Crossroads Spring 2011 - Alumni Magazine of Eastern Mennonite University

SUSTAINABILITY

spring 2011

emu... preparing students to serve and lead globally

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 1

vol. 91, No. 3

crossroads spring 2011, Vol. 91, No. 3

Crossroads (USPS 174-860) is published three times a year by Eastern Mennonite University for distribution to 14,000 alumni, students, parents and friends.

A leader among faith-based universities, Eastern Mennonite University emphasizes peacebuilding, creation care, experiential learning, and cross-cultural engagement. Founded in 1917 in Harrisonburg, Virginia, EMU offers undergraduate, graduate, and seminary degrees that prepare students to serve and lead in a global context.

EMU's mission statement is posted in its entirety at www.emu.edu/president/mission.

Board of Trustees: Andrew Dula, chair, Lancaster, Pa.; Wilma Bailey, Indianapolis, Ind.; Evon Bergey, Perkasie, Pa.; Myron Blosser, Harrisonburg, Va.; John Bomberger, Harrisonburg, Va.; Herman Bontrager, Akron, Pa.; Janet Breneman, Lancaster, Pa.; Gilberto Flores, Cedar Hill, Tx..; Curtis D. Hartman, Bridgewater, Va.; Gerald R. Horst, New Holland, Pa.; Charlotte Hunsberger, Souderton, Pa.; Clyde Kratz, Harrisonburg, Va.; Kevin Longenecker, Harrisonburg, Va.; Kathleen (Kay) Nussbaum, Grant, Minn.; Amy Rush, Harrisonburg, Va.; Kathy Keener Shantz, Lancaster, Pa.; Robert Steury, Goshen, Ind.; Diane Zimmerman Umble, Lancaster, Pa.; Anne Kaufman Weaver, Brownstown, Pa.; Paul R. Yoder, Jr., Harrisonburg, Va. Associate trustees: Jonathan Bowman, Manheim, Pa.; David Hersh, Line Lexington, Pa.; E. Thomas Murphy, Jr., Harrisonburg, Va.; Judith Trumbo, Broadway, Va. Loren Swartzendruber, president; Fred Kniss, provost; Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement; Andrea Wenger, marketing and communications director.

Bonnie Price Lofton Jon Styer Editor/writer Designer/photographer bonnie.lofton@emu.edu jon.styer@emu.edu Paul T. Yoder Mileposts editor paul.t.yoder@emu.edu

Jim Bishop Public information officer bishopj@emu.edu

Marcy Gineris Danny Yoder Web content manager Web/social media marcy.gineris@emu.edu danny.yoder@emu.edu Lindsey Kolb Carol Lown Photographer/videographer Mailing list manager lindsey.kolb@emu.edu lownc@emu.edu Heidi Muller Project and Office Coordinator heidi.muller@emu.edu Special thanks to Lindsey Kolb for her proofreading.

All EMU personnel can be reached during regular work hours by calling (540) 432-4000, or via contact details posted on the university website, www.emu.edu.

Cover: Hugh Stoll '89 stands on the hydroelectric dam he owns in North Carolina. See story on page 8.

Photo by Jon Styer.

POSTMASTER: Submit address changes to: Crossroads Eastern Mennonite University 1200 Park Road Harrisonburg, VA 22802

printed on recycled paper

Cert no. SW-COC-001635

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President Loren Swartzendruber ’76, MDiv ’79, DMin, at the dedication of EMU's first solar array.

Sustainability:

A FAITH AND THEOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE

This issue of Crossroads comes to you soon after a historic action of the Harrisonburg City Council to grant a 20-year 100 percent tax exemption for commercial solar projects. Our first solar array, on the roof of Sadie Hartzler Library, online since November, is producing 2 percent of our campus electric consumption. The action of the City Council boosts the possibility of adding a much larger array over the University Commons’ north parking lot.

The April 2011 issue of Virginia Business magazine features an article on “green” initiatives around the Commonwealth, with the solar projects at EMU highlighted. The University of Virginia and other higher education institutions have contacted us to learn about our projects!

The late Dr. Robert C. Lehman, a physical science professor at EMU in the 1960s and 1970s, was the first to systematically address ways that EMU was frittering away natural resources – he spent his 1976-77 sabbatical studying campus energy consumption. Since then many faculty and staff members have worked at better managing our utility costs, thereby saving the institution thousands of dollars and, more importantly, reducing our consumption of non-renewable resources. Eldon Kurtz, director of EMU’s physical plant since 1997, has long championed environmentally sustainable practices. Our strategic plan calls for future buildings, new and renovated, to be constructed to LEED [Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design] certification standards.

Students have strongly encouraged the institution to be creative in our stewardship of the earth’s environment. EMU has responded to this interest with a new major in environmental sustainability, where students can choose between concentrating on the social, economic and political aspects of sustainability, or concentrating on its biological and chemical aspects.

This issue of Crossroads highlights more than 100 EMU alumni who are making major contributions to the sustainability movement around the world. We believe that caring for God’s creation is a theological and faith imperative, as well as a matter of good science, and that sustainability practices should not be dependent on one’s political persuasion. We do not believe it is God’s intention that humans should take a cavalier attitude toward the environment, a point on which we may differ from some segments of the faith community.

We believe that sustainability practices should begin with how we care for ourselves physically, organize our family and community life, and promote a healthy approach to living that encompasses every aspect of human existence.

Loren Swartzendruber President freelance writer Andrew k. Jenner ’04 is largely responsible for the reporting in this issue.

"AKJ" at the bottom of an article signifies that andrew was the writer; "bpl" at the bottom stands for editor bonnie price Lofton. Andrew double-majored at EMU in environmental science and justice, peace and conflict studies. He has been a staff writer for the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record and now writes for numerous newspapers, magazines and websites.

www.emu.edu/video/sustainability

View our “green” alumni at:

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To Be Green or Not to Be?

Our readers are invited to talk about questions raised in this issue at www.emu.edu/greenchat.

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The 328 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels on the roof of EMU’s library are the largest solar project in Virginia.

On the iniative of custodial supervisor Evelyn King '74, all buildings at EMU are cleaned using green-certified, biodegradable solutions.

UNIVERSITY COMMONS

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17 City bus service, with oncampus bus stops, promotes use of public transportation.

Organic “equal exchange” coffee predominates on campus. The student-run Common Grounds coffee shop goes through about 350 pounds of it per year.

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Since early 2010, two environmentally friendly dormitories (new Cedarwood and renovated Elmwood) have been completed. One more (renovated Maplewood) is in the works for 2011-12. Their windows are double-glazed, with argon between the layers and low-E glass, and are framed by aluminum-clad wood. The buildings have: an energy-conserving building envelope; low-flow water fixtures; bricks and other materials re-used as much as possible from former dormitories; special roof shingles that reflect sunlight (reducing need for air conditioning); solar panels to preheat water; and electric hand dryers instead of paper dispensers. Built by Harman Construction, whose president is Wayne Witmer ’88.

PHYS PLANT

d Drive

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23 Dedicated bike lanes run along both sides of Park Road, claiming asphalt once used for parking.

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EMU recycles 40.02% of its solid waste – paper, glass, cardboard, plastics – putting it in the top 20% of colleges and universities nationwide for effectively managing its waste.

A new student club, Sustainable Food Initiative, focuses on creating a more sustainable food system at EMU through gardening and innovative ways to use cafeteria leftovers, among other ideas.

These students now transport leftover food to a local organization that feeds homeless and lowincome citizens.

27 Biofiltration beds, surrounded by native plants, instead of storm-water pipes, minimize sediment run-off and nutrient degradation that eventually would make its way via Blacks Run stream to the Chesapeake Bay.

The bike shelter has a demonstration “green roof” covered by vegetation.

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Dike in wooded park between dormitories and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community is part of plan to capture run-off water in a 150,000-gallon cistern and use it to irrigate playing fields. Includes plans to restore bank of Blacks Run, a stream which runs through the woods.

www.emu.edu

They say it’s the good life: multi-generation homes, growing and canning food, re-using things.

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Building Green

Energy savings begin at home, with well-designed and well-built dwellings.

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Around the World Service with Mennonite Central Committee tends to increase sensitivity to sustainability.

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Good Food Many alumni have rejected chemical-heavy, soil-depleting large-scale agricultural practices.

31 Down to Business

Our innovative entrepreneurs show that they intend to be part of the solution.

C. ELDON KURTZ ’76, // Physical plant director since 1997, Kurtz is the person ultimately responsible for backing and implementing almost every “sustainability initiative” related to buildings and grounds on this map. // The son of an electrician, Kurtz worked his way through college using, in part, the electrical skills he started a 10 as he watched and helped his father. // In asked to direct EMU’s physical plant, though many staffers to supervise then. If something needed to be repaired, he was often the one box doing the fixing. While employed by EMU his license as a master electrician. // In 1984 charge of the renovation of the old Administr when it was consumed in a fire. When the EM trustees chose not to resurrect the burned-ou but to replace it with a contemporary structu not pleased with the decision and left to work Mechanical. // Brunk Mechanical sent Kurtz as a subcontractor on the new building and h its "magnificent mechanical design." During away from being an EMU employee, he gaine extensive experience in plumbing, heating, v air conditioning. // By the time EMU re-hired this time for a largely administrative role, ove working with their hands – Kurtz had a wealth on what it takes to keep buildings operating e

JONATHAN LANTZ-TRISSEL ’00 // As EMU's first "sustainability coordinator,” Lantz-Trissel credits Kurtz with being "visionary" and willing to take risks to try to make EMU more environmentally responsible. When Lantz-Trissel suggested, for example, modifying bicycles a pulled trailers to enable staff and work-study do recycling by pedal-power, Kurtz said, “Wh though no other college had tried such a thin

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25 Physical plant is re-purposing steam tunnels running along Park Rd. to deliver run-off water collected in a cistern for irrigation purposes. These tunnels were used from 1985 to 1997, when EMU had its own central power plant – they contained pipes conveying steam heat to the dormitories, library and Suter Science Center.

This parking lot is the planned location of EMU’s second major installation of solar panels for generating electricity – the panels will be supported by canopies under which cars will be able to park.

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CEDARWOOD

Our new sustainability major gives students a choice of focusing on: (1) the biological and chemical aspects of sustainability or (2) the social, economic and political aspects of sustainability.

oo Parkw

Earthkeepers, a student club, sponsors the annual Food & Farming Week at EMU and helps with composting. Using 8-foot-long bike-pulled trailers, work-study and volunteer students collect almost 1,000 pounds of food waste weekly, with every other day pick-ups. They also tend to chickens in houses behind the Suter Science Center.

SCIENCE CENTER

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Parking-lot fees for employees and students are being considered to discourage car use and to fund sustainability initiatives.

OOD

Simple Living

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CAMPUS MAP // written by Bonnie Price Lofton // designed by Jon Styer

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LIBRARY

Three EMU undergraduates – Lisle Bertsche '11, Andrea Bowman '10, and Jakob zumFelde '11 – spent one summer each earning transferable credits at Goshen College’s Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, which has Luke Gascho ’74, EdD, as its executive director and Ryan Sensenig '92, PhD, as its director of environmental studies.

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NORTH LAWN

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MAPLEW

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A 2010 video on ways that EMU is going green took top prize in the “campus action” category in a national contest sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. Called “Chill Out – Climate Action on Campus,” the prize recognized innovation to reduce global warming pollution. Posted at: emu.edu/now/video/green2010

n Pike

Hugh Stoll’s dam can send enough electricity into the grid to power 90 to 100 homes.

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ROSELAWN

ELMWOOD

Mt. Clinto

Let's Give Wisdom a Chance

LEHMAN

College Ave.

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ROMAN MILLER, PHD (biology), pre-med advisor, has used grant-supported students in researching conditions for sustainable organic blueberries.

MATTHEW SIDERHURST, PHD (chemistry), has done research on the chemical ecology of invasive insects in Hawaii and agricultural pests in Virginia.

The hill on the western edge of EMU has been turned into a meadow of wild flowers, with walking paths. Sown with wild flowers and mowed only twice a year, it remains naturally beautiful with minimal maintenance required.

CAMPUS CENTER

Park Road

JIM M. YODER, PHD (biology), advises the environmental sustainability majors and teaches ecology and conservation biology courses. Researches invasive plants.

DOUG GRABER NEUFELD, PHD (biology) teaches various environmental courses, such as environmental toxicology and sustainable agriculture.

Smith Avenue

EMU’s Information Systems department periodically dispatches a truckload of computer equipment (122 pieces in one run in early 2011) to the most responsible recycling company it has found, Redemtech in Richmond, Va. This company guarantees that the equipment turned over to it will not end up in a landfill or shipped overseas to locations where poor people are exposed to toxic substances as they dismantle the equipment for useable components.

TARA KISHBAUGH, PHD (chemistry), has led students in studying the water quality of Blacks Run stream for five years. Teaches a new class on “relating to the land.”

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EMU’s food-vending company, Pioneer College Caterers, Inc., is committed to: 100% recycling of kitchen grease for use as bio-diesel fuel; minimal use of disposable dinnerware, flatware and glasses; everything possible composted, including biodegradable napkins; increasing use of locally produced foods, as well as equal-exchange coffee and tea; trayless dining to reduce food-waste-perperson. Out of 52 directors of Pioneer college food services, EMU’s Bruce Emmerson was named Pioneer’s “director of the year” in 2009, partly due to his commitment to sustainability in his operation.

Herbicides and pesticides are used minimally in the maintenance of bushes, flowers and grassy areas.

EMU-owned computers here and throughout campus are set to power down when not in use.

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Hillcrest Driv e 7

SEMINARY

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Undergraduates Sam Berenstain, Dan Sigmans, and Emma Stahl-Wert devoted their environmental sustainability capstone to studying hydrofracking, a widespread method of drilling for gas. The students raised awareness that gas companies are seeking leases for drilling in the Shenandoah Valley and that health-threatening pollution could accompany such drilling.

Since the 1980s low-energy electric golf carts have been used by service personel when foot travel is not feasible. The carts convey staff and supplies for cleaning, security, maintenance, and computer services, even to the outer edges of campus.

Parkway Drive

Around Campus

Energy-management software is used throughout the campus. Main campus buildings are cooled and heated via a closed-loop, water-source system which does “load shedding.” For instance, heat shed by computers in labs is captured and distributed through Campus Center in the winter.

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EMU’s bicycle co-op helps students and employees to maintain their bikes. It also runs a bike-lending program. Bike racks dot campus.

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Professor Dorothy Jean Weaver '72, PhD, leads the Seminary’s green initiatives. She teaches a class titled "Creation Care in Scripture and Church."

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STEVE CESSNA, PHD (chemistry), involves students in the study of plant stress, with applications in sustainable agriculture and invasive species ecology.

Computer labs and public copiers are stocked with recycled paper certified for forestry stewardship.

Most employees print on both sides of paper and are trying to move from paper-based work habits to electronic-based ones.

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30 Steps from Less Paper to More Research

sus

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On-campus produce gardens are both a learning lab for students in sustainable agriculture classes and related classes and a source of food for EMU’s dining hall. The gardens are maintained by students, faculty and staff.

AROUND CAMPUS

SCIENCE PROFESSORS WHO FOCUS ACADEMICALLY ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Thirty major and minor changes are making this university more sustainable.

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Dogwood Drive

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In this Issue

33 It's a Science

Some embrace the environmental sciences as their professional calling.

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to be green, or not to be That Is the Question

EXCERPTED FROM AN ESSAY TITLED “TO REALLY SAVE THE PLANET, STOP GOING GREEN” BY MIKE TIDWELL IN THE OUTLOOK SECTION OF THE WASHINGTON POST ON DECEMBER 6, 2009 // All who appreciate the enormity of the climate crisis still have a responsibility to make every change possible in their personal lives. I have, from the solar panels on my roof to the Prius in my driveway to my low-carbon-footprint vegetarian diet… // Ours is a nation of laws; if we want to alter our practices in a deep and lasting way, this is where we must start. After years of delay and denial and green half-measures, we must legislate a stop to the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. // So what's the problem? There's lots of blame to go around, but the distraction of the "go green" movement has played a significant role. Taking their cues from the popular media and cautious politicians, many Americans have come to believe that they are personally to blame for global warming and that they must fix it, one by one, at home. And so they either do as they're told – a little of this, a little of that – or they feel overwhelmed and do nothing… // [W]ith treaty talks underway internationally and Congress stalled at home, we need to act accordingly.

Don't spend an hour changing your light bulbs. Don't take a day to caulk your windows. Instead, pick up a phone, open a laptop, or travel to a U.S. Senate office near you and turn the tables: "What are the 10 green statutes you're working on to save the planet, Senator?" // Demand a carbon-cap bill that mandates the number 350. That's the level of carbon pollution scientists say we must limit ourselves to: 350 parts per million of CO2 in the air. If we can stabilize the atmosphere at that number in coming decades, we should be able to avoid the worst-case scenario and preserve a planet similar to the one human civilization developed on. To get there, America will need to make deep but achievable pollution cuts well before 2020… // So join me: Put off the attic insulation job till January. Stop searching online for recycled gift wrapping paper and sustainably farmed Christmas trees. Go beyond green fads for a month, and instead help make green history.

Mike Tidwell is director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a grassroots nonprofit he founded in 2002 to fight global warming in the region through the promotion of clean, renewable energy.

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AN ESSAY HEADLINED “A Climatewas deeply alarmed by new studies on global Change Activist Prepares for the Worst,” warming, so I went all out. I did my part. published in the Outlook section of the Tidwell went on to explain, however, that Washington Post one recent Sunday (Feb. 27, he feels “we’re running out of time” to avert 2011), sparked 444 online comments before the physical and social upheavals that will the Post closed the discussion. The essay result from global warming. also prompted more than 1,800 people to Fourteen months earlier (Dec. 6, 2009), recommend it via Facebook. the Post’s Outlook section published another The writers of the 444 postings were essay by Tidwell in which he criticized the sharply divided, perhaps 35 to 65 percent. “go green” movement for leading people to About one-third expressed some degree of believe that small changes in one’s personal agreement with author Mike Tidwell, execu- lifestyle would add up to ultimately rescuing tive director of the Chesapeake Climate the planet. He said personal changes – like Action Network. He described steps he had the way he used a Prius and ate a “low-cartaken recently to try to protect his home bon-footprint vegetarian diet” – are drops in and family against the effects of devastating the proverbial bucket. climate change, including stockpiling food, He challenged his readers: “No more investing in an emergency generator, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. No more taking skeet-shooting lessons. The shootgreen wedding planning. No more organic ing lessons were in case he needs to protect toothpicks for holiday hors d’oeuvres . . . his family due to anticipated social unrest “Instead of continuing our faddish and caused by climate-related food shortages counterproductive emphasis on small, – and this is despite calling himself “fundavoluntary actions, we should follow the mentally a pacifist.” example of Americans during past moral The remaining two-thirds of the Post crises and work toward large-scale change.” readers who commented online thought (Read more excerpts from Tidwell’s 2009 Tidwell was nutty – or pursuing a leftistessay at left.) environmentalist agenda – and dismissed his worries about the pace at which earth seems AGREEMENT ON BEING GREEN? to becoming uninhabitable. (Tidwell’s exGiven the divided readership of the ecutive assistant is Nathan Kauffman ’10.)

Washington Post, it seems safe to assume that Tidwell opened his February article with the readership of Crossroads is not united on these words: the subject of climate change.

Ten years ago, I put solar panels on my When we asked readers to “tell us your roof and began eating locally grown food. I path to ‘going green’” on the back cover of bought an energy-efficient refrigerator that the fall/winter 2010-11 issue of Crossroads, uses the power equivalent of a single light we received a flurry of contributions from bulb. I started heating my home with a stove alumni who are putting solar panels on their that burns organically fertilized corn kernels. roofs, riding bikes or walking instead of drivI even restored a gas-free lawn mower for ing a mile or so, growing as much of their manual yardwork. own organic food as possible, and building As a longtime environmental activist, I well-insulated homes from local materials.

photo by Michael spory

sustainability

In the early fall of 2010, workers installed the largest solar deployment in Virginia on the Hartzler library roof. It has the capacity to generate104.3 kilowatts of electricity from 328 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels and is projected to eliminate more than 6,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 35 years.

Nobody wrote in to say: “Bah-humbug.

It’s fine to drive huge gas-guzzling vehicles, live in mammoth McMansions, eat seafood that is flown half-around the world to our dinner tables and that is also in danger of extinction, and remove mountain tops to extract coal to power our electricity-hungry homes and businesses.”

Yet, even in the absence of messages from readers uninterested in “going green,” there are certainly tens of thousands of us who don't choose to live as simply as Martha Ann Burgard ’66 in Alabama (page 14) or as self-sufficiently as Mary Beth ’72 and Lester ’71 (MA-religion ’94) Lind in West Virginia (page 13).

A few of the environmentalists interviewed for this issue have opted not to have children, believing that over-population, with concurrent consumption, is part of the problem. They would agree with Paul Hawken, founding owner of a $75 million

company specializing in garden supplies.

After operating his company from 1979 to 1991, he wrote a book arguing that “the drive for unrestrained economic growth … has become the most important problem facing humanity.”

The primary concern is that a world of over six billion people striving for material satisfaction is drawing ever more heavily from finite supplies of natural resources to fuel an economic growth model destined to lead to an ecological disaster and global poverty without precedence.1 Those who disagree with Hawken tend to hold the opposite view on “unrestrained economic growth.” They believe the innovativeness and expansiveness of capitalism 1 Paul Hawken and his book, The Ecology of Commerce, were paraphrased by Bluffton University scholars James M. Harder and Karen Klassen Harder in “Economics, Development, and Creation,” their chapter in Creation & the Environment – An Anabaptist Perspective on a Sustainable World (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000).

hold the key to solving the problems facing humanity and the rest of the natural world, including possibly climate change (without necessarily conceding that this is an actual problem to be solved).2 Andrew K. Jenner ’04, a freelance writer who is largely responsible for the reporting on pages 8 through 36, suggested that we follow up this issue of Crossroads by inviting readers to discuss “going green” in the form of a moderated online blog. We have set up a forum for discussion, open until June 1, 2011, at www.emu.edu/greenchat.

While we invite discussion, we must confess that a clear majority of EMU’s current administrators, faculty, staff and students seem to be arrayed on the side of those who believe the preponderance of scientific evidence of major climate change and who wish to reverse climate change or at least 2 See page 3 of chapter cited in previous footnote.

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 3

responsibly address its devastating effects.

As one Washington Post reader wrote in response to Tidwell’s article: “The precautionary principle would suggest that we do what we can to protect our own survival, even if it [climate change] is not human-caused…

There is no room for honest disagreement, the science is clear; but were there room for disagreement, there is no excuse for not acting… just in case.”

EMU president Loren Swartzendruber, DMin, was one of 98 signatories – many affiliated with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities – on a document issued in February 2006 called “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action.”

The statement made four points: (1) human-induced climate change is real; (2) the consequences of climate change will be significant, and will hit the poor the hardest; (3) Christian moral convictions demand our response to the climate change problem; and (4) the need to act now is urgent – governments, businesses, churches, and individuals all have a role to play in addressing climate change, starting now.

EMU’S PUSH FOR SUSTAINABILITY Since the 2007 founding of EMU’s Creation Care Council – made up of representatives from all parts of campus – every corner of EMU is reshaping itself to be more “green.”

(See the map on pages 6 and 7.)

In the spring of 2008, the EMU board of trustees decided that all new buildings at EMU would meet basic LEED standards, at a minimum. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.) This decision followed presentation to the board of semester-long research by 14 students in a “Green Design” class taught by science professors Douglas Graber Neufeld and James (Jim) M. Yoder ’94, who both did their PhD dissertations on topics related to the environment.3 In the fall of 2010 EMU became host to the largest solar deployment in Virginia, with capacity to generate 104.3 kilowatts of electricity from 328 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels on its library roof. The lead visionary for the project was Tony Smith, PhD, co-director of EMU’s MBA program 3 The Green Design class’s presentation is posted at www.emu.edu/begreen/greendesign/report.pdf. The students in the class were: Adam Brown, Andrew Derstine, Nathan Derstine, Jakob zumFelde, Jacob King, Jonathan Lamb, Neal Lewis, Rhoda Shirk, Jonathan Spicher, Michael Spory, Emma Stahl-Wert, Trevor Weaver, Larisa Zehr, and Dylan Zehr.

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and CEO of a private company called Secure Futures.4 In some cases, these efforts represent renewed interest in initiatives begun decades ago. Five faculty membersjoined with students in the early 1970s to launch the Earthkeepers club, which was mainly focused on recycling newspapers.5 Retired biology professor Kenton Brubaker ’54, PhD, one of the founders of Earthkeepers, recalls using the proceeds from selling newspapers to a recycling firm to buy a van, a front-end

EMU $3 to $4 million in energy costs its first ten years of use.6

REDISCOVERING ROOTS IN THE LAND Reaching even deeper into EMU’s history, in the decade after it was founded in 1917, EMU had pig pens, cows, poultry sheds, corn fields, and vegetable gardens on its grounds, with students fresh off the farm who knew how to deal with such matters.

Ironically, however, most of these students were more interested in reducing their need to do manual labor to survive. They wanted to engage in more intellectual pursuits, rather than remaining bound to the farms of their ancestors.

In the 30th anniversary edition of Living More with Less (Herald Press, 2010), Sheri Hostetler, pastor of the First Mennonite Church of San Francisco, advocates rediscovering the knowledge of self-sufficient people, who are often the oldest generation: “People over the age of seventy and those who have come more recently from counloader and a pre-fabricated metal building tries in the global South have experienced to pick up and store newspapers, as well as life in societies not based on cheap oil. Thus to start a compost pile for gardening east of they have skills and stories about how to the Suter Science Center. live more self-sufficiently, sustainably, and The 1970s is also when EMU planted an locally.” arboretum and experimented on its own EMU has embraced a Quality Enhanceland with the best way to treat soil for maxi- ment Plan (QEP) – called “Peace with Cremum vegetable production. ation” – whereby every undergraduate learns Recycling of paper, glass and plastic is about the importance of good stewardship now integrated into the work of EMU’s for creation and reflects on ways that he or Physical Plant Department, which colshe can help. First-year students are given lects these materials by bicycle rather than writing assignments on the topic and susvan. Earthkeepers, now run by students, tainability is threaded into the coursework continues to work at composting – student of every major. volunteers collect discarded food and bioAs part of this QEP, cross-cultural trips degradable paper from the dining hall for are being retooled to increase environmental composting near the Suter Science Center. awareness. Vice-president and undergraduThey also join with others in running Food ate dean Nancy Heisey, PhD – who has & Farming Week each year. committed to using public transportation In 1986, EMU took the risk of installing when possible and to walking to destinaan innovative, but then-unproven, closedtions a less than a mile or so from her home loop heating and cooling system in the or campus7 – will be leading a trip in the newly built Campus Center. Designed by summer of 2011 where the students travel LeRoy Troyer, an Indiana architect who was (to Montreal) by train instead of by airplane. raised Amish, the building has withstood Biology professor Jim Yoder led a trip to the test of time in being a model of energy New Zealand in the summer of 2010 that efficiency. Physical plant director C. Eldon included a tour of a geothermal power plant.

Kurtz ’76 estimates that the center saved

“The consequences of climate change will be significant and will hit the poor the hardest.”

6 For more information, see www.emu.edu/crossroads/90years/leading_way

4 For more information, see www.emu.edu/solar 5 Beryl Brubaker and Miriam Martin, then teaching in the nursing department, joined science professors Kenton Brubaker, Mark Brubaker, and A. Clair Mellinger; they enabled Earthkeepers to function for its first six years or so, as work-study students cycled through.

7 Nancy Heisey and her husband Paul Longacre (whose first wife Doris Janzen Longacre wrote Living More with Less before she died of cancer in 1979) pay a “voluntary gas tax” – they assess themselves a tax per each gallon of gas that they use. They then pool this money with that of like-minded people to make charitable contributions.

sustainability

The group also studied how New Zealand is dealing with invasive species, especially rats and possums, to restore its bird populations.

and social science at EMU to working full-time for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. He had interned for this group while spending a semester at EMU’s Washington Community Scholars’ Center.

This internship paved the way for him to be hired as its special projects person and executive assistant to Mike Tidwell, the man who wrote the provocative Post article.

Kauffman has become accustomed to preparing talking points for reference and distribution, donning a business suit, and knocking on the doors of state and national legislators in the mid-Atlantic region. He and his colleagues recently (Feb. 2011) succeeded in persuading the Virginia General Assembly to pass legislation that will establish a revolving loan fund to help Virginians install solar energy projects on their homes. He then turned his attention to the Maryland General Assembly and legislation to help create off-shore wind farms.

Kauffman is the only alumnus found

by Crossroads to be working full-time to improve environmental policies at the state

TO ENGAGE IN POLITICS OR NOT? Most of the people featured in this issue of Crossroads are focused on “being the change they want to see,” to borrow Gandhi’s words. They believe that change necessarily begins with oneself and in one’s community – as in the slogan “act locally, think globally” – and that such grassroots changes can result in a shift over time in larger socio-economic paradigms.

Writing in a book published in 2000, Mel Schmidt applauded the record of Mennonites and their institutions for practicing what they preach in terms of living in a responsible manner. But he criticized their traditional reluctance to address issues at the macro or policy level: By their faithful track record on peace and justice issues, as well as their historical love of the land, Anabaptist/Mennonite faith communities have earned the right to speak out on environmental issues but are quite content to be die Stillen im Lande [quiet of the land] – an irony of our time.

This is puzzling and mystifying, particularly in view of the fact that even the most isolationist groups among them will dig in their heels and take tough political stands on controversial issues when the need is clearly present…

Even more puzzling, perhaps, is the nearly total absence of any identifiable Anabaptist/ Mennonite political activity in an area that or national levels. (If there are others, please one would think is near and dear to their let us know at Crossroads@emu.edu.) Sharhearts – sustainable agriculture.8 ing a basement apartment in Northwest Schmidt asked why the National Sustain- Washington with Josh Brubaker ’06 (grad able Agriculture Coalition based in Washstudent at American University), Kauffman ington DC has no institutional Mennonite says it is not feasible for him to practice the presence or overt Mennonite support. kind of sustainable lifestyle – a vegetable Referring to the More-with-Less Cookbook, garden, solar panels, bicycling everywhere – described elsewhere in Crossroads. Living in he wrote, “The publishing of cookbooks is “the District,” as locals refer to it, however, not to be demeaned. Responsible consumpdoes enable Kauffman to function without tion is at the core of our efforts to save the owning a car. earth. But, having done this one thing well, “It’s impossible to totally devote yourself have we neglected to do other things just as to everything simultaneously,” he says. “I needful?” am working on policy, and it takes almost Recent graduate (2010) Nathan Kauffall of my time, and other alumni are living man may exemplify interest among a small in truly sustainable ways, and it takes a lot minority of alumni in tackling environof their time. mental problems via political involvement.

“Making policy is hard, and biking everyKauffman went from majoring in history where and gardening are hard. If you try to 8 Quote is on page 103 of Mel Schmidt’s chapter “The do everything, you end up being ineffective.

Mennonite Political Witness to the Care of Creation” in At some point you have to throw your lot in Creation & the Environment – an Anabaptist Perspective on a Sustainable World. with something and commit to it.”

“If you try to do everything, you end up being ineffective.”

At the local level in Harrisonburg, EMU senior Jakob zumFelde has worked with the New Community Project to encourage city planners and elected representatives to support a pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists to safely travel from the northwest corner of the city to downtown.

Outside of the political arena, alumni certainly have worked on projects with wide environmental impact – Catherine Mumaw ’54, for example.

In 1981-82, Mumaw visited Mennonite Central Committee units in northeast Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Jamaica, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, and Somalia to research appropriate technologies used by women for their households.

This led to Mumaw’s involvement in international conferences in which solar cooking was a topic of discussion. From 1989 to 1995 she was an advisor to Solar Box Cookers International, which is responsible for more than a half million inexpensive solar cookers in use around the world. (For more information, visit www.solarcookers.org.)

But Mumaw, along with a few of the scientist-alumni listed on pages 33-36, seem to be the exceptions. Most environmentally aware alumni of EMU have chosen to work in their own backyards – either literally or in their immediate communities.

FOR THE THEOLOGICAL ANGLE In this issue of Crossroads, we did not attempt to delve into the widely varied views on the Biblical basis of “creation care,” or the lack thereof. That would have required a double-sized magazine or a booklength manuscript.

Anyone interested in this topic is invited to read Creation & the Environment – An Anabaptist Perspective on a Sustainable World (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), with conversation-stimulating chapters by 14 authors, including three EMU-linked professors. Calvin Redekop, a sociologist and Conrad Grabel College professor (emeritus), edited the book. You may also enjoy reading Redekop’s chapter “Religion, Leadership, and the Natural Environment: The Case of American Evangelicals” in a new book edited by his son, Benjamin W. Redekop, Leadership for Environmental Sustainability (Routledge, 2010).

For regularly updated information, visit the Evangelical Environmental Network at www.creationcare.org.  – BPL www.emu.edu | crossroads | 5

2 Computer labs and public copiers are stocked with recycled paper certified for forestry stewardship.

Most employees print on both sides of paper and are trying to move from paper-based work habits to electronic-based ones.

1 On-campus produce gardens are both a learning lab for students in sustainable agriculture classes and related classes and a source of food for EMU’s dining hall. The gardens are maintained by students, faculty and staff.

AROUND CAMPUS

6

5 Professor Dorothy Jean Weaver '72, PhD, leads the Seminary’s green initiatives. She teaches a class titled "Creation Care in Scripture and Church."

30 Steps from Less Paper to More Research

SEMINARY

9

STEVE CESSNA, PHD (chemistry), involves students in the study of plant stress, with applications in sustainable agriculture and invasive species ecology.

EMU-owned computers here and throughout campus are set to power down when not in use.

EMU’s bicycle co-op helps students and employees to maintain their bikes. It also runs a bike-lending program. Bike racks dot campus.

15

LEHMAN

College Ave. EMU’s Information Systems department periodically dispatches a truckload of computer equipment (122 pieces in one run in early 2011) to the most responsible recycling company it has found, Redemtech in Richmond, Va. This company guarantees that the equipment turned over to it will not end up in a landfill or shipped overseas to locations where poor people are exposed to toxic substances as they dismantle the equipment for useable components.

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LIBRARY

The 328 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels on the roof of EMU’s library are the largest solar project in Virginia.

17 City bus service, with oncampus bus stops, promotes use of public transportation.

Park Road

JIM M. YODER, PHD (biology), advises the environmental sustainability majors and teaches ecology and conservation biology courses. Researches invasive plants.

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DOUG GRABER NEUFELD, PHD (biology) teaches various environmental courses, such as environmental toxicology and sustainable agriculture.

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on Pike Mt. Clint

ROMAN MILLER, PHD (biology), pre-med advisor, has used grant-supported students in researching conditions for sustainable organic blueberries.

A 2010 video on ways that EMU is going green took top prize in the “campus action” category in a national contest sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. Called “Chill Out – Climate Action on Campus,” the prize recognized innovation to reduce global warming pollution. Posted at: emu.edu/video/green

Earthkeepers, a student club, sponsors the annual Food & Farming Week at EMU and helps with composting. Using 8-foot-long bike-pulled trailers, work-study and volunteer students collect almost 1,000 pounds of food waste weekly, with every other day pick-ups. They also tend to chickens in houses behind the Suter Science Center.

CAMPUS MAP // written by Bonnie Price Lofton // designed by Jon Styer

6 | crossroads | spring 2011

CAMPUS CENTER

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TARA KISHBAUGH, PHD (chemistry), has led students in studying the water quality of Blacks Run stream for five years. Teaches a new class on “relating to the land.”

MATTHEW SIDERHURST, PHD (chemistry), has done research on the chemical ecology of invasive insects in Hawaii and agricultural pests in Virginia.

Smith Avenue

Herbicides and pesticides are used minimally in the maintenance of bushes, flowers and grassy areas.

11

SCIENCE PROFESSORS WHO FOCUS ACADEMICALLY ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Energy-management software is used throughout the campus. Main campus buildings are cooled and heated via a closed-loop, water-source system which does “load shedding.” For instance, heat shed by computers in labs is captured and distributed through Campus Center in the winter.

SCIENCE CENTER

21 Our new sustainability major gives students a choice of focusing on: (1) the biological and chemical aspects of sustainability or (2) the social, economic and political aspects of sustainability.

25 Physical plant is re-purposing steam tunnels running along Park Rd. to deliver run-off water collected in a cistern for irrigation purposes. These tunnels were used from 1985 to 1997, when EMU had its own central power plant – they contained pipes conveying steam heat to the dormitories, library and Suter Science Center.

sustainability 4 Undergraduates Sam Berenstain, Dan Sigmans, and Emma Stahl-Wert devoted their environmental sustainability capstone to studying hydrofracking, a widespread method of drilling for gas. The students raised awareness that gas companies are seeking leases for drilling in the Shenandoah Valley and that health-threatening pollution could accompany such drilling.

3 Since the 1980s low-energy electric golf carts have been used by service personel when foot travel is not feasible. The carts convey staff and supplies for cleaning, security, maintenance, and computer services, even to the outer edges of campus.

Hillcrest Driv e 8

7

The hill on the western edge of EMU has been turned into a meadow of wild flowers, with walking paths. Sown with wild flowers and mowed only twice a year, it remains naturally beautiful with minimal maintenance required.

EMU’s food-vending company, Pioneer College Caterers, Inc., is committed to: 100% recycling of kitchen grease for use as bio-diesel fuel; minimal use of disposable dinnerware, flatware and glasses; everything possible composted, including biodegradable napkins; increasing use of locally produced foods, as well as equal-exchange coffee and tea; trayless dining to reduce food-waste-perperson. Out of 52 directors of Pioneer college food services, EMU’s Bruce Emmerson was named Pioneer’s “director of the year” in 2009, partly due to his commitment to sustainability in his operation.

10 Three EMU undergraduates – Lisle Bertsche '11, Andrea Bowman '10, and Jakob zumFelde '11 – spent one summer each earning transferable credits at Goshen College’s Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, which has Luke Gascho ’74, EdD, as its executive director and Ryan Sensenig '92, PhD, as its director of environmental studies.

ROSELAWN

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NORTH LAWN

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18 Organic “equal exchange” coffee predominates on campus. The student-run Common Grounds coffee shop goes through about 350 pounds of it per year.

This parking lot is the planned location of EMU’s second major installation of solar panels for generating electricity – the panels will be supported by canopies under which cars will be able to park.

JONATHAN LANTZ-TRISSEL ’00 // As EMU's first "sustainability coordinator,” Lantz-Trissel credits Kurtz with being "visionary" and willing to take risks to try to make EMU more environmentally responsible. When Lantz-Trissel suggested, for example, modifying bicycles and bikepulled trailers to enable staff and work-study students to do recycling by pedal-power, Kurtz said, “Why not?” even though no other college had tried such a thing.

Parking-lot fees for employees and students are being considered to discourage car use and to fund sustainability initiatives.

22 Since early 2010, two environmentally friendly dormitories (new Cedarwood and renovated Elmwood) have been completed. One more (renovated Maplewood) is in the works for 2011-12. Their windows are double-glazed, with argon between the layers and low-E glass, and are framed by aluminum-clad wood. The buildings have: an energy-conserving building envelope; low-flow water fixtures; bricks and other materials re-used as much as possible from former dormitories; special roof shingles that reflect sunlight (reducing need for air conditioning); solar panels to preheat water; and electric hand dryers instead of paper dispensers. Built by Harman Construction, whose president is Wayne Witmer ’88.

ELMWOOD

WOOD

MAPLE CEDARWOOD

23 Dedicated bike lanes run along both sides of Park Road, claiming asphalt once used for parking.

28 PHYS PLANT

e od Driv

o Parkw 26

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EMU recycles 40.02% of its solid waste – paper, glass, cardboard, plastics – putting it in the top 20% of colleges and universities nationwide for effectively managing its waste.

A new student club, Sustainable Food Initiative, focuses on creating a more sustainable food system at EMU through gardening and innovative ways to use cafeteria leftovers, among other ideas.

These students now transport leftover food to a local organization that feeds homeless and lowincome citizens.

27 Biofiltration beds, surrounded by native plants, instead of storm-water pipes, minimize sediment run-off and nutrient degradation that eventually would make its way via Blacks Run stream to the Chesapeake Bay.

The bike shelter has a demonstration “green roof” covered by vegetation.

Parkway Drive

UNIVERSITY COMMONS

14

Dogwood Drive

On the iniative of custodial supervisor Evelyn King '74, all buildings at EMU are cleaned using green-certified, biodegradable solutions.

C. ELDON KURTZ ’76, // Physical plant director since 1997, Kurtz is the person ultimately responsible for backing and implementing almost every “sustainability initiative” related to buildings and grounds on this map. // The son of an electrician, Kurtz worked his way through college using, in part, the electrical skills he started acquiring at age 10 as he watched and helped his father. // In 1977 Kurtz was asked to direct EMU’s physical plant, though he didn’t have many staffers to supervise then. If something on campus needed to be repaired, he was often the one with the tool box doing the fixing. While employed by EMU, Kurtz gained his license as a master electrician. // In 1984, Kurtz was in charge of the renovation of the old Administration Building when it was consumed in a fire. When the EMU board of trustees chose not to resurrect the burned-out building, but to replace it with a contemporary structure, Kurtz was not pleased with the decision and left to work for Brunk Mechanical. // Brunk Mechanical sent Kurtz back to work as a subcontractor on the new building and he grew to love its "magnificent mechanical design." During his 13 years away from being an EMU employee, he gained training and extensive experience in plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. // By the time EMU re-hired Kurtz in 1997 – this time for a largely administrative role, overseeing others working with their hands – Kurtz had a wealth of knowledge on what it takes to keep buildings operating efficiently.

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Dike in wooded park between dormitories and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community is part of plan to capture run-off water in a 150,000-gallon cistern and use it to irrigate playing fields. Includes plans to restore the bank of Blacks Run, a stream which runs through Park Woods.

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 7

ALL HE’S SAYING IS

Give Wisdom A Chance

AFTER CLAMBERING DOWN a rickety iron ladder and inching across a slippery concrete ledge, Hugh Stoll ’89 arrives at the business end of his latest brainchild: a new hydroelectric turbine for his dam on the Rocky River in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

Unscrewing a metal cover to show off the guts of his new contraption – conceived and built entirely from scratch, save for a blade design borrowed from the University of Idaho – Hugh talks hydropower at a mile a minute: “thrust bearings” and “butterfly valves” and “friction loss” and other terms and concepts sailing over the layman’s head.

Hugh goes back up the ladder into the powerhouse, still holding forth rapid-fire on the intricacies of his operation, as he opens up the new turbine control panel.

He jumps from “synchronous generation” to “positive load,” then describes the use of a “dynamometer” to create a “torque curve” that has some relation to the coiled thicket of black, yellow, red and blue wires snaking this way and that inside the control panel he engineered.

“Our culture has an insatiable appetite for electricity, and you have to get it from somewhere.”

8 | crossroads | spring 2011

In the background, his trusty old 1909 GE generator – the dam’s real workhorse, to be supplemented by the new turbine – hums along gently. When the Rocky River’s up and running fast, Hugh’s dam sends enough electricity into the grid to power 90 to 100 homes.

Hugh, who lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, takes periodic work trips to the dam, a few days here, a few days there, fixing this, replacing that, tinkering with more ambitious projects like the new turbines. There’s no shortage of things to do.

The dam, built in 1922, was “highly neglected” when he and his brother, Craig, bought it in 2005. Ever since, he’s been trying to get things back to shipshape. He claims he’s not an expert; he’s learned as he’s gone along, seeking out mentors, figuring out who can help him when he’s stumped.

“You piddle around with stuff and find out what works,” says Hugh. “It’s just really simple. There’s not a whole lot to it.”

And Hugh loves simplicity. He relates a parable from personal experience: Some years ago, he chaperoned a group of students from Eastern Mennonite High School visiting the “solar decathlon” on the National Mall in Washington DC, a showcase of the most advanced and innovative solar-powered houses in the world.

Impressive, yes, but the approach felt wrong.

The houses’ complicated electrical systems would cost tens of thousands of dollars to build and require an engineering degree to really understand – far, far too complicated an arrangement for Hugh’s liking. While the houses at the decathlon were perhaps

sustainability

photographs by jon styer

HUGH STOLL ’89 bought this 1920s-era hydroelectric dam on the Rocky River near Pittsboro, North Carolina, in 2005 and has been restoring it ever since. Stoll is also one of the partners in the company that owns and manages the solar installation at EMU.

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 9

Vaguely resembling a flying saucer, the 1909 General Electric generator behind HUGH STOLL makes much of the dam’s electricity.

During periodic work trips from his home in Harrisonburg, Hugh has been building two supplemental turbines from scratch.

sustainable in some narrow sense, they were kind of missing the broader point. “[We] should talk about wisdom, not sustainability,” he declares, tugging at his long beard, cut in a style evocative of the Amish men in his ancestry.

Wisdom is an expansive concept, he continues. Simplicity is part of wisdom.

Average everyday people should be able to understand wise things. Seeking others’ talents, as he’s tried to do when troubleshooting at the dam, is part of wisdom. And living sustainably is an inevitable side effect of living wisely. Wise people don’t poison their own wells, he says. Wise people take care of what they have.

Pragmatism figures into all of this, too.

The ecological effects of damming rivers makes hydropower a controversial source of renewable energy, Hugh acknowledges, but perfect can’t be the enemy of good.

“Our culture has an insatiable appetite for electricity, and you have to get it from somewhere,” he says.

After graduating from EMC with a degree in Biblical studies and theology, Hugh and his wife, Kathy Hilty Stoll ’89, moved to Tacoma, Washington, where Kathy earned a degree in occupational therapy. Hugh worked as an electrician in Tacoma, and 10 | crossroads | spring 2011

then in Arizona, the couple’s next stop after Kathy earned her degree.

In 1996, by then with two children in tow, the Stolls moved to eastern Washington, near the town of Kettle Falls. Hugh became a stay-at-home dad at first, while he built the family a simple, no-frills straw bale house within eyeshot of Canada. Good insulation, careful design and a wood-burning Russian stove were plenty to keep the house comfortable.

“[We] should talk about wisdom, not sustainability.”

In Washington, Hugh’s love of whitewater kayaking first connected him with hydroelectricity. He got to know a man who owned a dam on one of Hugh’s favorite rivers, and before long, he began helping his new friend with electrical projects there.

When Hugh’s father, Dan (electrical service supervisor at EMU for 12 years) died suddenly of a heart attack in 2002, the

Stolls – then with four kids – sold the house in Washington and moved back to Harrisonburg. After the move, Hugh kept his eye on hydropower industry journals, saw an ad for the dam in Pittsboro, and soon enough, had bought a hydropower plant of his own.

Hugh’s foray into hydroelectricity has gotten him interested in other forms of renewable energy.

Last year, he built a large solar panel array in the back yard of his family’s home just north of town. He’s now a partner with Secure Futures, the solar energy company that owns and manages EMU’s recent solar installation on the library roof. And lately he’s begun dabbling in wind power. Hugh and Craig are fixing up a 100-year-old wind turbine for fun, and he’s toying with the idea of launching some sort of wind energy development.

And one more thing – Hugh’s been dreaming lately about building another house. He’s been doodling plans, considering sites, thinking about design. Or even better, he’s dreaming about a group of houses, connecting with other like-minded, people interested in building and living together. Living simply. Living sustainably.

Living wisely.  — AKJ

sustainability

photographs by jon styer

simple living

SARAH MYERS (left) and HERB MYERS '66 (center) are building onto the home of son-in-law JASON '99 and JANELLE '01 MYERS-BENNER and granddaughter KALI. Sarah, who formerly directed a non-profit, and Herb, a psychiatrist, are moving as retirees from Pennsylvania to Virginia.

MODERN ‘DAWDY HAUS’ Young to Old Help Each Other Upon their graduation from EMU, Jason ’99 and Janelle ’01 Myers-Benner knew that living sustainably would be an overarching priority in their lives. In the decade-plus since, this desire has grown into “a vast and consuming project … engaging and energizing, even while exhausting,” Jason writes.

The Myers-Benners minimize their travel by vehicle, heat their house entirely with its passive solar design and backup wood stove, and try to grow, raise or gather as much of their food as possible from their land in Keezletown, Virginia.

Intertwined and inseparable elements of their approach to sustainability are the Myers-Benner’s significant emphasis on community and connection. They live out these values, in part, by homeschooling their 7-year-old daughter, Kali, building relationships with their neighbors and investing in nurturing, caring interactions across multiple generations. (Janelle works 30 hours per week as academic program coordinator at EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.)

As Janelle’s parents, Herb ’66 and Sarah (class of ’67)

Myers, began planning for their retirement, the family saw an opportunity to further develop its commitment to multigenerational living. In 2010, Herb and Sarah began building a 900-square-foot addition to Janelle and Jason’s house. The two living quarters are separated by a shared laundry room, utility room bathroom, and office. Their addition includes a rainwater cistern, a solar water heater, and other features intended to maximize the structure’s energy efficiency.

The new arrangement – a modern twist on the traditional Amish dawdy haus for aging parents – will make it easy for the family to share appliances, vehicles, tools and other household items. Moreover, Sarah writes, moving in beside Janelle and Jason will allow them all to share in the work of trying to live sustainably: tending the garden, harvesting and preserving food, caring for livestock, gathering wood and more.

Herb and Sarah’s addition also anticipates the physical challenges of aging by building all the main rooms to accommodate wheelchair access. That feature will make life easier both for them and their family caregivers next door.

“This building project … [will not] render our lives perfectly ‘sustainable,’” Sarah writes. “But for us it seems to be an opportunity worth taking for the health of our planet and for our own sense of wholeness.” — AKJ

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 11

BOOKS SHOW THE WAY How to Live Simply, with Pleasure

SOLD ON SOLAR // The 48-panel array on his roof, finished in December 2010, amounts to a 10 kW photovoltaic system that should generate more electricity than GLEN R. BRUBAKER ’62 will need to power his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He’ll sell the surplus power back to his utility, PPL Electric, and earn some extra money by selling “Renewable Energy Credits,” or RECs, to other companies in Pennsylvania and Ohio that are required to offset their emissions. // Between those and his savings on electric bills, Glen calculates the system will pay off in about seven years. The total cost of the 10 kW array, he said, was around $70,000, but rebates and tax credits reduced his out-of-pocket expense to around $25,000. // Glen’s interest in solar electricity goes back 25 years, when he worked as a physician at the Shirati Hospital in Tanzania. With no reliable electrical service, he used a small 1.5 kW solar panel system to power the office and research station. // When Glen and his wife, Ellin, returned to the United States in 1996, he hoped to put solar panels on the roof of his home right away. But cheap electric prices slowed the development and deployment of residential solar arrays in this country, and Glen had to wait until 2009 when new subsidy programs made the price right.

12 | crossroads | spring 2011

Eating locally and in season wasn’t a fad during Mary Beth Lind’s childhood in rural West Virginia. It was just the way things worked. Her mother grew a large garden, and her father, a doctor, sometimes accepted vegetables as payment from his patients.

“You just learned to live with what you have,” says Lind, who graduated from EMU in 1972 with a degree in home economics.

Lind, now a registered dietitian, later earned a graduate degree in nutrition from Oregon State University and returned briefly to EMU to teach home economics in 1980.

In 2005, Lind drew on her professional expertise and personal experience to write Simply In Season (Herald Press), a cookbook arranged by season with an emphasis on fresh and local foods. Lind co-wrote the book with a Goshen College graduate, Cathleen Hockman-Wert (whose husband, Dave Hockman-Wert ’91, is pictured on page 38).

“That whole sense of eating locally and seasonally [that I grew up with] was what was so important about Simply In Season,” said Lind. She hopes the book will help broaden the horizons of recent generations of home cooks who don’t “know where their food comes from other than the supermarket, [and] who want to support the local, seasonal food economy but to whom it is not part of their heritage.”

A decade before Simply In Season’s publication, Lind and her sister, Sarah Myers (class of ’67) co-wrote Recipes from the Old Mill: Baking With Whole Grains (Good Books, 1995), inspired by childhood memories of their uncle, who ran a water-powered grain mill in West Virginia.

Herald Press celebrated the 30th anniversary of a kindred bestseller, Living More with Less, with last year’s release of a new edition edited and expanded by Valerie Weaver-Zercher ’94.

Living More with Less was originally written by Doris Janzen Longacre, who died of cancer just before completing her manuscript (her husband, with three others, ushered it into publication).

Longacre had previously written the bestselling More-with-Less Cookbook (Herald Press, 1976 & 2000) – 860,000 copies sold by 2010, including British and German editions – which provided inspiration for Lind and Hockman-Wert’s Simply in Season. — AKJ

sustainability

photo by Sam Santilli Photography

LESTER ’71 and MARY BETH ’72 LIND, pictured at their home in Philippi, West Virginia, have shaped their lives around a faith-based commitment to simplicity and sustainability. For decades, the two have worked part-time jobs and lived off their land as much as possible.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED Satisfying, But Not Easy Lester ’71 and Mary Beth ’72 Lind were undergraduates at EMU when the environmental movement was taking off. They were on campus when the first Earth Day was celebrated. They took part when the college offered a January term focused on environmental issues. And they drew inspiration from a popular saying of the time – “live simply so others can simply live.”

“We decided to take that little phrase fairly seriously,” says Lester, who returned to EMU to earn an MA in religion in 1994. “Simplicity grew from a concern for the environment and justice to become a guiding principle of our faith.”

And so, not long after they graduated, the Linds settled in Harman, West Virginia, near Mary Beth’s childhood home, putting their commitment to simplicity into action. Working part-time jobs, they lived a little above the poverty line, which was comfortable enough for their tastes.

They grew much of their own food, and for a long period, plenty of surplus produce for restaurants, grocery stores and farmers’ markets. They chose not to have children, and if they ever ended up with more money than they needed, they gave it away – all decisions guided by the Linds’ commitment to simplicity and

stewardship, and all decisions that have left them with a deep sense of satisfaction.

“It was a lot of hard work, and it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it … the reward is great,” says Lester.

Now, he and Mary Beth live in a house they built in Philippi, West Virginia, closer to their congregation of Philippi Mennonite Church. One of the ways they tried to incorporate sustainability into their new house was through its one-floor design, meant to make household life easier as the two of them age.

As that time approaches, decisions the Linds made earlier in life about income and livelihood have presented them with new challenges, like finding a way to fund retirement after a life spent avoiding the accumulation of money. Without insurance through an employer, healthcare costs have also become of increasing concern.

“Our values of simplicity seem incongruent with a healthcare system that is not sustainable,” Lester says.

These realities, the Linds say, have significant implications for how people can pursue lifestyles based on simplicity. The Mennonite church, Lester adds, could – and should – provide better leadership in alternative ways to fund health care and retirement.

Nevertheless, the Linds remain as committed as ever to the simple lives they chose 40 years ago. “The value of simplicity continues to form who we are and how we live,” Lester says. “If we had it to do all over again? Yes, we would.”  — AKJ

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 13

DARRELL and SYLVIA YODER, BOTH '81 GRADS, have taken the small-steps approach toward sustainability in their household in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When the old oil furnace gave out, the Yoders installed a geothermal heat pump. Other measures: Replacement windows. Better attic insulation. Solar tubes for more natural light. Laundry drying on the line. Cloth grocery bags. One car for the family of four. A big vegetable garden.

Says Darrell: “Small steps make a big difference … and [they] make your life richer.”

‘CIVILIZED WAY TO LIVE’ Small Steps Anyone Can Take Sustainable doesn’t need to mean complicated. For many EMU alumni trying to live sustainably, little things really do add up to a lot.

At the Landis Homes community in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Dr. Richard ’60 and Ruth Slabaugh ’63 Weaver were the first couple to move into one of nearly two dozen cottage homes built with a number of simple green features. These include rain barrels, tubes to let sunlight into dark areas of the house, geothermal heat pumps, and solarpowered attic fans. Richard and Ruth both spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new, sustainability-focused part of the Landis Homes campus. Linford Good ’80, vice president of planning and marketing at Landis Homes, has led the effort to use greener building methods at the retirement community.

In Philadelphia, Carol and Timothy Martin Johnson, both ’82 grads, commute to work by public transportation, bicycles or walking; when they need to drive, they use their trusty old Corolla – 260,000 miles and counting. In January 2011, they put solar panels on the roof of their 100-year-old house, which should provide at least half their electricity. The Johnsons rent out the third floor of their house, attend a church that shares space with five other congregations,

14 | crossroads | spring 2011

and allow an urban beekeeper to keep two hives in their back yard. The sharing and interdependence that accompany urban living, Carol writes, present “challenges, but also endless creative possibilities in which we find much joy!”

“There are a lot of little things that each one of us can do in our own homes to save the planet,” wrote Martha Ann Burgard ‘66, of Gadsen, Alabama, in a letter describing the simple things she’s done in her own home. In condensed form: Clean with white vinegar and baking soda, because they work as well as toxic chemicals. Use a clothesline. White metal roofs reflect more sunlight and keep a house cooler. Heat with a wood stove. Wear a hat. Bundle up. Invest in a down comforter. Shop at thrift stores and yard sales. Repurpose old things. Try treating ailments with home remedies. Compost. Mulch. Turn your lawn into a wildflower meadow. Collect rainwater for the garden.

Grow your own food. Buy local produce. Cook in bulk, divide into meal-sized portions, freeze for later. Avoid processed food.

Buy eggs in cardboard cartons, not styrofoam, because cardboard is a good fire starter and is compostable. Don’t dry-clean clothes.

If you can’t wash it, you don’t want it. Make bags and purses from fabric scraps. Use some. Give some away as gifts. Volunteer.

Teach middle-schoolers how to build birdhouses.

Says Burgard: “This is the civilized way to live, in harmony with nature, not fighting it, not destroying it, but enjoying it, communing with it.”  — AKJ

sustainability

photographs by jon styer

building green

ALEX IVANITSKY ’02 and A. NEAL LEWIS, CLASS OF ’01, former EMU basketball teammates, own Sustainable Solutions of Virginia. They were the general contractors for this three-unit townhouse building, which includes passive solar design, solar water heaters and other green features.

BEYOND WEATHERIZING Environmentally Friendly Homes Judging from the number of alumni who contacted Crossroads about living in, or building for others, “green” houses, the majority of graduates from EMU by 2021 will end up living in homes that consume dramatically less energy than their parents’ and grandparents’ homes, while being built with materials from one’s local area that pose few hazards to health. Here are a half-dozen alumni who are leading the way to green buildings.

Alex Ivanitsky ’02 and A. Neal Lewis, class of ’01, started a construction company in Harrisonburg, Virginia, soon after their college years. A few years later, after Lewis took coursework in

sustainable design at EMU, the pair renamed the company Sustainable Solutions of Virginia and refocused their business on sustainable construction practices. Both have since received further training in solar hot water system installation, energy auditing and home weatherization. Their company now partners with Energy Star, EarthCraft House and the US Green Building Council. This spring, Sustainable Solutions is installing Harrisonburg’s first multi-family residential solar water heating system as part of a project to decrease energy costs for low-income housing.

Aaron Yoder ’01 owns A M Yoder & Co., a Harrisonburg home construction and remodeling company that uses the EarthCraft House program. Compared to conventional building, EarthCraft House projects generate less waste during construction, require less energy for climate control and demand less ongoing maintenance. A M Yoder & Co. applies

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Pictured on the job in Raleigh, North Carolina, BRADLEY YODER ’02 works as a project adviser for Build Sense, a green design and construction company. The Raleigh project pictured here will earn a Gold certification, as defined by the National Green Building Standard.

these techniques to a wide variety of houses. The company can build a Habitat for Humanity home that uses 40 percent less energy, and an 8,000-square-foot luxury home that is far less resource-intensive than a conventionally built mansion.

Benjamin Meredith ’92 is owner and president of Building Knowledge: Professional Inspection Services (Harrisonburg), which conducts home and small business energy audits to identify the best ways to reduce energy consumption. It also provides third-party verification for homes built to Energy Star or EarthCraft green building standards. Meredith uses construction expertise and specialized equipment – duct blasters, infrared cameras – to understand and improve a building’s energy usage. “Residential buildings consume approximately 22 percent of the energy consumed in the United States,” he says.

“It is my job to help people figure out how they can reduce their energy consumption footprint.”

Bradley Yoder ’02 is project adviser for Build Sense, based

16 | crossroads | spring 2011

in Durham, North Carolina. It builds all its new homes to the National Green Building Standard of the National Association of Home Builders. Smart and efficient homes, Yoder says, are a key part of living well-balanced lives: “If you’re careful about building [people’s] homes responsibly, efficiently and healthily, [they] are better equipped to do what they want with their lives.” One of Bradley’s colleagues, John Price, class of ’76, is the “build lead” at Build Sense, overseeing several of the company’s construction crews. Through another company, Carolina X Wall, Yoder also sells insulating concrete forms, an efficient and eco-friendly building material.

In Fulks Run, Virginia, Heather Bauman ’04 and Justin Thomas Yoder, class of ’03, live in a passive solar house, with supplementary heat from a masonry stove. It has a lightcolored metal roof to ward off summer heat. Built by Justin and his father, Kenton E. Yoder, the house stays comfortable during summers without air conditioning, says Heather.  — AKJ

ELMER ’64 and MARIANNE KENNEL’S pre-fabricated, 20-sided house sits on a scenic hilltop just outside of Harrisonburg. The unusual shape attracts curious visitors from time to time – and provides efficiency gains by shedding wind and minimizing the home’s outside surface area.

The house isn’t technically round, but with 20 sides, it’s close. And it looks unusual enough that strangers sometimes drop in just to ask about the place Elmer ’64 and Marianne Kennel built in 2007 a few miles outside of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Built with 20 prefabricated panels made by a company in North Carolina, the house includes a number of green features, beginning with the shape itself. The round design gives the home an improved surface-to-volume ratio – and consequently, improved energy efficiency – over a standard, boxy house. Simple ways the Kennels maximize the efficiency of their house: passive solar design, orienting the house to maximize and minimize the effect of sunlight at the appropriate

Designing for Health After being exposed to a variety of toxic substances while renovating his home in 1980, Clint Good, class of ’77, developed hypersensitivities to compounds in paints, adhesives and other building materials. He was just 27 years old. Good visited numerous doctors as he struggled to regain his health.

He began paying close attention to the environment he lived in.

He moved out of the city to find cleaner air. He began filtering his water, started growing much of his own food, and used mind-overmatter techniques to overcome anxiety about exposure to toxins.

That experience had a direct and enormous effect on Good’s career as an architect. (After attending EMU, he earned an architecture degree from Catholic University in Washington DC; his daughter, Bethany Good, graduated from EMU in 2004.)

“How could I specify products that go into people’s buildings that could make them sick?” he says. “That was my call to action.”

times of year, thick insulation, reflective roof shingles, well-built windows and doors, and “window quilts” to minimize heat loss.

The house also includes some higher-tech green features, including solar collectors to heat the house via radiant floor heat and the water system (on March 1, a sunny but chilly day, their tank temperature reached 120 degrees). A separate, 4.8 kW photovoltaic system at the house generates about half the electricity the couple uses.

Elmer’s and Marianne’s previous house, built in 1980, also had solar collectors for hot water and a passive solar design.

“It seemed like the right thing to do years ago, and it still is,” says Elmer, who retired in 2010 from his career as a general surgeon affiliated with Rockingham Memorial Hospital.  — AKJ

In 1984, Good designed his own special “ecological” house to safeguard his health. After that project received attention in an architecture magazine, Good started getting calls from interested people across the country and around the world. In 1988, his selfpublished book, Healthful Houses: How To Design and Build Your Own, became one of the first on the subject.

Now working from his office in Northern Virginia, Good has designed healthy homes and buildings for clients throughout the Americas, as well as in Asia and Europe, and has spoken widely in the field on how to build to protect occupants’ health. — AKJ

photo by sarah huntington photography

IT LOOKS A LITTLE UNUSUAL…

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KIM ’94 and MIKE ’94 MARTIN are living in a trailer on their land in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, during the construction of their straw bale house – its wood-burning masonry stove already works fine. A service term in Mexico partly inspired their commitment to simple living.

STRAW BALE HOMES Getting to Zero in Heating Costs The house taking shape on the property of Kim and Mike Martin, both ’94 grads, in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, was largely inspired by the couple’s service term with Mennonite Central Committee in Mexico. Living in a society with a material standard of living far below that of the US middle-class has shaped many lifestyle decisions they’ve made since. In 2009, they began work on a straw bale house.

The Martins will heat their house with wood in a masonry stove, a large structure that dissipates heat throughout the day after a hot fire in the morning. The house also uses passive solar design, composting toilets, recycled lumber, plumbing to allow gray water recycling, and other features to minimize its environmental impact.

Their house is a duplex of sorts, with adjoining living quarters for Mike’s brother and sister-in-law and a shared mud and laundry room in the middle. The two families lend each other support and encouragement, sharing the work of gardening and feeding the livestock.

“Doing it in community makes it much more joyful,” Mike says.

Lynn Stoltzfus ’95 also returned from a period of service in Mexico, with Christian Peacemaker Teams, with an inspiration to incorporate sustainability into everyday life. For the past four and a half years, Lynn, his wife, Christine Forand, and their two daughters have lived in a straw bale house that is disconnected from the power grid in Durham, Ontario. The family heats and cooks with wood, uses solar panels and a wind turbine to generate electricity, and grows most of its own food in a quarter-acre garden.

The idea behind this arrangement, Lynn says, is to “withdraw

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support for the status quo economic system that’s built on the oppression of people in other parts of the world.”

Among the challenges of living the way they do is that Lynn and Christine have to devote significant time to tending the garden, and “simple” tasks in a normal home (e.g., adjusting the thermostat) are more time consuming (e.g., going out to the woodshed and rekindling the fire).

For Barry Kreider ’86, one of the most rewarding aspects of living in a straw bale house has been the way it has connected him to new people. People call out of the blue, asking if they can stop by to tour the home in Akron, Pennsylvania.

The Kreiders themselves did a lot of visiting and research before building their own house, which was finished in 2003.

They heat with a masonry stove and have solar panels on the roof that produce twice the amount of electricity as they use. “In-law quarters” built into the home, currently home to a family from the Kreiders’ church, represent another aspect of sustainable living in the home: community.

Among the straw bale homes visited by the Kreiders was one in Keezletown, Virginia, where Alta Brubaker ’74 lives with her husband, Wayne S. Teel. Their home was finished in 2000, modeled after a Frank Lloyd Wright design. With passive solar design, solar hot water, a wood stove, and the straw bales’ exceptional insulating qualities, Alta estimates their annual heating bill is equivalent to a monthly bill in a conventional home.

After finishing college, sisters Lara Fisher ’98 and Atieno Bird, MA ’99 (Jennifer Atieno Fisher when at EMU), worked with other family members to construct a straw bale cottage as a retreat in Lewisburg, West Virginia, both for family use and for short-term rental. — AKJ

sustainability

photograph courtesy of mcc

around the world

Based in Bogra, Bangladesh, NATHAN CHARLES, CLASS OF ’02 (second from left), directs Mennonite Central Committee’s Appropriate Technology Program. “The whole point of this is to find sustainable paths to better lifestyles,” he says.

Going Global Sustainable Living and Learning For decades, environmental sustainability across the world has been a focus of EMU alumni working in international development, usually working with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). In recent years, many people linked to EMU – alumni, staff and faculty – have answered MCC’s call to reverse the degradation of God’s creation, encompassing land, sky and seas. Those MCC workers living amid the relative prosperity of North America are trying to reduce unnecessary consumption, to live as “lightly” on the earth as possible, and to work with others to grow and distribute food responsibly. Those serving in other countries are often involved in easing the burden of environmental degradation on the poor, who are disproportionately concentrated in the Global South.

Here are six examples of EMU-linked people, supported in part by MCC, who are addressing environmental problems:

1.

In Bogra, Bangladesh, Nathan Charles (class of ’02) directs MCC’s Appropriate Technology Program. Upon his arrival in 2008, Charles designed and helped build a “sustainable technology research center” to demonstrate and test various projects of the appropriate technology program. One example is harvesting “black” and “gray” water from household drains and toilets to reuse for irrigation, after bioremediation in an artificial wetland. The center also features a prototype solar

paper dryer at the technology center, for use in an ongoing MCC effort to promote handmade paper as a way of generating income in Bangladesh. The solar dryer would provide a cheaper, healthier alternative to the wood-powered dryers currently in use.

Another appropriate technology project Charles has worked on, in partnership with George Fox University in Oregon, is to improve the design of the vangari – a flat-bed, pedal-powered rickshaw used for hauling stuff rather than people – for easier, more efficient use. Through his work there, Charles hopes to see some lasting impact on sustainable living in the world’s most densely populated country, where 164 million people live in a space the size of Illinois.

2.

A solar electricity installation in Kathmandu, Nepal, where Micah Shristi ’00 (formerly Keller) serves as MCC program administrator, was a simple matter of practicality. With the country's hydroelectric stations operating at reduced capacity during the dry season from October to May, chronic power shortages cause regular blackouts.

“At the peak of the dry season there is no electricity for 16 hours per day,” Shristi writes. “MCC needed electricity to run its office, so we hired a local company to install 800 watts of PV [solar panels] on the roof of the office building.”

Shristi, who earned a master's degree from Appalachian State University in 2008 with a concentration on appropriate technology, helped design, manage and install the 800-watt photovoltaic system.

On a previous MCC assignment in Nepal, Shristi worked

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photograph courtesy of doug graber neufeld

EMU biology professor DOUG GRABER NEUFELD, PHD, spent 2005-07 in Cambodia developing environmental curriculum for two universities and testing water quality. He has returned during two summers, focusing on water sanitation projects with student research assistance – LAURA CATTELL ’09 and ALLISON GLICK ’10 went one time; GENE FIFER ’10, CHRISSY KREIDER ’11 and JAKOB ZUMFELDE ’11 went the next.

on a project to encourage farmers in southeastern Nepal to grow roselle, an ingredient in Red Zinger and other herbal teas.

A solar dehydrator he built to dry the roselle worked beautifully, save for another seasonal challenge: roselle harvest in the region coincides with a foggy, misty and generally sun-less time of year. With a lesson learned, both Shristi and the roselle farmers have moved on to other projects.

3.

Since 2005, Nathan Harder ’05 has worked with MCC in the rural, agriculture-based community of Moro Moro, Bolivia. During the past year, Harder has been part of a group called the Consorcio Ecologico (Ecological Consortium) that works in environmental education and promotes alternative, sustainable farming methods. Much of the group’s work, he says, has been conducted through half-day workshops used to teach farmers about efficient composting of animal manure, the use of mineral sprays, and how to make various fertilizers from readily available ingredients.

Harder has also applied himself to preventing soil erosion on sloped farmland, to constructing large concrete tanks to store irrigation water and extend farm productivity longer into the dry season, and to studying how compost benefits the production of potatoes – Moro Moro’s major cash crop.

“I enjoy being outdoors in the sun and wind, hearing birdsong all day, being able to work with people, soil and plants. It makes me feel alive,” says Harder, who is thinking of becoming a smallscale farmer himself, as Jamie Miller-Gonzalez ’01 decided to become after his MCC farming stint in Nicaragua.

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4.

Joél Kempf ’00 [not pictured] does similar work for MCC as a sustainable agriculture consultant in Mozambique. Kempf is currently working with the Christian Council of Mozambique on “sand dam” projects in Manica and Tete provinces, where limited rainfall and poor infrastructure leave many hungry and dependent on outside food aid.

Sand dams trap rainfall, which often comes in intense bursts, in large beds of sand that accumulate behind walls built across seasonal rivers. By seeping into the sand, the stored water – used for drinking and irrigation – is naturally filtered and suffers minimal evaporative loss.

A particularly successful sand dam in the town of Dzunga, Kemps says, provided nearly 100 farmers with enough water to grow new cash crops like cabbage, lettuce, carrots, bananas, mangos and others, providing them with more income to feed their families. The sand dams also mean women in Dzunga don’t need to walk long distances to get water during the dry season. Finally, the dams provide a reliable water source for livestock, a valuable source of income for local families during times of scarcity.

The Christian Council of Mozambique has also begun a project to teach farmers in Mozambique sustainable production techniques for new, drought-resistant cash crops like manioc and sweet potatoes.

Jenny Bishop Kempf ’00, Joél’s wife, has worked in Mozambique with the United Church of Christ on a project that helps people, most of them women, to make small business loans among themselves and otherwise manage their finances.

sustainability

photographs courtesy of mcc

5.

Elsewhere in Africa, Nathan Horst ’01 [not pictured] is working with Help Channel Burundi (HCB) as part of his MCC assignment in that country. He has been involved in a reforestation project funded by the Canadian Food Grains Bank – several million trees have been planted to replace the forests cut down during decades of civil war. To assist in that process, Horst developed an iPhone app called EthnoCorder, which is used to collect field data and analyze the effectiveness of HCB’s programs. (EthnoCorder was developed in collaboration with a San Francisco software company co-founded by his brother, Andrew Horst ’99.)

Since beginning to use the iPhone app to interview beneficiaries of HCB’s reforestation project, Horst says the organization has refocused its program to concentrate on small-scale agroforestry as a way to improve food security.

His wife, Lara Ressler Horst ’01, advises HCB on child rights issues. She also does cultural research on the history of textiles in and around Burundi.

For more information on Help Channel Burundi’s work, view www.youtube.com/user/helpchannelburundi

JAMIE MILLER-GONZALEZ ’01 went from college to MCC work in Nicaragua, where he met and married Evelin. Since 2008, the Miller-Gonzalezes have farmed sustainably there.

6.

From his current base at EMU where he is chair of the biology and chemistry department, Doug Graber Neufeld continues to maintain the links he developed as a MCC-supported scholar in 2005-07 working with two universities in Cambodia – the Royal University of Phnom Penh and the Royal University of Agriculture.

Graber Neufeld combined research into environmental toxins with capacity-building in environmental education for Cambodians. This work continued after 2007 with two summertime trips by five EMU science students to Cambodia, supported by a National Science Foundation grant.

The work of Graber Neufeld and his university collaborators has focused on five major topics: (1) pesticide contamination of market vegetables; (2) air pollution in Phnom Penh; (3) the relationship between natural wetlands and sewer discharges from Phnom Penh; (4) arsenic in drinking water; and (5) water quality from pump wells in a rural Cambodian province.

Graber Neufeld’s colleagues in Cambodia continue to ship clay samples to EMU, where an atomic absorption spectrophotometer can assess the levels of arsenic in the clay. Such testing is important for Cambodians’ health because the clay is used in making low-cost ceramic water filters destined for Cambodia’s rural areas.

Graber Neufeld earned his PhD in biological sciences from the University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in environmental toxicology.  — AKJ & BPL

MICAH SHRISTI ’00 (left) helped design, manage and install solar panels at the MCC office in Kathmandu, Nepal. Shristi is the country’s MCC program administrator.

As an MCC volunteer in rural Bolivia, NATHAN HARDER ’05 works on a variety of sustainable agriculture projects. Harder (above, center) is mixing a batch of compost.

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 21

good food This issue of Crossroads features nearly three dozen alumni who work in agriculture and who, in numerous ways, have placed an emphasis on sustainable food production.

FLEXIBILTY HELPS

Thinking Outside the Barn The fact that Paul ’79 and Shirley ’80 Hoover had no background or experience in the dairy industry did little to stop them from entering the business in 1991. Neither did the fact that they had five children at home.

And after two years in partnership with another couple, they struck out on their own, founding Willow Bank Jerseys with 30 cows and a bit of beat-up equipment on a rented farm beside I-81 near Greencastle, Pennsylvania.

The Hoovers’ inexperience led to plenty of rookie mistakes at Willow Bank. The time the cows’ teat dip got accidentally switched with an acid solution was an early lesson, generating some ugly veterinarian’s bills.

“The school of hard knocks is no joke,” says Paul, able to chuckle now over the early follies. But at the same time, the Hoovers’ inexperience blessed them with an enormous asset – open minds.

“You learn to think. You don’t just do something because that’s the way Grandpa did it,” says Shirley. “You be flexible.

You change course in the middle when it makes sense.”

Change course they did in 1997, after they’d paid off their start-up loan and gotten their farm legs under them. Then, after consultation with friends and mentors, the Hoovers decided on an unusual, seasonal approach to milking, allowing their entire herd to go dry for about seven weeks each winter.

A major advantage of seasonal management is simple economics. Utility costs, for example, are far lower when the Hoovers aren’t milking. The dairy herd’s synchronized lactation cycle allows the couple to minimize expenses by buying supplies in bulk quantities, drastically simplifying farm management.

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At least as important, though, the dry weeks give Paul a much-needed annual break from the daily farm grind (Shirley works part-time off the farm at a hospital in Hagerstown, Maryland.) Almost every year, he’s gone on service trips with Mennonite Disaster Service and other groups during the farm’s idle period, and each time, he returns refreshed and eager to start up again.

While Paul is “not a die-hard” on by-the-book organic agriculture, his 70-some Jersey cows are almost exclusively fed on grass – an approach that made economic sense for the farm, and one that happens to carry a variety of environmentally friendly side-effects. By grazing the pastures, the cows harvest and fertilize their own inexpensive and healthy food, also allowing Paul to spend far less time on the tractor and far less money hauling feed in and hauling manure back out of the barn than his conventional dairy neighbors.

The Hoovers have been members of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture ever since they began farming, in part due to the group’s willingness “to think outside the box,” says Paul.

Change on the farm is afoot again; the spring of 2011 will be the last milking season at Willow Bank Jerseys.

An intermodal rail terminal is going up a few fields away, and the Hoovers’ rented pastures will grow warehouses soon. Besides, Paul and Shirley’s mission all along had been to raise their children on the farm, and with their youngest graduating from college this spring, that goal has been met. They’ll be moving to Harrisonburg, Virginia, where Shirley’s sister, Sharon Miller, EMU assistant professor of music, lives. Shirley is looking for a hospital job, and Paul is open to ideas, as they embark on a new season of their own lives.  — AKJ

sustainability

photographs by jon styer

PAUL ’79 and SHIRLEY ’80 HOOVER milk about 70 Jersey cows at their farm in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. They let their cows go dry each winter to give themselves a break, and feed them almost entirely with grass – unusual approaches they’ve adopted to minimize cost and stress.

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THESE ONES

GO TO MARKET

ALUMNI ARE IDENTIFIED LEFT TO RIGHT // KRIS SHANK ZEHR ’92 writes a weekly cooking column for market’s e-mail newsletter and website. / Kris has adapted dozens of recipes to feature more than three dozen products that are seasonally available at the market // MARIA BOWMAN ’09 volunteers at the market table where SNAP recipients use their benefit cards to purchase tokens they can spend at the market. (SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as "food stamps.") // MARY JO SWARTZENDRUBER (CLASS OF ’89) runs Willow Spring Farm / At the farmers market, she sells fresh-cut flowers grown without chemicals, and handmade cards with photographs of her

24 | crossroads | spring 2011

More than a dozen EMU alumni participate as vendors or volunteer support staff at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market, a now-bustling venue founded by Samuel and Margaret Johnson more than 30 years ago.

flowers // CHRISTINE BURKHOLDER ’73 and husband Marlin run Glen Eco Farm.

They sell berries, vegetables and eggs; they farm using a variety of sustainable agriculture techniques. / Christine is treasurer of the Virginia Association for Biological Farming. // KAREN MILLER ’74 sells flowers and live plants for home gardens. / She runs her business, Green Earth Garden, to reflect her commitment to earth-friendly practices. / Karen worked at EMU from 1988 to 2007; her last EMU position was director of institutional research. // RADELL SCHROCK ’01, owner of Season’s Bounty Farm and CSA, grows vegetables and melons without pesticides or other sprays. / Among his specialties are unusual tomatoes, colorful peppers and

photograph by jon styer

sustainability

ornamental fall crops. // HEATHER CRIBB ’05 is the volunteer coordinator at the market for SNAP . / The market has been accepting SNAP cards since 2010. This allows low-income families greater access to the products available at the market. // RACHEL HERR ’04 and JUSTIN YODER (CLASS OF ’03) owners of Brown Butter Bakery, sell breads, cinnamon rolls and other baked goods. / They bake from scratch with as many local, seasonal and organic ingredients as possible, and offer gluten-free products. // MATTHEW GINGERICH ’05 grows heirloom tomatoes, garlic, potatoes and many other vegetables at his farm, A Peace of the Earth. / By raising as many flavorful heirloom varieties as he can, Matthew preserves crops’

genetic diversity. // MARGARET WENGER ’69 and SAMUEL (CLASS OF ’75) JOHNSON raise blueberries and fall vegetables at their Hickory Hill Farm. / Samuel persuaded the city and downtown businesses to endorse the idea of a farmers market in the late 1970s. / In 1979, the market’s first full year, the Johnsons were the only vendors to last the entire season. Samuel served as market coordinator until 1995. // NOT PICTURED: RIC GULLMAN ’86 owns Peaceful Valley Farm. With the help of a team of mules, the Gullmans grow numerous vegetables and berries for the farmers market. // LARISSA ZEHR, CLASS OF ’11, also helps at the SNAP table.

— AKJ

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LEON ’66 and ELAINE ’66 GOOD live at Sparkling Waters Farm in Lititz, Pennsylvania, where Leon grew up. For years, the couple has been improving a ¾-mile stretch of Hammer Creek that flows through the farm. They’ve planted trees, built erosion control features along the bank and allowed vegetation to grow up beside the stream, where it filters runoff from the farm fields. Hammer Creek today is much deeper, cooler, faster and healthier than it was when Leon was a boy. Sparkling Waters’ fields are contoured to minimize runoff, and crops are grown with no-till practices that control erosion.

CLOSE TO THE SOIL Eight Links to Earth’s Bounty These eight examples in three states show the range of agricultural work in which alumni are engaged – greenhouse operations, raising meat and poultry, dairy farming, marketing of produce, working the land as a form of rehabilitation.

Dawn ’91 and Troy (class of ’92) Alderfer raise corn, soybeans and wheat, dairy heifers and about 56,000 chickens on a 380-acre farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania. To minimize erosion and improve soil fertility, the Alderfers have used no-till practices on their fields since 1996, and are experimenting with winter cover crops.

They also follow a voluntary nutrient management plan to control manure runoff, have planted trees around the chicken houses to act as odor buffers, and built fences along streams to keep their cattle from eroding the banks and polluting the water. In recognition of this work, the Alderfers have twice received the Tyson Foods Poultry Environmental Stewardship Award, been named Berks County Conservation District Outstanding Farmer of Year, and twice have been named runner-up for the US Poultry and Egg

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Association Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award.

Another poultry-farming couple, Linwood ’88 and Radella ’92 Vrolijk of Hinton, Virginia, has also been recognized for their farm’s environmental stewardship. The Vrolijks, who raise turkeys for the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative, received the 2009 Family Farm Stewardship Award from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce.

The 2010 edition of that same award went to Philip ’94 and Terry ’94 Witmer, owners of Grazeland Dairy, a certified organic grazing dairy in Ottobine, Virginia. The Witmers, who have participated in several state and federal programs to encourage good environmental practices on their farm, also won a Clean Water Farm Award in 2006 from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Two of Philip’s cousins are currently managing the farm, as the Witmers began a two-year service term in the fall of 2010 with Mennonite Mission Network and Virginia Mennonite Missions in La Mesa, Colombia.

At Tussock Sedge Farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Henry ’70 and Charlotte ’65 Rosenberger have used conservation easements to preserve more than 420 acres of their land. The Rosenbergers, who raise grass-fed Red Angus beef cattle on terraced fields with no pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers, earned the Heritage Conservancy’s 2010 Business Leader Conservation Award.

sustainability

photographs by jon styer

Six recent graduates are working at Shenandoah Growers, a large company based just outside of Harrisonburg that sells live and fresh-cut culinary herbs to grocery stores in the Mid-Atlantic region. These alumni are (from left): SARAH ROES ’02 YODER, senior marketing and sales manager; RACHEL MILLER ’08, assistant grower; CHRISTINA PHILLIPS ’04, management consultant; DARREL MILLER ’10, procurement specialist; ILIR CELA ’08, greenhouse operations manager; and LEAH MEJA ’05 SONKOI (MBA CLASS OF ’11), director of operations for freshcut herbs.

Henry is currently chairman of the board of Living Hope Farm, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program starting on a property owned by Franconia Mennonite Conference that will include an education center for children from Philadelphia to learn about food production.

Paul ’63 and Mary Ellen ’62 Lehman also raise grass-fed Angus beef cattle in Boswell, Pennsylvania, on a farm that’s been in Paul’s family for five generations. Earlier in life, Paul earned a PhD in plant pathology from North Carolina State University, then worked with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture on a soybean research project and spent 25 years researching alternatives to chemical pest and disease control with the Florida Department of Agriculture. Mary Ellen worked as a teacher. Upon their retirement in 2003, they moved to the farm and have been working at improved sustainability ever since. “What we have has been passed on to us from past generations, especially those who loved the this land,” Paul writes. “Our greatest reward is when the seventh generation of our family, our grandchildren, comes to enjoy the farm.”

Family farming also continues in Chesapeake, Virginia, where James Bergey ’05 raises peas, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet corn and other produce for sale at Bergey’s Breadbasket. His cousin, Laura Bergey ’07, grows additional produce like greens, squash and garlic for the store. James’ parents, Harold ’76, and

Rose ’74 Bergey manage and work at Bergey’s Breadbasket – a bakery, deli, creamery and produce store. From 1930 to 2005, several generations of Bergeys ran a dairy on the same farm.

Marlene Boyer ’82 is president of Local Roots Market & Café in Wooster, Ohio. Local Roots operates as a cooperative business, open year-round as a market for local foods with a bakery and café. The coop’s goals are to “encourage healthy eating, expand local economic development, [and] promote community involvement and sustainable living.”

For several years, Dean Weaver ’89, Chris ’89 and Lynette ’88 Mast and Eugene ’68 and Gloria ’76 Diener have been supporters of, and volunteers at, Our Community Farm near New Market, Virginia. The farm is a Christian work-recovery community, providing a home where men and women can seek long-term recovery from addictive behaviors. In 2011, Our Community Farm began offering CSA shares for meat and produce.

The alumni group has assisted with drafting a master plan for the 150-acre property, adding plans for sustainable timber harvest, firewood sales, field stone harvesting, rotational grazing, and solar irrigation systems for berry production to the current farming.

Our Community Farm emerged from Our Community Place, a city-based nonprofit directed by Ron Copeland, MDiv ’06.

— AKJ

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HOPE and ROY L. BRUBAKER ’67 have been growing organic vegetables in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, since the early 1980s. They have influenced dozens of young farmers and gardeners through their internship program, where they model "conscientious living," according to a former intern.

IT TAKES A FARM To Raise a Village The latest improvement at Village Acres Farm in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, is a new kitchen and education center where Hope and Roy L. Brubaker ’67 and plan to host cooking classes. They have been concerned lately about the health effects of poor diets.

Maybe offering a crash course in cooking with fresh vegetables would be a way to help out.

There are plenty of fresh vegetables to be had at Village Acres Farm, where Roy and Hope run a weekly Community-Supported Agriculture, or CSA, program and supply a farmers cooperative that provides Washington DC and Baltimore with produce, flowers, eggs and poultry.

To keep up with all the work, the Brubakers employ several local people and host four or five farm interns each year. Over the past 15 years, several dozen interns have come and gone. Some have since started organic farms of their own, others have felt the Brubakers’ continuing influence in different ways, and either way,

28 | crossroads | spring 2011

the little farm in Juniata County has had an outsized impact on the wider world.

In 2010, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture recognized Roy’s and Hope’s influence over the years by awarding the couple the organization’s Sustainable Agriculture Leadership Award. “[Roy and Hope] have been a real asset to that community,” says Kent Sensenig ’92, who became Village Acres’ first intern in the summer of 1993 and returned for two subsequent seasons.

Kent, who now teaches part-time in the Bible department at EMU, is working on his PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary.

His dissertation includes a major focus on environmental and ecological ethics, an interest kindled at Village Acres Farm.

Kent and his wife Jennifer, also an intern at Village Acres for one summer, later worked for four seasons on an organic farm in Wisconsin. When Jennifer served as pastor of a church in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Kent ran his own CSA there for three years. (Jennifer David-Sensenig is now pastor of Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg.)

Jen Hess ’03 also continues to draw on her experience as a Village Acres intern in her job as services director for Goodwill

sustainability

A half-hour down the road from Village Acres is Blue Rooster Farm, owned by ROY DALE BRUBAKER ’92 and JULIE HURST ’93. The couple raises grass-fed, pasture-raised beef and lamb. Roy is also a state forester, overseeing 85,000 acres in the Michaux State Forest District (Pa.).

Keystone Area, an organization that provides job training for adults with disabilities. One of the programs Jen works with is an organic farm and CSA. Hess, whose favorite job at Village Acres was tying up tomato plants, and whose first accomplishment on Roy’s brand new lawn mower was crashing it, was the first services director at Goodwill Keystone Area with first-hand experience in organic farming.

“Roy and Hope taught me about conscientious living,” Hess writes. “We ate well, cooked well and lived well. The best part of every day was everyone around the dinner table at lunch and dinner … [where] a lot of great memories were created.”

Roy and Hope moved to Village Acres in 1982, after spending 15 years in East Africa with Mennonite Central Committee. While both of them worked off the farm, by the late ‘80s they’d begun growing significant amounts of produce, and a decade later, Roy began devoting his time completely to the farm after they started their CSA. It wasn’t a career choice without precedent; Roy’s parents (“oddballs,” as he puts it) had an organic farm of their own near Mifflintown, long before the concept of “organic” farming ever became widely understood.

One of the several new farms started by Village Acres interns is

Plowshare Produce, run by Micah and Bethany Spicher Schonberg ’01 in McAlevy’s Fort, Pennsylvania. On part of Bethany parents’ farm, Micah and Bethany operate a CSA with about 70 members and grow their produce on two acres, using horses for much of the fieldwork. They say Roy and Hope have been supportive and helpful in many aspects of starting Plowshare Produce, from day-to-day matters of growing vegetables and developing their business to modeling a dedication to community service.

Their appreciation for the example set by Roy and Hope prompted Bethany and Micah to nominate Village Acres for the leadership award the Brubakers recently received.

“The Brubakers have been mentors to us … by teaching us what successful and sustainable farming looks like: strengthening our agricultural community through service to our neighbors,” wrote Bethany, in a speech she and Micah made when Roy and Hope accepted the award.

Another young farm with a long and close relationship to Village Acres is Blue Rooster Farm, run by Roy Dale Brubaker ’92 and Julie Hurst ’93, Roy and Hope’s son and daughter-in-law.

While Roy Dale and Julie concentrate their efforts on pastureraised beef and lamb, they too have been discovering the rewards

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BETHANY ’01 and MICAH SPICHER SCHONBERG are protégés of Village Acres Farm. After working there as interns, the couple went on to found Plowshare Produce in McAlevy’s Fort, Pennsylvania.

of farming as a community-building activity.

Sometimes, it's a matter of practicality, like when Roy Dale and Julie and a farmer neighbor take turns feeding each other’s animals when one of them is away. And at other times, it’s a matter of emotional support – starting a farm from nothing in an isolated, rural area is challenge enough, they say, and going it alone would have been hard to imagine. Keeping close ties with Village Acres, a half-hour away, and other sustainable farmers in the area, and building ties with more immediate neighbors, have been important parts of Blue Rooster Farm’s development. “[By doing this], you really build community, and you build it with people you might not think you’d have much in common with,” says Julie.

That’s a lesson she and Roy Dale have been learning themselves as they’ve become farmers, and it’s a lesson absorbed from her parents-in-law at Village Acres, who have been living it for decades.

“We always had an emphasis on community here,” says Roy L., pausing for a moment in the muddy barnyard on a balmy February morning, a prelude to another busy spring at Village Acres.

“We see that as an important component of our farm life.”  – AKJ

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Bethany’s father, TOM SPICHER ’69, keeps a flock of 60 ewes on the Spicher family farmland, shared with Bethany and Micah.

sustainability

photographs by jon styer

down to business

“God has … a purpose for each of our gifts,” writes NELSON LONGENECKER ’78, vice president for business innovation at Four Seasons Produce in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. “[Mine are] relevant to the business arena.” Nelson has overseen numerous sustainability initiatives at his company.

Innovative Entrepreneurs Running In The Green Sustainability can’t exist in a vacuum, says Nelson Longenecker ’78, the vice-president for business innovation at Four Seasons Produce in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

“From a business standpoint, it needs to be driven by what makes sense,” he says. To that end, Nelson has worked to reduce his environmental footprint and operating costs with a variety of sustainability initiatives at Four Seasons, a produce distributor that supplies grocery stores from New England to North Carolina to Ohio. Examples include retrofits and upgrades of the warehouse lighting and climate-control system, improving delivery procedures, and employing mixed-stream recycling.

As a result, Four Seasons’ nearly 250,000-square-foot warehouse became the first in the country to earn an Energy Star certification in 2008. The facility has also saved 1.6 million gallons of water per year, recycled 88 percent of its waste, reduced natural gas usage by 29 percent, and eliminated 1.2 million annual fleet miles from its delivery routes.

“I just think there’s tremendous upside and opportunity [out there] for the environment and for business,” Nelson says.

“There’s just so much improvement to be had.”

Other EMU alumni who have found a niche in the business of

sustainability include Mark Grimaldi ’94, president and CEO of Equinox Chemicals in Albany, Georgia. One of Grimaldi’s business ventures has been the development and marketing of Rynex, an environmentally friendly dry-cleaning solvent that rivals the effectiveness of conventional industry solvents, and spares dry-cleaners the expense of handling hazardous waste.

Carole Persinger ’91 and her husband, Barry, work in a similar field as owners of Green Solutions Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning in Harrisonburg, Virginia. They use products that protect human and environmental health and are packaged and shipped in responsible ways.

Also in Harrisonburg, Ben Wyse ’99 launched Wyse Cycles in 2009, which he believes to be the first pedal-powered mobile bicycle repair shop in the nation. He pulls a 150-pound trailer of tools for on-site bicycle repairs, using recycled parts as often as possible.

Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Ron Thomas ’82 runs Redwing Ecological Services, which does environmental mitigation and restoration work for private and public land development across the United States. The 14-employee company includes several scientists who conduct endangered species assessments and oversee restoration of wetlands, stream channels, prairies and other habitats. “We believe that living sustainably in the world means balancing smart development with preservation of natural areas,” writes Thomas, a certified ecologist. -- AKJ

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CAROLE PERSINGER ’91 and her husband, Barry, own Green Solutions Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning.

BEN WYSE ’99 owns Wyse Cycles, a mobile bike shop, with which he makes house calls.

photo courtesy of andrea stoner leaman

Reduce, Reuse, Create Where Frugality and Art Intersect Andrea Stoner Leaman ’98 was finishing a master’s degree in social work at Temple University in 2009 when she first heard of “Creative Reuse Centers” – organizations that connect excess materials with “anyone who can use them creatively.”

Though nearly 100 CRCs operate across the country, the only other one in Pennsylvania was in Pittsburgh. Stoner Leaman thought the concept was perfectly suited to Lancaster County, a place, she writes, “where thriftiness, practicality and creativity intersect.”

Working with a group of like-minded volunteers, Stoner Leaman formed a partnership with an existing arts nonprofit, held a fundraising drive, and used Facebook to raise awareness about the project.

On August 6, 2010, Lancaster Creative Reuse opened its doors in downtown Lancaster as a project of the nonprofit Keystone Art & Culture Center. The store sells surplus supplies, business overstock, and samples and seconds at low prices. It also serves as a resource for teachers, kids, parents, artists, crafters, youth organizations, preschools and summer

32 | crossroads | spring 2011

ANDREA STONER LEAMAN ’98 is founding director of Lancaster Creative Reuse, a non-profit enterprise.

camps. Since opening last summer, Lancaster Creative Reuse has added a space in the store for children to create things with reused supplies.

In the same spirit at EMU, Cyndi Gusler ’93, MFA, associate professor of art, often uses cast-off objects as raw material for her three-dimensional pieces of art. She has directed Trash Fashion shows for which students create astonishing outfits from scrounged materials. For an example of this, view www.emu.edu/video/trashfashion09  – AKJ & BPL

sustainability

photographs by jon styer

green science

LAURA CATTELL ’09, a Maryland Conservation Corps team leader, clears a fallen tree from a trail at Patapsco Valley State Park.

On Heels of Research Come Sustainable Practices

4.

Increasing our understanding of the natural world – how everything fits and works together, how we can avoid fouling creation – lies heavily on the shoulders of scientists. Alumni and students involved in the environmental sciences include:

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JAMES AKERSON, MDIV CANDIDATE // Majored in forestry at Oregon State University. // Full-time ecologist at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and part-time pastor of Beldor Mennonite Church near Elkton, Virginia. // Director of Mid-Atlantic Exotic Plant Management Team, serving 18 national parks in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. // Works to assess and control ecological harm caused by exotic invasive vegetation.

JOE BUCKWALTER ’96 // Habitat biologist with Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish. // Leads Alaska Freshwater Fish Inventory Program, tasked with providing information for management and protection of freshwater fish.

LAURA CATTELL ’09 // Team Leader with the Maryland Conservation Corps. // Supervises group of AmeriCorps volunteers based at Patapsco Valley State Park, Maryland. // Works on trail maintenance, environmental education, invasive species removal, planting trees, and summer work program for city youth.

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LUKE GASCHO ’74 // Holds EdD in educational leadership. // Executive director, Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana. // Author of Creation Care: Keepers of the Earth (MMA Stewardship Solutions, 2008). // Leads Mennonite Creation Care Network -- www.mennocreationcare.org.

WENDY WENGER HOCHSTEDLER ’01 // MS in botany and plant ecology from Miami University (Ohio) // Lead biological science technician for forest vegetation monitoring program at Shenandoah National Park. // With park botanist, documents plant communities in park, with special focus on rare or sensitive communities.

DAVID HOCKMAN-WERT ’91 // MA in environmental studies from University of Oregon. // Biologist for US Geological Survey. // Read about Hockman-Wert in the Mileposts sidebar on page 38.

J. CHRIS HOLLINGER ’09 // Environmental scientist with Terraine Environmental, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. // Conducts groundwater monitoring and remediation, mostly at sites of gasoline and diesel spills in eastern N.C., under contract with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

NICHOLAS HURST ’01 // Masters in building science and appropriate technology from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. // Assistant program director at the North Carolina Energy Efficiency Alliance, housed at Appalachian State.

KRISTY KING ’02 // Master’s in environmental studies from Evergreen State College in Oregon. // Most recently (2005-2010) was an administrator with Mad Science of South Sound, in the Seattle area, an education-focused company.

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 33

10. ERIC LANTZ ’03 // MS in environmental studies from

University of Colorado-Boulder. // On staff of National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, working in market and policy impact analysis. // Primary research interests: policy applications for expanding renewable energy markets; evaluating economic and fiscal impacts of energy policy alternatives; and social acceptance of renewable energy infrastructure.

11. PAUL S. LEHMAN ’63 // PhD in plant pathology from North Carolina State University // Read about Lehman on page 27 and in the Mileposts sidebar on page 39.

12. RYAN SENSENIG ’92 // PhD in ecology from the University

of California-Davis // Director, environmental science program at the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College. // Expert on conservation of African wildlife, tallgrass prairie ecology, conservation and sustainable development.

13. ABSALOM HEATWOLE SHANK ’05 // Research technician with North Carolina State University’s horticultural science department. // Main assignment is adapting breeds of blackberries and raspberries for optimal production in North Carolina. // Says sustainability is a natural consequence of improved breeding – the better a plant grows on its own, the less it requires chemical and petroleum-powered help.

14. PHILIP L. SHIRK ’07 // Master’s candidate in biology at

Virginia Commonwealth University. // Currently a Fulbright scholar in the East Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, researching population density and skewed sex ratios of eight chameleon species. // Says: “Conservation research is important now because of the many threats facing biodiversity across the globe.”

15. EMMA STAHL-WERT, CLASS OF 2011 // Was member of

the Green Design class whose research had a major impact on the way EMU would build or renovate in the future. // In collaboration with others, she has investigated: coal mining via mountaintop removal; drilling for gas via hydrofracking; and dining hall waste.

J. CHRIS HOLLINGER ’09 works in groundwater remediation and monitoring as an environmental scientist in Raleigh, North Carolina.

photo by Daniel Cavanaugh, Global Institute of Sustainability

16. JARED T. STOLTZFUS ’05 // PhD student at the Global

Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University. // Considering dissertation research on biogas generators, using methane to power small towns, universities or large farms. // Program focus is trans-disciplinary, including focus on social justice and equality.

17. ROBERT B. WENGER ’58 // PhD in mathematics from the

University of Pittsburgh // Professor emeritus of natural and applied sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay // Read about Wenger in the Mileposts sidebar on page 39.

18. DEVIN YODER ’02 // Master’s in urban planning from

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. // Has advised: the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District on how to reduce phosphorus in wastewater influent; the City of Whitefish Bay on stormwater management to prevent flooding; Milwaukee on redeveloping its inner harbor while both remediating brownfields and retaining jobs.

19. JEREMY B. YODER ’04 // PhD in biology at the University

of Idaho // Doctoral research focused on co-evolutionary divergence in the Joshua tree and the moth species that pollinate it. // Has been graduate teaching assistant in mammalogy, ecology, cellular biology and other classes with University of Idaho’s department of biological sciences.

-- AKJ & BPL

34 | crossroads | spring 2011

JARED STOLTZFUS ’05, PhD candidate in sustainability at Arizona State University, takes notes during a field trip to the Gro-Well composting facility.

sustainability

ABSALOM HEATWOLE SHANK ’05 checks plants in a greenhouse at North Carolina State University, where he is a research technician on a project involving the adaptation of blackberries and raspberries for commercial production in North Carolina.

photo courtesy of emma stahl-wert

EMMA STAHL-WERT, CLASS OF ’11, surveys the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining at Kayford Mountain, West Virginia. (In 2010, JENIFER GARLITZ ’82 of Joliet, Illinois, published Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, a book about the damage caused by the practice.)

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WENDY HOCHSTEDLER ’01 is a biological science technician for forest vegetation monitoring at Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park.

JAMES AKERSON (MDIV CANDIDATE) is an ecologist specializing in invasive vegetation at Shenandoah National Park.

photo courtesy of joe buckwalter

JOE BUCKWALTER ’96 conducts fish inventories in remote areas of Alaska as a habitat biologist for the state’s Department of Fish and Game. He pilots a helicopter to survey fish populations and habitat conditions throughout the state, which has more than one million lakes and ponds, and more than one million miles of streams and rivers. “There’s no chance I’ll work myself out of a job anytime soon,” Buckwalter jokes.

36 | crossroads | spring 2011

photograph by jon styer

mileposts

KARL SHANK ’93 specializes in ecological design, building living landscapes with native plants, old-world stonework, and habitat restoration with his Harrisonburg company, The Natural Garden. He is pictured near Staunton, Virginia, on a property where he’ll use "prescribed burning" to restore a native meadow.

Faculty and Staff

Jayne Docherty, professor of leadership and public policy at the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding, was one of three contributors on the WMRA show, Virginia Insight, Jan. 3, 2011. The episode, “Resolving Conflict Calmly,” examined how to have civil conversations even when we disagree. (Jayne’s PhD is from George Mason University’s Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution.)

The show also featured EMU alumnus Tim Ruebke ’93, MA ’99 (conflict transformation), Port Republic, Va., director of the Fairfield Center (formerly the Community Mediation Center).

Susan Kolb has been employed as the new head coach of EMU’s women’s soccer team. Sue comes to EMU from Bluffton University where she has been a graduate assistant in the soccer program for the past two years, assisting with both men’s and women teams.

Sue played soccer and graduated from Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia where she received All-Conference and All-Academic honors. She received her master’s degree in instructional leadership this past December from Bluffton. She began her duties on March 15, 2011, getting started immediately with the recruiting process and the non-traditional spring season.

Ed Martin, PhD, of Akron, Pa., has been named director of the Center for Interfaith Engagement at EMU, launched in 2008. The Center – earlier referred to as “Abraham’s Tent” – pro-

vides space for people from a variety of faith traditions to dialogue and collaborate on areas of common understanding.

Ed most recently served with American Friends Service Committee as the Quaker International Affairs Representative for Iran, building connections between Iranian institutions and the United States, and providing resources for public education and advocacy regarding Iran in United States. Prior to that appointment Ed worked for 18 years with MCC as director of programs for Central and Southern Asia, as well as the Middle East. Earlier, Ed worked at the International Irrigation Management Institute in Sri Lanka. He has a bachelor’s in engineering from Stanford University, and a master’s of public administration and PhD in agricultural economics from Cornell University.

Kimberly Schmidt, professor of history and director of the Washington Community Scholars’ Center in Washington DC, wrote “Moneneheo and Naheverien: Cheyenne and Mennonite Sewing Circles, Convergences and Conflicts, 1890-1970” in the winter issue of Great Plains Quarterly, an academic journal published by the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-

Lincoln. The article focuses on the work of Marie and Rodolphe Petter, Mennonite missionaries among the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. While her husband’s lifework included an ethnographic dictionary of the Cheyenne language, Marie established a sewing circle that brought together the Mennonite and Cheyenne cultures. Kimberly’s PhD is from Binghamton University (New York).

1960-69

Miriam Martin ’60 Friesen and her husband Ronald (Ron) have moved to Brookshire, an intentional retirement community in Manheim, Pa. Miriam is a retired schoolteacher.

J. Lorne Peachey ’61, Scottdale, Pa., had a long-held secret wish to work with Mennonite World Conference (MWC).

However, the invitation in 2001 to become editor of MWC’s three-language magazine, surprised him. He became managing editor of Courier-CorreoCourrier in 2002 and editor in 2006.

The magazine, in English, Spanish and French, was intended for a global audience. The invitation presented a challenge. Lorne said, “I had worked for the Mennonite Church all my life. I was intrigued by the opportunity to

Faculty and Staff Alumni The entries for faculty and staff who are alumni of EMU can be found under their class years: Stuart Showalter ’67; Kenneth (Ken) L. Nafziger ’79; Irvin (Irv) ’82 Heishman; Terrance (Terry) Jantzi ’87; Luke Hartman ’91; Lindsey Roeschley Kolb ’07; Patrick Ressler ’09; and Marvin Lorenzana ’10.

broaden my horizons to the global church.” Lorne began working part time for MWC while continuing as director of marketing for Mennonite Financial Federal Credit Union (now Everence Federal Credit Union). He brought a wealth of training and experience to this endeavor.

Lorne retired after completing his final issue in 2010.

Allan W. Shirk ’65, Lancaster, Pa., retired after teaching social studies for 44 years at Lancaster Mennonite School and Western Mennonite School.

Stuart Showalter ’67, assumed his role as associate director of development at EMU, effective Feb. 1, 2011. He carries half-time regional responsibilities for donor contacts with alumni, parents and friends of EMU, with a primary focus in Ohio and the midwestern and southern states. Stuart brings significant professional experience in Mennonite higher education, having served as a professor and in other administrative roles at both EMU and Goshen College for over 30 years.

Joseph A. Gascho ’68, Hummelstown, Pa., professor of medicine and humanities at Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, was recognized for his unique approach in his vocation as a cardiologist in an article published in the 2010 fall issue of Penn State Outreach magazine. As a cardiologist, Joseph does not just study human hearts; he has a heart for patients. In 2004, Joseph began to visit patients in their homes and communities, relating to them as individuals with interesting lives and photographing them. He also began recording

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 37

his experiences and insights in poetry.

Viewing his patients’ photos enables him to see them as persons and, in his mind, enables him to become a better physician. Joseph brings his philosophy to his 23-year position as director of the medical center’s Cardiology Fellowship Training Program, a three-year program preparing the next generation of cardiologists.

Dave Hockman-Wert monitors ecosystems and species, specialiizing in fish.

Hockman-Wert Researches Fish Population, Habitat Working for the federal government was not necessarily the dream job of Dave Hockman-Wert ’91 after graduate school, but, nine years ago, his roots sank into the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) of Corvallis, and he has remained ever since.

FRESC is part of the Biological Resources division of the federal science agency known as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). FRESC focuses specifically on vegetation, wildlife and fish research in the western portion of the nation, with special attention to threatened and endangered species. The organization is one of twenty USGS science centers nationwide.

Though his job title is “biologist,” Hockman-Wert’s daily endeavors include working on the geographic information systems (GIS), spatial analysis and data management for the aquatic ecology group.

Hockman-Wert and team members place tags in cutthroat trout in order to track population, distribution and growth over time. This study will help FRESC understand the impacts of industrial forestry on fish in headwater streams.

Another study involving fish is zooming in on the fish community in the Elwha River where two large dams have blocked access to miles of stream for several years. Plans are in place to remove the dams within the next two years. Hockman-Wert will track the changes that occur in brook trout and bull trout as this process takes place.

“We see a wide range of behaviors in the fish we study, and we do start to wonder whether fish are as hard to generalize about as humans are,” says Hockman-Wert.

“Science centers support land management agencies with good, upto-date information (hopefully) and improved methods of monitoring ecosystems and species,” he says. “These agencies have the official responsibility to conserve, use, and protect federally-owned land for the good of the whole. Given the number of people in the world and the amount of resources we require for sustenance, the more we know about how to fill our needs with the least amount of impact on the rest of the world, the better.”

- By Heidi Martin for the Mennonite Creation Care Council. Posted 11/30/2009. Reprinted, abridged and slightly updated with Heidi’s permission from blog.goshen.edu/creationcare/tag/creation-care-council Check out the first postings in EMU's online conversation on "being green" at www.emu.edu/greenchat. And then join the conversation!

fall 2007 38 | crossroads | spring 2011

Ruth Lapp ’68 Guengerich, Goshen Ind., began serving as a co-director, with Rhoda Keener, of Mennonite Women USA, the national women’s organization of Mennonite Church USA, on May 1, 2010. During the Mennonite Church USA Assembly in Columbus, Ohio, in July 2009, Ruth assumed the board presidency of Mennonite Women USA. Herbert Steffy ’68, Palmyra, Pa., has been appointed the new director of field experiences and partnership at Shippensburg University College of Education. He received his bachelor’s degree in natural sciences from EMU in 1968.

He began his duties January 18, 2011.

Herbert most recently was an associate professor of education at Lebanon Valley College in Annville. Prior to that, he taught at other colleges and universities, including Heidelberg College, Lake Erie College, Notre Dame College of Ohio, Eastern Michigan University and the University of Central Florida. He earned his doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Central Florida in 1998, his master’s degree in science education from the same university in 1994, and a master’s of science degree in counselor education from James Madison University in 1975.

1970-79

Barbara Wenger ’70 Borntrager, Harrisonburg, Va., author of A Mother Held Hostage – about living with a child who has a mental illness – was the speaker at the Mennonite Women Fall Retreat at Cedar Street Mennonite Church, Chambersburg, Pa., Nov. 6, 2010. The theme of the retreat was “Thank You Father for making Me, ME.” Barbara is currently serving as chaplain with Market Space Ministries and as a peer-counselor with Crisis Pregnancy Center, Harrisonburg.

Previously, she was a public schoolteacher.

Daniel Hoopert, MDiv ’71, Harrisonburg, Va., had the privilege, two and half years ago, of teaching 2 Timothy to students at Donetsk Christian University in eastern Ukraine. Daniel will again be teaching some New Testament books in May 2011. From April 4-14, 2011, he will teach the Prison Epistles in Zaporozhye Bible College and Seminary in Zaporozhye, Ukraine.

Rose Brubaker ’71 Kennel, Lancaster, Pa., is an aide at Lampeter Elementary School in Lancaster, Pa. Jonathan D. Bowman ’98, MDiv ’08, Manheim, Pa., was ordained as as-

sociate pastor of Christian Formation at Landisville Mennonite Church in Landisville, Pa., on Oct. 1, 2010.

Norma Jean Bender ’72 Eddy, Ravena, Ohio, will lead the Learning Lighthouse Preschool LLC. The preschool is licensed by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. It will be located at Aurora Mennonite Church, where Norma is a member. Norma has taught kindergarten, pre-kindergarten and first grade for 30 years. Classes, for children ages 3 to 6, began in mid-January.

The school will also offer tutoring and enrichment activities for children up to grade 6 by appointments after school and several weeks in the summer. It is a non-denominational preschool and enrichment center.

Karl Stoltzfus ’72, Mount Crawford, Va., owner of Dynamic Aviation, has been elected to serve as a director of Missionary Aviation Fellowship International (MAFI). MAFI utilizes aviation to enable and maximize evangelism and church nurture, medical assistance, disaster response, and community development, as well as the training and development of indigenous peoples. MAFI currently operates 122 aircraft in 55 countries.

Its board consists of six directors from around the world. They meets annually in South Africa, Australia, England and the United States. Karl is also a board member of Missionary Aviation Fellowship-USA, headquartered in Nampa, Idaho.

Kathy Weaver ’72 Wenger, Lancaster, Pa., joined the pastoral staff at Groffdale Mennonite Church on Jan. 15, 2011.

Lloyd ’73 and Goldie Plank ’72 Kuhns, Akron, Pa., have accepted a three-year Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) assignment to Nicaragua beginning March 7, 2011. They will share the position of “Connecting Peoples Coordinators,” which involves working with MCC’s young adult exchange programs (SALT, IVEP, YAMEN), work and learn teams, learning tours and exchanges between Mennonite churches in the region.

Lloyd and Goldie will also be involved in some of the administrative work at the Managua MCC office.

Tobias (Toby) Leaman III ’74, Leola, Pa., is a truck driver for Sunrise Transports, a division of Four Seasons Produce in Ephrata, Pa. Janell Roggie ’74 Lederman, Sturgis, Mich., was one of 18 individuals honored Dec. 10, 2010, for their service at Glen Oaks Community College, Centreville, Mich. Janell, professor of nursing at the college, led the list of honorees with 25 years of service. She teaches fundamentals of nursing, medical-surgical nursing and many other subjects.

M. Clair Hochstetler ’75, Sem ’85, is manager of chaplaincy and pastoral care at Canberra (Australia) Hospital.

Kenneth (Ken) L. Yoder ’76, Quakertown, Pa., began working as clinical

training coordinator at Universal Health Services, Behavioral Health Division, Jan. 24, 2011. Previously, Ken was director of education and safety at Philhaven Behavioral Healthcare Services in Mt. Gretna, Pa., for almost 28 years, until March 1, 2010.

John P. Bender ’78, ’93 (bachelor of divinity), Pittsburgh, Pa., was appointed moderator of Allegheny Mennonite Conference, after serving a two-year term as moderator elect, at the 135th annual meeting of the conference in August 2010.

Conley K. McMullen ’78, Keezletown, Va., was recently named the 2010-2011 Madison Scholar of James Madison University’s College of Science and Mathematics. He also received the W. Dean Cocking Award for Service in Biology at JMU. Conley was a biology major at EMU. He earned an MS in biology at JMU and a PhD in botany at the University of Maryland-College Park.

Since starting his collegiate teaching career in 1987, he has been a faculty member at Goshen College, Ind., Cumberland College, Ky., West Liberty State College, W.Va., and, since 1997, at JMU. Conley is past president of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society and secretary of the Association of Southeastern Biologists. He was recently elected a governing member of the Darwin Foundation of the Galapagos Islands, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of Galapagos Conservancy.

Kenneth (Ken) L. Nafziger ’79, vicepresident of student life at EMU, was awarded the Virginia Association of Student Personnel Administrators (VASPA) Outstanding Professional Award at the fall 2010 Virginia Student Services Conference at Wintergreen, Va. Kathy Dwyer ’79 Yoder, Quakertown, Pa., was licensed for pastoral ministry and installed as lead pastor at West Swamp Mennonite Church in Quakertown, Pa., Jan. 31, 2010. She graduated from Lancaster Theological Seminary in May 2004 with an MDiv degree. Kathy served as interim pastor of Christian formation at Landisville Mennonite Church (Pa.) for 3.5 years. Prior to moving to Quakertown, Kathy was interim director of No Longer Alone Ministries in Lancaster, Pa., and teaching assistant in church history at Lancaster Theological Seminary.

1980-89

Marvin Rohrer-Meck ’80, Archbold, Ohio, has semi-retired from his position as CEO of Sonic Systems in Archbold.

His spouse, Darlene ’81, is education and marketing director for Ten Thousand Villages, also in Archbold.

Lois Deaton ’82, Cincinnati, Ohio, is the medical director of rehabilitation services at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati.

Irvin (Irv) ’82 and his wife, Nancy Sollenberger Heishman, Venice, Fla., both graduates of Bethany Theological

Seminary, have been warmly welcomed

by Eastern Mennonite Seminary as visiting scholars, January-June, 2011.

Nancy also holds a master in music degree from the University of Cincinnati.

The Heishmans have just returned from seven and a half years of service as mission coordinators for the Church of the Brethren in the Dominican Republic. Irv and Nancy intend to process and share learning from their intense mission experience through study and writing.

Their focus will be understandings of the dynamics of clientelism, or patronage, which have an impact on contemporary mission relationships. They will explore the perspectives of Jesus and Paul in confronting the patronage system common in the New Testament world. They have interest in exploring models for mission that avoid patronage entanglements.

Debra Rittenhouse ’83 Cribbs, Harleysville., Pa., is a vocal music teacher at A. M. Kulp Elementary School, Hatfield, Pa. She has taught general music classes to approximately 450 children each week in kindergarten through grade 6 for 26 years. Debra also directs the elementary school chorus rehearsals and programs throughout the school year. Every year, she directs many other special music programs put on by several different grade levels.

Christian (Chris) Kennel ’83, is the director of construction services for Landis Homes in Lititz, Pa. Robin (Rob) French ’84, Belleville, Pa., is the director of St. John’s Christian Daycare and Preschool in Belleville. He received his Pennsylvania Director’s Credential from the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, part of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, in February 2010. The program at St. John’s reaches approximately 60 children in the Belleville area and is a part of the Keystone STARS and Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts programs.

James (Jim) Sutton ’86 (biblical studies certificate), Painesville, Ohio, was installed as intentional interim pastor at Thomas Mennonite Church, Hollsopple, Pa., Aug. 1, 2010. Jim holds a master’s degree in pastoral counseling from Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. His professional experience includes approximately 25 years of pastoral ministry.

Earl S. Zimmerman ’86, MA ’87 (religion), Madison Wis., will be ending an 11-month term as interim pastor of Madison Mennonite Church in July 2011. Earl holds a PhD in religion from Catholic University in Washington DC. and is author of the book, Practicing the Politics of Jesus. From 2007 to 2010, Earl and his wife, Ruth Hoover Zimmerman ’94 MA ’02 (conflict transformation), were regional representatives for Mennonite Central Committee for India, Nepal and Afghanistan. Ruth accepted a job with World Vision that caused her to move to Washington DC in January

Paul S. Lehman prunes a tree; in the background is his childhood home.

Scientist Returns Home Before his retirement, Paul S. Lehman ’63, PhD (plant pathology), spent decades as a government-employed research scientist, mainly focused on excluding pests and diseases through phytosanitary practices rather than by chemical means. Today, however, his research focuses on his backyard. Mary Ellen ’62 and Paul Lehman have retired to farmland in the Laurel Highlands of western Pennsylvania that has been in Paul’s family for more than 150 years. They are now investigating ways to maintain the land, in part, as a preserve for wildlife and, in part, as a source of sustenance for their descendants.

“We decided to make an investment for future generations by establishing an orchard with disease-resistant trees that can be managed with organic practices,” Paul says. “We planted an area of blueberries because this was most likely another sustainable crop that can be managed organically and which is adapted for our area based on the fact that blueberries which were planted on a neighbor’s farm 50 years ago are still producing. We planted new grape vines from the stock that have continuously produced since the time that my grandparents were married in 1887.” For more information on Lehman, see page 27.

Researching Climate Change Robert B. Wenger ’58, professor emeritus of natural and applied sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, works globally on matters relating to climate change. In August 2010 he was in Peru for two weeks participating in two international seminars: (1) an environmental and water resources management seminar held at La Molina University in Lima and (2) an international seminar on watershed pollution held at the University of Tumbes in the northern Peruvian city with the same name. At both seminars Wenger gave a presentation titled “Climate Change Impacts on the Green Bay Ecosystem,” reflecting studies he has been doing for several years. Wenger’s research has been used by Wisconsin’s Initiative on Climate Change Impacts, a group charged with identifying adaptive and mitigation strategies for climate change in that state. Wenger, along with colleagues and friends at the School of the Environment at Beijing Normal University, are now organizing the next Environmental and Water Resources Management Seminar, scheduled for October 2011.

With an academic background in mathematics, Wenger has pursued the following research interests, among others: application of mathematical models to environmental problems such as solid waste management and water quality management; ecosystem risk assessment; and graph-theoretic approaches to the study of eco-system stressors. He is one of the four authors of Waste Management and Resource Recovery (CR-Press, 1995).

— BPL www.emu.edu | crossroads | 39

2011, where Earl will join her when his interim ministry is completed. (More on Ruth under her grad year.)

Duane Yoder is a member of the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission.

Low-Income Households Need Sustainability Too Duane Yoder ’70 could be dubbed “the CEO of sustainability for western Maryland,” if “sustainability” were understood to mean that all citizens, regardless of income level, ought to be able to live decently. Yoder is president of the Garrett County Community Action Committee, Inc., an organization founded in 1965 to address the causes and effects of poverty in Garrett County in western Maryland. Lowell E. Bender '67 is board chair of this organization.

This organization now focuses on strategies to assist low-income persons to be more self sufficient, according to its website. It is the largest developer and owner of affordable rental housing in Garrett County. It has more than 180 full-time employees and a net worth exceeding $10 million.

As a result of a grant from the US Department of Energy, “starting this spring [2011] we will install wind, solar and geothermal systems on homes of low-income persons,” Yoder wrote.

In the summer of 2010, the governor of Maryland appointed Yoder to the Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission. Yoder told Crossroads: “My basic strategy is to work to explicitly include discussion on such issues as equity, health, access to jobs and energy, as well as the environment. Doing this, I believe, will create a much stronger foundation for building sustainable communities.” — BPL

Rev. Hescox Lauds EMU Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network (www.creationcare.org), addressed a dozen audiences ranging from high school students to 20 area pastors in Harrisonburg, Va., Feb. 15-18, 2011. His venues included EMU, Eastern Mennonite High School, Common Good Marketplace, and Lilies and Sparrows Community. At EMU, Hescox spoke in seminary chapel and a noon luncheon, addressed a forum sponsored by the Anabaptist Center for Religion and Society, interacted with two EMU classes, and met privately with President Loren Swartzentruber.

“Seeing first hand EMU’s efforts on the renewable energy solar panels installed on the library, [and] the academic efforts on sustainability and food security demonstrate EMU’s understanding that Creation Care is a matter of life,” Hescox wrote after his visit. “Each kilowatt saved or produced renewably helps save a human life, and EMU lives this Biblical command to care for the least of these. Well done, EMU, President Loren Swartzendruber, professors, staff, students and entire community.” — BPL fall 2007 40 | crossroads | spring 2011

Terrance (Terry) Jantzi ’87, associate professor of peacebuilding and development at EMU, spent the last semester doing participant observation in the international development arena by working as a monitoring and evaluation specialist for World Vision Albania. The purpose of this role was to gain a different perspective in the international development landscape and generate new ideas for further research. In addition to his work in Albania, Terry has also been able to perform some evaluations in Kosovo and Mongolia and attend other World Vision events in Montenegro and Cambodia.

Terry is engaged in developing a system of internship possibilities in Eastern Europe for EMU’s new Peacebuilding and Development major. Terry earned his MS and PhD from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., concentrating on international and community development.

Steven R. Horst ’88, Ephrata, Pa., has been appointed as director of finance at Eastern Mennonite Missions. With his wife, Sheryl Sensenig ’89 and their three children, Horst served 16 years in Afghanistan under Mennonite Mission Network.

1990-99

Luke Hartman ’91 will fill a new position of vice president for enrollment at EMU, beginning in August 2011. Luke was a former member of the EMU education faculty. He has continued to teach a few courses each year in the MA in Education program. Luke is currently serving as assistant principal of Sky Line Middle School in the Harrisonburg Public School District. He anticipates completing his PhD in educational leadership at Virginia Tech by the summer of 2011. Before joining the EMU faculty in 2004, Luke was the head men’s basketball coach at Hesston College where he also taught education courses and served as associate director of admissions. Luke completed a master’s degree at Wichita State University. He was a popular speaker for several Mennonite Church USA youth conventions and in recent years has been the featured speaker in more than a dozen regional Lutheran youth gatherings all around the United States. We anticipate that he will join those leaders who regularly represent EMU in public and congregational settings. In addition to supervising the directors of admissions and financial assistance, Luke will give leadership to student retention.

Gayl Friesen ’92 Brunk, Singers Glen, Va., was appointed as the new school board chairwoman of the Rockingham County School Board on Jan. 11, 2011.

Gayl will lead the board as it focuses on fiscal responsibility in the management of a limited 2012 budget. Gayl is in her fourth year as a member of the board,

serving as vice chairwoman last year.

She will chair the board for one year.

Daniel Shenk-Evans ’92, Cheverly, Md., was recently employed as director of information technology at the Capital Area Food Bank.

Sherri Kurtz Peters ’93, Alexandra, Va., has been elected by the Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) to its secondary board of commissioners.

MSA-CESS is a non-profit regional accrediting agency which has over 3,500 member elementary and secondary schools and institutions in the midAtlantic region (Del, Md., N.J., N.Y., Pa., DC), the Caribbean, and in 86 countries worldwide. MA-CESS commissioners are nominated by the commission and elected by the full membership based on their extensive professional experience and strong commitment to accreditation. Peters, who is not affiliated with a MSA-CESS member institution, was elected as a public member of the board. Peters is a subgrants manager for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Paula Jean Snyder ’94 Belousek, Lima, Ohio, moved to Lima in September 2011, with her husband Darrin, and son, Liam. Paula and Darrin had been service leaders in Raleigh, N.C. Paula became the lead pastor of Salem Mennonite Church in Elida, Ohio, in October 2011.

Betsy Lynn Stone ’94 Casanave, Wilmington, N.C., utilized her training in EMU’s nursing program to carve a rewarding ministry as a flight nurse with WakeMed, Raleigh, N.C. As a student, Betsy had a keen desire to fly as a flight nurse after graduation. This is a competitive field and it took several years, gaining experience and finding the right context, to reach her goal. The opportunity emerged when the chief executive officer (CEO) of the hospital in which Betsy worked near the beach became the CEO of WakeMed and invited her to begin a flight program for them. Betsy now has administrative responsibility for the air, ground, and convalescent and pediatric/neonatal transport teams.

It is a tiered service, providing basic life support, advanced life support, air and ground critical care and pediatric/ neonatal critical care. Their unit received the “2010 Ground Critical Care Award for Excellence.”

Ruth Hoover Zimmerman ’94 MA ’02 (conflict transformation), Tacoma Park, Md., former co-director of EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, was hired by World Vision to head its India program beginning in late January

2011. She works from World Vision’s base in Washington DC. From 2007 to 2010, Ruth and her husband Earl S. Zimmerman ’86, MA ’87 (religion) were regional representatives for Mennonite Central Committee for India, Nepal and Afghanistan.

Carl E. Horning, Sem ’96, Lebanon, Pa., began a term as interim bishop for Manheim District of Lancaster Mennonite Conference on Nov. 1, 2010.

Jared S. Yoder ’96, Greensboro, N.C., is a cardiac registered nurse at Moses Cone Hospital. His wife, Elizabeth, is a doctoral candidate at University of North Carolina-Greensboro, studying voice.

Donna Mast, MA ’97 (church leadership), Scottdale, Pa., has been serving as the interim conference minister of Allegheny Mennonite Conference since August 2009.

She has been asked to extend her term of service for another year.

Matthew Thomas ’99, Bay City, Mich., resigned in July 2010, after nine years of service, from the United States Coast Guard. He is an associate with Verizon and remains in the Coast Guard Reserves.

2000-09

Luke ’01 and Sarah Roth-Mullet, Hesston, Kan., are serving a three-year term in Mexico City, Mexico, as “connecting peoples” coordinators for Mennonite Central Committee. Luke has a master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Luke and Sarah attend New Creation Fellowship, Newton, Kan.

Weston E. Strickler ’01, Kokomo, Ind., has had his first book, THE NEONATIVE, published. It is a book of poetry written during his travels throughout Asia, Europe, and America. Weston reports, “I have spent the last 10 years capturing snippets from the air, holding fairy muses in the palm of my hand just long enough to hear them whisper. I have journeyed deep into the jungle, high onto the mountains, far into the desert, deep into myself just to find a space clear enough to listen to words that I could share with you.” More information is available at www.myspace.com/ theneonative Kyle Horst ’02, Elizabethtown, Pa., is now vice president of the company led by his father, Gerald “Gerry” R. Horst (class of’ 72). Horst and Son Inc. does building and contracting.

Ross Kauffman ’02, Indianapolis, Ind., has been employed by Bluffton College to lead a new academic program in public health care. Bluffton is offering a major and minor in public health to undergraduates beginning next fall. Ross was hired to implement these programs.

He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Training in Research for Behavioral Oncology and Cancer Control program in Indiana University’s School of Nursing

at Indiana-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Ross earned both his master in public health and PhD in epidemiology from Ohio State University.

Duane Miller ’03, Portland, Ore., is a registered nurse working in the emergency room (ER) in Portland, as an instructor for ER nurses. His wife, Rachel Ringenberg MDiv ’07 Miller, is associate pastor at Portland Mennonite Church.

Melinda Steffy ’03, Philadelphia, Pa., installed an art show on Jan. 5, 2011, with the first of two receptions. The first one, Jan. 13, was a solo exhibition, “Myth/Memory”, Jan. 5-Feb. 27, in The Hall at Crane Arts Building in Philadelphia, presented by InLiquid. The second one, a group exhibition, “New Wilmington Painting,” Jan. 7-28, was held at the Tower Hill School, Wilmington, Del., presented by New Wilmington.

Kevin (K.C.) Gandee ’04, Rutland Vt., has been appointed to the post of Snowboard Program Director and Head Coach for Killington Mountain School (KMS) in Killington, Vt., and the Killington Winter Sports Club/KMS Competition Program. Kevin was the head coach for the Ross Powers Snowboard Camp at Okemo Mountain from 2004-2009 and is an American Association of Ski Instructors (AASI) Certified Level 3 instructor. He sits on the Professional Ski Instructors of America Eastern Board of Examiners and was selected as one of six members of AASI Snowboard Team Member from 2004-08. Prior to joining the Killingham school, Kevin was recreation facilities manager at Okemo Mountain Resort in nearby Ludlow, Vt. Kai W. Orenic ’04 graduated from basic training as an army specialist at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla. The son of Wonshé, MA ’04 (conflict transformation), Boulder, Colo., and Chuck Orenic of Luray, Va., Kai graduated in 2000 from Luray High School, and received a bachelor’s degree in communications from EMU. He was a record-setting sprinter at EMU. Kai continues to hold the school record for the 400 meter dash at 47.42, set in 2003. Kai was an NCAA qualifier in the 400 meters, finishing ninth in the finals. After graduation, Kai taught English as a second language through the New Bridges Immigrant Resource Center in city schools, and at the Career Development Academy at James Madison University. He also worked at the Harrisonburg office of the company that produces RosettaStone language software.

Christie Benner ’04 Dixon received her master’s degree in English literature from Drew University in August 2010.

She is currently working on completing her PhD, also at Drew.

Joel Shenk ’04, Toledo, Ohio, was licensed and installed as pastor of Toledo Mennonite Church, Oct. 24, 2010.

Phil M. Yoder in Ecuador, where he plans to build an "ecolodge"

From ‘Extractive Capitalism’ To Ecotourism in Ecuador Philip (Phil) M. Yoder ’87 owns 220 acres of rainforest in Ecuador, the home country of his biologist-wife, Anita Montufar. After a previous owner logged the land for lumber and to farm, the Yoders have allowed the rainforest to regenerate. Their goal, wrote Phil in an e-mail to Crossroads, is to nurture and preserve their land.

“I have a goal to build an ecotourism lodge, but I need the community to support and favor this or it will not happen,” Phil wrote.

“I am attentively listening to my community to discern my future.”

Since allowing the land to return to forest, pasture has been replaced by trees with 40-foot canopies above thick undergrowth, and a colony of Graell’s Tamarins (a species of monkey) has moved in.

Phil said he and Anita are part of a nationwide movement to wean Ecuador from “extractive capitalism,” in which the country’s natural resources are extracted – usually by methods that cause widespread pollution – by large companies such as Chevron, regardless of the impact on the local people and their environment. In recent years, Phil has begun to realize that simply setting aside land will not be enough to preserve the rainforest. Instead, it must sustainably generate some income for the people who live on or around it – hence his interest in ecotourism or in talk about CO2 compensation “at $74 per acre per year” for lands designated as biodiverse forest preserves.

Phil forwarded a Feb. 15, 2011, e-mail in which Nelly Duràn, the minister of tourism of Pastaza province in Ecuador, commended Phil for understanding “the connection between humanity and environment” and for contributing to a management plan aiming at “the protection of the attractive views, spelunking and biodiversity.”

Phil, who also owns an eco-friendly carpentry business called Rainforest Carpentry, has a master of business administration in environmental management from Florida Atlantic University. He and Anita live in Playas, Ecuador, with their two sons, 14-year-old Fred and 11-year-old Sol. For more information about Phil’s ecololodge and ecotourism hopes, e-mail him at rioanzu@gmail.com.

— BPL & AKJ www.emu.edu | crossroads | 41

Jesse Buckwalter

Full Vegetable Oil Ahead The Mercedes 300D was an old, beat-up, high-mileage car with a diesel engine – just what Jesse Buckwalter ’04 was looking for. Jesse, then living in Fairbanks, Alaska, bought the thing and converted it to run on vegetable oil. He’d read that diesel engines were originally designed to run on peanut oil, and says the engineering required to run on vegetable oil wasn’t terribly tricky. And so, during the three years he was in Fairbanks, he’d swing by Wasabi Bay, a sushi place in town, every week or so to pick up 10-15 gallons of leftover cooking oil.

Wasabi Bay was glad to have it off their hands, and Jesse was glad to be fueling his car for free. Almost free, that is – the car had to start on diesel fuel; once it was warmed up, Jesse flipped a switch on the dash to begin drawing the oil out of a tank he’d monkeyed under the hood. He once drove the thing the entire way from Fairbanks to Harrisonburg, Virginia, and back. The few barrels of vegetable oil he hauled on the return trip got him halfway to Alaska.

Jesse, his wife Jill, and daughter, Adah, now live in Boone, North Carolina, where Jesse is pursing a master’s degree in Appalachian studies from Appalachian State University. Before leaving Fairbanks, he sold his first 300D. In Boone, he already has another one, also rigged up for vegetable oil.

“It’s cool to think that you’re not depending on foreign oil,” he says. “[And] that you’re using a waste product [for] something.”

In Harrisonburg, Jesse's brother, Bruce Buckwalter '91, and Jeremy Good ’03, EMU’s network systems manager, also drive cars fueled by used vegetable oil. — AKJ

Future Landscape Architect This summer (2011), Trevor D. Weaver ’09 will be finished with his first year as a graduate student in the landscape architecture program of Penn State University. He writes: “It has amazed me how applicable my major in environmental science has been to landscape architecture! I had the privilege of being a teaching assistant for an ecology course for second-year undergrads in landscape architecture last semester, and it was so refreshing to be able to use information from my undergraduate studies. We have also been looking at lots of sustainable design options in this program, such as storm water management and solar energy harvesting.” Weaver is researching the geology and geomorphology in and around Penn State as his contribution to a site analysis necessary for designing a future “center for the environment” at Penn State.

Weaver is married to Lauren Byler ’09 (nursing). They are living in a house they bought in Lauren’s hometown of Belleville, Pennsylvania.

— BPL fall 2007 42 | crossroads | spring 2011

Luann Yutzy ’04 (ministry studies certificate), MA ’06 (church leadership), Lititz, Pa., has been licensed as co-pastor of East Petersburg Mennonite Church, East Petersburg, Pa.

a physician. David has been employed at Rockingham Memorial Hospital since December 2009. He plans to return to Harrisonburg when he completes his training.

Michelle Armster ’05, Lancaster, Pa., was ordained for Christian ministry at Blossom Hill Mennonite Church, Oct. 24, 2010. Michelle currently serves as co-pastor at St. Andrew United Church of Christ in Lancaster. She is also the co-director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Conciliation Services.

Dawn Monger, MA ’09 (church leadership), is serving as EMU’s interim associate campus pastor for the spring semester of 2011, filling the vacancy of Byron Peachey as he co-leads the crosscultural seminar to Guatemala and the U.S.-Mexico border. Her focus at EMS was in pastoral care. Dawn has worked in church and academic settings with college students for the past 10 years.

Additionally, she is serving part-time on the Lindale Mennonite Church pastoral staff as pastor of congregational life.

Jill Leaman ’05 Milton and her husband, Nate, have been in Nairobi, Kenya, with Eastern Mennonite Missions and will be coming home in June. Jill has been teaching at Rosslyn Academy and most recently has also served as principal.

James Heung-soo Rhee, MDiv ’05, Stephens City, Va., was the founding pastor of Stephens City Korean Community Church in 2008. Rhee now feels called to plant a Mennonite church to serve Koreans in Harrisonburg. Rhee oversees the 1 p.m.

Sunday worship service in Stephens City, then drives with his family to oversee a 3:30 p.m. meeting of the emerging Korean church in Harrisonburg the fireplace room of Park View Mennonite Church.

Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Barnes Jarrett, MDiv ’06, Lancaster, Pa., is one of four pastors featured in the January 2011 issue of The Mennonite in “A special section on Mennonite education.” She is included in a section entitled “training pastors for the church.” Beth notes, “The intersection of life, learning and faith is an important component of who I am as a pastor. Daily I return to the foundation that was laid by my thoughtful and challenging professors.”

Joseph H. Furry, Jr. ’07 (church ministry studies), MDiv ’10, Martinsburg, Pa., was installed as pastor of Martinsburg Mennonite Church, Aug. 15, 2010.

Lindsey Roeschley ’07 Kolb has moved into a role as media specialist in EMU's marketing and communications department, giving leadership to university videography and photography needs, as well as doing graphic design. She also serves as the main proofreader for Crossroads and Peacebuilder magazines.

Kerry Martin, CRT ’07, Ephrata, Pa., began a term as lead pastor of Millport Mennonite Church in Leola, Pa., Oct. 3, 2010.

Brenna Steury ’07 Graber, Sarasota, Fla., is thrilled to be using her EMU education to serve the Mennonite school system. Brenna teaches and is administrative assistant to the superintendent at Sarasota Christian School.

She is grateful to EMU for preparing her to serve and lead in her work, church, and community.

David Gish ’08, Harrisonburg, Va., has been accepted at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pa., to begin his course of study to become

Patrick Ressler ’09 has joined the admissions team of EMU as assistant director. He represents EMU for recruiting and admitting students from the central/ southwest states, especially Virginia, North Carolina and Kansas. In 2010-11, he also served as an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team, returning to support a team on which he played as an undergraduate.

Michael (Mike) Charles ’09, Lancaster, Pa., teaches social studies at Lancaster Mennonite High School. His spouse, Rachael Clemmer ’09 Charles, is a nurse at Lancaster General Hospital.

Stephen Gibbs, MDiv ’09, Elizabethtown, Pa., began a term as interim pastor at Landis Valley Christian Fellowship, Lancaster, Pa., on Sept. 1, 2010.

Emily Gingrich ’09, currently at the Harrisburg Discipleship Center in Pennsylvania, was unable to leave for the Czech Republic on Dec. 4, 2010, as planned, due to visa regulations and the length of Emily’s stay in Prague. She is required to apply for a long-term visa, a process that could take from 90-120 days.

Michael Ayuen Kuany, MA ’09 (conflict transformation), Monroe, Wis., founder and executive director of Rebuild Sudan, wrote an extensive and perceptive article about voters’ determining the future of Southern Sudan. His article was published Jan. 8, 2011, in Bor Globe Network (www. borglobe.com).

2010-

Jay (Michael) M. Harnish ’10, Harrisonburg, Va., was licensed, Nov. 21, 2010, as pastor for faith development for youth and young adults at Weavers Mennonite Church.

Marvin Lorenzana ’10, Harrisonburg, Va., director of multicultural services at EMU, contributed to a special section on Mennonite education in the January 2011 issue of The Mennonite.

Marvin, who earned a ministry studies certificate from EMU in 2005, spoke to the value of his experience at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) in an article entitled “Anabaptist tradition deepens faith.” Prior to coming to EMS, Marvin

had been a Pentecostal minister for 15 years. However, he felt that his good intentions might be inadequate to succeed in long-term ministry. Marvin notes, “Today, I credit my seminary experience for fostering in me the need to reflect theologically about life, God, faith and Christian ministry. EMS nurtured in me a profound need to assign the highest importance to Scripture so that devotional reading, in time, has become a light that has guided my path in life.”

Karissa Sauder ’10, Smoketown, Pa., is a volunteer in Mennonite Voluntary Service in Rochester, N.Y., this year, with three other women in a new unit. They relate to the Rochester area Mennonite Fellowship. Karissa is working at Partners in Restorative Initiatives, a small not-for-profit agency. She will be going to Harvard Law School in the fall.

Marriages

Leo Heatwole ’72 to Ruthanne Janzen ’69, Dec. 31, 2010.

Dolores Clymer Beiler ’77 to John Myers, July 3, 2010.

James (Jim) L. Shenk ’79 to Juliana Marquez, Oct. 2, 2009.

Betsy Lynn Stone ’94 to Eddie Casanave, Oct. 3, 2009.

Jared S. Yoder ’96 to Elizabeth Westerman, June 12, 2009.

Scott Stauffer ’00, to Deanne Petker, Oct. 23, 2010.

Cheritt Gingerich ’03 to Kelly Teno, May 28, 2010.

Christie Benner ’04 to Mark Dixon, Sept. 25, 2010.

Margaret (Grete) Horst ’04 to Christopher Johnson, Sept. 4, 2010.

Michelle Hamsher ’04 to Seth Kolb, Aug. 14, 2010.

Drew Ebersole ’09 to Kara Weaver ’09, July 11, 2009.

Andrew Gascho ’09, to Erika Martin ’10, June 19, 2010.

Mitchel (Mitch) Yoder ’09 to Lauren Derstine ’10, Dec. 18, 2010.

Births

Paula J. Snyder ’94 and Darrin Belousek, Lima, Ohio, William (Liam), Aug. 28, 2010.

Karen Fix ’95 and Daniel Rice, Greensboro, N.C., Graeme Maddox, July 19, 2010.

Candance Sauder ’96 and Wendel King ’92, Leola, Pa., Blake Michael, June 8, 2010.

Ryan ’97 and Holly McNamara King, Broadway, Va., Louisa Joy, Jan. 10, 2011.

Hannah Miller ’97 and Anson Miedel, Wooster, Ohio, Mary Elaine, Jan. 26, 2011.

Jonathan ’98, MDiv ’08, and Beth Witmer ’97 Bowman, Manheim, Pa., Naomi Grace, Dec. 8, 2010.

Chan ’98 and Kelly Holsopple ’98 Gingerich, Harrisonburg, Va., Aaron Dwayne, Feb. 12, 2011.

Gary ’98 and Charla Steiner ’98 Sommers, North Canton, Ohio, Paige Ella, Oct. 21, 2010.

Jeremy ’99, MDiv ’06, and Jody McKenney ’99 Byler, Harrisonburg, Va., Jeremiah Levi, Nov. 17, 2010.

Curtis (Curt) ’99 and Krista Conser, Salem, Ohio, Alison Rea, April 26, 2010.

Ramona Steiner ’99 (Sem ’02) and Peter Rios, Colorado Springs, Colo., Hannah Rita, Feb. 27, 2011.

Jonathan ’00 and Tamara Greaser ’00 Kratz (MA ’06 in counseling), Harrisonburg, Va., Benjamin Tate, Jan. 5, 2011.

Ryan D. ’00 and Sherri-Lynn Kauffman ’00 Wenger, Toefield, Alberta, Canada, Elyssa Janae, Feb. 14, 2011.

Natasha Hackman ’01 and Joshua Alderfer, Telford, Pa., Isaiah Ethan, Sept.

4, 2010.

Bethany Verslius ’01 and Peter Fairfield, Harrisonburg, Va., James, Feb 14, 2010.

Adena See ’01 and Jared Hickman, Staunton, Va., Reese Emory, Jan. 8, 2011.

Benjamin (Ben) ’01 and Karen Hough ’01 Stauffer, North Lawrence, N.Y., Leah Elizabeth, Oct. 26, 2010.

Terry ’87 and Elizabeth Jantzi, Harrisonburg, Va., Gabriel Tobias, July 7, 2010.

Philip (Phil) ’02 and Amy Mackey Blount, Bluffton, Ohio, Ryan Everett, Jan. 12, 2011.

Connie Shemo ’91 and William Fischer, Plattsburgh, N.Y., Meara Dominique, March 26, 2010.

Michelle Thomas ’02 and Ryan Brenneman ’00, Union, Mich., Samuel Jay, Jan. 12, 2011.

Peter ’92 and Ilsa Dula, Harrisonburg, Va., Nina, Feb. 8, 2011.

Amy Potter, MA ’02, and Bart Czajkowski, Culpepper, Va., Alexander Judson, Oct. 23, 2010.

Deron ’92 and Krista Nisly, Hutchinson, Kan., Benjamin James, March 26, 2010.

Andrea Stoltzfus ’93 and Dean Weaver ’87, Linville, Va., Luke Aaron Weaver, Jan. 30, 2011.

Bradley (Brad) ’02 and Deborah (Deb) Yoder ’03 Fair, Lancaster, Pa., Zoe, Dec. 28, 2010.

Andrew (Andy) ’02 and Lisa Gascho ’03 Hershberger, West Liberty, Ohio, Tyler Adam, Sept. 19, 2010.

Lee M. Yoder in his former office at Narmer American College in Cairo

Cairo On His Mind When Lee M. Yoder ’63 first spotted the cover of the Feb. 28, 2011, edition of Time, he was astonished. Under a huge headline “The Generation Changing the World,” he spotted a 23-year-old Egyptian college student he recalled as a high schooler in Narmer American College (NAC) in Cairo, where Yoder was superintendent until 2008.

“We had school elections for student government representatives, complete with voting booths and election monitors,” Yoder told Crossroads. As a school serving Egyptians hungry for an Americanstyle education, NAC offered its students “their only direct experience with how democracies operate,” he added.

Time chose Sarah Abdel Rahman to be one of the seven young protesters on its cover – one of three females – as a result of her daily presence at the Tahrir Square protests, beginning on Jan. 25, 2011.

Yoder knows that a Christian woman he had employed as a music teacher and a Muslim man employed as an Arabic teacher at NAC also took leading roles in the protest.

The non-violent grassroots movement took Yoder by surprise. From 2000 – when Yoder was hired by an Egyptian educator, Mohamed El Rashidy, to found an American-style PK-12 school – to 2008 when Yoder wrapped up his work there, Yoder saw little possibility for Egypt’s release from dictator Mubarak’s rule. He and his wife, LaVerne Zehr Yoder ‘63 did, however, grow to love Egypt and to feel welcomed by its people, regardless of their religious persuasion. In fact, 90 percent of the students in his school were Muslim, and Yoder says there was no tension between them and the heavily Christian faculty and minority segment of Christian students.

NAC grew from 20 students to 490 students by the time the Yoders left. LaVerne was the school’s founding early childhood leader, focusing on the kindergarten level. Its facilities were second-to-none, with a complex costing the equivalent of about $14 million, completed in 2006.

This semester [spring 2011] at EMU, Yoder is interim co-chair of undergraduate education, along with Sandy L. Brownscombe. They are filling in for Cathy Smeltzer Erb ’85, who is on sabbatical.

From 1963 to 1975, Yoder was first a social studies teacher and then the principal of Christopher Dock High School in Lansdale, Pa. During 1975-1986 Yoder was vice president and associate professor of education at EMU and then dean for academic affairs and professor of education (1992-1998) at nearby Bridgewater College. Yoder received both an EdM and an EdD in education from Temple University in Philadelphia.

— BPL www.emu.edu | crossroads | 43

Jewel Mumau ’02 and Lavern Peachey, Reedsvile, Pa., Logon Tyler, May 6, 2010.

an active and faithful steward in various ministries of the church.

Shawn ’02 and Melanie Miller ’03 Rice, Lancaster, Pa., Samuel Jacob, Dec. 24, 2010.

Hazel E. Bennet ’36 Baer Metzler, Chambersburg, Pa., died Dec. 17, 2010, at the age of 94 at Menno Haven Retirement Community in Chambersburg, where she had been a resident for five and a half years. Hazel was a creative homemaker. She took pride in restoring Paradise Manor, the ancestral home of her first husband, Amos Baer, near Hagerstown, Md. With her son, Franklin, she published a lifetime collection of poetry, memories and essays in 2009, entitled Creative Reflections of a Young Woman.

She was a member of Pinto Mennonite Church in Pinto, Md. and North Side Mennonite Church of Hagerstown. She was a Sunday school teacher of children for many years.

Nathan ’02 and Kristen Savanick, Scottdale, Pa., Julia Ann, Sept. 19, 2010.

Melissa Beck ’02 and Jason Valentine, Archbold, Ohio, Javery Neal and Gentry Allan, April 21, 2010.

Jeanine Herbison ’02 and Ry Wilson ’00, MA ’07, Harrisonburg, Va., Jonah Alex, Oct. 30, 2010.

Andrea Good ’03 and Josh Leaman, Lancaster, Pa., Rachel Elizabeth, Jan. 26, 2011.

Jessica Sarriot while based at EMU's Washington Community Scholars' Center

Peace Speech Wins Prize An Eastern Mennonite University honors student took second place in an international peace oratory contest.

Jessica Sarriot was honored for her speech, “Peace Churches and War Profits,” in the C. Henry Smith Smith Oratorical Contest. She received a $225 cash prize. Sarriot is a development and peacebuilding major with minors in pre-law, political studies, history and social sciences, In her address, Sarriot called members of Mennonite Church USA to support the Palestinian church’s call, voiced through the Kairos Document as well as Palestinian civil society and Israeli peace groups, for selective divestment from the Israeli Occupation. Leaning on the stance of the Mennonite Church and its affiliated institutions of supporting peace as well as the concept of “first do no harm,” she asserted that removing stocks from companies which help to enable and entrench the oppression of Palestinians was a moral mandate.

“This call comes from a deep love for both Israelis and Palestinians and an understanding that love speaks the truth and holds its subjects accountable, as well as a recognition that doing nothing is not a neutral act but a support for the status quo,” Sarriot declared.

She ended with a call to action for all members of Mennonite congregations, institutions or stock holders with Everence (formerly Mennonite Mutual Aid) that they speak up in support of divestment.

“This is our Kairos, our opportune moment to work for justice,” she told her audience.

Sarriot is a native of Paris, France. Following her spring 2011 graduation, she plans to join nine other people in SEED, a two-year peacebuilding program in Colombia with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

Administered by MCC’s Peace and Justice Ministries, the annual oratorical event is open to students in Mennonite and Brethren in Christ universities and colleges in Canada and the United States.

The top three speakers receive scholarships to attend a peace-related conference or seminar as well as cash prizes, with $300 awarded for first place. First place award went to John Wray, a 2010 alumnus of Conrad Grebel University, Waterloo, Ont., for his presentation, “Seeing the Human in the Human.”

— Jim Bishop

fall 2007 44 | crossroads | spring 2011

Duane ’03 and Rachel Ringenberg (MDiv ’07) Miller, Portland, Ore., Uriah Ringenberg, July 3, 2010.

Mark R. ’04 and Ashley Sauder ’01 Miller, Harrisonburg, Va., Sullivan John, Jan.19, 2011.

Steven (Steve) ’05 and Sara Brenneman ’06 Halteman, Elijah Chase, Oct. 10, 2010.

Heather Risser ’05 and Bryan Harper, Bergton, Va., Abigail Hope, Oct. 6, 2010.

Rebecca Reeder ’05 and Jeremiah Mast, Kidron, Ohio, Alexis Janae, Aug. 15, 2010.

Jill Leaman ’05 and Nate Milton, Lancaster, Pa., Rielle Cosette, Feb. 11, 2010.

Dana Gamber ’05 and James Shannon, Lancaster, Pa., Kieren Patrick, born Jan. 4, 2010, adopted Nov. 18, 2010.

Jared ’05 and Traci Yoder ’05 Stoltzfus, Glendale, Ariz., Graham Eliot, Sept. 23, 2010.

Aaron (MA ’06) and Tara Sanders Kishbaugh, Singers Glen, Va., Fionn Alexander, Feb. 10, 2011.

Anniversaries

Luke L. ’54 and Ruth King ’95 Horst, Lititz, Pa., 65th, married Sept. 21, 1945.

Jane Trumbo ’57 and Joseph Alderfer, Harrisonburg, Va., 50th, married Oct.15, 1960.

Earl ’72 (MDiv ’75) and Lois Shelly Wenger, Ephrata, PA, 50th, married May 7, 1960.

Deaths

Mary Ella Ruth H.S. ’36, died at 100 years of age on Dec. 20, 2010 at Souderton Mennonite Homes (SMH) in Pennsylvania, where she resided since 1993.

Prior to her move to SMH, Mary had been a long-time resident of Harleysville, Pa. She retired after 32 years of employment in the keypunching department of Harleysville Insurance. She was also active in ministry for 7 years, traveling with the Brunk Revival team. During her life-long membership at Salford Mennonite Church in Harleysville, she was

Rhoda Swartzentruber (HS ’40) Showalter, Rosedale, Ohio, died at the age of 90 on Jan. 1, 2011. She and her husband, David HS ’38 ’67, went to rural Kentucky in 1950 with their children, serving as missionaries for 14 years. Rhoda was an outgoing person who enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends. She served many years as matron of Rosedale Bible Institute (now College) where she discipled and mentored young women from around the world. Rhoda was active with her husband in church related ministries, with a focus on marriage and family issues. This ministry was an avenue leading to establishing rewarding relationships with many women. Her husband, David, survives.

Paul J. Glanzer ’50, Harrisonburg, Va., died Oct. 21, 2010, in his home, at the age of 90. Paul received his master’s degree in teaching from South Dakota State University. He taught on the elementary and college level for 22 years.

Paul founded Friendship Ministries in Harrisonburg and Indian Creek Haven Sheltered Workshop in Harleysville, Pa. He was active in Mennonite Church service agencies until his retirement.

Paul was an ordained minister and active member of Zion Mennonite Church in Broadway, Va. He is survived by his wife, Eva Sonifrank Glanzer, sons, P. David ’71, Dennis ’73, James (Jim) ’75 and Jerry.

Aaron M. King ’53, Sem ’61, Harrisonburg, Va. died Jan. 3, 2011, at the age of 88, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. During his college years, Aaron sang with a beautiful tenor voice as a member of the Crusader Men’s Quartet, as they traveled widely and performed in numerous churches and venues. In 1951, their quartet was the first music group to be sanctioned

by Virginia Mennonite Conference to utilize the radio for airing their musical messages. This eventually led to the formation of “The Mennonite Hour,” a popular program airing on 150 stations at the peak of its ministry. Aaron and his wife, Betty (Detweiler) ’50 (deceased),

were missionaries with their family in Cuba and Mexico prior to returning to live in Harrisonburg in the 1970’s. Aaron and Betty became active in the church and community. They were particularly involved in, and with, the Hispanic community. For a number of years, the King family presented musical programs in churches. Aaron and Betty served as chaplains in local prisons. Aaron served as director of customer service at Shenandoah Manufacturing Company in Harrisonburg.

Ralph J. Alger ’54, Broadway, Va., died Nov. 23, at the age of 86. In 1968, he received certification in electronics from Northern Alberta Technical Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Ralph served in Civilian Public Service at Powellsville, Md., and North Carolina during WWII. He also served as a bush pilot for two to three years in Mennonite Voluntary Service at Calling Lake in Alberta, Canada. Upon completing his electrical engineering degree, he returned to Virginia to assist in getting WVPT-TV on the air. Later, Ralph worked for Worrell Production, WHSV-TV, as senior staff engineer until his retirement in 1989. Following this role, he worked part time for Central Security Bureau in Harrisonburg, as a security guard until 2005. Ralph enjoyed flying airplanes and glider planes, sailing, spending time on his ham radio and riding a bicycle for exercise.

David R. Herr ’54, Vero Beach, Fla., died at the age of 80 on Oct. 5, 2010.

David earned a degree of doctor of medicine at Jefferson College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pa. He was a plastic surgeon in Fort Worth, Texas, until his retirement. He moved from Forth Worth to Vero in 1995. David was a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, Friends of the Library, and the Indian River County Volunteer Ambulance Squad in Vero Beach.

Carl Lee Keener ’57, Helena, Mont., died on Feb. 22, 2011, while having a mitral valve replacement. He was 75.

From 1968 to 1971, Carl was chief of mental health for the Indian Health Services in Billings, Mont. He retained a lifelong interest in the well-being of native Americans. He spent 21 years in private practice in Denver, Colo., and five years as medical director of Montana State Hospital. During a total of nine years at the Center for Mental Health in Helena, he helped develop programs to support people with serious mental illnesses.

Carl showed that they can live in the community, if closely monitored and supervised, as an alternative to chronic hospitalization. Shortly before his death, he wrote, “I strive to help those I meet reach their potential. In those relationships dwells my God.” Carl had a great love of the outdoors, with a special joy in boating, fishing, hunting and riding his horse. Carl was preceded in death by his first wife, Ann Keener (nee Hundley).

He is survived by his wife, Christina Stair Keener of Helena; sons, Steve (Anne)

Keener and their children, McKenna and Jackson, all of Longmont, Colo.; Kevin (Cheryl) Keener and their children, Jessica and Stone, all of Longmont, Colo.; his stepchildren, Amelia Bunch, Richard (Yoko) Bunch and Patrick Bunch, all of Portland, Ore. Mark M. Miller ’59, Denver, Colo., died on Dec. 4, 2010 in Rome, Italy. He was born May 21, 1933, in Somerset County, Pa., to Evan and Iva (Maust) Miller. He attended EMC and Goshen College. He moved to Denver, Colo., in 1956. He owned and operated Electronic Devices Inc. for 19 years. Electronic Devices Inc., located in the heart of Denver, was established in 1970 and has expertly served small-to-medium sized businesses, using voice data and security solutions. Mark enjoyed travelling in the US and internationally.

Elam J. Peachey ’62, Hesston, Kan., died of a heart attack at age 70 on Jan. 6, 2011. Elam earned a master’s degree from Penn State University in 1969, and a doctor of education degree from Temple University in 1986. He directed agricultural missions in Costa Rica for Rosedale Mennonite Missions from 1962 to 1964. He was a teacher and administrator at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School in Lansdale, Pa., from 1967 until 1990. Faculty and students remember him as a servant leader and role model. Beginning in September 1990, Elam worked at Hesston College in various development roles -- as a development officer, director of development, and executive vice president for advancement. Elam and his wife, Nancy Hartzler ’62, graciously opened their home, for many years, to international students. He chaired the board of Hesston’s Dyck Arboretum of the Plains and was also co-chair of the college’s centennial celebration in 2009. In 2010, he took a part-time role of planned giving advisor for the college.

As a member of Whitestone Mennonite Church, he held a number of leadership roles, including elder. He was also a member of Mennonite Economic Development Associates and past member of Mennonite Secondary Education Council. He is survived by his wife, Nancy.

Carl V. Yoder ’63, Archibold, Ohio, died Oct. 18, 2010, at the age 82, at Defiance Area In-Patient Hospice Center. He was a graduate of EMHS. Carl served as pastor of Tedrow Mennonite Church for 14 years and later became a member and active participant of Zion Mennonite Church. He was employed by Sauder Woodworking Company. Following retirement, he gave generously of his time to volunteer work as well as many gifts of encouragement.

John E. Gingerich ’64, Hartville, Ohio, died at the age of 85 on Feb. 24, 2010.

Three weeks before his death, John told nephew, Roy Gingerich, “I have cancer, but cancer does not have me.”

In 1946, John and his brother, Elmer,

University of San Francisco singled out Castillo for two major honors.

National Spotlight on Isabel Isabel Castillo ’07 has become a nationally recognized spokesperson for the plight of undocumented young people in the United States.

Castillo was featured in a Feb. 20, 2011, New York Times article, “Dream Act Advocate Turns Failure into Hope.” This publicity led Jesuit-run University of San Francisco to invite her to be its commencement speaker this spring and to offer her an honorary doctorate.

On Feb. 24, 2011, Castillo was interviewed for Telemundo, the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world.

Castillo first came to public attention on July 20, 2010, when she was one of 20 undocumented young people arrested in Washington DC for staging non-violent, sit-down actions at the Hart Senate Office Building to appeal for passage of the DREAM Act. (The Act was derailed when it was five votes short of advancing in the Senate.)

Castillo was brought by her parents as a 6-year-old to the United States. She graduated from Turner Ashby High School near Harrisonburg, Va., with a 4.0 GPA. She graduated magna cum laude from EMU, with a major in social work.

Congressional passage of the DREAM Act – the acronym stands for Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors – would give undocumented immigrants ages 12-30 a path to legal residency. They would be able to apply for citizenship if they serve in the military or get a college education. It would take at least 10 years and perhaps as much as a 15-20 years for a person to satisfy the requirements.

On Aug. 26, 2010, Castillo spoke eloquently at a town hall meeting held by Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican pushing for tougher deportation policies. In January 2011, she went to Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and testified before a House of Delegates subcommittee that was considering a proposal to bar undocumented students from state-supported colleges.

After this, in October 2010, Bob Edwards of National Public Radio interviewed Castillo for a segment of his national show.

Castillo’s biggest risk is being deported and ending up alone in an unfamiliar setting in Mexico, away from her home, her family and her friends. “At first, I’d only allow the media to shoot my face turned away and only my first name,” she told the New York Times reporter. “And then it just progressed. I said, O.K., use my face and you can say I went to a local university. Then it was, I graduated from Eastern Mennonite University and I'm Isabel Castillo.”

Castillo paid her way through EMU by working 30 hours a week at unsalaried casual jobs, such as babysitting and waitressing, and continues to survive by working in this manner, while accepting multiple (usually unpaid) invitations to speak on the DREAM Act. A reporter for the Capital News Service in Richmond quoted Isabel as saying: “I started doing activism because the issue affected me, but now I do it for the thousands of people like me who are scared to stand up. I have a sense of relief. I’m not ashamed or scared. I’m not a criminal. I’m no longer going to hide in the shadows.” — BPL www.emu.edu | crossroads | 45

WWII Refugees Reminisce Both of them were born in eastern Germany, both fled their homes in the aftermath of the second World War, and both – through a series of coincidences – arrived in North America as laborers on Mennonite farms before attending what was then Eastern Mennonite College in the 1950s.

Carl Wesselhoeft ’55 and Werner Will ’60 told a reporter their stories while at EMU’s Homecoming 2010, celebrating their 55th and 50th class reunions last October.  Carl was raised on a farm along the Baltic Carl Wesselhoeft Sea near Rostock, in northeastern Germany. As WWII ended, the Wesselhoeft family fled to West Germany. In 1950, Carl went to Sweden through a farm exchange program. There, he learned from a friend that Canada was inviting farm workers to Canada. He immigrated to Markham, Canada, where he began working for a Mennonite family. Initially, Carl did not enjoy the family’s church worship services. One Werner Will Sunday, however, an evangelist captured his attention. That winter, he took classes at Ontario Mennonite Bible School. There he met Leota Good of Ohio.

After they were married, Carl and Leota moved to Harrisonburg to attend EMU. Upon graduation, Carl and Leota sailed to Somalia to serve as missionaries under Eastern Mennonite Missions for five years, establishing a school in the remote village of Mahaddei Wuen. Carl used home leave to earn a masters degree in education, then the Wesselhoeft family served another five-year term in Somalia. Upon their return to the States, Carl taught junior high school math for 20 years.  Werner began his journey as a child in a poor family in Waldow, now a part of Poland. His formal education ended at the age of 13, when the German army commandeered his school building as the war drew to a close. Werner worked for a Polish farmer until 1947, when German families were expelled from the area.

Taking only what they could carry, the Wills were sent to Görlitz which soon became East Germany. In 1951, Werner heard of a potential job in Luxembourg. Werner rode westward on his bicycle. With the help of his sister, he crossed the border one night and hitchhiked, rode the train, and walked across West Germany to Luxembourg.

There Werner met Mennonites, dressed in plain coats. Told about an exchange program for farm workers, Werner headed for the United States in 1955 to work on a potato farm in Gap, Pa. Eventually he came to EMU to resume his education, where he met and married Grace Bontrager ’61. After earning a master’s degree from the University of Iowa, Werner returned to EMU to teach German.

The Wills returned to Iowa, where Werner earned a doctorate in linguistics and German, which he taught for the next 26 years at Western Illinois University.

Looking back half a century after graduation, both men said they gained a love for education at EMU. “Without [EMU], I wouldn’t have become a teacher,” said Carl.

— AKJ SAVE THE DATES FOR HOMECOMING 2011: October 14, 15 and 16! fall 2007 46 | crossroads | spring 2011

were employed to transport horses to Europe after WWII. Later, he and his wife, Grace Miller Gingerich, served at Espelkamp, Germany, under Mennonite Central Committee for close to 20 years. After returning to Hartville, John completed formal teacher training and taught at Lake Center and Hartville Christian schools. He and his wife were instrumental in establishing Bethany Mennonite Church, where John served in ministry for 50 years.

Kenneth (Ken) D. Godshall ’75, Lancaster, Pa., died at the age of 57 on Dec. 10, 2010, in his home, surrounded by his family. He served as the administrator of Living Word Academy for 22 years and more recently as a regional pastor at the Worship Center. He wrestled with brain cancer for the last two years. Ken is survived by his wife of 36 years, Janice Miller ’75 Godshall.

Melissa (Missy) Danner ’81 Ross, Frederick, Md., completed her earthly life, Sept. 11, 2010, at the age of 52, in the arms of her husband, Norman. She had been a nurse for over 28 years. She began her career at Frederick Memorial Healthcare System (FMH). Following her marriage in 1984, the couple moved to Delray Beach, Fla., where she worked at Boca Raton Community Hospital for 10 years. Then they moved to Charleston, S.C., where she continued hospital nursing for 13 years. Most of her nursing career was in intermediate cardiac care.

Her personal reward, skill in, and love of nursing was focused on caring for her patients and fellow staff with her gentle touch and calming being. Returning to Frederick, she went back to FMH, working in the peri-operative area. The support she received from her nursing, allowed Missy to be fulfilled in the ability to continue her profession of helping and caring for others, while on her own cancer journey. Missy had a basic creed: “Do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.” Missy started her faith journey in the Church of the Brethren, graduated from a Mennonite university, worshipped in the Episcopal Church with her husband, and completed her journey at Brook Hill United Methodist Church.

Evelyn Landis Shenk ’82, MA ’89 (church ministries), Harrisonburg, Va., departed Oak Lea Nursing home, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community at the age of 82 on Jan. 20, 2011.At the time of her graduation, Evelyn was the oldest person, at age 73, to graduate from Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS). She was one of the first women to receive ministerial credentials from Virginia Mennonite Conference, licensed on Jan. 13, 1991, and ordained on June 20, 1993. Following graduation from EMS, Evelyn took a one-year course in clinical pastoral education in Charlottesville, Va. She served as chaplain at Bridgewater Retirement Community for about six years. She was also a volunteer chaplain through the Industrial

Commercial Ministries at Rockingham Memorial Hospital. Following a number of years in ministry, Evelyn returned to EMS and received a certificate in pastoral studies in 2001. Evelyn is survived by her husband, John, who is retired from his work in EMU’s physical plant, her four children, all EMU alumni, Gloria Shenk ’75 Kniss, Jonathan ’77, James ’78, and Joseph ’89.

Jennifer Knight ’87 Yoder, Pettisville, Ohio, lost her life in a tragic traffic accident near Swanton, Ohio, at the age of 46 on Dec. 11, 2010. Her ten-year old daughter, Abigail (Abby), also died in the accident. Her husband, Douglas (Doug) ’85 was injured. A Pettisville resident the past 16 years, Jennifer worked at Sunday’s Market in Pettisville and was a waitress and caterer at Sauder Village in Archbold. She was also a volunteer at Pettisville Schools, Helping One Student To Succeed reading program and at Fulton Manor, where she played bingo with residents. She was a member of North Clinton Mennonite Church in Wauseon where she was a junior high youth group leader. Doug and six children, including daughter Michelle Yoder ’10 of Harrisonburg, Va., survive.

Paul Leo Kropf ’88, died “with his boots on,” from an apparent acute heart attack, at the age of 53, in Tirana, Albania, on Christmas morning, 2010. Paul spent over 17 years in pioneer church planting work on an Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) team in Albania. Paul and his wife, June, first entered Albania in 1993, two years after the winds of democracy began to blow in Albania, after four decades of tyranny under an iron-fisted dictator. Paul and June first lived in Lezhe, where they worked in partnership with a Virginia Mennonite Missions team to plant a church and open an English computer center. Two years ago, after more than 15 years working with a small church in Lezhe, Paul and June moved to Tirana to join an Albanian church planting team led

by Altin Zeft. Jim Dombach, EMM’s representative for Europe, noted that Paul’s influence extended well beyond the church. He was founding president of the Albanian Mennonite Mission Foundation and served as the Mennonite Mission team leader. Paul taught for several years in the Evangelical Theological College of Albania in Tirana, serving as interim director in 2010. He was active in leadership with the Albanian Encouragement Project, an association of mission organizations, and in VUSH, an alliance of evangelical churches in Albania.

Kathleen M. Scanlan ’01, Franklin, W. Va., died Feb. 18, 2011 at the age of 67.

Kathleen was a retired bank officer, previously employed at Sun Trust Bank in Harrisonburg. She was a member of the board of directors for Citizens Against Sexual Assault and a volunteer at Skyline Literacy. Kathleen was a member of Sunset Drive United Methodist Church of Broadway, Va.

Andrew S. Millette ’07, Atlanta, Ga., died of undiagnosed cardiac problems at age 28 on Jan. 29, 2011. He was doing physical exercise when he collapsed and died. The cause of death was related to an enlarged heart. His fiancée, Melanie Carol Pritchard ’07, whom he planned to marry in three months, was with him when he collapsed. His father is Harlan (Lanny) Millette ’75.

Friends and others regarded Andrew as “big-hearted,” with a robust care for the welfare of others. Once a person had met Andrew, that person would soon become a friend. He shared God’s love with everyone he met, focusing his time and energy in building and maintaining rewarding relationships.

After several summers working on the staff of Highland Retreat in Bergton, Va., Andrew attended EMU and graduated with a degree in justice, peace and conflict studies, with a minor in camping and recreational ministries. Andrew utilized the knowledge and skills he gained at EMU to spend a year working in an outdoor rehabilitation program for troubled youth. He then relocated to Atlanta in 2009 and was employed as a case manager at Goodwill Industries. He found his church home in The Bridge Church in Atlanta and became increasingly involved in youth and young adult ministry and in evangelical outreach to the homeless in Atlanta.

Corrections These pertain to the fall/winter 201011 issue of Crossroads: Jennifer Ruth ’07 was listed as having married Benjamin Kyle. Benjamin Kyle Gundy, Aug. 1. 2010, is the correct announcement.

Karen Fix ’95 Rice, Greensboro, N.C., was described on page 10 as teaching piano and singing at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. She is assistant professor of piano at that university and does not teach or perform as a vocalist.

Degree Key CLASS OF - attended as part of the class of a given graduation year, but did not complete studies here HS - high school degree from era when high school and college were one MA - master of arts MDiv - master of divinity PhD - doctoral degree SEM - certificate or other studies at the seminary level

Mileposts is compiled by retired physician Paul T. Yoder ’50, MAL ’92, who may be reached at paul.t.yoder@ emu.edu or at 540-432-4205. Feel free to send news directly to Paul or to the alumni office at alumni@emu.edu.

The greatly-expanded Common Grounds Coffeehouse in the University Commons is largely student-run and provides a flexible gathering place for socializing, entertainment, forums and other activities.

$2.5 Million Upgrade Unveiled Facilities that comprise “Phase II” of the $2.5 million University Commons project were dedicated in ceremonies on March 26, 2011, at the University Commons. Attendees toured the Phase II facilities - the Mainstage Theater, the Lee Eshleman Studio Theater, the Kenneth A. Longacre Sr. Advanced Media Lab, the enlarged Common Grounds Coffeehouse and the Margaret Martin Gehman Art Gallery. The new or upgraded facilities include:  The renovated Main Stage Theater seats 200, nearly 10 percent more than the previous space. It features a more gracious entry, new seating and curtains and better audience lighting and aisle lights.

The intimacy and semi-thrust form of the previous configuration has been retained.

New technology includes new stage lighting and sound reinforcement equipment, a high-intensity LCD projector and automated rigging systems for accessing the over-stage equipment. For theater personnel: dressing rooms adjacent to the stage house, including shower and changing rooms for men and women, 12 makeup stations, and laundry facilities.  The relocated Studio Theater, named for the late Lee Eshleman, a 1986 EMU art graduate, provides the theater community with a flexible space for producing plays. Called a “black box” because of its neutral color and shape, it is capable of becoming any form of stage with the addition of portable seating risers and scenery. Included in the new space are a permanent balcony, new stage lights and lighting control system, and an all-over automated lighting grid for better access and flexibility.  The new Margaret Martin Gehman Art Gallery will provide a beautifully designed and illuminated space for EMU students and guest artists to exhibit their work. The 31' by 21' gallery is a tribute to the energy and passion of Dr. Margaret Martin Gehman ’42, professor emerita of art, who taught and inspired decades of art students at EMU.  The new advanced media Lab, named in

The new Margaret Martin Gehman Art Gallery is named for a long-time art educator and staunch EMU supporter.

memory of the late Kenneth A. Longacre Sr., will allow classes to expand from nine to 15 students in each class. The computer pods are set up to encourage collaborative work and enable the critique process. The projection system - the old lab didn’t have one - offers high-definition projection for video and near color-accurate images for photography. The open space allows camera and lighting demos to be carried out within the lab.  The Phase II renovation gives Common Grounds Coffeehouse an overall seating area increase, allowing students to have more space to study, meet and socialize. The most noticeable change is a sound/light booth and a stage for performances and events. The stage is made from maple floor removed from the old gymnasium. For the first time, Common Grounds has a window to the outside world, bringing in natural light from the south. Other aesthetic improvements include: exposing the original brick walls, polishing the original concrete, painting the ceiling and updating the light fixtures.

“The dedication of the Commons Phase II renovation project marks the fulfillment of the hopes and dreams of many people,” said Kirk L. Shisler, vice president for advancement. “It is gratifying to see the completion of this project after years of planning.” He credited several recent large contributions for bringing the project to fruition.

— Jim Bishop www.emu.edu | crossroads | 47

MORE Musicians!

In the fall/winter 2010-11 issue of Crossroads, which had a music theme, we invited readers to contact us with information about EMUlinked musicians who were not covered (or perhaps their full range of activities were not covered) in that issue. Here are the results.

RALPH ALDERFER ’63 // Salford, Pa. // Music director and conductor for Franconia-Lancaster Choral Singers.

Taught choral music at Christopher Dock Mennonite H.S. for 20 years.

harpsichordist, performing as a soloist and collaborative artist; conducting opera, orchestra and choir; editing and arranging scores; and teaching and lecturing. harmoniousblacksmith.com

T. ED BENNER ’75 // Goshen, Ind. // Plays fiddle, recorder, harmonica, guitar and Adobe CS4. Fiddler with the Spy Run String Band, (the “house” band) of the Ft. Wayne Traditional Music and Dance Society, hosted by St. Francis University in Ft. Wayne, Ind. (along with Jan Kulp Long ‘74, and her husband, Jon Long).

ANNA GRANT ’98 // Woodstock, Va. // Teaches private piano lessons, as well as accompanies school choir and church groups.

MATTHEW (MATT) ADAM CARLSON, CLASS OF ’97 // Harrisonburg, Va. // Has bachelor of music (composition) from West Chester U. of Pennsylvania.

Teaches private guitar and composition lessons from home; has taught at EMU. www.myspace.com/carlsonmatt RACHEL BLOSSER DERSTINE ’76 // Schwenksville, Pa. // Holds MM degree in piano performance from Ohio U. Taught piano at Western Baptist College in Salem, Oregon, 1979-1984.

Since 1981 has taught piano and Kindermusik at the Community Music School in Trappe, Pa. RODNEY (ROD) DERSTINE ’74 // Schwenksville, Pa. // Holds MM in voice performance from Ohio U. Taught choral music at Western Mennonite School in Salem, Oregon, 1974-1976 & 1978-1986. Since 1986, has taught choral music at Christopher Dock High School.

BRIAN DICKEL, CLASS OF ’98 // McGaheysville, Va. // Builds guitars and supervises at Huss & Dalton Guitar Co. in Staunton, Virginia. Also plays with Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels. www.hussanddalton.com BEBHINN EGGER ’09 // Front Royal, Va. // Teaches Suzuki violin privately and has taught violin at EMU’s music camp. Pursuing MM in violin performance at Shenandoah U.’s Conservatory.

JILL M. FOLEY ’96 // Fairview, Ore. // Adjunct faculty at Northern Michigan U., teaching violin, viola, cello and bass.

Member of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra. Teaches violin, including Suzuki, out of home studio. www.sydandkay.blogspot.com JOSEPH GASCHO II ’95 // Columbia, Md. // Holds doctor of musical arts degree from U. of Maryland. Baroque

48 | crossroads | spring 2011

MARK HARTMAN ’78 // Shippensberg, Pa. // Holds DM in violin performance and MM in music education from UNC-Greensboro.

Orchestra director and music professor at Shippensberg U. Has been concertmaster and member of numerous symphonies. Since 1993, has performed at the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.

JOHN BUCHER HERR ’57 //Holtwood, Pa. // Specializes in singing Verdi operas; Verdi baritone for Immortal Sounds Recordings. With 41 years of experience as a professional singer, has performed in operas, oratorios, musicals and recitals, and many churches. Completed coursework at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. www.johnbucherherr.com MARETTA HERSHBERGER ’66 // Mishawaka, Ind. // Recently retired from nearly 15 years as music director at Christ the King Lutheran Church, South Bend, Ind. Was involved in introducing most recent hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, throughout the synod of Evangelical Lutheran Church. Directs a handbell choir, serves as substitute organist in multiple congregations in the area.

JOHN HORST ’60 // Harrisonburg, Va. // Has sung in various choral

ensembles and done some composing while teaching math and physics at EMU (retired in 2004). Sang bass in the Mennonite Hour quartet for seven years. Currently produces a Sunday morning radio program, “Mostly Mennonite, Mostly A Cappella” at WEMC 91.7 FM and online. Recently produced nine reissued Mennonite Hour CD recordings, available at www. thirdwaymedia.org RANITA BUCHEN HURST ’92 // Landisville, Pa. // Fiddler, mandolin player and snger with Cold Springs Road, a folk-Americana band with husband Brian Hurst (guitar, mandolin, vocals). Plays in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland. www.coldspringsroadmusic.com DEREK KRATZER ’02 // Bloomington, Ind. // String bassist, who also plays guitar, saxophone, piano. Currently a graduate student at Indiana U. at Bloomington, studying music education with strings emphasis.

CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ ’00 // Linville, Va. // Guitarist, vocalist, songwriter for band, along with singerguitarist (and wife) Maria Clymer Kurtz ’00, guitarist Aaron Boggs ’00 and drummer Craig Zook ’01. www.clymerkurtz.com WILBUR R. MAUST ’56 // Waterloo, Ont. // Holds PhD in musicology from Indiana U. Professor emeritus of music, Conrad Grebel College in Ontario. Was first music department chair, when department established in 1977.

CELAH K.PENCE’86 // Bridgewater, Va. // Holds master’s in composition from James Madison U. Has composed numerous pieces for church and school-affiliated choirs, including the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir.

Was past director of its preparatory choir. www.beatinpathpublications.com SHEILA K. RAIM ’85 // Oxford, Iowa // Instructs Suzuki violin and piano privately to about 35 students per week in own studio, HeartStrings. On faculty with the Mid-Prairie home school assistance program as a supervising teacher and orchestra director.

JAMES (JIM) R. KRABILL, CLASS OF ’73 // Elkhart, Ind. // Group leader of

MCC MUSICAL FUNDRAISERS SUCCESSFUL Two sets of alumni-musicians did fundraisers for Mennonite Central Committee in Lancaster, Pa., in January and February 2011, as previewed in the fall/winter 2010-11 issue of Crossroads, The results were gratifying.

Saxophonist Ryan Kauffman ’97 of Beyond Ourselves wrote that their venue, Neffsville Mennonite Church, was packed to the point of standing room only. The total raised was almost $13,000, a 30 percent increase over Beyond Ourselves’ previous benefit concert.

Opera singer Madeline Bender ’93 reported a similar jump with her “Sing for Hope: Winter Opera Gala” at the Fulton Opera House to benefit MCC’s Global Family educational sponsorship program. The total raised by that event was over $12,000, almost twice as much as the previous year.

Reunion Vocal Band, a ‘60s-‘70s band that periodically reunites, consisting of musicians, singers, and songwriters from seven different states and one Canadian province, most with connections to EMU. In addition to Krabill, alumni-members at various times: Ken Brunk ’74, Dean Clemmer ’72, Rob Eby ’71, Mark Hartman ’78, Don Kulp ’75, Jerry Lehman ’76, Dennis Maust ’75, Robert Maust ’72 and Elaine Warfel Stauffer ’73.

DEBRA RITTENHOUSE ’83 CRIBBS //Harleysville, Pa. // Vocal music teacher and chorus director. For past 26 years has instructed about 450 children each week in grades K-6 at A. M. Kulp Elementary School.

DAVID (DAVE) A. SEITZ ’66 // Mishawaka, Ind. // Holds MM in choral conducting from Indiana U. Involvements since ‘60s in chronological order: EMC music faculty; Alleluia Singers tour to west coast //Canada; Mennonite Broadcasts; Good Enterprises in Lancaster, Pa.; music director at Prairie St. Mennonite, Trinity U.M.& Mishawaka First U.M.; Camerata Singers/St. Joseph Valley Camerata; asst. prof. of music at Goshen College; production of more than 100 compositions and arrangements, many available at www. CamerataPress.com JEAN E. SNYDER ’63 // Pittsburgh, Pa. // Holds PhD in ethnomusicology from U. of Pittsburgh. Taught and did research and writing while working for music department of Edinboro U. of Pennsylvania (2000-2008).

Was professional church singer in Pittsburgh 1984-1992. Writing a book on the subject of her doctoral dissertation, Bringing in the Harlem Renaissance: The Life and Work of Harry T. Burleigh, to be published by the U. of Illinois Press.

KARA GLICK TANN ’08 // Jenkintown, Pa. // Conducts the band, jazz band and orchestra at Christopher Dock Mennonite H.S. Teaches guitar, piano and instrumental improvisation.

MEGAN TILLER ’07 // Harrisonburg, Va. // Has taught Suzuki violin in EMU’s Preparatory Music Program since 2005.

Owns Tiller Strings, which offers sales and rentals of violins, violas, cellos, string basses, plus bows, accessories, books and sheet music. Arranges for instrument repairs and for purchasing instruments made by local and regional craftspeople. tillerstrings.wordpress.com ANTHONY VANPELT ’99 // Mount Crawford, Va. // Studied violin at EMU and JMU; has MM in music composition from Shenandoah University's conservatory. Educates all age levels. Solo violin CDs of hymns.

Bluegrass CD. Three works recorded

by National Opera Orchestra in Beijing, China.

These two acts on your part can raise EMU to being a national leader among higher education institutions.

1. “Go tell them everywhere”

Please recommend EMU to everyone you can think of. Go to www.emu.edu/futureleaders to offer us the names of prospective students you think would benefit from our strong academics, Christian ethos of servant-leadership, and welcoming community that cares about the whole person. In gratitude, we will send you an EMU-inscribed pocket flashlight or highlighting pen (your choice).

2. “You pave their way”

When you contribute any amount – even $25 – to the U-Fund, you are enabling us to offer financial aid to those who need it. Last year, EMU provided more than $8 million in financial aid. Give as much or as little as you can, but please give something. Every contributor, every dollar, counts!

Jakob zumFelde // Class of 2011 // Goshen, Ind.

➜

two small acts, one BIG impact

You may give online at

www.emu.edu/giving.

Or phone EMU’s development department at (800) 368-3383

www.emu.edu/giving www.emu.edu | crossroads | 49

EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY

PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID Harrisonburg, Virginia

Harrisonburg, VA 22802-2462 Parents: If this is addressed to your son or daughter who has established a separate residence, please give us the new address. Call (540) 432-4294 or e-mail alumni@emu.edu

TELL US YOUR STORY of being ‘non-traditional’ Oct. 8-10

WIDE WORLD OF MINISTRY

LITERATURE

SPORTS!

fall/winter 2009-10

emu... preparing students to serve and lead globally

www.emu.edu | crossroads | 1

vol. 90, No. 2

spring 2010

emu... preparing students to serve and lead globally

vol. 90, No. 3

summer 2010

emu... preparing students to serve and lead globally

vol. 91, No. 1

The summer 2011 issue of Crossroads will focus on Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCP) graduates, whether from the track of management and organizational development or the track of RN to Bachelor of Science, through either the Harrisonburg, Virginia, or the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, sites.

Crossroads is eager to receive brief summaries of the stories of as many of our ADCP graduates as possible.

We would prefer that you send us your story via:

You are “non-traditional” if you worked a good number of years -- or stayed home with children -- and ended up finishing your bachelor's degree as a mature adult.

Alternatively, email messages to: crossroads@emu.edu

emu.edu/crossroads/update

Or send information to the address listed in the Crossroads mailing box on this page.

DEADLINE for receiving your story: May 16, 2011