{"id":54460,"date":"2023-10-19T09:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=54460"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:04:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T21:04:07","slug":"emu-alumni-award-winners-present-at-homecoming-worship-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/emu-alumni-award-winners-present-at-homecoming-worship-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni award winners present at Homecoming Worship Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The denouement of the weekend arrived Sunday morning with the Homecoming Worship Service held at Lehman Auditorium. The Chamber Singers led congregants in song, and the recipients of this year\u2019s alumni awards addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a data-flickr-embed='true' href="https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/easternmennoniteuniversity\/albums\/72177720311962832" title='Homecoming 2023: Worship Service by EasternMennoniteUniversity, on Flickr'><img src='https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53263232050_dbde2dc1b4_c.jpg' width='800' height='600' alt='20231015-Homecoming Worship Service-006'><\/a><script async src='https:\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js' charset='utf-8'><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Andy Dula \u201991<\/strong>, recognized as Alum of the Year, cited Paul the Apostle and his father\u2019s &#8220;Keep hope alive&#8221; mantra as influences on the way he runs his business as president of the EGStoltzfus construction company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEmpathy, people before profits, culture building and fun are hallmarks of my business experience of almost 32 years,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd at this later stage of my career in the organization that I lead, the opportunity to remain diligent about building a business philosophy based on grace, humility and service and to treat one another more gently and more wisely is hopeful and, incidentally, it\u2019s about as fun as it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" class=\"wp-image-54567\" style=\"width: 1067px\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062641\/basil.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062641\/basil.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062641\/basil-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062641\/basil-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062641\/basil-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><br \/><strong>Basil Marin \u201910<\/strong>, recipient of the Outstanding Young Alum of the Year distinction, dedicated the award to his late father and posed the question &#8220;What are you doing to make a difference?&#8221; while reflecting on those who have made a difference in his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen looking at a tombstone, there\u2019s only one important piece: the dash in the middle is all that matters,\u201d said Marin, who works with Equity and Community Engagement for Harrisonburg City Public Schools. \u201cWhat was the dash you left while your time was here? How did you impact others to continue to be better people? \u2026 You\u2019ll never see a U-Haul truck behind a hearse. You come into this world with nothing, and you leave with nothing. So I urge you as a people, as a community at EMU, that we give our best each and every day and make sure others have what they need. Our legacy, our dash, will have meant something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" class=\"wp-image-54570\" style=\"width: 1067px\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062815\/shelly.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062815\/shelly.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062815\/shelly-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062815\/shelly-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062815\/shelly-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><br \/><strong>Paul <\/strong>and<strong> Lisa Zendt Shelly \u201989<\/strong>, awarded the Distinguished Service honor, also spoke on the topic of making a difference, in the public schools and community organizations of Meridian, Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul Shelly said that as he looked back on his time spent as a teacher, coach, administrator and tech entrepreneur, he couldn\u2019t help but feel his impact had been negligible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy worldly metrics, my impact on Mississippi has been minimal, but the transformation that has happened in my life has been immeasurable and I like to think that those along the way I\u2019ve connected with have been similarly transformed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His wife, Lisa, talked about how one day early in her teaching career, an eight-year-old girl spoke truth that transformed her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe said, \u2018Mrs. Shelly, you just don\u2019t understand.&#8217; She was right, I didn\u2019t understand what life was like for her,&#8221; Lisa Zendt Shelly said. &#8220;Literally, she had to overcome more challenges in her short life than I had in my couple decades. I had much to learn about resilience from her. She taught me it\u2019s not so much about making a difference, but making a connection with another, learning from each other and then we\u2019re both the better for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The denouement of the weekend arrived Sunday morning with the Homecoming Worship Service held at Lehman Auditorium. The Chamber Singers led congregants in song and the recipients of this year\u2019s alumni awards addressed the crowd. <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/emu-alumni-award-winners-present-at-homecoming-worship-service\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Alumni award winners present at Homecoming Worship Service<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":54572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,60],"tags":[17887,8932,17889,17888],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-54460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-homecoming","tag-andy-dula","tag-basil-marin","tag-lisa-zendt-shelly","tag-paul-shelly"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Alumni award winners present at Homecoming Worship Service - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/emu-alumni-award-winners-present-at-homecoming-worship-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumni award winners present at Homecoming Worship Service - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The denouement of the weekend arrived Sunday morning with the Homecoming Worship Service held at Lehman Auditorium. The Chamber Singers led congregants in song and the recipients of this year\u2019s alumni awards addressed the crowd.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/emu-alumni-award-winners-present-at-homecoming-worship-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-19T13:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/10\/17062944\/chamber_singers.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/emu-alumni-award-winners-present-at-homecoming-worship-service\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2023\/emu-alumni-award-winners-present-at-homecoming-worship-service\/\",\"name\":\"Alumni award winners present at Homecoming Worship Service - 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