Since 2001, EMU has offered the “local context ” program for students whose work and/or family responsibilities preclude lengthy travel, says , assistant professor in the and the program’s course leader.

Sarah Baker, starting her senior year at age 26, was one of 13 this May who explored diverse communities locally during evening sessions, and in Washington, D.C., for a weekend.

Perfect for single parent

“It was perfect for me because I’m a single parent,” says Baker, who had wondered since entering EMU how she would complete the cross-cultural graduation requirement. She and her son, in third grade, live with her parents in Rockingham County. Having never traveled further than Florida, she hopes to go overseas someday, but not without him now.

However, Baker told fellow-students in a recent chapel service that having been raised locally, when the class studied Harrisonburg history, “I thought I couldn’t learn anything new. How wrong!”

She explained, “Without this class I would never have heard about Zenda or Newtown.” Newtown is the historic name for the area settled by former slaves. “We’d always considered it the ‘bad’ part of town. I had no idea why,” Baker recalls, although her aunt attended school with Newtown’s basketball icon, Ralph Sampson. Studying Newtown and Zenda (a historic black community in northern Rockingham County), meant enjoying a home-cooked meal and hearing residents’ stories. Learning about “urban renewal” decimating Newtown in the 1960s, Baker empathized, recalling woods and fields of her childhood being razed for development.

Discovering “bad” part of town. . . isn’t

Students visited a Newtown church and a local mosque – both “different, very different, but good,” says Baker. And although raised in the Brethren church, she encountered fresh history when visiting the .

Carrie Allen McCray’s book, Freedom’s Child: The Life of a Confederate General’s Daughter, served as a reference, Durham says – giving perspective from black descendants of Gen. J.R. Jones, buried in Harrisonburg.

More lessons came with viewing the locally produced documentary, The Latino Underground, and meeting , who advocates nationally for the Dream Act proposal to allow a citizenship path for undocumented youth such as herself, brought to the United States as a child.

“She is amazing,” says Baker, who grew up observing immigration changing the local community. Early in elementary school, Baker met her first, lone Hispanic classmate, while adults complained, “They’ll steal our jobs.”

Eager not to be narrow minded

She says that mindset had been a “single story” for her – referring to a video the class saw in which Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie addressed The Danger of the Single Story. Starting with childhood memories of reading, and trying to emulate, British tales containing snow and ginger beer, Adichie said such a “single story” may crowd out other perspectives. “We form our own opinion from others’ stories. It makes us narrow- minded,” explained Belinda Hinkle, of Grottoes, who also spoke in chapel about the class, calling Durham’s teaching “awesome.”

Baker – who had only seen one large city (D.C.), and that only with her son to visit museums — shared a poem it inspired her to write:

The city created beggars and riches.###Starvin’ people in line for soup kitchens. . .

The students visited office, studying its work of public advocacy. They stayed at Church of the Pilgrim and visited the multicultural .

Exploring non-touristy D.C. on foot

Durham, sending them off in small groups to explore city neighborhoods, advised sampling ethnic foods, adding, “Don’t go as a tourist. Go to feel and see.” She reported, “They walked their legs off” – estimating 15 miles for many.

“It was real,” Baker recalls. When she suggested her group visit the historic , and two young men realized they would be the only Caucasians present, she says, “They freaked out.” She smiles: “I told them I was going in, so they had to follow me.”

She recalls an earlier “wow moment” when employed in the during a . Clearing tables as an African group finished dining, she realized she was the only white person there. “I was sticking out like a sore thumb,” she laughs. “It was humbling.”

Changed forever

In the class and on the trip, conversing and keeping journals, she feels “a lot of us learned from each other”– often from sharing uncomfortably different reactions. Some, herself included, were moved, but others not, by the film, Chocolate City, depicting black residents displaced by gentrification. Seeing homelessness troubled most classmates. Baker observed, “When you’ve got the super rich, you’ve got the super poor.”

She’s determined to attend graduate school. The local context class, Baker says, “changed me forever.”

Wednesday is the sixth annual Campus Sustainability Day, sponsored by the . Top agriculturalist John Jeavons will speak at the Suter Science Seminar later in the day at 6:30 p.m.

EMU students got a trial run at going “trayless” at a recent ‘harvest meal” in the dining hall. Photo by Lindsey Roeschley

“This is not new,” says Pioneer Catering director Bruce Emmerson. “It’s a trend that has been happening across the country for years. EMU students have begun asking for this change, and I feel it’s time for us to join the trend.”

Eliminating the use of trays in the dining hall will save approximately 280,000 gallons of hot water a year, significant amounts of soap, hours of staff time and food scraps.

Read the student newspaper’s take on the trayless decision.

“‘Trayless’ means diners will think about the food and drinks they take, rather than mindlessly filling up their tray,” said Emma Stahl-Wert, coordinator for the campus environmental group, Earthkeepers.

Stahl-Wert, a sophomore applied sociology major with emphasis in environmental science, has documented food waste in EMU’s dining hall together with Laura Catell, a senior double major in environmental studies and justice, peace and conflict studies.

“People have definitely grown more aware of food waste since they’ve seen us measuring what gets scraped off of trays and plates,” says Catell. “This next step will result in even less waste, we believe.”

EMU students enjoy the ‘harvest meal” featuring locally-grown fare. Photo by Lindsey Roeschley

Undoubtedly, some will miss the convenience of trays, Emmerson admits. “People will get used to it,” he says, noting that he has never once used a tray since beginning his work at EMU in July 2006. “It feels more like home if you don’t use a tray.”

Trays will be available on request for those who may need one for reasons related to disability, or for visiting families with young children. “We do want to offer a hospitable environment,” Emmerson concludes. “I predict the trayless dining hall will feel like a regular part of our EMU culture in a short time.”

The removal of trays from the dining hall is a small addition to campus-wide sustainability efforts at EMU. A video featuring the campus composting class and garden project can be seen at www.emu.edu/begreen.

Jude V. Martin, director at ˛ÝÝŽÉçÇř, has received the "Rookie of the Year" award from Pioneer College Caterers, Inc.

Tim Wolters, Pioneer district supervisor, said the recognition is given during the first year of service with Pioneer to a director who "achieves exceptional standards, elevates client satisfaction levels, provides developmental opportunities for his employees, enhances program standards and maintains financial performance."

"I’ve been very impressed with the accomplishments of Jude Martin over the past 12 months," Wolters said. "He quickly came to understand the complex role of the food service director. He is a man of exceptional character and integrity. He consistently cares for the needs of his staff and is intent on exceeding the expectations of his many customers. Best of all…the guy can make great food!"

Before coming to EMU in January 2005, Martin was executive chef/assistant manager at Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, Va. He earned a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University, Charleston, S.C., and is a native of Williamsburg, Va.

Pioneer College Caterers, based in Culleoka, Tenn., has been serving the EMU campus for nine years.