In honor of the lifelong influence of their alma mater, the Jubilee Alumni Association Committee has established an endowed scholarship fund to support high-achieving students who otherwise may not be able to attend ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř.

With $25,000 in seed funds and a goal of $1 million, the scholarship will be awarded for the first time in fall 2020.

The new endowment was announced at the association’s annual luncheon during Homecoming and Family Weekend. Jubilee membership is for those alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago. The annual luncheon also includes an induction ceremony for those who have gathered for their 50-year reunion. The Jubilee Alumni Association includes 3,000 members.

The endowed scholarship is an initiative of Jubilee members and officers Dr. Richard G. Stoltzfus ’59, association president; Susan Weaver Godshall ’65, vice president and president-elect, and Julia Hartzler Alleman ’65, archivist. 

“For many students now, finances are a big concern,” Stolzfus said. “Some cannot attend because of financial hardship and others graduate with large amounts of debt. This new endowed scholarship is a worthy effort and a real investment in the future that will grow in perpetuity. I would invite all of you to consider this as a way you can help.”

An urgent need

A third of ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s $33 million endowment is designated for undergraduate student scholarships. However, that allotment is not as significant as it sounds, said Jasmine Hardesty, director of development and planned giving. 

“Each year, EMU loses high-achieving, deserving students to other institutions because we cannot offer competitive financial aid packages,” Hardesty said. 

Two factors would help EMU attract more students: 1) more scholarships like the Jubilee Alumni Association’s new fund, and 2) a more robust university endowment.

Though in recent years, that $33 million endowment has grown significantly, the financial model came to EMU quite late in its history. 

“EMU is drastically underfunded, considering the university’s age and size, in relation to peer institutions,”said Hardesty. “In fact, to financially compete with peer institutions to provide competitive student scholarships, sustain facilities and recruit professors and coaches, EMU should have at least an endowment in the range of $90 to 120 million.” 

The endowment is an invested fund that through its earnings provides recurring annual income to the university. The income an endowment produces ensures institutional viability and long-term financial sustainability

“In order for EMU to fully thrive or lead in its second century, it is urgent to grow funds that are available to students through endowed scholarships such as the Jubilee Alumni Endowed Scholarship,” Hardesty said.

A tax-wise contribution to the endowed scholarship can benefit the donor, their estate or heirs, she added. Donations can take many forms, including a gift from an IRA, stock or a portion of real estate or business sale; naming the scholarship in the donor’s estate through a will or trust, or as a beneficiary on banking, financial or retirement accounts. 

How does an endowment work? 

Once a contribution is made, the funds are conservatively invested based on guidelines provided by the Mennonite Education Agency. The investment will ideally produce at least a 6% return and 5% of the funds are distributed as student scholarship awards. The remaining value is reinvested in order to grow the principal value of the endowment, which helps to sustain and increase the scholarship award annually. 

Eventually, when this scholarship reaches the ultimate funding goal of $1 million dollars, it will produce annually at least $50,000 to be awarded to students who may not be able to attend EMU without these funds.

This investment structure allows the endowment fund to grow and make distributions in perpetuity, providing a legacy and gift to students that will impact current and future generations.

For more information, call Jasmine Hardesty at 540-432-4971 or email her at jasmine.hardesty@emu.edu

A campus culture that “respects students’ right to protest” – that nurtures both students and the social movements they create, and embraces student activism as being the result of new knowledge at the core of liberation – benefits the entire community, said Hinojosa, a professor of history at Texas A & M. In their activism, students think critically, lead outside the classroom, practice civic engagement, and develop a greater sense of social responsibility.

Hinojosa’s August 14 address on the conference theme of “Being or Becoming a Third Way University” began the two-day event’s broader discussions around campus engagement, civic collaboration and diversity and inclusion, goals that are articulated in the university’s strategic plan.

“Dr. Hinojosa’s address was a helpful invitation as we anticipate the return of students to campus,” said Provost Fred Kniss. “Cultivating students’ abilities to engage with the world is central to our mission, and as an institution we can also learn from their desires for change.”

Conferences an annual tradition

·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s faculty-staff conferences bookend each academic year, with the fall event providing gathering in fellowship and renewal of the community’s common purpose and goals.

Braydon Hoover, director of development and annual giving and frequent conference emcee, pointed out that common vision in his welcome: “We’re all here for the exact same purpose … to prepare every single one of our students to distinctively serve and lead in a global context,” he said. “Whether you coach on the grass or you cut it, whether you teach 18-year-olds or students a little older, whether you work remotely or right here on campus, whether you took a break this summer or work diligently all year round, and even whether you hail from the titular religious tradition or another completely different, we – all of us – are EMU.”

The event included workshop sessions, worship and fellowship opportunities, and what’s become an annual favorite, “Storytelling,” featuring members of the campus community sharing about their journeys to, towards or within the EMU community. Fall storytellers included professors Johonna Turner and Esther Tian; Jasmine Hardesty, director of development and planned giving; and Scott Barge, vice president of institutional effectiveness.

The event was also a forum for announcements about the upcoming academic year, including the observance of MLK Day with extensive service and learning opportunities replacing scheduled classes.

Keynote speaker calls for empowering synergy

Hinojosa knows what it means to envision a different university. While a student at Fresno Pacific University in California, he joined student movements to encourage the hiring of more diverse faculty and expansion of the curriculum and academic programs.

“How could a university in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, surrounded by a large Latinx population and located in an area that gave birth to the greatest and most successful farm workers civil rights movement, not teach a course on this?” he said.

The synergy between his own student activism and intellectual engagement – the “growth of political consciousness and understanding of history,” his own and his people’s – was both personally empowering and beneficial to the campus community.

Now a tenured professor of history at Texas A&M University, Hinojosa also directs the history department’s undergraduate studies and is co-founder and co-director of the Latina/o Studies Working Group sponsored by the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research.

Sharing his pedagogical philosophy that asks “So what? Now what?” with his students in courses about social movements, Latinx history, gender, comparative race and ethnicity, Hinojosa has become a resource, guide and mentor to diverse student activists.

This role – and the work of activism itself – is “messy” and “chaotic,” but “more important than ever,” he said.

In considering the role of the “third way university,” Hinojosa noted the history of socially progressive Christians. While “distorted forms of Christianity got the most play,” they quietly went to work in communities around the world.

“A third way university must build on this radical tradition,” he said.

In response to a question from Director of Multicultural Services Celeste Thomas, Hinojosa elaborated on additional ways of supporting black and brown students in the predominantly white university setting: listening to the voices and perspectives of marginalized students, hiring diverse and/or culturally competent faculty and staff, providing safe community spaces for these students, and prioritizing issues and the history of diverse communities in curriculum and academic programs.

Beyond the keynote

Afternoon breakout sessions offered faculty and staff opportunities to learn more about distinctive programs that link to core values of ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s mission and vision.  

Various restorative justice initiatives and programs were highlighted in a special session hosted by professors Johonna Turner and Carl Stauffer, who co-direct the housed in the . Jon Swartz, associate dean of students, talked about restorative justice as it relates to the campus community and highlighted the growth, and growing interest, in RJ-related trainings. Meg Sanders, director of ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s Graduate Teacher Education program, spoke about the new master’s degree and graduate certificate in restorative justice, as well as the integration of RJ principles and practices into professional training courses offered by the university.

Director Kimberly Schmidt presented on the , ·ˇ˛Ń±«â€™s Washington D.C.-based program offering cross-cultural urban studies, internship and community living experience. She was joined by Associate Director Ryan Good and Program Assistant Karlyn Gehring.

Doug Graber Neufeld presented on the , a collaborative initiative of ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř, Goshen College and Mennonite Central Committee to lead Anabaptist efforts to respond to the challenges of climate change. Neufeld, a biology professor at EMU, directs the center.