{"id":39384,"date":"2018-08-29T14:23:48","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T18:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=39384"},"modified":"2018-09-03T14:57:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-03T18:57:34","slug":"fall-convocation-highlights-diversitys-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/fall-convocation-highlights-diversitys-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall convocation highlights diversity&#8217;s opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the annual fall \u201ccoming together\u201d of convocation at 草莓社区, President <strong>Susan Schultz Huxman<\/strong> invited community members, both the newly arrived and those returning to Harrisonburg and off campus sites in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C., to contemplate the parable of the self-conscious spoon who learns to value his own diverse talents and those of other utensils in his &#8220;family.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Spoon-Amy-Krouse-Rosenthal\/dp\/1423106857\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spoon <\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Hyperion Children\u2019s Books, 2009), written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Scott Magoon, is one of Huxman\u2019s favorites, she told the crowd in Lehman Auditorium, and provides an encouraging lesson relevant to the start of the new academic year.<\/span><\/p>\n<aside class=\"highlight highlight-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/business.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\/videos\/286653152116123\/\">Watch the fall convocation<\/a>.<\/aside>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Little Spoon decides life isn\u2019t \u201ccutting it,\u201d and it takes hearing from the other utensils about their limitations and what they envy about him (for example, he has the joy of diving into a bowl of ice cream and the warmth of swirling around in a cup of hot tea) to make him think twice about his own capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe should zealously value the diverse attributes of others if we want to succeed as citizens, as experts in our field, and as innovative entrepreneurs in society,\u201d Huxman said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes reflecting on \u201cyour special attributes and your unique talents\u201d in the company of others brings a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new perspective, that \u201cyour talents are important, valued, and even necessary,\u201d she concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>With <em>diversify<\/em> joining <em>grow<\/em>, <em>engage<\/em> and <em>celebrate<\/em> as one of the four goals of EMU&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/president\/strategic-plan\">2017-22 strategic plan<\/a>, Huxman encouraged students to become active partners and participants:\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cStudents, I wish you well. In addition to doing well in class and making new friends, I encourage you to think boldly and ask yourself, &#8216;How can I engage around the table with a diversity of people and ideas?&#8217;\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To highlight diversity around campus, Huxman introduced representatives from four of the 30 campus clubs. <strong>Jakiran Richardson<\/strong>, with Black Student Union, <strong>Ariel Barbosa<\/strong>, Latino Student Alliance, and <strong>Paul Kayembe<\/strong>, International Student Organization, each spoke briefly about upcoming opportunities for involvement. <strong>Celeste Thomas<\/strong>, director of Multicultural Student Services, gave a brief plug for February\u2019s Martin Luther King Day \u2013 a &#8220;day on,&#8221; she called it \u2013 of service, learning and remembrance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convocation also included a welcome from Provost <strong>Fred Kniss<\/strong>, who situated EMU as a faith-based learning community within a larger history and legacy of liberal arts institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_39387\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39387\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/08\/fall-convocation-highlights-diversitys-opportunities\/20180829-convocation-009-1000px\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-39387\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-39387\" src=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/08\/20180829-Convocation-009-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/08\/20180829-Convocation-009-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/08\/20180829-Convocation-009-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/08\/20180829-Convocation-009-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39387\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor David Berry gets a high-five from President Susan Schultz Huxman and a standing ovation from the crowd after his &#8220;instrumental response.&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>EMU is &#8220;a safe place where faculty and students can explore together the most difficult and most significant questions of our day, using all the tools of science and scholarly inquiry,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And we do this within the context of a community of faith.\u00a0 As we gain a deeper understanding of our world, our society, and our selves, we also come to know more deeply who God is and how to live more faithful lives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The standing ovation of the morning (supplemented by heartfelt whoops of admiration) was awarded to Professor <strong>David Berry<\/strong>, who performed a jazzy piano selection billed as an \u201cinstrumental response\u201d to the preceding speakers. (<a href=\"https:\/\/business.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\/videos\/286653152116123\/\">To watch and listen, go to 40:30 in the livestream video<\/a>.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convocation closed with a commissioning of the <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/crosscultural\/programs\/china-2018\">China cross-cultural group<\/a>, departing late in the evening, led by Professor <strong>Mary Sprunger<\/strong> and <strong>Myrrl Byler<\/strong>, adjunct professor and director of Mennonite Partners in China. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And then ice cream was served on Thomas Plaza. Spoons were available.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the annual fall \u201ccoming together\u201d of convocation at 草莓社区, President Susan Schultz Huxman invited community members, both the newly arrived and those returning to Harrisonburg and off <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/fall-convocation-highlights-diversitys-opportunities\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Fall convocation highlights diversity&#8217;s opportunities<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,7931,14715,5185,5861,17562,8845,5642,5593,4513,12632],"tags":[16275,17633,6795,11352,7256,17609,17520],"feature":[17427,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-39384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-arts","category-campus-life","category-campus-ministries","category-conferences-and-events","category-digest","category-emu-at-lancaster","category-faculty-and-staff","category-intercultural","category-student-life","category-wcsc","tag-celeste-thomas","tag-david-berry","tag-diversity","tag-fred-kniss","tag-mary-sprunger","tag-presidents-office","tag-susan-schultz-huxman","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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