Timothy Fitzgerald '06, Staunton, Va., became the Augusta County Administrator in January, hired from among a pool of more than 31 applicants from 12 different states, according to a local newspaper. He previously worked for the county as its director of community development. Kim Slee '06, MSN '12, Orrstown, Pa., was promoted to chief operating officer at Fulton County Medical Center. She is enrolled in an MBA program in healthcare administration at Eastern University. Jonathan Keener '07, Winona Lake, Ind., works at the Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship, as he and his wife Claire prepare to be missionaries and music teachers in East Asia. After graduation from EMU, Jonathan studied in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at James Madison University, the only piano student ever admitted without first receiving a master’s degree. After graduating from JMU in 2011, he was an adjunct professor and maintained a studio of about 20 students. Allison Glick '10, Pittsburgh, Pa., was a guest speaker at Honors Weekend with Ben Weaver '05. Allison, who has a degree in chemistry, recently concluded two years at Village Acre Farm in Mifflintown and is working as a STEM curriculum coordinator at Neighborhood Learning Alliance, as well as on the nursery staff at Tree Pittsburgh. Kaleb Wyse '10 and Joel Kratzer '10, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, are partners on a home-andhearth blog called “The Gray Boxwood.” The duo produced a 60-second video that won chef Rachel Ray’s “Dreamjobbing” competition. Kaleb co-hosted a November 2015 show with Rachel Ray.
2011Sam Berenstain '11, Harrisonburg, Va., was elected to a three-year term with the Harrisonburg Friendly City Food Co-op. Allison Byler '11 Peachey, Belleville, Pa., and her husband Chase have taken over operation of the Peachey family dairy farm. When Allison is not helping on the farm, she works as a registered nurse on a PRN basis at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. Maria Zehr '11, Harrisonburg, Va., organized an Encore! concert fundraiser in February that also honored President Loren Swartzendruber. The concert included students, faculty and alumni. Maria is a board member of Encore, the alumni group that supports the music department. She teaches at Cub Run Elementary School in McGaheysville. Blair Wilner '13, earned his Master of Theological Studies at Duke University Divinity School in May 2015. In August 2015, Blair attended the Ludwig Wittgenstein Summer School and the 38th International Wittgenstein Symposium. Blair currently works in development and alumni relations at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and is applying to doctoral programs in theology. Eric King '14, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, supports scientists on the southernmost continent with a 57-hour work week. He is a dining attendant, on the janitorial staff, a coffee house worker and shuttle driver. Kara Lofton ‘14, Morgantown, W.Va., is the Appalachia Health News Coordinator at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, a member station of NPR. Prior to this, she was a freelance reporter for WMRA, an affiliate with NPR serving the Shenandoah Valley and Charlottesville in Virginia.
Katie Eckman '15, Quarryville, Pa., is an RN at York Well-Span Hospital on the med-telemetry floor (heart and breathing issues). Michelle Zook '15 Spicher, Belleville, Pa., is in the Masters in Social Work program at Temple University. Bryce Yoder '15, Harrisonburg, Va., concluded a fall assignment at Yosemite National Park in vegetation restoration with the Student Conservation Association. He manages the BruCrew business and volunteers with the Valley Conservation Council. Marla zumFelde '15, Goshen, Ind., is in a one-year term of Mennonite Voluntary Service in Seattle, Washington, as community service representative with Rainier Health and Fitness.
CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND PEACEBUILDING Jonathan Rudy MA '01, Washington D.C., is senior advisor for human security at the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a position vacated by CJP Research Professor Lisa Schirch. The alliance advocates for more than 100 member peacebuilding organizations. Rudy formerly was the Peacemaker-in-Residence for Elizabethtown College’s Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking as well as professor of peace and conflict studies. Ali Gohar MA '02, Bradford, U.K, was one of 10 honorees to be awarded a Dewey Winburne Community Service Award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference in Austin, Texas. The award, named after festival co-founder Dewey Winburne, recognizes service in education and technology. Gohar, a native of Afghanistan and the first recipient of the CJP Alumni Award, was recognized for his work promoting conflict resolution through jirgas – an ancient network of communityjustice councils and for his advocacy on behalf of Afghan refugees. Jeremy Simons MA '02, Mindanao, Philippines, works in various peacebuilding activities, including facilitating discussions between tribal leaders and the Norwegian third party mediator for the peace process between the government and the Maoist-Communist insurgency. He has also conducted a restorative justice training and consultation in Manila and is working again with tribal communities facing the challenge of large-scale mining in their ancestral domain. Gary Shapiro MA '06, Montpelier, Vt., is an interfaith minister and has started a wedding business at his farm with his wife Helen MillerShapiro. He also is a hospital chaplain, and leads Unitarian Universalist worship services, life transition rituals and celebrations. His website is www.reverendgaryshapiro.com. Pushpi Weerakoon MA '10, Colombo, Sri Lanka, works at Transparency International, coordinating www.opengovpartnership.org on behalf of civil society organizations in collaboration with the Sri Lankan government. Gwendolyn Myers GC '14, Washington D.C., has been appointed regional coordinator for West and Central Africa by the United Network of Young Peacebuilders. She is currently a fellow at the Center for Women, Faith and Leadership with the Institute for Global Engagement. Gwen is founder and executive director of Messengers for Peace-Liberia. Patrick Campbell '12, MA '14, Charlottesville, Va., will be working with the Red Cross Division Disaster Response Team, which deploys around the nation to support regional Red Cross efforts in managing disaster operations.
"WHAT SEMINARY NEVER TAUGHT ME" A panel of Eastern Mennonite Seminary alumni provided wit, wisdom and constructive criticism on the topic, "What Seminary Never Taught Me," with seminary students and faculty at a March 17 Lenten lunch. Left to right: Clayton Payne, SEM '14, Sherando UMC, Luis Martinez SEM '15 from Iglesia Discipular Anabautista, Jeff Carr, SEM '05 from Bridgewater Church of the Brethren, Dawn Monger SEM '10 from Lindale Mennonite Church and Peter Eberly, SEM '07 from Eastside Church. (Photo by Andrew Strack)
CJP ALUMNI AWARD Tammy Krause, a 1999 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), has been selected for the center’s Alumni Award for Outstanding Service. Krause, a resident of Harrisonburg, Virginia, has worked on federal capital cases throughout the United States for the past 19 years. Her involvement in the legal profession began as a graduate student at CJP, when she joined Professor Howard Zehr at the invitation of capital defense attorneys to work with victims of the Oklahoma City bombings. Since then, she has pioneered defense-victim outreach, known as DVO, in which an independent intermediary seeks to build professional relationships between the defense attorneys and the victim’s family in an effort to ensure that victim concerns are addressed. Her work with the Department of Justice has included several high-profile cases, including the trial of Zacharias Moussaoui. A Soros Justice Fellowship in 1999 and an Ashoka Fellowship in 2001 helped her promote the model within the judicial system and build a network of trained liaisons. “Tammy is among those graduates who have taken restorative justice into areas well beyond anything I had imagined,” said Zehr. “In creating and practicing this work, she drew heavily upon and integrated what she had learned about restorative justice and peacebuilding at CJP. In my estimation, she represents much of what we hope from our graduates. As a pioneer and leader in a new field of justice and peacebuilding, she is very deserving of this recognition.” Krause said she is humbled by the honor from a place that remains a source of sustenance and strength. “CJP’s teaching of the reflective practitioner has given me a place to come to where people are asking those same questions: am I doing this right? There’s a bond created in that integrity, in that honesty of trying to figure that out. I’ll be forever grateful for that.” — LAUREN JEFFERSON
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