Kirk Shisler ’81 wants to make one thing very clear: He’s not retiring. At least not anytime soon. After 21 years of faithfully serving his alma mater as its vice president for advancement, he’s simply switching gears. 

This summer, Shisler will transition from his lofty perch as VP to a new position specially carved out for him that utilizes his unique qualities and strengths in a way that benefits 91����Ƶ best. He said his new role as senior gift planning advisor will allow him to focus exclusively on securing major gifts to sustain 91����Ƶ’s mission.

“We recently crossed the halfway point of 91����Ƶ’s five-year, $40 million Forward Together campaign, and I am pleased to report that we have already raised $29 million, or 72% of the goal, which puts us ahead of schedule,” Shisler said. “I look forward to increasing our fundraising momentum even more as I assume my new role.”

Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus will formally announce the news of Shisler’s transition via email on Thursday, Jan. 22. With the announcement, 91����Ƶ officially enters into a national search for its next vice president for advancement.

For several years now, Shisler said, he’s anticipated a transition like this one. By passing his administrative responsibilities on to a successor, he can directly focus his energies toward the aspects of advancement he enjoys most and where he will have the greatest impact. And, despite the various headwinds straining higher education, Shisler said he believes 91����Ƶ is poised to transcend those challenges.

“We have a strong leadership team in place under Interim President Dycus, and a tremendous faculty and staff,” Shisler said. “91����Ƶ’s value proposition includes a proven track record for the employability of its graduates, who also benefit from an education that blends rigorous academics with soft skills in leadership, conflict resolution, and other skills needed to succeed in today’s work environment.”

‘An enduring imprint’

91����Ƶ’s presidents, past and present, commended Shisler for his effective fundraising, steadfast leadership, and deep commitment to the university over the past two decades. 

Dycus, interim president of 91����Ƶ since July 1, credited Shisler with “shaping a culture of generosity rooted in mission” and strengthening alumni and donor relationships. “Kirk’s steady, values-driven leadership will leave an enduring imprint on this institution and the countless students whose lives have been changed through his work,” she said.

Dr. Loren Swartzendruber ’76, MDiv ’79, president of 91����Ƶ from 2003 to 2016, noted that he had recruited Shisler twice to 91����Ƶ: first as an admissions counselor when Shisler was a high school senior, and later as president when Shisler was hired to lead the advancement division. “No university president can be successful without a person of Kirk’s caliber in that office,” said Swartzendruber. “His continuing efforts to attract leadership gifts will pay dividends for years to come.”

And President Emerita Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman, who led the university from 2016 to 2025, expressed gratitude for the “enormous positive impact” Shisler had “year after year for 20 years without fail,” advancing 91����Ƶ’s mission, supporting its students, contributing to its financial health, and ensuring its donors felt special and important. 

“Without ‘Captain’ Kirk’s can-do spirit, relational genius, and organizational prowess, there is no first-ever 91����Ƶ comprehensive campaign for people, programs, and facilities,” said Huxman, referencing the Forward Together (2023-28) campaign. “There is no audacious $40 million five-year goal, half of which we raised in just the first two years. This bold and successful campaign has been the crowning achievement of his great legacy in executive administration at 91����Ƶ.”

Indeed, there have been many crowning achievements for Shisler over the years. Whether it’s the completion of 91����Ƶ’s state-of-the-art track and field complex—regarded among the finest athletic facilities in the conference—the transformation of laboratories and classrooms in the Suter Science Center through a $12 million campaign (2007-15), or renovations to the south section of University Commons, he’s always kept his eyes squarely on the prize: ensuring 91����Ƶ not only survives but also thrives long into the future.

Less visible, but just as impactful as those capital improvement projects, is the membership growth of 91����Ƶ’s throughout his tenure. The group of alumni and donors name 91����Ƶ in their estate plans, supporting the future financial stability and security of the school. “We have grown the society from roughly 150 members, when I arrived in 2005, to over 600 today,” Shisler said. “We often refer to these future gifts as 91����Ƶ’s Book of Futures. The approximate future value of these estate commitments currently exceeds $35 million.”

Clockwise from top: Kirk Shisler, vice president for advancement, with Phil Helmuth and Graham Stauffer, during Lov91����Ƶ Giving Day 2023. | The longtime advancement VP speaks during a gathering celebration at Homecoming and Family Weekend 2021. | Shisler accepts a hard hat from Braydon Hoover ’11, MA ’21, then-associate vice president for advancement at 91����Ƶ, during a groundbreaking ceremony for the track in 2023.

Focus, patience, and tenacity

One key ingredient to Shisler’s success is the length of his tenure, which has allowed him to build close connections and enduring relationships with alumni and donors.

According to a from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, fundraising administrators have a median of five years of service in their position, slightly below the median for all higher ed administrative positions (5.5 years). Those figures are well below the 21-year span that Shisler has served at 91����Ƶ.

During those 21 years, he estimated, working with advancement teams and the three aforementioned presidents, he helped raise about $120 million for 91����Ƶ. Last year, thanks to a combination of generous donors and several large bequests, the university achieved its second-highest fundraising total on record.

“Those who have been involved in higher ed and nonprofit fundraising for as long as I have know that it takes significant focus, patience and tenacity to secure gifts of significance for our organizations,” Shisler said. 

Doug Mason, an advancement consultant who has advised 91����Ƶ’s team for 15 years as well as many other schools, said his most successful clients have leaders who “stick with it and really invest in the mission of their institution.”  

“Donors really appreciate continuity,” Mason said. “Having somebody like Kirk, who’s been there for over two decades, is quite unusual, and it’s been extraordinarily beneficial to 91����Ƶ.”

So why exactly has Shisler stayed for so long? He said the societal impact of 91����Ƶ’s alumni around the world continues to motivate him and sustain his commitment to the university’s mission. He added that, through the years, he’s been blessed to be part of “highly motivated and supportive teams of advancement professionals,” and that he’s continually inspired by the dedication and high-quality work of 91����Ƶ’s faculty and staff.

A seasoned fundraiser

Growing up in Telford, Pennsylvania, Shisler said his parents taught him at a young age the importance of giving generously and of tithing to the church. But it wasn’t until later, after entering the workforce, that he realized his skills in storytelling and communications could be used to fundraise for causes he cared about. The Dock Mennonite Academy alum graduated from 91����Ƶ with a bachelor of arts in English in 1981. He then began a quarter-century career at Laubach Literacy International, a nonprofit now known as ProLiteracy.

In 2004, Swartzendruber called Shisler to ask whether he would be interested in the VP position, succeeding Richard L. Gunden. After an interview that summer, Shisler accepted the offer (he started in the position in April 2005). “Loren said to me, ‘Well, Kirk, you will have served Laubach for 23 years. I’m really hoping that you’ll give the same amount of time, or more, to 91����Ƶ,’” Shisler recalled. “And here we are. With my transition to a different role, I may end up serving 23 years.”

As a result of his change, the avid fly fisherman said he’ll spend less time on the road and more time with his family—he and his wife, Mary Ann, have two sons, Ben and Andy. He’ll also spend less time in meetings as he devotes his focus entirely on working with major donors to design “charitable gifts of significance” for 91����Ƶ.

Back when he was first hired at the university, Shisler told the late Jim Bishop, former public information officer for 91����Ƶ, in a 2005 news article: “91����Ƶ is at a very exciting juncture in its history. I believe the school is truly a vehicle for healing and hope in our troubled world, and I look forward to joining the 91����Ƶ community as, together, we advance its mission.”

Twenty-one years later, those words still ring true.

From its founding as Eastern Mennonite School in September 1917 up through today, 91����Ƶ has been led by nine presidents who have guided it through times of turbulence and periods of prosperity. 

In honor of Presidents’ Day, we bring you a brief summary of 91����Ƶ’s eight presidents emeriti and some of their enduring accomplishments.

The information below is taken from the profiles at emu.edu/president/emeriti. Click on the link to read more in-depth histories of each president.

J.B. Smith
President from 1917 to 1922

When J.B. Smith, the first president — or principal, as it was called at the time — of Eastern Mennonite School, arrived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, by train on Oct. 9, 1917, he found that several students had been waiting almost two weeks to start their studies. The next morning, he directed the first registration; classes started on Oct. 15.

Smith worked tirelessly to develop the school’s curriculum, hire faculty, recruit students, solicit support from Mennonite churches and expand the campus. He taught a number of courses, and students loved and admired him.

Smith resigned in January 1922 in a dispute about Mennonite churches maintaining their a cappella singing tradition by banning musical instruments in the church as well as in the home. He did not agree that instruments should be banned in the home, and he and his wife had recently purchased a piano.

A.D. Wenger
President from 1922 to 1935

Raised on a farm near Harrisonburg, A.D. Wenger, a founder of EMS, had already twice declined to accept administrative positions at the school before being elected as the second principal of the school in February 1922. 

One of the first tasks that Wenger tackled as principal was what he called a “mountain of debt” that remained from the school’s start-up and construction of the Administration Bulding. In 1930, the junior college achieved state accreditation — probably the greatest accomplishment of the Wenger years.

Wenger, whose title was changed to “president” in 1926, presided over a school hard hit by the Great Depression for most of the 1930s. Enrollment declined, financial contributions decreased and faculty positions were cut. Salaries, which were already low, were reduced. Wenger died suddenly in his home on Oct. 5, 1935, at age 67.

John L. Stauffer
President from 1935 to 1948

Two days after Wenger’s death, the EMS board appointed John L. Stauffer, a charter member of the EMS board, professor and ordained minister, as acting president. He was elected president 13 months later.

During Stauffer’s 13-year presidency, the student numbers increased from 159 to 442. He, along with longtime Dean C.K. Lehman and others, worked for years to achieve accreditation for EMS as a four-year college. This was finally accomplished in 1947. That fall, the school officially became Eastern Mennonite College.

In 1948, Stauffer asked for and received a sabbatical leave, feeling that he had served his time and that he should step aside for a younger person with more formal education. 

John R. Mumaw
President from 1948 to 1965

Taking office as acting president of the newly renamed Eastern Mennonite College in the fall of 1948, John R. Mumaw had spent more than half his 44 years on campus — as student, staff member, campus pastor and professor. He was the first alumnus to be chosen president.

Throughout the 1950s, Mumaw led EMC in pursuit of regional accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The college achieved regional accreditation in 1959. Enrollment during Mumaw’s 17 years as president increased 44 percent, from 475 to 843. EMC was one of the first colleges in Virginia, a racially segregated southern state, to integrate (in 1948).

In the early 1960s, Mumaw started talking about leaving the presidency, but he agreed to stay on until 1965. 

Myron S. Augsburger
President from 1965 to 1980

When he took office as president of EMC at the age of 35 — the youngest president ever — Myron S. Augsburger was already a nationally recognized evangelical leader. 

He gave passion to the office. Drama, instrumental music, intercollegiate athletics and international study developed dramatically. The seminary program was strengthened, and EMC changed its official name to Eastern Mennonite College & Seminary. The two biggest building projects during the Augsburger years were the domed state-of-the-art facility later named Suter Science Center, which opened in 1968, and the building that later became Hartzler Library.

After 15 years of work to strengthen EMC&S, Augsburger decided to resign in 1980 to pursue other interests.

Richard C. Detweiler
President from 1980 to 1987

The EMC board recruited a respected 55-year-old churchman from eastern Pennsylvania, Richard C. Detweiler, to succeed Augsburger.

Under Detweiler, then-academic dean Albert Keim led a consultative process with the faculty that resulted in one of the cornerstones of undergraduate education to this day: a requirement, beginning in 1982, that students be exposed to cross-cultural matters through study and experience.

The biggest crisis of Detweiler’s tenure was the 1984 fire that destroyed the Administration Building during a major renovation. The building was unoccupied at the time, but the tragedy affected campus morale, and Detweiler faced the challenge of slumping enrollments and budget cuts that affected faculty and programs. By the time he left EMC&S, however, the student population was on the increase again and a striking new Campus Center stood on the side of the hill where the “Ad” Building had once stood. 

In 1987, Detweiler resigned from the presidency, saying his years at EMC&S were “the most enjoyable and most difficult” of his life.

Joseph L. Lapp
President from 1987 to 2003

Like his immediate predecessor, Joseph L. Lapp was a native of eastern Pennsylvania. But unlike all six of his predecessors, he was not an ordained minister. He was a lawyer by profession.

His biggest accomplishments were starting four graduate programs — counseling, conflict transformation, education and business — in the 1990s, and, as a result, ushering in the new name of 91����Ƶ in August 1994. Under Lapp’s leadership, 91����Ƶ expanded its innovative cross-cultural program. 91����Ƶ made numerous campus improvements that culminated in the University Commons complex that includes the Yoder Arena. The building opened in 2000.

After 16 years as president, Lapp departed in 2003 to join the staff of Mennonite Foundation (now part of Everence), directing its Harrisonburg office.

Loren E. Swartzendruber
President from 2003 to 2016

Although elected in 2003, Loren E. Swartzendruber did not actually take office until January 2004. He spent the intervening months in preparation for the presidency. Provost Beryl Brubaker was interim president from June to December.

Among Swartzendruber’s accomplishments were the successful re-accreditation process for another 10 years by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, filling key administrative positions with talented people, and leading the university through economic hard times while balancing the budget.

One of the biggest building projects during his administration was “Phase Two” of the University Commons project (completed in 2011) in which the old Student Center was transformed into a main stage theater, studio theater, art gallery, classrooms, advanced media lab, and expanded coffee shop. Other accomplishments included 91����Ƶ’s groundbreaking solar installation on the roof of the Hartzler Library and attendance with alumna Leymah Gbowee at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

Swartzendruber retired in June 2016 after 13 years as president.

Current president

Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman has served as 91����Ƶ’s ninth president since Jan. 1, 2017. During her leadership, 91����Ƶ has shattered records for donor giving — mark your calendars for this year’s Lov91����Ƶ Giving Day on Wednesday, April 10 — and the university has garnered its share of the national spotlight with high rankings by U.S. News & World Report and Money Magazine.

Among the building projects completed while she’s been at the helm, renovations for Suter Science Center West were finished and dedicated in October 2021. Along with new seating, lighting and upgraded technology for S-106, Suter West renovations included modernized classrooms, new laboratory space for 91����Ƶ’s engineering program, upgrading of the discovery room and expanded displays from the D. Ralph Hostetter Natural History Collection, upgraded climate-control system and an improved sprinkler system.

Another major project, which is nearing the finish line, is the new track-and-field complex being built. The $6-million complex, which is more than halfway funded, is scheduled to open this year. Donations are accepted online at: /campaign/track-and-field.

Huxman has served for more than 25 years in higher education in a variety of administrative and academic leadership roles. A graduate of Bethel College, Huxman holds an MA and PhD in communication studies from University of Kansas.

Interim presidents

Over the years, three interim presidents have kept the business of the university moving forward: Beryl Brubaker (May-December 2003), Fred Kniss (May-August 2013 for Swartzendruber’s sabbatical), and Lee Snyder (July-December 2016).

Among the 80 participants were representatives of each of the five schools, all founded in the 30 years between 1887 and 1917. The oldest, Bethel College, was founded in 1887, followed by Goshen College (1893), Bluffton University (1899), Hesston College (1908) and 91����Ƶ (1917). Since their founding, all have undergone dramatic transformations in purpose, subjects taught and extracurricular activities, and student demographics.  

“Origin stories are important to help us understand present realities,” said Bluffton University President James Harder, who joined presidents emeriti Loren Swartzendruber, of 91����Ƶ, and Victor Stoltzfus, of Goshen College, as guest speakers.

Panel sessions with the authors and other commentators highlighted the “commonality and unity” among Mennonite institutions during the previous century and considered how Mennonite higher education might look in the challenges and opportunities of the next century, said Professor Mark Metzler Sawin, who organized the conference with colleague Professor Mary Sprunger.

“It was an energizing and fascinating day,” he said. “What came through was a strong desire for these schools to maintain distinctively Anabaptist identities, but to do so in ways that embrace and celebrate the changes that have come and will continue to come in the next years and decades.”

“Among the many stimulating aspects of this gathering,” said Susan Fisher Miller, author of Goshen College’s history, “were the ways old questions covered in the college histories were recognized, by the time we reached the evening session, to impinge with relevance on the new questions in the current life of the colleges, or even the ways the new questions cast light backward on the old.”

Learning from the past

Sprunger, a historian herself and daughter of Bethel history author Professor Keith Sprunger, said that the genesis of a comparative centennial histories symposium came from several sources: The late Robert Kreider, founder of the Marpeck Dean’s fund, provided some initial ideas. She also tapped into a similarly themed roundtable hosted by Bethel College as part of the launch of her father’s book and input from Hesston College history author and professor John Sharp, who suggested a future-focused frame.

“He wanted to explore how board members, administrators, faculty, students and churches could learn from past mistakes and achievements,” Sprunger said. “He gave me the idea that these college histories could serve not as blueprints for the future, because history doesn’t work that way, but as providing an informed understanding of how our colleges developed as we think about the future. It then made sense to focus on the five Mennonite Church USA-affiliated colleges, since we are facing many of the same challenges.”

Some of those challenges include the smaller percentage of Mennonite students; lowered denominational and institutional loyalty; and stiff competition for students, especially related to financial costs, according to Sawin and Sprunger.

Crowd-sourced responses to current challenges

After two morning sessions that spanned historical context over the first 100 years, beginning with the purposes and distinctives of each school and moving into past challenges and adversity, an afternoon discussion forum stoked conversation in small groups about current challenges.

Some questions addressed include:

• ������������What should the guiding mission and purpose of Mennonite schools be in the coming years given the changes in both the church and the student bodies?
• ������������What can Mennonite colleges do to remain financially competitive? Do we have a responsibility to provide an education for even the economically “least of these”?
• ������������How will Mennonite colleges need to change to remain relevant in the future? What are the “givens” that must remain? What are the traditions that may need to change? Where does innovation need to occur?

Current students from the colleges and universities engaged in “lively conversation, sharing ideas such as now to equip students of all backgrounds to participate in leadership opportunities around campus,” Sprunger said. Their points helped to fuel the final session about the present and future of Mennonite higher education.

Student presence and participation was noted by the other speakers, who pointed out that the future of the colleges will soon rest in their hands.

For more coverage, read a blog entry by 91����Ƶ archivist Simone Horst at the .

***

Participating authors

Perry Bush is the author of (Cascadia Publishing House, 2000). He is professor of history at Bluffton University where he has taught since 1994. Bush has written widely on social, peace and religious history in 20th-century America in both popular and scholarly journals and is the author of three additional books, most recently Peace, Progress and the Professor: The Mennonite History of C. Henry Smith (Herald Press, 2015). He is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Susan Fisher Miller is the author of (Goshen College, 1994). At Northwestern University, she is senior associate director in the Office of Foundation Relations, where she helps faculty members obtain research funding from private foundations. Fisher Miller previously taught at Goshen and Wheaton colleges and North Park University. She has been a member of the Goshen College Board of Directors since 2015. She is a graduate of Goshen College and Northwestern University.

Donald B. Kraybill is the author of (Penn State Press, 2017). He is internationally recognized for his scholarship on Anabaptist groups and often consulted by the news media regarding the Amish. He is distinguished professor and senior fellow emeritus at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. Kraybill is the author, coauthor, or editor of many books and professional articles on Anabaptist-related topics and his Mennonite best-seller, the Upside Down Kingdom (Herald Press) has just appeared in a 40th-anniversary edition.

John Sharp is the author of Hesston’s history, (Cascadia Publishing House, 2008), where he teaches history and Bible. Since, he has written My Calling to Fulfill: The Orie O. Miller Story (Herald Press, 2015) and The Bible as Story: An Introduction to Biblical Literature (WorkPlay Publishing, 2016) with co-authors Michele Hershberger and Marion Bontrager.

Keith Sprunger wrote (Mennonite Press, 2011), his eighth and most recent book to date, to celebrate the 125th anniversary, or quasquicentennial, of Bethel’s founding. Sprunger, who is Oswald H. Wedel Professor Emeritus of History at Bethel College, has published on topics of 17th-century English and Dutch Puritanism, Mennonite history, oral history and historic preservation. He retired after nearly 40 years of teaching in 2001. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and University of Illinois.

Participating presidents

Loren Swartzendruber began his career in Mennonite higher education as associate director of admissions and associate campus pastor at 91����Ƶ. He has been a pastor, a staff member on the Mennonite Board of Education, and president of Hesston College and 91����Ƶ.

Victor Stoltzfus studied at Goshen College, AMBS, Kent State University and Penn State. He worked for 15 years in public universities and 15 years in administration at Goshen College, for three years as academic dean and 12 years as president (1984-1996). He is the father of current Goshen president Rebecca Stoltzfus.

James Harder, a graduate of Bethel College and University of Notre Dame, is Bluffton University’s ninth president in its 119-year history. He will have completed 12 years in that role upon his planned retirement on June 30. He has also been on the faculty at Bethel College and Bluffton in business and economics. and his wife Karen taught and worked together in Kenya, Tanzania and Bangladesh and India with Mennonite Central Committee and MEDA. Harder is active on church-wide boards and agencies.

At a retirement reception in December, Yoder’s long service and insightful guidance were honored by many in attendance, as well as by Huxman, who offered a warm parting tribute.

“Twila trained three presidents,” Huxman told the gathered crowd in the Campus Center, which fittingly included some other beneficiaries of Yoder’s gentle tutelage.

Yoder has actually worked with six men and women who occupied , some for many years and others for interim terms.

Beginning in June 1999, she worked with Joseph Lapp (1987-2003), then Loren Swartzendruber (2003-2016), and since January, Huxman.

Additionally, however, three interim presidents kept the business of the university moving forward: Beryl Brubaker (May-December 2003); Fred Kniss (May-August 2013 for Swartzendruber’s sabbatical), and Lee Snyder (July-December 2016).

With all of these presidents, interim and permanent, Yoder enabled smooth functioning at the highest levels of the university. Among her duties, she “schedules all of the president’s meetings; serves as corporate secretary to the Board of Trustees; aids in the development of numerous administrative documents, such as board policy manuals; and serves as a representative of the president’s office on numerous committees including the crisis management preparedness team and the facilities task force, among other duties,” according to an October 2015 Weather Vane profile.

Over the years, Yoder equipped her office on the third floor of the Campus Center with symbolic reminders of positive operating procedures in the “pressure cooker, roller coaster world of the university president,” Huxman said, referencing Yoder’s “Top Ten List” of how to deal with disgruntled callers and two stones marked strength and joy.

Yoder occupied her role with “purpose, positivity, patience and perspicuity,” Huxman said, elaborating on this last word by praising her colleague’s ability to “see clearly, deeply, reverently … with insight.”

From anticipating sensitivities of various campus constituencies to holding confidentiality on a range of subjects to informing the community of births and deaths, “Twila has put her master’s degree from our seminary to very good use,” Huxman said.

Yoder is a 1998 graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary. She and her husband Steve Yoder ’78, SEM ‘98 have four adult children, three of whom graduated from 91����Ƶ.

In a recent interview, Yoder shared that she looks forward to time with family and another “chapter” of meaningful work.

“It has been an incredible blessing to serve an institution I love in a role that has been so life-giving for me. I will miss all the people that give life to this incredible place,” she said.

Friday afternoon’s Presidential Forum at 91����Ƶ’s MainStage Theater offered a rare opportunity to hear from four leaders: three who have led the institution through major cultural and curricular change, and a fourth whose current leadership symbolizes a new beginning and new challenges.

“This is one of the events I’ve been looking forward to this weekend,” Donald Kraybill, author of 91����Ƶ’s new Centennial history, told the gathered crowd at Homecoming and Family Weekend. “We are very fortunate as an institution to have four living presidents. It’s rather remarkable in many ways.”

 introduced presidents emeriti , 1965-80; , 1987-2003; and , 2003-2016. [, president from 1980-87, died in 1991.]

Each president was asked to share a defining moment in their presidency, an achievement or accomplishment, and a prank or humorous story.

Myron Augsburger

The library fund drive of 1969 made Augsburger’s highlight list. The event drove then-Eastern Mennonite College into national view, primarily for the that raised $111,000 in four days at a time when many college campuses were places of unrest and dissent.

Students “gathered things from all over the neighborhood” for a Saturday night auction. As the night went on, the amount rose and rose.

“Finally, at quarter to two or two o’clock in the morning, I auctioned off the last thing,” Augsburger remembered. “It was [campus pastor] Truman Brunk’s necktie. I reached over and pulled it off him and that put us over the top.”

In regards to his accomplishment, Augsburger noted the development of the Inter-Disciplinary Studies curriculum, popularly known as IDS, which Kraybill called a rare and “massive transformation” that integrated the Christian faith into the liberal arts. “It proved we were not an educational program with a little religion tacked on the edge like many colleges,” Augsburger said. “We had seven courses, each taught by five professors from five disciplines who modeled integrated Christian faith with each discipline and how they overlapped.”

One of Augsburger’s most embarrassing moments came in his first year as president at EMC when he invited his predecessor to speak in chapel. The night before, a drama had been staged and the banner that displayed the college’s motto “Thy Word is Truth” had been temporarily taken down.

Mumaw had not been on campus for many months (shortly after marrying Evelyn King, former dean of women, they had traveled on a lengthy worldwide tour). Upon arriving at the pulpit, his first comment was “I see that since I’m no longer president, the college has removed the motto ‘Thy Word is Truth.’”

Joe Lapp

Lapp came to presidency after serving 13 years on the board of trustees. He arrived at a difficult time, he remembered, with challenges related to enrollment, revenue and campus morale. “Soon after I was appointed, one of my attorney friends said, ‘Why would you leave a good practice and join a sinking ship?’”

An enrollment boost helped both revenue and morale, as did entrepreneurial development of programs that became new revenue sources, such as the Adult Degree Completion Program, the Intensive English Program, and the seminary’s Clinical Pastoral Education program. This era also saw the founding of successful graduate programs, including the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and the Masters in Counseling program.

“I thought I needed to be an encourager of new ideas,” he said.

His leadership in changing the name from Eastern Mennonite College (EMC) to 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ) led to many tongue-in-cheek gifts: “I received a collection of wonderful things to celebrate emus from around the world, like a pack of emu cigarettes for Central America, emu wine, emu jerky…”

Lapp was also the only president to sport hair below his collar. It grew long during a cross-cultural trip to the Middle East and he decided not to cut it because “it was more fun aggravating people.” Eventually he pulled it into a ponytail and cut it off, after the YPCA made it into a fundraising event.

Loren Swartzendruber

President from 2003 to 2016, Swartzendruber recalled that “issues of sexuality were absolutely the number one challenge that I dealt with from the beginning, starting with a demonstration on campus one week after my inauguration. … That became a 13-year-long conversation, as it has been in the church.”

Accomplishments included 91����Ƶ’s ground-breaking solar installation on the roof of the Hartzler Library and attendance with alumna Leymah Gbowee at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

As for pranks, Swartzendruber brought with him a photocopy of an April 2004 issue of the Feather Brain with the headline “Cops bust party at presidential residence.” He speculated that , posthumous recipient of the Distinguished Life Service Award during the weekend, may have had a hand in the writing of the article, though as is tradition with the “prank” newspaper, no writers’ names were included.

Swartzendruber also noted the infamous episode during which a student fell while trying to move the 250-pound taxidermied bison into the third story of Oakwood. “This was a generational prankster family, so when I went to visit the student in the hospital, I told him, ‘I’ve heard stories about your grandfather, I know your dad, and before you have kids at 91����Ƶ, I am out of here.”

Current president seeks perspective, advice

Nine months into her tenure as 91����Ƶ’s ninth president, Huxman opted to ask each of her predecessors two questions.

She was curious about the joys of the position. “You’re never not a president,” she said. “But still with the pressures of the position, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports that 89 percent of all college presidents report having huge job satisfaction, even if they served a short tenure.”

Swartzendruber said his particular joy “always had to do with students;” whether in art, theater or athletics, he enjoyed “seeing student accomplishments and then following them as graduates, as alumni.”

Lapp remembered one special day when the university was awarded a large grant, affirming the university’s influence and the expertise of its faculty.

Augsburger noted teamwork: “working with faculty who were my peers, not only to have their support, criticisms and counsel.”

Huxman also asked the group for recommendations for caring for and empowering spouses. She pointed out her husband Jesse in the audience, and praised Kraybill for giving spouses equal attention in the Centennial history: “Pat, Hannah and Esther are not just footnotes in your book,” she said, referring to Pat Swartzendruber, Hannah Lapp and Esther Augsburger.

From the audience, the presidents fielded questions about the early Bible college curriculum, the need for and value of accreditation, shifts within the liberal arts curriculum and growth of professional studies programs, as well as the college-to-university name change.

Audience member Mary Ellen Witmer, who worked in the alumni/development office for many years, prompted the sharing by Lapp of a few major events during the time of President Richard Detweiler (1980-87), specifically the loss through fire of the Administration Building. “That was particularly devastating to Richard,” Lapp said, remembering that his predecessor felt deeply the loss of the landmark structure that was then under renovation.

This surprise was an “old friend,” a large oil painting by abstract impressionist artist Warren Rohrer ’50 that had graced the walls of Snyder’s office when she was dean and provost several years ago.

Noting the bare walls of the presidential suite as he welcomed Snyder this morning, Provost had returned to his office and brought with him the painting.

Gifted by the artist to 91����Ƶ in 1986, the canvas is primarily delicate variations of eggshell blue, overlaid on a darker base apparent on the lower edge. Titled “Different Situation,” the artwork now hangs on the wall opposite from Snyder’s desk.

“It brings back wonderful memories,” she said. “I feel quite at home here.”

Snyder, who replaces President Emeritus Loren Swartzendruber, begins her six-month interim appointment today. 91����Ƶ’s tenth president, Dr. , will begin Jan. 1, 2017.

As she settles in, Snyder says she has several formal and informal meetings scheduled through next week, as well as a campus tour to view some of the architectural and organizational changes to campus since she served as interim provost for the 2008-09 academic year.

“I look forward to rejoining this special university community, to getting to know students and faculty and to working with a superb administrative team,” she said. “It is a privilege to be back.”

Snyder, who holds a doctorate in American and Victorian literature from the University of Oregon, brings many years of higher education leadership to the interim role. In addition to serving as interim provost at 91����Ƶ, she filled the same role for the 2014-2015 academic year at Goshen (Indiana) College.

From 1996 until retiring in 2006, she served as the eighth president of Bluffton (Ohio) University.

Previously, she was vice president and academic dean for 12 years at 91����Ƶ. She came to 91����Ƶ in 1974. Until 1982, she taught part-time in the humanities and in English, and was an assistant in the dean’s office. She was named academic dean in 1984 and then assumed the responsibilities of vice president as well in 1987.

A native of Harrisburg, Oregon, Snyder attended 91����Ƶ for one year and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon. Later she earned a master’s degree in English literature and linguistics from James Madison University and returned to University of Oregon for her doctorate.

Snyder and her husband, Delbert, taught in Nigeria from 1965 to 1968. Her many board and association assignments include: moderator of Mennonite Church USA, chair of the China Educational Exchange Board, chair of the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA and a member of Mennonite Health Services Alliance Board of Directors.

Snyder and her husband, who have two adult daughters, now divide their time between Salem, Oregon and Harrisonburg, Virginia. They are members of Community Mennonite Church, in Harrisonburg, and associate members of Salem Mennonite Church in Salem.

With the announcement of the appointment, the also reported that the is proceeding as scheduled. The interim arrangement is expected to last no longer than Dec. 31, 2016, and will allow for adequate transition time for 91����Ƶ’s next president.

“Dr. Snyder is a well-respected administrator and church leader known for her commitment to Mennonite Church USA,” said Carlos Romero, executive director of Mennonite Education Agency and ex-officio member of the search committee. “We are grateful she has accepted this call. She joins a strong group of professionals in the president’s cabinet to carry on the vision of 91����Ƶ as the search for the long-term presidential appointee moves forward.”

Snyder brings a lifetime of service to Mennonite higher education to the interim role. From 1996 until retiring in 2006, Snyder served as the eighth president of Bluffton (Ohio) University.

Previously, she was vice president and academic dean for 12 years at 91����Ƶ. Snyder, who holds a doctorate in American and Victorian literature from the University of Oregon, came to 91����Ƶ in 1974. Until 1982, she taught part-time in the humanities and in English, and was an assistant in the dean’s office. She was named academic dean in 1984 and then assumed the responsibilities of vice president as well in 1987.

After retiring from Bluffton University, Snyder returned to 91����Ƶ to serve as interim provost for the 2008-09 academic year.

“This arrangement is in many ways the best case scenario,” said Board of Trustees chair Kay Nussbaum. “Our timeline for naming 91����Ƶ’s next president is on track and an interim arrangement will allow for a smooth leadership transition. In addition, the institution will benefit greatly from the experience and wisdom of Dr. Snyder, who has devoted a lifetime to Mennonite higher education and is uniquely equipped to lead 91����Ƶ during this interim period.”

A native of Harrisburg, Oregon, Snyder attended 91����Ƶ for one year and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon. Later she earned a master’s degree in English literature and linguistics from James Madison University and returned to University of Oregon for her doctorate.

Snyder and her husband, Delbert, taught in Nigeria from 1965 to 1968. Her many board and association assignments include: moderator of Mennonite Church USA, chair of the China Educational Exchange Board, chair of the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA and a member of Mennonite Health Services Alliance Board of Directors. During the 2014-2015 academic year, she served as interim provost at Goshen (Indiana) College. She has also held brief assignments in Asia and Latin America.

Snyder and her husband, who have two adult daughters, now divide their time between Salem, Oregon and Harrisonburg, Virginia. They are members of Community Mennonite Church, in Harrisonburg, and associate members of Salem Mennonite Church in Salem.

And, indeed, over the course of three days, participants engaged in worship, workshops and fellowship with other church leaders, all around the theme of “Oasis.” The Revs. Matt and Elizabeth Myer Boulton offered the keynote addresses.

“When we talk about oasis, we’re talking about both wilderness and refreshment,” said Matt Myer Boulton, president of Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. “There is no oasis without the desert.”

That tension and duality framed the goals for the conference, which sought to provide leaders with tools for resilience in their ministries and stamina to make it through times “in the wilderness.”

The Myer Boultons used three “seasons” of the faith journey—longing, repentance and celebration—to focus their presentations. They tied the theme into the church seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter as well as to biblical texts, church history and current events, such as the recent tensions in American race relations. Points were often illustrated via video clips produced by the , a not-for-profit organization for which Elizabeth Myer Boulton serves as president and creative director.

After addressing some of the many challenges in ministry and urging the assembled church leaders to be “responsible”—literally, the ones able and willing to respond—to the injustices and difficult places of local and global communities, the Myer Boultons also reminded the group to take time for sabbath and to enjoy God’s presence.

“We fall into the trap of creating sabbath for others but not our own,” Matt Myer Boulton said. “It’s about clearing space so that you can experience the goodness of God. It restores you to your vocation. If you’re not doing that, then your life is out of balance.

“If you are not celebrating you have not received the Good News,” he added. “It’s a sign of the Gospel.”

91����Ƶ President also emphasized the need for balance in his remarks at the opening worship.

“Leadership is hard, and some challenges simply will not go away,” he said. “We lead as if we were in a sprint instead of a marathon. We neglect to nourish ourselves for the long haul.”

He invited the SLT participants to “drink at the wells of renewal” during the conference.

The schedule also included a plenary panel titled “In Times Like These,” which featured four people sharing openly about places in their lives where they had experienced pain, loss and/or grief and the spiritual practices and other resources that carried them through those times. An optional evening experience called “Praying in Color” invited participants to experience several artistic and kinetic prayer forms as spiritual practices.

Seminar choices included topics such as “Resilient Ministry,” “Vulnerability and Leadership,” “Praying Beyond Words,” and “An Eightfold Path to Christian Spirituality.”

Next year’s School for Leadership Training will be Jan. 16-18, 2017, in Harrisonburg.

Quoting author and psychiatrist M. Scott Peck , Swartzendruber said once we accept that life is difficult, then we can transcend that fact and move forward.

Swartzendruber—who is retiring June 30—drew from the biblical story of Esther, a young Jewish woman who became queen of Persia and was called upon to save her people. Her cousin Mordecai addressed her hesitation by saying perhaps she had been called to her royal position “for just such a time as this.”

“We also live in difficult times,” Swartzendruber said, “more for some than others.” While it is tempting to “hunker down” and “shield ourselves” from challenges, he said, we are called to something more.

He continued: “In place of fear and anxiety, I invite us to proclaim a message of hope, to push back against the dark forces of negativity and divisiveness. I invite each of us to step up for such a time as this. This is our opportunity, in this time and place, on this campus and beyond, to reach out to each other with love, compassion and empathy.”

Earlier, provost welcomed more than 50 new students, faculty and staff to 91����Ƶ’s “very special learning community.” While this might not quite be “heaven on earth,” Kniss said, “what makes us different is what holds us together. We are a community bound by love.”

Some members of that community received a special sendoff later, as headed to Guatemala/Cuba and the Middle East were blessed and surrounded by prayer. , director of cross-cultural programs, said they were embarking on a “journey of transformation.”

In a broader sense, all of 91����Ƶ may be embarking on such a journey. Kniss observed that 2016 would be a “time of significant change for 91����Ƶ,” headlined by the upcoming presidential transition.

Professors too have prepped, lectured, researched, mentored and encouraged. Now, their work continues, thanks to a successful five-year, $7.3-million “Suter East” campaign, in state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities dedicated over Homecoming and Family Weekend.

“Now that we have beautiful new science labs,” says Vice President for Advancement Kirk Shisler ‘81, “we feel an urgency to bring the western section into the 21st century as well.”

Thus the begins.

The western side of the building, fronting Park Road, is the most commonly used entrance, leading past the D. Ralph Hostetter Museum of Natural History and into the iconic SC 106, where so many 91����Ƶ students (including President Loren Swartzendruber) have gathered for lectures and presentations.

Some of the excitement for this final phase of renovation comes from an anticipated new undergraduate engineering program. Professors and , both engineering specialists, have joined with an expert advisory committee to complete curriculum requirements, with full accreditation anticipated in 2016. Tian holds all three of her degrees, including a doctorate from University of Virginia, in mechanical engineering, while King double-majored in music and physics at Goshen College and went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Illinois in theoretical and applied mechanics.

“Our goal is to raise as much of the $4 million for Suter West as soon as possible, to begin renovations and create a rapid prototyping lab with 3-D printers, computer design lab; engineering support lab, and spaces for faculty/student collaboration to support engineering and our other strong science programs,” Shisler said.

Suter West renovations will also include the museum, which currently attracts hundreds of area schoolchildren for tours and educational programs. These renovations lay the groundwork for greater community outreach through increased museum visits; expanded undergraduate academic offerings; and launch of a mobile museum to take rotating displays to schools and other children’s programs.

A welcoming and open west entrance will also lead visitors into the S-106 lecture hall, where many students have attended classes and lectures, campus movies and other special events. This hall will be named in honor of President Loren Swartzendruber and his wife, Pat.

“We seek leadership gifts to gain needed momentum. Several naming options are available,” Shisler said. “Donors of $10,000 or more to the Suter West campaign will have the option of being named among friends of President Loren and Pat Swartzendruber for the renovation of S-106. We invite all alumni and friends of 91����Ƶ to step up and join this campaign.”

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

It is difficult to remember an Advent season tainted with more fear than the current year. It is palpable. I was asked in a recent television interview about the prevalence of fear in our society. What should people do about their fears? How should we respond to the threats we perceive to be real? It was tempting to respond somewhat flippantly, “Perhaps we should recommend watching less television!”

Counselors would remind us that feelings and emotions (such as fear) are neither right nor wrong, they “just are.” What one does with feelings and emotions is the more important question. One can argue, with good reason, that many of our fears are illogical and frequently irrational. Statistically, driving to an airport is much more dangerous than flying commercially, but some are more afraid of flying.

Ignoring our fears, or those of others, is not healthy, but being paralyzed by fear can also be unhealthy. It is not good for the individual, for the society, nor for our faith communities. At best it is debilitating; at worst it is dangerous, and it undermines the very faith commitments we claim to hold.

The Good News of Jesus’ birth is, among many other things, a message of liberation from fear. It is a clarion call to “there is another way.” It signals a new era, ushering in a new expression of God’s Kingdom “coming on earth as it is in heaven.”

The really Good News is that while Jesus came as a “stranger,” an immigrant of sorts, as a vulnerable baby—he demonstrated by his life and teachings that we who follow him are invited to live with joy and freedom. Do not be afraid!

“Jesus loves me, this I know, though my hair is white as snow,” he began. “And my eyes are going dim, I’ve had cataract surgery. Still He bids me to trust in Him. Though my steps are oh so slow … I have a cane. I belong to the Canaanites. Though my steps are oh so slow, with my hand in His I’ll go. On through life, let come what may, on through life, He’ll be there to lead the way.”

Davis, who was baptized in 1943 while serving in the U.S. Army, worked from the 1960s through the 1980s in Christian institutions of higher education to bring multicultural awareness and diversity into curricula and campus communities.

He came to 91����Ƶ near the end of his career, serving from 1980 to 1985 as the first director of the Cross-Cultural Center, the precursor to today’s .

Davis was introduced in the chapel service by senior Philip Watson, a member of the Black Student Union and a student representative to 91����Ƶ’s Diversity Taskforce. Watson spoke of Davis’s scholarly accomplishments and thanked him for the role he played nearly 35 years ago.

“He is one of the unsung heroes of 91����Ƶ…” Watson said. “His accomplishments paved the way for many of the programs and organizations that are active today, such as the Black Student Union, Latino Student Alliance and International Student Organization. Without people like Dr. Abraham Davis being one of the first to pioneer cultural change at 91����Ƶ, many of these organizations would not exist today.”

An invitation to lead change

The Cross-Cultural Center, known as the CCC, was a place “where international students and students of color could support each other” and where “strong relationships” could be established with the predominantly heterogenous campus community at the time.

Davis was also tasked with “ethnically integrating the curricula in the various departments,” he said in an October interview at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community with Watson. “The curricula was prevailingly ethnocentric at the time, from the white perspective only. I spoke in chapel, bought books and films for the library, spoke in classes, invited other black professors and musicians to campus from around the country.”

In 1980, as a result of a “cross cultural task force,” Davis also became minority advocate program coordinator.

“It was the beginning of things … It was so new then,” said Davis, of the move towards multicultural curricula and inclusion. “There were some who were supportive. Some professors invited me to class and some would send students to me. Some people had never met a black professor with a PhD from a Big 10 university. Even now, that’s true.”

Carpenter to professor

Davis’s six years at 91����Ƶ were among his last appointments in a long and challenging career in academia. He often encountered prejudice and bigotry. Just a few years before he began teaching at Indiana University while earning his doctorate in rhetoric and public address, a crowd of white students had marched with Confederate flags in protest of the election of a black student to the position of student body president.

While Davis jokes that he might now choose a more practical major than rhetoric, and perhaps even a different career, he is sure of one thing looking back over his 92 years: that his professional choices were driven by a hunger to know more about the Bible.

Raised in South Carolina under Jim Crow restrictions and trained as a carpenter, Davis says his parents, neither of whom attended high school, encouraged him to seek further education. But it was his acceptance of Christ at age 22 while stationed with the U.S. Army in Marseilles, France, and his subsequent baptism in Okinawa in 1946, that changed his life.

“After I became a Christian, I became much more interested in people than in building things,” Davis says.

Blessed with a beautiful baritone voice and a flair for performing, Davis wasn’t sure “what direction the Lord wanted me to go … should I be a singer, a preacher, what?” For a time, he trained as a teacher with the Child Evangelism Fellowship in Santa Monica, California (at this point in the interview, Davis reeled off three short snippets of hymns, all perfectly in pitch, that he used to teach children on the playgrounds in California and his hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina).

Eventually, though, using the GI Bill, Davis pursued studies at Lancaster (Pa.) School of the Bible (now Lancaster Bible College) and then Houghton College in New York, where he graduated in 1955 with a degree in classical Greek and minors in speech and art. He earned a master’s degree from Temple University (Philadelphia, Pa.) in speech correction the following year and a PhD. from Indiana University in 1971.

When he came to 91����Ƶ in 1980, Davis had taught a wide variety of subjects at several universities, including South Carolina State College for Negroes (now South Carolina State University), Houghton (where he was also debate coach), Indiana University, and Messiah College, where he rose to be dean of the Philadelphia campus.

‘Work to be done’

Among the speakers to honor Davis were President Loren Swartzendruber and professor emeritus Titus Bender, a member of the committee who hired Davis from his position at Messiah.

“I’m grateful for the work that Dr. Davis did while he was here and I pray that we can continue his legacy,” said Swartzendruber. “There is still much work to be done and we know that.”

He noted that the current campus community continues to work on cultural competencies and communication as it welcomes an increasingly diverse student population (this year’s includes 37 percent of students who are ethnic minorities or from another country). Swartzendruber also spoke of 91����Ƶ’s early support for integration – the college admitted its first black student in 1949, just one of first two institutions in the former Confederate states to do so.

Though Watson, with the assistance of Multicultural and International Student Services Director , was the organizer of the service, Eric Payne was the link between past and present. It was Payne who met Philip Watson one day outside the fitness center. Payne is an assistant coach with women’s basketball and Watson a sprinter on the track team. The two started talking, and Payne urged Watson to reach out to Davis, who lives in Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.

“It’s been a mission of mine to see that Dr. Davis get his recognition and I’m honored to be here to help in that …,” said Payne, who has coached at 91����Ƶ since 2002. “This is a high point in my life. I told Dr. Davis that a few days ago and he thought I was joking but it’s true.”

Teacher and coach mentored by Davis

Payne calls Davis a mentor even though the two just missed each other on the 91����Ƶ campus. A native of Waynesboro, Virginia, Payne came to 91����Ƶ in 1986 and struggled with the culture on campus. By that time, Davis had seen his position eliminated by budget cuts and was teaching elsewhere. Payne, though, found traces of the professor, of his eloquent rhetoric and his incisive cultural criticism, in the chance discovery of an article by Davis.

Payne quoted a few sentences during the service from the article, which he still has in his possession: “… [M]any if not most are not motivated to intensify or dilute the ethnocentricity in curricula to the adaptive methods of teaching, testing and advising according to the needs of select international and national minorities. However, I am still willing to rap and dilute this hypothesis with faculty and students whenever and wherever they desire individually or collectively.”

The blunt accuracy of the statement, along with the use of the word rap – “I love that,” Payne told the audience –caused him to think someone “got it.” Though Payne stayed on campus long enough to help invigorate the Black Student Union, he eventually finished his degree at James Madison University.

Still, that chance encounter drew Payne to seek out the professor when he retired to Harrisonburg a few years later. For many years, the two stayed in touch. Payne eventually finished credential coursework at 91����Ƶ and now teaches at Fort Defiance High School. He plans to graduate from 91����Ƶ with a master’s in education in the spring.

He too, along with Philip Watson, who graduates this spring with a degree in psychology, carries on a legacy that was sustained and energized by Davis and his work at 91����Ƶ.

“It was one of the great honors of my life to be part of this,” Payne said. “I thank God for Dr. Davis.”

The attacks in Paris, recent violent attacks in South Carolina and California in the United States, expressed hatred towards immigrants, and now the sight of another Christian university president urging, in fact condoning acts of violence, to his student body – I feel an obligation to publicly enter this conversation.

The Anabaptist faith has been in this conversation for centuries. Central to our beliefs is the commitment of seeking to literally practice those teachings of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount and Scripture about justice, peace and non-violence.

Our campus community at 91����Ƶ continues to prayerfully discern what the peace position means to us in a world beset by violence. That community includes students, faculty, staff and administrators of all faith traditions and also alumni from around the world. 91����Ƶ has prepared thousands to “serve and lead in a global context;” our globally recognized has trained hundreds of peacebuilders, many of whom continue to work in situations of violent conflict.

Following the Paris attacks, I sent an email to the campus community: “This morning I invite all of us to pray for the victims of continuing violence all around the world, and to reflect on our own actions and expressions that contribute to the feelings of isolation and experience of discrimination for those with whom we relate on a daily basis … My prayer today is that each of us will better understand God’s call to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.”

That remains my prayer today, as we move forward into an uncertain world.

As the leader of an educational institution that not only teaches the analytic and critical skills of the liberal arts, but also values reflective practice of those skills, I also add, in addition to my invitation to prayer, these calls of action:

A call…

• for reaffirmation of the invitation of Jesus and his teachings to love our enemies;
• for dialogue and engagement with those who are different than us;
• for greater sensitivity to language that condemns others and absolves us of moral responsibility;
• for national and local leaders who refuse to articulate simplistic answers to complex societal problems;
•  for U.S. political candidates who dare to call us to our best, and choose not to play to our base fears.

Here at 91����Ƶ, we pledge to

• Invite area Muslim and Christian leaders to explore how to jointly confront the local, national and global challenge of religious intolerance.
• Invite leaders of regional higher education institutions into a similar dialogue.
• Continue to train students, practitioners and global leaders in the principles of restorative justice, trauma resilience, peacebuilding, interfaith engagement and organizational change.

May God’s Kingdom come on earth even as it is in heaven!

Daryl Byler, executive director of 91����Ƶ’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, offers the following .

The memorandum of intention was signed yesterday [Sept. 15, 2015] during a one-day visit to the 91����Ƶ campus in Harrisonburg, Virginia, by Dr. Arsim Bajrami, Kosovo’s minister of education, science and technology. President co-signed the agreement.

The teachers would potentially attend graduate classes taught by 91����Ƶ education faculty in their country, online, and during summer residencies at the Harrisonburg campus, with funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID has been engaged with Kosovo’s education system for the past 14 years, according to its website.

Bajrami was accompanied by Dr. Ahmet Shala, Kosovo’s former minister of finance and ambassador to Japan, and now ; Dr. Zenun Halili, senior adviser; and Frymëzim Isufaj, counselor of economy and Congress at Kosovo’s embassy in Washington D.C.

The memorandum was signed after a short meeting between the visiting dignitaries and the 91����Ƶ delegation, which included, in addition to President Swartzendruber, Dr. , provost; Dr. , vice president and dean of graduate and professional schools; Dr. , director of the master’s in education program; and , executive director of 91����Ƶ’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

91����Ƶ’s teachers are trained with a programmatic focus on personal formation, learning in community, cross-cultural competencies, and integration of peacebuilding principles into the teaching curriculum, said Smucker during a short presentation.

Bajrami said Kosovo has benefited from educational exchanges in the United States for many years, which has laid “a strong foundation for long-term cooperation and friendship.”

“This university is small in size, but you bring some very special qualities that make me happy,” Bajrami said through a translator. He pointed out that Kosovo’s education system, along with its teacher training programs, is still in development, but that the country “has an orientation to bring an American philosophy to our education system as we want to increase our quality standards. Good teachers guarantee good students.”

Ambassador Shala, a close friend of the minister, provided translation during the meeting. Shala’s roots are in education and business, yet he has a strong interest in interfaith peacebuilding, according to Byler, who spent time with Shala during a visit to Kosovo for a conference on that same topic in the spring.

A proponent of education, Shala established a foreign language school in the capital of Prishtina in the mid-1990s, and later opened branches in several cities. The schools suffered damage during the 1999 war, but were later re-opened with a new emphasis: the provision of free education to refugees, orphans, invalids of the war, and other marginalized people.

The memorandum points to shared goals of both 91����Ƶ and the Kosovo government of “creating a just and peaceful world through the power of education” and building strong learning communities through cross-cultural exchange.

welcomed students, faculty, staff and guests with a summary of the summer’s events on the national, denominational and local levels, situating these events as sources of fear, unrest and anxiety, as well as of grace and hope.

“Our aspiration is to be a university community that embodies these signs of hope, nurtures their development, and provides an alternative to the fear, ignorance and violence that drives so much of human society,” he said. “We aspire to be an engaged community of learning that is bound together by love – the love of learning, the love for God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and a love for each other.”

President , who will after 13 years at 91����Ƶ, gave his final convocation speech, sharing his dreams for the future: “These are the dreams I have for you and my grandchildren: to serve as co-creators with God for a more sustainable world in which all God’s people can flourish, to be sustained by a faith that is grounded in hope not fear, and to be energized by an insatiable thirst for discovery and knowledge, not for ourselves but for the good of the world.”

He pointed to tangible actualizations of sustainability on the campus itself that he could already share with his

grandchildren: the recently revived by the student-run Sustainable Food Initiative, a new set to begin this fall, and the .

And in speaking to all in the community who mentor and support each other, Swartzendruber observed that too often Christians fall into argument or dissent, and are not exemplars of Jesus’ commandments: “love God with heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves.”

In a fitting intergenerational tribute, Swartzendruber was introduced by Student Government Association co-presidents Hanna Heishman and Rachel Schrock, and then promptly turned to introductions of honored guests and members of the 91����Ƶ community.

Those present included former presidents and ; and , former interim president, as well as Shirley Showalter, former president of Goshen College, and Laban Peachey, former president of Hesston College who was also a professor and dean at 91����Ƶ.

The event concluded with a sending of the China cross-cultural group and the traditional “Shenandoah Welcome,” during which the campus community forms two rows and new students walk between the clapping crowd to the sounds of traditional bluegrass music.