Within the nursing department, Hershberger chaired both the undergraduate (interim) and graduate programs, developed and updated the foundational “Sacred Covenant” model of nursing, led an enrollment expansion in 2004, and proposed two new degree programs — the accelerated second degree and the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree — that would position EMU as a top regional provider of nursing education.

Hershberger’s nursing department colleagues, nursing department chair Melody Cash and MSN program director Don Tyson, recognize her as both a mentor and a consummate professional, devoted to advocating for the most vulnerable, to seeking challenging and transformative experiences for EMU nursing students, and for elevating the departmental discourse around public health issues and challenges, among many other contributions.

Tyson’s office was located just across the hall from Hershberger’s for the last 20 years: “It has been a blessing and treat as we have laughed, cried, disagreed, affirmed each other, consoled, and problem solved in so many ways.”

Cash has appreciated her “wise discernment and support …a listening ear when I needed it …advice that came from years of experience and a place of compassion and caring.”

Hershberger’s impact on the entire university has been no less substantial. She moved through the academic ranks to full professor in 2002 and in addition to teaching and leadership responsibilities within the nursing department, was tapped for leadership roles as core curriculum coordinator, director of the Humanitarian Action Leadership program, and finally, her current role as director of the cross-cultural program.

Additionally, Hershberger contributed to several innovative initiatives, each of which have shaped the university’s core niche as a unique, Anabaptist-rooted liberal arts institution. She helped to launch the cross-cultural program, a core curricular requirement for all undergraduates; chaired the faculty committee to launch the graduate Conflict Transformation Program, now the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding; and provided leadership to several undergraduate general education revisions.

“Ann has made a lasting impact and we are deeply grateful for her deep commitment to EMU over nearly four decades,” said Undergraduate Dean Deirdre Longacher Smeltzer. “She has been a beloved professor and mentor to numerous students, both in the classroom and as leader of nine cross-cultural study semesters, and also to her many colleagues. Her wise leadership and her ability to gracefully balance completion of tasks with nurturing of relationships have afforded her numerous opportunities to serve off-campus as well, most notably including prominent roles with Mennonite Central Committee.”

To Mennonite Central Committee

It is to MCC that Hershberger will devote the next few years. She recently accepted the newly created position of interim associate director, and will help Executive Director J. Ron Byler lead the organization during MCC’s centennial activities ��over the next 2-3 years.

Hershberger has served on MCC boards since 1996, including 10 years from 2009-19 as board chair of MCC US. ��She served with her husband Jim as MCC representative in Nicaragua from 1985-90 and again in 1999-2000. Her first service with the organization was in 1983 in El Salvador.

The interim leadership role with MCC was “an unexpected, but clear calling,” ��Hershberger said. “The interdenominational relationships I’ve built over the years through working with MCC will help me work within the organization as it adapts to important challenges. I am grateful that EMU has been my occupational home and the focus of my service to God and the church for many years, and I hope to continue the relationship after the interim position concludes.”

Appreciations

As a colleague, Hershberger contributed to EMU’s intellectual community with “perceptive comments and questions during meetings as well as over meals,” said Professor Marti Eads, of the EMU Language and Literature Department. “I treasure the challenging example she provides of living with integrity, and how she demonstrates measures of kindness, humility and cheerfulness when devoting herself to difficult tasks, such as a campus-wide curriculum revision process. I never had Ann as a teacher, but I imagine her to function as a teacher in the same way that she functions as a friend: encouraging others to do our very best because she believes we can and is waiting in excitement to watch us bloom.”

Sue Cockley, dean of the graduate school and seminary, shared similar sentiments about Hershberger’s versatile capabilities. “Ann is one of those very rare people who can care intensely about individual students in her class and, at the same time, think structurally about the well-being of the entire university. She is at once an inspirational idealist and a very practical realist.” ��

Current and former students appreciated Hershberger’s role modeling and mentorship, pointing out that her words and actions has always shown genuine care, authenticity and intentionality. ��

Maria Yoder, a senior biology major, travelled to Guatemala and Colombia with Hershberger as a sophomore. Yoder and Hershberger were co-investigators on a diabetes research project in Guatemala and travelled together to present at the fall 2018 American Public Health Association national conference.

“Without the experience, motivation, and guidance from Ann, I never would have thought I was capable of carrying out the research with Concern America. And that’s the beautiful thing about Ann — she is a natural teacher because she cares about the end product, not her own personal glory. She has hopes for this world that extend well beyond her lifetime and knows that teaching a younger generation is the best way to create a lasting impact.

“She has given me great counsel not only in regards to academics, but life in general,” said nursing student Asenie Daniel, who was also on the spring 2017 cross-cultural. “I am so thankful to have such an incredibly intuitive and receptive person in my life.”

Nursing student Esther Ghale recalls how Hershberger helped her through a challenging situation on that same cross-cultural, and continued her support back to campus. “Ann came and gave me a big bear hug, exactly what I needed at that time. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t ask questions, she just embraced us.”

Tessa Gerberich Hershberger ‘13 [no relation], ��a nurse care coordinator for the women’s health and prenatal care program at Harrisonburg Community Health Center, still speaks with her former undergraduate advisor frequently. She says Hershberger has had a lasting influence on her own practice of nursing, from nursing clinicals at EMU to her postgraduate Serving And Learning Together (SALT) term in an HIV/AIDS clinic in Nigeria and her transition back into the U.S. health care system.

One of Ann Hershberger’s strengths, Tessa Hershberger said, is her strong commitment to interacting with grace and respect for all, whether patients, students, friends and colleagues. “More than doing for someone, nurses walk with and share information for people to cultivate their own strengths and independence, rather than creating dependency, and Ann exemplifies this, not just in her nursing, but in her teaching and mentoring roles as well. She holds our questions, thoughts and experiences with grace; asks good, thoughtful questions; and encourages us and reminds us of the strength within ourselves.”

Ann Hershberger will be recognized at a reception on campus in late April. Any appreciations offered in the comment box below will be passed along to her.

John Lowe, a 1981 nursing alumnus of ��ݮ���� and Florida State University professor, opened each of his six talks on campus in mid-February with a traditional and extensive Cherokee greeting that honored his ancestors and called his listeners into awareness of hundreds of years of his people’s history.

The language was one Lowe didn’t use when he arrived from the Delmarva region to study nursing on campus from 1978-81, for the fear of calling attention to cultural and traditional ceremonial practices that had only recently been legalized by the U.S government.

“That was our loss then, but we are grateful for your work and your time and your willingness to share your culture and history with us for these three days,” said Professor Ann Hershberger, who joined the faculty during Lowe’s senior year.

She and graduate nursing program director Don Tyson were instrumental in extending the invitation to Lowe, the nursing program’s sole alumnus selected for the prestigious professional honor of Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. In 2016, Lowe established and became the director of FSU’s .

At EMU, Lowe gave a Suter Science Seminar and a chapel talk, as well as addressing pre-professional health sciences and nursing majors; graduate students in the biomedicine, programs; and the Peace Fellowship. Lowe spoke of his own life and professional experiences, as well as providing a historic and cultural context for the educational, health and socioeconomic disparities of Native Americans.

‘The past is present’

In acknowledging his ancestors of Cherokee, Creek, and Lenape descent, Lowe calls on influences very much alive and present in his work today.

“In order to understand who we are today and why we are today and what is happening today, you must understand our history,” Lowe said, outlining the precipitous decline in the Native American population and the intensive culture-denying efforts through the centuries by the U.S. Government. “I am a genocide survivor. If you look at the United Nations’ definition of genocide, you’ll see that is exactly what has been created for my people… denying the practice and affirmation of one’s culture, that is our history.”

When he was 10 years old, a 32-year-old cousin, recently returned from the Vietnam War, died of causes related to alcoholism. Even at that young age, Lowe recognized powerful forces were at work.

“My grandmother said, ‘It got another one of us,’ and that stuck with me. Because of that grief and watching what happened, I saw devastation and abuse and what the ‘it’ did. ‘It’ became part of my purpose. The ‘it’ never left me,” Lowe told an audience of nursing students.

Working globally for health equity

In the years since that childhood loss, Lowe has become a globally renowned expert on substance abuse among indigenous peoples while earning a master’s degree in nursing at Oral Roberts University and a PhD from the University of Miami. Among his many honors are the 2016 Luther Christman Award from the American Nurses Association, for exceptional male nurses, and several top awards for research and teaching from the Florida Nurses Association, American Health Council, American Academy of Nursing, the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse, and the U.S. Department of Justice, among others.

Lowe is the first director of FSU’s Center for Indigenous Nursing Research for Health Equity,the only one of its kind worldwide. At a 2017 inaugural summit, he welcomed more than 100 indigenous nursing researchers and community leaders from Australia, Canada, Panama and Peru, as well as Native Americans, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians.

After many years of development, monitoring and evaluation, Lowe earned the US Department of Justice endorsement of his intervention programs for the well-being of Native American youth. The programs utilize traditional talking circle formats and culturally-based models to reduce substance abuse and other high-risk behaviors and have received funding support from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA).

“We work with youth to pass on some of the values that have sustained us through sacred talking circles, which is our traditional way of coming together,” he said. “When you talk to a 10-year-old, a little one, and you ask them, ‘Did you know you are a sacred being?’ You begin to see lightness begin to overcome darkness because of this new way of thinking about themselves. ��I know that, because in my existence, I was always being told you are not. So we tell the children that you have many gifts and your people had many gifts and you come from a line of people who have a connection with Creator and everything you do and everything you touch is sacred because it was created by a sacred Spirit. Being able to impart that to our youth is so important.”

Lowe continues to develop intervention models that integrate traditional practices with technology so that indigenous youth in different areas of the United States and even in other countries can engage in cross-cultural sharing sessions. ��

Students moved by history, life experiences

Hershberger observed that many of the nursing students — approximately 90 from all program levels were invited to a morning seminar with Lowe — were shocked to learn more about the “current realities of health disparities for Native Americans.” This was especially noteworthy information coming from Lowe, who shared that his high school guidance counselor told him “people from where you are from don’t go to college.” He is, she added, one of 23 Native American nurses in the United States to have earned a doctorate degree.

Educational, economic and health disparities go “hand-in-hand” with dispossession of lives, land and culture, Lowe said.

The Native American population has the highest rate of diabetes, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (due to alcoholism), and twice the rate of HIV infection compared to white population groups in the United States. There are tribes with a life expectancy of 52 years of age. Obesity rates among adolescents and adults are also high, with adolescents 30 percent more likely to be obese than white adolescents and adults 50 percent more likely to be obese than white adults. (To learn more, .)

Student Grace Burkhart, in the audience at the Peace Fellowship event, was moved by Lowe’s analysis of how “generational trauma correlates with the health issues prevalent in many Native American communities today,” she said. “Dr. Lowe’s work is an attempt to interrupt those cycles of trauma in a way that can prevent the physical manifestations in young Native American people. Using culturally relevant practices, like talking circles, helps to keep young people connected to their ancestors and to each other.”

Many students were moved by Lowe’s sharing, both of historic injustices and those he has personally experienced. “One student was awestruck by how Native Americans have been treated historically, but also how John exudes grace in telling the story and being able to move forward,” Tyson said.

“John has a way of sharing personal and community experiences of racism and injustice that are straightforward and shared not to shame but to inform and ignite action,” said Hershberger. “His presence here is a true gift, and we’re grateful he has made the time among other requests for involvement in NIH review boards, as a project consultant and his many research endeavors.”

“The MAOL is a great blend of business and personal skill development,” says Gabb, operations and business manager at in Timberville, Va. “The program can build you up, but more importantly, it reveals to you and others who you really are.”

Learning who he “really” is as a leader has helped Gabb improve relationships and efficiencies in his unique role, a position which he describes as “a mixture of human resources, production and administration.”

Based in several hundred acres of Shenandoah Valley orchards, the business sells its apples throughout the United States and internationally through wholesalers, distributors and retail chains. They also grow peaches, nectarines and cherries for seasonal sales at two area farm stands, local farmers’ markets and local retailers.

Through MAOL coursework, Gabb says his leadership skills have expanded to better awareness of his strengths and weaknesses, stronger listening skills, the capability to view multiple perspectives, and a versatile and more flexible leadership style.

“I highly recommend the program to anyone who thinks they are a leader or need to become a leader,” said Gabb, who also completed his bachelor’s degree in 2006 through EMU’s .

The MAOL program is just one of several graduate and certificate programs at EMU with the common curricular goal of developing leadership for the common good. Additionally, the highly successful degree completion program, which started in 1995, has a similar emphasis; students with at least 60 credit hours of undergraduate work can work towards a bachelor’s degree in leadership and organizational management.

Students bring their skills, life and professional experiences into the classroom, where they explore leadership and organizational skills, as well as conflict management, strategic planning, decision-making processes and financial management.

“The School of Graduate and Professional Studies at EMU is a remarkable place to be,” says , director of admissions and marketing. “In many ways, it is an incubator for new ideas and new approaches to higher education at EMU. These programs banding together is just one example of the synergy and collaborative spirit here. The school is also quite nimble, which allows us to quickly respond to��evolving challenges and opportunities in our community and beyond.” ��

MA in Organizational Leadership enrolling the fourth cohort

The graduated its second cohort in April and will enroll its fourth cohort this fall.

Professors and have been added to the faculty. Stauffer, who teaches in the undergraduate Applied Social Sciences Department and with the MA in Biomedicine program, will teach an introductory course in leadership studies. Kioko, who is completing her doctorate at James Madison University, will teach project development.

A cross-cultural component has also been added. “EMU has long led the way in promoting the benefits of a cross-cultural learning experience and we want our graduate students to have this opportunity as well,” says Professor , the new director of the MAOL program.

MAOL students beginning this fall will have two options at the end of their coursework: an organizational sustainability course that includes travel to Costa Rica (a for several years), or a domestic cross-cultural course designed with 2-3 weekend excursions to areas of cultural diversity in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Brubaker has added oversight of the MAOL program to a portfolio that also includes administration of the MBA program. He has taught in the MAOL and MBA programs, and for many years, taught in the .

He takes over from Dr. , who will become interim graduate dean.

“Dave brings significant real-world experience to his teaching and administration, gleaned from many years as an organizational change consultant,” Cockley says.

Humanitarian Action Leadership program offers practical skills

This summer and fall, local and international students alike will benefit from a series of online courses offered by EMU’s Humanitarian Action Leadership (HAL) program.

“The HAL program is a response to the growing challenges and complexities of our global society, offering a range of courses delivered by experienced practitioners to NGOs, aid agencies, government organizations, businesses, and individuals working to address natural and human-made disasters,” says Dr. , who came to teaching from a multifaceted career in family and community health, including many years in Central America.

Coursework draws on EMU’s niche programs: sustainable and compassionate leadership, peacemaking and peacebuilding, and trauma awareness and resilience.

The program explores topics related to disaster response and humanitarian action through the lenses of climate change, peacebuilding, justice, sustainable development, capacity building, resiliency and personal formation from a values and faith base. These courses are available in multiple formats. Students can choose to pursue a graduate certificate (18 credits), a MA in Interdisciplinary Studies (36 credits), or an undergraduate minor.

HAL will also work with individual organizations to develop and deliver custom training sessions or workshops to address specific needs.

MS in Nursing Program enters eighth year

The����(MSN) program started its eighth year of operation with an orientation session in May 2017 for the Leadership and School Nursing concentration and with the upcoming orientation in July for the Leadership and Management concentration.

“Students and faculty continue to explore new ways to integrate the EMU nursing philosophy of sacred covenant with servant leadership in the diverse practice roles and settings of nursing,” says program director Dr. .

With students from Nepal to southern Africa, the MSN has increased in geographic, professional and organizational diversity.

“With the fall 2017 entering class, we hope to welcome several students from South America and the Middle East,” Tyson said. “This diversity of students, partnered with faculty from the U.S. to Central America within an online environment while still maintaining a high level of relationship, illustrates the EMU values of community across cultures and practices.”

The program added adjunct faculty members Carli Youndt, MSN ’15, in the school nurse concentration, and Doug Alderfer, an assistant superintendent of schools with Rockingham County Public Schools, in the leadership and management track.

Ten students will complete their capstone projects in August, implementing evidence-based quality improvement initiatives in the following projects:

• improving the health of diabetic students in schools,
• preventing oxygenation loss events in patients transported within hospitals,
• creating a mental health screening of foster children in developing countries,
• implementing an innovative “grab and go” breakfast program for school children, and
• enhancing nursing education through learning how to capture patient narratives.

Adult degree program increases flexibility with hybrid classes

The newly revised features the BS in Leadership and Organizational Management. The progam will begin offering hybrid classes for fall 2017, according to , program director.

“This program is designed specifically for working adults who want to complete their bachelor’s degree while still maintaining work and family commitments,” she says.

Students complete a 16-month program as a cohort, forming a learning community that provides academic and social support. ��A hybrid (or blended) format was chosen to address the need for flexibility without sacrificing a strong sense of community.

Courses are offered in a five-week format with asynchronous (on your own time) online sessions during the second and fourth weeks of the course. During the first, third and fifth weeks, students attend a single traditional class session on campus from 6-10 p.m.

Toner shares how, in this era of high-tech medicine, providers obtain information and data about patients, but often do not take the time to listen to their stories. Yet these stories would provide an important perspective and improve the health care experience for all stakeholders. [To learn more about Toner’s attention to narrative, read ��at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in which she talks about how simply paying attention to health providers and to their clients can offer revolutionary results, or ��in which she reflects on her son’s challenges with mental illness.]

“Hearing and listening to the client’s narrative story of their journey through life and illness has been identified as a crucial practice within the health care professions,” said professor , who is encouraging his students to attend the seminar.

He says the result of this kind of special listening allows health care providers to understand the client’s perspective when important decisions are made.

“Beth’s message will help our nursing students understand how to more fully implement EMU’s philosophy approaches of presence, advocacy, empowerment, and empathy through this important practice,” Tyson said.

Toner, who is currently in the�� at EMU, has a variety of professional experience that gives her special insight into this topic. A registered nurse with clinical experience in long-term care and community health settings, she is senior communications officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Toner has more than 24 years of experience in marketing communications in the health field, including director of marketing initiatives at The Hartford; senior web content developer for The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; multimedia communications specialist for the University of Pennsylvania Health System; and a public relations coordinator for Harleysville Insurance. She also holds a master’s degree in journalism from Temple University.

This seminar is co-sponsored by EMU’s��master’s in nursing program. Suter Science Seminars continue regularly��through the spring semester.

Mimi Mahon, Ph.D., RN, FAAN

Mimi Mahon, associate professor in the School of Nursing at George Mason University, Fairfax, will speak on the topic, “How We Got to Where We Are: A Brief Review of the Right to Refuse Treatment,” at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, in room 104 of the Suter Science Center at EMU.

This seminar is the fifth in the Suter Science Seminar series that began in mid-September.

Dr. Mahon, an advanced practice nurse in palliative care and ethics at GMU, will focus on factors that affect health care decisions, using the cases of Karen Ann Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan and Terri Schiavo to frame the discussion.

Focus on Pediatrics

Mahon spent 20 years as a pediatric nurse, focusing primarily on the care of children who were dying and their families. She received a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, co-chaired the hospital ethics committee and was a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics.

She did additional post graduate work in the areas of palliative care at Ursuline College and became a pediatric nurse practitioner at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mahon joined the George Mason faculty in 2005. Her continuing research covers child bereavement issues, examines pediatricians’ beliefs about and practices with bereaved children, explores oncology nurses’ beliefs about caring for patients with cancer and investigates the symptoms and experiences of seriously ill patients.

Reflection of Our Own Values

“How we assist people in making difficult decisions related to health and end of life is a reflection of our own values, said Donald L. Tyson, associate professor of nursing at EMU.

“Dr. Mahon takes a rather unique approach in eby emphasizing the importance of asking the ‘right question in such circumstances. This seminar will help all people interested in health care ethical issues to begin learning how to ask the right question.”

The seminar is open to the public free of charge. For more information, contact Roman J. Miller at 540-432-4412 or email millerrj@emu.edu.

A group of ��ݮ���� senior students and two professors who spent two weeks doing volunteer health care work through the American Red Cross among flood victims in Mississippi experienced a mixture of grief and joy among the many people they met.

The eight students, along with Don Tyson and Sue Klassen of the EMU nursing faculty, left Harrisonburg Sept. 19 for the Gulf Coast region, along with 17 students and a faculty member from neighboring James Madison University.

Students Amanda Maust, Aaron Schmucker, Cara Salmon, Kara Glick, Hadley Jenner, Monica Hensley, Carla Simmons-Wulin and Emily Dye and their instructors first went to the regional Red Cross headquarters in Montgomery, Ala., for orientation before being deployed.

Klassen took four students to Brookhaven, Miss., and Tyson took four students to McComb, Miss. In both places they provided health services at temporary Red Cross Service Centers set up to distribute monetary funds to victims of the hurricane. Each service center saw 400-600 persons per day.

The groups’ goal was to perform health screenings (mostly blood pressure and glucose checks), treat persons with illnesses and provide counsel regarding health problems that were exacerbated by the hurricane.

Several of Klassen’s students also helped set up a Red Cross shelter following Hurricane Rita to help evacuees from Texas and Louisiana who came to that shelter.

As expected, the students’ experiences ran the gamut of emotions – personally and among the people they served, but what stood out, they all agreed, was "the remarkable expressions of gratitude and praise, even though most had lost everything they had."

"I didn’t know what kind of attitudes we’d encounter," said Emily M. Dye of Stephens City, Va. "The people seemed so grateful for any help they received and were just thankful to be alive."

The students said that they were able to observe "different approaches" to health care delivery in their shelter and service center settings. Several commented that while persons needed medical attention, "they were hesitant to seek it because of preoccupation with finding lost relatives or meeting other basic human needs."

Amanda A. Maust, Keezletown, Va., appreciated the opportunity to "see the Red Cross in action" through a host of volunteer workers. She called the two weeks "a great learning experience."

Aaron J. Schmucker, La Junta, Colo., said he felt "the frustration of a disaster situation," noting "all the things we take for granted were swept away," leaving flood victims to struggle with such things as getting groceries, medications and dealing with insurance loss.

In between working in the service centers, all group members had opportunity to see some of the coastline destruction firsthand, calling it "completely overwhelming."

Kara M. Glick, Columbiana, Ohio, said she dealt with "feelings of helplessness" as she became more aware of the need for more and better health care in the area even before the disaster struck.

"I was taken back by the number of people who would apologize for crying while they were being examined or treated," said Tyson, an assistant professor of nursing. "It was an opportunity for us to practice what we talk about in the classroom as the ‘concept of presence,’ trying to offer a listening ear and a caring attitude toward those we assisted."

Klassen, also an assistant professor of nursing, cited "the willingness of people to share their stories of what had happened to them" as a highlight of her time in Mississippi, adding that "there were some really great personnel on the health care team we worked with. We quickly bonded with them."

The group noted that they had "some anxious moments" at the midway point of their trip when Hurricane Rita moved through the Gulf of Mexico toward its eventual landfall on the Louisiana-Texas border.

"We were surprised that communication was better than expected there," Klassen said. "Our cell phones worked fine and we were able to stay in touch with people back home."

Added Tyson: "We were deluged with e-mails [from EMU and beyond] wanting to know how things were going. We sensed the concerns and prayer support of many people during our time there."

About two dozen nursing students from EMU and neighboring James Madison University left Harrisonburg
early on Sept. 19 for the Gulf Coast to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The EMU senior nursing students and two nursing faculty members from EMU and 17 students and one professor from JMU traveled by bus to a Red Cross "disbursement center" in Montgomery, Ala. From there, they were given assignments in either Louisiana or Mississippi.

The group has now finished their Red Cross orientation. Donald L. Tyson, a registered nurse and assistant professor of nursing at EMU, reports it is a massive operation with about 100 volunteers going through the center everyday. Their group has been assigned to Red Cross Service Centers about 120 miles north of New Orleans. The relief teams are now anticipating the arrival of large groups of displaced people from Texas. At the service centers the students and faculty members will be doing health assessments and especially targeting persons with high blood pressure and diabetes (very common in the
region).

"It wasn’t clear before we left exactly where we’ll be going," said Tyson before the group’s departure. "But we’re likely to be doing community health assessments, referrals and public health teaching as Red Cross volunteers." The agency is providing transportation, housing and meals for the group.

The EMU nursing students are Kara Glick, Amanda Maust, Monica Hensley, Aaron Schmucker, Hadley Jenner, Carla Simmons-Wulin, Emily Dye and Cara Salmon along with Tyson and Klassen.

"It will be a life-altering, practical learning experience (for the nursing students)," said Donna Trimm, an assistant professor of nursing at
JMU.

The students will be required to make up missed class work upon their return to their respective campuses Sept. 30.

In an e-mail message to the campus community just prior to departure, Tyson said, "We ask your prayers for us and for the people we will be
touching during this time."