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 ��ݮ����.

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 EMU’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

With a record-setting number of gifts on April 10’s , ��ݮ���� donors helped students access valuable courses, get to know caring professors, go on their cross-cultural and enjoy a transformative higher education experience.

Thank you!

More than $115,210 was given from 731 gifts during the 24-hour period — and givers were also generous in their reasons why they donated. A few students among the record number of student participants wrote the following:

• I love EMU because it has molded me into the person I am.
• EMU helps you grow as an entire person and embrace who God wants you to become.
• I love that I get to play basketball but still focus on academics and the future!
• I love the atmosphere of home, hospitality and care for everyone!

Attendance was big at several reunion events around the country, as well. Jeff Shank ’94, director of alumni and parent relations, said the day not only helped support EMU’s future and its students but also helped to build strong connections between EMU alumni ��and the EMU community. “We had 156 alumni attend six events in four states, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio. At the Harrisonburg event, Doug Alderfer ‘92 talked about feeling a lot of pride when he looked around the room and saw so many good people doing good work in his community. I know others experienced similar feelings.”

Challenges Met!

The number of givers exceeded goals in several of the challenges. Target goals of 50 were met quickly during

• the Lunch Hour Challenge (87),
• the Parent/Grandparent Challenge (98),
• the Faculty and Staff Challenge (85) and
• the Sweetheart Challenge (54).

The Alumni Challenge also logged 320 gifts to an anticipated total of 300.

With each donation, donors were prompted to vote for an academic department, athletics program and student club. Top vote-earners were awarded $500. Winners were the education department, field hockey and the Black Student Union.

Next year, look for the 50-state challenge to return. The $5,000 gift went unclaimed. Do you know someone (anyone!) in Wyoming, Nevada, North Dakota and Utah? We’re also looking for supporters of EMU in Alabama, New Hampshire and Rhode Island so that we can unlock the $5,000 challenge.

Big Crowdfunding Support!

The event was also record-setting in another way, said Vice President for Advancement Kirk Shisler ’81. “That EMU is truly a place of inspiration and vision has just recently been affirmed to us all. Inside of one month, approximately 1,000 alumni and friends have raised nearly $230,000 in support of LovEMU Giving Day — and for the MJ Sharp Peace and Justice Endowed Scholarship through the incredible MJ Sharp Dream Hike to the top of Kilimanjaro that gained worldwide attention.”

Do you live in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and want a doctor who loves EMU as much as you do? No problem. Advertising services in Salem, Oregon? Check. A restorative justice program in South Korea? Um-hmmm. Barbecue in Souderton, Pennsylvania? Yep – that, too.

“People often want to connect with alumni businesses, because of the value systems that our alumni adhere to and because they know the quality of education that they received at EMU,” said Jeff Shank, director of alumni and parent engagement. “That common ground is invaluable.”

Searchable by business category, internship opportunities and region, Royal Connections is already populated with more than 125 businesses – well over the launch goal. The site also links users to EMU’s career services website, where business owners can recruit Royals.

“Many of our business students seek internships in the summer, and Royal Connections will allow us to connect them with options in their own home towns,” said Professor Jim Leaman, chair of EMU’s Business and Leadership Department. “And when our graduates enter the workforce outside EMU’s region, Royal Connections will provide information that should be of benefit both to applicant and organization.”

Developed by EMU’s web developer and analyst Joshua Lyons with input from Shank, the site integrates various Google Map features. Users can see all of the businesses at once on the map or search by region, business type, or internship possibility – or just use the map to zoom in or out on an area to see what’s nearby.

Shank came up with the idea after a casual conversation with Mitch Troyer ‘93, vice president of Blue Ridge Powersports in Harrisonburg, about connecting alumni to each others’ businesses.

“The thing that people who haven’t experienced EMU don’t understand is that EMU people have a common bond and are good people at heart,” Troyer said. “I like to spend money with people I know and trust, and I’ve got a great chance of being treated fairly and getting a quality job done when I am working with someone from EMU.”

Several alumni-owned businesses that have sponsored the site are featured in rotation on the site homepage: Emotional Health Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, co-owned by Doug Friesen ’91;��Peace, Love, and Little Donuts in Harrisonburg, co-owned by Katelyn Troyer ’14;��the Valley Roots Team, with��Jeremy Litwiller ’97�����Ի���Derik Trissel ’01 of Kline May Realty in Harrisonburg; and Best Western Plus Dutch Haus Inn and Suites in Columbiana, Ohio, co-owned by Grace Witmer Styer ’79 and Nelson Witmer ’87.

The first tour to Israel/Palestine, with longtime leaders Linford and Janet Stutzman, traveled in November 2017 to rave reviews.

The Cuba group filled quickly—and another trip is scheduled for March 21-30, 2019. (The deadline to register is Aug. 31. There are also trips to Lithuania, Israel/Palestine and Ireland: go here to read more.)

If you’re interested in going to Cuba, now is the time, says Jeff Shank, director of alumni and parent engagement. Restrictions by the Trump Administration in November 2017 limit travel to those going with an organized, U.S.-owned company.

These same regulations, Shank says, call for Americans to participate in “people-to-people” tours emphasizing educational and meaningful experiences shared with area residents –exactly the kind of travel EMU cross-cultural planners have specialized in for their undergraduate students for years.

That means the schedule is full and the experience truly informative about a country’s culture, arts and history, said Braydon Hoover ’11, director of development & annual giving, who traveled to Cuba on this first trip with his wife Heidi Muller ’11 Hoover, leaders Nathan Barge and Elaine Zook Barge, and 17 others.*

“Our alumni tour to Cuba was everything a cross-cultural ought to be – challenging our preconceptions, expanding our worldviews, introducing us to new friends, and surprising in all the right ways,” he added.

More from Braydon Hoover

It’s easy for Americans to condense Cuba into a few choice images. Of course, all those beautiful Chevys and Fords frozen in time come immediately to mind. ��Old women smoking enormous cigars and the smooth Afro Cuban rhythms of the Buena Vista Social Club, too.

Romanticizing the 40’s and 50’s, my mind’s eye could picture Papa Hemingway himself, sipping daiquiris in the warm tropical breeze while drafting The Old Man and the Sea.

Perhaps the most prominent image, especially for those of us who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis and its aftermath, is the ever-looming legacy of Fidel Castro and that big, scary C-word (turns out it’s more akin to democratic socialism than Soviet Union-era politics, but more on that later…)

While Cuba is certainly an amalgamation of all these, the country and its people are so much more than what we’ve been led to believe – I certainly discovered that from our first day in Havana.

What we don’t hear is that one of the very first programs instituted by the Revolutionary government was a literacy campaign (it’s historic impact now enshrined in the National Museum of the Campaign for Alphabetization, one of the first stops of our trip). This campaign led to the complete eradication of illiteracy on the island and began a series of reforms that nationalized education through the 11th grade and beyond. The Latin American School of Medicine, another stop on our cultural tour, provides tuition-free medical education to anyone (even citizens of the U.S. whom we met). The only stipulation? Students must return to their home community after graduation and serve those that need it most.

While the national discourse in the U.S. on universal healthcare reaches a boiling point, Cuba has settled into an effective, communal system that cares for every citizen. A doctor is a public servant, serving community blocks of approximately 1,000 from birth to death. They live above their clinics and are on hand 24/7. A newborn will be looked in on every day during their first year of life and the medical histories and nutritional habits of the elderly are comprehensively known. Dr. Barb even joked that she sticks her finger in the dinner pot on her rounds to make sure her treatment instructions are being followed!

We were also fortunate to visit Cuba during the lead-up to their elections in April where, for the first time in 60 years, a non-Revolutionary was likely to take the helm of governance (and did!). The excitement was palpable without a single billboard, pamphlet, or political television ad to be seen (a novel idea, I know). What’s more, the people have more of a direct say in their elected representatives than what the Electoral College grants the U.S. And as Cuba continues to evolve, so too does its economy. We frequently ate our dinners at privately owned and operated restaurants, called paladars, which was one of the first steps Raul Castro took toward a mixed economy.

Soaring above everything else is the indelible nature of the Cuban people, the resiliency. It’s a land of near-constant revolution. Through upheaval after upheaval, oppression upon oppression, Cubans – an eclectic and beautiful mix of cultures – have adapted, been transformed, and, I suspect, be transformational on the world’s stage in the years to come. ����

Lest you think these alumni cross-cultural tours are all work and no play, we also had ample opportunity to walk along the Malecón and be kissed by the sea; purchase fruit and sandwiches, art and mojitos in Old Havana; and swim in the Bay the Pigs (you read that correctly). We met with some of the top scholars and leaders in Cuban culture and traveled with tour guides as knowledgeable as they were kind… Muchas gracias, Martin Luther King Jr. Center and Natan y Elena!

*Editor’s note: Because all four of these folks are EMU alumni and Elaine and Nathan are “double Royals,” grad years were omitted so the sentence didn’t get overly numerical. But for the curious, Braydon graduated in 2011 and Heidi in 2010. Nathan earned his BA in 1984 and an MA in conflict transformation in 1999. Elaine earned her BA in 1975 and completed an MA in conflict transformation in 2003.

With two hours and 13 minutes of Tuesday’s remaining on the clock, Advancement Associate Director Braydon Hoover ’11 took to the social media airwaves to exhort the faithful.

The video captures the moment in the mostly deserted Campus Center: Hoover possesses a charmingly rumpled look after a long day of fundraising: notably, his signature bowtie is missing, but traces of his normal sartorial elegance still remain, visible in the collar and tails of his white dress shirt under his LovEMU t-shirt.

“With just two challenges left to meet,” he says, “we are counting on you to make EMU’s future bright and sustainable — and thank you for loving EMU!”

When the clock struck midnight, those challenges had been met.

In a historic day that marked an outpouring of love for EMU from across the country and around the world, the second annual one-day fundraising campaign resulted in a record total of��$119,232 ���Ի���681 gifts.��[The above video was filmed before other donations, which came in between midnight and noon today, were added to the total.]

Both tallies exceeded 2017 numbers.

“Our participation was outstanding and the entire day an affirmation and celebration of this special place and everyone connected to it,” said Jeff Shank, director of alumni and parent relations. “From alumni gatherings to the excitement on campus and on social media, our community truly came together to support EMU’s important educational mission.”

Donations grow, and grow, and grow…

All six challenges exceeded participation goals, as alumni, parents and grandparents, faculty and staff, trustees, Centennial givers, and sweethearts who met at EMU helped to unlock matching gifts.

Several anonymous generous donors, as well as President Susan Schultz Huxman and Provost Fred Kniss, offered to match gifts if various goals were met by certain groups, including current and former board of trustee members (36 participated), faculty and staff (81 participated), parents and grandparents (123 participated).

At eight evening gatherings in four states and Washington D.C., approximately 220 alumni and their families reconnected around the digital leaderboards, watching the donations grow as the night went on.

made the occasion even more historic, hosting an alumni event at the Lancaster Airport terminal to coincide with the announcement of their new aviation program – the first collegiate 4-year degree program in the region.

Business, volleyball, first-years win votes

With a format that encouraged competition and “showing the love” for a certain “beloved” academic or athletic program and class, competition for “votes” went late into the evening.

Business and economics narrowly squeezed out reigning champion education 73-71. Psychology finished third with 47 votes.

The competition was tight on the athletics side, with women’s volleyball team successfully defending their title, garnering 150 votes to 146 votes of new challenger field hockey.

And in a major upset, EMU’s first-year class upset the seniors 125-117.

A sampling of the LOVE

Here’s just a few of the comments from generous contributors, when asked to share what they love about EMU:

• The extended community that knows no boundaries.
• The small class sizes where I felt like I really got to know my professors and still keep in contact with some.
• Without a doubt, EMU changed my life. From cross-cultural experience, meeting the love of my life and receiving an incredibly holistic education, I cannot thank EMU enough…
• Professors who have changed my children’s lives.
• Spiritual growth opportunities and mentoring.
• Demonstrating a commitment to the worldwide community.
• I love Coach Stick and her field hockey ladies!
• The friendships I made at EMU are priceless…many of my core values and lifestyle habits were formed during my years there.
• We built lifelong friendships. Father and daughter both experienced the Middle East cross cultural 27 years apart.
• The alumni I have met: great people and representatives of EMU.
• It’s inspiring. Every time we visit, we are so happy our daughter decided EMU was the university for her.
• EMU is a launching pad, a place to come home to, a flickering and constant place where I first learned how to take risks, recognize and create beauty, try my hand at leadership, and learn how to follow God with grown-up eyes and hands.

“This was a trip of a lifetime,” she said. “Its impact will be lifelong.”

During two weeks from Oct. 20 – Nov. 3, 24 participants learned about and discussed the region’s Biblical history, explored archaeological sites, engaged in current social issues of Palestinians and Israeli Jews, and enjoyed local food and the unique geography of the region.

Professor ’84, SEM ’90 and his wife Janet SEM ’91, who have led many semester and summer international cross-cultural trips for EMU, guided the group. Participants included alumni, parents of EMU alumni “and friends of EMU students who had always heard about how wonderful our cross-cultural experiences are and wanted one of their own,” said Jeff Shank ’94, director of alumni and parent engagement.

Learn more about EMU Alumni and Friends Cross-Cultural Trips.

A hallmark of EMU cross-cultural trips is making personal connections with local residents, and this trip was no exception. The group visited the “Tent of Nations,” a family farm under threat of settlement expansion; heard the firsthand account of how an Arab Israeli became a business partner with an Israeli Jew; and met two guides — a Palestinian Muslim and an Israeli Jew — who are both friends and co-workers and who gave the travelers two contrasting perspectives on some lesser known features of Jerusalem.

The tour was the first for alumni and friends offered by EMU, but more travels in EMU’s unique immersive and educational format are in the works. A trip to Cuba, led by ’75, MA ’03 (conflict transformation) and her husband Nathan Barge ’84, leaves March 2018. (While the trip is full, a wait list has been started.)

The Stutzmans will lead a fall 2018 Mediterranean Voyage. In summer 2019, Professor ’80 will lead an exploration of Lithuania’s music, art and culture.

Firsthand experiences come ‘full circle’

For some members of the Middle East tour group, the inspiration to attend came from hearing about other people’s travels to the Middle East as part of EMU’s undergraduate .

When Kendra Martin ’05 was a student, many of her close friends went on that trip, and returned having been “impacted, deeply,” she said. Going on this trip brought her “full circle” and allowed her to experience first hand what her college friends had told her about.

Maddie Clemens ’16 had a “life-changing” semester on the Middle East cross-cultural trip led by the Stutzmans in 2014, and was eager for the rest of her family, including sister Abby Clemens ’16��and parents Becky and Doug “to experience the people and places that had so greatly impacted her,” said her mother. This fall, the four participated in the Alumni and Friends Tour, together.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more enriching experience,” said Becky Clemens.

Connecting the dots

The trip traced 2,000 years of the biblical story and 4,000 years of human history, and offered Martin something she’d been wanting: motivation to read the Bible.

“The Bible was feeling like a big collection of stories about people in places I had no context for,” Martin said. “Now when I read about the Jordan River, for example, in Joshua 1:2 or Matthew 3:6, there is a connection point: ‘Hey! I’ve been there! I can picture what that may have been like.’ The Bible, its characters and the hope we have in Christ are coming alive with dust, sights and tastes.”

Leon Miller ’68��lived for “three wonderful years” in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the early 1970s, and went on this trip with his wife Sandy. He said that seeing Jesus’s teachings in his historical, political, cultural and geographic context was “enlightening.” But he was also sobered by the Israel and Palestine’s ongoing conflict, and said that before the trip, the prospect of returning to the region had given him “great inner tension.”

“I wasn’t sure I would be prepared to see the negative changes which I was anticipating: settlements, the wall, checkpoints and the stories of Palestinian repression by the Israeli military,” he said. “There were few surprises.”

Clemens said that she is still processing her experiences and the “new perspectives” she gained from the trip. The Stutzmans, she said, “helped us connect the dots from what we thought we knew about the ongoing conflict in the region to the reality of what it’s like for Palestinian families living under occupation.”

One especially meaningful experience, Clemens said, was a dinner hosted by a Palestinian Christian family in Beit Sahour who “shared their story with warm hospitality.”

“We were encouraged by those on both sides of the conflict who expressed their unwavering commitment to continually seek ways to live as neighbors and bring peace to their land,” she said.

Linford Stutzman said that he and Janet love the impact they observe on cross-cultural participants.

“This potential for life-changing moments occurs in random encounters walking the streets of Jerusalem, around a meal in a Palestinian home, standing on the cliffs of Arbel overlooking the Sea of Galilee,” he said. “The enthusiasm and joy of travelers is our most rewarding part of the journey.”

Jeff Shank, who went on the trip, agreed. “The alumni and friends who attended this trip to the Middle East not only learned and experienced interesting things but became friends in the process. Everyone seemed to thoroughly appreciate the trip, the leaders, and the experience.”

While “homecoming” often conjures images of happily engaged older alumni in circles of chairs reminiscing, this weekend provided that and so much more.

A campus fun run, face painting, bouncey houses, experiments with the engineering club, tailgating, athletic events, and dancing on the lawn to the sounds of EMU’s jazz band and later The Steel Wheels kept children happy while their parents caught up and took in the fun as well.

The weekend was powerful and re-affirming, said 2007 graduates Timothy and Cheryl Heatwole Shenk of Camden, New Jersey. It reaffirmed their decision to attend EMU, their commitment to the university and their excitement to see “the growth and changes that are shaping the future,” Timothy said. “Our children were thrilled to see some of the places and people we have told them about in stories. Our 8-year-old is already talking about when she attends EMU some day. It makes me proud.”

The two were also particularly touched by recognitions of alumni , who posthumously received the Life Service Award, and Centennial Award recipients .

“I had tears in my eyes seeing Chester and Sara Jane be publicly affirmed for their lives of service,” said Heatwole Shenk.

“It takes a village to plan and execute over 80 events,” noted President Susan Schultz Huxman after the marathon weekend. “I deeply appreciate all those who prepared the facilities and food, served as ambassadors and ‘point people’ at so many activities and who provided music, presentations, programs, logistics. ��It was ‘all hands on deck’ to celebrate 100 glorious years and I appreciate everyone who played a role.”

More special coverage

. Approximately 1,300 saw the play by Ingrid DeSanctis and Ted Swartz, commissioned by the Centennial Committee, and featuring a cast of alumni actors and musicians, including current students.

EMU’s second annual TenTalks featured Jodie Geddes MA ’16 (conflict transformation), who works in restorative justice with youth; Anxo ��é����� ’97, entrepreneur in Spain, author, musician; and Trent Wagler ‘02 of Americana band, The Steel Wheels. Watch the .

The Presidents’ Forum, hosted by historian Don Kraybill, featured presidents emeriti Myron S. Augsburger, 1965-80; Joseph L. Lapp, 1987-2003; and Loren E. Swartzendruber, 2003-2016, as well as current president Susan Schultz Huxman. Read coverage .

At least 200 gathered for the “ artists’ talks Friday afternoon, and by Saturday afternoon, more than 80 pieces of artwork had been purchased with a percent of sales going to benefit the EMU art program.

Sunday’s traditional worship service tied past, present and future together. Read coverage and listen to the podcast here. Also present and part of a litany reading were alumni award recipients , Centennial Award; ‘97, Alumnus of the Year; ’87, Distinguished Service; ’03, Young Alumnus; and John and Michelle Sharp, parents of Life Service Award honoree ‘05.

By the numbers

Record numbers of participants called for record numbers of behind-the-scenes volunteers, staff and faculty to pull off more than 85 events planned for the extended weekend.

• Exact numbers are hard to come by as people dropped in and out for various events, but 900 adults and 66 children registered for homecoming events, a significant increase from 2016 events; 1,582 tickets were sold for The Steel Wheels concert and 1,190 theater production tickets were issued.
• Centennial author Donald B. Kraybill signed approximately 300 copies of his book, ��ݮ����: A Century of Countercultural Education. The hardcover book is available through EMU at the special price of $19.99 plus tax, shipping and handling. To order, . The book is also available from and at at a cost of $40; Amazon also offers a Kindle version at $18.99.If you have questions about the book purchase, contact ��ݮ���� at centennialbook@emu.edu or 540-432-4101. with Kraybill about the six-year project and his reflections
• With oversight by director of food services Bruce Emmerson, of Pioneer College Catering, dozens of people worked collaboratively with facilities management, development and alumni/parent engagement colleagues to serve ��2,734 meals between the dining hall and catered events. They��catered 36 events: 480 people were served at the donor appreciation banquet, followed the next day by six breakfasts and eight lunches outside of the dining facility — consider the fact that those meals started simultaneously -— and the delivery of many cookie trays and coffee. Emmerson, who has earned numerous awards for his innovation from Pioneer and also won the hearts of the EMU community, expressed pride in his team, noting, “I didn’t hire additional staff. Everyone picked up extra shifts with a ‘can-do’ spirit.”
• Sixty-nine parents joined the first-ever parent reception over Saturday lunch with a chance to mingle and hear from Parent Council members and Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement Jeff Shank. “This is definitely ��a new event we’ll want to make a tradition,” noted Shank.

• Sixty-one people participated in the Centennial Century bike ride Friday morning, divided between a 100K, 50K, and 5K ride for a few parents with toddlers in tow. Participants included community members as well as faculty, staff and alumni.

Magical weekend

It was simply a magical weekend, exclaimed Emebet Assefa ’97, who traveled from San Diego, California, for her 20th class reunion. “Seeing my classmates, friends, professors after so many years and spending some lovely time with them was priceless. It was like coming back home!”

“I am immensely grateful for the combined efforts of many to plan and produce this special weekend for alumni, family and friends of ��ݮ����,” reflected Louise Hostetter, Centennial committee chairperson. “It was particularly delightful to observe several generations attending many events and at Eastern Mennonite School, enjoying the opportunity to renew acquaintances, celebrate our past and anticipate our future!”

The centennial year of celebration will continue throughout the fall, winter and spring. For a listing of events, visit .

One hundred years later to the day, the school — now known as ��ݮ���� — concluded a special Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend with worship�� in a near-capacity Lehman Auditorium.

“It’s so fitting that this gathering is a gathering for worship, prayer and singing, recognizing that it is only through the movement, guidance and call of God’s spirit that this institution has survived and in fact thrived,” said��Jane Hoober Peifer ’75, MDiv ’98, who planned the service along with Les Horning ’86, MDiv ’98, and current director of admissions for Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

Members of Park View Mennonite Church swelled the congregation, their presence a symbol of historic unity. The congregation formed as part of the compulsory Sunday school and worship for students at the college, worshiping in the auditorium until 1968 when it moved to its current location on North College Avenue.

Also present and part of a litany reading were alumni award recipients , Centennial Award; ‘97, Alumnus of the Year; ’87, Distinguished Service; ’03, Young Alumnus; and John and Michele Sharp, parents of Life Service Award honoree ‘05.

As late-comers squeezed into pews or trekked up to the balcony, Centennial historian Donald B. Kraybill ’67 spoke of the significance of the first hymn in the day’s program “Begin the Day with God,” sung daily by students in the school’s early years.

After several years of searching unsuccessfully for a site in the east for a new Mennonite school — in Newport News, Alexandria and other locations — L.J. Heatwole came home to Harrisonburg in the fall of 1915. Discouraged, but still holding out hope, he rallied several men at Weavers Mennonite Church to host a special Bible term in January 2016. Eventually, the group rented the Old White House in Assembly Park, where early in January, 35 students and a handful of faculty gathered. “Begin the Day with God” was the first hymn they sang.

John and Michelle Sharp offered the homily. Their son, known to most as M.J., was murdered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo while working with the United Nations, building relationships with warlords and persuading more than 1,600 armed rebels to lay down their weapons and leave the forest with their families for a new beginning.

The Sharps spoke of Christ’s posture of humility, an essential “emptying” so important to his mission. “Serving, listening and transforming requires a posture of humility, giving up all pursuit of status, arrogance and control,” John Sharp said. God who loves all humanity calls us to do the same, he continued. Fearfulness and suspicion of others we do not understand limits our access to God and God’s access to us.

Accompanied by photos of their son in Congo, the Sharps shared what they had learned since his death about their son’s unique way of serving, listening and transforming. They encouraged congregants to listen as M.J. listened — with humility and without judgement — wherever they serve, at home or in far away places such as the DRC. [ of the Sharp’s chapel presentation on Friday, Oct. 13).

Following the homily, alumni award recipients joined together to share a reading of text from Isaiah 25 and Philippians 2.

The service and music, led by Benjamin Bergey ’11, was framed around selections from the following scripture:

Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…who though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. (Philippians 2: 4, 5)

And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:7b-8)

For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for God’s good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

While commissioned events like , , , and an art exhibit headline this special celebration, there are many other new events on Saturday to consider attending.

“The creative team here in alumni and parent engagement has had a lot of fun coming up with new activities in the last couple of years, like , the Campus Canvas Fun Run and the Fall Festival,” says Jeff Shank, director of alumni and parent engagement. “We’re excited to add Affinity Drop-ins and Decades Gatherings this year, two opportunities to catch up with friends, professors and even people you don’t know but have similar interests or were at EMU at the same time.”

Affinity Drop-in and Decade Gatherings

The Affinity Drop-ins are from 1 – 3 p.m. at various locations around campus.

“We often hear that alumni who attend their class reunion wish they could see classmates from grad years different than their own, those who shared a special experience with them, or professors that had an impact on their lives,” says Shank.

The following are currently scheduled, but Shank says more gatherings are in the works. He suggests checking the website or an updated schedule in the days before Homecoming and Family Weekend.

• Jim and Ann Hershberger: Central America cross-cultural reunion, 1985 – present;
• Honors program alumni with Mark Metzler Sawin/Judy Mullet;
• Riverside nursing alumni;
• EMU tutor reunion celebrating 10 years of the writing program with Vi Dutcher and Linda Gnagey;
• Black Student Union alumni and parent soiree;
• Latino Student Association alumni and student gathering;
• Library student /alumni assistants;
• MA in biomedicine program;
• Men’s soccer alumni with Coach Roger Mast and some previous coaches;
• Alleluia Singers of 1969;
• Women’s volleyball alumni with Coach Carrie Bert and some previous coaches;
• Other various athletic teams (more info to come).

��Another opportunity to meet alumni is The Decade Gathering on Saturday at 3 p.m. on Thomas Plaza. The first 500 alumni to attend will get a dip of Kline’s Ice Cream’s special EMU flavor, Centennial Cookie Crunch.

EMUTenTalks

This event premiered last year at Homecoming and Family Weekend to an overflowing audience. The features restorative justice practitioner and slam poet��Jodie Geddes MA ‘16, entrepreneur and EMU Alumnus of the Year��Anxo����é�������’97,��and musician and lead singer of The Steel Wheels��Trent Wagler ‘02.

“Last year, there was standing room only,” Shank says, “so come early for a good seat.”

Canvas Fun Run

One of the most colorful events of the day that is sure to create a special momento to take come, The Campus Canvas Fun Run is back again. Cruise the 2-mile course with alumni, faculty, staff, parents, students and youth of all ages. Take in the music and positive vibes on the front lawn. The best part: participants will finish the race covered in color.��Registration is required and make sure to indicate your t-shirt size.

Fall Festival

Bring blankets and lawn chairs, listen to Americana band The Steel Wheels (tickets required for concert venue), eat dinner from one of our local food trucks or set up a grill in one of the tailgating areas and enjoy the fall setting on campus. Yard games, inflatables, Li’l Royals Kids Zone and time to mingle will all be available at this event from 3-7 p.m.

Make sure to visit the Alumni and Parent Reception Tent to visit with campus representatives or purchase a special EMU t-shirt (only $10). Registration is required to set up in the tailgate lot and tickets are required to attend The Steel Wheels concert (go to the ).

More information on these events and the entire weekend can be found at .

With love in action as the guiding theme of the 2017 , several ��ݮ���� and Eastern Mennonite Seminary faculty and staff are sharing their research and wisdom at the Orlando, Florida, event.

Among the featured speakers to address youth is Assistant Professor of Social Work Melody Pannell, who wrote in a , “I sense a strong call for the church to continue shifting our response to injustice.”

She continues: Instead of showing love with just our words, we must begin speaking truth to power and taking deliberate and sustainable action in love. “Love is a Verb” is more than just a “theme.” This is a call to a higher level of discipleship and a deeper willingness to sacrifice ourselves and embody the love of Jesus Christ. It is a call to “lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” in a way that utilizes our collective and individual power, influence and resources to dismantle gender discrimination, address historical harms and resist structural racism.

Pannell, who was born and raised in Harlem, New York City, grew up attending Seventh Avenue Mennonite Church in Harlem and attended ��ݮ����. After graduating in 1997, she worked and earned both a Masters in Social Work and a Master of Divinity degree.

At the conference, Pannell shares her personal story and the challenges of finding and living in her own “” in a presentation for youth, as well as three other presentations on sexualization and healthy sexuality, a restorative approach to broken boundaries in congregational life, and her work as founder of Destiny’s Daughters Empowerment Ministry.

Other presenters include:

• , director of athletics and author of “,” speaking to both adults and youth about living and playing with a healthy balance;
• , professor at EMS, speaking to youth about decision-making for the future and the relationship of sports and faith;
• , associate dean at EMS and professor of Bible and religion at EMU, on “Mine, Ours, and Yours: Taking Care of Stuff”;
• , professor of education, pairing with Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, restorative justice coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee, to host two sessions for youth on restorative justice for difficult conversations and the basics of circle processes.

Among the featured speakers were alumni Lisa Cameron ’99, director of empowerment services at the YWCA Lancaster, and Phil Kniss ’82, MDiv ’95, pastor at Park View Mennonite Church, as well as two authors who have spoken at EMU, and .

Other faculty, staff and student involvement

Numerous EMU faculty, staff and students are at the convention as delegates for church-wide business sessions representing their home congregations, or as youth group sponsors from their home congregations. These include , undergraduate academic dean, representing Park View Mennonite Church; Ronda Rittenhouse, assistant to the undergraduate dean and youth sponsor for Lindale Mennonite Church, and others.

President is taking part in activities and will bring greetings to an alumni gathering hosted by Jeff Shank, director of alumni and parent engagement. More than 175 EMU and Eastern Mennonite Seminary graduates have registered for the reunion.

Leah Wenger, a sophomore, played a key role in planning this year’s new program for youth.��The goal of “Step Up” is to prepare and launch young people into future involvement as denominational delegates and church leaders who are involved with the broader church. Read more .

Shana Peachy Boshart��’86 led the planning for the Step Up program; she is an EMU board of trustee member�������Ի���Conference Minister for Christian Formation ���Ի���Youth Ministry for the denomination’s Central Plains Mennonite Conference.

Senior Nicole Litwiller is representing EMU at the , a “gathering to imagine an Anabaptist future for Mennonite Church USA.” , affiliate associate professor at EMU’s , is facilitating the summit.

Collaborative Mennonite higher ed branding

The final gift of Giving Day came in at 11:57 p.m. Tuesday evening, capping an exciting day of fundraising at ��ݮ����.

For a first-time event, the participation was outstanding, said Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement Jeff Shank.

A total of $106,500 was raised from 692 gifts, exceeding goals of $100,000 and 500 gifts.

With a format that encouraged competition and “showing the love” for a certain “beloved” academic or athletic program, competition for “votes” went late into the evening.

The winning academic department and athletic team, which each receive $500, were teacher education and the women’s volleyball team.

“This day was really more about love and community spirit than anything else,” said Shank. “I’ve been overwhelmed by the gratitude that everyone has for this place and how it’s impacted their life. People see a real and important value in the kind of education offered at EMU and they want to make sure it’s available now and in the future.”

Students were encouraged to participate by making a gift or reaching out to three contacts with a text or call to encourage donations; 214 undergraduate students participated, surpassing the goal of 100.

Several anonymous generous donors, as well as President Susan Schultz Huxman, offered to match gifts if various goals were met by certain groups, including current and former board of trustee members (38 participated), faculty and staff (155 participated), parents and grandparents (109 participated). A special lunchtime challenge called for 30 gifts during the lunch hour to unlock a matching gift of $5,000; 110 people topped that challenge within the first half hour of the time period.

Love to EMU: Comments from donors

Donors were invited to share why they love EMU. Here’s a sampling of comments.

• ��������������I love the encouragement to seek a career that will shape the world we live in.
• ��������������Excellent academics mixed with exploring the spiritual implications of life learning and vocation.
• ����������������Providing our daughter with an environment where she can grow in Christ and in confidence.
• ��������������I appreciate the professors’ guidance at EMU. They challenged me in a gentle way, helping to nurture in me a reflective, critical, and compassionate worldview. I would not be who I am today without my Middle East cross-cultural experience and the interdisciplinary opportunities my professors nudged me to pursue.
• ��������������Being here always felt like coming home.
• ��������������Knowing that alumni like were walking the talk and carrying out the mission of EMU in the real world, which is messy and painful —that makes me believe even deeper in the work of peacebuilding and being a global citizen.
• ��������������I love EMU because the people I work with feel like family.
• ��������������EMU changed my life and created a space where empathy and non-violence were strengths.
• ��������������Commitment to Anabaptist values: EMU teaches you to practice what you preach.

LovEMU Giving Day final numbers 2017

Top five departments receiving votes

1. Teacher education — 71 votes
2. Nursing — 58
3. Center for Justice and Peacebuilding — 56
4. Biology and chemistry — 43
5. Business and economics — 37

Top five athletic teams receiving votes

1. Women’s volleyball — 93 votes
2. Women’s soccer — 82
3. Men’s basketball — 59
4. Women’s basketball — 48
5. Men’s soccer — 46

“Gifts to EMU are key to making the EMU experience accessible to all, including those from varied socio-economic, academic and culturally diverse backgrounds,” explains Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement. “Now more than ever, this is key to EMU’s mission to prepare undergraduate, graduate and seminary students to serve and lead in a global context.”

Challenges and activities

Gifts of any size on this day – with close to $30,000 available in matching gifts by primarily anonymous donors – will support any fund the donor designates for undergraduate, graduate or seminary students. A variety of and special activities are planned throughout the day.

• President Susan Schultz Huxman will match every alumni gift of $10 or more with $10 of her own, up to $1,000, for the Huxman Challenge.
• Additional challenges include current students (t-shirt incentives!), lunch-time special, faculty/staff, parents and grandparents, and current and former Board of Trustee members.
• Kiosks across campus will provide on-the-spot opportunities for students to jump in with a spontaneous gift of any size. They might also text grandparents, uncles, aunts and others who are supportive of the EMU experience their loved one is having at EMU.
• When making an online gift, donors will be invited to about EMU; the program earning the most votes will win $500 for their program/department use.
• The EMU advancement team will gather in a central location to make calls, take calls and pledges, monitor the incoming gifts, answer questions and visit classes with donuts and other incentives. EMU’s mascot Herm will be along for the ride.

Why LovEMU Giving Day?

“Alumni often say how much they ‘loved’ their EMU experience,” says , director of alumni and parent engagement. “They mention friends, a professor, an athletic or cross-cultural experience.. LovEMU Giving Day invites people to remember what they love about EMU and share that love.”

The size of the gift does not matter. While all alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends are challenged to participate, Shank and other planners hope to particularly engage young alumni.

“Younger alumni have different giving patterns than previous generations,” says Shisler. “We want to challenge people to give from the heart, spontaneously, in the same way they do, for example, when touched by a KickStarter or other campaign for a specific cause.”

The cause, both Shisler and Shank note, is making EMU affordable so every student can become equipped for success in the job market or further academic pursuits, within the context of a supportive community.

Throughout the day, people can watch and social media for updates on amounts raised and challenges that still need a boost.

Who benefits?

“EMU’s financial aid is as generous as we can make it for both merit-based and need-based undergraduate student aid,” says , financial aid director. The average for an undergraduate student in 2016-17 was $30,000. Over $12 million in aid was awarded by EMU in 2014-15.

“We work with each family, knowing that college study is a significant investment,” she said. “We believe EMU is a worthwhile investment and need more support to make it available to all who seek to be part of our community.”

Plan to Show the Love

Please plan to show your love for EMU on April 4 by giving a gift online, phoning in a pledge at (540) 432-4200 or (800) 368-3383, or emailing your intentions to devoffice@emu.edu.

Share your love and Royal pride in the comments section now or on April 4 when you make your online contribution. Tell us what you loved, learned and remember from your EMU experience.

Or have you heard so many stories of cross cultural that you want a taste of this unique kind of learning?

��ݮ���� will offer to Israel/Palestine in 2017, and possibly Central America/Cuba in 2018.

“The alumni engagement office is excited to offer these trips to alumni and friends of the university,” says , director of alumni and parent engagement. “We want to continue to offer opportunities that allow for our alumni to interact and be lifelong learners.”

Earlier this fall, Shank, in cooperation with the Cross Cultural Office and Linford Stutzman, began planning the 2017 tour. The two-week Israel/Palestine tour, led by longtime Middle East cross-cultural leaders Linford and Janet Stutzman, is Oct. 20 – Nov. 3. There are 24 spots available.

led a similar parents-and-alumni trip to the Middle East in 2011, which was met with “immense enthusiasm,” he says.

Participants will travel individually to Tel Aviv. From there, they will begin a fortnight of learning and travel, to include lectures and discussion on biblical history, exploring archaeological sites, engaging in current social issues of Palestinians and Israeli Jews, and enjoying local food and the unique geography of the region.

“We will be staying in some of the same places as we use for the students – the very best locations, the favorite people, the most unusual,” says Stutzman. “Because this is a much shorter experience, we will spend the entire time in Israel/Palestine, connecting with the highlights of the biblical story, history, religions, and current political situation in much the same way as we do with the students, but with less time.”

Destinations include Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem.

“The schools, churches, mosques . . . fill the town with an air of that everyday festivity that is characteristic of small, picturesque towns,” wrote student Diego Barahona while in Beit Sahour. “It is this ‘everydayness’ that especially brings to life the miraculous events of old that occured in this area.”

Another excursion will be hiking part of the J “to Cana, an Arab town that remembers Jesus’ first miracle,” says Stutzman. The trail was founded by alumnus David Landis ‘04 with an Israeli friend in 2007. Anna Dintaman ‘05 Landis joined the project the following year.

Stutzman says that he and Janet love the impact they observe on cross-cultural participants.

“This potential for life-changing moments occurs in random encounters walking the streets of Jerusalem, around a meal in a Palestinian home, standing on the cliffs of Arbel overlooking the Sea of Galilee,” says Stutzman. “The enthusiasm and joy of travelers is our most rewarding part of the journey.”

Learn More

Read more about EMU’s distinctive , one of the first of its kind in North America [history buffs will want to read t by Andrew Jenner ’04].

Visit the where students post photos and entries while on recent trips.

Read about the of the 2012 Middle East group.

After lofty choral anthems, congregational singing and Bible readings, the audience of several hundred listened to the 2016 alumni award winners, who reflected on the words of the prophet Micah — Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God — on their life and work.

Harvey Yoder: “Live in a way that justice will ‘roll down’”

, ’64, SEM ’99, was the first speaker, his theme of “do justice” an apt choice. Yoder is a pastor, counselor and social justice advocate in Harrisonburg and the broader community.

“Thanks for the opportunity to speak to a sometimes neglected aspect of ‘what God requires of us,’ and to what Richard Stearns calls ‘the hole in our gospel,’” Yoder said. “I can’t thank EMU enough for its part in being the kind of alma mater, nurturing mother, in addressing that issue of justice in a way that’s made a huge difference in my life from the time I enrolled here 56 years ago.”

Yoder named his father and mother, as well as experiences in EMU classes and chapel services and special events, as “transformative.” Relationships with friends, including his future wife Alma Jean Wert ’63, and professors “enlarged my world and impressed the words of Micah, the prophets, and of Jesus ever more indelibly on my life.”

One such experience at EMU, visiting inmates in a local jail, led to a lifetime of advocacy for criminal justice reform. Yoder named , Charles Zellers Sr. and John Bennie Williams, and shared of their repeated denial of parole requests.

“These are just a few of the things that have motivated me … to keep using whatever influence and whatever means I have left to encourage everyone to love justice as God does and to keep praying daily that God’s upside-down kingdom would come and that God’s will truly be done right here on earth as it is in heaven.”

Donna and Wayne Burkhart: ‘Love mercy’

Among the experiences of life that made him “wonder and reflect,” Wayne Burkhart ’67 said, was the loss of his son 22-year-old son Christopher. , recipients of the Distinguished Service Award, were recognized for their years of dedication to Gould Farm, a therapeutic residential community for those learning to manage psychiatric disorders in Massachusetts.

“Fortunately I came out on the other side with love … and seeing the beauty of the universe,” Wayne recounted. “Mercy is something I’ve thought about a lot. To live in mercy is to be calm and confident that I should continue life’s journey in faith.”

For me,” Donna said, “mercy has been a simple opening of the heart. It’s what God did in standing with his Son on the cross … it is what of each of us does for a way forward in a fragmented, struggling world not knowing the answers. Not building walls and not solving all the wrongs, but person to person with our hearts wide open embracing what we cannot bear, not pushing it away, embracing God’s mercy in our lives. Whatever we hope we have done has been our path to everything we have received.”

Grace: ‘Walk humbly as we follow’

Grace has for the past six years among the urban poor. Grace first answered Jesus’s call to “follow me” into the slums by listening to a small girl. “Jesus gives each one of us the same invitation follow me. The logistics look a little different for each follower, but we are called to follow humbly…”

Grace compares the journey of walking with Jesus to walking as a baby learns, step by step under the watchful eye and helping hand of a parent.

“Part of my job of following God is to teach my son how to follow, too,” she says. “…The irony is that often my children teach me about humility, about how to love others and about God. [My son] is not afraid to get dirty and run through puddles and play with mud for hours. He forms friendships across economic and religious and social barriers without even realizing it. Jesus gives us each the same invitation today. Follow me, follow me.”

This is not a clean or comfortable calling, but it is a way to God, she says.

“In the bittersweet knowledge that all of my efforts to make this community a better place are nothing but a drop in the ocean, it is the truth that God was in this place before I came, God loves these people more than I ever can and God has a plan that I cannnot fathom but that I know is good. And the great news is that Jesus invites us all to follow.”

Professor Ken J. Nafziger

Professor Ken J. Nafziger led the service, weaving together congregational and choral singing, scripture and reflection in a way he is known for across Mennonite Church USA and beyond.

Nafziger will retire this May after 40 years with EMU’s music department, which includes founding the annual Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival more than 25 years ago. He is of the festival.

Saturday afternoon, he was joined by 50 former Chamber Singers for a time of reminiscing — both funny and profound — about experiences as members of the choral group. And they also sang together.

At Sunday’s service, advancement associate Braydon Hoover, a former Chamber Singer himself , shared a few anecdotes and thanked Nafziger for his dedication to music excellence, student musicians and a lifetime of service to EMU, as well as the broader church.

“It’s a profoundly moving and exhilarating experience to gather representatives of 39 years’ worth of Chamber Singers experiences at the same time and place to hear what threads were constant throughout those 39 years,” reflected Nafziger later. “I was pretty much blown away! And, without a doubt, it was also profoundly moving and exhilarating to see lots of friends with whom I’ve shared music and experience and life. Thanks to all who organized that event, and to all those who attended, and to those who sent me notes saying they wished they could have been there.”

The Chamber Singers alumni provided the final selection of the worship service, “Dona nobis pacem” [Grant us peace], the concluding chorus of the Bach Mass in B Minor. In the group were five sets of parents and children: Kendra Good ’85 Rittenhouse and son Steven ’11, Michael Bishop ’81 and son Jonathan, Andy ’90 and Tina Martin ’89 Grove with son Dylan; Fred Kniss ’79 and sons Mike ’06 and Steve ’11; and Pam Risser ’80 with daughter Leah ’11.

Nafziger was presented with a fall bouquet in appreciation by Jeff Shank, director of alumni relations and parent engagement.

��ݮ���� (EMU) has announced that Saturday, Dec. 19, is Alumni Appreciation Day at the basketball doubleheader in Yoder Arena.�� The women play Hood College at 1 p.m. that afternoon, followed directly by the men hosting Messiah College at 3 p.m.

Besides free admission for alumni, the day will feature door prizes and giveaways, catered hors d’oeuvres, and the debut of EMU’s pep band.�� , EMU’s director of i and , said it will be a fun event for everyone.

“The Alumni Engagement Office wants our alumni to know that they are appreciated for representing us in their communities and for supporting us financially,” Shank explained.�� “This special event is one way for us to say ‘thank you’ and provide a chance for our alumni to connect with each other and back to the university.�� And we need alumni to cheer us on given that our students will be on break!”

Outside of all the special activity in Yoder Arena, alumni will be able to visit the President’s Reception Room in University Commons in between the women’s and men’s games for a time of catered hors d’oeuvres, from approximately 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.�� Afterwards, there will be an informal alumni gathering at Union Station from 5-7 p.m.

Herm, the school’s mascot, will also be present at the games and available for pictures.

Director of Athletics said that while alumni may find things have changed around campus over the years, some things have remained unchanged, such as young men and women taking advantage of opportunities through their participation in athletics to develop life skills and prepare to serve and lead in a global context.