In our series of student and alumni stories, social media posts, and letters and emails, we invited you to become part of LovEMU history by making this year’s Giving Day the best one yet. You answered the call, giving $402,722 to scholarships and financial aid, direct support for faculty and staff, EMU’s life-changing intercultural programs, and, for the first time, resources for first-generation college students.

Together, we surpassed the $400,000 goal set by LovEMU organizers and topped our previous record of $365,512, raised last year, by an impressive 10%.

In an email sent Thursday, Nicole Litwiller ’19, MA ’20 (conflict transformation), annual giving and donor communications specialist, expressed gratitude for the generosity shown by EMU alumni, friends, and fans.

“It is inspiring and humbling to witness the outpouring of support our community showed—with every gift, text to a family member or friend, or post to social media, you helped us meet our goal. We are incredibly grateful.” she said.

Among the highlights from this year’s LovEMU Giving Day, she shared, were:

• Unlocking every challenge of the day;
• watching hundreds of alumni, employees, donors, and students connect and celebrate during the LovEMU Community Meal; and
• welcoming 19 future Royals who visited for the day into the EMU community.

“Thank you again for showing up for EMU,” Litwiller said. “Your support has a direct impact on current students, future students, and the entire EMU community.”

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni fill Yoder Arena for Wednesday morning’s LovEMU Pep Rally.

The day kicked off with the third annual LovEMU Pep Rally at Yoder Arena. The rally had it all: a dramatic entrance by Herm on an e-bike, the return of the BaZOOKa T-shirt cannon, and performances by the top three athletic teams from the previous night’s Lip-Sync Battle.

Read a recap of the pep rally below!

Sights and sounds from the University Festival: Past, present, and future Royals meet with Herm (top photo), snap pics at the LovEMU photo booth (left), and bob for apples (right) at one of the Student Union club booths.

Following the pep rally, the University Festival in the Hall of Nations connected faculty members with prospective students and featured games and activities hosted by student clubs. 

Mathematics Professor Dr. Daniel Showalter brought his two daughters and his dad, Dennis Showalter ’73, to the event. He said he gives to scholarships such as the HDH and Flora Showalter Endowed Scholarship, which supports math and computer science students, on LovEMU Giving Day.

“This is my dream job,” he said. “I want to do whatever I can to keep the atmosphere vibrant and living. I feel really grateful that I get to wake up every morning and go to a job that is meaningful and enjoyable.”

Jacob Horsley ’22, MBA ’25, associate director of undergraduate admissions, said he chooses to give back to the university on LovEMU Giving Day because he’s a “repeat Royal.”

“I’m a double-alumnus,” he said. “I have experienced the impact of this supportive community, and I want to make sure that it continues.”

The Lunch & Lawn Party returned to Thomas Plaza with a free student lunch and various lawn games.

The campus community enjoyed Wednesday’s warm weather at the Lunch & Lawn Party on Thomas Plaza, where they savored Korean beef bowls and competed in lawn games. The annual student appreciation lunch, free for all students and hosted in partnership between Pioneer College Caterers and the Campus Activities Council, included the traditional egg toss and a Bubble Bus that filled the Front Lawn with giant bubbles.

From 2 to 4 p.m., members of EMU’s MA in Counseling program led self-care activities at the Student Union.

As EMU’s night owls kept the energy alive, LovEMU participants had plenty more activities to enjoy. Back by popular demand and hosted by the Student Government Association, the Real Life Mario Kart Race returned to the University Commons indoor track, where teams of three raced on scooters, dodged obstacles, and collected prizes. Later, from 10:30 p.m. to midnight, the Art After Dark craft event featured live music from EMU’s jazz trio.

View the full schedule of events at .

Leaderboard competition

The winners of the 2026 LovEMU leaderboard competition are:

Academic program

• First place ($1,000 prize): Nursing
• Second place ($500 prize): Natural Sciences
• Third place ($250 prize): Education

Student club/org

• First place ($1,000 prize): Muslim Student Alliance (a new org formed this year!)
• Second place ($500 prize): Black Student Alliance
• Third place ($250 prize): EMU Outdoor

Athletic team

• First place ($1,000 prize): Women’s Volleyball
• Second place ($500 prize): Women’s Basketball
• Third place ($250 prize): Men’s volleyball

Challenges (all unlocked)

Donors unlocked all $170,000 in challenge match funds for the University Fund, student scholarships, intercultural programs, athletics, and, new to LovEMU this year, support for first-generation college students.

LovEMU Early Challenge: We received more than 120 gifts before the start of LovEMU Giving Day to unlock $15,000 for the University Fund.

All-day challenges

Loyal Royal Challenge: More than 250 alumni made gifts to EMU during LovEMU Giving Day to unlock $20,000 for student scholarships.

Friends of EMU Challenge: More than 175 non-alumni made gifts to unlock $15,000 for the University Fund.

Future Royal Challenge: Because 19 prospective students who were in attendance on LovEMU Giving Day paid their tuition deposit, either on the day or beforehand, we unlocked $19,000 in scholarship funds.

Timed challenges

Early Herm Gets the Worm: We received 75 gifts before 9 a.m. on Wednesday to unlock $15,000 for student scholarships.

First-Gen Match of 10: In a first-ever LovEMU challenge of its kind, a “match of the match” through a NetVUE grant, we raised $10,052 to support first-generation students.

LovEMU at First Sight: We received 110 gifts between noon and 3 p.m. to unlock a whopping $30,000 for the University Fund.

What a Wonderful World: We received 80 gifts from 5-7 p.m. to unlock $20,000 to ensure all students are able to access EMU’s impactful intercultural experiences.

The Generosity Marathon: We received 55 gifts from 7:30-9 p.m. to unlock $10,000 for EMU Athletics.

Late-night Leadership: We received 100 gifts from 9 p.m. to midnight to unlock $20,000 for the University Fund.

Thanks to everyone who donated, shared their time to celebrate their love of all things EMU, and joined in the festivities on campus! Special thanks to the 2026 LovEMU planning team: Nicole Litwiller, Arelys Martinez Fabian, Cassandra Guerrero, Kyle Dickinson, Leah Frankenfield, Luke Litwiller, Maria Longenecker, Omar Hoyos, Steve Johnson, and Tyler Goss.

Swipe through our photo album from the day below!

Kirk Shisler ’81 wants to make one thing very clear: He’s not retiring. At least not anytime soon. After 21 years of faithfully serving his alma mater as its vice president for advancement, he’s simply switching gears. 

This summer, Shisler will transition from his lofty perch as VP to a new position specially carved out for him that utilizes his unique qualities and strengths in a way that benefits EMU best. He said his new role as senior gift planning advisor will allow him to focus exclusively on securing major gifts to sustain EMU’s mission.

“We recently crossed the halfway point of EMU’s five-year, $40 million Forward Together campaign, and I am pleased to report that we have already raised $29 million, or 72% of the goal, which puts us ahead of schedule,” Shisler said. “I look forward to increasing our fundraising momentum even more as I assume my new role.”

Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus will formally announce the news of Shisler’s transition via email on Thursday, Jan. 22. With the announcement, EMU officially enters into a national search for its next vice president for advancement.

For several years now, Shisler said, he’s anticipated a transition like this one. By passing his administrative responsibilities on to a successor, he can directly focus his energies toward the aspects of advancement he enjoys most and where he will have the greatest impact. And, despite the various headwinds straining higher education, Shisler said he believes EMU is poised to transcend those challenges.

“We have a strong leadership team in place under Interim President Dycus, and a tremendous faculty and staff,” Shisler said. “EMU’s value proposition includes a proven track record for the employability of its graduates, who also benefit from an education that blends rigorous academics with soft skills in leadership, conflict resolution, and other skills needed to succeed in today’s work environment.”

‘An enduring imprint’

EMU’s presidents, past and present, commended Shisler for his effective fundraising, steadfast leadership, and deep commitment to the university over the past two decades. 

Dycus, interim president of EMU since July 1, credited Shisler with “shaping a culture of generosity rooted in mission” and strengthening alumni and donor relationships. “Kirk’s steady, values-driven leadership will leave an enduring imprint on this institution and the countless students whose lives have been changed through his work,” she said.

Dr. Loren Swartzendruber ’76, MDiv ’79, president of EMU from 2003 to 2016, noted that he had recruited Shisler twice to EMU: first as an admissions counselor when Shisler was a high school senior, and later as president when Shisler was hired to lead the advancement division. “No university president can be successful without a person of Kirk’s caliber in that office,” said Swartzendruber. “His continuing efforts to attract leadership gifts will pay dividends for years to come.”

And President Emerita Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman, who led the university from 2016 to 2025, expressed gratitude for the “enormous positive impact” Shisler had “year after year for 20 years without fail,” advancing EMU’s mission, supporting its students, contributing to its financial health, and ensuring its donors felt special and important. 

“Without ‘Captain’ Kirk’s can-do spirit, relational genius, and organizational prowess, there is no first-ever EMU comprehensive campaign for people, programs, and facilities,” said Huxman, referencing the Forward Together (2023-28) campaign. “There is no audacious $40 million five-year goal, half of which we raised in just the first two years. This bold and successful campaign has been the crowning achievement of his great legacy in executive administration at EMU.”

Indeed, there have been many crowning achievements for Shisler over the years. Whether it’s the completion of EMU’s state-of-the-art track and field complex—regarded among the finest athletic facilities in the conference—the transformation of laboratories and classrooms in the Suter Science Center through a $12 million campaign (2007-15), or renovations to the south section of University Commons, he’s always kept his eyes squarely on the prize: ensuring EMU not only survives but also thrives long into the future.

Less visible, but just as impactful as those capital improvement projects, is the membership growth of EMU’s throughout his tenure. The group of alumni and donors name EMU in their estate plans, supporting the future financial stability and security of the school. “We have grown the society from roughly 150 members, when I arrived in 2005, to over 600 today,” Shisler said. “We often refer to these future gifts as EMU’s Book of Futures. The approximate future value of these estate commitments currently exceeds $35 million.”

Clockwise from top: Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement, with Phil Helmuth and Graham Stauffer, during LovEMU Giving Day 2023. | The longtime advancement VP speaks during a gathering celebration at Homecoming and Family Weekend 2021. | Shisler accepts a hard hat from Braydon Hoover ’11, MA ’21, then-associate vice president for advancement at EMU, during a groundbreaking ceremony for the track in 2023.

Focus, patience, and tenacity

One key ingredient to Shisler’s success is the length of his tenure, which has allowed him to build close connections and enduring relationships with alumni and donors.

According to a from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, fundraising administrators have a median of five years of service in their position, slightly below the median for all higher ed administrative positions (5.5 years). Those figures are well below the 21-year span that Shisler has served at EMU.

During those 21 years, he estimated, working with advancement teams and the three aforementioned presidents, he helped raise about $120 million for EMU. Last year, thanks to a combination of generous donors and several large bequests, the university achieved its second-highest fundraising total on record.

“Those who have been involved in higher ed and nonprofit fundraising for as long as I have know that it takes significant focus, patience and tenacity to secure gifts of significance for our organizations,” Shisler said. 

Doug Mason, an advancement consultant who has advised EMU’s team for 15 years as well as many other schools, said his most successful clients have leaders who “stick with it and really invest in the mission of their institution.”  

“Donors really appreciate continuity,” Mason said. “Having somebody like Kirk, who’s been there for over two decades, is quite unusual, and it’s been extraordinarily beneficial to EMU.”

So why exactly has Shisler stayed for so long? He said the societal impact of EMU’s alumni around the world continues to motivate him and sustain his commitment to the university’s mission. He added that, through the years, he’s been blessed to be part of “highly motivated and supportive teams of advancement professionals,” and that he’s continually inspired by the dedication and high-quality work of EMU’s faculty and staff.

A seasoned fundraiser

Growing up in Telford, Pennsylvania, Shisler said his parents taught him at a young age the importance of giving generously and of tithing to the church. But it wasn’t until later, after entering the workforce, that he realized his skills in storytelling and communications could be used to fundraise for causes he cared about. The Dock Mennonite Academy alum graduated from EMU with a bachelor of arts in English in 1981. He then began a quarter-century career at Laubach Literacy International, a nonprofit now known as ProLiteracy.

In 2004, Swartzendruber called Shisler to ask whether he would be interested in the VP position, succeeding Richard L. Gunden. After an interview that summer, Shisler accepted the offer (he started in the position in April 2005). “Loren said to me, ‘Well, Kirk, you will have served Laubach for 23 years. I’m really hoping that you’ll give the same amount of time, or more, to EMU,’” Shisler recalled. “And here we are. With my transition to a different role, I may end up serving 23 years.”

As a result of his change, the avid fly fisherman said he’ll spend less time on the road and more time with his family—he and his wife, Mary Ann, have two sons, Ben and Andy. He’ll also spend less time in meetings as he devotes his focus entirely on working with major donors to design “charitable gifts of significance” for EMU.

Back when he was first hired at the university, Shisler told the late Jim Bishop, former public information officer for EMU, in a 2005 news article: “EMU is at a very exciting juncture in its history. I believe the school is truly a vehicle for healing and hope in our troubled world, and I look forward to joining the EMU community as, together, we advance its mission.”

Twenty-one years later, those words still ring true.

Kirk Shisler ‘81, vice president for advancement, introduced alumni in attendance spanning eight decades. Among them were Bob Hostetler ‘59 who “still runs the 100-meter dash like a jackrabbit,” according to Shisler; Roland Landes, an EMU cross-country coach for nine seasons starting in the ’60s and a 2024 Hall of Honor inductee; Hannah Chappell Dick ‘16, a five-time NCAA DIII All-American EMU runner with countless awards and seven school records; and Ryan Gehman ‘16, a star EMU runner, advocate, and speaker at the 2023 EMU TenTalks.

The program also featured remarks from Carrie Bert ‘97, director of athletics; Ray Ray Taylor, MS ‘24, an All-American track and field athlete; and Jim ‘68 and Gloria Horst Rosenberger ‘70 who put forth an early gift of $600,000 and a recent $400,000 challenge fund to encourage support for the track and field.

It’s not too late to give to the project! Donate now.

More than $4 million has been raised toward the $6 million campaign goal. President Susan Schultz Huxman thanked the “salt-of-the-earth, visionary supporters who stepped up with unwavering conviction going back nearly a decade.” And with student-athletes making up 43 percent of the first-year student population, she said it has been a long time coming.

Before attendees could set foot on the new track, Laura Rosenberger ’03 (EMU pole vault record holder for 21 years) and sophomore Micah Mast did a symbolic run with a pole, followed by a ceremonial relay lap with alumni, donors, students, and faculty/staff. These served as a “passing of the baton” to future generations of athletes who will use this state-of-the-art complex for years to come.

For 26 years, the sound of Vira Hershberger’s knife slicing through heads of lettuce was a familiar and comforting rhythm in the dining hall kitchen of EMU (then known as Eastern Mennonite College). From 1970 to 1996, Hershberger dedicated herself each day to arranging the salad bar and greeting everyone she met with warmth and friendliness. Today, her legacy of humble service and love continues through a memorial endowment in her honor.

Former dining hall manager Marilyn Schlabach ’65, who worked alongside Hershberger for 15 years, recalls the indelible impact she had on everyone around her. “I don’t think I ever heard her complain,” Schlabach said. “She had a heart of service.” Schlabach, who was Hershberger’s supervisor from 1986 to 1994, remembers her as a model employee: self-motivated, warm and endlessly dedicated.

“I had the hardest time during my annual evaluations coming up with anything for her to improve on,” Schlabach said.

Hershberger arrived at work each morning, before she was scheduled, to get organized and prepared for the day. If she felt like she wasn’t finished at the end of her shift, she would clock out and keep working until she was satisfied. 

Her daughter, Joann Henderson MA ’07 (counseling), recalls her mother’s joy in her work. “She had a great deal of pride in her salad bar,” she said. “It was immaculate and always fresh.” 

Her son, Larry Hershberger, also noted the love she had for her job in dining services. “I don’t think she ever missed a day of work in those 26 years,” he said. 

Vira Hershberger’s dedication to service extended beyond her job at EMU. Even after retiring at 74, she continued to volunteer at Gift and Thrift and attend Park View Mennonite Church as an active member. Her children remember her constant activity and desire for productivity.

“She often told us she wished she could still be working,” Henderson said. “She loved working, and she loved working at EMU.”

“I don’t know how many times she said to me during those years, ‘Oh, Larry, I don’t know why I retired when I did,'” her son recalled.

In November 2022, she passed away at the age of 100, but her legacy lives on through the Vira Miller Hershberger Memorial Endowment to Support Food Service.

Established by Larry Hershberger and his three siblings on behalf of the family, the endowment honors her lifelong service by providing annual support for EMU dining services. It will help to fund the maintenance of dining facilities, replacement of kitchen equipment, staffing support and other essential needs.

“I love that we get to honor her and her work, as well as the work of all those people behind the scenes who often don’t get recognition,” Henderson said. 

“We believe it’s something mom would’ve wanted us to do,” Larry Hershberger added.

Kirk Shisler ’81, vice president for Advancement at EMU, highlighted the significance of the Hershberger family’s gift. “What’s special about this is that it illuminates the life and legacy of their beloved mother,” he said. “And, because it’s an endowment, it will have a sustained impact in supporting EMU food services, especially kitchen operations, for many years to come.”

A PhD in humility, love and service

She was born Vira Gladys Miller in Wellman, Iowa, in 1922 in a family of five brothers and two sisters. Growing up during the Great Depression, she left home at 17 to work as a housekeeper for the superintendent of Lancaster City Schools in Pennsylvania, supporting her family with her earnings. Despite having an eighth grade education, her intelligence and strong work ethic helped her excel at various roles, including as a clerk in the general store in Frytown, Iowa, where she met her husband Reaford Hershberger.

“She was always about serving others,” Henderson said. “If my mom had a PhD, it would be in humility, love and service.”

In 1969, Myron Augsburger, president of EMU at the time and a friend of the Hershbergers, offered Reaford Hershberger a job heading the buildings and grounds on campus. He accepted the offer, and the family moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia. Vira Hershberger was soon hired as a salad cook in the dining hall, where she worked until her retirement. 

At Vira Hershberger’s retirement ceremony in 1996, Schlabach reflected on the countless heads of lettuce she must have chopped over her 26 years of service — an estimated tens of thousands. But beyond the numbers, she is remembered for her unwavering humility, her deep faith and her genuine love for others.

“She was always smiling,” Larry Hershberger said. “Her disposition was always effervescent and happy. Even when she was not doing so well, she always had a positive outlook and never complained.”

Vira Hershberger found joy in life’s simple pleasures, from the beauty of nature to a cold glass of water on a hot day. “She taught us that the little things in life always have meaning,” Henderson said. “She was a quiet, humble woman of deep faith who exhibited love and service and, to me, is the epitome of Christ’s love.”

Learn more about endowments and grants at EMU here.

Samuel and Helen Weaver lived to serve others. They gave generously of their time to the churches they attended and the communities they were a part of in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and later Harrisonburg, Virginia. Helen, known to many as an excellent cook, arrived early to church gatherings to prepare meals. Afterward, she and her husband Samuel stayed late to stack chairs and wash dishes.

For more than a decade, the couple volunteered at Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit fair-trade shop in Harrisonburg. While Helen worked inside the store, Samuel lent his accounting skills to the business. 

“Service was always a big part of their lives, recalls their son, Matt Weaver, “and often, that service wasn’t anything glamorous or anything they mentioned to other people. It was them doing the most trivial jobs that other people didn’t want to do. But, they did it because that’s the kind of people they were.”

Helen and Samuel died in July 2012 and February 2023, respectively, but their legacy of service and generosity lives on. A $1.54 million bequest to establish the Samuel H. and Helen W. Weaver Family Peacebuilding Endowment will go a long way in supporting the vision and mission of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. It ranks among the top five largest endowment gifts to EMU in its 106-year history.

Although they did not attend EMU, Samuel and Helen were staunch supporters of its students and programs. They were members of Park View Mennonite Church and had close friends in the EMU community, such as Wendy Lederach and Don and Margaret Foth. Don, an administrator emeritus at EMU, volunteered at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) in his retirement. He died on March 27.

Because of those connections, said CJP Advancement Director Lindsay Martin, Samuel and Helen were aware of CJP from its very beginning. The Foths would have shared many stories of CJP students, especially those coming from other parts of the world, with Samuel and Helen, she said.

“I think Sam connected with those stories and CJP’s global emphasis, particularly because of his own experiences working in other countries,” Martin said. “He saw CJP as an example of a global community, one with people working toward the greater good of all—and I think that matched his worldview closely.” 

After Helen’s death at age 82, Samuel continued to support EMU and its justice and peacebuilding efforts. In 2019, he established a $50,000 endowed scholarship fund that provides need-based financial support to students in the graduate program at CJP. Samuel died at age 92 following a battle with cancer, but not before finalizing the endowment funding plan with his two sons, Mike and Matt, and ensuring CJP was included in his estate plans.

Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement at EMU, said the endowment will fund academic programs, training initiatives, faculty and other creative endeavors at CJP.

“The Weavers’ gift is so incredibly timely as it will sustain CJP faculty and program investments, including a full-time faculty position in restorative justice and a new program director role, for which a search is now underway,” shared Shisler.

David Brubaker, dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professions (which includes CJP), said the endowment will support existing academic and training programs as well as help to fund “new creative initiatives needed in an increasingly polarized and traumatized world.”

EMU President Susan Schultz Huxman said the gift will have a profoundly beneficial impact on CJP, especially as it continues to adapt to the changing landscape of justice and peacebuilding needs across the globe.

“Samuel and Helen Weaver’s encounter with CJP students and program leaders ignited their vision for the transformative power of justice and peacebuilding on a global scale,” she said. “We are truly grateful and heartened by their generosity.”

Early life and career

Samuel Horton Weaver was born in May 1930 in Champaign, Illinois. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Cambridge University, a master’s degree in history from Columbia University, a doctorate in American history from American University in Washington, D.C., and a master’s degree in business administration from Ohio University. Much of his early career was spent working for the U.S. government, including for the Library of Congress in D.C. He started working for the U.S. Foreign Service in 1955 and was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador from 1958 to 1960 and in Brazil from 1961 to 1963. He then worked in the Latin American section of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. State Department.

Born Helen Esther Wiens in Inman, Kansas, in May 1930, she was raised in a Mennonite family. She worked for Mennonite Central Committee in Akron, Pennsylvania, and for the National Service Board for Religious Objectors in D.C.

Samuel and Helen met in D.C. and married in March 1967. They moved to St. Clairsville, a city about 70 miles west of Pittsburgh where Samuel taught at Ohio University’s Eastern Campus and Helen worked at the Belmont County Health Department. In their retirement the couple moved to Harrisonburg, partly due to its proximity to D.C. and because of some close friends who lived there. From his time spent around the EMU community, Samuel developed an appreciation and respect for Mennonites. Matt Weaver said his father shared many of the same core values as Mennonites and believed in the mission of CJP.

“He liked the idea of giving to an organization that does some good,” said Matt Weaver.

Samuel and Helen were members of the , a group of more than 630 alumni and donors who include EMU in their estate plans. In April 2022, Samuel and his sons finalized their endowment funding plan with EMU Advancement. Shisler said the Weaver family was impressed by the impact of their scholarship fund established a few years prior. 

“They were instilled with a level of confidence that an estate commitment of this magnitude would be well-managed and have a sustained impact,” he said. “It’s truly a remarkable and beautiful legacy.”

Learn more about the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and give to the program at . 

That’s not just a gut feeling, either; it’s backed by data. According to EMU Advancement, the Harrisonburg, Virginia, school sports a 12-percent participation rate for grads who give back, compared to a national average rate of eight percent. 

That royal generosity was on full display when donors helped EMU shatter its $10.7 million fundraising goal set for the first phase of its Forward Together campaign. From July 2020 to June 2023, more than 4,000 donors provided 17,538 gifts to raise $11.6 million for EMU, about $900,000 above the funding target. In addition to those current gifts, donors also pledged about $11.4 million in new estate commitments, for a grand total of roughly $23 million raised in the past three years.

Those donors range in every age and demographic, as well as geographic region, said Braydon Hoover ’11, MA ’21 (organizational leadership), associate vice president for advancement at EMU. Nearly all of them have one major reason they give, though, and that’s to help make college more affordable and accessible for EMU students. Their contributions have already benefited thousands of students, Hoover said. 

“It’s donors and alumni and parents and businesses who stepped up and said, ‘We want students to come to EMU, and we don’t want them to leave with massive amounts of debt,’” Hoover said. “As soon as we crossed that $10.7-million threshold, we were cheering, we had a little party for our team, and we went to work sending out our thank you notes and our gratitude.”

A pandemic pivot 

EMU and its advancement team had been on the cusp of launching a major comprehensive campaign for several years. They were ready to move forward in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard and forced them to switch gears, Hoover said. 

“We needed to completely pivot, as so many organizations did, to what was the most important piece, and for us that was how to care for students both compassionately as well as financially,” he said. “And so we pivoted from a comprehensive campaign to Forward Together Phase I, which was completely student-centric.”

Forward Together Phase I prioritized three focus funds:

• The University Fund for Resilience: In addition to unrestricted gift support, this fund included annual gifts for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and EMU Athletics. The fund helped provide student tuition support, student life services, collaborative faculty-student research, technology upgrades, intercultural programs, and infrastructures, among other operating expenses.

• The Student Tuition Relief Initiative: This fund included direct tuition relief assistance for students in need, direct grant scholarship awards, and named endowed scholarship funds. Nearly 99 percent of students at EMU receive some form of financial aid, Hoover said.  

• The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund: This fund invested in ways to increase the sense of belonging among all students. It supported special training events and efforts that enhance diversity and inclusion among EMU students, faculty and staff. “We had just hired Dr. Jackie Font-Guzman as our vice president for DEI and wanted to ensure she had the resources necessary to do that important work,” Hoover said.

In an address to alumni and donors at Homecoming and Family Weekend 2023 in mid-October, EMU President Susan Schultz Huxman celebrated the success of Forward Together Phase I. 

She said the campaign provided $6 million in endowed and immediate impact scholarships, $350,000 to support DEI and more than $5 million for the university fund. 

Part of the success of Forward Together has been the renewed enthusiasm in the annual LovEMU Giving Day. This past April, EMU raised a record-setting $300,915 in 24 hours from 844 gifts and 592 donors, over $5,000 more than the previous year’s total. 

“I think the pandemic had a lot to do with it,” Hoover said. “People felt helpless when we were all isolating, and giving was one of the ways they could continue to serve others.

“We cannot thank our donors enough for stepping up at one of the most vulnerable times for us as humans, but also for us as an organization, to come forward and help our students as much as possible.”

‘The worst-kept secret at EMU’

While celebrating the achievement of Phase I, EMU and the advancement team has been hard at work clearing a path for the continuation of Forward Together, the campaign for EMU. 

The largest comprehensive campaign in school history, its goal is to raise $40 million over the next five years. 

In addition to providing scholarships and tuition relief for students and continuing all the strategic initiatives from the first phase, funding will support compensation for faculty and staff and finance the new track-and-field complex being built. The $6-million complex, which is more than halfway funded, is scheduled to open next year. Donations are accepted online at: /campaign/track-and-field.

Huxman, who summed up the $40-million campaign as one for “people, programs and facilities,” said the new complex is already paying dividends.

“We have 24 new track-and-field students who wouldn’t be here otherwise,” she said at a donor appreciation banquet last month. “They would not have come to EMU without the promise of a state-of-the-art track.”

Although the details of Forward Together were shared at a couple homecoming events, the team leading the campaign is waiting until they’re about midway to reaching their goal before they begin spreading the word. Hoover jokingly labeled it as “the worst-kept secret at EMU.”

“In any major campaign like this, there’s always two to three years of quiet phase,” he said. “The team is currently securing leadership gifts, and our goal is that by the time we go public in two or three years, we will have raised at least 60 percent of the goal. That then becomes an exciting time to invite everyone to join the campaign in support of the people that make this place special: our students, faculty, and staff.”

Forward Together is led by a team comprising Kirk Shisler ’81, vice president for advancement; Braydon Hoover ’11, MA ’21 (organizational leadership), associate vice president for advancement; Laura Daily, director of advancement services; Nicole Litwiller ’19, MA ’20 (conflict transformation), annual giving & donor communications specialist; Lindsay Martin ’05, CJP advancement director; Christopher Randolph, regional advancement director; Deanna Reed, regional advancement director and mayor of Harrisonburg; and Tim Swartzendruber ’95, senior regional advancement director; with special support by Cassandra Guerrero, gift receipting coordinator; Shea Jones-Mitchell, administrative assistant; Graham Stauffer ’19, data analytics coordinator; Jennifer North Bauman, director of alumni & parent engagement; and Monica Pangle, events & volunteer coordinator.

The new track and field complex is a strategic initiative of the university’s Forward Together Capital Campaign; $3.05 million has been raised, more than halfway toward the $6 million campaign goal. The new track will include an upgrade from six to eight lanes; the regrading and installation of a 10-millimeter full-pour polyurethane surface; and on-location throwing areas and steeplechase. The complex will support EMU student athletes and coaches, EMU’s enrollment goals, and the campus and local communities at large.

The event program features comments from EMU President Susan Schultz Huxman, Harrisonburg Mayor and EMU Regional Advancement Director Deanna Reed, and EMU Director of Athletics Carrie Bert ’97. The EMU track and field team will also recognize its 10 seniors during the event.

For more information on the new track and field complex, visit emu.edu/campaign/track-and-field. To livestream the groundbreaking event, visit.

That’s a gain of more than $5,000 over last year’s totals.

“Every single dollar we raised together goes toward making this special place more affordable for more people,”  said Braydon Hoover ‘11, MA ‘21 (organizational leadership), associate vice president of advancement. “That means scholarships, belongingness initiatives, resources for retaining our exceptional faculty and staff, and much more. I am so proud of this community for showing up and showing out, and helping us “Pay it Forward Together.” THANK YOU for all you did to make LovEMU a major success!”

In addition to the fundraising successes of the day, LovEMU merged with SGA Day, an initiative of the Student Government Association to bring students together with faculty and staff in meaningful ways outside of the classroom. Because of this partnership, the energy on campus was palpable, as the community understood the importance and impact of such a day of generosity. Check out the social media wall at love.emu.edu to see how this energy manifested online!

Read on to learn about the LovEMU Challenges completed throughout the day and view photos:

LovEMU Early Challenge: Because we received 100 gifts before LovEMU Giving Day even began, a generous alumni couple contributed an additional $10,000. 111 out of 100 gifts needed were given!

Breakfast of Champions Challenge: Looming anxiety of student loan debt? We eat it for breakfast. Because 75 early birds made their gift between 6 and 9 a.m., $15,000 to the UFund was unlocked. 79 out of 75 gifts needed were given!

The ‘Vost with the Most Challenge: Dr. Fred Kniss ‘79 is retiring after 14 years of exemplary service as Provost of EMU. To celebrate his tenure and to wish him well in this next chapter, a generous alumni couple matched 125 gifts to The University Fund given between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., up to $10,000. 138 out of 125 gifts needed were given!

SGA Day Pays It Forward Challenge: We’re teaming up with the Student Government Association by combining LovEMU with the wildly successful SGA Day. These student leaders are always looking to make the world a better place, and that starts right here on campus. Because we received 300 gifts to ANY focus fund between 2 and 6 p.m., $20,000 was unlocked to support student initiatives like this through The University Fund. 300 of 300 gifts needed were given!

Explore Together Challenge: Of all the memorable experiences graduates of EMU carry forward, our renowned intercultural programs are among the most highly regarded and meaningful. It is vital that no student feels barred from this cherished experience for lack of funds. Because we received 100 gifts in support of student scholarships for the intercultural program between 7 and 9 p.m., we unlocked $10,000 in additional support…. allowing more students to “Explore Together.” 102 of 100 gifts needed were given!

Athletics Hustle & Heart Challenge: Because we received 100 gifts to the Athletics Annual Fund between 9 and 11:59 p.m., a generous athletics alum matched all funds raised up to $10,000. 114 of 100 gifts needed were given!

Thanks to the many who donated and shared of their time to tell us how you LovEMU!

While there are MANY people working behind the scenes to pull off LovEMU, special thanks to the LovEMU Day Team: 

Amelia Morrison, annual giving coordinator; Graham Stauffer ‘19, data analytics coordinator; Marci Myers ‘84, event & volunteer coordinator; Monica Pangle ‘10, constituent engagement assistant; Laura Daily, director of advancement services; Lindsay Martin ‘05, CJP advancement director; Deanna Reed, regional advancement director; Braydon Hoover ‘11, MA ‘21 (organizational leadership), associate vice president for Advancement; and Kirk Shisler ‘81, vice president for advancement.Not pictured: Tim Swarzendruber ‘95, senior regional advancement director; Chris Randolph, regional advancement director; Jennifer North Bauman, director of alumni & parent engagement; and Emily Della Ratta, social media manager.

On LovEMU Giving Day, April 5, 2023, Pay It Forward Together for EMU. Start thinking about all the ways you love EMU—those are reasons to support this wonderful university, its faculty and staff, programs, and of course, our students who come here from 39 states and 40 countries.

Whether the picture that springs to mind in your head for LovEMU Day is the good friends or even your life partner you met here, the finding of your vocation, your sense of community, a favorite spot on campus, or that favorite faculty or staff member, we invite you to join us for our 24-hour giving day extravaganza, in which alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents, and friends come together to support and celebrate the university we all love.

will be the main headquarters, hosted by Braydon Hoover ‘11, MA ‘21 (organizational leadership), associate vice president for advancement and several students throughout the day. We’ll be sharing unique videos of the student experience and some friendly contests for EMU gear.

This year’s event features more than $100,000 in challenge match funds, nearly as much as we raised in our first annual giving day. We’ve come a long way since then, thanks to you!

Help us set a new record! Last year, for the sixth consecutive year, you helped us to set a new LovEMU Day giving record of $295,173 raised from 1,363 gifts. We’d love to best that this year.

As EMU and our students continue to be challenged by the global pandemic, our University Fund for Resilience, the Student Tuition Relief Fund, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund are among the featured funds of the day. But we encourage you to give to any fund close to your heart.

Follow the challenges!

Check out the LoveEMU Giving Day website throughout the day to watch the dollars and votes rise and see if have been met. The leaderboards will again be active for athletic teams, academic programs, and student orgs.

Can’t wait until April 5? You can help us unlock $10,000 in the LovEMU Day early challenge by giving a gift before LovEMU Day even begins! Check out for more details!

Calvin “Cal” Redekop passed away on July 20, 2022 at the age of 96 in Harrisonburg. A graduate of Goshen College, he went on to develop many associations with the Mennonite institutions, including serving as vice president of Tabor College, and professor at Goshen and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. Redekop was also the co-founder of the PAX service program, the predecessor to the Peace Corps. Upon retiring to the Harrisonburg area, he and his wife Freda were faithful friends to EMU and strong partners in the university’s educational mission. 

A will be 2 p.m., Sept. 25 at Park View Mennonite Church.

Redekop served the EMU Business and Leadership program as an adjunct faculty member, during which time he became a trusted colleague and mentor to many faculty and staff. He was also the founding chair of the Anabaptist Center for Religion and Society, an organization of elders based at EMU.

The couple began several endowed scholarships for EMU undergraduate students, including helping to establish the Hubert R. Pellman Endowed Chair, which supports the Language and Literature program. More recently, Redekop helped facilitate the donation of two Hustler mowers and and an all-purpose vehicle to Facilities Management through his ties with Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas.

Redekop helped inspire and fund many of the solar arrays at EMU, at VMRC, and other major organizations around the valley. He was also involved with supporting and connecting VMRC’s Willow Run Farm with EMU’s Sustainable Food Initiative to grow and harvest vegetables.  

Two 2020 tributes in magazine (jointly bylined to Wally Kroeker, Burton Buller, and Tom Brenneman) and in the (by Russ Eanes) describe more of Redekop’s works, vision and philosophy.

The full obituary is and below. 

Calvin Wall (Waldo) Redekop peacefully passed away on July 20, 2022 at the age of 96, after a long, eventful, and purposeful life. He was born on Sept. 19, 1925 in a two-room cabin on the prairie, in Volt, Montana, to Jacob and Katherine Redekop. His siblings were Rosa, Ella, Jacob, and Bertha. He spent his early years on the farm in Montana; the Depression and Dust Bowl brought about the family’s relocation to Dalles, Oregon in 1937. His book Enchantment and Despair: Montana Childhood Stories, 1925-1937, fondly records those years. The family spent three years in Dalles, then in the fall of 1940 moved to Mt. Lake, Minn., where Calvin attended high school. Calvin attended Goshen College from 1946-1949, graduating with a degree in social science.

In July 1949 Calvin joined the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). He spent the first six months of voluntary service doing peace witness and education in Alberta, Canada, and Akron PA. Then in January 1950 he sailed for Europe and served as PAX Program Organizer and Mennonite Voluntary Service Director until December 1952. In 1953 Cal returned to America and spent one semester at Goshen College Seminary, and then 1-1/2 years studying for the MA in sociology and anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He then taught social science courses at Hesston College (1955-62), with time spent from 1955-58 at the University of Chicago pursuing a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology (completed in 1959). While in Europe, Cal had met Freda Pellman, who was working for Menno Travel Service in Amsterdam, and they were married in 1955. Freda was a faithful companion and mentor to Calvin.

In 1962 the growing family moved to Richmond Indiana, where Calvin taught sociology of religion at Earlham School of Religion and Earlham College. In 1967 the family moved to Goshen, Indiana, where Calvin taught at Goshen College as Professor of Sociology, as well as the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart. During 1971-72 the family lived in Paraguay while Calvin pursued research on indigenous-Mennonite relations in the Chaco. This was a formative experience for the family, and eventually resulted in the publication of Strangers Become Neighbors: Indigenous and Mennonite Relations in the Paraguayan Chaco (1980).

In 1976 the family moved to Hillsboro, Kansas, where Cal served as vice president and dean of Tabor College, before heading to Canada where Calvin spent the final ten years of his academic career at Conrad Grebel College in Waterloo, Ontario, from which he retired in 1989. 

Starting in the 1970s, Cal and Freda led a number of travel tours, many with an Anabaptist focus, in Europe, Central and South America, and Jamaica, and throughout their marriage they traveled widely. In 1989 Cal and Freda moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where they spent many fine years together before Freda passed away in 2011. There he was involved in numerous activities and organizations, which included serving as a founding member of the Brethen-Mennonite Heritage Center; a founding member of Anabaptist Center for Religion and Society; an early and active supporter of Willow Run farm; and an active member of Park View Mennonite Church. He also taught courses as an adjunct in the EMU Business Department.

During his academic career Calvin was an invited lecturer at numerous Mennonite colleges, and he published many books and articles on Anabaptist/Mennonite topics, including The Old Colony Mennonites (1969); Mennonite Society (1989); Mennonite Entrepreneurs (1995), Creation and the Environment: An Anabaptist Perspective on a Sustainable World (2000); Power, Authority, and the Anabaptist Tradition (2001), and most recently Service: The Path to Justice (2022, with Terry Beitzel). 

Calvin was a popular college teacher and his sons remember the many times Cal and Freda invited students into the home for discussion, socializing and laughter. Over the course of his career he forged many friendships in the Mennonite world and beyond, continuing to make new friends and colleagues as his own generation left the stage.

Calvin was involved in numerous ventures and organizations over the course of his life, both public and private, business and civic, Mennonite and non-Mennonite. His first major business venture was to join a nascent startup, Excel Industries, Inc., a turf equipment company with which he and Freda remained affiliated for the rest of their lives. He was a founding member of Sunflower Energy Works, one of the first solar energy companies in Kansas. Cal was an active board member of EnerSource, a Canadian solar energy company; Secure Futures, a Virginia Solar company; Wood Composites Inc., a recycled decking company; and Real Associates, Inc., a small real estate company.

He also served on many community boards and associations in the Mennonite world. Among other involvements, Cal was instrumental in the formation of the “second MEDA” (Mennonite Economic Development Associates), and served as founding editor of The Marketplace, the official publication of MEDA. Towards the end of his life he and his family created the JustPax Fund and Redekop Family Endowment, charitable organizations devoted to economic, gender, and environmental justice.

Calvin is survived by sons Bill (Diana), Ben (Fran), Fred (Ria), and granddaughter Katarina. He was predeceased by his parents, sister Rosa, granddaughter Sallie, and loving wife and life-companion Freda. Calvin is also survived by brother Jacob and sisters Ella and Bertha, and many friends and extended family members including the Pellman clan.

A huge thanks to our title sponsors,���Ի���.

This Captain’s Choice event will be held at the Spotswood Country Club in Harrisonburg, on Thursday, September 22. There will be a catered lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m. Features of this year’s tournament include: 

-A commemorative gift

-Meet EMU student-athletes

-Chance to win a money prize on every par 3

-Catered lunch provided by Spotswood Country Club

-Games and Prizes

Entry fee is $400 per team ($100 per person). Teams are limited so register early!

Sponsorship Options

Whether you play golf or not, we invite you or your business to be a sponsor of the event. A detailed list of the various sponsorship opportunities is attached.  Contact Doug Alderfer at dalderfer@rockingham.k12.va.us.

Royal Sponsor – $1000 (includes team entry fee)

Hole Sponsor – $250

LovEMU Giving Day 2022 was another record-setting event — with $295,173 raised from 1,363 gifts. 

That’s a gain in more than $14,500 and 346 new gifts over last year’s totals.

The grand total includes

• $135,937 for the University Fund for Resilience;
• $36,350 for the Student Tuition Relief Fund;
• and $51,018 for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fund.

“These funds provide the building blocks for a bright and equitable future for each and every student,” said Braydon Hoover, director of development and annual giving. “We invited our community to help us envision how we can ‘Rise Up’ from another challenging year, and they answered ‘Together.’”

Receiving top votes from donors and winning $1,000 each were teacher education, in the academic category; field hockey, among athletic teams; and the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, for student organizations. 

Thanks to the many who donated and shared of their time to tell us how you LovEMU!

Special thanks to the LovEMU Day Team: Amelia Morrison, annual giving coordinator; Graham Stauffer ‘19, data analytics coordinator; Joshua Lyons, web developer and analyst; Rebekah Budnikas ‘15, social media manager; and Kristina Showalter ‘97, gifts receipting coordinator. 

After retiring from the ministry, Robert and Rachel Stoltzfus opened their home and hearts to many international students in Harrisonburg, Virginia. To Jose Koshy [pronounced as the first syllable of Joseph], they grew to become like a second mother and father.  

Newport News residents John Asa and Rebecca Hertzler lived out their staunch advocacy for peace and racial and gender justice in ways that challenged systems and ministered to those oppressed. Along with daughter Jean, the family moved to a racially mixed neighborhood, operating a thrift store that served area residents while also participating in desegregation, civil rights, and anti-war efforts.

When Jean and Jose met at ��ݮ���� in the late ‘70s and decided to spend their lives together, they carried the influence of these exemplars of service and love into their shared future. 

Nearly 40 years later, in their connection to the university, Jose Koshy, class of ‘76, and Jean Koshy-Hertzler ‘79 have honored the impact of these four people and ensured that their legacy of radical hospitality and justice advocacy continues. The couple’s gift endows an international student scholarship and amplifies diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at EMU.

“During these divisive times, we’re humbled to support a special scholarship for international students and an initiative championing diversity and inclusion,” said Jose Koshy at a November celebration in the university’s Hall of Nations. 

In attendance at the ceremony and luncheon were three generations of family members reuniting from the Shenandoah Valley, California, Texas, and Canada. Among the honored guests were John Asa Hertzler, Jean’s 91-year-old father, and David Stoltzfus ‘73 and Debbie Stoltzfus Accame, the children of Rachel and Robert Stoltzfus. 

“Jose and Jean’s gift will extend the legacy of both of these couples for decades to come,” said Kirk Shisler ‘81, vice president for advancement. “Investing as they have in a scholarship for international students and in the development of innovative new diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will provide transformative educational opportunities for our entire educational community that align deeply with our mission of preparing students to serve and lead in a global context.”

President Susan Schultz Huxman added her gratitude, in this season of thanksgiving, remembrance and rebirth, for the Koshy’s “bold investment in our future” through the provision of “the wide, well-lit pathways of access and opportunity” for the growth and development of international students and the broader EMU community. 

The Koshy gifts will support the following: 

The Robert and Rachel Stoltzfus Scholarship for International Students  provides significant financial aid to international students who otherwise could not attend EMU.

The EMU Inclusive Excellence Grant Program, beginning in spring 2022, fosters collaborative programming, partnerships, and catalysts for structural change that facilitate the development of a culture of belonging through embracing diversity and inclusivity. The program is open to EMU students, staff, and full-time faculty in Harrisonburg, Lancaster, and Washington D.C.  Proposals that seek to bring together members of the community from different cultural backgrounds and perspectives (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, socioeconomic status, generational) will be given priority.

The Hertzler-Koshy Faculty Fellowship Program, with the first application opening in the 2022-23 academic year, enables from three to six faculty members to spend one year in collaborative projects with students that integrate and infuse diversity into the curriculum with a specific focus on race, ethnicity, and gender content in the curricula (undergraduate, graduate, intercultural programs, training). 

Robert and Rachel Stoltzfus: ‘A special generosity … from the heart’

Rachel and Robert Stoltzfus met at Hesston College and planned for a missionary life in China. Instead they were called to Illinois and then Louisiana for church planting efforts in African American communities. They then moved to eastern Kentucky to pastor a church before retiring to Harrisonburg in 1971. 

Welcoming strangers into their home was a constant ministry. Over the years, the couple fostered several children and sheltered homeless men, women and families. Jose Koshy and his younger brother were the first international students that the Stoltzfuses fostered; more than 20 others followed. 

Jose was born in Brunei where his father, Kochu Koshy, was working for an oil company. Jose’s father answered the call to the ministry and then returned to India with his wife Rachel and family. As a pacifist with a desire to pursue biblical studies, he eventually found his way to Mennonite Brethren College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. There he met Myron Augsburger who invited him to continue studies at Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

Jose, his younger brother and Rachel moved to Harrisonburg to join Kochu, who would finish his bachelor’s and master’s degrees three years later. At that time in 1973, Jose’s parents decided to move to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for additional studies. (Kochu Koshy was eventually ordained in the Mennonite church, and the couple moved permanently back to India.) 

The Stoltzfuses understood the Koshy family’s limited financial resources and that the two youngest boys wanted to remain and continue their studies at Eastern Mennonite School and EMC. The couple provided the brothers with a solid Anabaptist home and foundation, which gave peace of mind to their father. A year later, the younger Koshy brother graduated and left for college. 

Jose continued living with Robert and Rachel for another four years while completing his studies (he would graduate from James Madison University with a degree in communications, a program not then offered at EMC). With their grown children, Debbie and David, living away from home, Jose became like a son and they became his second parents in Harrisonburg.

“The Koshy boys were the first of many international students they later hosted – and Jose became like a son,” said Debbie Stoltzfus Accame. Their relationship was full of “warmth, kindness, laughter and gratitude.”

That gratitude was sustained over the years as Jose and Jean started a family and  raised their three daughters in Texas. The love and openness Jose experienced in those five years in Harrisonburg gave shape to his life, he said, and for that, he had long sought a way to honor them.

“Their giving came from modest means, from not having much but wanting to share whatever they had. It was a special kind of generosity that comes from the heart,” he said. “They preached and lived the gospel through quiet practice. I wanted them to be recognized for their love and how valuable sharing love is, how it can make a difference because those five years essentially molded me in so many different ways. My value system came from that experience and this community, and I’ve always reminded myself of who I am by keeping in touch with them on a regular basis.”

Accame noted in her remarks that those who benefit from the scholarship can also carry on her parents’ values of sharing generously. “My parents didn’t just do service, they lived it as a way of life. But the other side of this is gratitude. Those who are grateful pay it forward and pass it on. We are so grateful for this honor of our parents today and I hope recipients of this award will also be grateful and pay it forward.”

John Asa and Rebecca Hertzler: ‘Good trouble’

John Asa Hertzler and Rebecca Hertzler, who died in 2011, spent most of their life in the Newport News area. “My parents taught my sister and I how to get into ‘good trouble,’ and they were living examples of that,” said daughter Jean, quoting John Lewis’s famous description of social activism. “They were seekers of the truth, spiritual warriors who walked the walk.”

The couple consistently questioned the status quo by advocating for women’s rights, protesting against the Vietnam war, joining the protest when highway construction tore down predominantly Black neighborhoods, and building relationships with people of different backgrounds and races. They engaged in the issues in different ways. John Asa was president of the Newport News chapter of the Human Relations Council and regularly contributed letters to the local newspaper which were so unpopular that the family received threatening phone calls. When Jean was a teenager, the family moved to a racially integrated area of Newport News.

“I was bussed across the city to my high school and my mother opened a nonprofit thrift store supported by our church that served local residents,” Jean remembered. “Again, they were walking the walk. It was just a part of living. There wasn’t a lot of discussion, it was just a given. That’s the way Jesus  would have done it.”

EMU’s new faculty fellows and grant programs are “inspired by the Hertzlers’ values and convictions,” said Jackie Font-Guzmán, executive director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at EMU. “Our aspiration with these programs is that as a community, we model the behavior and actions of John Asa and Rebecca, that we build relationships and compassion, love, and generosity, but also that, in the words of John Lewis, we get into some good trouble and disrupt the status quo when needed to fully live our mission.” 

For more information about endowed scholarships and DEI initiatives at EMU, contact Vice President for Advancement Kirk Shisler at 540-820-4499 or visit .

Unique is right. For 38 years, “The Gang” has hosted 74 reunions (“winter is for adults, summer is adults and kids,” Carey explained). The group is 19-strong and includes several couples who met while at EMU.

Several of them knew each other previously, including four classmates from Lancaster Mennonite High School. But most of The Gang coalesced on campus: they met in orientation groups, became class officers, shared time in YPCA activities, and became roommates. Ten of the 19 were on crosscultural to Jerusalem in 1981.

With her email, Cheryl included two photos.

Here is“How It Started,” dated November 1983.

And “How It’s Going,” in a slightly more sedate pose from their July 2021 gathering at Spruce Lake Retreat.

“The Gang” was also sighted (and sited) among other august company on the recognition wall of the Suter Science Center; spearheaded by Ed Brubaker, the group paid tribute to their relationships by funding renovations, fittingly, to the center’s student lounge. “We liked the idea of giving back to EMU as a group by funding a room in the Science Center,” Carey said. “Having all our names listed on the plate memorializes Gang presence on campus.”

In some ways, The Gang has never left EMU: Three are former employees:  Kevin Carey, 1982– 88; Denise Miller, 1988-89; ���Ի���Sheri Smucker, 2013-16.

There’s also been second-generation Gang members on campus: Kate Baker Baer ‘ 07 (married to Austin Baer ‘06), Kelly Baker Fry ‘11 and Justin Carey MBA ‘21.

Repping The Gang now are current students Nicole Miller and Hannah Giagnocavo.

But the biannual reunions, usually a weekend, are a life’s constant. Since the first meeting was November 1983 at the Ramada Inn, Tysons Corner, Va., they have met 73 more times: in major cities such as Richmond, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City. They’ve shared bed and breakfasts, houses at the beach, their homes, and even a Caribbean cruise. When Kirk and Marilyn Hanger were working in Mexico City as church planters, The Gang even showed up there. (Mini-Gang meet-ups also occur “unofficially” through the year, Carey said.)

“In early years, we’d stay up late until 1 a.m., but now, lights are out much earlier,” Carey said. “We would schedule a full weekend to explore the local area, eat, talk, laugh, play…not necessarily in that order … Now, we like just being together to talk.”

Here’s the full Gang roster: 

Dave Baker ‘82 and Melanie Gehret Baker ‘83, Perkiomenville, PA

Carl Beckler ‘83 and Karen Glick Beckler ‘84, Middle Granville, NY

Ed Brubaker ‘84 and Lucy Yoder Brubaker ‘83, Telford, PA

Kevin Carey ‘82, MA ‘86 and Cheryl Kreider Carey ‘83, Lansdowne, VA

Kirk Hanger ‘83 and Marilyn Cassel Hanger ‘83, Alexandria, VA

Karen Yoder Hartz ‘82 and Owen Hartz, Leola, PA

Luke Miller ‘82 and Denise Yoder Miller ‘85, Plymouth, MN

Carole Roth ‘82, Lancaster, PA

Ed Shenk ‘83 and Christine Good Shenk ‘83, Lancaster, PA

Dave Smucker and Sheri Hartzler Smucker, Harrisonburg, VA

The photo below is not the beginning or the end of this story. It’s one moment in many years of strangers becoming family, of kindnesses repaid upon kindnesses, of how opportunity — whether a tragic event, a life-changing surgery, or four years at a university — can be transformative.

Meet Dr. Ron David ’60, his wife Dr. Susan Lewis Pillsbury David, and Alejandra Rivera Tejada ’18. Here they are three years ago on the occasion of Alejandra’s graduation from ��ݮ����. A native of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, she graduated with honors and a degree in nursing.

Here’s more about how this moment came to be:

Dr. Ronald David ’60 was 12 years old when his life took a catastrophic turn: his mother died. David said his father wasn’t equipped to raise him after losing his wife, so he arranged for David to spend the summer on a family friend’s farm in Denbigh, Virginia.

“I don’t know what would have happened to me if not for the Weavers’ willingness to take someone as ornery as me,” he said. “That’s how, basically, I got connected with Mennonites and the Mennonite church.”

Once being taken in by the Weaver family that summer, David never left. He became the youngest sibling in a vibrant, bantering family that encouraged him to follow in the other children’s footsteps – Sara Jane Weaver Wenger ’42, Kenneth Weaver ’52, Samuel Weaver ’66, and future Royals parent Lloyd Weaver Jr. – and attend Eastern Mennonite College. Others at the Mennonite Church the Weavers attended also saw potential in the young David, and pitched in for his tuition.

“So not only did they give me love and discipline, but they also took on a financial burden,” David said.

He went on to graduate with honors from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, became a child neurologist, and founded the Virginia Center for Autism and Related Developmental Disorders. He had four children of his own – and it was through one of his son-in-laws that David got involved with a Presbyterian medical missions program in Honduras. He and his wife, Dr. Susan Lewis Pillsbury David, started traveling there every Christmas season to provide healthcare to people who lived out in remote, mountainous corners of the country. 

While on these trips, David noticed a high prevalence of cataracts, to the point where people were going blind at a young age. He co-founded the nonprofit to provide free cataract surgeries and other eye care to people in southern Honduras. 

In doing this work, he was introduced to Melvin Tejada, the administrator of an eye hospital in the eastern part of the country – and the two became fast friends. Tejada’s daughter, Alejandra Tejada Rivera ’18, said that David quickly became “like family” to them. 

Alejandra Tejada Rivera was also interested in a career in healthcare. In her late teens, she started volunteering with the medical brigades as an interpreter. 

“We were in the mountains – very poor areas,” she explained. “A lot of those people don’t go to the hospital because they don’t have the transportation or money to pay for healthcare. So they come for women’s health problems, pediatrics is a big one, and just family medicine.”

As she started to envision her future career, David suggested she apply to ��ݮ����. He wanted to sponsor her studies – to pay forward the help he had received from the Weavers and others who had provided for his education.

As David puts it, “I said, ‘well, maybe we can do for Alejandra what the church did for me.'” 

Tejada Rivera entered the nursing program at EMU. She excelled in her studies, met her fiance Drew Diaz ’18, and graduated with honors. She’s now a registered nurse certified in orthopedics and pediatrics at Sentara RMH in Harrisonburg – and she and Diaz now participate in the same medical missions through which she first met David.

“I feel like that’s my calling,” Tejada Rivera said. “I would like to give back to my country, because there are many in need over there.”

Seeing his young protegé excell in her own career and help others, David “can’t help but be proud of her accomplishments,” he said. 

Most of all, he hopes his story will inspire others to support educational opportunities for youth who can’t afford them. 

“There are a lot of gifted people, particularly in Central America, that could use a little helping hand,” said David.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted us all, which is why these stories of paying-it-forward generosity are so meaningful,” said Vice President for Advancement Kirk Shisler.

Those interested in contributing to student access, affordability, and belongingness at EMU can learn more about the Forward Together Campaign at emu.edu/campaign.

“Donors to the Forward Together Campaign could be the bridge students need to experience EMU’s transformative programs during a particularly challenging season,” Shisler said.