned by Sheila Morgan;

Cristal Narciso, donned by Mikaela Brooks Fauver;

Mikayla Pettus, donned by Celeste Thomas;

Cecilia Gabriela Rafael Castelan, donned by Susana Castelan and Norberto Rafael;  

Brii Redfearn, donned by Jonathan Swartz;

Marciella Vania Shallomita, donned by Brian Martin Burkholder;

Getachew GebreKiros Temare, donned by Gloria Rhodes;

Rebecca Tezazu, donned by Hellena Gebremedhin;

Riya Tingwa, donned by Karen Farias;

Chuck Tirtasaputra, donned by Melkysedek Tirtasaputra;

Rita Abden Saleh Toto, donned by Grace Toto;

Aixa Mariola Warren, donned by Judy Hiett; and

Fiker Yigzaw, donned by Timothy Seidel.

The Donning of the Kente Ceremony is sponsored by Multicultural Student Services, International Student Services, and the Black Student Alliance.

The Free Food Room is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to EMU students and employees in need. It is also an unsupervised space so that people can take what they need anonymously and with dignity. 

But times are tough, demand is high, and funding is scant. The organizers behind the Free Food Room initiative, which relies on donations to continue operating, say that it stays afloat “on a wing and a prayer.” And, they say that without more financial support, it won’t have enough funding to operate after this semester. 

With your help, you can contribute to keeping this invaluable resource alive. Make a gift to the Free Food Room fund, and ensure it will continue serving those in our campus community who experience food insecurity.

Donations of nonperishable food can be left inside the Free Food Room. People can also donate gift cards that will be used at grocery stores. 

The Free Food Room is a joint initiative of the Food Insecurity Task Force—a group comprising EMU staff members Brian Martin Burkholder, Celeste Thomas and Trina Trotter Nussbaum—and the Sustainable Food Initiative (SFI). Members of the task force collect donations, write grant requests, order monthly deliveries through their partnership with the (at discounted pricing), pay bills, and send emails about fresh fruits and vegetables when they arrive. 

The resource is a collaborative effort between various groups on campus. Work-study students through the Black Student Alliance and the Office of Faith and Spiritual Life sweep the floor, unload deliveries, restock shelves and check inventory. Students from SFI stock the freezer with meals from the dining hall and supply the room with fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from EMU gardens. A list of the items grown on campus, dated from August, noted: Roma and Big Beef tomatoes, Swiss chard, figs, jalapenos, and bell and banana peppers.

Last year an agreement with Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community’s , just down the road on Harmony Drive, provided the Free Food Room with any produce that didn’t sell at its farm stand. Members of the task force anticipate partnering with VMRC’s USDA organic-certified farm again if possible.

The Free Food Room could use all the help it can get. According to data shared by task force organizers, its busiest month over the last school year, February 2024, saw 346 visitors (a sensor inside the room keeps a tally). Organizers spent $535 to order 1,110 pounds of food from the food bank that month.

Identifying a need

Food insecurity is an epidemic afflicting college campuses nationwide and EMU is no exception. A federal analysis released in July estimated that 23% of college students in 2020, or about 3.8 million students, experienced food insecurity.

From a Sept. 9 article on :

“The report again shed light on what previous analysis of federal data have shown—that a large share of students struggle to put food on the table. The study reported that about 2.2 million of those 3.8 million students had low food security, or ate less than they should or skipped meals altogether.”

Prior to having its own space on campus, food assistance was funded through the Faith and Spiritual Life Compassion Fund, which helps students with emergency needs, and supported by Y-Serve food drives held twice a year. But the grassroots initiative was often disjointed and lacked a central system in place.

In 2018, after reading an in The Washington Post about the widespread hunger problem on campuses, a group at EMU was spurred to action. The group identified food insecurity as a major need to address and began putting together the pieces that would eventually become the Free Food Room. In 2022, after years of talks and meetings, the Free Food Room began operating out of its current space in the Heatwole House. Organizers were approved for membership at the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank near the end of that year. The task force pays a yearly $50 membership fee, which is covered by Y-Serve.

The Free Food Room aligns with EMU’s 2023-28 strategic plan, Pathways of Promise: Preparing Tomorrow’s Unifying Leaders, and its vision to open new pathways of access and achievement. As EMU continues to live into its commitment to belonging—this year marked the most diverse incoming class in school history—and provide access to more students in financial need, the task force aims to take a proactive approach to securing funding to sustain its services.

The Free Food Room experiences higher periods of need during school breaks when the dining hall is closed and cannot supply the pantry with frozen meals. Nussbaum said graduate and international students are among those most susceptible to food insecurity in the EMU community. Many of them are far from home, have families to feed, and lack their own transportation.

“People don’t often think about college students as being needy, whether in terms of food or shelter,” she said. “I think we’re attending to a need that might not be universally known.”

A more welcoming space

This summer the Free Food Room received some much-needed updates. A grant from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank was used to purchase a new two-door freezer, three-door cooler and shelving. The new appliances and shelves help create a more welcoming space, drawing in more visitors, and can store much more food than before.  

“We’re grateful for this grant,” Thomas said. “We’ll now be able to accommodate larger orders from the food bank.”

“It makes a huge difference,” Nussbaum said.

The organizers say they have some ideas for future grant requests, which might include funding for hygiene products and signage.

For more information about the Free Food Room and ways to help out, contact: brian.burkholder@emu.edu, celeste.thomas@emu.edu, or trina.nussbaum@emu.edu

EMU alumnus Akiel Baker ’21 says a turning point in his life came while on a cross-cultural trip to Guatemala during his junior year. Being in a country where he didn’t speak the language or understand the culture was a humbling experience for the Bowie, Maryland, native.��

“I came back a new person,” Baker said. “Before that, I was always doing the bare minimum.”

When he returned to the U.S., his whole approach to college changed. The social work major became more engaged in his coursework and more involved in the EMU campus community. He joined clubs such as the Black Student Alliance (BSA), the International Students Organization and the Student Government Association.

As vice president of BSA, Baker was instrumental in bringing the Black Lives Matter mural to life and shaping the creation of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Before graduating with a bachelor of social work degree, he served as senior class president for the Class of 2021 and earned 2021 Cords of Distinction honors.��

“I can honestly say I’ve not had a bad moment at EMU,” he said. “Every moment has been enriching, and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”

Just like EMU provided the push he needed to reach his full potential, Baker is helping children reach theirs as a social worker for Harrisonburg City Public Schools. In his role, he connects elementary and middle school students and their families with resources in the schools and community that can help them perform at their very best. One day he’s helping a busy mom with a busted transmission find an organization willing to help her, while another he’s figuring out which special education services a child is eligible for.��

“I love building that human connection and assuring parents they’re not just a number within Harrisonburg City Public Schools… that they’re actually cared for and that we want the best for them,” Baker said.

That feeling he gives the families he works with is the same feeling he got when he visited EMU for the first time. He said he had been accepted to both EMU and James Madison University, but the latter felt too big and didn’t offer the same sense of community.��

“Everyone here was super nice and welcoming,” Baker said. “I love human connection and that’s something that feels central to EMU.”

After graduating in 2021, Baker served as residence director at EMU for two years and worked as a site coordinator for , a Harrisonburg-based nonprofit dedicated to closing the learning gap and empowering youth. He earned a master’s degree in social work from West Virginia University in 2023.

Baker said he participates in LovEMU Giving Day to give back to the school that’s given so much to him.

“I want people to have the same enriching experiences I had,” he said. “I want to see EMU grow and will continue giving back to keep it growing.”

Join generous donors like Baker who give back to EMU to help students pursue a quality college education without financial barriers. Be a part of our 8th annual LovEMU Giving Day and contribute to the scholarships that empower future EMU students. Let’s build EMU “Stronger Together.”

Read the previous profiles in our Why they LovEMU series:

On Tuesday evening, just a short time after the verdict was announced, I sent a message  to our campus community. I named the value of a cathartic, collective exhale on the swift verdict, and our shared witness around a faith-informed justice on the occasion of this historic moment. Indeed, the trial was a long-awaited step towards repair in our country’s long and awful legacy of racialized violence. 

I also expressed support of deep listening and bold collaborative action: We especially surround our BIPOC students, faculty and staff tonight with care and compassion. We commit ourselves to continuing to hear their voices, to stand with them, and to do the hard and necessary work to extend the movement to expand racial justice and equity in our nation, our community, and on our own campus. We will work together to make our community of learners more and more fair and equitable inside and outside the classroom. 

The Black Lives Matter movement has taught me many things. Saying the names of our black citizens senselessly killed or injured at a shockingly disproportionate rate at the hands of law enforcement is a powerful reminder of my own white privilege. And so again I say his name: George Perry Floyd Junior, to remind myself this is not an ending at all.

As educators, we still have much work to do. Here is a brief summary of some tangible steps our university has taken recently on issues of racial and social justice, with special attention to diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels of our community of learning:

• Diversity objectives are featured in the President’s Annual Report and EMU’s 2020-25 Strategic Plan.
• A new fund to support DEI training and related initiatives benefited from nearly $93,763 in current and pledged donor support this spring.
•  EMU’s Board of Trustees is led by Manuel A. Nuñez, professor and faculty director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Villanova Business School. The board remains deeply committed in specific ways to diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes in learning objectives, campus climate, and representation.  
• More than 10 newly established endowed scholarships and direct grants to increase access and opportunities for BIPOC undergraduate and graduate students have been cultivated just this year.
• We continue supporting, building relationships, listening to and learning from leaders of our student organizations, including Black Student Alliance, Latino Student Alliance, International Student Organization, SafeSpace, and the newly established Asian Pacific Islander Student Association.

And finally, we are delighted with an important addition to our team: Dr. Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán. She started as our executive director of diversity, equity and inclusion just a few weeks ago, and has already made connections with our Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, and among our student groups and their leaders. We look forward to her leadership as we make our actions toward racial and social justice more concrete. 

Below, Dr. Font-Guzmán shares a short reflection on the verdict. Continue on to read reflections from our student leaders, and leaders of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. 

No one person can enact the kind of dramatic change our schools, communities, and country needs. We must listen together and lead together. Each member of our university has a contribution to make. We welcome your support and your prayers on the journey ahead.

From Dr. Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán, executive director of diversity, equity, and inclusion

The murder conviction in the case of Mr. George Perry Floyd Jr. has been unprecedented in many ways. It is a rare event in the history of the United States that a White policeman is found guilty of murdering a Black man. 

At the personal level, I have mixed feelings about the verdict. Although I felt encouraged by it because it held the perpetrator accountable, justice did not triumph. True justice requires giving each person their due. Mr. Floyd should be alive today. 

And yet, I do not despair. I am hopeful that this verdict can move us to take the needed crucial steps towards transforming – and when necessary – dismantling the systems that allow for this violence to continue. There is no better act of subversion than building relationships and communities. This verdict was possible thanks to all the organizers, peaceful protesters, students, and people willing to – as John Lewis said– “Get in trouble, good trouble.”

Here at EMU, we are committed to peace, social justice, and community. We will continue to work together with love and compassion to create an environment where everyone can be their true selves, belong, and be safe. 

A joint statement from two leaders of the Student Government and Black Student Alliance

Ma’Khia could have been any of us. In the span of two hours, our collective conversation had shifted from a tense relief that Derek Chauvin had been found guilty in the murder of George Floyd, to the overwhelming grief and anger that we know so intimately. 

After George Floyd’s murder this summer, the Student Government Association sent an email affirming protests and demonstrations being carried out in the name of justice. We also named that many of our clubs that serve as affinity groups for marginalized voices unfairly bear the burden of providing programming aimed at educating our broader campus community. Weeks later, the Black Student Alliance presented a list of demands, calling our campus community to live more fully into our self-proclaimed values of justice and peace. 

Now, after the verdict has been read, we as student leaders continue to commit ourselves to standing alongside those who fiercely speak truth to power, uprooting systems which cause harm, including those within our university. We will rage until LGBTQ+ communities feel safe, until ICE is abolished and the prison industrial complex is destroyed, until families are no longer torn apart on the border, and the ongoing Indigenous genocide is stopped.

We know that there is much work to be done. We envision a community that rejects notions of scarcity,  where justice is abundant and freedom is genuine. This is a vision that EMU says it shares, and so we call EMU to answer, to act: 

To create and hold spaces for BIPOC students, faculty and staff. To offer tangible support through meals and offer extensions on deadlines. To compensate the unpaid labor of those who have consistently borne the brunt of liberation work within EMU. To show up for your students in the classroom, at our events, in this nation and this world. Show up for your marginalized  students in the ways we’ve been asking of you. This is how we live into our mission. 

Anisa Leonard, co-president of Student Government Association; Maya Dula, secretary and past co-president of Black Student Alliance

Eastern Mennonite Seminary

In the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition, we believe that the mutual flourishing of relationships is essential for faith. We belong to one another as members of the human family. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the body of Christ, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it” (1 Cor 12:26). When one person, family and community suffers injustice, the harm impacts us all. 

A verdict from our national justice system may provide some clarity, but that alone cannot restore human dignity and wholeness. We commit fully and collectively to this restorative work: to practicing justice in compassionate relationships as a learning community and in the communities in which we participate throughout the world.

Learning how, within our own faith communities and our university community, we can truly resist the systemic racism made so visible in this moment impels us to deeper prayer and richer action. We thank God for leaders in many communities of color in the United States, and some of our own community members, who have long modeled the discipleship of work for justice.

Dr. Sue Cockley, dean; Dr. Nancy Heisey, associate dean; Rev. Dr. Sarah Bixler, incoming associate dean.

The Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

The United States was built on a mixed message – all men are created equal and only white men who own property count as full citizens. The territory of the United States was created through displacement, genocide, and war against indigenous peoples and a neighboring country, Mexico. Wealth was amassed by white men who exploited enslaved peoples from Africa and violently suppressed attempts to organize for labor rights. As a country, we have struggled with these tensions since our founding. Our history cannot be ignored in our move toward a different future.

Rooting out and transforming the original sin built into the United States is a long, hard, slow process and once again we are being challenged. Do we settle for order masquerading as peace or do we demand justice that supports authentic peace, healing, and equity? As the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, we have answered that question. Now, we must actualize it in our current context. As a predominantly white institution, this work is deeply personal for each of us and for CJP and EMU as organizations. Thankfully, the jury in Minnesota has held Derek Chauvin accountable for his actions. Let us continue our work to grow justice with humility and integrity. That means listening to and following leaders who have experienced the violence and injustices of our current systems.  

Dr. Jayne Docherty, executive director