These questions immediately confronted , vice president of enrollment at 91����Ƶ, when he saw on national news of resource officer Ben Fields flipping over a black student’s desk and tossing her across the classroom in a South Carolina high school. [Fields was .]

In and co-written with , Hartman grapples with what he calls an “existential crisis,” caught between his knowledge of Fields as a person and his anger at yet another violent mistreatment of a black person. (Hartman is, he says, a “passionate advocate of the Black Lives Matter movement;” read more about his here.)

Hartman was once Ben Fields’ basketball coach at Hesston College in Kansas. Coach and athlete stayed in touch after Fields graduated, moved to South Carolina, and joined the law enforcement profession. On vacation, Hartman and his family stopped to visit him.

The footage of the incident immediately made Fields, in the judgement of the nation, Hartman writes, “a bigoted, violent, white police officer, his name added to the long and growing list of racist public servants.”

In the essay, Hartman recounts how he reached out to Fields and how former members of the basketball team also connected with their coach to share the news “and ask if he was OK.”

One of them, Arnold McCrary, responded with similar puzzlement in an email to Hartman, calling Ben Fields “my brother” and a man “with the BIGGEST heart” who was sensitive to racial inequality.

“I’m trying to understand how to know him as we do and make sense of the video,” McCrary writes.

A public school teacher and administrator before coming to 91����Ƶ, Hartman brings to this essay years of experience working with exceptional learners and students with behavioral needs in middle and high schools.

Regardless of the instigation, physical assault was never an acceptable response in this situation, he says, nor is it the one that God expects of us. He concludes with the hope that Fields will make efforts towards “reconciliation and personal responsibility.”

“We each are on a perpetual search for that path to becoming who God created us to be,” Hartman says. “And sometimes when we fall down or are knocked off the path we must continue to ask — what is the path back?”

91����Ƶ Luke Hartman

Luke Hartman joined 91����Ƶ as vice president for enrollment in 2011. He has a variety of experience in K-12 and higher education, with specialties in multiculturalism, behavioral management and social justice through education.

Hartman earned his PhD in educational leadership and social policy from Virginia Tech, with a doctoral dissertation that focused on prejudice reduction through diversity coursework.

Under his leadership, 91����Ƶ has substantially increased the undergraduate matriculation of ethnic minority and international students, as well as first generation college students: this year’s freshmen class includes a record-high 37 percent, as well as nearly 50 percent first-generation college students.

“I love working at 91����Ƶ,” Ruth says. “It certainly has benefited me with what I was able to get out of it as a student, and now I’m paying it forward. That sounds cliché, but I love that we’re a small, private, Christian liberal arts university, and I love Harrisonburg. It’s the epitome of a college town. There are so many good opportunities here.”

Ruth grew up in southeastern Pennsylvania and came to 91����Ƶ to study . He graduated in 2006 and entered Mennonite Voluntary Service, spending two years at Valley Teen Ranch in Fresno, Calif. He met his future wife, Kara, while in California, and the couple decided to move back to the Shenandoah Valley.

After initially working for a local counseling agency, Ruth heard from some friends about an opening for an admissions counselor at 91����Ƶ. He began in 2009 and hasn’t looked back. He moved up to associate director of admissions three years later, and this fall—when former director Jason Good left for another position—Ruth received the call to become director.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity, and grateful,” Ruth says. “I’m excited to work with the staff here and continue to promote 91����Ƶ and show students and their families what we have to offer here. We have a very, very good team.”

In his new role, Ruth will be responsible for all undergraduate recruitment activities, including the development of promotional strategies, staff training, office management, and budget administration. He also serves as a key member of 91����Ƶ’s strategic enrollment management staff, working with Vice President for Enrollment.

“Being the director of admissions is a perfect fit for Matt,” Hartman says. “He has a strong commitment to the values of 91����Ƶ, a deep understanding of the admissions systems and processes, the ability to use data to guide decision-making, and a caring attitude toward others.”

91����Ƶ’s strategic plan calls for growing enrollment to 1,100 undergraduate students over the next five years, building the local student population and adding diversity while also connecting with the university’s important Mennonite constituency.

Ruth has already been part of an exciting period en route to those goals. This fall’s freshman class of 257 students is the largest since 1988, following up on two previous years with classes of 230-plus. That has helped put 91����Ƶ’s overall enrollment at an all-time high, topping 1,800.

“The numbers speak to what 91����Ƶ has going for it, and they certainly speak to how hard we work. We have a lot of momentum, and we don’t want to stagnate,” Ruth says. “It’s an exciting time to be at 91����Ƶ.”

The 2015-16 figures were released by the registrar’s office following the university’s official census date of Sept. 14. The data is collected as a traditional “snapshot” of enrollment trends, according to university registrar David Detrow.

91����Ƶ’s incoming traditional undergraduate first-year class, numbering 257 students, is the largest in several decades. From 2001 to 2010, 91����Ƶ averaged 205 first-year students, according to past records.

As for diversity, a record-high number of students who are ethnic minorities or come from other countries is reflected in 37 percent of this fall’s undergraduate students. That number is up from 36 percent a year ago and 29 percent the year before.

Graduate programs, excluding the seminary but including students from the, enrolled 450 students in comparison to last year’s 356. Seminary enrollment was steady at 133 students.

“The continual increase in enrollment numbers at 91����Ƶ creates a genuine university feel on campus,” said , vice president of enrollment. “I am excited that students are discovering that we are a world leader in areas such as sustainability, medical school preparation, faith development and social justice. We are so diverse that everyone can find another who shares a commonality.”

First-year class grows in diversity

Diversity data and other statistics related to the composition and demographics of the first-year class is compiled by the admissions department, under Director of Admissions .

“This year’s class has brought a contagious and positive energy to campus,” said Good. “They have impressed me with their academic abilities and their ambitions to be catalysts for positive change in their communities. With overall enrollment growth, new facilities and new academic programs including a new engineering major anticipated to begin in 2016, it is an exciting time to be at 91����Ƶ.”

In-state students continue to increase, with 61 percent compared to 57 percent last year.

The university continues to be an attractive draw to local residents. This first-year class saw a doubling of enrollment from , increasing from 13 students in fall 2014 to 25 in fall 2015. Graduates of attending 91����Ƶ numbered 13 out of a graduating class of 53.

Good noted this first-year class added more students admitted to the , and came in with higher SAT scores and grade-point averages than the previous class.

Nearly a third of those new students plan to study or – a reflection of 91����Ƶ’s highly respected and sought-after graduates of both programs. 91����Ƶ’s are housed in the .

Restorative justice program highlights overall growth

Much of 91����Ƶ’s enrollment growth in the last 20 years – since it took the “university” name – is due to the establishment of graduate programs and the .

The growth rate across all nine graduate programs was 26.4 percent this fall. The total number of students is 450, compared to last year’s 356.

“Much of the growth in our graduate programs have been fueled by a very entrepreneurial-minded culture among program directors, faculty, and staff,” said , vice president and dean of the 91����Ƶ’s . “In my two years here at 91����Ƶ, I have experienced a very innovative group of people with a ‘can-do’ spirit who are working in mission-driven ways to expand our educational distinctives to a growing audience.”

Seven of the nine programs gained students, with the , offered at 91����Ƶ and at the Lancaster site, showing the most growth – a rebound from last year’s decreasing numbers. The program for working teachers has the largest number of part-time students (197 at both Harrisonburg and Lancaster campuses).

After a significant broadening of program offerings in 2014 – three debuted in , and a – 91����Ƶ began offering just one new concentration, .

That program, , has been a significant draw, says Sara Reed, associate director of marketing and recruitment. Restorative justice in the school community, which has been endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education, can potentially improve student behavior, improve school and classroom communities, and lower suspension and expulsion rates.

91����Ƶ’s development of the program is an outgrowth of its pioneering role in teaching restorative justice practitioners through the and the , co-directed by professors and .

The , 91����Ƶ’s oldest graduate program, has been operating at full capacity, with a wait-list for admission, for several years. It was the only program that enrolled the same number of students as in fall 2014.

Seminary numbers steady

Eastern Mennonite ’s enrollment held steady this fall, with the total number of students at 133; however there was a decrease in the full-time-equivalent number due to fewer full-time students.

“Since graduating a near-record 2015��class, we’ve recognized that we would face several challenging years in rebuilding our full-time student numbers,” said , vice president and dean of the seminary. “We’re pleased that a strong recruitment season allowed us to maintain the same headcount across autumn 2014 and 2015. And fewer students departing in 2016 gives us a promising foundation for future enrollment increases.”

One source of rising enrollment are three innovative dual degree programs offered in conjunction with the seminary, said , director of admissions. “These programs offer an attractive prospect to many who see professional benefit from inter-disciplinary connections.”

The can be paired with graduate programs leading to a master’s degree in , , or .

The increase in part-time students can also be traced to the successful inaugural offering of a hybrid program, which combines distance learning with one-week residential sessions. “This program has opened up the possibility of seminary studies to more students with various life circumstances,” Amstutz said.

Seminary students include 57 Mennonites, but also 25 students from the United Methodist Church. In the summer of 2014, the United Methodist Church re-approved EMS – for another four years − for the training of its pastors.

Other Anabaptist groups represented include Church of the Brethren, Brethren and Brethren in Christ. Students of the Baptist and Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Church of God, Seventh Day Adventist, and Unitarian faith traditions are also represented. Some students claim no particular faith tradition.

University community meets diverse educational needs

A total of 1,908 students registered for class at the beginning of the fall semester.

This number includes statistics from all of 91����Ƶ’s programs, from traditional undergraduate students to non-traditional students in Adult Degree Completion Programs; part- and full-time students in graduate programs at Eastern Mennonite Seminary and in 91����Ƶ’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies; and students in the , as well as those taking non-credit courses in conflict transformation.

Among the total enrollment figures are students at , Pennsylvania, and those who study online.

The overall number of students enrolled through 91����Ƶ’s Lancaster campus in Pennsylvania increased slightly this year. That includes teachers seeking a master’s degree in education, nurses who want to complete their undergraduate degree, and pastors and future pastors who aspire to a .

The at 91����Ƶ continues to attract strong interest from international students and local immigrants. IEP prepares them for entrance into American colleges and universities. This fall’s student number is slightly lower than last year’s at 75, with the highest number of students coming from Saudi Arabia and China. A total of 15 countries are represented.

While fall semester brings a new burst of energy to campus, the summer included significant activity of its own. Well over 900 persons enrolled for one or more summer courses through 91����Ƶ. This included approximately 433 for credit in graduate programs, 40 for seminary credit, and 242 for undergraduate credit including 60 Adult Degree Completion students taking general education courses. Also included are 53 students in the Intensive English Program, more than 80 non-credit participants who joined 70 graduate students (included in the total above) for 91����Ƶ’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute, and many additional participants in non-credit courses offered by the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

“This data is indeed a valuable ‘snapshot’ that shows our two campuses are part of a thriving academic community that draws students of all ages from around the world for study and engagement during the year,” said Provost . “I’m very pleased to see continued growth in the size and quality of our incoming classes in both our undergraduate and graduate programs, and other programs as well. I’m even more pleased to see the increasing diversity in our student body and faculty, which will enhance the educational experience of our entire community of learning.”

Basketball players, religious studies majors, Iraqi STEM students, and missionary kids are among the siblings who have chosen to attend 91����Ƶ together. Some commute from nearby homes; some crossed the continent to get here; some are Mennonite, but many aren’t.

The 91����Ƶ database contains 46 family names associated with siblings enrolled in the fall of 2014. Three families have a trio of offspring enrolled, including two sets of parents who themselves graduated from 91����Ƶ: Steve and Lois Alderfer, class of 1986, parents of first-year Andrew, third-year Josh, and fourth-year Elizabeth; and Pat and Kathy King, class of 1981, parents of triplets who are sophomores, Emma, Isaac and Rachel. A third trio of sophomores includes Kennedy I. Okereke, and twins Chidera T. and Chinazo A. Nwankwo, children of Theodora Nwankwo.

“Something very profound takes place for both the family and the 91����Ƶ community when siblings share a common college narrative,” says , vice president for enrollment. “Experiencing Mennonite education can strengthen the family while at the same time benefiting the college with the sharing of their individual strengths and uniqueness.”

Not surprisingly, the largest cluster of siblings (14 sets) come from Harrisonburg and vicinity, but some siblings have traveled hundreds of miles in Virginia to attend 91����Ƶ, including a pair each from Bristol on the Tennessee border and from Chesapeake on the Atlantic.

Other home states of siblings: Pennsylvania (12 families in nine municipalities); Ohio (eight families, all in different locations), two sets of siblings from Maryland, and one set each from Goshen, Indiana; Wellman, Iowa; Rochester, New York; Plymouth, Minnesota; Puyallup, Washington; and Charles Town, West Virginia.

The 46 surnames of siblings culled from 91����Ƶ’s database in October 2014 are: Alderfer, Baltimore, Barrett, Beachy, Bills, Bishop, Blosser (two different families), Clemens, Cox, Driediger, Dutcher, Ferrell, Gallardo, Gish, Gonzalez, Graber, Hartzler, Jones, Kauffman, King, Kiser, Kratz, Longenecker, Luther, Mack-Boll, Mansoor, Martin, Mast, Miller, Mumaw, Myers, Nafziger, Nussbaum, Okereke, Patterson, Poplett, Raber, Salladay, Shenk-Moreno, Sprunger, Treichel, Trotter, Weaver, Wengerd, Ygarza, and Yoder.

Interviews with three sets of 91����Ƶ siblings yielded this common thread: They tend to maintain separate identities and friend groups, while supporting and inspiring one another – be they healthcare providers like the Ardrons, budding psychologists like the Treichels, or activist musicians like the Popletts.

“Even though the siblings may have very different experiences here, they will have the same alma mater, a bond which will benefit both themselves and our entire community over the long term,” observes Hartman.

The Ardrons

Last year, the three Ardron brothers – Austin, Adrian, and then first-year student Aaron – all commuted to campus from their home in Fishersville, 30 miles south of Harrisonburg. The attraction of 91����Ƶ was its strong reputation in and .

With both a mother and a father who are nurses, the Ardron brothers come from a family of healers. Among their immediate and extended family are more nurses, pharmaceutical representatives, physical therapists, an ophthalmologist, and a pediatric allergist.

“It’s just what we’re drawn to … we’re good at medicine, at making people feel better,” says Austin, who wrapped up his 91����Ƶ coursework this summer, passed his nursing boards, and started as a registered nurse at the University of Virginia (UVa) hospital – all within 30 days.

As the first to enroll, Austin came to 91����Ƶ because of the “holistic approach” to nursing, which emphasizes emotional as well as physical healing. Now working on the medical-surgical floor, Austin applies this mindset to patient advocacy, what he terms “explaining in human terms what the doctor just said.” He also values his ability to be a comforting presence and “that extra safety net for the patient” before procedures.

Austin’s older brother, Adrian, started at the College of William and Mary and circulated among a couple of university settings and majors before following Austin into the nursing program. Also a 2014 graduate, he now works as a registered nurse in UVa’s urology, surgery and burns unit.

Aaron based his college decision partly on his brothers’ positive experience. The pre-med major was also impressed by 91����Ƶ graduates’ nearly 90 percent acceptance rate into medical school.

Commuting from home has allowed the Ardron brothers to gain work experience, and to maintain close ties to their family and their Seventh Day Adventist church.

Austin paid his way through school by working as a nurse’s aide at UVa. For all four years of college, he attended school Monday through Friday, and worked 20 hours over the weekend.

Aaron’s extracurricular activities take the form of church leadership: he is a head deacon at his family’s church. The Seventh Day Adventists’ calling is “to help heal, help promote growth,” he says. That environment shaped his interest in helping people through medicine. After many years of schooling, he hopes to carry on the family’s healing tradition as a healthcare professional in an intensive care or trauma setting, perhaps as a cardiac or ocular surgeon.

The Treichels

Shawn and Kevin Treichel’s childhood instilled in them a fascination with the human mind and an appreciation of brotherhood. From Kevin’s perspective, many people coming to college see their siblings as an annoyance, and their family as a constrictive atmosphere to leave behind. But the Philadelphia-raised brothers grew up without an intact family to chafe gently against – they were in and out of foster care.

Some students enter college lacking independence and resilience. Not these brothers, says Shawn: “We’ve been to youth delinquent centers for a year at a time …We can do college!” (In the Philadephia area, the centers often double as temporary homeless youth shelters.)

Shawn was the first to learn about 91����Ƶ. His family began attending a Mennonite church after an event flyer was posted on their door. Through that youth group, he became acquainted with Lani Prunés ’14. Her descriptions of 91����Ƶ helped sway him from the original conviction that he would not pursue post-secondary education. He is now a third-year major whose studies may lead to ; however, he’s waiting to see what opportunities life brings: “I’ve never really had a straight and narrow path,” he explains.

Kevin is also at 91����Ƶ because of those church connections. He came in knowing he wanted to go into nursing, and liked 91����Ƶ’s reputation in that field. Specifically, he says, “I want to work in a psychology setting with children.” He plans to attend graduate school for a masters in applied behavioral analysis.

“The end goal is to have the knowledge and the context in order to take a much more holistic approach towards psychology than I ever witnessed myself,” he says.

Coming to 91����Ƶ, the Treichels had to adapt to both small-city living and local culture. If they drive five minutes in their home setting, they’ve made two blocks; if they drive five minutes here, they’re in a cornfield. Neither of the brothers see themselves returning to Philadelphia. “Been there, done that,” says Kevin.

Wherever their careers take them, the Treichels express appreciation for having attended 91����Ƶ simultaneously and maintaining their mutually supportive relationship.

“It would probably be weirder not being on campus with my brother,” says Kevin. “Due to our specific circumstances, we learned pretty early the value of relying on family.”

Yet, he adds, 91����Ƶ might still be the right choice for siblings who don’t feel as close as he and Shawn. “The [campus] world’s not as small as you might think it is.”

The Popletts

Alicia and Katrina Poplett, of Plymouth, Minnesota, grew up immersed in music, listening to their mother playing piano. Competition between the two young violinists became “a quite contentious part of our lives!” says Katrina, who switched to the viola in eighth grade. Thereafter they played together in school and in Mennonite church groups with less angst.

In the high school pit orchestra, the year before Alicia left for 91����Ƶ, “we started becoming friends,” says Katrina.

Alicia is now a junior majoring in and .

After two years of visiting her sister on campus and feeling “very at home here,” Katrina arrived this fall to study .

Again attending school together, the two have built upon their high school bond, sharing yoga classes and musicianship.

Yoga is Alicia’s interest, but “Katrina begrudgingly comes along,” Alicia says. “She has a lot of strengths, but sitting still and perhaps balancing are not some of them.” The two exchange smiles over antsiness and arduous poses during class.

The sisters also still practice music together, their individual skill augmented by the ability to read one another well. Sometimes, though, they still need to take breaks to cool down between instrumental arguments.

The sisters hope to enter humanitarian work after graduation. Alicia imagines teaching overseas or in an inner city school – “somewhere that would continue to challenge me!” Katrina sees herself working with women and children in a foreign context.

Wherever they go, the sisters want to make a difference, a goal that stems from their upbringing: “We were raised to be involved and to be present where you are,” says Katrina. An example of this was their recent participation in the New York City People’s Climate Rally on Sept. 21. “It took stamina!” says Alicia, of the three-mile walk with more than 400,000 participants.

Their mantra of presence and involvement also applies to their relationship.�� Alicia recommends attending college with a sibling, as it’s an interesting way “to both grow together.”

Katrina has especially appreciated the presence of someone who knows her well as she transitions to university life. The hardest thing about starting college, she explained, is the absence of peers who know you deeply. Even though Alicia has been Katrina’s “in” to social networks, people on campus do not treat the sisters as one unit.

“You are related, but you’re your own person,” says Katrina.

The black-man-killed headline (above) could appear in any newspaper, in any city in the United States, where “land of the free” appears to not extend to an African American male’s freedom to keep his life.

Motivated by this realization, 27 faculty, staff and students of 91����Ƶ gathered on the steps of Northlawn early in the fall semester to raise their hands in solidarity with , where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer on Aug. 9, 2014.

“We were trying to demonstrate visually the continued need to be valued in society,” said , vice president of enrollment.

[Editor: As 91����Ƶ prepared to post this story on 09/26/14, a of a white police officer shooting an unarmed black man��– this one captured on video in South Carolina on Sept. 4 – swept around the world. The victim, 35-year-old Levar Jones, was approached by the police officer for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt in his vehicle. When, as requested, Jones moved to show the officer his driver’s license, he was shot at repeatedly and wounded in the hip.]

Black Student Union steps up

The gathering was Hartman’s idea, but junior Londen Wheeler (co-president of the Black Student Union) rallied students to show up. Hartman applauded bringing “91����Ƶ’s exceptional group of new and returning students of color together in order to meet one another.”

“I went to spread awareness about what happened,” said freshman Bruce Cypress, one of the students in the 91����Ƶ #DontShoot photo. Cypress and sophomore Jay Bradley, also in the photo, said they didn’t understand the reason behind the shooting because police have other tools at their disposal that don’t result in civilian death.

A Google search of “unarmed black man shot by police” yields over half a million hits. This shooting of Michael Brown, however, seemed to be a kind of breaking point that released pent-up anger, grief and frustration nationwide about what is happening to America’s young, black males.

“It seems as though there is a segment of white society that sees black bodies as something to be feared or dangerous, and as something to remove from society,” said 91����Ƶ professor .

Whites’ fear leads to blacks’ death

Evans has two sons and worries about their safety in a white-dominated society. Will they be shot for wearing a hoodie around someone who finds their presence fear-inducing?

“To put it quite simply,” he said, “I want to make the statement that black lives matter, that we’re human beings, that we have emotions, that we have families, and we are not a threat simply because we exist.”

For Evans, the #DontShoot movement has the simultaneous purpose of lowering anxiety while also speaking out against the use of African American people as targets.

Black and white Americans are not listening to one another’s narratives, he said. Without dialogue and recognition that each person has a story, a background, and is part of an enduring paradigm of racial tension, change will not be possible.

Fellowship, interaction needed

“Hatred thrives where there is contact without fellowship,” Evans said, quoting theologian Howard Thurman. “I think that is what we live in today. This is the state of our society. People of different racial and ethnic groups live in the same society, they work in the same buildings, they go to the same schools…but they don’t know each other intimately.”

For whites, “The Talk,” is usually about sex. But for at least some of those in the 91����Ƶ #DontShoot photo, “The Talk” refers to how black parents teach their children to carefully act when encountering a police officer. For a population that is witnessing repeated violence against their young people, this is potentially life-sustaining information.

With their #DontShoot photo – tweeted on Sept. 5 – 91����Ƶ’s black community members are joining others across the nation in protesting whites’ violence inflicted on African Americans, particularly males. These photos have now been shared extensively on social media sites and have garnered considerable traffic and discussion.

“The class of 2018 is the most racially, ethnically, and nationally diverse incoming class in the history of 91����Ƶ,” told a capacity crowd of 900 in Lehman Auditorium on Aug. 27. Thirty-six percent of the incoming class is not white. Kniss challenged each listener to identify a difference with another person before the end of the day and to make a point of viewing it as “an invitation to engage,” rather than something to be feared.

“As an institution of higher learning, we know that the best way to develop ourselves and our students intellectually is to engage the new and the strange…,” he said. “You [students] will engage with people who are different from you in significant ways in your residence halls, in your athletic and intramural competitions, in your extracurricular activities, and in your religious lives.”

For students, faculty and staff, Kniss said diversity “enriches our shared life as a community of learning.” He lamented the examples in the United States and elsewhere in the world where “people have been destroying each other rather than embracing diversity and welcoming the stranger.” He pointed to Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, and Ferguson, Missouri, as examples of this.

Underscoring the Christian foundation of 91����Ƶ Kniss said, “We navigate our way through the complexities and ambiguities of modern life by following the way of Jesus in welcoming strangers, embracing people who are different and perhaps marginalized, and engaging new ideas that may be threatening to our old ways of seeing the world. “

picked up on this theme with that was both amusing and parable-like, describing the way his farm-rooted family was loyal to the Sperry-New Holland line of farm machinery while they sniffed at those loyal to John Deere equipment – that is, until he married a woman from a “John Deere family.”

Both Kniss and Swartzendruber were carrying forward ideas that , 91����Ƶ’s vice president for enrollment, has promoted in speeches and in writing since he became a member of the president’s cabinet in 2011.

In a 2012 talk to the Mennonite Higher Education Faculty Conference (published in three parts in May 2014 on the and on ), Hartman said:

Studies on cognitive development show that critical thinking, problem-solving capacities and cognitive complexity increase for all students exposed to diversity on campus and in the classroom. Diversity leads to the possibility of an enriched and engaging environment where greater learning and skill development is possible. It broadens perspectives, it provides increased exposure to alternative viewpoints, and brings more complex discussions and analysis.

Both Hartman and Kniss stressed that college should be the opposite of a cocoon of familiarity, because, in Hartman’s words, this “impedes the personal struggle and conscious thought that are so important for identity development.”

This year’s convocation expanded on a theme introduced in the, when university leaders stressed the importance of embracing each other within the 91����Ƶ community, appreciating the gifts and diversity that each student, staffer and faculty member brings to this community of mutual learners. The talks given at this year’s convocation can be heard via podcast .

There was this funny message: “History professors Mark Sawin and Mary Sprunger hope students will find them in their temporary office spaces borrowed from the library.”

Some employees signed up to help colleagues move their office belongings from spaces they need to vacate on campus to other landing spots before classes begin.

A dozen staffers volunteered to clean dormitory rooms on a Saturday morning in July, responding to an emailed request for extra cleaning help. (Physical plant staffers needed assistance to achieve a quick turn-around between two huge summer camps using the residence halls, back to back.)

91����Ƶ’s long-time registrar, David Detrow ’77, was juggling classroom assignments, squeezing classes into all available spaces, awaiting the completion of classroom, seminar and office spaces on the second and third floor of Roselawn, plus those in the east section of the Suter Science Center.

“It’s satisfying to reuse and bring to new life a residence hall that has been under-utilized,” said physical plant director C. Eldon Kurtz ’76, perched atop the three-story-high unfinished elevator shaft attached to Roselawn, surveying a stupendous eastern mountain view with his assistant director, Ed Lehman.

Daryl Bert ’97, who monitors 91����Ƶ’s construction and renovation projects as vice president for finance, noted that inspiration for renovating Roselawn flowed from successfully meeting the needs of 91����Ƶ’s fast-growing Intensive English Program. Before IEP moved to the revamped first floor of Roselawn in 2012, IEP was lodged in a small house near the seminary building on Smith Avenue.

Success of��IEP

“After our success with IEP’s space, we began to consider whether we could re-purpose the other floors of Roselawn,” Bert said. He added, however, that IEP’s growth owed more to “the energy and entrepreneurship of [IEP director] Kathleen Roth,” than to its new space, which merely addressed the need for additional space generated by Roth’s efforts.

By the spring 2015 semester, one of the largest classrooms on campus will be on the third floor of Roselawn. It will feature a soaring ceiling, made possible by a “pop-up” structure on the roof of Roselawn, offering a great, naturally lit space for up to 50 people.

Another room will be the hub of distance-learning, with television screens, cameras and seats for 20.

“I expect a lot of our growth in graduate and professional studies over the next number of years to be in the development of distance-learning programs,” said Jim Smucker, dean of 91����Ƶ’s newly named School for Graduate and Professional Studies.

“With a few exceptions, we are saying any new program needs to be able to be delivered at a distance. Our preferred model will be a hybrid approach which will include short-term residencies and synchronous and asynchronous delivery.”

The undergraduate side of the university is also growing, with a 6% increase over the last three years and a 39% increase in applications since 2009. Tallying all of the programs, including graduate students, “we are as large of a university as we have ever been since opening as a school in 1917,” said Luke Hartman ’91, vice president for enrollment.

The second and third floor of Roselawn will bring together a number of liberal arts departments that often collaborate in an interdisciplinary manner – history, applied social sciences, Bible and religion, and language and literature. (Psychology will join this group on a temporary basis, awaiting renovation of the western portion of the Suter Science Center.) A large-sized classroom, medium-sized classroom, seminar room, and gathering area will be shared among these departments.

Two of these departments will be vacating old houses on the southern edge of campus, which will be turned into administrative offices and “intentional community” housing for students. The former language and literature area will be occupied by the department of development and church relations, which is moving from a privately owned house for which 91����Ƶ paid rent.

Meanwhile, renovations on the 45-year-old Suter Science Center are fully underway, with the word “renovations” used broadly. The “head room” on Suter’s southern flank had to be torn down entirely when its foundation proved to be unstable. So that part of Suter Science will be rebuilt from the ground up. Some other parts of Suter have been gutted, as necessary to rework the ducting for heating, cooling and ventilation and to make other changes required for state-of-the-art science laboratories and classrooms.

Most building since 2000

Construction projects this summer are the most extensive undertaken at 91����Ƶ since the northern section of the University Commons was built in 2000 to house the athletic facilities, snack bar, game room, student-life offices, and bookstore. That cost $11 million. The construction budget for the projects underway this summer will total $9.4 million.

For its first 90 years, 91����Ƶ averaged one major construction project every seven years. The pace of new construction and renovations has accelerated in recent years, as 91����Ƶ seeks to accommodate the growing demand for up-to-date spaces.

Cedarwood residence hall was completed in the fall of 2009, along with extensive renovations to Elmwood and Maplewood residence halls – all conforming to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. These dorms have proven to be highly popular for rental by summer groups, which accounts for the thousands of new faces on campus this summer.

In 2011, the Lee Eshleman Studio and MainStage theaters, Margaret Martin Gehman Art Gallery, Common Grounds Coffeehouse, and the Kenneth A. Longacre Sr. Advanced Media Lab were completed, rounding out the renovation of the University Commons.

Renovations to the east portion of the Suter Science Center began in early 2014 – a $7 million project.

“To stay on the forefront of a whole-person education – with graduates who become physicians, nurses, lab technologists, physical therapists, and other science professionals – we are committed to having the quality of facilities needed by our teachers and students,” said Kirk Shisler ’81, vice president for advancement.

“I am deeply grateful to the 465 alumni, friends and foundations that have supported our current renovations,” he said.”^*

Kurtz says Roselawn is proving to be an “amazing transformation of spaces.” Previously, consideration had been given to tearing down Roselawn, since it was not accessible to people with physical disabilities and had no air conditioning or cross ventilation via its narrow windows. But it was built on a solid foundation, with a strong shell, so Kurtz and Lehman worked with Blue Ridge Architects to find a way to salvage the building.

Learning from leed work

Now Kurtz thinks Roselawn might end up being one of the nicest places on campus, with “all the lessons we learned in putting up LEED-certified residence halls being applied to Roselawn. These are standard for us now.”

Like Cedarwood, Roselawn will have its climate controlled through a “variable refrigerant flow” system, used successfully for 20 years in Japan and Europe but fairly new to the United States. The occupants of each room will be able to regulate the temperature to their satisfaction. “We keep adding climate-controlled space, yet our energy usage keeps going down,” said Kurtz. “Saving energy is really satisfying to me.”

Between the construction projects and the high usage of facilities by summer groups, Kurtz said his staff have been stretched thin this summer – “we haven’t budgeted additional positions to take on the extra work.” On the plus, “we’re looking forward to less maintenance on the ancient and obsolete HVAC systems that are being replaced.”

Lest smaller improvements be overlooked amid the big ones, note that night lighting is appearing on the sand volleyball court, with labor provided by physical plant staff and materials partly covered by a grant from the student government association.

When Nafziger graduated from Harrisonburg High School in 2009, the track standout had other things on his mind than attending the small university where his father was vice president of student life. 91����Ƶ was always on the radar, but Nafziger said he felt more pressure than desire to attend. Instead, he looked to the myriad of Virginia colleges which had offered him track scholarships before finally accepting a partial scholarship to attend George Mason University, a Division I school in the suburbs of Washington D.C.

Nafziger remembers this decision as being based on pride. The scholarship proved that he was able to compete at the highest level, and the school’s distance from Harrisonburg was a way of showing that he was moving past his hometown.

As Nafziger soon realized though, pride was not the best way to choose a school. In his first year, Nafziger said that he only talked to one teacher and that was during his transitions class. He trooped through a succession of lecture halls with hundreds of people and impersonal experiences.

Nafziger felt anonymous. He had friends on the track team, but felt that the sprawling institution – 33,197 total students spread over 806 acres in four locations in Northern Virginia – made him a mere number. In addition, Nafziger felt that the professors didn’t care about the undergraduates. “They were there for their research,” he said. “It might have been different if I was a graduate student, but as an undergraduate I did not feel that I had their attention.”

The questions that had begun to surface during the year were exacerbated when Nafziger suffered a stress fracture to his back during the winter. At this point, injured and with his future as a runner in doubt, Nafziger began to look at other schools – this time looking for something else: community. “I wasn’t saying ‘community’ that much,” he said, referring to his time before entering George Mason. “But [now] I wanted a community.”

Nafziger came to visit , having never officially done a campus visit after high school. What he found surprised him. Nafziger was stunned that associate professor of , took time out of her day to meet with him. He also realized that he had mistakenly assumed that attending 91����Ƶ would be like an extension of his high school experience. “The campus seemed self-contained. It was not like the Harrisonburg that I knew; it was different when I got on campus.”

After deciding to transfer to 91����Ƶ for his sophomore year, Nafziger found his niche athletically and academically. Still a standout runner, Nafziger immediately made an impact on the and , setting school records in the 1000 meter and 1600 meter races, as well as being awarded first state all academic and conference academic honor multiple times. At 91����Ƶ however, Nafziger was not on a track scholarship, so he pursued running voluntarily instead of as an obligation. “I still loved running, but now I had the freedom not to run. It was my choice, not my identity.”

In addition to athletic success, at 91����Ƶ, Nafziger found old friends and made new ones, and enjoyed the support of faculty. With caring mentors, he explored his options, changing his major twice before graduating with a B.A. focused on counseling with a minor in biology.

Following graduation in 2013, Nafziger began working with troubled youth. After a few months, though, Nafziger found himself missing the 91����Ƶ community. “Where can I do the most amount of good?” he asked himself.

For Nafziger, the answer was back at his alma mater. “I was a transfer, an athlete, a team captain, and I changed majors. I can speak to a lot of experiences” – including the benefits of a smaller school.

“Dan cares about people,” said , vice president of admissions and Nafziger’s supervisor. “He demonstrates an incredible balance between deep compassion and competitiveness.”

What does faithful living look like in an institution that participates in a capitalistic endeavor? I think it means investigating our institutional policies that may perpetuate power and privilege in an unintended manner. It also means naming the invisible barriers which may limit accessibly for students who are other-cultured.

“Mennonite affirmative action” is a term I often use when participating in the awarding of scholarships at our Mennonite colleges and universities. Roughly twelve years ago I read an article in the New York Times that listed academic success by denomination. Mennonites were ranked in the top five.

In other words, Mennonite students overall do very well academically in higher education and are a safe student to recruit. At one Mennonite institution the average retention rate of a cohort of Mennonite students entering the fourth fall semester since the year 2000 was 78.5%, while 47.8% of students who did not come from a Mennonite background were retained.

The disparity in retention rate between Mennonite students and those who are not Mennonite is glaring and speaks to a serious incongruous cultural dilemma. There is also a connection between dominance and sub-ordinance when it comes to retention.

Returning to the topic of accessibility, Mennonite students who are predominantly white receive the majority of institutional merit scholarships. On top of merit institutional aid, if a student is a member of a Mennonite church he or she usually receives a match of institutional funds. Stacked upon that, if a student attends the university as a “legacy” student, meaning a parent attended the predominantly white Mennonite college or university, then there is additional institutional aid provided. Finally, our very best students who are often Mennonite receive endowed scholarships on top of all the previous listed funds.

What one must remember is that every time a Mennonite student receives additional institutional resources it takes away from the very same pool used to support diversity efforts. I have found that many Mennonite parishioners speak boldly about social justice until it impacts their wallet.

Many Mennonite families opt to send their own child to a local state school when the institutional aid is not provided at a disproportionately favorable level, regardless of one’s income level.

In my sixteen years as both an undergraduate and graduate faculty member I observed that faculties tended to be more supportive of diversity initiatives to the extent that diverse students did not create additional workload or require additional time and energy. After all, we as faculty enter the academy in part, for the rewards of time and freedom.

When focusing specifically on admissions criteria and the work of admissions committees the question I often wonder is, “If the academic criterion for other-cultured individuals is the same as for all students, without taking culture into consideration, are non-cognitive factors being considered?” Are resources invested in preparatory summer academies for underprepared students? And are diverse student unions and clubs supported for cultural respite?

The role of the institution, when living out responsibly the Christian life, is to commit to developing inclusive communities and placing diversity more closely to the overall mission of the institution. It means moving forward with serious inquiry like we do with so many other endeavors.

We must conduct introspective analysis of the institution. We must incorporate a diversity plan that becomes systemic and transformational. So often we settle for projects, special programs, short-term initiatives, and other efforts that are not sustainable and are difficult to evaluate.[1]

Conclusion

As a former student of color, faculty of color, and administrator of color at predominantly white Mennonite campuses, my experiences of inclusivity did not come from a project, or program, or diversity initiative. It came from professors who understood the true meaning of Educare: To bring out that which is from within.

The legendary psychology and education professors Judy Mullet and Jean Roth Hawk became my white allies, seeing me as a student who brought a unique experience and perspective that could enrich the teaching and learning process. When I experienced constructive criticism through time and relational support, I did not need a program to have others better accept my racial difference.

When Dr. Mullet and Dr. Hawk met with me as an advisee and challenged me, I felt valued and encouraged, as opposed to being reduced to a systemic chore or one-more-good-deed-to-be-taken-care-of on behalf of the servant-driven institution.

With all that they were, they said, “We are here to assist you on this academic journey, we will be your lantern, your knowledgeable other, walking with you from where you are to where you want to be.”�� Dr. Mullet and Dr. Hawk along with many others in Mennonite higher education recognized the extraordinary value of diversity and saw me as a gift and responded with sacrificial, relational faithful living.��“Diversity” can be synonymous with community, and inclusivity can become unity when we see each student as a gift with something to offer and together commit to faithful living as Christians.

��

In a 1997 article entitled��Down with Diversity, Keith Denton, from Missouri State University, posited that diversity has the potential to dilute the cultural identity of an organization.[1] It appears that our institutions of higher learning may have that same fear because we sincerely speak politically correct rhetoric but seem hesitant to bring in the very students who threaten historical narratives and cultural values.

The need to preserve the university’s core values and beliefs makes it difficult for it to fully embrace those who do not look nor believe like the majority of its constituents. Our emphasis on peace and social justice and living in community ought to position us perfectly in the 21st��century to embrace diversity in all its fullness.

An additional observation is that, at times, Mennonite colleges tend to be more active in explicitly welcoming and accepting international diversity as compared to domestic diversity. This allows the institution to maintain a sense of segregated pluralism.

While working at one particular Mennonite institution I noticed the campus was enriched by a large percentage of international students, more than any of the other Mennonite schools at the time. This deserved to be celebrated, and yet it did not equal the full reality of diversity, including all its domestic dimensions.

I want Mennonite colleges and universities to perceive diversity not in terms of a hierarchical value of cultures, but as an opportunity to create a culture of acceptance. This fosters a sense of belonging among all persons by recognizing and respecting difference and in doing so, promoting a sense of loyalty to the college or university.

Our diversity cannot just be a diversity of assimilation and acculturation. This suggests that as long as one behaves like the dominant campus group, sheds a particular set of values, norms and/or beliefs and especially does not over emphasize individual cultural distinctiveness then, and only then, will there be a welcoming and acceptance into the larger community.

Studies on cognitive development show that critical thinking, problem-solving capacities and cognitive complexity increase for all students exposed to diversity on campus and in the classroom. ��Diversity leads to the possibility of an enriched and engaging environment where greater learning and skill development is possible. It broadens perspectives, it provides increased exposure to alternative viewpoints, and brings more complex discussions and analysis.

Educational researchers state that attending college in one’s home environment or replicating the home community’s social life and expectations in a homogeneous college impedes the personal struggle and conscious thought that are so important for identity development.

The biblical text says that a “mixed multitude” came up out of Egypt with Moses.�� (Exodus 12:27-38).��The NIV says “many other people went up with them.”�� In other words it wasn’t just the descendants of Abraham that came out of Egypt.�� Many others that the Egyptians had enslaved came out with them.

The Exodus passage stands in contrast to Ezra and Nehemiah after the Babylonian exile. Those passages told the Israelites to put away their foreign wives and the children they had with them. The Ezra and Nehemiah passages cared more about maintaining ethnic purity and racial exclusiveness than they did about being a light to the Gentiles as the people of God.

By the end of the Old Testament story, Israel moved from celebrating diversity and inclusion to an exclusive group with a singular narrative. It asserted that God could not work with any more and thus we have the coming of Jesus to start over.

Jesus celebrates diversity as seen in the twelve disciples he called.�� Jesus even uses the contextual oxymoron, “the Good Samaritan.” He treats tax collectors and Roman soldiers with respect. He elevates women in a way unheard of in his day.��In 1 Corinthians 12:12-22, Paul discusses how the Christian body is composed of a variety of people and that it is this diversity which adds to the effectiveness and giftedness of the body as a whole.

“And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” (New King James Version)

Acts 10:34-35 states, “Then Peter replied, ‘I see very clearly that God doesn’t show partiality.’”

Many conversations that I am a part of as the Vice President for Enrollment at 91����Ƶ have budget implications. Questions arise such as:

• Do we put additional resources into increasing the discount rate in order to attract additional students?
• Do we put resources toward a cost-of-living adjustment to compensate the over taxed faculty?
• Maybe resources should be allotted to the renovation of a building to accommodate a new program which will generate additional future revenue?

All of these conversations are done in the name of perpetuating our overall mission, and creating a new type of individual, one who embodies the values of the Christian faith.

These are tough economic times.�� Skyrocketing tuition has hit the mainstream media. Mennonite institutions are all clamoring over appropriate discount rates, attempting to make our institutions affordable while emphasizing the values-difference compared to our state school competitors.

Now the topic of diversity has moved from the periphery to a more central position within our strategic master plans. This is a time when some universities are asking the question, “How important is diversity?” Many of these universities then reduce the topic to: resources, political correctness, accreditation, and current politics in general.

It is at this time that I hear the Mennonite Education Agency saying boldly that the importance of diversity at our Mennonite institutions of higher education should not be determined by affordability or political determination but by a biblical mandate. “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law of transgressors.” (James 2:8-9). The bottom line is…..Diversity is not a choice!

It has been 15 years since Michigan State University and Virginia Tech both conducted a study where they surveyed their entire campus communities. Over 50% of faculty and staff and 38% of the student body responded to the survey.

In both studies, nearly all respondents suggested that diversity was good for their respective institutions and should be promoted. This would suggest that there was, and most likely still is, general and genuine support for the institutions commitment to a more diverse community.

I am convinced after serving as a faculty member or administrator at 3 out of the 5 U.S. Mennonite institutions of higher education that Mennonite colleges and universities would arrive overwhelmingly at the very same conclusion: that diversity should be promoted. We are all for inclusivity and can even document this desire, however, in practice the question must be asked, “Are we actually doing what we say we support?”

In most of our college and university settings there continues to be a perpetuation of a colonial education model, where a dominant group educates a subordinate group from only the dominant world view. ��The disconnect begins to appear when the very persons who are in agreement with the principles of diversity in practice are content to leave things as they are or begin to voice in a more passive way the discomfort with the demographic shifts (i.e., “not a good fit”, “this may lead to the lowering of our academic standards” or “faculty are not prepared for the underprepared student”).

James Anderson the chancellor of an Arkansas university says it like this, “Those who claim a perceived threat to institutional quality and reputation such as lowered standards, political correctness are only trying to generate anxieties that are misplaced and to maintain the status quo.”

We all know that historically the original intentions of higher education were for the upper class. This assertion still informs the present social perception of who deserves advanced education. The perception is that some students just can’t cut it in college and if you admit too many of these students it could create an inferior product which would then be detrimental to the reputation of the institution.

The essential question we face is, “How does a Mennonite college or university preserve a particular campus ethos, rooted in a historical Swiss-German ethnic Anabaptist narrative, while providing validity to multiple narratives which can enrich the entire campus community?” Is diversity synonymous with community? Does inclusivity prevent unity?

But this particular ache and pain grew so intense she lay awake crying at night. She hardly ate. Berg said nothing, though. She’d grown up in a military family, and it was in her DNA to tough things out. Besides, basketball was her life. She was just beginning to think about her college career. Taking time off for a sore back? Not an option.

Yes, she was stubborn back then, and she’s still stubborn now, she admits with an abashed smile. And no, she definitely wouldn’t recommend this course of non-treatment for others struggling with injury. That wasn’t the right way to handle things, but then again, it led to good things.

Her parents began to worry about the way she’d started to drag her right leg awkwardly behind her as a result of the worsening injury. They also noticed that she’d lost a lot of weight and, concerned about an eating disorder, they sat their daughter down for an intervention. Berg broke down and told them everything – how a little twinge, over the course of weeks and months, had devolved into such monstrous pain that she couldn’t sleep or eat.

End of basketball dreams

Diagnosis: two herniated discs. Berg underwent lumbar fusion surgery before her junior year of high school. She spent the summer working her way from a wheelchair to a walker to figuring out how to walk again on her own. A doctor-ordered ban on contact sports brought her basketball career to a sudden and crushing end.

Something of a spiritual crisis ensued. How could something that meant so much just be snatched from her like that? What sort of God lets that happen?

Berg gradually shifted her extracurricular focus to theater.

Before graduation, Berg and her classmates took a survey to help guide their college decisions – the sort of thing that tries to match someone’s interests and preferences with different schools’ characteristics. When the results came back, a strange word crossed Berg’s lips for the first time: Mennonite. She’d never heard of such a thing, nor had she heard of 91����Ƶ (91����Ƶ). She didn’t think much of it, skeptical about this survey outcome.

But when she stumbled across an 91����Ƶ booth at a college fair soon thereafter, she lined up a campus visit. When she came for an overnight stay, she caught a student-run Gonzo Theatre show, scoped out the , and decided that the college placement survey had been right after all. 91����Ƶ was the place for her.

Arriving on campus in the fall of 2011, Berg was ready for new, exciting challenges. But the first ones she encountered were not what she expected.

Military vs. pacifist orientations

Yorktown is very different place from 91����Ƶ and the surrounding community. Berg lived a few minutes down the road from Langley Field. Her dad was in the Air Force, her boyfriend – who became her fiance in March 2014 – was (and is) in the Air Force, her cousins were in the military, and pretty much everyone around her growing up was connected in some way to the armed forces. Supporting the troops, individually and collectively, and the jobs they are asked to do was a given among practically everyone Berg had ever known.

She didn’t know that the American flag doesn’t fly on 91����Ƶ’s campus, and she had no idea that the patriotic pins she wore on her backpack would invite criticism from her classmates. She would never have guessed that one of her professors would make disparaging remarks about the military.

All of this amounted to a huge shock. Berg had barely heard of Mennonites when she enrolled, and was completely ignorant of the centuries-long Mennonite tradition of pacifism. Early on, she didn’t always respond gently when her views were challenged. She had angry exchanges with some other students. She had angry exchanges with God. College was supposed to be the best four years of her life, right?

91����Ƶ had just magically bubbled up out of nowhere and had seemed so perfect. And yet, here she’d ended up, stretching herself to the financial limit to be at a school where she felt like an outcast and where people seemed unwilling to give her perspective a fair chance.

“That’s what I feel like 91����Ƶ really struggles with,” Berg says. “People come in so whole-heartedly believing things, because of how they were raised, that when they meet somebody who believes differently, they’re like, ‘You’re wrong.’”

Stubbornly staying at 91����Ƶ, eventually glad she did

She realized she was part of the problem – her first reaction to criticism of the military was figuring that the criticizers were wrong. She wanted to leave, but her stubborn streak kicked back in.

She thought about her great-grandmother, who’d died during Berg’s difficult first year at 91����Ƶ, and who had always prayed that Berg would go to a Christian college. Berg stuck with it for her. She took a spiritual formation class, which included a one-on-one spiritual advisor, who proved a good listener as Berg struggled to find her place on campus.

Things gradually turned around. In the fall of 2012, Berg joined other students who set up a display of 200 pairs of empty boots, worn by Virginian soldiers killed in the past decade’s wars, . Berg began feeling empowered to take risks and to be more outspoken about her beliefs. She began developing a better ability to listen to others. She decided that she’d been led to 91����Ƶ to make her different voice heard. She stuck with her interest in theater, appearing in three full-length productions on campus.

Looking back, all of it falls into place as part of God’s plan for her life, Berg says.

Berg says her thoughts about the military haven’t changed much since she came to 91����Ƶ, but she has developed respect for different opinions. She hopes that the people with those different opinions can say the same from interacting with her.

‘What higher ed is all about’

“Hattie serves as an excellent example of what higher education is really all about,” says 91����Ƶ’s vice-president for enrollment, , who became a mentor of Berg’s.

“Hattie came to 91����Ƶ with a singular perspective and a strong inherited value base, and is now leaving with a deep and rich understanding of a multiplicity of viewpoints. She worked through the challenge of having her value base questioned and came out more knowledgeable, and more equipped to work, serve and lead in a 21st-century society. I could not be more proud of her today.”

Berg will graduate in April 2014 with degrees in theater and and, at least as important, a new grasp on how to communicate better, how to live beside people who have very different ideas about the world, and how to not let those differences define or diminish one’s relationships.

“I love 91����Ƶ,” Berg says. “I’ve struggled a lot being here and there were times when I thought I hated 91����Ƶ. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Graduating from 91����Ƶ in 2005 with a double major in sociology and environmental science, Good has filled a number of roles at 91����Ƶ: admissions counselor, associate director of admissions, director of retention, women’s head soccer coach, cross-cultural leader to Spanish-speaking countries, and instructor in several programs, , , and the .

“I look forward to continued enrollment success, a continued commitment to the Anabaptist mission and vision of 91����Ƶ, and superb admissions leadership from Dr. Jason Good,” said , PhD, vice president for enrollment, in announcing Good’s appointment.

Good earned his master’s and doctorate in Hispanic studies from the Universidad de Cádiz in Andalucía, Spain. His dissertation, completed in Spanish, focused on the integration of immigrant students into educational systems, specifically analyzing how to welcome and retain underrepresented groups.

Good is the son of Nelson Good ’68 () and Betty Good-White ’67, a psychotherapist in Washington D.C., as well as the brother of Deborah Good ’02, the husband of Bryn Mullet Good ’06, and the nephew and grandson of alumni. In short, he has deep roots in this educational community, though he was raised in Washington D.C.

Good replaces Stephanie Shafer, who had been director of admissions since 2004, supervising Good in several of his roles. Shafer announced her intention in August to be director of development at Cornerstone Christian School, a Harrisonburg institution with students in preschool through grade 8, where she will be in charge of enrollment, marketing, public relations and fundraising.

“Stephanie leaves the 91����Ƶ enrollment office in tremendous shape as she exits, bringing in two out of the three largest classes in over 14 years and being part of the sixth consecutive year of overall enrollment growth,” said Hartman in an email announcing her departure to the campus community. “We wish her the very best in her future endeavors and will miss her contribution immensely.”

Good’s former position of director of retention is now open, with candidates being considered by Hartman.

Activities opened on Friday, Feb. 3, with a university chapel presentation by Luke Hartman, vice president for enrollment. Hartman spoke on the theme, “” and why it is important to do so.

Upcoming Black History Month events

• Movie Night! “Gifted Hands,” to be shown in Campus Center room 105 (Strite Hall) on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. Snacks will be served.
• “Rejoice and Shout!” To be shown in Science Center Auditorium (Room 106) on Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 11, at 10 p.m. Admission is $1.50 with 91����Ƶ student identification. Sponsored by the campus activities council.��
• Voting registration on Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., and 3-6 p.m. in South Dining Hall.
• University chapel forum on “Inspiring the Future,” with Esther Nizer, president of the Harrisonburg chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, on Friday, Feb. 17, at 10 a.m., in Lehman Auditorium.
• A student and faculty panel discussion on race, diversity and self-segregation on 91����Ƶ’s campus. The event will be held on Monday, Feb. 20, from 8-9 p.m., in . Admission is free.
• The annual Soul Food Café is back, 6-8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24. Come and enjoy a traditional African American dish while listening (and participating) in a surprise program. This annual event will be held in Martin Chapel of the Seminary building. General admission is $10 for faculty, staff and non-91����Ƶ students. 91����Ƶ students get in free with student identification.
• Jam Session! On Saturday, Feb. 25, jam out with TBO (The Best Out!) in Martin Chapel at 7 p.m.

“The Soul Food Café is a favorite, usually the last event in our month-long celebration,” said , director of multicultural services at 91����Ƶ. “Come join us for any of these activities for worship, music, food and meaningful conversation.”

For more information, contact Marvin Lorenzana at 540-432-4458 or email marvin.lorenzana@emu.edu.

How has the enrollment process changed for students entering college since your undergraduate days in late 1980s and early 1990s?

The enrollment process in the 21-century has continued to become increasingly complex. The cost of higher education in both private and public colleges or universities has increased dramatically.

We are acutely aware of the price sensitivity, especially since the 2008 market crash, and are working hard to ensure that we continue to discount a student’s education appropriately and look very closely at the need of the family.

Recruitment has become more and more competitive. Many of the same kinds of colleges are recruiting the same kinds of students. It is important to make clear the distinctiveness of your particular institution to stand out from the others.��The ethnic and cultural demographics of our nation are changing rapidly. 91����Ƶ understands the responsibility it has to become even more equipped to be a diverse campus and continue to be intentional in its decision-making processes in order to meet the needs of students who are increasingly diverse.

A final part of the complexity of the enrollment process is attempting to determine the most appealing feature of the university to highlight to a 15- to 18-year-old high school student. Along with that is discovering what medium should be used to communicate with high school students. The age of social media is upon us, and we are working strategically to find the best mode of communication.

What is your vision for growing enrollment?

Our vision for growing enrollment is multi-faceted. We are currently recognizing that there is a significant untapped market in our own state of Virginia. We are continuing to build stronger ties and relationships with our local constituencies, as well as working toward name recognition statewide.

Our athletic teams are diligently working toward optimal roster sizes, and we continue to develop relationships with other key affinity groups. We recognize that we are an institution that is distinctly Anabaptist, thus we do make special efforts to bring in students from Mennonite background that share the same core values as the university.

What is the ideal 91����Ƶ student?

Having an ideal student upon entry into 91����Ƶ would be short-sighted and damaging at a minimum. However, when a student departs from 91����Ƶ one would hope that the student is equipped with values of care and empathy and well versed in the knowledge of their specific discipline. I would hope that an 91����Ƶ graduate has had an opportunity to reflect upon and more fully develop their own value system, and be ready to serve using their enhanced gifts, which may have been discovered here.

Why is 91����Ƶ worth the investment?

One of the most quantifiable areas of investment is the area of job opportunities.��At 91����Ƶ we have an overall placement rate of 98 percent and the placement rate specific to a student’s field is 88 percent. More than 90 percent of our medical school students have been accepted into medical school over the past 10 years compared to the current national average of 46 percent entry rate. In the field of education 97 percent of graduates are employed within six months of graduation and 94 percent of 91����Ƶ nursing grads pass the state board on the first try.

We are very proud of these results, so we do see the education provided at 91����Ƶ as a worthwhile investment. The opportunities to perform original research are also a staple of the 91����Ƶ academic experience.

Another way of valuing this investment is to consider the words of western writer Louis L’Amour who said, “Whatever you commit to your mind no one can take from you.”

After five months, is the position what you expected?

The position of vice president for enrollment has been invigorating this first five months. I am passionately curious and continue to learn more and more about the strengths of the university. I have enjoyed strategic planning, collaborating with other departments, and creating detailed unified plans to help with the enrollment growth and the retention of current students. Developing new relationships within and outside of the greater Mennonite Church USA has been a privilege.

What is your background and how has it shaped you?

I was adopted into the home of a Mennonite pastor’s family. I grew up in New Mexico learning and living out the tenets of the Anabaptist faith. I graduated from Hesston College (Kan.), 91����Ƶ, Wichita State University (Kan.), and I am pursuing a PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. I’ve also done coursework at James Madison University.

Through all these educational institutes I experienced tremendous growth and self-development. I do not take for granted the privileges and faith formation I have benefited from.

I now wish to conscientiously share my gifts with 91����Ƶ, the greater Mennonite Church, and non-Mennonite, public and private constituencies across the country. I wish to continue to share Christ-centered stories of discipleship with different religious groups across the country, as well as to provide intercultural teaching and training to both religious and secular institutions.