Godshall, of Elizabethtown, Pa., handed the gavel to her successor, Andrew (Andy) Dula of Lancaster, Pa., at the close of the two-day sessions.

Susan Godshall passes the gavel to her successor as EMU board chair, Andy Dula. Photo by Jim Bishop

Dula, a 1991 EMU graduate, is chief financial officer at EG Stoltzfus Construction, Lancaster, Pa. He will serve a three-year term as board chair.

Godshall, a 1965 EMU alumna, joined the board of trustees as a representative from Lancaster Mennonite Conference in November, 1998, and was elected board chair in 2004.

Alumni following Godly path

Godshall opened the meeting with a devotional based on Psalm 78. She told the board that she recently reviewed old trustee minutes and felt as though she was reading “a developing story” that began with the school’s founding in 1917.

“The vision behind the school’s beginning remains much the same today – training young people in the ways of God and of the Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective on Christian service…to live as God’s people in a society that would pulls us in other directions,” Godshall said.

“I am impressed, in reading EMU’s ‘Crossroads’ magazine, by seeing the difference that EMU alumni are making as their stories connect with God’s story,” she said.

Board adopts budget, reports funds

In board actions, the trustees adopted a preliminary operating budget with $30.1 million in total revenues for the 2010-11 fiscal year, a 6 percent percent increase over 2009-10.

The budget includes funding of $1.3 million for capital expenditures and debt reduction and $4 million in student scholarship funds and calls for $1.8 in contributions to the University Fund by June 30, 2011.

Gerry Horst, chair of the advancement and enrollment/marketing committee, reported that EMU’s University Fund (for annual unrestricted contributions) was running over 6% behind last year’s pace.

“Intensive year-end efforts continue to close the gap by June 30,” Horst said.

Outgoing trustees

Several other trustees concluded terms of service at the June board meeting. In addition to Susan Godshall, the board recognized:

• Steve Brenneman of Nappanee, Ind.
• Shirley Hochstetler of Kidron, Ohio
• Robert Hostetler of Erie, Pa.
• Joan King of Telford, Pa.
• Lillis Troyer of Walnut Creek, Ohio

The 16-member governing body authorized the administration to proceed with planning and fundraising for the construction of new laboratory space and upgrade of EMU

The EMU board of trustees spent a portion of their fall meeting, Nov. 11-12, focusing on that perplexing question with the aid of Van Yahres Associates, a Charlottesville, Va., architectural firm.

Using a Powerpoint presentation on "the anatomy of a campus," Mike Van Yahres, colleague Syd Knight and Sam Jones of Troyer and Associates, designers of the campus master plan, identified the key planning components as: a recognizable entrance, identifiable centers, definite edges, organized circulation (parking), efficient maintenance and simplicity of design.

Architects Mike Van Yahres (standing) and Syd Knight introduce key considerations in designing a welcome entrance to the EMU campus. Designing entranceways to schools and other institutions is the firm’s speciality.
Photos by Jim Bishop

Although the board’s discussion centered around where to create a main entrance, the other components factor heavily into that planning.

A successful entrance provides an "ah-ha" moment to visitors, engages the center of campus, is welcoming – often including admissions’ interests – and anticipates long-term growth and change, the architects said.

Board members raised questions about the city’s plans for roads surrounding the campus, the university’s relationship to other campuses such as Eastern Mennonite High School and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community EMHS and EMU’s long-term plan for purchasing surrounding buildings.

Suggestions from the board included the need for "ample and convenient parking" as well as "capitalizing on the beautiful view available from certain areas on campus."

The architects also noted that EMU has enough land area to grow "by more than a third of its current population" over the long term.

"This is a 50 to 100-year decision, and we want to proceed carefully but expeditiously," EMU said. "We will plan several meetings in late spring to engage faculty, staff and students in discussions about the options for an entranceway and welcome center."

In trustees’ actions, the board approved a revised final operating budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year of $24.6 million, a 4.5 percent increase over last year. The budget calls for contributions of $1.75 million to the by June 30, 2006 and includes $4,947,000 earmarked for student financial aid.

The board also gave the administration authority to increase tuition "not less than 5 percent and not more than 8 percent" for the 2006-07 year and approved a $600 increase in room and board. The room and board hike "will still place EMU in a lower category than many peer schools currently charge," a board member noted.

Susan Godshall, chair of the EMU board of trustees, confers with Carlos Romero of Mennonite Education Agency between sessions.
Photo by Jim Bishop

The board recessed to attend an EMU chapel service and heard Carlos Romero, executive secretary of the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA), speak on how small the world is becoming and the changing demographics that are transforming schools and communities.

"Different cultures come with different unwritten rules," Romero said. He gave this example: His mother always instructed her children to not clean their plate lest the host think that she was an unfit mother who didn’t feed her family. He then contrasted that with the family who thinks if you DON’T clean your plate you are wasting food when there is so much hunger in the world.

"The heart of understanding comes when we can make the unwritten rules and expectations of various cultures clear," Romero told the assembly. "Grace in understanding is our call when it comes to cross-cultural relationships and in becoming the church God wants us to be.

"Deep in my heart I do believe in the goodness of people," he said. "I do believe in the power of Christ in our relationships."

An audience of more than 3,600 got caught up in the celebrative spirit, with sustained applause and cheers punctuating the two-hour ceremony.

EMU President Loren E. Swartzendruber presented diplomas to the 380 members of the EMU class of 2005 that included 317 undergraduates; 60 persons awarded master’s degrees in Conflict Transformation, counseling, education and business administration; and three graduate certificate recipients.

Commencement speaker John L. McCullough, president and CEO of Church World Service, the oldest and largest ecumenical humanitarian organization in the world, used the familiar Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken,” as a springboard for his address on choosing life’s direction.

“The road taken is a statement about values and traditions,” McCullough said. “It defines priorities and brings into focus those things about which one may feel a sense of urgency.

“When you step off this campus, you will immediately set foot on a path reflective of your commitment to mold a quality of humanity consistent with what you fundamentally believe to be both noble and just,” he told the graduating class. “But doing so requires that one must also be clear about that which is ignoble and fundamentally unfair,” he added.

Citing statistics on the unprecedented disparity in the world today between rich and poor, the 80 countries and regions of the world that are presently at war and the staggering demands on agencies and programs that seek to meet overwhelming human need, McCullough challenged the graduates to “find your public voice and . . . choose a path where your gifts are used to improve the quality of our common humanity.

“If you choose the road of solidarity among the poor, then be more than just a presence – be an outspoken and courageous witness for the dignity and rights of the poor,” he said. “If you choose to walk among those of wealth, then use your privilege to be a lightening road for justice and real social change.”

“Two roads that set out from any common point, if traveled far enough into the horizon, must eventually intersect once again,” the speaker said. “This convergence must be about the reconciliation of those who hunger with those whose tables overflow with abundance; it must be about the meeting of those in poverty with those having more than enough to share.

“This is the transformation that is required, and we look to this early graduating class of the early 21st century to help us reach the mark,” McCullough concluded.

Joseph W. Mast, professor of computer science at EMU, offered a prayer of blessing to close the commencement. Dr. Mast plans to retire this year after 37 years of teaching.

During the baccalaureate service Saturday night, senior class officers presented a check for $5,000 to Susan M. Godshall, EMU board chair. The gift will be used to purchase lighting for the sidewalk along Northlawn residence hall, reconstruct barbecue pits and build picnic tables for the hill overlooking campus. Class members gave $2,500, which was matched by a gift from a local donor.

The undergraduate class included three students – Jason D. Garber, Hutchinson, Kan.; Rachel E. Medley, Harrisonburg; and Davi R. Soesilo, Indonesia – who received degrees in three majors, an unusual achievement. All three earned academic honors.