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短视频’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短视频 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短视频. Snyder, who holds a doctorate in American and Victorian literature from the University of Oregon, came to 91短视频 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短视频 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短视频’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短视频 during this interim period.”

A native of Harrisburg, Oregon, Snyder attended 91短视频 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.

“One of the most important tasks of the [91短视频 and MEA] boards is the appointment of a president,” said MEA board chair Judy Miller. “The charge to the committee is to create a presidential position profile informed by multiple perspectives including existing statements of strategic direction for the university. The committee will review the position profile with both the 91短视频 and MEA boards and promote the position in order to generate a broad range of candidates. Committee work will culminate in recommendation of a candidate of choice to the 91短视频 and MEA boards.”

Andy Dula, president of the 91短视频 Board of Trustees, said, “I am grateful for the diversity of life experiences and perspectives represented by this committee. I am confident that the search committee, led by trustee Evon Bergey, will recommend a president ideally suited for leading and expanding 91短视频’s mission to educate students to serve and lead in the global context.”

The committee includes:

• Evon Bergey, current 91短视频 board member and chair of the search committee, Perkasie, Pennsylvania. Bergey is Vice President, Operations Public Sector, .
• Shana Peachey Boshart, 91短视频 board member, Wellman, Iowa. Boshart is conference minister for Christian formation, youth ministry, congregational resources and communications for .
• Steve Brenneman, founder and CEO of , Goshen, Indiana. Brenneman is a graduate of 91短视频 and parent of an incoming 91短视频 student. Brenneman previously served on the board of and as an 91短视频 associate trustee.
• Hannah Chappell-Dick, 91短视频 student, Bluffton, Ohio. This fall, Chappell-Dick will be a senior in the 91短视频 Honors Program with a major in biology.
• , PhD., professor at 91短视频 and former academic dean, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Heisey served as president of Mennonite World Conference from 2003-2009.
• Basil Marin, MEA board member, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Marin is a graduate of . He serves as a pastor for , a member congregation of .
• Cedric A. Moore, Jr., chief executive officer of the , Richmond, Virginia. Moore is an 91短视频 graduate and serves as vice-president of the 91短视频 Alumni Council.
• J. Richard Thomas, superintendent of , Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Thomas is a former 91短视频 board member and former moderator for .
• , PhD., 91短视频 professor of , Harrisonburg, Virginia. Sawin is the director of the 91短视频 Honors Program and serves as a member of the Regional Chapters Committee of the American Studies Association.
• Roy Williams, MEA board member, Tampa, Florida. Williams is a retired bank executive, the pastor of and former moderator of Mennonite Church USA.
• Carlos Romero, executive director of Mennonite Education Agency, Goshen, Indiana. Romero is an ex-officio member of the search committee.

The Presidential Search Committee is responsible to both the 91短视频 board and the MEA board. “The 10 search committee members, selected by MEA and 91短视频 board with faculty and student nominations were selected to ensure a wide representation of the voice of the stakeholders,” said Evon Bergey, chair of the search committee. “The committee will work to discern the leadership needs for 91短视频, keeping closely in mind the unique contributions that 91短视频 as a church institution has made – past, present and future – to the church, the local community and the world.”

Carlos Romero, executive director of MEA and ex-officio member of the search committee, said, “I believe the committee is well-equipped to search for and recommend a president for 91短视频 who will help lead the institution into the future. The breadth of experience and deep commitment to 91短视频 and Mennonite Church USA is a precious gift that each of the committee members brings to the endeavor.” Romero noted that at the first meeting in July, the committee will lay the groundwork for the search process and refine the presidential profile.

Editor’s note: Anne Kaufman Weaver ’88 was added to the committee after publication of this article. Weaver is from Brownstown, Pennsylvania, and works as a leadership coach with Coaching Connection. Weaver has served, along with her husband, Dr. Todd Weaver, on the Science Campaign Steering Committee. She will graduate in 2016 with a master’s in divinity from Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

The November 2013 board decision to suspend personnel actions related to the current hiring policy will remain in effect as discernment continues.

In offering his public appreciation to and his leadership team, Andy Dula, chair of the 91短视频 Board of Trustees, said, “I am proud to be part of 91短视频, a university where contentious issues can be engaged with mutual respect and with Christian discernment and compassion. We are extremely grateful for President Swartzendruber’s leadership during this challenging time.”

“The process was consistent with how the church engages in discernment around difficult issues,” said Carlos Romero, executive director of .

The president’s cabinet invited a wide range of constituents – including students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, church leaders – to fill out survey forms giving their views on the hiring policy. “More than 7,000 people responded to our survey,” according to BJ Miller, director of institutional research.

In addition, 20 “dialogue sessions,” including approximately 300 individuals on campus, were held. At least one president’s cabinet member was present at each session to listen and anonymously report perspectives to the rest of the cabinet. The president and cabinet members also engaged leaders across the church.

“The listening process was extremely valuable in enabling the president’s cabinet to gain a deeper understanding of the range of feelings, hopes and fears about extending university employment to persons in same-sex covenanted relationships,” added Dula.

“Based on this feedback, we acknowledge that the church is currently engaged in extensive discernment over human sexuality. We wish to honor our relationship with the church by not taking a final action now on changing 91短视频’s hiring policy.”

According to Swartzendruber, “We solicited feedback through the listening process, not because it is a democratic process but because we felt it was important to hear from those who care deeply about 91短视频.”

Swartzendruber confirmed that views proved to be highly divergent and often passionate, regardless of the stance. “We never expected to see consensus on this matter,” said Swartzendruber. “We were hoping for respectful dialog, and indeed this is what we saw within our university community. Internally there was a consistent theme of wanting to maintain unity in spite of our diversity on these and other important issues.

“91短视频’s role as a university is to grapple with the difficult questions of our time,” he said. “From the beginning, we bathed this process in prayer, seeking God’s guidance. We also received encouragement from numerous church leaders and members to stay engaged with the Mennonite Church as we wrestle with these questions.”

Dula said the board has no definite timetable for making a final hiring policy decision. “Many of us from 91短视频 will participate in the Mennonite Church USA’s continuing discussions on human sexuality – we’ll consider what emerges in the wider church in making our plans,” he said.

The board’s official statement, passed by a strong majority vote on June 20, 2014:

We reaffirm 91短视频’s mission—to prepare students to serve and lead in a diverse global society—and 91短视频’s role as a university that fully engages the difficult questions of our time and welcomes diverse perspectives and experiences into the conversation. Out of respect for 91短视频’s relationship with Mennonite Church USA and its ongoing discernment of human sexuality, we defer action on formally changing 91短视频’s policy on hiring employees in covenanted same-sex relationships. The November 2013 board decision to suspend personnel actions related to the current hiring policy will remain in effect as the discernment process continues.

In their kick-off convocation remarks for the 2013-14 school year, the top leaders of 91短视频 stressed the importance of embracing each other within the 91短视频 community, appreciating the gifts and diversity that each student, staffer and faculty member brings to this community of mutual learners.

Addressing a capacity crowd of 900 in Lehman Auditorium on Aug. 28, declared “you belong at 91短视频” as a curtain-raiser for remarks by and Carlos Romero, executive director of , the oversight board for 91短视频 and other church-affiliated educational institutions.

“Whoever you are, student, faculty, or staff – whatever knowledge, wisdom, and experience you bring – you belong at this table, you are welcome in this community, your voice is needed in our conversation,” said Kniss.

He said that love is the most basic characteristic of God, “a God who welcomes the stranger, a God who tells each of us ‘you belong.’

“Thank you, each one of you, for joining this community and for contributing your gifts to our mutual quest, a great adventure we call ‘learning,’” Kniss said.

Romero, who was born in Puerto Rico and has spent years in Mennonite Church roles fostering intercultural competency and the dismantling of racism, introduced Swartzendruber as an educational leader with a remarkable track record, including the last 10 years at the helm of 91短视频.

Swartzendruber opened with a personal example of a way that individuals can be made to feel different, as if they don’t completely “belong.” His parents raised three sons, with Swartzendruber being the first-born and the youngest also being their biological child. The middle son was adopted and did not physically resemble his older and younger brothers, which people sometimes thoughtlessly commented upon.

“In a certain kind of way each of us is adopted into this particular community we call 91短视频,” said Swartzendruber. “And every one of us has a deep yearning to belong. The question is, How can each of us behave in such a way as to extend ‘belonging’ to each other?”

The answer, said Swartzendruber, is to apply any version of the “Golden Rule” that is advocated by the major religions of the world.

In Christianity, the rule is stated in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Using PowerPoint slides, Swartzendruber put up quotations with a similar message from the traditions of Judaism, Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

In some instances, the sentiment was approached from the point of view of the other person, as in “Don’t cause someone to feel pain that you would not want to feel yourself.”

As is the custom at 91短视频, convocation also marked an emotional send-off for groups heading overseas for their required cross-cultural study experience. A group of 20 heading to Spain and Morocco and a group of 16 going to China were dispatched with prayers for safe travels and a transformational experience.

New students, faculty and staff were given 91短视频’s traditional “Shenandoah Welcome,” in which they walked between two rows of hand-clapping community members, as Appalachian bluegrass music played over a loudspeaker.

The 16-member governing body authorized the administration to proceed with planning and fundraising for the construction of new laboratory space and upgrade of 91短视频

Hear Jim Bishop read this essay.

“91短视频 – Bluffton baseball game cancelled.”

This notice in small type on the Saturday calendar of my local newspaper might normally attract little notice.

But on this occasion, the words jumped out at me as a jarring reminder that what should have been a celebrative, albeit competitive, time of fun in the Florida sun instead denoted a bleak, horrific reality.

For the previous 24 hours, stories had emerged non-stop from Atlanta, Ga., of the Friday morning crash of a charter bus carrying 35 passengers from Bluffton (Ohio) University to Florida. The accident left luggage, sports equipment and bodies scattered across lanes of I-75. The bus was en route to Sarasota, Fla., to play 91短视频 (91短视频) in a baseball double-header the next day.

Four players, the bus driver and his wife were killed, and many others were injured, some critically. Many members of the 91短视频 community immediately became part of the story, not only because the schools were about to face each other in baseball, but because 91短视频 and Bluffton are sister Mennonite universities, with shared values and multiple family connections.

91短视频 baseball captain Jameson Jarvis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “This should help show each and every individual we’re not promised tomorrow . . . We’re not promised 10 minutes from now.” He showed the newspaper reporter the rim of his baseball hat where he wears Psalms 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”

Yet who of those who boarded that bus, thought this would be their last road trip on planet Earth? Why were certain ones taken while others walked away more emotionally than physically scarred?

It’s at such times, as puzzling, seemingly unfair and devastating as they are, that human beings have opportunity to exhibit their full potential, experience their finest hour. The outpouring of empathy and support has been incredible, from AirTran’s offer of free transportation to flowers and messages left at the site of the accident.

Statements of solidarity were quickly issued by sister Mennonite school Goshen (Ind.) College, from Mennonite Education Agency and Mennonite Church USA. Campus ministries staff at 91短视频 sent resource materials to Bluffton, Ohio, and to Sarasota, Fla., for use in grief services held there, while persons from the Mennonite community in Atlanta moved in to assist medical personnel with aid and comfort.

Third-cousin Johnny Crist, lead pastor of the Atlanta Vineyard congregation who attended Eastern Mennonite Seminary in the mid 1970s, was the first clergy person to arrive at the hospital caring for the majority of the casualties.

“I was able to tend to and pray with nearly all the injured players,” Johnny told me in an e-mail. “Later Friday afternoon, I was asked to join the disaster team at the downtown hotel for police and medical briefings and to care for the arriving families.

“On Saturday, I led the team of the four families who lost their sons to the crash site &mdash a moving experience. I prayed with all the families there. Later, I escorted two of the victim’s parents and families to view their son’s bodies at a local funeral home, likely the most difficult day of their lives. Again, they asked me to pray with them at the bedsides of the deceased.”

At a March 4 church service in a Sarasota Mennonite church attended by 91短视频’s baseball team and many more mourners, 91短视频 President Loren Swartzendruber said, “It is possible to embrace a theology that celebrates the presence of God in every moment and experience of life, without believing that God causes such tragedies.

“We are fully human, and we live in a world that is far from perfect. We get sick. We get old, and some have the good fortune to get older than others,” said Dr. Swartzendruber. “We are victims of others’ mistakes.”

But, he added, “the words of Romans 8 should always be in our repertoire of responses &mdash ‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'”

Among the things that keep me committed to an Anabaptist-Mennonite understanding of faith and practice is the priority given to demonstrating caring and community &mdash being priests at each other’s elbow, if you will &mdash that permeates who we are as a people and makes me “proud” to be a member of this “minority group” within the larger Christian landscape. We may not have a corner on this quality, but it is one of our basic convictions.

In the wake of this and other crises that persons around us are facing, may we all rededicate ourselves to weep with those who weep, mourn with those who mourn and, yes, laugh with those who laugh.

As President Swartzendruber has said on several occasions &mdash “A community that cannot laugh together will never know how to cry together.”

This is indeed a time to cry as many pick up the pieces. And, farther on down the road, there will again be laughter.

———-
Jim Bishop is public information officer at 91短视频.

The president of 91短视频 was about to give a welcoming address at the opening convocation of second semester Wednesday morning, Jan. 10.

But before that happened, the chair of the 91短视频 board of trustees, Susan E. Godshall, came to the podium and gave Loren Swartzendruber an official “call” to a second four-year term of office. That term will begin July 1, 2007.

“I’m pleased to announce that Loren Swartzendruber has accepted reappointment to a second term as 91短视频 president,” Godshall told the assembly. “We are grateful for his leadership and vision, for his deep commitment to God, the church and Anabaptist understandings, for his effective relationships within the 91短视频 community and with a wide constituency off campus, for his advocacy of 91短视频 and Mennonite education, for his leadership in finance and fundraising, for his collaborative approach to work and for his sense of humor to lighten the load,” she said.

“Loren, may God, who has called you to this task, provide you with joy and strength in it,” Godshall added, as the audience gave an ovation.

Strong Affirmation at Review

The 91短视频 trustees and the board of directors of Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) formed a presidential review committee last spring in the third year of Swartzendruber’s first term. Drawing from some 184 responses from across the church, the committee reported strong affirmation for the president’s leadership.

Swartzendruber became 91短视频’s eighth president on Jan. 1, 2004 and was inaugurated on Mar. 27 that year. Before that, he served 10 years as president of Hesston College, a two-year Mennonite school in Hesston, Kan.

The Kalona, Iowa, native earned a bachelor of arts degree in liberal arts at 91短视频 in 1976 and served as an associate director of admissions at 91短视频 and par-time associate campus pastor. He received a master of divinity degree from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in 1979 and a doctor of ministry degree in church leadership in 2000 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Ordained to the Christian ministry in 1975, he was pastor of Salford Mennonite Church, Harleysville, Pa., 1978-83, then served 10 years as associate executive secretary of the former Mennonite Board of Education, now Mennonite Education Agency.

Swartzendruber focused his convocation remarks on the words of Micah 6:8, which appears in the university’s mission statement.

‘Right Living’ Includes Worship

“Micah’s call to ‘walk humbly with God’ is consistent with other Old Testament texts and with the words of Jesus and others in the New Testament,” he said. “It’s impossible to segregate authentic worship from faithful living. It’s also the reality that ‘right living’ – doing justice, loving mercy – cannot long be sustained without engaging in acts of worship.

“At 91短视频, we dare to declare that the purpose of this education is to equip every graduate to serve others,” Swartzendruber stated. “The essential question that should dominate our inquiry and our interactions with others is not, ‘who am I”?, important as that is in the maturation process.

“The more transformative questions are, ‘Who is God and what is God calling me – and us – to be?'”

Brian Martin Burkholder, campus pastor, leads a prayer for the 91短视频 cross-cultural groups who will spend second semester in study seminars in India and Guatemala and Mexico. Photo by Jim Bishop

The president noted that commencement is less than four months away, and that many in the audience will receive an undergraduate or graduate degree from the university on that special occasion.

“From there, you will scatter across the globe, not as completed, fully formed seekers of God, but to join the nearly 16,000 other alumni as people on a journey – to continue walking humbly with God,” Swartzendruber said.

The convocation ended with a prayer of commissioning for two student groups who will leave campus later this week for semester-long cross-cultural study programs. Kim G. Brenneman, associate professor of psychology, and husband Bob Brenneman are leading 24 students to India. Don Clymer, assistant professor in the language and literature department, and wife Esther Clymer are leading 20 students to Guatemala and Mexico.

The 91短视频 board of trustees spent a portion of their fall meeting, Nov. 11-12, focusing on that perplexing question with the aid of Van Yahres Associates, a Charlottesville, Va., architectural firm.

Using a Powerpoint presentation on "the anatomy of a campus," Mike Van Yahres, colleague Syd Knight and Sam Jones of Troyer and Associates, designers of the campus master plan, identified the key planning components as: a recognizable entrance, identifiable centers, definite edges, organized circulation (parking), efficient maintenance and simplicity of design.

Architects Mike Van Yahres (standing) and Syd Knight introduce key considerations in designing a welcome entrance to the 91短视频 campus. Designing entranceways to schools and other institutions is the firm’s speciality.
Photos by Jim Bishop

Although the board’s discussion centered around where to create a main entrance, the other components factor heavily into that planning.

A successful entrance provides an "ah-ha" moment to visitors, engages the center of campus, is welcoming – often including admissions’ interests – and anticipates long-term growth and change, the architects said.

Board members raised questions about the city’s plans for roads surrounding the campus, the university’s relationship to other campuses such as Eastern Mennonite High School and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community EMHS and 91短视频’s long-term plan for purchasing surrounding buildings.

Suggestions from the board included the need for "ample and convenient parking" as well as "capitalizing on the beautiful view available from certain areas on campus."

The architects also noted that 91短视频 has enough land area to grow "by more than a third of its current population" over the long term.

"This is a 50 to 100-year decision, and we want to proceed carefully but expeditiously," 91短视频 said. "We will plan several meetings in late spring to engage faculty, staff and students in discussions about the options for an entranceway and welcome center."

In trustees’ actions, the board approved a revised final operating budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year of $24.6 million, a 4.5 percent increase over last year. The budget calls for contributions of $1.75 million to the by June 30, 2006 and includes $4,947,000 earmarked for student financial aid.

The board also gave the administration authority to increase tuition "not less than 5 percent and not more than 8 percent" for the 2006-07 year and approved a $600 increase in room and board. The room and board hike "will still place 91短视频 in a lower category than many peer schools currently charge," a board member noted.

Susan Godshall, chair of the 91短视频 board of trustees, confers with Carlos Romero of Mennonite Education Agency between sessions.
Photo by Jim Bishop

The board recessed to attend an 91短视频 chapel service and heard Carlos Romero, executive secretary of the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA), speak on how small the world is becoming and the changing demographics that are transforming schools and communities.

"Different cultures come with different unwritten rules," Romero said. He gave this example: His mother always instructed her children to not clean their plate lest the host think that she was an unfit mother who didn’t feed her family. He then contrasted that with the family who thinks if you DON’T clean your plate you are wasting food when there is so much hunger in the world.

"The heart of understanding comes when we can make the unwritten rules and expectations of various cultures clear," Romero told the assembly. "Grace in understanding is our call when it comes to cross-cultural relationships and in becoming the church God wants us to be.

"Deep in my heart I do believe in the goodness of people," he said. "I do believe in the power of Christ in our relationships."

Carlos Romero, executive director of this churchwide ministry, says, "The church’s commitment to racial/ethnic education remains strong. And young people want to learn and to prepare to serve the church. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a giving deficit continues. We are unable to take on new students. We must turn people away from programs that have the potential to change lives."

MEA administers Racial/Ethnic Leadership Education (RELE) programs on behalf of the church. These programs — operated in partnership with African-American Mennonite Association, Iglesia Menonita Hispana, Native Mennonite Ministries, 91短视频, Goshen College and Hesston College — have struggled with funding deficits in recent years.

This story from , who was supported in her education through RELE’s LARK (Leaders Aspiring to Receive Knowledge) Scholarship Program, illustrates how RELE and the church’s congregations and educational institutions work together to build leaders:

"I remember the article that I wrote for LARK News after I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in social work from 91短视频 in 1997. It was titled, ‘God Has a Plan!’ I quoted my favorite scripture from Jeremiah 29:11, ‘For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’

"Today I say these words again with even more confidence, trust and unwavering faith … God has a plan!

"After graduating from 91短视频, I continued to serve as a resident director and graduate assistant in the office. I implemented and facilitated programs for the campus community that addressed the importance of diversity, racial understanding and reconciliation. I also led the peer mentoring program and a support group for women of color.

"In 1998 I returned to New York and served as the worship leader and cabinet chairperson at my church, Seventh Avenue Mennonite. I was accepted into the Advance Standing Program at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Work, and also began working full time at Marymount College, an all-women’s college in Tarrytown, New York. This experience was a true blessing.

"In 2000, I graduated from Fordham with a master’s in social work. I then started work at Edwin Gould Academy in Chestnut Ridge, New York, a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed adolescents from New York City.

"This experience was my biggest challenge and my greatest reward. The Lord strengthened my ministry and used me to lead each and every one of the girls in my house to accept Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. The painful stories of their lives and families that I heard over and over again during our group counseling sessions was sometimes horrific, overwhelming and too much to bear.

"Through the difficult times I remembered that God said in Isaiah 61, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to comfort all that mourn, to give unto them the beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.’

"God had a plan for these girls!

"In 2002, I served at New York Foundling Hospital in the South Bronx as a social work supervisor for special needs children and youth in foster care. I strove to make a positive difference and show the love of Christ in a system that sometimes seemed uncaring and cruel.

"In July of 2003, God brought me full circle; back to serve at 91短视频 as director of Multicultural Services. Through this position, I have the opportunity to assist and empower AHANA (African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American) students to succeed at 91短视频 academically, socially and spiritually and to make a positive difference as student leaders. I also am blessed to continue the mission to encourage diversity on campus and provide a bridge of reconciliation, faith, truth and hope.

"As I reflect on my many experiences since 1997, I give thanks to my home congregation, Seventh Avenue Mennonite Church, and to LARK Scholarship Program for all of the support throughout my undergraduate and graduate education. I was able to be well equipped and empowered to step out on faith, reach my goals and fulfill the vision that God has for my life.

"I pray that through your continued support, many others like me will be given the chance to make a difference in their communities, become equipped to fulfill their purpose and show the light and love of God wherever they go. May the plan of the Lord prevail as we believe in faith for his provisions!"

Romero said this is a moment of great promise and opportunity for racial/ethnic education in the church. "But even as we prepare for the future, we face today’s funding needs."

If you wish to give to racial/ethnic education in Mennonite Church USA, please contact MEA at 63846 County Road 35, Suite 1, Goshen, IN 46528-9621; info@MennoniteEducation.org; 866-866-2872 (toll free).