From its founding as Eastern Mennonite School in September 1917 up through today, EMU has been led by nine presidents who have guided it through times of turbulence and periods of prosperity. 

In honor of Presidents’ Day, we bring you a brief summary of EMU’s eight presidents emeriti and some of their enduring accomplishments.

The information below is taken from the profiles at emu.edu/president/emeriti. Click on the link to read more in-depth histories of each president.

J.B. Smith
President from 1917 to 1922

When J.B. Smith, the first president — or principal, as it was called at the time — of Eastern Mennonite School, arrived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, by train on Oct. 9, 1917, he found that several students had been waiting almost two weeks to start their studies. The next morning, he directed the first registration; classes started on Oct. 15.

Smith worked tirelessly to develop the school’s curriculum, hire faculty, recruit students, solicit support from Mennonite churches and expand the campus. He taught a number of courses, and students loved and admired him.

Smith resigned in January 1922 in a dispute about Mennonite churches maintaining their a cappella singing tradition by banning musical instruments in the church as well as in the home. He did not agree that instruments should be banned in the home, and he and his wife had recently purchased a piano.

A.D. Wenger
President from 1922 to 1935

Raised on a farm near Harrisonburg, A.D. Wenger, a founder of EMS, had already twice declined to accept administrative positions at the school before being elected as the second principal of the school in February 1922. 

One of the first tasks that Wenger tackled as principal was what he called a “mountain of debt” that remained from the school’s start-up and construction of the Administration Bulding. In 1930, the junior college achieved state accreditation — probably the greatest accomplishment of the Wenger years.

Wenger, whose title was changed to “president” in 1926, presided over a school hard hit by the Great Depression for most of the 1930s. Enrollment declined, financial contributions decreased and faculty positions were cut. Salaries, which were already low, were reduced. Wenger died suddenly in his home on Oct. 5, 1935, at age 67.

John L. Stauffer
President from 1935 to 1948

Two days after Wenger’s death, the EMS board appointed John L. Stauffer, a charter member of the EMS board, professor and ordained minister, as acting president. He was elected president 13 months later.

During Stauffer’s 13-year presidency, the student numbers increased from 159 to 442. He, along with longtime Dean C.K. Lehman and others, worked for years to achieve accreditation for EMS as a four-year college. This was finally accomplished in 1947. That fall, the school officially became Eastern Mennonite College.

In 1948, Stauffer asked for and received a sabbatical leave, feeling that he had served his time and that he should step aside for a younger person with more formal education. 

John R. Mumaw
President from 1948 to 1965

Taking office as acting president of the newly renamed Eastern Mennonite College in the fall of 1948, John R. Mumaw had spent more than half his 44 years on campus — as student, staff member, campus pastor and professor. He was the first alumnus to be chosen president.

Throughout the 1950s, Mumaw led EMC in pursuit of regional accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The college achieved regional accreditation in 1959. Enrollment during Mumaw’s 17 years as president increased 44 percent, from 475 to 843. EMC was one of the first colleges in Virginia, a racially segregated southern state, to integrate (in 1948).

In the early 1960s, Mumaw started talking about leaving the presidency, but he agreed to stay on until 1965. 

Myron S. Augsburger
President from 1965 to 1980

When he took office as president of EMC at the age of 35 — the youngest president ever — Myron S. Augsburger was already a nationally recognized evangelical leader. 

He gave passion to the office. Drama, instrumental music, intercollegiate athletics and international study developed dramatically. The seminary program was strengthened, and EMC changed its official name to Eastern Mennonite College & Seminary. The two biggest building projects during the Augsburger years were the domed state-of-the-art facility later named Suter Science Center, which opened in 1968, and the building that later became Hartzler Library.

After 15 years of work to strengthen EMC&S, Augsburger decided to resign in 1980 to pursue other interests.

Richard C. Detweiler
President from 1980 to 1987

The EMC board recruited a respected 55-year-old churchman from eastern Pennsylvania, Richard C. Detweiler, to succeed Augsburger.

Under Detweiler, then-academic dean Albert Keim led a consultative process with the faculty that resulted in one of the cornerstones of undergraduate education to this day: a requirement, beginning in 1982, that students be exposed to cross-cultural matters through study and experience.

The biggest crisis of Detweiler’s tenure was the 1984 fire that destroyed the Administration Building during a major renovation. The building was unoccupied at the time, but the tragedy affected campus morale, and Detweiler faced the challenge of slumping enrollments and budget cuts that affected faculty and programs. By the time he left EMC&S, however, the student population was on the increase again and a striking new Campus Center stood on the side of the hill where the “Ad” Building had once stood. 

In 1987, Detweiler resigned from the presidency, saying his years at EMC&S were “the most enjoyable and most difficult” of his life.

Joseph L. Lapp
President from 1987 to 2003

Like his immediate predecessor, Joseph L. Lapp was a native of eastern Pennsylvania. But unlike all six of his predecessors, he was not an ordained minister. He was a lawyer by profession.

His biggest accomplishments were starting four graduate programs — counseling, conflict transformation, education and business — in the 1990s, and, as a result, ushering in the new name of ��ݮ���� in August 1994. Under Lapp’s leadership, EMU expanded its innovative cross-cultural program. EMU made numerous campus improvements that culminated in the University Commons complex that includes the Yoder Arena. The building opened in 2000.

After 16 years as president, Lapp departed in 2003 to join the staff of Mennonite Foundation (now part of Everence), directing its Harrisonburg office.

Loren E. Swartzendruber
President from 2003 to 2016

Although elected in 2003, Loren E. Swartzendruber did not actually take office until January 2004. He spent the intervening months in preparation for the presidency. Provost Beryl Brubaker was interim president from June to December.

Among Swartzendruber’s accomplishments were the successful re-accreditation process for another 10 years by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, filling key administrative positions with talented people, and leading the university through economic hard times while balancing the budget.

One of the biggest building projects during his administration was “Phase Two” of the University Commons project (completed in 2011) in which the old Student Center was transformed into a main stage theater, studio theater, art gallery, classrooms, advanced media lab, and expanded coffee shop. Other accomplishments included EMU’s groundbreaking solar installation on the roof of the Hartzler Library and attendance with alumna Leymah Gbowee at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

Swartzendruber retired in June 2016 after 13 years as president.

Current president

Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman has served as EMU’s ninth president since Jan. 1, 2017. During her leadership, EMU has shattered records for donor giving — mark your calendars for this year’s LovEMU Giving Day on Wednesday, April 10 — and the university has garnered its share of the national spotlight with high rankings by U.S. News & World Report and Money Magazine.

Among the building projects completed while she’s been at the helm, renovations for Suter Science Center West were finished and dedicated in October 2021. Along with new seating, lighting and upgraded technology for S-106, Suter West renovations included modernized classrooms, new laboratory space for EMU’s engineering program, upgrading of the discovery room and expanded displays from the D. Ralph Hostetter Natural History Collection, upgraded climate-control system and an improved sprinkler system.

Another major project, which is nearing the finish line, is the new track-and-field complex being built. The $6-million complex, which is more than halfway funded, is scheduled to open this year. Donations are accepted online at: /campaign/track-and-field.

Huxman has served for more than 25 years in higher education in a variety of administrative and academic leadership roles. A graduate of Bethel College, Huxman holds an MA and PhD in communication studies from University of Kansas.

Interim presidents

Over the years, three interim presidents have kept the business of the university moving forward: Beryl Brubaker (May-December 2003), Fred Kniss (May-August 2013 for Swartzendruber’s sabbatical), and Lee Snyder (July-December 2016).

Dr. John A. Lapp ’54, a history professor at Eastern Mennonite College during the Civil Rights Movement who helped lead the charge for local school desegregation, died on Dec. 5 at the age of 90. 

Remembered by many for his strongly held opinions and his booming belly laugh, Lapp died at the Waterford Crossing retirement community in Goshen, Indiana, where he had been living since 2011. A memorial service in celebration of his life will be held at a later date at College Mennonite Church in Goshen. An obituary with further details is available to read .

Lapp also held distinguished careers at Goshen College and at Mennonite Central Committee. He was the 2015 recipient of EMU’s Distinguished Service Award.

Born on March 15, 1933, in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, Lapp was the first of nine siblings. He served as a mentor to his younger sisters and brothers, including Joseph, who would become the seventh president of EMC, and EMU, from 1987 to 2003.

“He was the one who was breaking the ground in education and he was a big reader,” said President Emeritus Joseph Lapp ’66. “He was the one who paid attention to politics, and so he stimulated a lot of discussion in our home.”

John Lapp earned a bachelor’s degree in history from EMC in 1954. He later received a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 

Life at Eastern Mennonite College

After two years of alternative service as a conscientious objector to the military draft, he returned to EMC to teach as a history professor from 1956 to 1969. During his tenure as a professor, he was active in the Civil Rights Movement and, along with several friends and faculty members, participated in the landmark “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” in 1963 where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.

The professor also was instrumental in the formation of the local chapter of the Virginia Council on Human Relations. The “biracial organization sought to improve interracial relations through support of educational programs, school desegregation, fair employment practices and other related issues” (EMU News).

Following a campus visit from African-American Mennonite activists Vincent and Rosemarie Harding in 1963, John Lapp and fellow EMC history professor Samuel Horst, newly inspired, formed the committee largely responsible for the desegregation of Harrisonburg, Virginia, schools and hotels. Lapp and Harding were “major players in Harrisonburg’s ‘Concern Movement’ that pushed the city schools to desegregate,” according to EMU history professor Mark Metzler Sawin.

Joseph Lapp, who was 10 years younger than John, recalled his time as an EMC student in his brother’s History of Western Civilization class. “He would lecture almost nonstop for a whole hour,” he said. “He held everybody’s attention. And, if you talked to alumni of that time period, they’ll say that was probably their favorite course and that he was their favorite professor.”

Life after EMC

John Lapp left EMC in 1969 with his wife Mary Alice Weber ’55 and their three children to direct the Peace Section at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Akron, Pennsylvania. He later served as executive secretary of MCC from 1985 to 1996. A wonderfully in-depth writeup on his life can be read on .

In between those two stints, he served Goshen College for 12 years. Lapp was academic dean of the Mennonite school from 1972 to 1981 and provost from 1979 to 1984. To read more about his impact at Goshen, read their story about him .

Following his retirement in 1996, he spent 16 years leading a Mennonite World Conference project known as the Global Mennonite History Project. He fundraised and supervised an international team that ultimately produced five separate published volumes on Africa, Europe, Latin America, Asia and North America. In addition to that, he taught courses at Bishop’s College in India, Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania and at EMU’s Lancaster campus. 

Joseph Lapp shared an anecdote about his brother he’s heard others tell around campus. One day when John was teaching a history class in the lower level of Lehman Auditorium, noise from the physical plant kept interrupting him.

“They were pounding and making noise and it was interfering with the lecture. So, he said, ‘OK, we’re all going to go to the administration building’ — and it had these open stairways going up to the second floor; this was the old building, not the current one. So, he had his class sit on those steps and he stood at the center and continued to lecture there for the rest of the period just to make his point about the interference that was occurring.”

At a retirement reception in December, Yoder’s long service and insightful guidance were honored by many in attendance, as well as by Huxman, who offered a warm parting tribute.

“Twila trained three presidents,” Huxman told the gathered crowd in the Campus Center, which fittingly included some other beneficiaries of Yoder’s gentle tutelage.

Yoder has actually worked with six men and women who occupied , some for many years and others for interim terms.

Beginning in June 1999, she worked with Joseph Lapp (1987-2003), then Loren Swartzendruber (2003-2016), and since January, Huxman.

Additionally, however, three interim presidents kept the business of the university moving forward: Beryl Brubaker (May-December 2003); Fred Kniss (May-August 2013 for Swartzendruber’s sabbatical), and Lee Snyder (July-December 2016).

With all of these presidents, interim and permanent, Yoder enabled smooth functioning at the highest levels of the university. Among her duties, she “schedules all of the president’s meetings; serves as corporate secretary to the Board of Trustees; aids in the development of numerous administrative documents, such as board policy manuals; and serves as a representative of the president’s office on numerous committees including the crisis management preparedness team and the facilities task force, among other duties,” according to an October 2015 Weather Vane profile.

Over the years, Yoder equipped her office on the third floor of the Campus Center with symbolic reminders of positive operating procedures in the “pressure cooker, roller coaster world of the university president,” Huxman said, referencing Yoder’s “Top Ten List” of how to deal with disgruntled callers and two stones marked strength and joy.

Yoder occupied her role with “purpose, positivity, patience and perspicuity,” Huxman said, elaborating on this last word by praising her colleague’s ability to “see clearly, deeply, reverently … with insight.”

From anticipating sensitivities of various campus constituencies to holding confidentiality on a range of subjects to informing the community of births and deaths, “Twila has put her master’s degree from our seminary to very good use,” Huxman said.

Yoder is a 1998 graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary. She and her husband Steve Yoder ’78, SEM ‘98 have four adult children, three of whom graduated from EMU.

In a recent interview, Yoder shared that she looks forward to time with family and another “chapter” of meaningful work.

“It has been an incredible blessing to serve an institution I love in a role that has been so life-giving for me. I will miss all the people that give life to this incredible place,” she said.

While empowering the women, the storytelling itself also provides important clues about finding access into these hidden communities, identifying the most likely allies within each community, and understanding the complicated choices the women make in seeking or not seeking help.

“Their courage and resilience are breathtaking,” says Stauffer, assistant professor of at ��ݮ����.

Called “Silent Violence,” the project recently garnered a $10,200 grant from (TJPX), which focuses on individuals and organizations working for effective change through innovative approaches to societal challenges relating to gender, environmental and/or economic justice. TJPX is administered by through the Everence affiliate, Mennonite Foundation.

Six projects were awarded approximately $58,000 from a pool of 15 applicants, according to Joseph Lapp, managing director at the Harrisonburg Everence office.

“The Advisory Committee believes this project is a positive method of vocalizing the silence around domestic violence,” Lapp said. Upon successful completion of the first-year goals, an additional $7,100 will be awarded to complete the project in its second year.

“Vocalizing the silence” is an important and restorative component of this study, Stauffer says. “We are using a strengths-based approach and want to build on and help surface the assets and resilient strategies these women have been developing. They are obviously surviving and going on with their lives. So what can they teach us about the strategies they are using, and the relationships and social support networks they are building?”

The women’s stories are also helping researchers identify “what we’re calling structural holes,” Stauffer continues. “How are our ideologies or institutions complicit? What are the gaps within the system that these women are falling through? These particular groups of women exist under circumstances where protections and services are less likely to reach them.”

Bridget Mullins is among several master’s level students with the who have contributed to the research since the project’s inception. Fluent in Spanish from several years of living in Latin America, Mullins partnered with Cristian Quezada (MA `13 in ) to conduct interviews with many of the Latina women. She’s now preparing to conduct interviews within the two other communities.

“My favorite moment during these interviews is the last question,” she said. “That last question is, ‘What advice would you give to women in a similar situation?’ Their voices shine through. You can see them looking with hindsight and realizing how much they have been through, and drawing on their wisdom to communicate hope to other women who might be living through something similar.”

One important goal of the project is social transformation. Some participants have taken part in circle processes to share and reflect on their experiences or in a facilitated by Cristian and Anita Quezada. Stauffer is also working on other ways to safely share the women’s stories without compromising confidentiality or putting them in danger.

A one-day symposium involving survivor groups, service providers, business, academic, religious and public officials is being planned for next year.

Stauffer notes that the financial commitment from the JustPax Fund is an important affirmation of the need to address micro-level violence and create a place to safely and carefully house these narratives as “sacred stories” of our collective life. She views an arts-based approach as “particularly effective because it unlocks many parts of who we are that would otherwise remain trapped in trauma responses.”

“Our faith tradition is peace-oriented on an international level,” Stauffer says, “and we have focused a lot of time and energy on that kind of macro-violence, but we haven’t been as forthcoming about the violence that is happening within our intimate domains, here at home, and in our communities.

“At the end of the day, if we’re ignoring this type of violence, we’re undermining our peace witness. This project addresses that and helps us see ways that we can surface those stories, validate them and work to address those needs in the families and communities where we live.”