Patience Kamau ’02, MA ’17 (conflict transformation), stands outside the post office in Nyahururu, central Kenya, and holds a letter. Its mailing address is written to her in blue ink, while the return address lists an “91����Ƶ” in Harrisonburg, Virginia, of the United States. The high school senior tears open the envelope and starts reading. The letter inside tells her that 50% of her tuition costs at 91����Ƶ will be covered through the university’s International Grant.

Though that moment occurred nearly three decades ago, Kamau remembers it like it was yesterday. “That was among the greatest blessings I ever received,” she said, looking back.

She didn’t know much about the U.S. at the time, and even less about 91����Ƶ, but her decision to cross an ocean and enroll at the university would forever shape her future. “It was very clear it was shifting the trajectory of my life,” she said.

Soon after receiving that first letter, she received another from 91����Ƶ with an invitation. “Bring an open heart,” Kamau recalled reading, “because here you will make friendships and relationships that you will maintain for the rest of your life.”

“And that was true,” she said. “Many of the relationships I formed at 91����Ƶ remain meaningful in my life.”

She admitted that she didn’t choose 91����Ƶ; her father chose it for her. He had heard through family friends about “a little college in Harrisonburg” with a strong pre-med program. “He started looking into it, reading and studying it, and he liked it,” Kamau said. 

She arrived as a pre-med major in the fall of 1998. Her parents were physicians, and they encouraged her to follow in their footsteps. Kamau enjoyed biology classes during her first year at 91����Ƶ, but once she started taking organic chemistry her sophomore year, she realized it was not for her. She quickly switched majors to computer information systems.

She became close with the handful of other international students on campus and got involved with the university’s multicultural and international programs, where she came under the wing of Delores “Delo” Blough ’80, former director of international student and scholar services. “Delo was a huge part of making all of us feel at home,” she said.

After graduating in 2002, Kamau worked in a variety of campus departments, including the alumni and parent relations office, the seminary, and the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. She eventually landed a position at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, serving as assistant to the executive director while a student at CJP. As a perk of her job, she said, she could take eight credit hours a year at no charge.

Six years ago, as chair of CJP’s 25th anniversary committee, she began producing a series of Peacebuilder podcast episodes featuring the program’s faculty and staff to capture CJP’s oral history. According to an 91����Ƶ News article from 2022, the podcast had logged more than 11,500 listeners in 119 countries and territories around the globe.

Since 2022, Kamau has served as program director for . The online course and connection platform offers activists, innovators, and others seeking knowledge and tools a space to “manifest solutions for people and planet,” according to its website.

Kamau said she categorizes her life as “100% lucky.” Half of that luck comes from the random happenstances she had nothing to do with. The other 50% is the kind of serendipitous luck when “preparation meets opportunity,” she said, borrowing a favorite phrase from Oprah.

“You try and live a certain way and prepare, and then when the opportunity arises, you hopefully take advantage of it,” she said. “I couldn’t have been more grateful to have ended up at 91����Ƶ as a young adult who didn’t fully know who I was or what I wanted from life.”

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!

Olga Salama, a first-year biology major who came to the United States through refugee status, grew up in Burundi, East Africa, where access to affordable health care and education was limited. It’s also where she found her passion and her purpose.

The oldest of eight, she would take her younger siblings to school. One day, as she dropped off the tuition check to pay for their education, she overheard a mother asking whether her child, who had an intellectual disability, could attend classes with the other children.

“She was denied,” said Salama. “She was told, ‘This would be too difficult, and that little child would be too difficult for the other children.’”

“I kind of understood it,” she added, noting that many cultures in Africa lack support for people with disabilities. “But, for me, that didn’t seem right.”

That experience drew her to study biology and fuels her passion for improving the lives of others. Her dream is to graduate from medical school and become a pediatrician.

“When you save the life of a child, you save the future,” she said. “When a child is surrounded by good people, that affects how they grow.”

Salama and her family arrived in the U.S. in July 2021. At the time, she spoke Swahili and French, but no English. She quickly became a rising star at Charlottesville High School, where she received the top scholarship from the . Past recipients include Sandra Day O’Connor and Caroline Kennedy. 

As a high school senior, the first-generation college student applied to nine schools. Each of them could guide her toward her passion. Each of them offered her substantial financial aid packages. But, only one of those schools had values that matched her own, and that was 91����Ƶ. 

“My high school counselors told me I could go anywhere I wanted, because I had all this scholarship support,” said Salama. “I had to choose where I saw myself thriving and being impacted the most, and 91����Ƶ was that place for me.”

She said she was struck by how friendly and communicative everyone was at 91����Ƶ, from her admissions counselor and professors to fellow students. “People are there for you,” she said. “Everyone’s welcoming.”

She added that, out of the nine schools she applied to, only one of them, 91����Ƶ, sent her a card for her birthday. “That was different, and was beyond my expectations,” Salama said. “That’s the sign of a place that cares.”

Like the 100% of undergraduate students at 91����Ƶ who receive financial aid, Salama is the recipient of numerous awards, including the highly selective President’s Scholarship. 

“I knew I wanted to go to college and, although I had a little bit of fear about the financial part, I trusted that God was going to provide,” said Salama. “If he called me to do this, then he will provide.”

Your support helps students like Olga 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!

The full-tuition scholarship is 91����Ƶ’s highest academic award. Recipients are selected based on academic performance, community and extracurricular involvement, creativity, clarity of thought, and leadership potential. 

The Yoder Scholars program was founded by Carol and Paul R. Yoder Jr., both graduates of 1963, with a significant leadership gift to endow the scholarship. Read more about their long legacy of philanthropy here.

The Webb Scholars program honors Ada Webb, one of the first African-American students to attend the university, and Margaret (Peggy) Webb, the first African-American graduate in 1954.

Applicants were tasked with creating a 400-word conceptual response to the prompt, “There are three types of people in the world; which are you?” through the medium of a blank 3”x5” card in whichever way they chose.

Read about the 2025 Yoder/Webb Scholars below:

Zainab Kamran

During her senior year of high school, Zainab Kamran, a psychology major from Lahore, Pakistan, had spent two to three months researching different universities in the U.S. She had come across the Wikipedia pages for James Madison University and the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Those pages naturally led her right to 91����Ƶ. “I liked what I read about the school, but then I forgot all about it,” she said.

When her older brother, who graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, mentioned that an economics professor of his (Ryan Swartzendruber ’16) had graduated from 91����Ƶ and “loved the experience,” Kamran resumed her search. “I started to dig deeper and was fascinated by 91����Ƶ’s focus on community and service because those were things I was involved in,” said Kamran. The school’s small size, which allows for closer connections and meaningful one-on-one interactions with professors, was also a major draw, she added.

While at International School Lahore, Kamran was president of the Community Building Society club and organized volunteers to serve free meals to those in need. On Christmas, she helped pack and distribute more than 60 gifts for Christian orphans in Lahore. She was also involved as a publication director of events on campus and collaborated with a professor on a research paper. She received the Director’s Award for Community Building and the Director’s Award for Research and Publication.

Kamran said she’s excited to take part in service- and art-related activities and clubs on campus and that she’s found a welcoming home at 91����Ƶ. “The people here are so friendly,” she said. “91����Ƶ has such a diverse international student population. I’ve met students from Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Afghanistan, and it’s been a lot of fun meeting them.”

Kayden Beidler

Kayden Beidler, a nursing major from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is the latest in a long line of family members to attend 91����Ƶ. His older sister, Miranda Beidler, is a senior; his parents, Lyle Beidler, class of ’98, and Melissa Spory Beidler ’98, met and began dating while 91����Ƶ students; and his aunt, Marcy Spory Weaver ’08, graduated from the university’s top-tier nursing program.

With so many personal connections at 91����Ƶ, the school automatically made his list of colleges to consider. But, he still had to decide for himself. When Beidler visited 91����Ƶ during an Admitted Student Day and spoke with a nursing professor, he came away thoroughly impressed with the quality of the program. “The way she described how 91����Ƶ teaches nursing really resonated with me,” he said. “Seeing those values of caring for others reflected not just in the major I want to study, but also across the college, made me think, ‘This is where I want to be.’”

A National Merit Scholarship finalist this year, Beidler received National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for his story submissions in 2022 (Honorable Mention) and 2023 (Gold Key Award, American Voices nominee). He was also selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Regional Chorus Festival. Beidler, who has joined the 91����Ƶ University Choir, was involved in all 12 of his high school’s theater productions during his four years at Lancaster Mennonite High School, and served as editor of the school’s literary arts magazine.

Beidler said he wanted to attend a college that aligned with his values of community, living intentionally, caring for others, and caring for the world. “91����Ƶ checked all those boxes,” he said. “Visiting those other schools only made me more certain that 91����Ƶ was the right fit for me.”

By Heather Bowser, Daily News-Record

Although James Madison University and Bridgewater College have fewer international students than they used to, 91����Ƶ

91����Ƶ President Loren E. Swartzendruber announced Friday (Sept. 2) that “We will admit up to 20 displaced students to study at 91����Ƶ for the cost of room/board for as long as their home campus is closed. If they choose not to return to their home campus after it is reopened, they could apply for regular admission at 91����Ƶ.

“We will give this information to CCCU (Council of Christian Colleges and Universities), CICV (Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia) and any other association that is posting lists of colleges willing to accept displaced students,” Swartzendruber said, adding that “We will put forth special efforts to welcome international students who need to maintain their student status.

“The 91����Ƶ community will find ways in the weeks and months ahead to connect to Mennonite Disaster Service relief efforts and other responses,” the president said.

The record total enrollment of 1,513 students – undergraduate, seminary and graduate – compares to 1,436 last fall, according to the university registrar’s office.

Total undergraduate enrollment numbers 933 students, compared to 922 a year ago. Of that total, 228 are first-year students, up 18 over last fall.

“The new first-year class has more racial/ethnic diversity than any previous class,” said Shirley B. Yoder, vice president for enrollment and marketing at 91����Ƶ. “U.S. minorities make up 21 percent of this class, doubling the composition of the previous class.

“Until this year, we weren’t particularly successful in attracting local Spanish-speaking students,” Yoder said. “But this year, we are pleased to welcome a significant number to campus.”

The number of international students is down this fall, “due primarily to visa difficulties,” she added.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary, a graduate program of theological studies on the 91����Ƶ campus, has 134 students enrolled this fall compared to 131 last fall. There are 74 students enrolled full time at EMS, two more than the same time last year.

Students in the university’s graduate programs continued modest growth, with 239 enrolled this fall over 229 last fall. The largest increase came in the M.A. in education program at 91����Ƶ’s Lancaster, Pa., location, up 35 students, from 16 to 51 this fall.

The Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCP), an accelerated, non-traditional baccalaureate degree program, has 94 students enrolled this fall on the Harrisonburg campus, down five from last fall, while the Lancaster campus’ ADCP program climbed from 27 to 40 students.

The Intensive English Program (IEP), which prepares international students for undergraduate collegiate work, has 38 full- and part-time students this fall, up eight over a year ago.

Intercultural communication was an important theme in the Intensive English Program’s (IEP) annual Summer Vacation Course, held July 26 – Aug. 20 at 91����Ƶ. Twenty-eight students attended from eleven different countries, including China, Japan, Egypt, Mexico, and other countries in Europe and Latin America.

The focus on intercultural communication led to discussions with international students at 91����Ƶ who shared their experiences of culture shock and their views on life in American culture. IEP students visited international programs offices at James Madison University in Harrisonburg and the University of Virginia at Charlottesville to discover how these universities work at internationalizing their programs.

Field trips during the four-week program included visits to Washington, D.C., Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the U.S., and Grand Caverns in Weyers Cave, Va.

Classes in listening and speaking, reading and writing, conversation, and intercultural communication were staffed by four highly qualified IEP instructors. One student commented about one of the teachers, “She is very patient and kind, and an exceptional speaker.” Another wrote, “Reading and writing was sometimes difficult for me, but I was inspired a lot, and I was very glad because the teacher always corrected my paper and gave me encouragement.”

For some of the students, the highlight of the program was the chance to stay with host families. As one student from China wrote: “My host parents are so kind, fervent, and considerate. They cooked various American foods for us and took us to visit several American families to let us know more American culture. Our host family impressed us as friendly and kindhearted. I was so lucky to live in their family.”

Get to know more about the IEP program by reading The IEP Times.

Selam Hussein, an 91����Ƶ student from Ethiopia, produced a film titled “Reality 101” for international students. Behind him is equipment used for editing raw footage.
Photo By Michael A. Tripp

For four months, the video-editing lab in the back of 91����Ƶ’s library was Selam Hussein