Bethany Chupp ’16, MA ’18 (counseling), remembers the exact moment she learned she had landed 91����Ƶ’s prized four-year, full-tuition Yoder/Webb Scholarship.

While on her way to get pizza with a friend’s family, she received a call from History Professor Mark Metzler Sawin, director of 91����Ƶ’s Honors program, who told her the good news. “I got off the phone and told them, ‘I just got a full ride to college,’” recalled Chupp. “T���y were like, ‘Oh my God, well, now it’s a celebration dinner.’”

That was 13 years ago. Today, the Oregon native, equipped with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an MA in counseling from 91����Ƶ, runs her own private practice, , as a licensed professional counselor. She credits 91����Ƶ’s graduate counseling program with helping her reach her goals.

“I feel like what it gave me, in terms of my career, was a network and a level of trust, because the program is so respected,” Chupp said. “If you’re an 91����Ƶ counseling grad, in this area, at least, it’s what gets you a job, no problem.”

Growing up in a Mennonite family, Chupp said her parents, graduates of Hesston and Goshen colleges, encouraged her to attend a Mennonite school. After visiting various colleges and universities across the U.S., she said 91����Ƶ just felt different. Its students seemed the kindest, she said, and its campus the most active. The fact that she could earn a college degree without paying a dollar in tuition, thanks to 91����Ƶ’s generous donors, was just the cherry on top.

“T��� Yoder/Webb scholarship ultimately sealed it,” she said. “How are you going to say no to that?”

While at 91����Ƶ, Chupp studied in the Middle East for her intercultural in 2015 and attended the Y-Serve Civil Rights Tour in 2016. ​Both of those experiences wouldn’t have been possible for her without attending 91����Ƶ, she said.

Another unique experience offered at 91����Ƶ was the closeness she shared with her professors. “My classes were small enough that we were invited to professors’ homes for dinner, and we called them by their first names,” she said. “That’s not common. That’s something 91����Ƶ does differently.”

She continues to stay in touch with many of them. “T���y’re not just former professors,” she said. “T���y’re friends who happened to be my professors.”

For the past five years, Chupp has been actively involved in the local roller derby community. She skates as Peaches n’ Scream for The Hits, a team that competes in Harrisonburg’s . She had attended games as an 91����Ƶ student but was committed to theater. “Plus, my mom told me I couldn’t join until I was off her health insurance,” she joked. When COVID-19 put an end to her theater shows, she discovered a newfound passion on the roller rink.

“It’s a very inclusive and welcoming community,” said Chupp. “It’s a sport where every body type has a place and a purpose. There’s also something cathartic about it in that it’s curated aggression.”

Chupp has four siblings, including two alumni, Brandon ’19 and Caleb ’25. They aren’t the only Royals she may have helped recruit to campus. The longtime camp counselor and director spent many summers working at Drift Creek Camp, a Mennonite camp on the coast of Oregon. She said several former campers are now students at 91����Ƶ. “When I came to 91����Ƶ, I was the first Oregon student in years,” she said. “T���re was one senior and then me. And now, there’s a whole posse of them that are here.”

Since graduating from 91����Ƶ in 2018, Chupp has regularly returned to campus to attend events, meet with friends, and provide services at the counseling center.

“It’s rewarding to still be part of the community and care about it,” she said. “I think it’s easy for alumni to dismiss it as something from when they were in college, but I continue to feel invested in 91����Ƶ’s success.”

Your support helps students pursue a quality college education without financial barriers. Join us for the 10th annual Lov91����Ƶ Giving Day and contribute to the scholarships that empower future 91����Ƶ students. On April 1, let’s show that our generosity knows no bounds…for the record!

Her research question: What are the differences between how hearing people think they view the deaf community and how they actually view the deaf community?

Wheatley is one of nine senior psychology majors selected to present their findings at the Virginia Association for Psychological Science annual conference April 20-22, 2016, in Newport News, Virginia. All of the students are classmates in a two-semester applied psychology research course taught by Professor .

For most students, their projects have led not only to the desired academic goals, but also to personal revelation and clarity of professional goals.

Wheatley, for example, is also involved in an independent study in Deaf culture and community, and she has plans to continue the research in graduate school. And that friend who shared the feelings that were the impetus behind Wheatley’s research? Her future mother-in-law.

With curriculum change, students enter research process earlier

A strength of the at 91����Ƶ is that all students have the opportunity to conduct individual research on a topic related to their unique interests, says department chair . “These original projects introduce every student to the ins and outs of scientific inquiry.”

Senior psychology majors at 91����Ƶ enter the research course with a “broad background in the field of psychology,” having fulfilled prerequisites of general, developmental, social and cognitive psychology, as well as a course on interpersonal relationships among others, Koop said. They all have been introduced formally to the research process in the Cognitive Psychology class, where each student formulates a research proposal.

Many of those proposals then develop into the independent research project required in Psychology 472/473, Koop says.

New curriculum that begins next year will introduce the design and analysis portions of the research process earlier, an emphasis which will not only build critical skills but quickly immerses majors in the intellectual rigor of their discipline.

Topics move students deeper into field

In Psychology 472/473, students delve into the research process while designing, developing and implementing their own project. The individualized research projects is intended to create “more critical consumers of scientific results” and “strong candidates for graduate programs,” Koop said.

Most of the classmates expressed both a new appreciation for the “intricacies of research,” as one student put it, and also for the seriousness of the endeavor. “It takes such precaution to make even basic claims,” says Rachel Bowman, who designed an experiment on racial bias.

“When you read a research article, it often seems as though the researchers easily attained the results they are sharing with the world,” said Emily Myers, who has used the project to familiarize herself with attachment theory in preparation for a career in counseling. “In reality, conducting research takes an incredible amount of background research, planning, gaining feedback, working with others, etc.”

In developing her research about developmental trauma associated with foster care and adoption, Bethany Chupp realized her project called for something “along the lines of a doctoral thesis…a longitudinal study of adoptive families over the course of several years.” Setting that aside, she scaled down to the question of whether “changing the vocabulary used to discuss adoption changes participants’ attitudes toward adoption and foster care.”

The title of her project is “Adoption as Trauma: Viewing Adoption Through a Restorative Lens.”

“It takes baby steps to get to bigger goals,” she said. “I need to start a basic level of examining attitudes and language before applying that to concrete case studies.”

 Meeting and networking at conferences

Attending conferences is an important professional development opportunity for undergraduate students, Koop said. “You get to test ideas, receive feedback and meet future colleagues. It’s a great experience not only to witness scientists discussing their original work, but to contribute to this exchange of knowledge and develop professional communication skills.”

Other students selected to attend the conference include

• Brooke Lacock, Does Anticipation of Smartphone Notification Interfere with Working Memory Performance?
• Mackenzie Lapp, High and Low Information-Load Music: Implications for Reading Comprehension;
• Kathryn Phillips, Self-Affirmation While Test Taking;
• Sam Swartzendruber, The Effect of Caffeine Deprivation on Sleep Deprived College Students;
• Wesley Wilder, Seeking Clarity: Violent Video Games, Image Quality, and Aggression.

They were often the first on campus to greet weary travelers arriving from the airport in the wee hours of the night, and they were integral members of the SPI community: interpreting cultural differences during casual conversations in Hillside Lounge, sharing field trips to Valley attractions and meals at the weekly international potluck dinners, and escorting guests to activities like Salsa Night and into downtown Harrisonburg for dinner.

“Our community assistants are a great addition to the SPI community in so many ways,” said director . “T���y were willing workers and cultural ambassadors, of course, but also representatives to the global peacebuilding community of the socially conscious, thoughtful young people who are attracted to and thrive at 91����Ƶ.”

Tyler Eshleman: practicing the art of hospitality

Tyler, a senior major from Harrisonburg, works with the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s (STAR) program during the school year. Tyler has taken (STAR) Level 1 training and a graduate course in Transforming Trauma, and plans on earning a . At 91����Ƶ, he is the student leader of the , which works to promote sustainability and social responsibility in food production and stewardship.

My most memorable experience at SPI is being part of the informal gatherings that people put together: going on a hike or making a meal or putting on a presentation for cultural night. I had a chance to see people from different backgrounds and cultures having a good time together, getting to know each other and teach each other, and breaking down cultural norms in the process.

Being hospitable means something different in every culture, and we had to learn to read people and be attentive to their needs, even when we are exhausted. The people who I meet at bizarre times of the night are often the people who I remained connected with throughout SPI. At first having to do this was kind of a shock and then I realized it was a great opportunity.

The opening ceremonies that started each session were really special. The participants introduced themselves and shared about themselves to the group. I found those moments to be a testament to the recognition of how we’ve shaped this community and how people are willing to share with intimacy and vulnerability.

Winifred Gray-Johnson: inspired by the dedicated work of others

Winifred is a junior economics major from Liberia. Her father Wilfred Gray-Johnson, executive director of the , first came to SPI several years ago and Winifred eventually found her way to 91����Ƶ from that family connection (read about ). She had heard stories about SPI from her father but this was her first summer of experiencing it herself. Winifred is president of the .

Participants of SPI are very interested and curious about other cultures and want to share about their own culture. When you’re checking them in, the conversation starts right there. They want to know what 91����Ƶ is like, what it’s like to be a student at 91����Ƶ, and when they catch up on my accent, they ask where I was from. It’s not just with me. They will start a conversation with whoever is in the lodging.

To hear the amount of passion and determination is really amazing. So many people come to SPI from war zones or from situations with disasters or refugees in camps, and they have such interest and drive and hope. To see the hope they carry is really good.

It makes me very eager to do something, to work on something. All these people from all these different organizations who are doing such amazing things. There was this one man, , working with young girls in Zimbabwe and one day, I said, “Oh, I envy you, I want to do what you are doing.” There is so much variety. Anybody and everybody can impact change. It gives you that eagerness to help in whatever way you can, not just sit back.

At university, you are modeling yourself to become this person who can help society in the future. SPI has definitely helped me model myself in that kind of way. In this job, we are asked to be accommodating and helpful. I have learned how to work with all kinds of people here, both in my education at 91����Ƶ, but especially at SPI. It’s one thing to say that I like everybody, but it’s another to really have to practice what you preach. I’ve left a couple of situations where I said to myself, “I didn’t know I had it in me,” or “I handled it well.” I definitely surprised myself sometimes.

Bethany Chupp: transitioning through cultures

Bethany, a junior major with minors in and , is from Canby, Oregon. Bethany spent last year as a community assistant in Residential Life on campus and also worked several summers at a camp on the Oregon seashore: in both positions, she helped to acclimate sometimes disoriented and bewildered newcomers. Bethany plans to pursue a degree in counseling, with the goal of specializing in art therapy with children who have experienced trauma in foster care and adoption.

When people would find that I’m not from Virginia, I would tell them I was from “Oregon, which is by California,” because most people know where California is. And then we had something to talk about right from the start, because with my seven-hour flight [from California to Virginia], we had travelled about the same distance to get to SPI.

I was on my cross-cultural semester to the Middle East in the spring before SPI, so I really hoped that SPI would help with the transition back to the U.S. and to campus. And it did.  At SPI, there was first a professor from Palestine and then later a woman from Jerusalem. Talking to them, it was amazing how familiar they felt, even though I didn’t know them personally. The woman from Jerusalem knew the people in the town I stayed in during my cross-cultural. She knew my host family and the places we visited, and that was really helpful.

One thing that struck me was that these people have all accomplished a lot, yet when coming into a new situation, they all have fears … they’re all new here and vulnerable. But they all found ways to relate beyond language and culture, especially I think because they are people striving for the same common goals.

It can be overwhelming to learn about so many issues that need work, but it’s inspiring seeing people working in these areas. Many are coming to the US for the first time, and English isn’t their first language, and they are struggling, but because they’re so passionate about what they’re working for, they’re willing to cross all those spaces to learn skills to help bring peace.

Rebekah York: SPI community is a source of energy, hope

Rebekah is a senior majoring in peacebuilding and development and with minors in psychology and theater. Raised in Bucharest, Romania, Rebekah  worked this summer at SPI and also as an intern with the Washington D.C. office of , a South-Africa human-rights focused development organization.

Being a part of the SPI family was an incredibly life-giving experience. There is something so unique and special about people from all over the world sharing the same space, classrooms, lunch tables and even dorm rooms. It makes me feel at home.

What I always think of when I reflect on SPI are the potluck dinners and the many one-on-one conversations. During these gatherings, people opened up and shared details about their lives. Nothing can take the place of those moments in which we sit together — sometimes in silence, sometimes just as a listener –in which the human heart is open and exposed for a short time.

I was also able to take the class with one of my most admired professors. That is not something every college student gets to experience and it was fascinating to interact with my professor in that environment. We even worked on a project together and presented it in class with another SPI participant.

If you’re looking for a place to rejuvenate your sense of hope in the world, SPI is the place for you. Solving conflict is difficult and it is easy to become cynical and apathetic. You may feel like nothing good is happening today. But during SPI, people with life experience and a true desire to bring lasting change and peace to the world gather together to learn from each other, lighting the fire of hope for a peaceful world in the hearts and minds of everyone.

Directed by , assistant professor of at 91����Ƶ, Into the Woods will be performed in the Main Stage Theater at 7:30 p.m. on April 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12, plus a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, April 6. The show will run approximately three hours with intermission.

Information regarding age-appropriateness for 91����Ƶ events is available through the  at 540-432-4360 or theater@emu.edu.

Into the Woods weaves together the main characters from fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella and others. The story revolves around a childless baker and his wife on a quest to begin a family, and their interaction with a witch who has placed a curse on them. In a departure from the standard plot line, the musical explores the consequences of these characters’ wishes.

“Into the Woods is a sprawling story filled to the brim with complex characters and dark magic,” said Poole. “The story provides ample opportunities to push the limits of our imaginations as we explore innovative ways to stage complex theatrical moments. I want audiences to leave the theater feeling that they have had a visceral, engaging experience that transcends what they have felt while watching a film or other mediated form of entertainment.”

Reserved tickets are $15 for adults ($17 at the door) and $12 for seniors, non-91����Ƶ students and 91����Ƶ faculty/staff ($14 at the door) and $6 for 91����Ƶ students. Tickets are available through 91����Ƶ’s box office: 540-432-4582, . Group rates are available.

Cast:

Rachelle Kratz, stage manager

Dylan Bomgardner, assistant stage manager

Sierra Comer, assistant stage manager

Hailey Holcomb, assistant stage manager

Hattie Berg, assistant director

Chris Parks, dramaturg

Bethany Chupp (sophomore)

Shannon Dove

Heather Evans (junior)

Andrew French

Dorothy Hershey (first-year)

Jeremiah Hines (first-year)

Caitlin Holsapple (sophomore)

Heidi Jablonski (senior)

Holly Jensen (junior)

Elisha Keener (junior)

Eric King (senior)

Jaclyn Kratz (sophomore)

Katie Miller (senior)

Ezrionna Prioleau (first-year)

Emily Shenk (junior)

Sarah Sutter (first-year)

Sam Swartzendruber (sophomore)

Isaac Tice (senior)

Robert Weaver (first-year)

Phil Yoder (junior)

Rebekah York (sophomore)