This semester, EMU is holding activities on one day – Wednesday, Feb. 11 – and moving from the Campus Center to the spacious hallway on second floor of the University Commons.

EMU freshman Jihoon Park (left), 19, of South Korea, talks to Mennonite Central Committee’s Sonya Charles in October 2008 during the fall semester Mission and Service Days. Photo by Nikki Fox, Daily News-Record

“We’re trying a few different things this time around – everything happening on one day, in a different setting, inviting local community ‘learning agencies’ and serving refreshments,” said Jennifer Litwiller, director of career services at EMU. “We hope the end result is more students and others checking out the many service opportunities,” she added.

Representatives from at least 11 church-related agencies will have displays set up and will be available all day to talk with students and area residents about possible service openings with their organizations.

Participating agencies will include: Eastern Mennonite Missions, Salunga, Pa.; Mennonite Mission Network, Elkhart, Ind.; Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa.; Virginia Mennonite Missions, Harrisonburg; Paxton Ministries, Harrisburg, Pa.; PULSE (Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Service Experience, Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Wycliffe Bible Translators, Willow Street, Pa.

Community Learning agencies will include: Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County, Community Mediation Center, Harrisonburg Gift & Thrift, Habitat for Humanity, Mercy House, NewBridges Immigrant Resource Center, Our Community Place and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.

An extended university chapel service 9:55-10:40 a.m. Wednesday in Lehman Auditorium will complement the mission-service theme. Steven Mosley, a writer, filmmaker and biblical storyteller from Orange County, Calif.,will give a 42-minute performance, “The Chosen Garment: the Whole Bible in One Act.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment with a service representative, call Jennifer Litwiller in the career services office at 540-432-4131. More information is also available online.

Representatives of church-related organizations will have displays in the Campus Center Greeting Hall and will be available to talk with students and area residents about possible service openings with their organizations.

Participating agencies will include:

• Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions
• Mennonite Missions Network, Elkhart, Ind.
• Eastern Mennonite Missions, Salunga, Pa.
• Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa.

For more information or to schedule an appointment with a service representative, call Helen Nafziger in the Career Services office at 540-432-4131.

The cast includes Harrisonburg High School students, EMU and JMU students and bilingual community members. The director is Sara Prince, a community member with theater experience.

"Erase Una Vez, Maria y Jose" or "Once Upon a Time: Mary and Joseph," is an original play based on a posada, a tradition in some Latin American countries of celebrating Christmas for nine days and nights. The play is a bilingual re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a welcoming place of birth for the baby Jesus.

Teatro Chirmol

Teatro Chirmol, in its fourth year, gets its name from a type of salsa (chirmol) that combines seemingly incongruent flavors to make a taste salsa that works well together. Participants come from several Latin American countries and range in age from 14 to 25.

The project, which originates in EMU’s Community Learning Center, seeks to give authentic voice to the local Latino community, integrate Latino youth with university students and provide community education about the assets and challenges of living biculturally in the Shenandoah Valley.

Traditional Latino food will be served prior to Saturday’s performance and immediately following the Sunday show.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $2.50 for students and children at the door.

Teatro Chirmol, a bilingual theater group at 草莓社区, will present a Christmas play, "La Pastorela," at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 10-11, in the mainstage theater of the University Commons.

The cast includes local Latino high school students, EMU students and bilingual community members.

"La Pastorela" is a traditional Mexican Christmas nativity play that tells the story of a group of shepherds who are visited by angels. The angels tell the shepherds about the birth of the Christ Child and ask them to take the journey to Bethlehem. They embark on their journey, but on the way they face many struggles and obstacles to achieving their goal.

Teatro Chirmol, in its third year, "seeks to give authentic voice to the local Latino community, integrate Latino youth with university students and provide community education about the assets and challenges of living biculturally in the Shenandoah Valley," according to play directors Silvia Romero and Marcos Quintana.

Tickets are $4 for adults and $2 for students and children at the door.

Around 300 first-year and upperclass students learned about opportunities to get involved with agencies and organizations representing aging and disabilities services, early and elementary education, ESL tutoring for children and adults, hunger and housing, wellness and environment, mission and ministry and youth and adult services.

Photo by Jim Bishop

Here, Mary Rodihan (l.), partnership development and program manager with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, talks with Brigette Funk, a first-year student from Strasburg, Va., and to Becky Chapin, a first-year student from Richmond, Va.

First-year students are expected to do at least 15 hours of community service as part of requirements in a "First Year Seminar" course, according to Deanna F. Durham, director of , at EMU. "We had a great turnout," she said of the event, "and many students will do more than the required number of hours once they get involved as volunteers with these programs."

Some 230 first-year and about 35 transfer students will spend Saturday afternoon, Aug. 27, learning about some of the 47 languages and cultures represented locally.

"We want students to get acquainted with the complexity of living here

Teatro Chirmol, a Latino theater workshop at 草莓社区, will present "Bajo un Mismo Techo II" ("Under the Same Roof II"), 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 9-10, in EMU

Look out, Harrisonburg, the college students are coming.

EMU wants to introduce its newest group of first-year students to the community by some direct involvement in local service programs.

For the first time, as part of its orientation program, some 300 new EMU students and student orientation leaders will spend Saturday, Aug. 28, working with non-profit and other social service agencies.

“We want our students to understand that they are not coming just to a college campus, but to a real community that has both needs and opportunities for learning,” said Deanna F. Durham, community learning coordinator at EMU.

“We require all first-year students to do 15 hours of community service their first semester. This ‘Day of Service’ is designed to introduce them to the many non-profits and social service agencies in our communities and to accomplish some much-needed work in our community just before school starts,” she added.

The program will begin at 10 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium with a welcome and comments from Vice-Mayor Rodney Eagle, Ron Copeland, an EMU student and former owner of The Little Grill restaurant; Adam Starks, a 2003 EMU graduate and manager of Panera Bread; and representatives from local non-profit agencies.

In addition, locally-owned restaurants and Panera Bread have agreed to host and provide lunch for the students or donate food for lunch. Local non-profits will host the students for an afternoon of community service. Transportation will be provided by Harrisonburg Transit and EMU vans.

Participating restaurants include Little Grill, Chanello’s Pizza, Lil’ Italia, Calhoun’s, Mr. J’s Bagels, Panera Bread, Bombay Indian Restaurant, Taste of Thai and the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) cafe.

The organizations where students will work include Black’s Run Greenway, The Children’s Museum, Gift and Thrift, Artisan’s Hope, Booksavers, A World of Goods, Salvation Army Thrift Store, Camp Kaleidescope, Camp Still Meadows, WVPT, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Glen Eco Farm, Our Community Place, Highland Retreat, Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Crossing Creeks, Mercy House, VMRC and Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center.

Activities will run through 5 p.m. that day.