Scroll down to the end for an embedded video of the convocation.

Plus, watch the video below

Campus felt warmer than usual on Monday morning, and it wasn鈥檛 just because of the sunshine. The music was bumping, the bubble machine was set to max, and positive vibes were in full swing. Faculty and staff members lined the pathway in front of Lehman Auditorium, holding signs and cheering as students arrived for Opening Convocation.

The annual ceremony serves as the traditional kickoff to the school year. Judging by the excitement on Monday morning, this year is sure to be bursting with energy and enthusiasm.

Keep scrolling for snapshots of the music, engaging speakers, and words of wisdom from Opening Convocation 2025!

Students received a hero鈥檚 welcome as they made their way into Lehman Auditorium for the ceremony. There were plenty of hugs and high-fives to go around!

As faculty and staff processed into Lehman as per tradition, they were treated to rhythmic djembe drumming led by Makinto, an Eastern Mennonite Seminary student and globetrotting musician. The talented multi-instrumentalist and worship leader energized the audience, leading everyone in a lively call-and-response of 鈥渨alk in peace,鈥� 鈥渢ogether we can,鈥� 鈥渁nd unity,鈥� and 鈥淓-M-U.鈥�

Members of the 91短视频 Chamber Singers, directed by Dr. Benjamin Bergey, lifted their voices together in a flawless rendition of the hymn, 鈥淭he Unclouded Day.鈥� Earlier this summer, the choir performed at venues across Europe and represented North America at the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism celebration in Z眉rich. 

Those attending Opening Convocation got a special treat as Dr. David Berry, director of the music program at 91短视频, debuted a new, rockin鈥� song written just for the occasion. Berry lit up the piano and delivered some fiery rap verses, while adjunct music instructors Jonah Barnett (guitar) jammed out on electric guitar and Tabatha Parrott (contemporary voice) wowed with her powerhouse vocals. 

Dr. Tynisha Willingham, provost and vice president of academic affairs at 91短视频, provided words of welcome and introduced the university theme for the year ahead. 鈥淔or those of you who are first-year students, you鈥檙e stepping into a world of endless possibilities, new friendships, and academic challenges. But you don鈥檛 have to do it alone because we do this thing at 91短视频 together,鈥� she said. 鈥溾�� 鈥楾ogether鈥� is a word you鈥檙e going to hear, see, and, I hope, feel in your mind. We will learn together, we will serve together, we will compete together, and, this year, we will sustain together.鈥�

Seniors Maria Longenecker and Leah Frankenfield, who are serving as Student Government Association co-presidents this year, introduced themselves and encouraged students to express their concerns. 鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e committed to making sure each student feels that their voice matters and is heard on campus,鈥� said Longenecker. 鈥淲e strive to support all students, including our multicultural, athletic, international, commuter, first-gen, and everyone in between.鈥�

Claire Hurst, a third-year environmental science and public health major who spent the summer as a climate advocacy intern through the 91短视频 Washington Semester, shared her experiences and spoke on the importance of environmental sustainability. At its core, she said, environmental sustainability is about using resources in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

鈥淔or me, a passion for the natural world has grown from countless summer nights camping under tall pine trees and Sunday afternoon hikes filled with laughter among friends and family. It feels natural to want to protect and give back to the places that have provided me such joy and fulfillment,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s we begin this fall semester, I encourage you all to think about how you connect and engage with our everyday spaces. 鈥� Anything that allows you to appreciate the environment will translate into wanting to protect it.鈥�

The Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus used the Opening Convocation, her first as 91短视频鈥檚 interim president, to talk about trees. She invited the members of the 91短视频 learning community to imagine themselves as trees and their lives together as a forest. She spoke about the interconnected root systems deep underground that anchor trees and absorb water and nutrients, the methods trees use to communicate stress and share resources, and the many ways they work in unison to sustain the forest as a whole鈥攏ot just themselves.

鈥淔orests don鈥檛 thrive because each tree is the tallest or the strongest; they flourish because they are connected.鈥� she said. 鈥�91短视频, we are a living forest, rooted in shared values and branching toward new possibilities. Every one of us鈥攕tudents, faculty, staff鈥攂rings something essential to this ecosystem.鈥�

Thank you to everyone who helped make Opening Convocation a spirited success, and we are excited to 鈥淪ustain Together鈥� this year!

鈥淭he class of 2018 is the most racially, ethnically, and nationally diverse incoming class in the history of 91短视频,鈥� 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 鈥渆nriches our shared life as a community of learning.鈥� He lamented the examples in the United States and elsewhere in the world where 鈥減eople have been destroying each other rather than embracing diversity and welcoming the stranger.鈥� He pointed to Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, and Ferguson, Missouri, as examples of this.

Underscoring the Christian foundation of 91短视频 Kniss said, 鈥淲e 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. 鈥�

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 鈥� that is, until he married a woman from a 鈥淛ohn Deere family.鈥�

Both Kniss and Swartzendruber were carrying forward ideas that , 91短视频鈥檚 vice president for enrollment, has promoted in speeches and in writing since he became a member of the president鈥檚 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鈥檚 words, this 鈥渋mpedes the personal struggle and conscious thought that are so important for identity development.鈥�

This year鈥檚 convocation expanded on a theme introduced in the, when university leaders 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. The talks given at this year’s convocation can be heard via podcast .

“The story of the Good Samaritan reminds us that those who serve most effectively are not typically the most respected among us, nor do they often come from the ranks of those with obvious power,” said Swartzendruber. “Servant leaders are those who frequently did not seek leadership roles but act out of deeply held values which are often then noticed by others.”

Swartzendruber linked his message to several alumni who have made an impact as servant leaders across the world, including: , a 2007 graduate of and a ; Eliza Barnhart Burkholder, a 2009 nursing graduate who received the first in Harrisonburg; , a 2007 graduate and DREAM Act advocate; and , a 2007 graduate who is leading an environmental effort in Borneo to stop palm oil producers from taking over the rain forest, among others.

In distinguishing 91短视频 from its peers as a “Christian university like no other,” Swartzendruber noted its diverse program base.

“There are five Mennonite colleges in the U.S. and 91短视频 is the only one that embodies a seminary, a Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, a , and with the advent of the new this fall, a total of ,” said Swartzendruber.

91短视频 also includes an to prepare non-native speakers for futher academic study and a popular .

In closing, Swartzendruber issued a promise to students that an education at 91短视频 is more than just a one-way “dissemination of information” that can be found on podcasts and mass lectures.

“Our promise is that for your tuition payments, you will have every opportunity to become an educated person, one who will be prepared to serve and lead in a global context. And we will fulfill that promise by seeking to be ‘like no other.'”

Cross-cultural sending

The convocation closed with a commissioning for students who left campus Wednesday on fall semester cross-cultural seminar to New Zealand and .

, professor of , and his wife Kathy, will lead a group of 22 students to New Zealand to explore the variety of sustainability issues facing the island country.

The program will have two themes鈥攃ultural and environmental. The cultural studies will center on homestays and the book, 鈥淭he Sociology of Everyday Life in New Zealand.鈥� They will spend time in urban and rural areas, focusing on specific environmental issues and applying them to their particular interests and fields of study.

The majority of the stay will be in the mountainous and agricultural environments of the South Island.

The South Africa and Lesotho group, led by Harlan de Brun, instructor in physical education and recreation, and assisted by 91短视频 alumni Denay Fuglie and Kelsey Yoder, will study the values and norms of South African culture, learn about the African Independent Church movement, do elementary Sesotho language study and focus on community development and projects with particular attention given to AIDS issues.

The group of 21 students will read, hear lectures and journal about the history and culture of Southern Africa, including the Apartheid era and how religious beliefs affected government policy. They return to campus Dec. 5.

鈥楽henandoah Welcome鈥�

Returning students, faculty and staff gave new members of the 91短视频 community a traditional 鈥淪henandoah Welcome鈥� as they wended their way through a human 鈥渢unnel鈥� of smiling faces and clapping hands accompanied by Appalachian bluegrass music.

91短视频鈥檚 fall semester ends Dec. 14.

(President Swartzendruber speaks at 12:50)

In addition, there will be a time of sending for the New Zealand and South Africa & Lesotho cross-cultural groups at the end of the service.

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.