The stars, projected onto the dome of SSC 101—formerly home to the M.T. Brackbill Planetarium and now part of the D. Ralph Hostetter Natural History Museum—became a reality thanks to recent renovations and improvements by a group of EMU engineering students. For their senior capstone project, Adam Stoltzfus, Laura Benner, Hellena Gebremedhin, Micaiah Landis, Lleyton Stutzman, and Rebecca Tezazu, under the guidance of faculty mentor Stefano Colafranceschi, restored and modernized the EMU planetarium projector, which was originally installed in 1968 and had been unused since 2007.

On Thursday, as part of EMU’s eighth annual Academic and Creative Excellence (ACE) Festival, the students presented their work and led demonstrations of the star projector. Their project was one of 32 oral presentations and 64 poster sessions, featuring more than 200 students throughout the day across campus. Poster and presentation topics covered a wide range, from the effects of energy drinks on physical activity and an analysis of homemade kombucha to the repatriation of cultural artifacts at EMU and the rise of populist movements throughout history.

Click here to view the schedule from this year’s ACE Festival.

The campus-wide academic conference, held on Wednesday and Thursday, offered students the chance to learn from their peers and showcase their research, creative projects, and papers. It also provided an opportunity to continue conversations sparked by the university’s annual Common Read. 

EMU President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman, providing opening remarks before the keynote address on Wednesday, discussed how fitting the festival’s name is. “I love that acronym,” she said. “We have many ‘ACE’ scholars at EMU, both among the student body and faculty.”

Author David Williams delivers keynote

The ACE Festival kicked off on Wednesday morning with the keynote by the Rev. Dr. David Williams, whose novel When the English Fall served as the EMU Common Read for the 2024-25 school year. Written as the diary of an Amish farmer near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the novel follows him as he tries to protect his family and way of life in the wake of a catastrophic solar storm that brings about the collapse of modern civilization. It was one of Amazon’s top 100 books of 2017, was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, and was nominated for the 2019 International Dublin Literary Award.

Williams, pastor of Poolesville Presbyterian Church in Maryland, read selections from his book and answered questions from moderator Dr. Marti Greene Eads, professor of English at EMU. In between readings, Williams spoke about the dangers of doomscrolling social media, the imaginative visions that inspired him to write his novel, and the ways in which our world, and its climate, are changing.

“Has anyone had to clean Texas dust off their car recently?” Williams asked the crowd at Lehman Auditorium. “I’ve lived in Virginia since 1975, and I can’t ever remember that happening—or seeing skies tinged with color and clouded by smoke from northern Alberta. For those who’ve lived in Virginia a while, when’s the last time you remember something like that?”

Watch a recording of the keynote .

Faculty members receive Excellence in Teaching Awards

The 16th annual EMU Authors’ Reception and Awards Presentation recognized and celebrated the winners of the university’s Excellence in Teaching Awards. Professors Chad Gusler, Hannah Ferguson, and Hilary Moore were announced as this year’s recipients. 

For testimonials about each award winner, as well as the recipients of the student writing awards, student academic awards, and the names of the 16 faculty authors recognized for their published scholarly works, click on the post below:

Senior VACA majors unveil art installations

Digital media and communication majors Oslyn Mejia Gomez, Noussaiba Garti, and Zack Furr presented their senior capstone projects at the Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery and Lee Eshleman Studio Theater during an opening reception on Thursday afternoon. Inspired by street art, graffiti, and paintings of Christian icons, Mejia Gomez used wheatpaste to affix portraits he captured with a fisheye lens. Garti drew from cinema set design and crime scene storytelling to create an installation that explores personal growth and the journey of overcoming self-destructive habits. Furr incorporated photography and interviews with survivors of sexual assault to share their stories with empathy.

At the exhibition, Professor Jerry Holsopple announced EMU junior Jasmin Ruiz as the recipient of the Matthew Alan Styer Scholarship Grant, awarded for “exceptional skill and dedication in design and/or photography.”

Matthew Alan Styer ’05, a graduate of EMU’s Visual and Communication Arts (VACA) program, worked for EMU’s marketing and communications department as a videographer, designer and photographer until 2008. The scholarship endowment honors the memory of Styer, who died from leukemia at age 30 in 2011.

The sound of musical excellence

A student recital at Lehman Auditorium featured performances from vocalists Elie Hoover (soprano), Erin Batten (soprano), Eli Stoll (baritone), Mac Rhodes-Lehman (bass), trombonist Caden Bradley and pianist Fernando Sanchez. Student musicians were accompanied on piano by Harold Bailey. 

Posters made perfect

The winners of this year’s STEM Celebration poster competition are: 

Independent research division

• First place: Abigail Forrest, Maria Longenecker, Elaine Miranda Perez, and Marciella Shallomita
  Knockdown of Cox6b (Complex IV) and ATPsyn𝜷L (Complex V) of the electron transport chain in Glutamate Neurons increases sleep and lifespan of Drosophila
• Second place: Aja Laun, Malachi Peachey-Stoner, and Ella Richer
  Improved methods of eDNA detection of salamanders using probe-based qPCR analysis
• Third place: Iris Anderson, Daisy Hamsher, and Sarah Peak
  Emotional regulation, bullying, and mental health: Exploring the interplay and outcomes in college students

Projects division

• First place: Micaiah Landis, Adam Stoltzfus, and Lleyton Stutzman
  Design and control of a low-cost inverted pendulum system
• Second place: Mariana Acosta and Levi Stutzman
  Bridging communities: Constructing a suspended footbridge in Eswatini

Upperclass division

• First place: M Lashway and Ben Perkin
  Effects of D. stramonium on C. elagans behavior and motility
• Second place: Seungmin Cha, Elaine Miranda Perez, and Whitney Showalter
  Analysis of homemade kombucha
• Third place: Alex Belisle, Maria Longenecker, and Kate Stutzman
  Physiological response to pain: Male and female pain tolerance under cold stress

General chemistry division

• First place: Bennett de Tenley and Emily Donovan
  Comparing the antioxidant capacity of store-bought vs farmer’s market fruits
• Second place: Apekshya Karki and Isaac Miller
  Race to relief: Which tablet dissolves faster-gel or firm tablet?
• Third place: Ephrata Amare and Melissa Miller
  How does the pH of a beverage affect ibuprofen dissolution?

The posters from STEM disciplines (biology, chemistry, environmental science, psychology, biomedicine, and engineering) were judged by an interdisciplinary panel of EMU STEM faculty, with winners selected in the four divisions. 

Toys for tykes

Students in the Nursing Care of Children course designed and built toys tailored to the gross and fine motor skills, social skills, and cognitive development of an infant or child of the assigned age, aiming to engage each area of growth through play. Those students were Odesa Elezi, Elijah Spicher, Abigail Foltz, and Gabriella Seal.

Swipe through the photo gallery below for more pictures from the 2025 ACE Festival.

Thanks to everyone who contributed their time and efforts to making the festival a success, including Kirsten Beachy, ACE Festival Chair, and Diane Farrar, ACE Festival Coordinator, EMU’s Language and Literature Program, Convocation at EMU, Clay Showalter, Daniel House, Aramark staff, Shannon Grinnan and Pioneer College Caterers. Additional thanks to the many faculty mentors and session moderators and to those who helped set up poster shows, administrative support staff, anyone who provided festival assistance, and to everyone who presented and shared their work!

Photos by Macson McGuigan/EMU and Jon Styer/At Ease Design & Consulting

Hosted by the Provost’s Office, the 16th annual EMU Authors’ Reception and Awards Presentation on Thursday, April 17, recognized and celebrated the winners of the university’s Excellence in Teaching Awards. Professors Chad Gusler, Hannah Ferguson, and Hilary Moore were announced as this year’s recipients.

The award celebrates the outstanding teaching work of faculty in three categories: professors and associate professors, assistant professor and instructors, and adjunct faculty. Recipients were selected based on four criteria: impact on students, effective teaching practices, subject content knowledge, and continual growth, according to Dr. Tynisha Willingham, provost and vice president of academic affairs at EMU, who presented the awards.

“Educating our students is our most important task, and these awards honor faculty members whose teaching not only imparts knowledge, but also transforms lives, embodies our mission and values, and most of all, advances what it means to be part of a peace and justice university,” Willingham said.

Chad Gusler
Associate professor of language & literature

Students remarked on Gusler’s passion for teaching and the creative ways he brings material to life. One student shared: “He captured our attention every day. We read a book that was so thought-provoking that it pushed us all to think beyond what we were used to. He connected the book to olive oil, and we had a tasting with crackers that was fun and interactive. Chad cares so deeply for his students and wants us all to succeed in and out of class.”

Hannah Ferguson
Assistant professor of nursing

Students spoke highly of Ferguson’s impact in the classroom. One student wrote about her ability to connect classroom content to real-life personal experiences, “which allows the material to feel real and not just a lecture slide.” Another student wrote that Ferguson is “always reassuring us of our capabilities as students and future nurses.”

Hilary Moore
Adjunct faculty in criminology and criminal justice

Students wrote passionately about Moore’s teaching abilities. One shared: “Her teaching style is straightforward and clear, ensuring we’re all well-prepared. Her exams are based on class discussions and lecture materials, reinforcing what we’ve learned in a fair and meaningful way.”

Members of the Faculty Senate, which facilitates the nomination and election process for the awards, handed out plaques to the recipients. 

Student writing awards

The ceremony also recognized the winners of the First-Year Writing Awards, which are given to three first-year students for their “excellent research papers,” according to Dr. Mary Ann Zehr, director of the writing & communication program. 

• First place: Nataly Almendarez Funez for “Emotional Intelligence: Influence in Academic Success.” 
• Second place: Luke Buckwalter for “Bombs, Terrorists, and Automobiles: Stories of Tree Resilience Through Tragedy, and the Role of Much Needed Human Intervention.”
• Third place: Leah Blough for “Purls of Wisdom: What Knitters Want to Express.”

Student academic awards

The ceremony also honored the recipients of EMU’s student academic awards, which were presented by Daniel Ott, dean of the School of Theology, Humanities and Performing Arts and interim dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professions; and Tara Kishbaugh, dean of the School of Sciences, Engineering, Arts, and Nursing.

Awards for Theology, Humanities and Performing Arts 

• History Student of the Year: Ella Brubaker
• Political Science Student of the Year: Meredith Lehman
• Outstanding Student in Music: Reah Clymer and Cassidy Williams
• Excellence in Music Performance: Thaddeus Jackson
• Excellence in Musical Leadership: Mikayla Pettus

Awards for Sciences, Engineering, Arts, and Nursing 

• Outstanding Second-Year Biology Student: Zoe Clymer and Sophie Nguyen
• Outstanding Senior Biology Student: Meredith Lehman and Elaine Miranda Perez
• Excellence in Undergraduate Research: Aja Laun and Ethan Neufeld
• Natural Science Award for Exceptional Service: Ethan Neufeld and Adesola Johnson
• Outstanding First-Year Chemistry Student:  Malachi Peachey-Stoner and Claire Reichenbach
• Outstanding Senior Chemistry Student:  William Bartel and Kate Krabill
• Outstanding Senior in Engineering: Laura Benner
• Special Recognition in Engineering: Adam Stoltzfus
• Outstanding Senior Environmental Science Student: Allysen Welty Peachey
• Outstanding Senior in Computer Science: Kervens Hyppolite
• Outstanding Senior in Mathematics: Sarah Deputy and Marciella Shallomita
• Kryptos Codebreaking Contest winners: Mana Acosta, Laura Benner, and Renae Benner, who were awarded for Turing level achievement
• Judy H. Mullet Award for Psychology Internship Excellence: Rachel Tusing
• Galen R. Lehman Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research in Psychology: Sarah Peak

Awards for Social Sciences and Professions

• Exceptional Service and Leadership in Business and Leadership: Caleb Chupp
• Outstanding Recreational and Sport Management Senior: Brendan Apgar
• Outstanding Business Administration Senior: Grace Fravel
• Outstanding Business Analytics Senior and the Leadership Award: Levi Myers
• Outstanding Accounting Senior: Isaac North-Sandel
• Outstanding Economics Senior and Outstanding Achievement in Business and Leadership: Garrett Nyce
• Outstanding Marketing Senior: Eli Ours
• Exceptional Research in Business and Leadership: Laney Cline
• The Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s Academic Awards for 2025: Hannah Gilman, Josiah Ludwick, Mariana Meksimous, and Jacob Sankara
• The Virginia Scholars Award in Undergraduate Teacher Education: Erika Lopez

Authors’ Reception

In addition to the awards presentation, the event showcased the published scholarly works of faculty, staff, and students from the past two years. Featured faculty authors included: Kirsten Eve Beachy, Benjamin Bergey, Peter Bunton, Martha Green Eads, Paula Facci, Ryan Good, Benjamin Guerrero, Jim Leaman, Gaurav Pathania, Heike Peckruhn, Mark Sawin, Timothy Seidel, Ron Shultz, Andrew Suderman, Paul Yoder, and Mary Ann Zehr. 

EMU student Jadon Harley performed saxophone music for the reception, which was held in University Commons at the Orie O. Miller Hall of Nations and in the Student Union. 

Thanks to Clay Showalter for assisting with audiovisuals for the event and to the “three Jens”—Jennifer Ulrich, Jennifer North Bauman, and Jen Jones—and Debra Pardini for their role in coordinating aspects of the reception.

Earlier this month, as EMU students Madelynn Hamm, Vanessa Gardiner and Aja Laun pieced together the slides for their ACE Festival presentation, they received some exciting news. The Smithsonian Institute heard about their work collecting traces of salamander DNA and wanted their help.

Over the past two years, members of the project — guided by faculty mentor Professor Doug Graber Neufeld — collected water samples from the streams of West Virginia and vernal pools of the George Washington National Forest to gather environmental DNA on species of salamanders (the common two-lined salamander and the more elusive tiger and hellbender salamanders). Their project is especially beneficial as it uses a noninvasive approach to monitor species distribution.

On Thursday, at the seventh annual Academic and Creative Excellence (ACE) Festival, Hamm, Gardiner and Laun presented on their research methods and findings. Their 15-minute talk was one of 49 oral presentations delivered by more than 85 student presenters throughout the day all across campus — at Campus Center, in Suter Science Center and at Martin Chapel — in the humanities, biology and environmental sustainability, engineering, nursing, political science, education, and more. Topics ran the gamut from managing the invasive species in Park Woods with baby goats (mark your calendars for 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 20, to help clear the brush and pet those baby goats) to the historical and modern context of arsenic dye, lead paint and fast fashion.

Click here to view the schedule.

Throughout the day, more than 120 students presented their research at 65 poster displays spread across EMU’s campus.

One of those posters was about the use of popular artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT among students at EMU. In their research, students Mesa Dula, Jansen Miller and Ben Alderfer found that the majority of EMU students who use the AI chatbot use it about one to two days a week, mostly for generating ideas and brainstorming. About 30% of the 47 students they polled said they did not use ChatGPT at all. Alderfer said he uses ChatGPT often and was curious to see its use among his classmates.

“I think it’s a great tool and I think it’s probably going to become far more prevalent in the next couple years,” he said.

At another display, engineering majors Lleyton Stutzman, Micaiah Landis and Adam Stoltzfus operated a sandbox. Visitors could create mounds or divots in the sand, and a computer would adjust to the new topography by projecting hills and mountains and lakes and rivers. Landis said the sandbox shows them how water flows down mountains and through valleys, which has applications in studying erosion.

Students used the day off from classes to attend the oral presentations, view poster displays, congratulate published authors at a reception, take in the many music and arts events and get a sense of what everyone’s been working on over the past year.

For students who attend the ACE Festival, it gives them the experience of attending an academic conference, said festival coordinator Diane Farrar. For students who present at the festival, it’s a way to showcase their own research, creative projects, and papers, she added.

EMU President Susan Schultz Huxman, speaking before a keynote address on Wednesday, spoke about the goals of the ACE Festival. The first goal is to recognize excellence in research at EMU. A second goal is to raise the visibility of the diversity of scholarship at EMU.

“And, number three is to validate liberal arts education — to examine the rigor, the relevance, the impact and interdisciplinary richness of research that pulsates from our liberal arts fields in the humanities, fine arts, social sciences and STEM disciplines,” she said.

Speaking of that keynote address…

Author Douglas Abrams delivers keynote address

A lot of people might know about Archbishop Desmond Tutu, but few know him as well as Douglas Abrams. The New York Times-bestselling author, who co-wrote The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World with Tutu and worked with him for more than a decade, shared the wisdom he’s gleaned from the Nobel Peace Prize laureate — including how to avoid road rage — as well as lessons from many other luminaries. Abrams co-wrote The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times with primatologist Jane Goodall, which was this year’s selection for EMU’s Common Read. He spoke about the importance of hope in a world that’s suffering and the dangers of despair and cynicism.

“In one study, communal hope was the best predictor of community well-being,” Abrams said. “Hope and despair are as contagious as any virus. Despair turns us inward. Hope sends us into the arms of others.”

During a talkback session following the address, Mary Ann Zehr, who teaches first-year writing at EMU, shared that she had her students read The Book of Hope and that it had resonated with them. She asked Abrams if interviewing Goodall made him a more hopeful person.

“In writing the book, I was able to see this long march through history that we are on and to see the progress we’ve made, and that has been really inspiring,” Abrams replied.

Student artists unveil works at opening reception

An opening reception at Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery showcased the works of four talented EMU artists. Cassidy Walker expressed the duality of people and the differences between how they perceive themselves and how others perceive them in a series of mixed-media portraits. Valentina Barahona created a line of packaging design labels for a juice brand that would prove eye-catching to consumers. Mariah Miller used a technique called cyanotype to create a visual representation of how “humans invade and then abandon nature.” Afton Rhodes-Lehman reflected her experiences with obsessive-compulsive disorder in a collection of acrylic paintings that juxtapose restrictive and rigid lines with the “chaotic joy” of vibrant colors. The exhibition will run through May 1.

Musicians dazzle at student recital

A student recital at Lehman Auditorium on Thursday featured vocalists Reah Clymer, Arnayja Parker, Riley Quezada, Elie Hoover, Jacob Nissley and Kay Pettus, pianist Rafael de Tablan, clarinetist Luke Haynes, organist Laurel Evans, tuba player Allie Smith and French horn player Tyler Williams. The student musicians were accompanied on piano by Harold Bailey, David Berry and Luke Haynes.

The slate of music performances continued Thursday night with a wind ensemble concert. A university choir concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 19, in Lehman Auditorium, and a concerto/aria orchestra concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, in Lehman.

A bevy of award winners, among both students and faculty, were announced at ACE Festival events on Thursday.

Three faculty members receive Excellence in Teaching Awards

Hosted by the Provost’s Office, the 15th annual EMU Authors’ Reception and Awards Presentation recognized and celebrated the winners of the university’s Excellence in Teaching Awards:

Adjunct faculty: David Pruett
Instructors and assistant professors: Allison Wilck
Associate professors and professors: Ji Eun Kim

For more information about each award winner, visit the post below.

The event also recognized three recipients of student writing awards:

First place: Tie between Caleb Metzler, Willy-Nilly Reforestation, Why Diversification is Key, and Brooke Snyder, Microplastics and the Potential Threats They Pose to Humans
Second place: Willem Hedrick, The Effects of Short-Form Video, TikTok, and the Effects of Short-Form Video Content on Adolescents

In addition to the awards, the reception showcased the published scholarly works of faculty, staff and students from the past two years. Featured faculty authors included: Kirsten Eve Beachy, Sarah Bixler, David Berry, Jacob Cook, Shannon Dycus, Marti Eads, Paula Facci, Nancy Heisey, Steven David Johnson, Jim Leaman, Heike Peckruhn, Kevin Seidel, Tim Seidel, Kimberly Schmidt, Daniel Showalter, Mary Sprunger, Andrew Suderman, Paul J. Yoder, Howard Zehr, and Mary Ann Zehr. Chamber musicians Miriam Rhodes and Dr. Benjamin Bergey performed violin music for the reception, which was held at the Sadie Hartzler Library.

Three VaCA students receive Styer scholarship award

At the art exhibition, Professor Steven David Johnson announced the recipients of the Matthew Alan Styer Award:

• Cassidy Walker
• Nussa Garti
• Oslyn Mejia Gomez

The award is given to three rising seniors majoring in the visual arts who have demonstrated exceptional skill and dedication in design and/or photography, Johnson said.

Matthew Alan Styer ’05, a graduate of EMU’s Visual and Communication Arts (VaCA) program, worked for EMU’s marketing and communications department as a videographer, designer and photographer until 2008. The scholarship endowment honors the memory of Styer, who died from leukemia at age 30 in 2011.

STEM Celebration poster award winners announced

The recipients of this year’s STEM Celebration poster awards are:

Environmental Applications of GIS posters
First place: Joel Kornhaus, Assessing vegetation growth as a result of sand dams
Second place: Tie between Evelyn Shenk and Esme Martin
Honorable mentions: Levi Myers and Laura Craft

Chemistry class
First place: Jenna Oostland, William Bartel and Madelynn Hamm, Water System Health of Local Streams
Second place: Amber Bonds and Maya Tutton
Honorable mentions: Evelyn Shenk, Andrew Arledge and Elaine Miranda Perez

Biology class
First place: Marciella Shallomita, Bioinformatic analysis of cardiac tissue functionality: Implications for the process of bioengineering hearts
Second place: Ethan Neufeld
Honorable mentions: Betty Debebe, Elaine Miranda Perez and Aja Laun

Independent research and projects
First place: Marciella Shallomita, Abigail Forrest, Elaine Miranda Perez and Sadie Oesch, Loss-of-Function In The Drosophila Serotonin Transporter (dSert) Gene Changes Sleep and Activity and Decreases Life Span
Second place: Adesola Johnson, Meredith Lehman and Allysen Welty-Peachy
Honorable mentions: Levi Stutzman, Ivan Betancourt, Myles Dixson, Ben Friesen Guhr, Jonathan Kronimus and Sean Swartley; and Samantha Hensley, Hayley Collins and Sarah Moore

The posters from STEM disciplines (biology, chemistry, biomedicine, engineering, computer science, and psychology) were judged by EMU STEM faculty, with winners selected in the four categories. 

And, for one more award…

Office of DEI announces a new staff award for community organizing

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), in conjunction with the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI) and Professor Dr. Gaurav Pathania, announced a new award for EMU staff employees who promote community organizing and enhance a sense of belonging and inclusivity among diverse groups. 

The Ambedkar-Baker DEI Award for Community Organizing seeks to honor the contributions and legacy of eminent African-American civil rights activist and organizer Ella Baker and social reformer Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, architect of India’s Constitution. This award celebrates staff members at EMU who work together to address institutional inequalities and make positive changes. Eligible candidates are those who contribute to building a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming community at EMU, fostering a sense of belonging for everyone. Staff members can either be nominated by others or nominate themselves for this award.

Further details about the criteria for this award and the nomination process will be released this fall.

Sponsors for the ACE Festival included Blauch Brothers Inc. mechanical contractors, Park View Federal Credit Union, and Omar’s Hair Salon & Barbershop.

Photos by Macson McGuigan/EMU and Jon Styer/At Ease Design & Consulting