Crossroads Spring/Summer 2018

CROSSROADS

SPRING/SUMMER 2018

NYC

THE MAGAZINE OF EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY

VOL. 99 / NO. 1

CROSSROADS SPRING/SUMMER 2018 / VOL. 99 / NO. 1 Crossroads (USPS 174-860) is published two 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/mission.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES KATHLEEN (KAY) NUSSBAUM, CHAIR / Grant, Minn.

DIANN BAILEY / Granby, Conn.

EVON BERGEY / Perkasie, Pa. HERMAN BONTRAGER / Akron, Pa. SHANA PEACHEY BOSHART / Wellman, Iowa JONATHAN BOWMAN / Manheim, Pa. RANDALL BOWMAN / Richmond, Va. JANET BRENEMAN / Lancaster, Pa. CHARLOTTE HUNSBERGER / Souderton, Pa. CLYDE KRATZ / Harrisonburg, Va. CHAD LACHER / Souderton, Pa. KEVIN LONGENECKER / Harrisonburg, Va. CEDRIC MOORE, JR. / Richmond, Va. E. THOMAS MURPHY, JR. / Harrisonburg, Va. MANUEL (MANNY) NUÑEZ / Alexandria, Va. ELOY RODRIGUEZ ⁄ Lancaster, Pa. JAMES ROSENBERGER / State College, Pa. AMY L. RUSH / Harrisonburg, Va. JUDITH TRUMBO / Broadway, Va. ANNE KAUFMAN WEAVER / Brownstown, Pa. CROSSROADS ADVISORY COMMITTEE SUSAN SCHULTZ HUXMAN / President KIRK L. SHISLER / Vice president for advancement JIM SMUCKER/ Vice president for enrollment and marketing JEFF SHANK / Alumni and parent engagement director STAFF LAUREN JEFFERSON / Editor-in-chief JON STYER / Creative director CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ / Staff writer ANDREW STRACK / Photographer MACSON MCGUIGAN / Photographer LINDSEY KOLB / Proofreader MARCI MYERS / Mileposts editor JOSHUA LYONS / Web designer 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.

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

FROM THE PRESIDENT

THE POWER OF PLACE SUSAN SCHULTZ HUXMAN

NEW YORK, N.Y. – so nice they named it twice, with many more nicknames: The City That Never Sleeps. The Big Apple.

Gotham City. The Crossroads of the World. Indeed, New York City is a powerful place.

To illustrate the importance of place, one need only recall the dramatic origins of EMU. For over a decade, in the first part of the 20th century, Mennonites in the East debated where to plant their church school.

Should it be Pennsylvania? Ohio? Maryland? Virginia? And then, when interest solidified around Virginia, the squabble only intensified!

Denbigh by the sea almost won out; then there was momentum for Alexandria, smack dab in our nation’s capital. That location was nixed when Bishop Daniel Kauffman stepped in to say: “We can’t have a Mennonite school that close to the nation’s capital – too militaristic.” And finally, perhaps as much out of weariness as inspiration – this beautiful place in the Shenandoah Valley with its rich farmland and stunning vistas won out. And in October of 1917 in the midst of the Great War, Eastern Mennonite School opened.

For 100 years, EMU’s idyllic spot has given it agency. Located in the South, race relations and diversity take special urgency for us. Located so close to the nation’s capital gives our peace witness extra “saltiness.” “The Friendly City” of Harrisonburg, nestled in the Shenandoah Valley, has become a tourist and retirement destination and a celebrated college town. Here in this place, our special entrepreneurial and counter-cultural identity is rooted in our commitment to creation care, service and faith formation.

In a sense, EMU’s location allows us as educators – like Paul on Mars Hill – to speak into Athens and Jerusalem. Reason and revelation, art and science, service and scholarship come together every day for us – and give us a mandate to “speak truth to power,” to live into our mission “to prepare students to serve and lead in a global context.”

John Mark Reynolds, author of When Athens Met Jerusalem, says we sometimes forget that Paul was successful on Mars Hill because he understood the rational world view of the Athenians and used that inquisitive mindset to “win over” converts to Christ. Paul understood that Jerusalem gave the world truth, but Athens gave Jerusalem a valid way to express that truth – a creative harmony. He closes by noting: “Christians must recapture the middle place – Athens and Jerusalem are not two cities, but two districts in one city – the city of God.” EMU’s location helps us for our day to recapture that mediating place that Paul found.

The alumni featured in this issue of Crossroads call New York City home. Each gives voice to the power of place. They stand at the crossroads of the world – a contemporary Mars Hill. And what are they doing? Many things, of course. But each in their own way is equipped to shine Jesus’ reconciling love in the City That Never Sleeps.

IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES

10 CJP IMPACT Working to advance peace in the world through education, networking and empowerment

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IN THE ZONE

THRIVING STEM PROGRAMS New lab spaces will be a "home" for engineering and help to honor legacies.

22 GOOD PUBLIC TRANSIT How do millions of people move around New York City efficiently?

Danny Yoder '06 helps make it happen.

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18 'FINTECH' IN NYC

20 BIG CITY SIBLINGS

ROYAL FILES

FAIR HOUSING Attorney Alison Yoder '06 Kelley advocates for tenant rights.

ON THE COVER Michael '06, Jessica '03 and Steven Stauffer '10 walk at the High Line park in Manhattan.

(Photo by Jon Styer)

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4 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

6 ACADEMICS

8 FAITH FOCUS

10 BY THE NUMBERS

25 MILEPOSTS

HOMECOMING AND FAMILY WEEKEND 2018 33 ALUMNI AWARD WINNERS

36 HOMECOMING EVENTS

Leymah Gbowee MA '07 (conflict transformation), Nobel Peace Laureate, delivers the commencement address after receiving an honorary doctorate of justice degree.

PHOTO

2018

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

COMMENCEMENT During its 100th Commencement on Sunday, May 6, the university conferred 540 undergraduate and graduate degrees – and its first honorary doctorate.

Graduates move their tassels from right to left to signify the transition from candidate to graduate.

The wearing of colorful stoles symbolizing cross-cultural travels, heritage or country of origin is an EMU tradition.

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK

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ROYAL FILES

Twins Maleke (left) and Jerome Jones, of Charles Town, West Virginia, accept congratulations at the conclusion of the ceremony.

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

Steve Shenk '73, instructor in the Intensive English Program, receives his diploma.

He earned an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Sylvia Menendez Alcalde, a Fulbright Scholar from Spain and graduate student at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, walks in the processional.

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

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ROYAL FILES

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

STUDENT SUCCESS 1. New funding enables more engaged and motivated students to pursue independent research. The Glenn Kauffman and Roman Miller Research Awards are funding five student-scientists this summer, including Yonas Ketsela (pictured with Professor Greta Ann Herin). A new CT Assist Experiential Learning Program funded by alumni is sending three students to Peru for studies in healthcare delivery.

(Photo by Macson McGuigan) 2. From left: Silas Clymer, Kaleb Branner, Robbie Chaplin, Andry Stutzman and Perry Blosser were selected from 14 composition students to compete in EMU's first Iron Composer competition. Contestants received instructions specifying the ensemble for which they are composing and the secret ingredient – or ingredients – they must include. After five hours of composing time, each composer has a brief afternoon rehearsal with the performing ensemble before performing their piece in front of judges. (Photo by Macson McGuigan)

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3. Cameron Byer and teammates Ben Stutzman and Daniel Harder won first place over 60 other teams from three countries in the Kryptos cryptoanalysis contest hosted by Eastern Washington University. The trio solved three puzzles correctly in less than 20 hours (and that's without pulling an all-nighter). (Photo by Andrew Strack) 4. One of EMU's four student-led Y-Trip groups spent their spring break in Valdosta, Georgia, for Habitat for Humanity's Collegiate Challenge. The other groups, including the Civil Rights Tour, spent time in Georgia as well, either touring sites or in service with Jubilee Partners in Comer or Casa Alterna in LaGrange.

5. Drew Diaz works on the Latino Student Alliance's annual alfombra, a community art project that then serves as a centerpiece for Easter worship activities at one of the largest chapel services of the year. (Photo by Macson McGuigan) 6.

Students explore Life, an interactive project involving coding, music and poetry by math education major Madelynn Payne at the inaugural Academic and Creative Excellence Festival, a one-day spring showcase of faculty and student work.

Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow Fania Davis, a restorative justice practitioner and activist, provided the keynote address and spent several days on campus visiting classes in conjunction with the festival. (Photo by Macson McGuigan) 7. The 39 Steps production, directed by Professor Justin Poole, was invited to the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in January. The cast and crew, including Dylan Peachey (left) and Robert Weaver, received a Certificate of Merit for Ensemble Acting. (Photo by Macson McGuigan) 8. International Student Organization president Paul Kayembe presents Phoebe Coffie with one of three ISO Excellency Awards as Undergraduate Academic Dean Deirdre Longacre Smeltzer looks on. The April gala raised more than $2,000 for female survivors of sexual assault in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo

by William Ewart)

— LAUREN JEFFERSON

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With airline pilots in demand, EMU Lancaster's new degree program offers flight certifications and skills in leadership formation, organizational behavior and human dynamics.

ROYAL FILES

PHOTOS BY ANDREW STRACK

ACADEMICS

LAUNCHING NEW PROGRAMS EMU's new academic programs enable students to follow their career dreams in a changing marketplace.

Students in Professor Tammy Duxbury's entrepreneurship class pitch business proposals in an end-of-semester contest. EMU's new marketing major offers specific coursework related to business promotion and management.

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EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION of pilots.

Preparing marketing professionals with digital media and business skills. Deepening the knowledge of future peacebuilders. Equipping organizational leaders.

EMU’s innovative responses to job market growth projections and student interest have resulted in a number of new program offerings for the coming academic year.

With pilot shortages predicted in the near future, EMU Lancaster is poised to provide what aviation program coordinator Jim Cistone calls a “solid and proven pathway” to professional aviation. The program uniquely combines four levels of flight certification and a bachelor's degree in leadership and organizational management.

“Based on our market research, this degree fills a unique and high-demand niche that combines aviation training with the development of the collaborative, dynamic and intuitive qualities that today’s leaders need,” said Mary Jensen, EMU Lancaster associate provost.

Also in response to favorable job market predictions and a burgeoning population of digital-native incoming students, the new marketing major is a collaborative effort between EMU’s visual and communications arts (VACA) and business and economics departments. The curriculum builds on EMU’s unique global and cultural perspectives.

“Marketing impacts larger cultural forces, with the potential to advocate for social change by getting unique and challenging messages into the social dialogue,” said Professor Jerry Holsopple, who teaches digital media. “Students with cross-cultural ways of knowing and collaborative ways of working will be valuable beyond their technical or theoretical skillset.”

That major has two tracks: media and design, and management.

Additional new majors this fall include global development, music with a musical theater concentration, organizational leadership, and peacebuilding. New minors are interfaith studies, leadership, marketing, nonprofit management, and philosophy and theology.

— CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ '00

October 12-14, 2018

Music Celebration Concert enjoy music from groups, including Cantore, Shekinah, Emulate, Striking Accord, and the EMU Jazz Band. EMUTenTalks dynamic 10-minute presentations by three faculty/ former faculty, followed by Q&A. Fall Festival with food trucks, lawn games, inflatables and tailgating. The Walking Roots Band concert on the lawn.

emu.edu/homecoming

See the full schedule and registration on the inside back cover!

ROYAL FILES

A student prepares to offer ashes during an Ash Wednesday service in Lehman Auditorium.

PHOTO BY ANDREW STRACK

FAITH FOCUS

FAITH FORMATION Faculty and staff focus on how to better mentor young people in lives of faith.

MOST FOLKS IN THE AUDIENCE at EMU’s May 10 spring faculty-staff conference left the morning assembly with a better understanding of how assistant baseball coach Adam Posey '15 works with his pitchers during bullpen sessions. A straight talker with an evangelical flair that betrays his Southern Baptist roots, Posey shared some eye-opening positive and negative experiences from his student years at EMU, and urged the gathered community to answer the call to “meet students where they are.”

He ended with four practical questions related to faith formation – picture Posey saying “Go get ‘em,” as EMU faculty and staff collectively trotted to the mound: Recognize and build on your strengths as related to faith formation. Evaluate and understand your weaknesses. Ask how you can more effectively merge your calling with your work. And finally, how can you better mentor young people to lives of faith?

Titled “Journey Companions: Fostering Faith Formation at EMU,” the day’s worship, panel discussions and workshops was designed to “feed us, but also leave us hungry for more,” 8 | CROSSROADS | SPRING/SUMMER 2018

said Professor Marti Eads, who chaired the planning committee with Campus Pastor Brian Martin Burkholder.

“Undergraduate students in our 2014 faith mentoring survey expressed eagerness to hear more from faculty and staff about their personal faith journeys and how they navigated doubt, challenge and opportunity,” said Burkholder. “Today we can hear from each other about how we’re doing that in our work on campus and how we might do more in the future.”

The focus also related to an objective in the university’s Strategic Plan 2017-22: “to nurture spiritual growth and enhance formational engagement among faculty, staff and students.”

As the community develops more opportunities to meet student needs, one popular event will continue: chapel services hosted by academic departments.

EMU’s professors tend to be “down-to-earth and open people, but there’s a clear difference between a classroom and a chapel,” said junior English and writing major Josh Holsapple. “Having that extra layer of chapel is important to integrating faith in life and work.”

Psychology professor Ryan Thompson spoke this spring in a STEM chapel about how his faith intersects with his work.

He is a former Christian Church youth pastor who began a master’s degree in counseling at Richmont Graduate University, affiliated with the evangelical church, and then finished that degree and a doctorate in psychology at Quaker-rooted George Fox University. Now, he recognizes a rooted affinity to Anabaptist teachings “which I’ve come to realize I’ve followed for longer than I knew it existed.”

Just as his immersion in various “denominational streams has shaped my relationship with Christ and made it more full,” Thompson told students and his colleagues, “likewise, the science and art of psychology has contributed to my understanding of what it means to be made in the image of God. My faith informs my work. My work informs my faith. I don’t know any other way to do it.”

Psychology major Lydia Musselman appreciated the opportunity to learn how deeply Thompson’s faith has intertwined with his profession. “Hearing a professor’s personal story and reflection opens doors to conversation and deeper relationship, and gives hope to those struggling with our faith journey,” she said. — LAUREN JEFFERSON

$3.3 million total funding

BY THE NUMBERS

PROGRAM FUNDING In 2017-18, Eastern Mennonite University was awarded grants in excess of $3.3 million, including more than $2.2 million in federal funding.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: "Expansion of Counseling in Underserved and Rural Areas" program MA in Counseling degree program

$2.2 million in federal funding

LILLY ENDOWMENT INC.: "Strengthening Foundations for Thriving in Ministry" program NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: "STEM Scholars Engaging in Local Problems" program

Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Multi-departmental grant includes student scholarship funds UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME/IRAQI AL-AMANI ASSOCIATION: Youth Peacebuilding Development and Trainings Related to Peacebuilding Curriculum in Iraqi Universities Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Office on Violence Against Women Campus Project

$1.2 MILLION

$999,893

Counseling Services

W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION: "Restorative Justice in Education Pilot Program in Jackson, Mississippi Public Schools"

$644,944

Center for Justice and Peacebuilding

$300,000

$112,000 $10,695

ADDITIONAL GRANT FUNDS

Other supporting organizations providing grant funds during the year include the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the JustPax Fund, the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the Arts Council of the Valley, among others.

OTHER DONATIONS

EMU is the annual recipient of numerous endowments and generous gifts. More than 230 endowed scholarships benefit current undergraduate, graduate and seminary students. A recent $672,000 bequest from the Virginia College Fund by the Guy E. Beatty Revocable Trust will also be used primarily for student scholarships.

THE CJP IMPACT CJP educates a global community of peacebuilders through the integration of practice, theory and research. Our combined vision is to prepare, transform and sustain leaders to create a just and peaceful world.

CJP’s history and mission reflects Anabaptist Christian traditions and values, which include nonviolence, servant leadership and just relationships. Graduates bring to organizations, communities and countries the skills gleaned through a curricular focus on conflict analysis, inclusive decision-making, reconciling relationships, acknowledging and healing past harms, and promoting a restorative approach to issues of justice.

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE: Local partnerships with schools, congregations and nonprofits, including those involved in environmental issues, engage CJP students, faculty and alumni with the diverse populations of the Shenandoah Valley.

OUTCOMES 638 graduates working in 65 countries 84 Fulbright scholars from 28 countries 63 alumni have received PhDs or are in PhD programs

12 peacebuilding institutes, based on the model

of CJP’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute, around the world started by alumni

3,100 participants from 124 countries have

TRAUMA HEALING: More than 5,000 people in 62 countries, including Syrian refugees, have been trained in the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience program.

attended Summer Peacebuilding Institute since 1994

x 1,000 5,000 participants trained in Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) program since 2001 Grant collaborations with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The Asia Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Porticus, United Service Foundation, Telemachus Foundation and Daughters for Life

emu.edu/cjp

STRENGTHENING CAPACITY: The Winston Fellowship enables new peacebuilders like Nepali Sumina Karki to attend the Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Fellows come recommended by their professional organizations, which agree to mentor and support them through a skill-building project after they return.

EMPOWERING INSPIRED ADVOCATES: Isabel Castillo Ressler MA '17 was honored at the 2017 Sojourners Summit. Brought into the United States from Mexico as a child, Castillo is a nationally known advocate for immigration reform and immigrant rights. She holds an honorary doctorate from University of San Francisco.

INTERFAITH ENGAGEMENT: Art Stoltzfus MA '15, community organizing coordinator of Faith In Action, works with 19 Muslim, Jewish and Christian congregations to effect systemic change in the Harrisonburg community. CJP welcomes students of all faith traditions.

RACIAL HEALING: CJP was selected by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to be a resource partner for the National Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation enterprise. Coming To the Table brings together descendants of enslaved and enslaver in 20 U.S. chapters.

FINDING COMMON GROUND: Addressing social, cultural and political challenges in the United States, courses on coalition-building, truth-telling and racial healing, and mediation attracted Dr. Ram Bhagat, educator and dialogue facilitator, to the Summer Peacebuilding Institute.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: A project to teach youth peacebuilding skills and help Iraqi universities develop a peacebuilding curriculum has involved four alumni from the Middle East, two of whom are doctoral candidates, and adjunct professor Dr. Alma Abdul-hadi Jadallah.

UNITED NATIONS: Monica Rijal MA '07, a member of CJP's Board of Reference, is one of several alumni who work at or with the United Nations. She is a policy specialist in conflict prevention.

RENDERINGS BY BLUERIDGE ARCHITEC TS

Support EMU's New Engineering Labs!

Early success has created growing interest in EMU’s new engineering program. Fall 2018 numbers include approximately 30 students majoring in mechanical or computer engineering: A promising legacy beginning to make its mark.

New engineering labs in the Suter Science Center will provide an innovation hub “home” for this talented group of students and program co-directors Dr. Esther Tian and Dr. Danny King. Here’s a few program successes: •

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The Taguchi Method uses research and design to ensure quality control. Apply this to the optimization of paper airplanes, as did sophomore engineering students Austin Engle and Ben Stutzman; add in passion for one’s future profession and skills honed in project-based courses that undergird EMU’s engineering program; and you have the winners of the project division at the university’s inaugural Academic and Creative Excellence (ACE) Festival.

The duo beat out several other entries, including a tiltshift lens adapter, a robotic arm, a 360-degree wand, a solar-powered golf cart and a sound-sensitive light strip, all products of EMU’s 17 engineering majors (spring '18) and the program’s hands-on curriculum.

Austin and Ben already represent a competitive tradition as members of an Engineers for the Sustainable World club team that took top honors among 61 other competitors in the first- and second-year undergraduate design team division at the 2017 American Society for Engineering Education’s Zone 2 Conference.

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This spring, Ben and teammates Cameron Byer and Daniel Harder helped EMU to a first-place finish in the Kryptos cryptoanalysis team over 60 other teams from three countries.

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The successful placement of three juniors and seniors into summer internships in three states is a strong sign of pre-professional preparation and vocational call. Ben is at a robotic food packaging plant in Pennsylvania, while Dylan Grove is with Venture Products in Orrville, Ohio (owned by the Steiner family, with many EMU alumni among them), and Ben Zook with a structural engineering company in Harrisonburg.

Please join the hundreds of EMU alumni and friends who have already provided more than $10.8 million of the $11.3 million goal for the Suter Science Center renovation campaign. Now is the time to bring this campaign to a successful completion!

Make a one-time gift - Visit emu.edu/campaign or contact us at 540-432-4203.

Pledge your support - Consider a multi-year commitment. Contact Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement, at 540-432-4203 or at kirk. shisler@emu.edu. You may also want to consider a gift of appreciated securities to leverage your impact for this campaign.

Join EMU in dedicating the Advanced Chemistry Lab in honor of professors Glenn M. Kauffman, Gary L. Stucky and Robert D. Yoder.

Students who walked the halls of Suter Science Center in the 1970s, ‘80s or ‘90s well know the remarkable influence of these extraordinary educators and mentors. Recognize and honor their legacy of teaching, mentorship and scholarship with a gift towards the name of the new Advanced Chemistry Lab in the renovated Suter Science Center – an important learning space for upper-level students and the faculty who mentor them in labs and research related to analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology.

“Throughout the Suter Science Capital Campaign, our alumni frequently praised the faculty who taught and mentored them as students. These three professors had a profound impact upon the students preparing for medical or other science careers,” said Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement. “As we conclude our final phase of fundraising to renovate Suter West, this is a wonderful opportunity to recognize influential mentors and teachers.”

DR. GLENN M. KAUFFMAN In addition to chairing the chemistry department for many years, Glenn M. Kauffman is a Renaissance man who is skilled and conversant in a broad range of areas, including philosophy, theology, music, gardening and sports. His academic contributions extended beyond his specialty of organic chemistry to the pre-professional health sciences and the sciences in general. In retirement, Dr. Kauffman continues his many extracurricular activities, including gardening. He is active in the American Rhododendron Society.

DR. GARY L. STUCKY (1941-2005) Gary L. Stucky came to EMU to teach chemistry after several years with a private lab, including one year in tropical disease research with Mennonite Central Committee in Africa. He taught at EMU from 1972 to 1993, and also at Bethel College, University of Rochester (New York) and James Madison University. An enthusiastic teacher, he was also remembered for his care for others. He completed pastoral studies training at Eastern Mennonite Seminary and was commissioned as a chaplain by the Western District Conference of Mennonite Church USA in 2003.

MR. ROBERT D. YODER (1929-2005) Robert D. Yoder taught human biology, microbiology and immunology courses at EMU from 1963 to 1995 and was the advisor to EMU’s medical technology students. A 1957 graduate, he earned a master’s degree from James Madison University and then served as a lab assistant to Dr. Daniel B. Suter in 1962. After completing the medical technology program at Rockingham Memorial Hospital during a 1977 sabbatical, Mr. Yoder worked in the laboratory there part time during the week and full time during summers doing blood chemistry analysis until his retirement. He also volunteered many hours at the Harrisonburg Free Clinic and as a laboratory technician in the Suter Science Center. An avid angler, birdwatcher and environmentalist, he was a former president of the Massanutten chapter of Trout Unlimited.

emu.edu/campaign

NYC

BY LAUREN JEFFERSON PHOTOS BY JON STYER

SOME YEARS AGO, when I first began freelancing for Crossroads under former editor Bonnie Price Lofton MA '04, my first assignment was to contact and interview, via email, about 25 EMU alumni working in education – some teachers, but others in information technology, facilities and support services. As a former newspaper reporter and editor, I was used to uncordial greetings and surly responses, but every one of these alumni showed gracious interest, and often provided thought-provoking answers to my seemingly mundane questions.

As Bonnie’s successor, I am now nearly four years into my very own unique EMU education, and yes, while it is my particular business to draw straight, bold lines between one’s EMU education and the finding and maximizing of one’s human potential, I have found that this connection never needs to be fabricated.

In our Crossroads travels around the country, photographer and designer Jon Styer '07 and I often meet EMU alumni who have found deeply satisfying soul-feeding work. Or, if they haven’t yet found their calling, they seem to be well-equipped with experiences and self-knowledge to be on the path towards finding it.

Our recent trip to New York City proved this point. We spent three days meeting just seven of the 140 alumni who work and live in and around the city ...

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www.emu.edu | CROSSROADS | 15

I GET TO BE A GUIDANCE COUNSELOR, I GET TO BE A TEACHER, AN ADMINISTRATOR. I SEE THE KIDS AT THEIR BEST AND THEIR WORST. I GET TO GIVE THEM COMFORT. THIS IS THE PERFECT JOB FOR ME. IT’S THE ONLY ONE I’VE EVER HAD THAT FEEDS EVERY PART OF WHO I AM. ... THE “KICK-OFF INTERVIEW” on a Crossroads trip always seems to give us energy for the ones to come, and Shyleen Wesley '99, waiting for us at Promise Academy 2 Middle School in Harlem, did not disappoint.

In conversation a few weeks prior, after being connected by her former college roomie Trina Trotter Nussbaum '00, Shyleen had learned that our visit would be my first foray into New York City, and one of her first questions when we arrived at her office door was a warm, “How you doing?”

One reason I’d wanted to meet Shyleen was to hear about her work with Harlem Children’s Zone, a groundbreaking comprehensive model of integrated support services enveloping residents within nearly 100 blocks. With education as the foundation, the organization’s goal is to end intergenerational poverty.

Shyleen, a Harlem native, came to the job about five years ago from a managerial position with an elevator company.

“My best friend worked here and there was an opening and she said, ‘Why don’t you apply? You’d be perfect.’”

The school had cleared out for spring break by the time Jon and I arrived, so 16 | CROSSROADS | SPRING/SUMMER 2018

the hallways were empty as his camera shutter clicked away and Shyleen and I talked.

“If the kids were here, it would be hard to walk through,” Shyleen said. I wouldn’t have minded that, just to see them interact with her. She clearly loves her job.

“I really enjoy being a lot of different things throughout the day,” she said. “I get to be a guidance counselor, I get to be a teacher, an administrator. I see the kids at their best and their worst. I get to give them comfort. This is the perfect job for me. It’s the only one I’ve ever had that feeds every part of who I am.”

Jon paused, and we looked at each other.

“Wow,” he said.

“Wow,” I said back. I looked at Shyleen.

“We could just stop right there. We don’t need to do any more talking. I’ll just put that in the article and be done with it.”

“Huge font,” said Jon, who also does Crossroads page layout.

Now, I am well aware that there are many possible reasons – besides the EMU education – for why so many EMU alumni find fulfillment in their work. The institution itself may attract intelligent, well-rounded, self-reflective people to begin with, for example.

It’s not just that, though. Shyleen said her major in liberal arts and minor in psychology did prepare her for her work, but her biggest takeaway from EMU was

Shyleen Wesley '99 in front of Marcus Garvey Park, not far from where she works at Harlem Children's Zone's Promise Academy 2 Middle School.

something else: “I think EMU taught me to be comfortable with people of all different backgrounds and be present in the moment because you never know exactly what you’re going to get from it.

It may seem like it’s not relevant, but it may be sometime in the future.”

Shyleen’s EMU connection happened through friends who attended Seventh Avenue Mennonite Church, where she was baptized. When her youth group leader Melody Pannell '97 (now professor of social work at EMU) headed south for college, Shyleen went to visit.

Though she had planned on taking a year off after high school, she liked the campus and decided to apply.

“Of course, if you’re a Mennonite,

you’ll wind up at EMU one way or another. Whether you go to school or you go visit or you go for something else, that’s where you go,” she said. “It took a little bit of getting used to, not being in town and not having things available, but when you’re from Harlem, you can go anywhere and meet anyone and you’ll be fine.”

Ready to begin her own spring break, Shyleen packed up and we walked with her towards her apartment. Jon took a few more photos in front of Marcus Garvey Park, while I continued peppering her with questions about city life: What do you do in your free time? Where do you go to the grocery store? How do you carry your groceries home? How did you find a

place to live? At her corner, amidst the thanks for the visit, she said, “OK, I’m a hugger,” and gave us both hugs before heading off.

“An interview with someone you just met that ends in a hug,” I said to Jon as we headed toward Central Park, "is always a good start.”

Weeks later, back in Harrisonburg, staff writer Christopher Clymer Kurtz '00 turned to me after finishing the last of four interviews with EMU alumni.

“Where do you find these people?” he asked me.

“Alumni database,” I said.

“They’re amazing,” he said.

“You all sure are,” I said.

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'FINTECH' IN NYC THE NEXUS OF INNOVATION, FINANCE AND TECHNOLOGY ISAAC WYSE – the lone EMU graduate among YipItData’s employees – feels special joy when he visits his company’s website.

One webpage of the New York City-based financial technology company is dotted with university logos, most of them elite alma maters of the analysts and engineers whose intellects had helped YipItData gain clients among the top global funds and asset management companies.

“Among multiple profiles of Ivy League alums, there is one that refers to EMU,” he said with a smile, seated on a couch in a comfortable seventh-floor conference room of the company’s Flatiron District headquarters.

Wyse leads revenue operations at the company, a position he’s held – and enjoyed – since the summer of 2016. The fast-paced interdisciplinary environment demands a wide variety of skills: strategizing and optimizing tactics, processes, resources and technology to enhance production. It’s a rare combination of sales, accounting, finance, organizational leadership and process design that “couldn’t be more perfect, because it fits with all my strengths and interests,” Wyse said. “Very few roles would have met that.”

He has to keep sharp, which is why if you see him walking down a New York City street with earbuds in, he’s likely speed-listening to an audiobook, tapping into the acumen of organizational experts and business leaders.

But the challenging work culture is just one reason Wyse finds himself in New York City. The other reason is his wife Rachel, an EMU alumna and 2016 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s prestigious Brandcenter.

“We pretty much knew we were coming to New York City at some point, because if you’re in advertising, that’s where the jobs are,” he said.

Rachel is an art director with the Grey Group, an advertising company with a 100-year history that serves one-fifth of the For-

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tune 500 companies and has headquarters in 96 countries.

Wyse feels a blend of awe and practical acceptance at their life in Chelsea.

“Every day, I can’t believe I’m actually here,” He says. “I can’t believe this is our life right now. We feel very fortunate.”

But his job is a natural place on a career progression in a booming industry at the nexus of innovation, finance and technology.

YipItData analyzes and aggregates data about publicly traded companies such as Expedia, Groupon, Netflix and eBay, among others.

“Essentially we look for insights and information that will help hedge funds predict or forecast the company’s performance,” Wyse said.

When he first started, the company had around 60 employees.

Recently, the workspace expanded to handle double that number.

Wyse says the revenue team he’s been working as senior leader to “scale and improve” has grown an astonishing 600 percent.

He came to New York from SNL Financial (now S&P Global Market Intelligence) in Charlottesville. One motivation for his move was the opportunity to help build a company “from the ground up”

PHOTO BY STEVEN STAUFFER

THROUGH BIG CHANGES, UNCHANGED

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

under two founders who encourage their employees to invest themselves in “ownership, mastery and purpose.”

“That philosophy is what really drew me in,” Wyse says.

As he grows in his position, he has appreciated both being part of this rapid change, yet still supporting what he views as a positive and inspiring work culture. With most of his colleagues cleared out for a Thursday “Lunch Game” (a regular but randomized mix-it-up outing), Wyse tours through various attractive work spaces, a kitchen stocked with snacks and drinks, the library and an airy, open gathering space for meals and “all hands” meetings.

This office space, with its hanging plants, creaky wood floor and floor-to-ceiling windows creating a certain warmth among the large-screen monitors, is a long way from Wyse’s first business classes in EMU’s campus center and his internship back at Tenneco Manufacturing.

But this choice is the right fit – “definitely a comfortable space,” he says with a smile.And he means it more than just one way. —LAUREN JEFFERSON

On a spring weekend, Mary Ellen Kennel '84, her parents-in-law and her daughters, ages 4 and 8, huddled together to work on a jigsaw puzzle of a farm scene – more reminiscent of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where she grew up in a conservative and TVfree home, than New York City, where she works in digital forensics for a large bank.

It’s been, as Kennel wrote on her personal blog, “quite a journey,” and yet, she continued: “I haven’t changed much, really.”

As an incident response specialist and digital forensic analyst, Kennel is a digital-age detective, called in when someone causes mischief to a computer network. There are clues to track down, patterns to look for, and pieces to assemble into a coherent whole.

Kennel has always loved puzzles.

She came to the field by way of the television industry. A twoweek temp-job filling in for a receptionist at The Joan Rivers Show ended up lasting five years, followed by six more working on Ricki Lake. During those years, she had time to explore computers, fast becoming an important tool in the home and workplace.

After taking courses at the SANS Institute and in a Columbia University certificate program, Kennel jumped full-time into digital forensics. Through it all, from talk shows to tech, one constant has been the values that she grew up with.

“Being raised Mennonite, one of the core philosophies I was taught was a life of service,” Kennel wrote.

While many classmates and friends took that idea abroad with them as missionaries, Kennel began putting it to work in New York’s soup kitchens and homeless shelters soon after she arrived.

“I’ve always felt that the city was my mission,” she continued. “I didn’t need to travel very far to find my calling.”

— ANDREW JENNER '04

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The Stauffer siblings – Steven '10 (left), Jessica '03 and Michael '06 – share a laugh during a photo shoot at the High Line Park in Manhattan. (There's one more Stauffer sibling, sister Kaitlin '15, who lives in Virginia.

PHOTOS BY JON ST YER

SIBLINGS IN THE BIG CITY “Every day, there’s just a chance something amazing is going to happen.”

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The nearly dozen years Michael Stauffer '06 has spent in New York have revealed a constant beauty in the city’s energy: optimism.

“Every single day, something can and may happen that will be a new opportunity, to completely change where I am and what I’m doing,” he said. “Every day, there’s just a chance something amazing is going to happen.”

Michael is the second of the three Stauffer siblings from New Market, Virginia, to move to New York. He developed and emcees the weekly frolic “Not Your Standard Bingo” at the Standard Highline Hotel – it sells out weeks in advance – and recently contracted a weekly trivia night. And he’s hosted San Diego Comic Con bingo with Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central activities at the South by Southwest Festival, an NFL Fan Style Showdown with Erin Andrews, and more.

“More than anywhere else I’ve ever

been in my life or in the world, New don’t reach her living room. Don’t let her York is a city where you walk out the bookworm introversion fool you, though front door and someone can just walk – a big reason for attending EMU was up to you, say, ‘Hey, I know you from its stretching cross-cultural requirement. such-and-such, and you know what? You She traveled to France and the Ivory should be in this thing that we’re doing,’” Coast. he said. “It’s really the world’s best library “The focus on language, culture and for experiences and just getting a 101 on history of two very different but connectdifferent things.” ed places meant that I was able to start Michael’s older sister Jessica '03 was to grasp the complexity of another place first to the city, though she worked in and culture,” she said. That “inkling” has a California bookstore before moving developed in her years surrounded by back to be the program and development the “huge variety of different cultures” in coordinator at the American BooksellNew York. ers Association in White Plains. She “I found I had developed a curiosity to advocates for independent booksellers by learn more about the complexity of how fostering relationships with publishers, someone had grown up, what they replanning conferences, and researching tained, and what they let go of,” she said. and creating marketing materials like the Steven '10 – sibling number three – Indie Next List or fliers for bookstore graduated already feeling the pull of New windows.

York. It was nearly two years, though, She lives close enough to the city to before the move happened on short return for shows and fine dining but far notice, for an interview that didn’t bring enough away that the sounds of city life him work for another year.

Now, he’s “swamped” with freelance video and photography projects – an ad for an app, a TV mini series, an Uninterrupted episode about Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, a short movie – and his portfolio (view it at stevenstauffer.com) is affecting.

“I have always been called ‘sensitive,’” he said. “I do connect more with the emotional side of a project, how that translates visually and aesthetically, than I do with flashy camera tricks or big, expensive equipment.”

That’s what EMU taught him – soul.

Film school may have taught him more technique, but he would go to EMU over a film school again because its liberal arts focus was on “the part that’s harder, the stuff you don’t learn on set: the why, and the motivation, and everything behind the technical facts,” he said.

— CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ '00

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GOOD PUBLIC TRANSIT For people and planet

IT’S EASY, Danny Yoder '06 says, to let New York City be your entire world.

Just traveling a few blocks can land you in what feels like a whole different city or country, with different ethnic foods, languages and people.

“You can actually taste things and meet people from all around the world, just a mile from home,” he said.

And to go that mile, you don’t have to drive a car, but can ride bicycle, or take public transit. Yoder and his wife Tara Kreider '05, MA '11 (counseling) do not own a car – and they feel freer for it, he said.

Yoder grew up in lower Delaware, a mile outside a small town, but he sees himself living in New York or another 22 | CROSSROADS | SPRING/SUMMER 2018

East Coast city long-term, where his career can have “broad impact.” From his office building in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District you can see not only streets but also the East River, a busy helipad and people moving all the time.

That’s his work, making sure people can get where they need to go as efficiently as possible. As a project manager in the Transit Development Group of the NYC Department of Transportation, he and his colleagues focus on the details of a massively complex system.

“Moving lots of people around is ultimately like a logic problem,” he said.

“And when you change one thing, it has all these different impacts.”

For instance, an anticipated closure next year for 15 months to rehabilitate a subway tunnel damaged by the Hurricane Sandy means that each day, 275,000 people need to be rerouted to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Planning how to move those people over streets instead of through their usual underground route, and doing so without snarling traffic, takes intersection-byintersection analysis.

He’s not surprised that his philosophy and theology studies at EMU prepared him for this job. Several of his fellow city and regional planning graduate students at Rutgers University, too, had studied liberal arts.

“Transportation is technical, and you

I LIKE TO THINK I APPROACH URBAN PLANNING WITH PURE INTENTIONS, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT URBAN PLANNERS ARE SELF-CRITICAL AND ALERT TO WAYS THAT WE MIGHT CONTRIBUTE TO STRUCTURAL INJUSTICE.

Danny Yoder '06, outside his office building with the East River and Brooklyn Heights in the background.

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

work with data and computer modeling to estimate the future,” he said. “But ultimately those models are based on assumptions, and so you have to look at everything with a critical eye and not just believe something that a computer model is telling you.”

And the questions really do extend into the philosophical: “How did we arrive here? What does this mean? What type of city do we want to have?”

Yoder’s appetite for street design formed after he’d graduated from EMU, gotten married, committed to being a one-vehicle household, and begun volunteering with the planning of the Northend Greenway pedestrian and bicycling avenue in Harrisonburg. That

project, then in its early stages, gave him a glimpse into urban planning, and he started reading about the field.

He and Kreider also spent a year in Israel/Palestine, where in the West Bank Yoder observed what he describes as “weaponized urban planning” to make life difficult for Palestinians, such as checkpoints, settlements and roads that divide communities. That experience shaped his perspectives on U.S. infrastructure with its own – in some cases, ongoing – history.

“Everything from highway planning and construction to zoning has been, or still is, used as a tool to isolate black communities and segregate cities,” he said. “I like to think I approach urban

planning with pure intentions, but it is important that urban planners are selfcritical and alert to ways that we might contribute to structural injustice.”

And so for Yoder in New York, “nonauto transportation” is not just about convenient possibilities: It’s also a matter of environmentalism and equity.

“If we grow as a city, we can’t just move more people in cars,” he said. “That would make the city less livable and more polluted. Good public transit is better for the planet and for the many people who either can’t afford cars or choose not to drive.”

— CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ '00

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FAIR HOUSING WHEN ALISON YODER '06 KELLEY and her husband moved for the second time to accommodate their growing family, she knew full well, she said, that “we got super lucky.”

Their new landlords had also lived in Germany, near where Kelley had grown up. Their kids had even gone to the same school that she attended.

“We had that instant connection,” she said. “They were very supportive of having a young family move in.”

That kind of affirming relationship between tenants and landlords “is not how it often goes,” Kelley said, something she learned in her work as a housing attorney hearing about and seeing broken plumbing, pest infestations, mold and mildew, water leaks and many other problems that can happen in a New York City apartment.

Kelley works for Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a 124-year-old nonprofit on the east side of Manhattan that provides an extensive array of services, including legal advice. The organization is funded by city, state and federal government agencies and private donors. She manages a load of approximately 30 cases, helping tenants challenge their eviction notices by negotiating in and out of court with landlords’ attorneys.

There is no shortage of work. A plan announced in February 2017 by Mayor Bill de Blasio provides low-income tenants facing eviction with free legal counsel and representation. The first law of its kind in the nation, “right to counsel” services will be phased in by zip code over the next five years.

It’s actually a money saver for the city to provide the services, Kelley said.

“The city has found it less expensive to help people stay in their homes than to pay to house them in shelters if they are evicted.”

The program has been a game-changer. In the past, landlords were represented by attorneys in housing court, while tenants had no representation or represented themselves, which usually meant that the landlord won the argument, Kelley said.

But now, with representation, tenants have a fighting chance in the court system – a new dynamic that many landlords’ attorneys don’t appreciate even though dealing with an attorney might be more comfortable than working with a tenant. After all, attorneys who know their client's rights can advocate on their behalf, potentially lengthening and complicating the process.

As a social work student at EMU, Kelley interned with Blue Ridge Legal Services, which piqued her interest in legal issues: “Social work and law really go hand in hand,” she said.

But negotiation isn’t one of her natural strengths, she said – which made her current position all the more appealing. Appearing in court sometimes twice a week has shown her “a different side of law than I had previously seen.”

After graduation, she returned to Germany to work with asylum seekers

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Attorney Alison Yoder'06 Kelley in the historic Lennox Hill Neighborhood House, home to a 124-year-old organization that provides an array of services, including legal advice. (Photo by Jon Styer)

for two years, followed by two years as a paralegal with a law firm in Washington D.C. She completed her JD degree at University of Maryland Law School in Baltimore. From there she landed a two-year clerkship with the Department of Justice at New York City’s immigration court, work she found “really interesting and important,” she said. “But sitting in a room by myself and writing all day was not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Comfortable with legal writing, Kelley wanted more negotiation and litigation experience. She also wanted to be an advocate. Tenant rights are a “morally important issue,” she said. “If you’re trying to alleviate poverty, one of the best things you can do is provide stable housing.”

Her current position integrates collaboration – “my co-workers are one of the best parts of this job,” she says – and skill development.

There’s a counseling aspect as well. “Very often, you’re dealing with people in crisis who are not only going to lose their housing, but have a lot of other things going on, whether it’s a lost job, an illness, things happening in their family," she said. "I try to help them solve the underlying issue that causes them to come to housing court, but also keep an awareness that there are these other issues that I can’t really help with.”

It all makes her more grateful for the stability of her own life. Her husband is the director of special education at a public charter school, and they have an eight-month-old daughter.

“Having a baby in the city isn’t really a big deal,” she says, with the same practical tone that puts her legal clients at ease. “You just plan ahead more, don’t buy too many things, and make it work.”

— LAUREN JEFFERSON

MILEPOSTS FACULTY & STAFF The following briefs represent a sampling of academic and professional engagement.

Gerald Brunk '59, professor emeritus of history, presented “My Road to Decision” in a February seminary chapel service. The Menno Simons impersonation, which he presented for the 97th time, brings to life the writings of Simons, focusing on the 11 years before his conversion to Anabaptism.

Kate Clark, instructor, nursing, earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from University of Virginia in spring 2018. Dr. Ann Hershberger ‘76 was among her mentors while working on her dissertation, “Healthcare Navigation and Patient Activation for Recently Resettled Refugees.”

Kathy Evans, professor of education, was a keynote speaker at University of Wyoming’s Shepard Symposium on Social Justice in April.

She joined University of Wyoming education professor Angela Jaime as well as Judy and Dennis Shepard, the parents of Matthew Shepard, who was murdered during the 1998 fall semester. This was the 20th anniversary of Shepard’s death; the annual symposium honors him.

Doug Graber Neufeld, director of the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions and professor of biology, presented a workshop on the Anabaptist approach to sustainability at the State of Appalachia conference this spring in West Virginia. The gathering of religious leaders focused on regional sustainability and justice issues.

Barry Hart SEM '78, professor of trauma, identity and conflict studies and a Fulbright

Specialist, has helped to develop a new master's degree program with Catholic Relief Services and three religious faculties in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He recently taught courses to Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox students studying different theologies, religious traditions, and understandings of peace.

Danny Salim MA '11, a native of Syria, is director of the anti-violence program at the Arab-American Family Support Center, where he supervises a multilingual staff that works with victims of intimate partner violence, sex trafficking and sexual assault. AAFSC also offers an array of social, educational and legal services. Salim was a Fulbright Scholar at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and later worked for Nonviolent Peaceforce before turning his skills towards the root causes of violence at a community and family level. (Photo by Jon Styer)

Jerry Holsopple '80, professor of visual and communications arts, was the featured international lecturer at the Conference of Creative Industries in Serbia. One of his seven appearances was on live television.

the annual Mennonite Church USA Hope for the Future conference for leaders of color in February in Austin,Texas.

Michael Horst '12, instructor, counseling, completed his doctorate at James Madison University. His dissertation is “Envisioning a Future for Professional Counseling: A Qualitative Study of Counselor Educator Perspectives on Professional Distinction.”

Justin Poole, professor of theater, directed the invited production of The 39 Steps at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in January. The cast of EMU actors received a Certificate of Merit for Ensemble Acting.

Steven David Johnson, professor of visual and communications arts, displayed photographs and videos of amphibians and macroinvertebrates in seasonal ponds in Virginia in a Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery exhibit titled “Vernal Pools” in February.

Andrew Suderman, lecturer, Bible and religion, completed his doctorate from University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. His dissertation “In Search of Prophetic Theology: South African Political Theology in Conversation with Anabaptism” focuses on the intersection of liberation theology and Anabaptism.

Patience Kamau '02, MA '17 (conflict transformation), assistant to the executive director, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Harrisonburg, Va., spent four days in February at the inaugural gathering of Krista Tippett’s On Being Studios, a civil conversations platform.

Melody Pannell '97, professor of social work; M. Esther Showalter, advisor to the Latino Student Alliance and instructor in the Intensive English Program; and Celeste Thomas, director of Multicultural Student Services, represented EMU at

Johonna Turner, professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding, gave a keynote address at the April 7 Restorative Justice Summit at the University of Maryland.

The summit was targeted to students and community members engaged in the prison abolition movement and included currently and formerly incarcerated individuals among the panelists and workshop sessions.

Don Tyson, professor and director of MS in Nursing program, gave a keynote on resilience to more than 200 health and human

services professionals at the Mennonite Health Assembly, March 8-10, in Pittsburgh, Pa. Anna Westfall, professor of art, explored the influences of different cultures on identity in a March exhibit titled “Linking Meandering Paths” at James Madison University.

1950-59 Bertha Beachy '58, Goshen, Ind., walks for 45 minutes daily, plays bingo and Scrabble, and spends time in prayer.

S. Duane Kauffman '58, Perkasie, Pa., a retired social studies teacher, serves on the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania Board of Trustees.

Dorcas Rolon '58, Hatfield, Pa., is a retired registered nurse. She entered voluntary service in Puerto Rico in 1959, where she married and lived until 1978. She then moved to Ephrata, Pa., and resided there until 2013.

Herbert Schultz '58, New Hamburg, Ontario, a retired pastor and conference minister, volunteers at Ten Thousand Villages, the Mennonite Central Committee Thrift Centre, and at the Northview retirement community.

Urie Sharp '58, Bolivar, Ohio, was a teacher and principal at Hartville Christian School

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for over 25 years, a music professor and choir director at Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute for 19 years, and a charter board member for Mennonite Air Mission in Guatemala from 1972-2018.

Ann Yoder, class of '58, Bender, Rockingham, Va., retired from her position as executive director of the Valley Program for Aging Services, where she worked for 24 years.

Ann’s husband, Professor Emeritus Titus Bender '57, passed away in December 2017.

1960-69 Ralph Alderfer '63, Souderton, Pa., is the conductor of the Franconia Lancaster Choral Singers and a board member of the Lansdale Community Concerts.

Edwin Bontrager '63, Harrisonburg, Va., a retired pastor and missions administrator, has authored or co-authored several books and the recent Revitalize Now! resources for pastors. Ed and his wife Edie '66 have coordinated and led about 45 overseas tours.

BASEBALL PROGRAM CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY More than 40 former Royals baseball players attended an April 21 reunion to celebrate field renovations. Five former coaches also attended: Sherman Eberly, class of '68 (1976-78, 1987); Roland Landes (1979-83); Rob Roeschley (1994-2005); Mark Mace (200611); and Jason Stuhlmiller (2012). Under the management of Coach Ben Spotts, the Royals beat Hampden-Sydney College twice (thanks to a walk-off homerun in the 10th inning of Game 2). (Photo by Sydney Reath)

Lydia Herr '63 Mahabirsingh, Sarasota, Fla., lives at Sunnyside Village, where she sings in the choir, gardens, serves on the resident council, and does “odds and ends to make SSV a great place to be.”

Oren Horst '63, Pinson, Ala., has volunteered with several organizations since his retirement in 2002, including Western Mennonite School, Spruce Lake Camp, We Care Program Prison Ministry in Atmore, and Mennonite Disaster Service in Birmingham.

LaVon Kolb '63, Sellersville, Pa., a retired business teacher, lives at Rock Hill Retirement Community.

Paul S. Lehman '63, Boswell, Pa., is a retired plant pathologist and nematologist married to Mary Ellen Ruth '62 Lehman. He has worked with Mennonite Central Committee in China and Newfoundland, and other international development organizations in Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras and Zimbabwe.

Glenn Myers '63, Philadelphia, Miss., now retired from Philadelphia Public Schools, was active in the development of Pine Lake Fellowship Camp in Meridian, and served as a pastor from 1968-2003.

BISHOP OF NEW DISTRICT Josef Berthold '91, Lancaster, Pa., was installed as bishop of West End Network, a new district in Lancaster Mennonite Conference that includes Germany, Turkey, Afghanistan, Laos, Poland and the Philippines. At the installation service, he was prayed over by Linford Stutzman '84, SEM '90, who had baptized him in 1981 in Germany. Josef, a pastor at West End Mennonite Fellowship, is married to Brenda Wert '81 Berthold. (Photo by Dale D. Gehman)

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now the board treasurer for Camphill Village Kimberton Hills and in leadership at Frazer Mennonite Church.

Helen Buckwalter '68, Homer, Ark., was a missionary with Alaska Village Missions from 1979-1997 and with Northern Harvest Ministries since 1997.

Bob Conley '68, Spencerville, Md., is a part-time pulmonary function technician and serves on the board for Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services, which helps homeless and low-income people in crisis. He is a deacon and trustee at First Baptist Church of Laurel.

Joseph Gascho '68, Hummelstown, Pa., a cardiologist, was awarded the Leonard Tow Award in May as outstanding faculty member at Penn State College of Medicine. The award from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation recognizes “both clinical excellence and outstanding compassion in the delivery of care” as well as “respect for patients, their families and healthcare colleagues.” Gascho is known for integrating his poetry and photography into his teaching and care practices.

Jesse Gehman, class of '68, Ephrata, Pa., is a representative for Fair Trade Artisan Group at Ten Thousand Villages. He is married to Joanne Yoder '72 Gehman.

James Harbold '68, Joppa, Md., is retired and volunteers three days a week at the Trinity Lutheran School.

Don Hertzler '68, Ephrata, Pa., is a volunteer at Landis Homes and a volunteer tax aide for AARP Foundation in Lancaster. He is married to Ruth Harnish ‘70 Shenk Hertzler.

Karen Hoover '68, Goshen, Ind., is retired from elementary education in Utica (Mich.)

Community Schools.

Noah S. Kolb '68, Lansdale, Pa., is a retired minister and former conference minister for Franconia Conference, and has held leadership positions at Keystone Bible Institute, Dock Mennonite Academy, the MCC Material Resource Center and elsewhere.

Beverly Myers '68 Ehst, Harleysville, Pa., is a part-time preschool teacher at Salford Mennonite Child Care. She is married to retired pastor John Ehst ‘68.

Lois Newcomer '63, York, Pa., is a companion caregiver with Visiting Angels, hospital volunteer, sewing circle leader and church historian.

Rhoda Nolt '68, Lititz, Pa., is a retired nurse who volunteers with MCC, Conestoga Valley Christian Community Center and her church, Mellinger Mennonite.

Nelson Roth '63, Belleville, Pa., is a campus pastor at Valley View Retirement Community and volunteers at the Crossroads Pregnancy Center.

Roy Steiner '68, Dalton, Ohio, is a senior design engineer at Venture Products, Inc.

Lee '63 and Laverne Zehr '63 Yoder, Harrisonburg, Va., spent the 2016-17 year at Narmer American College (preK-12), New Cairo City, Egypt, on a special assignment from the school’s managing director to lead a schoolwide self-study. The report led to a successful bid for school accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Philadelphia, Pa. Blair Seitz '67, West Reading, Pa., celebrated 50 years of photojournalism with an exhibit at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts titled “One Camera, Seven Lives.” Blair is the photographer for 22 books and numerous magazine articles.

Jane Backofen '68, Willow Grove, Pa., is a COBRA administrator at Asplundh Tree Expert, LLC. Lynn Brubaker '68, Kimberton, Pa., retired as mathematics department head for the School District of Philadelphia in 2008. He is

Marilyn Zook '68, Waynesboro, Pa., is a retired registered nurse living at Quincy Village Retirement Center.

1970-79 Evelyn Brunk '70 Bear, Kingston, Idaho, is a part-time teacher and bookkeeper for Silver Valley Doors LLC, a family-owned company since 1975.

Dennis Kuhns '71, Harrisonburg, Va., a retired pastor, now answers questions about Mennonites and related Anabaptist groups for the Third Way website. The top question of 2017, according to the Mennonite World Review, is “Do Mennonites drive cars?” Dennis provides answers in keeping with the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.

Dave Amstutz '72, Toledo, Ohio, retired from CSX Transportation, where he was a rail transportation and regional traffic controller.

He volunteers with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Museum of Art, and as a chaplain for Transport for Christ International,

a ministry for truck drivers. Dave sings with the Toledo Choral Society and is a “40-year-plus birdwatcher, thanks to D. Ralph Hostetter.”

Miriam Eberly '72, Lancaster, Pa., who served as a nurse for many years in Belize with Eastern Mennonite Missions, founded the Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church Scholarship Fund, which helps provide tuition funds for deserving students.

Ken Kandel '73, Sugarcreek, Ohio, is a van driver for Society for Equal Access, which assists individuals with achieving greater independence.

Jeanette Krabill '73, Elkhart, Ind., and her husband James '73 served in international ministry in Europe and Africa from 1976-96.

James then worked in missions administration and is currently a senior mission advocate for Mennonite Mission Network. Jeanette retired from elementary school teaching in 2016, and is now developing an Etsy business, AYOKAdesign.

Janis Rutt, class of '73, Landes MA '04 (education), Akron, Pa., is a retired library media specialist. She is appreciative of EMU’s graduate education program for providing “a foundation for my second career as a family and child specialist and ESL teacher.” Jan is married to Richard L. Landes '71.

Roger D. Taylor, class of '73, Belize City, Belize, is the owner and developer of Imex companies, supplier of agricultural products and building materials. In addition to two months traveling, he spends two months each year in Kidron, Ohio.

Eric Bishop '78, Souderton, Pa., completed 37 years of teaching (mostly) English at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School. Though health issues ended his full-time career, he still teaches Sunday School at Souderton Mennonite Church, engages in contract writing services, works with students in remediation, serves as a senior researcher for the blog Soul Teachers (www.thesoulteachers.com), and volunteers for Living Branches retirement community. His wife, Linda Hostetler '81 Bishop, is an elementary school librarian.

Joe '78, SEM '93 and Gloria Beidler '00 Bontrager, Milford, Del., served as theological education coordinators and missionaries in East Africa from 1978-82, 1985-91 and 2012-16 with Eastern Mennonite Missions.

Karl Brubaker '78, Hesston, Kan., is a business manager at Hesston College and on the Bethesda Retirement Community Board of Directors.

Rhoda Byler '78 Yoder, Jackson, Miss., is a principal in the Jackson Public School system.

She holds master’s degrees in English from Mississippi College and education administration from Jackson State University.

Pam Collins '78, MSN '13, Mount Crawford, Va., was honored by the Virginia chapter of March of Dimes as 2017 Nurse of the Year in the category of case management. She is an integrative care manager at Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg.

Melvin Meyer Esh '78, Philadelphia, Pa., is a building code official for the City of Philadelphia and an activist who enjoys long-distance biking and showing hospitality. He is married to Linda Meyer Esh '77.

Marcia Fike '78 Troyer, Roanoke, Va., is a registered nurse at the Salem Veterans Association Medical Center. She is married to Lowell Troyer, class of '79.

Donna Hahn '78, Staunton, Va., was honored by the Virginia chapter of March of Dimes in

the category of nursing administration. She is the vice president of acute care services and chief nurse executive at Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg.

Rosemary Kindy '78 Landis, Rockingham, Va., is a private duty manager at First Choice Home Health and Hospice.

Lewi Lehman '78 Blosser, Newport News, Va., is a parent educator with Child Development Resources. She is married to Clayton Blosser, class of '84.

Teresa Long '78, Holland, Pa., is the executive director of Twining Village Retirement Community.

David E. Martin '78, Akron, Pa., is the associate director of graduate teacher education at EMU Lancaster. He is married to Rachel Martin '83.

Linford Martin '78, Middlebury, Ind., is the owner of Martin Promotionals, an on-call chaplain at Goshen Health, and the director of the Lifelong Learning Institute of Elkhart County. He is married to Elaine Martin '79.

Conley McMullen '78, Keezletown, Va., professor of biology at James Madison University, presented a Suter Science Seminar about the reproduction and conservation of Boechera serotina, the endangered shale barren rock cress.

Phyllis Miller '78, Arlington, Va., is the dean of academic affairs at Chamberlain University.

Richard Moyer '78, Green Lane, Pa., is an accountant and on the Healthy Niños Honduras board of directors.

INDIGENOUS NURSING RESEARCH John Lowe '81, Tallahassee, Florida, is executive director of the first indigenous nursing research center in the world, dedicated in May 2017 at the Florida State University College of Nursing. Lowe, a Cherokee, is McKenzie Endowed Professor for Health Disparities Research at FSU. In 2016, he was awarded the American Nurses Association Luther Christman Award which recognizes achievements of men in nursing. John is one of a few Native American male RNs, and also holds an MSN and PhD. (FSU Photography Services)

Ed Robbins '78, East Berlin, Pa., is pastor of West Shore Fellowship, a planning commission member, and a board member of the East Berlin Community Singers. He volunteers with the Provide-A-Lunch program and at Cross Keys Village Retirement Community.

Joanna Schrock '78 Swartley, Harrisonburg, Va., is a human resources assistant at James Madison University. She is married to Duane Swartley '77.

Willie Schwartzentruber '78 Stoltzfus, Bellefontaine, Ohio, is a registered nurse and chief clinical officer at Community Health and Wellness Partners of Logan County. She is married to Winfred Stoltzfus '78, a physician at Mary Rutan Hospital. They have taken a number of medical mission trips to Haiti and Brazil.

Craig Shoemaker '78, Harrisonburg, Va., works in technology support with Harrisonburg City Schools. He is married to Bonnie Barnhart '75 Shoemaker.

Donna Steinman '78 Callahan, Martinsville, Va., is a retired registered nurse and co-owner of Roy’s Remodeling. Active in her church, she has done mission work in Haiti and Hong Kong.

Doug '78 and Miriam Risser '78 Zehr, Orrville, Ohio, co-pastor at Oak Grove Mennonite Church. Miriam earned an MA in spiritual formation from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 2018.

Marjorie Rush '79 Hovde, Mulberry, Ind., is associate professor of technical communication and chair of the Technology Leadership and Communication graduate programs at Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

1980-89

2018 PEACEBUILDER OF THE YEAR Annette Lantz-Simmons MA '09 has been named 2018 Peacebuilder of the Year by the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. She is the executive director of the Center for Conflict Resolution in Kansas City, Missouri. CJP Executive Director Daryl Byler said Lantz-Simmons “has led CCR’s commitment to a workplace environment that is reflective of its mission in the community and expanded the traditional work of a mediation center by promoting a holistic mission that focuses on prevention, education and restoration.” She has also mentored multiple CJP students and graduates, some of whom are now members of her staff, including Debbie Bayless MA ‘18, Gregory Winship MA ‘17 and Mikhala Lantz-Simmons MA ‘15. (Courtesty of CCR)

Alan Averill '83, Newport News, Va., is a sales associate for Columbia Sportswear.

www.emu.edu | CROSSROADS | 27

Myron Blosser '83, MA '98 (education), Harrisonburg, Va., founded the Shenandoah Valley Biotechnology Symposium, which this year celebrated its 25th anniversary by returning to EMU, its first site. More than 430 area high school students participated.

Kirk Hanger '83, Alexandria, Va., was EMU’s visiting pastor during spring semester. He is founding pastor of New Hope Fellowship in Alexandria, Va. Marilyn Cassel '83 Hanger, his wife, teaches at Claremont Immersion School in Arlington. The couple served as church planters in Mexico City for 11 years. An ordained minister in Franconia Mennonite Conference, Kirk continues as a mentor to leaders and churches in RIMI Network of Churches, a network that was started in Mexico and now includes churches in several other countries.

He is a graduate of Palmer Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa., and the Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, Calif.

FROM HARRISONBURG TO NYC X 2 Jessica Penner '01, with husband Thomas Fred Smith III '00, MA '11 (counseling), Bronx, New York, is the author of the novel Shaken in the Water and writes eloquently about her love of New York City in an essay "Why I Left New York City (And Returned)." The essay and other writings are at jessicadawnpenner.com. She is currently working on a memoir about her brain surgery on Sept. 11, 2001, and a new novel. Jessica is a professor at the New York City College of Technology and local program coordinator for Mennonite Voluntary Service. Tom is a counselor at a needle exchange on the Lower East Side. They attend Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship.

(Courtesy photo)

Titus '83 and Deb Yoder '83 Dutcher, Sugarcreek, Ohio, serve at Central Christian School as a volunteer physician (Titus) and an English as a second language teacher (Deb).

Deb also serves with Connexus, a conflict transformation and restorative practices organization, and Titus is a board member for New Leaf Center Clinic for Special Children.

Denise “Dee Dee” Good '83, Souderton, Pa., volunteers at the Mennonite Central Committee Care and Share Thrift Shop and at a safe house for trafficked women. She is also on the visitation and care team at Finland Mennonite Church.

Jay Graber '83, San Antonio, Tex., retired as vice president of business development from Apex Software LLC, and is now on the board of directors of Destiny Media Technologies Inc. He is married to Grace Graber ‘82.

Theresa Gross '83 Hay, Front Royal, Va., is a special education assistant with Warren County Public Schools.

DEDICATED SERVICE Retiring professors Sandy Brownscombe (top), Mark Thiessen Nation and Dorothy Jean Weaver '72 were awarded emeritus status by the EMU Board of Trustees. All three have been integral contributors and true gifts to the university. For 40 years, Sandy taught and advised students; coached field hockey, women’s basketball, and men’s volleyball; provided leadership and mentorship as a department chair; and for 15 years, was the field placement coordinator for preservice teachers. In his 16 years at EMU, Mark, professor of theology at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, taught 17 different courses, five as a co-teacher with 10 different colleagues. He is an accomplished and widely published scholar. Dorothy Jean, professor of New Testament, was the first female fulltime faculty member at the seminary.

She said she has been blessed to teach and serve since 1984 within a community of “seminary family where teachers minister to students and students in turn minister to teachers.”

(EMU file photos)

28 | CROSSROADS | SPRING/SUMMER 2018

Rose Hackman '83, Lansdale, Pa., is an administrative assistant with Living Branches and with Towamencin Mennonite Church.

LaVonda Hoover '83, Anaheim, Calif., earned a master’s degree in applied clinical and preclinical research from Ohio State University in 2017.

Lee '83 and Peg Shenk '84 Martin, Rockingham, Va., are serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Elkhorn, W.Va., as the location coordinators of Sharing with Appalachian People (SWAP).

Matthew McMullen '83, Uniontown, Ohio, earned a PhD in preK-12 educational administration from Kent University in 2016. He is a member of Bethany Mennonite Church.

Natalie Seibert '83 Mayer, Fairbanks, Alaska, is a family physician in private practice.

Dave Shenk '83, New Holland, Pa., is president and CEO of Tel Hai Retirement Community in Honey Brook, Pa. Beverly Smeltzer '83, North Chesterfield, Va., is a registered nurse at Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center.

Roger Steffy '83, Marietta, Pa., is vice president for programs at Tabor Community Services. He is married to Carol Herr SEM '96 Steffy.

Paul Swartz '83, Botkins, Ohio, is president of Swartz Contracting and Emergency Services in Lima. His wife Carol '83 leads the marriage ministry at their church. They are both involved in their son’s ministry Dream On: Global.

Sharon Trauger '83 Ambrose, Winter Park, Fla., works as a hospice nurse for Vitas Healthcare.

Sherwin Tusing '83, Broadway, Va., retired from Rockingham County Public Schools in June 2017 after 33 years of teaching physical education. He attends Grace Mennonite Fellowship in Lacey Spring.

Susan Watkins '83 Miller, Penn Laird, Va., is a hospice nurse at Augusta Health and a volunteer at AVA Care of Harrisonburg, a medical nonprofit serving women facing unintended pregnancy.

Wendelin “Wendy” Wenger '83 McPherson, Pflugerville, Texas, is a project director with ResearchPoint Global, a WuXi AppTec Company.

Rachel Witmer '83 Martin, Akron, Pa., is an intervention specialist in the Ephrata Area School District. She is married to David Martin '78.

Thomas Foreman '85, Toronto, Ontario, is a hospital ethicist and executive director of a group of palliative care doctors and assisteddying proponents trying to establish a home dedicated to medical aid in dying (MAID), which is legal in Canada. The project is called MAIDHouse. The group is seeking charitable status and hopes to open the home before the end of 2018.

Brenda Hartman-Souder '85, Syracuse, N.Y., is a self-employed psychotherapist. Husband Mark '83 also owns his own business as an interiors painting contractor. They returned to the United States in 2012 after more than five years as representatives for Mennonite Central Committee in Nigeria.

Jerry Hertzler '88, Harrisonburg, Va., is a biology teacher and track coach at Harrisonburg High School. He is married to Lisa Mumaw '88 Hertzler, a registered nurse at Rockingham Eye Physicians.

Charles “Chuck” Kratz '88, Bellefontaine, Ohio, is a family physician at Community Health and Wellness Partners of Logan County and the medical director for hospice services with Universal Home Health and Hospice.

Kevin Lehman '88, Red Deer County, Alberta, is an insurance agent and co-owner of Kooman Agencies, Ltd. He is married to Geannette Kooman '89 Lehman.

Deb Martin '88 Lyon, Shiloh, Ohio, is a drug and alcohol counselor with Firelands Behavioral Health.

Phil Martin '88, Alden, N.Y., has pastored Alden Mennonite Church since 2001.

Debra “Deb” Skalsky '88, Henrico, Va., is a missionary nurse and ESL teacher with Youth With A Mission.

Shari Yoder '88 Mast, Rockingham, Va., is a physical therapist with Wampler Rehab. She is married to Dale Mast ‘88, a program assistant for Choice Books

1990-99 Jeff Gingerich '90, Reading, Pa., begins as the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at University of Scranton in July.

He is currently the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Cabrini University.

Kim Blosser '91, MA '98 (education), Stanley, Va., became president of Lord Fairfax Community College in February 2018. She was formerly vice president of academic and student affairs, and began her career in education as a teacher.

Kirby Dean '92, Harrisonburg, Va., ended his 15th and final season as EMU head men’s basketball coach with a run in the ODAC playoffs. In March, he became director of parks and recreation for Rockingham County.

John Spidaliere '92, Lancaster, Pa., has joined two partners in founding LancLiving Real Estate & Property Management.

Rosalyn Alleman '93, Greenbelt, Md., is a consultant at T. White Parker, Inc. Dwayne Hess '93, Baltimore, Md., is the director of Clay Pots... A Place to Grow, a non-profit organization and center that fosters spiritual and personal growth.

Sherri Kurtz '93 Peters, Alexandria, Va., is the manager of budget and special projects at the National Democratic Institute.

Edie Lantz '93 Leppert, Tucson, Ariz., is a program director for basic literacy at Literacy Connects. She holds an MA in language, reading and culture from the University of Arizona.

Shannon Martens '93 Sneary Alabanza, Harrisonburg, Va., is a mediator and director of training at the FairField Center.

Jolene Myers '93, Harrisonburg, Va., is a stress test nurse at Sentara RMH Medical Center.

Arlin Roth '93, Martinsburg, Pa., is an instructional technology specialist with Bellefonte Area School District and a Google for Education certified trainer. He is earning a master of educational technology degree from Wilson College, where he is also an adjunct instructor.

Dickson Sommers '93, MA '95 (counseling), Harrisonburg, Va., is the crisis stabilization unit supervisor at Harrisonburg-Rockingham Community Services Board.

Lucinda Rae Zehr '93 White, Stillwater, Minn., is a self-employed reading specialist.

Shandra Yoder '93 Stoner, Millersville, Pa., coaches soccer and is a substitute teacher. She also is the director of The Loft at Millersville, a clothing and food pantry.

Dave Bechler '96, Harrisonburg, Va., announced in March that he would step down as head coach of the Eastern Mennonite High School Flames varsity boys’ basketball team.

He will continue duties as athletic director, a position he has held since 1999. The Flames were 268-283 during his tenure.

Suzanne Ehst '97, Constantine, Mich., completed her PhD in English education at Western Michigan University. Suzanne is an associate professor of education at Goshen College.

Brian Snader '97, Nairobi, Kenya, is a conservation agriculture program advisor with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). He is married to Krista Moyer '98 Snader, a water and hygiene advisor also with MCC. In the U.S., they attend Groffdale Mennonite Church in Leola, Pa. Melissa Atkins '98, Mount Jackson, Va., is a physician assistant at Valley Health.

Steve Baer '98, Beaverton, Ore., a teacher with the Beaverton School District’s Community Transition Program, was recognized with the Excellent Teaching Award by the Oregon Association of Vocational Support Needs Personnel.

Jeff Barbour '98, Winchester, Va., is the city’s treasurer.

Moniqua Castaneda '98 Acosta, Lititz, Pa., has worked since June 2016 at Landis Homes, where she is now director of volunteer services.

She and her husband Dionicio Acosta '97

have three children and attend Blossom Hill Mennonite Church in Lancaster.

BOOKSHELF

Melissa Hochstetler '98, Minneapolis, Minn., is the community-supported agriculture coordinator for the Three Rivers Park District.

Kathleen Howdyshell '98 Pitsenbarger, Mount Solon, Va., is a registered nurse at Sentara RMH Medical Center.

Brent Leaman '98, Bakersfield, Calif., is a Spanish teacher in the Kern High School district.

Jeremy Ours '98, Kalona, Iowa, is director of advancement for Iowa Mennonite School. He is married to Sheila Ours '97.

Surviving, Thriving, and Multiplying: Three Decades of Growth in the Honduras Mennonite Church (Masthof Press, 2018), by former Eastern Mennonite Missions workers James '60 and Rhoda Sauder with George '68 and Lois Zimmerman, tells the story of the Mennonite movement in Honduras.

Gary Sommers '98, North Canton, Ohio, is a chief financial officer with HRM Enterprises.

He is married to Charla J. Steiner '98 Sommers, who is a full-time mom.

Melissa Spory '98 Beidler, Denver, Pa., is director of enrollment at Hinkletown Mennonite School. She is married to Lyle Beidler '98.

Holly Herr '98 Stravers, Gallup, N.M., is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Healthcare Services. Since 1998, she has also lived in Texas, North Carolina, Honduras, South Sudan, Guinea and Chad.

Eastern Mennonite Missions worker Debbi DiGennaro '04 provides a practical guide with Acclimated to Africa: Cultural Competence for Westerners (SIL International, 2017) to help Westerners navigate the vast cultural differences between Africa and the Western world.

Andrea R. Warfel '98, Houston, Del., is a state trooper.

Alyssa Livengood '98 Waite, Lititz, Pa., is the director of nursing at Lancaster General Hospital.

Kim Stauffer '99, Austerlitz, N.Y., is a professional actor performing in New York City and regional theaters across the country. She teaches acting at the University at Albany.

Michael Zook '99, Harrisonburg, Va., owns Great Outdoors Landscaping. He is married to Marcia Esch '99 Zook.

Cardiologist Joseph Gascho '68 has published a book of poetry, Cornfields, Cottonwoods, Seagulls and Sermons: Growing up in Nebraska (Cascadia, 2017). His current project features photos of operating room objects and original poetry.

2000-09 Karl “Andi” Hennig '00, Canelones, Uruguay, is a technical specialist with IN Switch Solutions.

Bethany Miller '00 Slack, Bedford, Mass., is the public health and wellness research associate at Emmanuel Gospel Center, a Boston-based urban ministry.

Craig Nebel '00, Lancaster, Pa., wife Kristen, and their two sons welcomed four brothers ages 6 to 14 from the Ukraine through a hosting program for four weeks over Christmas 2017. The Nebels are now working on adopting the brothers, who have been in an orphanage for almost two years. The process will cost more than $50,000, and their home will need renovations. Several fundraisers are planned in hopes that the boys can join the Nebels in fall 2018. For more information, join the “Nebel Family Adoption Journey” Facebook group.

Zach Derstine '01, Telford, Pa., hosted an April Business Networking Breakfast at his company, Derstine’s Foodservices, Inc., in Lancaster. Approximately 30 alumni and guests attended the event, which was co-hosted by EMU Alumni Relations.

Natasha Hackman '01 Alderfer, Telford, Pa., was promoted to partner with the accounting firm Seitz, Leatherman and Kolb LLC. She has been with the firm since 2001.

Jarem Sawatsky MA '01 (conflict transformation) won a Nautilus Award with his memoir Dancing with Elephants: Mindfulness Training for Those Living with Dementia, Chronic Illness or an Aging Brain (Red Canoe Press, 2017). Past winners of this prestigious award include Thich Nhat Hanh, Barbara Kingsolver, Desmond Tutu, Julia Cameron and Eckhart Tolle. The Nautilus Awards honor books that support conscious living and green values, high-level wellness, positive social change and spiritual growth.

Russell James '03, Albuquerque, New Mexico, has released a new LP Wave/ Water this spring. More information and his year-long tour dates are at www.russelljamesmusic.net. Formerly known as Russell James Pyle, he blogs at theriversbend. wordpress.com

Brian Plum '01, Luray, Va., is chairman elect of the Virginia Association of Community Banks’ board of directors. Since 2014, he has been the president and CEO of Blue Ridge Bankshares, Inc.

www.emu.edu | CROSSROADS | 29

Megan Kennel '02, Oakland, California, is a registered nurse with the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Caleb Ediger '03, Harper, Kan., is an assistant professor of nursing at Newman University. He is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas.

Melissa Horst '03 Kinman, Broadway, Va., is a developmental disabilities support coordinator at the Harrisonburg Rockingham Community Services Board.

Welby Lehman '03, Harrisonburg, Va., become a licensed architect in January 2017 and is a senior project manager at Blue Ridge Architects. He is married to Lisa Bergey '03 Lehman.

Holly Miller '03 Hewes, Midlothian, Va., is a recruiter for SunTrust Bank. She and husband Jonathan '03 attend Woodlake United Methodist Church.

Laurie Lee '03 Miller, Wellman, Iowa, is the Early Out Program coordinator at the Wellman YMCA and a stay-at-home mother. She is married to Chuck Miller '04.

MENNONITE CHURCH USA Retiring executive director Ervin Stutzman SEM '99, with wife Bonnie, was honored by Mennonite Church USA for his years of service at an April 13 reception in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Former EMU trustee Glen Guyton began serving as executive director May 1.

(Photo by Alex Woodring/Mennonite Church USA).

Eloy Rodriguez '03, New Providence, Pa., earned a master’s degree in school leadership from Millersville University in 2017. He is the principal of the Lancaster Mennonite School New Danville campus.

Drew Roynon '03, Sykesville, Md., is a revenue examiner with the state of Maryland. He is married to Melinda Bontz ‘03 Roynon.

Kristine Sensenig '03 Miller, Goshen, Ind., is a self-employed yoga teacher and certified massage therapist with Giving Tree Massage.

She is also building The Experimental Yoga Method business and school. She and her husband Erich emphasize permaculture and sustainable agriculture on their small farm.

Phoebe Ann Sharp '03, Pittsburgh, Pa., is a counselor with Pittsburgh Mercy Health System. She is the Allegheny Mennonite Conference representative to the Constituency Leadership Council and serves on the conference’s Leadership Council. She also advocates for public transportation and environmental care through multiple organizations.

Angela Swartzendruber '03 Hackman, Harleysville, Pa., is a behavioral health specialist for Tandigm Health, and serves on the board of directors for the Living Branches continuing care retirement community.

Steve Halteman '05, Broadway, Va., a teacher at John C. Myers Elementary School, was recognized with an Inspire Award for Rockingham County Public Schools.

Casey Armstrong '06, Harrisonburg, Va., is assistant county administrator for Rockingham County. He was previously the county’s director of community development.

Holly Smith '06 Borkert, Christiansburg, Va., is a certified nurse midwife at the New River Valley Carilion Clinic OB/GYN.

“SUTER WEST” RENOVATIONS Phil Martin '81, facilities planning and construction manager, leads a tour of the Suter Science Center renovations. He brings years of experience supervising renovations and new building projects of school district facilities in Atlanta, Georgia, and West York, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Andrew Strack)

30 | CROSSROADS | SPRING/SUMMER 2018

Jeff Boodie '07, Los Angeles, Calif., is co-founder of tech startup JobSnap, which connects restaurant and retail employers with 30-second resume videos posted by potential employees. He has initiated a crowdfunding campaign to support the use of the service by youth who are receiving services from local nonprofits.

Julia Gingrich '07, Goshen, Ind., was ordained to the ministry at Eighth Street Mennonite Church, where she has been on the pastoral team since 2015. She received an MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

Joelle Hackney '07, '10 MA (conflict transformation), Alderson, W.Va., is a medical student and Rural Health Initiative scholar at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Laura Bomberger '08, Millersville, Pa., is operations manager at North Group Consultants.

Adam Brown '08, Mickleton, N.J., is training and education manager at the Student Conservation Association.

Jacob Derstine '08, East Greenville, Pa., earned his doctorate in physical therapy from Temple University in 2013 and practices at Good Shepherd Rehab Network.

Lachelle Hackman '08, Lancaster, Pa., is a residence hall director at Lancaster Mennonite School.

Barbara Jenkins '08, Shenandoah, Va., is a self-sufficiency specialist for the Greene County Department of Social Services.

Matt '08 and Debbie Keiser '08 Swartley, Penn Laird, Va., have two children. Debbie coaches cross country and track at East Rockingham High School. Matt is the systems manager at InterChange Group, Inc. Aubrey Bauman '08 Kreider, MBA '18, Lancaster, Pa., is the vice president of marketing shared services with AMERIgreen Energy.

She earned her MBA with a concentration in sustainability from Goshen College in 2018.

Elise Litwiller '08 Voth, Davenport, Iowa, is a physical therapist at Genesis Health System.

Jolene Kratz '08 Wiseman, Verona, Va., teaches fifth grade at Cub Run Elementary in Penn Laird.

2010Lindsey Coyner MA '11 (education), Greenville, Va., was named Teacher of the Year at Stump Elementary School in Augusta County.

Rebekah Maldonado-Nofziger '12, Seattle, Wash., earned a SCOPE Fellowship and spent part of the spring in Ethiopia. She is in the Doctor of Nursing Practice - Community Health Nurse program at the University of Washington.

Steven '13 and Olivia Nussbaum '13 Burkholder, Rockingham, Va., are math teachers with Shenandoah County schools (Steven) and with Rockingham County schools (Olivia).

Allison Eanes '13, Harrisonburg, Va., an English teacher at Thomas Harrison Middle School in Harrisonburg, was honored by a former student who was runner-up in the Robert B. and Gladys Hopkins Strickler Honored Teacher Essay Contest. “Not only did I learn lots about English,” the student wrote, “but I learned about how to treat others.”

Kim Floyd '13 Longacre, Harrisonburg, Va., is a second-grade teacher in Harrisonburg. She is married to Owen Longacre '13.

Ruth Maust '13, Eugene, Ore., was awarded a three-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to continue doctoral research in chemistry at the Jasti Lab, University of Oregon.

Michelle Miller '13 Bocock, Harrisonburg, Va., earned her school counseling degree from James Madison University in 2015 and works in Rockingham County Schools.

Suzanne Opel '13, Meridian, Miss., is the program director of Pine Lake Fellowship Camp and board president of Community of Hope, Inc.

Courtney Ryan '13 Florentine, Chambersburg, Pa., is a technical editor at Tapestry Technologies.

Jennifer Shenk '13, Charlottesville, Va., is a recently licensed clinical counselor employed at Thriveworks Counseling. She is married to Jordan Hollinger '15.

Rebekah “Bekah” Smoot-Enns '13, Kitchener, Ontario, is pursuing a master of arts degree in sociology at the University of Waterloo, which she will complete in summer 2018.

James Souder '13, New Haven, Conn., a graduate student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, was awarded the Ice River Springs Master’s Scholarship for Sustainability. His research project involves embedding recycling information on or in products so that automatic sorting machines can divert more recyclables from landfills.

Kate Steury '14 Leaman, New Paris, Ind., has opened the state's first Shirley’s Gourmet Popcorn franchise. She won the “most promising entrepreneur” prize in EMU’s 2013 businessplan competition for students.

Blake Rogers '14, Hinton, Va., is in the physician’s assistant (PA) training program at James Madison University, and was named the American Academy of PA’s 2018 PA Student of the Year.

Jordan Hollinger '15, Charlottesville, Va., is earning a master’s degree in public policy at University of Virginia. He is married to Jennifer Shenk '13.

Josh Lomas ‘15, Kutztown, Pa., is earning an MEd in student affairs and higher education at Kutztown University, where he works with students who have gone through the foster care system.

Rebecca Longenecker '15, Indianapolis, Ind., is the eCommerce Expert and Marketing Project Specialist at Viral Launch and produces its podcast “Follow The Data.” She is also a published poet.

Eliza Williamson MA '15 (education), Waynesboro, Va., is the Teacher of the Year at Kate Collins Middle School, where she has taught for 14 years.

Hanna Heishman '16, Washington D.C., works for Habitat for Humanity International.

Alex Miller '16, Sarasota, Fla., has been promoted to customer experience team manager at JMX Brands, an online retailer of Amish-made furniture and other products.

He has worked in several roles at JMX Brands since 2009.

Austin Mumaw '16, Harrisonburg, Va., a second-grade teacher at Spotswood Elementary School, was honored by a student who won the Robert B. and Gladys Hopkins Strickler Honored Teacher Essay Contest. The essay and accompanying artwork highlighted Austin’s kindness, gave thanks for extra recess time, and noted his quality of “being awesome.”

Courtney Unruh '16, Hesston, Kan., is in her second year as a sixth-grade teacher at Hutchinson STEM Magnet School in Allen. She was a winner of the Kansas Horizon Award for top new teachers, given by Kansas Commissioner of Education.

Naomi Scoville '17, Kosovo, is a middle school English teacher at Prishtina High School.

She has also taught in Lezhe, Albania, and at Massanutten Technical Center, Harrisonburg.

Lorren Oesch '18, Hesston, Kan., was named the women’s resident director at Hesston College in April. She is a 2016 graduate of Hesston.

CENTER FOR JUSTICE & PEACEBUILDING Nadia Bazzy MA '08, Canton, Mich., is the director of the office of multi-ethnic student affairs at the University of Michigan. She previously was the interim director of the university’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center.

Jennifer K. Lynne MA '09, Austin, Texas, is the founder and CEO of TheContactProject, a global social enterprise providing platforms for human capacity development. She earned a PhD from the University of New England in 2016.

Kara Beckman MA '10, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., is a senior evaluator in an adolescent health research center. Since 2008, she has conducted evaluation and implementation studies of school and community-based restorative practices programs and initiatives.

Robbie Abdelhoq MA '12, Van Buren Township, Mich., serves as the program manager in the Office of Student Conflict Resolution at the University of Michigan. He is a doctoral candidate in educational philosophy at the University of Toledo.

Akiko Ishihara MA '14, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, is an associate professor at Kumamoto University.

Dina Rubey Bracaglia MA '15, Selkirk, N.Y., heads LaSalle School’s Alternative to Detention program.

Karen Dawson MA '17, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, is a conflict consultant and church worker with Ripe for Harvest and her local church LePhare. For 2.5 years, Karen co-facilitated Mennonite Central Committee’s first SEED young adult volunteer program in the region.

SEMINARY Andrew Dyck SEM '96, Winnipeg, Manitoba, earned a PhD in theology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands (in collaboration with the International Baptist Theological Study Centre). His dissertation was titled “Praying Like the Catholics? Enriching Canadian Mennonite Brethren Spirituality through Lectio Divina, Spiritual Direction, and the Taizé Community.” He is currently assistant professor of Christian spirituality and pastoral ministry for MB Seminary at Canadian Mennonite University.

Shaunna Payne Gold SEM ‘05, Bowie, Md., is the associate director for assessment and student development in the office of multi-ethnic student education at the University of Maryland College Park. She has a Doctor of Education degree from the George Washington University in higher education administration.

Terry Zehr SEM ‘12, Lowville, N.Y., is a conference minister with Lowville Mennonite Church.

“Seminary was a ‘dream come true’ experience for me,” he wrote. “I took courses online, did an independent study, took a class at Lancaster, participated in the Preaching Institute, and finally had a semester in Harrisonburg. Without this web of formats and locations, a degree would not have been possible. I can’t begin to articulate how thankful I am for my seminary experience.”

MEDICAL MENTORS Alumni connections benefited EMU students in the pre-professional health sciences practicum during spring semester. Junior Leah Lapp (left) shadows Dr. John Wenger '85, who practices family medicine at Sentara RMH Medical Center, and junior R.J. Ocampo learned from Dr. Kurtis Sauder '89 at Valley Pediatric Group in Verona, Virginia. (Photos

by Andrew Strack)

Travis Smith '05 to Danielle Allocco, Annandale, N.J., Sept. 30, 2017.

Jacob '08 and Amanda Derstine, East Greenville, Pa., Elias, Oct. 30, 2017.

Sabrina Strong '05 to Eugene Gallagher, May 14, 2016.

Brian '08 and Shelly Horst '08 Hackman, Lancaster, Pa., Lucia Charo, Jan. 29, 2018.

Lyubov Slashcheva '11 to Scott Roser, Iowa City, Iowa, Nov. 18, 2017.

Joleen Kratz '08 and Jeff Wiseman, Verona, Va., Logan Floyd, July 13, 2016.

Jennifer Shenk '13 to Jordan Hollinger '15, May 20, 2017.

Miranda White '08 and Corey Terry, Monterey, Va., Kelsey Marie, June 2, 2017.

BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS

Tyler '08 and Amanda Yoder, Lancaster, Pa., Wyatt Kenneth, Dec. 9, 2017.

Kimberly, director of career services, and Matt Phillips, Cole Matthew, Nov. 25, 2017.

Chuck '88 and Trish Hostetler '88 Kratz, Bellefontaine, Ohio, Parker Isaac, March 3, 2016, adopted March 30, 2018.

Radell '01 and Sarah Schrock, Harrisonburg, Va., Adalynn Elizabeth, Jan. 27, 2018.

Dustin '01 and Kristin Shoemaker '06 Blyer, Harrisonburg, Va., Grant David, Jan. 13, 2018.

Matthew '05 and Jenny Gnagey, Ogden, Utah, Naomi Marine and Phoebe Louise, June 12, 2017.

Adam '06 and Anita Hoover '11 Chupp, Greencastle, Pa., Levi Samuel, April 24, 2018.

Jason '06 and Alexis Sauder '06 Rutt, Harrisonburg, Va., Quinn Hensley, June 30, 2017.

Adam '06 and Christy Hurst '06 Savanick, Rockingham, Va., Jay Robert, April 22, 2018.

Danny Yoder '06 and Tara Kreider '05, MA '11 (counseling), Brooklyn, N.Y., Eliot Kreider Yoder, June 17, 2017.

Lisa Berry '07 and Joshua Diamond, Harrisonburg, Va., Ezekiel June Diamond, Oct. 14, 2017.

Julia Gingrich '07 and Josh Weaver, Goshen, Ind., Eliza Weaver, Oct. 10, 2017.

MARRIAGES

Elizabeth “Liza” Heavener '07 and Gabe Elsner, Philadelphia, Pa., Isabelle Clara Heavener Elsner, Oct. 6, 2017.

Melvin L. Lehman '71 to Susan Miller, Nov. 4, 2017.

Aubrey Bauman '08 and Tyler Kreider, Lancaster, Pa., Colby John, Feb. 11, 2018.

Melissa Hochstetler '98 to Travis Lusk, April 22, 2017.

Adam '08 and Brittany Brown, Mickleton, N.J., Annaliese Juella, April 12, 2017.

Seth '09, SEM '17 and Theresa Peachey '09 Crissman, Harrisonburg, Va., Maria, Jan. 11, 2018.

Ben '09 and Kim Gross '09 Moyer, Sellersville, Pa., Lydia Grace, Nov. 9, 2017.

Joel '10 and Mikaela Bender '08 Landis, Pasadena, Calif., Addison Parker, July 17, 2017.

Mark '10 and Kathryn Hamilton '09 Fenton, Harrisonburg, Va., Benjamin David, March 1, 2018.

Jason '10 and Jennifer Christner '09 Godshall, Sarasota, Fla., Lucas Kyle and James David, Feb. 3, 2018.

Michael '10 and Rachael King '10 Harnish, Singers Glen, Va., August Michael, March 9, 2018.

Zachary '10 and Alicia Hertzler '09 Hurst, Lancaster, Pa., Elliott Diana, July 17, 2017.

Stephanie DeHart '12 and Ronald Robinson, Roanoke, Va., Rex Robinson, May 26, 2017.

Sarah Leland '12 and Ryan Gerber, Dayton, Va., Aanya, June 17, 2016, and Myra, July 23, 2017.

Grace Yoder '13 and Bryson Huxman, Enora Adeline, Jan. 19, 2018.

Ghassan Mohsin MA '14 (biomedicine), Lackawanna, N.Y., Noura, March 11, 2017.

Hannah MA '16 (counseling) and Dan Hall, Harrisonburg, Va., Lilyana Miller, Jan. 9, 2018.

DEATHS Mildred Kauffman '35 Pellman, Harrisonburg, Va., died Nov. 11, 2017, at 99. She worked with her husband, Hubert '38, with church communities throughout her life.

www.emu.edu | CROSSROADS | 31

Elsie Irene Showalter '36, Harrisonburg, Va., died May 25, 2017, at 99. She was a homemaker and volunteer with Virginia Mennonite Missions Board and Gift & Thrift, among other organizations.

of Willow Springs Mennonite Church, Tiskilwa, Ill., where she worked as a secretary. She also worked for the Illinois Mennonite Conference, Mennonite Board of Missions and the Mennonite Hour radio program.

Dwight W. Hartman '39, Harrisonburg, Va., died Dec. 17, 2017, at 94. He served in Civilian Public Service camps in Pennsylvania and Colorado. He later founded Hartman Motor Sales and a Kenworth Truck dealer, now Truck Enterprises Inc., and Hartman’s Inc., a motor freight carrier.

Lucinda “Cindy” Martin '54 Bolger, Elmira, Ontario, died Dec. 6, 2017, at 96.

Eula Showalter '40, Harrisonburg, Va., died Feb. 2, 2018, at 95. She was a nurse at Green Valley Clinic, Parkview Medical Center and Sunnyside Presbyterian Home.

Sara Jane Weaver '42 Wenger, Lancaster, Pa, died March 23, 2018, at 95. She and her husband, Chester ‘34, were married 73 years and received EMU’s Centennial Award during Homecoming 2017. Beginning in 1949, they served in Ethiopia as missionary teachers for 17 years through Eastern Mennonite Missions.

She later was a reading teacher and ran a retail business in Lancaster County farmers’ markets.

Anna Mae Groff '46 Landis, Lititz, Pa., died Feb. 19, 2018, at 97. She did office nursing and was a staff nurse at Lancaster General Hospital for 20 years.

Grace Gross '46 Hockman, Harrisonburg, Va., died Jan. 11, 2018, at 92. She and her husband, Norman ‘51, served nearly 30 years in Honduras as missionaries. A nurse, Grace designed and directed the building of a small clinic there.

Norman Kraus '46, Harrisonburg, Va., died April 6, 2018, at 94. He taught at Goshen College for 30 years, authored a number of books, was an ordained minister, and served in Japan under Mennonite Board of Missions.

Dorothy Hackman '46 Martin, Lititz, Pa., died Jan. 29, 2017, at 92.

Mary Hertzler '49, Scottdale, Pa., died Nov. 18, 2017, at 92. Mary was editor for the Allegheny Mennonite Conference News from 1983-91, and a clerk at the MCC thrift shop World’s Attic.

Isabelle King '49 Yoder, Seaford, Va., died Jan. 6, 2018, at 100.

Ruth Byler '50 Yoder, Goshen, Ind., died Jan. 18. 2017, at 97. She was a registered nurse and a member of College Mennonite Church, Gideons Auxiliary International and the National Christian Embassy, Jerusalem.

Hazel Horst EMS '51 Bell, Caledonia, Ohio, died March 30, 2018, at 85. She took care of children in her home.

Ralph Malin '51, Malvern, Pa., died June 20, 2017, at 90.

Stanwyn G. Shetler '55, Leesburg, Va., died Dec. 4, 2017, at 84. He earned his PhD in botany and worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History as a curator and later as deputy director of the museum.

Keith Esch '56, Richmond, Ind., died Dec. 27, 2017, at 83. He was a conscientious objector, doing alternative service in Michigan. He later earned a master’s degree from Earlham School of Religion. He was a school teacher in Michigan and Pennsylvania and pastored churches in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Titus W. Bender '57, Rockingham, Va., died Dec. 8, 2017, at 85. Titus and his wife Ann ‘58 spent 11 years in voluntary service in Meridian, Miss. He later taught in the EMU sociology and social work department from 1976-97. He was one of the founders of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Harrisonburg and of Gemeinschaft Home, a halfway house for nonviolent offenders.

Emerson Martin '57, Albany, Ore., died May 20, 2017, at 83. He worked at Lemon’s Millwork for 26 years and was a member of Fairview Mennonite Church. He is survived by his wife, Thelma, class of ‘60.

James Payne '58, Richmond, Va., died Dec. 21, 2017, at 86. He was an administrator at the Emperor’s School for Blind Boys in Ethiopia, head teacher at an elementary school in Roaring Springs, Pa., pastor of Martinsburg Mennonite Church, and taught for 20 years at Shippensburg State University. He and his wife, Marian, were also founding donors of EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

was a member of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

John D. Stahl '62, SEM '07, Harrisonburg, Va., died Dec. 26, 2017, at 78. He spent most of his career at EMU as an instructor, director of institutional research and director of business affairs. He later provided trainings in computer management information systems in higher education settings and was also a pastor of Immanuel Mennonite Church. John was a founding member of Park View Mennonite Church.

William “Bill” Leatherman '63, Doylestown, Pa., died April 21, 2017, at 77. He was a mechanic for Bill Frankenfield Buick for many years and was a member of Doylestown Mennonite Church.

R. Suzanne Frey Yoder '64, Black Mountain, N.C., died Dec. 5, 2017, at 75. She lived and worked in Africa and France. Among her many interests were creating greeting cards and working with conflict resolution and peace and justice issues.

Ronald Alder '65, Bentonville, Ark., died Dec. 2, 2017, at 74.

Don Beyeler '65, Goshen, Ind., died Dec. 24, 2017, at 74. He served in alternative service in the Dominican Republic, doing agri-development and amateur veterinary work. After this, he spent four months riding a motorcycle alone from Panama to southern California. He then did agricultural extension work in Oregon, started a dairy nutrition and crop science business called Bey-Agri Services, and developed and marketed dairy and beef ration balancing software called Nutritional Software Systems.

Elaine Erb '67 Alderfer, Louisa, Va., died Dec. 6, 2017, at 74. She and her husband, Harold, were dairy farmers. She also was a teacher, a florist and a baker for the Louisa Farmer’s Market.

Marian Yoder Payne, Richmond, Va., a founding donor of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, died Aug. 6, 2017. She and her husband James '58 offered strategic gifts during the past 23 years. Marian took courses at EMU and completed her education degree at Penn State University.

Warren L. Grasse '68, Telford, Pa., died Oct. 3, 2017, at 77. He served with the PAX Program in Germany, Morocco, Liberia and Indonesia.

With his wife, he was the country director for Mennonite Central Committee in Nigeria. Following this, he was a healthcare administrator in several retirement communities.

Dr. John R. Wenger, Jr. '58, Charlottesville, Va., died Nov. 11, 2016, at 85. He practiced medicine in Bedford, Va., from 1964-2001.

Thord Kenneth Einarsen '69, Williamsburg, Va., died April 22, 2018. A graduate of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, he was a pastor of churches in Buchanan, Va., and Norge, Va.

Paul M. Longacre '61, Harrisonburg, Va., died Feb. 19, 2018, at 80. He served in various positions with Mennonite Central Committee, with much of his work focused on food and hunger education, which complemented the work of first wife Doris Janzen Longacre (1940-79), who authored the More-with-Less Cookbook and Living More with Less. He was married to Nancy Heisey SEM '94, associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Paul also worked in prison ministry, and served as pastor and elder and on various Mennonite boards.

Irene Benner '52 Alderfer, Souderton, Pa., died Oct. 5, 2017, at 94. She taught fifth grade and volunteered at Care & Share Thrift Shoppes of Souderton. She was a member of Perkiomenville Mennonite Church and also assisted her husband, Bishop Isaiah Alderfer, in serving several small mission churches in Pennsylvania and New York.

Mary Moyer '61, Harleysville, Pa., died Nov. 10, 2017, at 81. She taught and later worked as a receptionist for Landis’ Markets. She was a member of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Betty Martin '52 Kniss, Harrisonburg, Va., died April 3, 2018, at 89. She served with her husband, Mark, class of '52, in Bihar, India, from 1959-73 in medical work under the Mennonite Mission Board. She also taught in the church, led women’s Bible studies and helped resettle refugees in the 1980s.

Harold Reed '61, Lititz, Pa., died Dec. 17, 2017, at 83. He served in pastoral ministry in Chester, Pa., and in Somalia with Eastern Mennonite Missions. He also served Charlotte Street and East Chestnut Street Mennonite churches in Lancaster, Pa. and as bishop for the Lancaster district of Lancaster Mennonite Conference.

Ruth B. Kaufmann '54, Goshen, Ind., died Nov. 7, 2017, at 89. Ruth was a member of College Mennonite Church and a former member

Anna “Anne” Moyer '62, Lansdale, Pa., died Sept. 4, 2017, at 79. Anne taught kindergarten and was a nurse’s aide, among other jobs. She

32 | CROSSROADS | SPRING/SUMMER 2018

Phoebe Erb '69 Gallagher, Chestnut Hill, Mass., died Oct. 19, 2017, at 70.

Judith Eberly '70 Miller, Dalton, Ohio, died Dec. 17, 2017, at 73. She was a member of Salem Mennonite Church and enjoyed encouraging others, quilting, gardening, visiting with friends and hosting guests in her home.

Marcia Beachy '71 Kauffman, Middlefield, Ohio, died Feb. 11, 2018, at 68. She taught school for 30 years in Honduras, Alberta, Florida and Virginia. Her last role was head of the elementary department at Ridgeview Christian School, Stuarts Draft, Va. Marcia Yoder '73 Miller, Millersburg, Ohio, died Jan. 15, 2018, at 66. She taught at East Holmes Schools even when doctors discouraged it because of living with cystic fibrosis.

Richard “Dick” Lantz '74, Harrisonburg, Va., died March 2, 2018, at 76. In his early years, he served in Honduras with Mennonite Voluntary Service. He was involved in various business ventures, including 29 years at Shenandoah Manufacturing, where he retired in 2000 as the vice president of marketing.

J. Clair Hollinger SEM '80, Lititz, Pa., died Nov. 8, 2017, at 88. He served in 1W service in Philadelphia for two years and then as a cabinet maker. Later, he pastored churches in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He also served as a missionary in Trinidad, industrial art teacher at Lancaster Mennonite High School, radio pastor for Moments of Glad Tidings, and evangelist.

Henry “Hank” Moyer '83, Waynesboro, Va., died Feb. 1, 2018, at 56. He was employed by Habitat for Humanity Restore as a processor.

Bernadine “Bernie” Roth '87 Stauffer, Stephens City, Va., died April 25, 2018, at 52.

She was employed as a secretary at her church, Life Church, and was also a bookkeeper and administrative assistant for Buffalo Wild Wings.

Joseph “Joe” Day '94, New Holland, Pa., died Dec. 31, 2017, at 46 in South Korea. He taught in Virginia, Washington and South Korea and was named Renton [Wash.] School District Teacher of the Year in 2016.

Samuel “Sam” Flook '97, Harrisonburg, Va., died Sept. 18, 2017, at 63. Sam worked at Merck & Co. before retiring in 2013. He was a member of Mill Creek Church of the Brethren.

Sarah Uibel MA '02 (education) Brubaker, Lancaster, Pa., died Jan. 27, 2018, at 62. She served the Manheim Central School District as a music teacher and choral director for more than 25 years and was named Teacher of the Year in 2007. She was honored for lifetime service in 2016 by the Lancaster-Lebanon Music Educators’ Association.

Todd Earhart '04, Waynesboro, Va., died Dec. 29, 2017, at 40. A real estate manager, he owned a commercial appraisal business. He was a member of Mint Spring UMC. Patricia Hawse Hendricks '06, SEM '11, McGaheysville, Va., died Feb. 28, 2018, at 64.

She was most recently the Christian formation coordinator at Immanuel Mennonite Church.

Other roles included chaplaincy, teaching preschool, volunteering in Bosnia and Russia, and working with community services and hospice in Harrisonburg.

Kumar Anuraj Jha MA '07 (conflict transformation), Goshen, Ind., died Nov. 30, 2017, at 40, in a car accident. Kumar was a child protection specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund, working in Sudan at the time.

He was married to Jill Landis '99, MA '10 (conflict transformation) Jha.

Degree Key CLASS OF - attended as part of the class of a given graduation year GC - graduate certificate MA - master of arts SEM - attended or graduated from the seminary Mileposts is compiled by Marci Myers, who may be reached at myersmk@emu.edu or at 540-432-4589.

Editorial Policy Milepost entries are printed on the basis of submissions from alumni or on the basis of publicly available information. We do not verify the accuracy of information that alumni provide, nor do we make judgment calls on the information that they wish to be published, beyond editing for clarity, conciseness and consistency of style. The information provided to us does not necessarily reflect the official policies of EMU or of its parent church, Mennonite Church USA.

ALUMNI HONOREES

HOMECOMING AND FAMILY WEEKEND 2018

Alumnus of the Year REGINA HORST CHACHA At 5:30 every morning on a visit to Tanzania this spring, Regina Horst '85 Chacha led children’s devotions, which included first singing and then teaching from her late husband’s book Prayer Power.

“It is wonderful,” she said, “to see the children praying, learning to take their needs and the needs of others before the throne of God.” Teamwork Ministries’ City of Hope is a ministry in Ntagacha that the Chachas founded in 2007 and which Regina has led as its international executive director since John Chacha '84 was killed in a truck accident in 2015. It includes two schools with some 500 students, a home for 100 orphans, and Amani – “peace” – Medical Center, located where rival clans once fought, in part over cattle theft.

City of Hope has been honored with the Mwenge wa Uhuru (Freedom Torch) three times: for bringing peace to the area, for its agriculture work and water collection cisterns, and for its secondary education offerings. The Dr. John Chacha Secondary School has chemistry and biology labs in a country with “a great shortage of science teachers,” and this year opened a technology lab with 50 laptop computers that Chacha said is “unlike anything else in the region."

Last year Vanity Fair nominated Chacha to its Hall of Fame. The surprise of it all – that this daughter of a now-retired Virginia Mennonite pastor has graced the pages of the glossy magazine, but also that her lifework means she routinely travels between the eastern coasts of the U.S. and Africa – doesn’t negate what Vanity Fair acknowledged: “the challenges remain immense.”

For example: acquiring increased funding for dormitories and teacher housing are “essential,” she said, for the school to attract more boarding students and additional quality teachers.

“I am thankful that I can trust God to direct me concerning my travels and my

PHOTO BY MACSON MCGUIGAN

activities,” Chacha said. “The needs at City of Hope are so great that it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but God helps me to stay focused and to take one step at a time.”

Chacha’s concerns also extend to the broader community. At the City of Hope’s annual conference in December – themed “Leadership Challenges in the 21st Century: Is There Hope?” – an 11K run on community roadways brought attention to a subsequent outdoor evangelistic event, and athletic tournaments hosting village teams culminated in an awards ceremony that included sharing against substance abuse and female genital mutilation.

Chacha is joined in her work by her six children: Two sons have had extended stays at City of Hope and handle photography

and videography for its marketing and publicity; the older son and daughter-inlaw serve on the board; her oldest daughter served as hostess for the guest house; another daughter now runs a sewing program to train older girls and village women; and her younger daughters will spend this summer there.

When stateside, the family maintains intimate connections with Tanzania. At Christmas they – and 33 Tanzanian children who were attending the Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Va. – had a “lively African Christmas celebration,” and at Easter, prepared a traditional Tanzanian meal together.

—CHRISTOPHER CLYMER KURTZ '00

ALUMNI HONOREES Distinguished Service Award

PHOTO BY BRIAN YODER SCHLABACH (GOSHEN COLLEGE)

GILBERTO PEREZ Immigrants crossing deadly deserts. College students emerging into adult identities.

Newcomers striving to start businesses in new and foreign communities. These are some wayfarers Gilberto Perez Jr. '94, GC '99 (conflict transformation) has dedicated his life to serving. In many roles – therapist, social worker, peace evangelist, community advocate, social work professor and now dean of students at Goshen College – Perez’s overarching goal has been simply to follow in Jesus’s footsteps, in his own words “living fully into the work of serving others.”

He grew up watching his parents Gilberto and Elizabeth, pastors of a Mennonite church plant in Robstown, Texas, offer hospitality to Central American immigrants fleeing violence and war in the 1970s and ‘80s. Enamored with music, Perez thought he might be a high school band teacher like his role model, Charles Cabrera. After experiences at Hesston and Bethel colleges, he spent two years and a summer of service, then transferring to EMU. During spring semester 1993, he and friends Susan Huyard '95 Miller and Marc Hershberger formed the choral group Straight and Simple, and went on a 14,000-mile U.S. tour, singing at churches, Mennonite high schools, juvenile detention centers, an adult prison and nursing homes. At EMU, professors Vernon Jantzi '64, John Paul Lederach, Titus Bender '57, Mary Jane Fox and Jane Wenger Clemens were mentors, “people I really admire to this day.”

Among his formative peacebuilding experiences was civil disobedience against a U.S. Navy and Marine bombing target range on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. He was then in a five-year stint as a hospice social worker and mental health counselor at Hospital General Menonita, as well as a peace evangelist for Mennonite Church USA. During this period, Perez also earned a master of social work at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico-Metropolitan Campus.

Back in Indiana, Perez worked at the Latino Behavioral Health Division at Northeastern Center. He questioned how to sow joy among individuals in great distress, having trouble adjusting to a new culture.

The answer: plant newcomers in supportive networks where they use their own unique gifts to become involved in their new communities. In 2004, he wrote a mental health promotion curriculum, "Bienvenido," now widely endorsed and used in 13 states and a Canadian province. More recently, he founded Bienvenido Community Solutions to connect community organizations, mental health research teams and health organizations.

Authenticity is one of three principles Perez adheres to in his commitment to following Jesus. The other two: allowing the Spirit to guide him and simply being patient and present with people as they work their way into a better place. Perez spends time in prayer and contemplation in daily walks. “I ask for direction and clarity,” he said. “I listen to what the Spirit is saying to me and I reflect on it, always in the hope that I’ll do justice to what the Spirit wants me to do.”

Perez joined Goshen College as associ-

ate professor of social work in 2012. Three years as senior director at the Center for Intercultural and International Education contributed to growth in Goshen’s racial and ethnic diversity. Perez also founded and developed an educational program for Latino entrepreneurs that is funded and promoted by Mexican consulates in Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and beyond.

In 2017, Perez began doctoral studies in educational leadership and became dean of students at Goshen College, a position that has allowed him to continue “serving the other, finding joy and creating peaceable communities where people can connect with one another and with resources.”

Among his other awards are the Local Defender of Human Rights award, Elkhart Community Schools, 2018; Chickadee Bird Award, Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance, 2017; and the Hispanic of the Year, Indiana Governor’s Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, 2007.

Perez is married to Denise Diener '92, who was raised in Puerto Rico; the couple has three children, with the oldest just completing her first year at Goshen.

— EMILY WADE WILL

HOMECOMING AND FAMILYJohnWEEKEND 2018 and Michelle Sharp, parents of M.J. Sharp '05, accept the Life Service Award on their son's behalf.

PHOTO BY JON ST YER

Outstanding Young Alumnus CLAUDETTE MONROY For nearly half of her life, Claudette Monroy '10 has endured the precarious existence of a hang glider, at the mercy of shifting winds to either soar in the United States or face deportation to her native Mexico. Monroy is a DREAMer, a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, with the courage to speak publicly about her status despite fear of repercussion or exposure to harsh anti-immigrant sentiment. Despite her unstable position, Monroy remains steadfast in her desire to assist immigrants in need. For her advocacy and accomplishments as an educator and immigrant rights advocate, she is EMU’s Outstanding Young Alumnus.

Monroy moved from Torreón in northcentral Mexico to Fairfax, Virginia, when she was 15 with her mother and little sister.

The family entered on tourist visas. Her father had died five years earlier and the family was struggling to survive in Mexico.

Monroy’s older sister took the two girls in.

Eventually, she completed high school in Harrisonburg in 2006, excelling academically but feeling ashamed of her citizenship status.

Sharing her story through Young Life put her in contact with Eldon Kurtz '76, longtime physical plant director, now retired, and Jason Good '05, then director of admissions, who encouraged her to apply for a scholarship for undocumented individuals. At EMU, “I integrated my faith in the Lord in other areas of my life,” she said, expressing gratitude to economics professors Chris Gingrich, Walt Surratt and Jim Leaman for challenging her academically and equipping her professionally. Her economics courses also opened her eyes to the “brokenness of the system” and inspired her to “engage with and be a steward of God’s blessings.” Monroy became socially and politically engaged with Harrisonburg’s poor immigrant communities.

After graduation from EMU and holding

PHOTO BY JOAQUIN SOSA

an expired visa, Monroy hit her “lowest point.” Unable to move forward professionally, she earned money by babysitting, interpreting and cleaning houses. She applied and attained DACA status in spring 2013, which provided a work permit, Social Security card and driver’s license. That status granted immigration protection and authorization to work for two years, subject to renewal.

She continued to share her life story, encouraged and supported by Isabel Castillo Ressler '07, MA '17, nationally recognized for her advocacy of undocumented immigrants. (EMU honored her with the 2013 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.)

Eventually Monroy moved to Washington D.C. to work in child and adult education with a nonprofit organization focused on immigrant families. She also began graduate studies in international education at The George Washington University (she graduated in May).

In February 2017, Monroy was profiled in a Washington Post front-page article titled “In Trump’s capital, undocumented immigrants live and work in the shadow of the White House.” She did not hide

her name or likeness. Shortly thereafter, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) invited Monroy as her guest to the Joint Address to the Congress (known as the State of the Union address in all but the first year of a new president’s term).

Since August 2017, Monroy has worked as operations manager of The District Church, a nondenominational “Christcentered, neighbor loving, justice-seeking community for transplants, natives and beyond,” according to its website. Monroy is creating a leadership skill development curriculum, with tracks for ministry and for entrepreneurs, and a six-week financial literacy program for low-income parents. She is also a founding member of a proposed charter school for low-income, limitedEnglish-proficient adult learners.

Monroy’s DACA status expires in 2019.

Recently, three federal judges blocked Trump’s attempt to rescind DACA, but in the current political climate, her future remains uncertain. In the meantime, she’ll continue efforts to help immigrants with less education and fewer options than she has. — EMILY WADE WILL

October 12-14, 2018

Friday, October 12

Registration and welcome center

Campus Center, Main Floor Lobby, 10-11:30 a.m. and 3-8 p.m.

Pick up your packet that includes tickets for your registered events and weekend information. Enjoy coffee and network with friends and family.

Prospective student visitation Campus Center, Admissions Office We invite children of alumni to visit EMU while on campus this weekend! Personalize your visit by going to emu.edu/visit and select Daily Visit!

Common Grounds Coffeehouse University Commons, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and 8 p.m.-midnight

Paul R. Yoder Sr. Golf Classic*

Field hockey vs. St. Mary’s Turf Field, 6 p.m.

Music Celebration Concert* Lehman Auditorium, 8 p.m. Adults $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Free for 12 and under or EMU student ID Enjoy music from groups such as Cantore, Shekinah, Emulate, Striking Accord and EMU Jazz Band.

Join in singing select hymns.

Saturday October 13

Registration desk and welcome center

Campus Center, Martin Greeting Hall, 7:30 a.m.-noon Pick up your packet that includes tickets for your registered events and weekend information.

Enjoy coffee and network with friends and family.

Heritage Oaks Golf Course, 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.-$100 registration fee Sponsored by the Royals Club and athletics department to benefit the EMU athletics program.

Lunch served at noon. To register, contact Director of Athletics Dave King at 540-432-4646.

Campus Center, Admissions Office We invite children of alumni to visit EMU while on campus this weekend! Personalize your visit by going to emu.edu/visit and select Daily Visit!

Jubilee Alumni program and luncheon* (Classes 1938 – 1968)

Various locations and times

Seminary building, Martin Chapel, 11:30 a.m.

Gather with alumni who attended EMU 50 or more years ago and enjoy a program, induction of the class of 1968, and lunch.

Art show opening and reception Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery, University Commons, 4 p.m.

Art show opening and reception with artists Jonathan Bush '16, Scott Eyre '16, Caleb Schlabach '16, Stephanie Toth '16, Londen Wheeler '16.

Donor appreciation banquet (by invitation only) University Commons, Courts B and C, 5:30 p.m. (doors open at 5:10 p.m.)

Prospective student visitation

Department gatherings* Nurses’ networking breakfast Campus Center, 301, 8 a.m.

Suter Science Center breakfast Suter Science Center, 104, 8 a.m. breakfast, 9 a.m. seminar, 10 a.m. tour Guest lecture and tour of the new engineering space

Athletics Hall of Honor breakfast and awards University Commons, Yoder Arena, Courts B and C, 8:30 a.m.

Business networking reception Location TBD, 8:30 a.m.

An alumni business owner will share about successful business ventures.

Education department reception and the Jesse T. Byler Series Seminary building, Room 123, 8:30 a.m.

Connect with classmates and professors and hear a panel of local teachers share their experiences with restorative justice in school settings. Coffee and pastries will be served.

Haverim breakfast and program Discipleship Center, 8:30 a.m.

History department continental breakfast and reception Roselawn 3rd floor, lounge area, 8:30 a.m.

Art exhibit open Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery, 9:30 a.m.

Career Connections: Business alumni and student networking event University Commons, Common Grounds Coffeehouse, 10 - 10:45 a.m.

Alumni and current students are invited to a meet-and-greet event to network. Students can make valuable connections with community leaders, while alumni offer insight and career advice to aspiring young professionals.

Campus tour* Campus Center, Martin Greeting Hall, 10 a.m.

See the two most recently renovated academic spaces, Roselawn and the Science Center. Also offered at 1 p.m., when a renovated dorm room will be added to the tour.

Homecoming celebration Lehman Auditorium, 11 a.m.

Reunite with class members in this familiar campus landmark. Celebrate alumni award recipients, take class photos (professional photo for classes celebrating 10, 25 and 50 years), and enjoy seeing old friends. All alumni and guests are welcome.

REGISTRATION FORM List only those attending and indicate how the names should appear on name tags. Please include birth name, if applicable.

Name _____________________________________Class ____________ Spouse/guest _______________________________Class ____________ Address_____________________________________________________ City ________________________________________________________ State _____________________________________Zip_______________ Email ____________________________Day phone _________________ Childcare (ages 2-4) and Children's activities (age 5-grade 5) Name _________________________________________ Age _________ Name _________________________________________ Age _________ Name _________________________________________ Age _________

Tickets Jubilee Alumni Program and Luncheon Music Celebration Concert

No. Cost _____ $15 _____ $10 (Adult) EMU student or 12 and under _____ Free Nurses’ Networking Breakfast _____ $10 Suter Science Center Breakfast _____ $10 Athletics Hall of Honor Breakfast _____ $15 Business Networking Reception _____ Free Education Dept and Jesse T. Byler Continental Reception _____ Free Haverim Breakfast _____ $10 History Department Continental Breakfast _____ $7 Campus Tour ❑ 10 a.m. ❑ 1 p.m. _____ Free Parent Reception Luncheon _____ Free Class Reunion Luncheon _____ $15 Donut Run: T-shirt sizes and quantity: S___; M___; L___; XL___; XXL___ _____ $15 Tailgating _____ $10/space Theater Presentation: The Gospel Project _____ $10 Adults EMU student $5 or 12 and under free _____ $5/Free Total amount enclosed

Total _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

CUT HERE

Class reunions and lunch for years ending in 3 and 8*

EMUTenTalks | Special Faculty Edition Impact. Influence. Inspire.

Class reunions begin following Homecoming celebration. Look for reunion locations at registration desk.

University Commons, MainStage Theater, 2 p.m.

Dynamic 10-minute presentations by three faculty/former faculty, followed by Q&A.

Childcare and children’s activities *

Donut Run*

10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Front lawn, 1-2:45 p.m. registration, 3 p.m. start time. $15 registration fee Cruise the two-mile campus course with friends of all ages. Take in the music and positive vibes on the front lawn and eat yummy donuts.

See form to indicate T-shirt size.

Childcare (ages 2-4) EMU’s Early Learning Center at Park View Mennonite Church, 1600 College Ave.; www.emu.edu/education/elc. Lunch included.

Children’s activities (ages 5-grade 5), led by the EMU Student Education Association in Campus Center 226. Lunch included.

Parent reception luncheon* University Commons, Royals’ Den, noon

Affinity gatherings Check emu.edu/homecoming for up-to-date information, locations, and times. Black Student Union alumni and parent soiree Cords of Distinction alumni reception Ireland cross-cultural Latino Student Alliance alumni and student gathering Martin and Lehman House reunion Nursing class of 1988 Various athletics teams (more info to come)

Women’s volleyball vs. Ferrum College

Fall festival Front lawn, 3-7 p.m.

Fun for all ages! Bring blankets and lawn chairs, listen to country/gospel music band The Walking Roots Band, stay for dinner and enjoy the fall setting. Yard games, inflatables and time to mingle. See highlighted activities below.

Tailgate* Designated parking lot, 3-7 p.m. $10 per space Bring your own food and grill! Reserve your spot when you register online; invite friends to join you in our specially designated tailgating area.

Local food trucks Front lawn Sample the Shenandoah Valley with a tasty tour of local food trucks. Pay on location for individual items.

University Commons, Yoder Arena, 1 p.m.

Li’l Royals’ Zone - children’s games

Campus tour*

Kids will have a blast playing games, jumping in inflatables, getting their face painted, etc.

Campus Center, Martin Greeting Hall, 1 p.m.

See the two most recently renovated academic spaces, Roselawn and the Science Center, as well as a renovated dorm room.

NEW THIS YEAR - Special kids music session with The Walking Roots Band

Common Grounds Coffeehouse open

Concert - The Walking Roots Band

University Commons, 1-6 p.m.

Front lawn, 4 p.m.

Front lawn, 3 - 4 p.m.

Alumni and parent reception tent Visit our reception tent between 4 - 6 p.m.

Chat with EMU staff and enter to win free EMU spirit wear.

Women’s soccer vs. Roanoke College Turf Field, 4 p.m.

Men’s soccer vs. Lynchburg College Turf Field, 7 p.m.

Theater presentation - The Gospel Project* MainStage Theater, 8 p.m. Adults $10, EMU student ID $5, 12 and under free The Gospel Project: A Theatrical Journey through the Life of Jesus Christ is a kinetic, musical, and reverent retelling of the Gospels that takes as its inspiration the Baroque art of Rembrandt and Caravaggio.

Sunday, October 14

EMU Homecoming worship service

Lehman Auditorium, 10 a.m.

Award recipient luncheon (invitation only) Seminary building, Martin Chapel, noon

Monday, October 15 Alumni Association annual council meeting Campus Center 301-302, 8 a.m. *Registration required

emu.edu/homecoming

Nonprofit ORG U.S. Postage PAID

1200 Park Road, Harrisonburg VA 22802-2462 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED 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 email alumni@emu.edu.

EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY

Alumni and Friends Cross-Cultural Tours

COMING MARCH 2019:

CUBA OTHER UPCOMING TRIPS LITHUANIA • Jerry Holsopple • Summer 2019 ISRAEL / PALESTINE • Linford and Janet Stutzman • Fall 2019 IRELAND • Mark Metzler Sawin • May 2020

Ever wish you had the chance to take part in cross-cultural study through EMU? Wish you could revisit the site of your own life-changing EMU cross-cultural experience? Or show your spouse where you lived and learned?

LEARN MORE: emu.edu/alumni/involved/cross-cultural-tours 540-432-4589