In a time of celebrating firsts 鈥� Huxman is the university鈥檚 first woman president and the first to come from west of the Mississippi, among other notable claims 鈥� the week included many time-honored traditions: a hymn sing, chapel service, scholarly gatherings, a special dinner and brunch, as well as community service with Harrisonburg City’s annual Black鈥檚 Run Clean-up.

View the photo album of the week’s events below.

The Lov91短视频 fundraiser effectively kicked off the week, raising $106,500 from 692 gifts and capping an extraordinary day that highlighted the 鈥渓ove鈥� many feel for this 100-year-old institution.

Performances by the revitalized , a rousing run of the Hitchcock spoof 鈥�,鈥� and talks by Centennial historian ’67 were also scheduled during the week.

More than 500 people attended Friday鈥檚 and many of them attended the student-planned inaugural gala that evening, during which guests came dressed to the nines. (鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even recognize you,鈥� was a commonly heard phrase.) Yoder Arena was transformed into a swanky, dimly lit space with festively decorated tables, an array of food and beverages, a live band, dance floor and lounge area.

Past presidents and 91短视频 history were memorialized with banners containing important events during each person鈥檚 tenure. (Appropriately Dr. Huxman鈥檚 banner was blank.)

Toasts were offered by Julia Ronnenbaum, daughter of the Huxmans; Fred Kniss, provost; and Evon Bergey, presidential search committee chair. Azariah Cox offered a toast on behalf of the student body.

Huxman and the 91短视频 mascot, Herm, were featured in an about the making of a time capsule, created by seniors Eli Wenger and Macson McGuigan. The duo toured campus, collecting items from various programs and departments. Herm is alternately hungry and distracted, and Huxman must keep him on task to get the job done.

A highlighted the hopes of 91短视频 students, faculty and staff for 91短视频鈥檚 future.

“I was very pleased with how the Gala went,” said sophomore Nicole Litwiller, a member of the planning committee. “Matt Ruth did a great job hosting, the food was great, and I enjoyed the music! I also appreciated how students were able to interact with faculty and staff members in an informal way. I enjoyed chatting with Susan for a bit as well.”

Joining Litwiller on the planning committee of students and staff were Rachel Crist, Mario Hernandez, Eli Wenger, Brittany Williams, Celeste Thomas, Lynn Veurink and Rachel Roth Sawatzky.

Groundskeeping staff聽 鈥� including up to six full-time work-study students 鈥撀燾ontinue to pull weeds, mow lawns, care for trees, plant flowers and edible landscaping, repair buildings, and perform general maintenance. In the words of grounds supervisor Will Hairston, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like the grass takes a break.鈥� Work-study student Shay Whetzel says he enjoys getting to the end of the hard day鈥檚 work, then realizing he helped make the campus 鈥渓ook amazing.鈥�

Dozens needed all summer

Other vital contributors include library staffers who take care of one of the best places to study, housekeeping crew members who make sure the facilities stay clean, and dining hall workers who take care of the people taking care of everything else. All these groups have student workers to help out while caring for each other, the campus, and the events that visit the campus.

Auxiliary services, with three full-time and eight work-study and/or temporary employees, handles the events that use the 91短视频 campus by coordinating with leaders, communicating with various departments, setting up furniture for use, and making sure everything needed by a visiting group is available.

鈥淲e stay extremely busy over the summer,鈥� says Lynn Veurink, assistant director for auxiliary services. Generally speaking, he says 91短视频 hosts three kinds of large events, as well as a number of small events. The large events include church, youth, and athletic groups. Churches come to campus for meetings, retreats, and conferences. Youth groups come to worship and learn. Athletic groups come to practice and learn using 91短视频鈥檚 equipment and fields. Many of these events go on for days at a time, so visiting groups must use the dorms.

Running is big

The largest athletic event is Blue Ridge Running Camp, involving 40 to 50 coaches from NCAA Division I, II and III schools across the country. The biggest church group is Apostolic Eastern Camp, involving several Apostolic churches from across the Eastern United States and Canada. These two groups, with populations reaching several hundred each, run back to back.

Auxiliary services prepares for Apostolic Eastern Camp to fill every single dorm room for a week in July, and then spends the weekend afterwards preparing the rooms again for Blue Ridge Running Camp. This weekend might be the most stressful time on campus during the summer.

The largest youth event is a summer camp held by Lift Ministries, a Baptist group that involves several youth groups. This event runs early in July.

32 major events

The events calendar linked to the auxiliary services section of 91短视频鈥檚 website lists 32 major events running from the first of May to the ninth of August this year.

Outside of church, youth, and athletic events, 91短视频 serves family reunions, wedding receptions, travelers, and other one-time events by renting out Lehman Auditorium, the gymnasium, dorm buildings, or other facilities. Some traveling groups simply need to use the dorms for one night, or some performing groups, such as Rockingham Ballet Theater, may need Lehman Auditorium for a few shows.

91短视频 serves Augusta County Public Schools by renting out the University Commons for the graduation ceremonies of four county high schools. Over the course of two days, 8,000-10,000 people pass through the Commons to attend these graduations.

91短视频聽rolls on too

The main 91短视频-sponsored events after spring graduation ceremonies are the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, Summer Preparatory Music Program, the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, the Interfaith Peace Camp for children, Adult Degree Completion Program classes, and the Summer Institute for Spiritual Formation. This year, especially, construction workers are on campus, updating and remodeling the Suter Science Center and renovating Roselawn into office and classroom spaces.

Veurink points out that 91短视频 hopping over the summer is 鈥渁 matter of stewardship 鈥� by using your facilities you generate revenue.鈥� If 91短视频 didn鈥檛 invite others to use the campus, it would be wasting the potential of the campus. The revenues, which hit an all-time high gross of approximately $600,000 in 2012, says Veurink, support 91短视频鈥檚 general fund. More than that, many of these groups form intimate connections with the 91短视频 community, as about 80% of the groups are returning groups. Veurink described the connection by saying that 鈥渢hey kind of become like family to us.鈥�

Groundskeeping staff聽 鈥� including up to six full-time work-study students 鈥撀燾ontinue to pull weeds, mow lawns, care for trees, plant flowers and edible landscaping, repair buildings, and perform general maintenance. In the words of grounds supervisor , 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like the grass takes a break.鈥� Work-study student Shay Whetzel says he enjoys getting to the end of the hard day鈥檚 work, then realizing he helped make the campus 鈥渓ook amazing.鈥�

Other vital contributors include library staffers who take care of one of the best places to study, housekeeping crew members who make sure the facilities stay clean, and dining hall workers who take care of the people taking care of everything else. All these groups have student workers to help out while caring for each other, the campus, and the events that visit the campus.

, with three full-time and eight work-study and/or temporary employees, handles the events that use the 91短视频 campus by coordinating with leaders, communicating with various departments, setting up furniture for use, and making sure everything needed by a visiting group is available.

鈥淲e stay extremely busy over the summer,鈥� says , assistant director for auxiliary services. Generally speaking, he says 91短视频 hosts three kinds of large events, as well as a number of small events. The large events include church, youth, and athletic groups. Churches come to campus for meetings, retreats, and conferences. Youth groups come to worship and learn. Athletic groups come to practice and learn using 91短视频鈥檚 equipment and fields. Many of these events go on for days at a time, so visiting groups must use the dorm buildings.

Blue Ridge Running Camp is largest

The largest athletic event is , involving 40 to 50 coaches from NCAA Division I, II and III schools across the country. The biggest church group is , involving several Apostolic churches from across the Eastern United States and Canada. These two groups, with populations reaching several hundred each, run back to back.

Auxiliary services prepares for Apostolic Eastern Camp to fill every single dorm room for a week in July, and then spends the weekend afterwards preparing the rooms again for Blue Ridge Running Camp. This weekend might be the most stressful time on campus during the summer.

The largest youth event is a summer camp held by , a Baptist group that involves several youth groups. This event runs early in July.

The events calendar linked to the auxiliary services section of 91短视频鈥檚 website lists 32 major events running from the first of May to the ninth of August this year.

Outside of church, youth, and athletic events, 91短视频 serves family reunions, wedding receptions, travelers, and other one-time events by renting out Lehman Auditorium, the gymnasium, dorm buildings, or other facilities. Some traveling groups simply need to use the dorms for one night, or some performing groups, such as , may need Lehman Auditorium for a few shows.

Site of four Augusta school graduations

91短视频 serves Augusta County Public Schools by renting out the University Commons for the graduation ceremonies of four county high schools. Over the course of two days, 8,000-10,000 people pass through the Commons to attend these graduations.

The main 91短视频-sponsored events after spring graduation ceremonies are the , , the , classes, and the . This year, especially, construction workers are on campus, and renovating Roselawn into office and classroom spaces.

Veurink points out that 91短视频 hopping over the summer is 鈥渁 matter of stewardship 鈥� by using your facilities you generate revenue.鈥� If 91短视频 didn鈥檛 invite others to use the campus, it would be wasting the potential of the campus. The revenues, which hit an all-time high gross of approximately $600,000 in 2012, says Veurink, support 91短视频鈥檚 general fund. More than that, many of these groups form intimate connections with the 91短视频 community, as about 80 percent of the groups are returning groups. Veurink described the connection by saying that 鈥渢hey kind of become like family to us.鈥�

brought some 2,000 bicycling enthusiasts to “The Friendly City” as part of a five-day tour that began Friday evening, June 25, in Staunton, 25 miles to the south.

, a nonprofit organization that promotes bicycle and pedestrian safety, runs the annual tour.

Cyclists head out Park Road to byways of Rockingham and Shenandoah counties.

“This was a fun ride, not a race,” said Brenda Black, manager of Harrisonburg Tourism and Visitor Services in Harrisonburg. “The tour is designed as a recreational event, not fast-pace line riding. Cyclists came in all sizes, shapes and ages.”

Black noted that Bike Virginia travels the Commonwealth in cycles — “no pun intended.” Their last ride through Harrisonburg and Rockingham County was in 2004.

While many of the cyclists stayed in hotels throughout the area, between 850-950 took up residence Monday and Tuesday in a “Tent City” that stretched across the campus of 91短视频.

More than 900 Bike Virginia participants turned the 91短视频 campus into “Tent City” for two night’s lodging. (Lindsey Kolb)

Departing from 91短视频 both days, bikers selected from a variety of “loop routes” of varying degrees of difficulty and rode throughout the scenic, rolling countrysides of Rockingham and Shenandoah counties.

Cyclists were invited to visit the downtown area, take guided walking tours and attend open houses at the with refreshments.

Monday night, held an event billed as “Bike Bash in the Burg” to showcase the downtown area for riders and community members. The celebration, which featured a welcome from , food and a concert by “Everyday People,” took place on the grassy lot near the on S. Liberty St.

Emily (l.), a first time Bike Virginia participant from Gainesville, Fla., reviews the day’s bike route with Jackie, from Norfolk, Va.

May group members ate breakfast and evening meals June 28-29 at 91短视频. They held a talent show in Lehman Auditorium and watched an exclusive screening of Stephen Auerbach’s award-winning film, .

Wednesday, the bikers returned to Staunton for a finish line celebration.

“Overall, the event went well, considering how many people we hosted on campus,” said Lynn A. Veurink, assistant director of at 91短视频. “It was rather chaotic at first, as people set up tents in the first shady locations they could find rather than checking in, but once we worked that out, things seemed to go quite smoothly. Our facilities, especially the University Commons, got a workout, and number of people expressed appreciation for 91短视频‘s hospitality.”

Bike Virginia estimated the event brought $3.1 million dollars in economic benefit to the area.