Eastern Mennonite University
Encyclopedia
Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) is a private liberal arts university in the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia, affiliated with one of the historic peace churches
, the Mennonite Church USA
. Its 97 acres (392,545.4 m²) main campus is on the edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Virginia
, about three miles from state-owned James Madison University
. EMU also has a satellite site in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, which caters to working adults in that region.
Worldwide, EMU is probably best known for its Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), especially its graduate program in conflict transformation
. CJP has educated and trained more than 3,000 people from 119 countries. CJP's founding director, John Paul Lederach
, and its expert in restorative justice
, Howard Zehr
, are considered to be international leaders in the fields of peace and justice. In October of 2011, CJP alumna Leymah Gbowee
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
.
Half of EMU's undergraduate students do not come from Mennonite
backgrounds, though the majority are Christian. EMU's graduate students represent a diversity of faiths, as exemplified by the mini-bios on Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu alumni posted on EMU's website. About 57 percent of EMU's undergrads are from out of state (32 states; 21 countries), and 19 percent are persons of color, non-U.S. origins, or minority ethnicity.
EMU describes itself as a "leader among faith-based institutions" in emphasizing "peacebuilding, creation care, experiential learning, and cross-cultural engagement."
From exclusively serving members of the Mennonite church in the early and mid 1900s, EMU has evolved to educating thousands far beyond its original constituency of “Anabaptists,” a broad term for Mennonites and kindred subscribers to the theology of Anabaptism. EMU and its seminary are affiliated with the Mennonite Education Agency of the Mennonite Church USA, as are five other higher education institutions in Kansas, Indiana and Ohio – Bethel College (Kansas)
, Goshen College
, Bluffton University
, Hesston College
and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
. Of these colleges, only Goshen College has a higher percentage of Mennonite students (53%) than EMU (50%).
, the 16th century leader from whom the term “Mennonite” comes: “True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute and it serves those who harm it. It seeks those who are lost. It binds up what is wounded. It becomes all things to all people.”
These core beliefs are shared by the Anabaptists who belong to the conservative Mennonite streams (including the Old Order, horse-and-buggy-driving groups) – who tend to dress distinctively and to live separately from mainstream society, thus avoiding higher education – as well as those modern Anabaptists who attend EMU and who go on to become physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, lawyers, business people, teachers and other highly educated citizens fully functioning in the larger world. A study of the 80 members of EMU's class of '59 found that three quarters went into three fields of human services – education, social work and health, including 10 who became physicians (comprising one-eighth of the class of '59). Many of the remaining class members did church work. More than 25 percent of the class spent at least one year in work or service assignments outside of the continental United States, most often in the developing world. The countries or regions where they served included: Vietnam
, Nigeria
, Costa Rica
, Puerto Rico
, Honduras
, Korea
, Lithuania
, China
, Colombia
, Egypt
, Belize
, Zambia
, Taiwan
, Ethiopia
, Israel
, Greenland
, Haiti
, Cuba
, East Africa
and Central America
.
– have come to be regarded as leaders on the international relief stage," stated an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 10, 2010. The article described "massive volunteer effort" to ease suffering worldwide, especially in the face of disasters, "despite the fact that there are fewer than 370,000 Mennonites in the United States and only about 1.5 million worldwide."
This culture of service is reflected in the university's mission statement. EMU’s insists on linking peace and social justice – it is home to the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and its mission statement refers to Micah 6:8 on doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. This distinguishes it from most of the other 108 members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, whose mission statements sometimes mention justice but almost never mention peace work. ”It’s no exaggeration to say that the graduate program in conflict transformation epitomizes the mission of EMU as a whole,” reported All-American Colleges in 2006. University president Loren Swartzendruber has said: "We're a people who don't always talk a lot about our faith. But we do put it into action."
of 1964. (The University of Arkansas
also admitted African American students, beginning in 1948.)
In August 2010, a 1991 graduate of EMU, Glen D. Lapp, was among a group of 10 unarmed volunteers with International Assistance Mission
in Afghanistan, who were shot and killed while returning from providing health care in a remote region. "As with many of our alumni around the world, Glen was fulfilling EMU's mission of serving and leading in a global context, which often involves great personal sacrifice," said university president Loren Swartzendruber. Suraya Sadeed – an Afghan-American candidate for EMU's MA degree in conflict transformation and the founder and executive director of Help the Afghan Children – told a newspaper reporter that such murders would not deter her and others from continuing to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
).
EMU's current undergraduate programs include 35 majors, 16 teacher education certification programs, 9 pre-professional programs such as pre-engineering and health sciences, and 4 associate degrees. A relatively new major, digital media arts, focuses on internet, digital video, audio and photography. A popular option at both the Harrisonburg and Lancaster locations is called the Adult Degree Completion Program.
, Guatemala
, South Africa
, India
, Spain
and Morocco
. But some students opt to satisfy the cross-cultural requirement by studying and interning in Washington D.C., while living in EMU-owned housing supervised by faculty members. Others choose individualized alternatives, such as a summer of studying business with an international manufacturer or 11 months of service with the SALT program of Mennonite Central Committee
.
More than 75% of EMU's faculty members have lived in a cross-cultural context. The leaders of EMU-sponsored trips are drawn from the ranks of faculty and staff members who have had extensive experience in the settings to which they are leading students. Since 2001, three EMU faculty members have been Fulbright Scholars.
Students who struggle academically – whether for reasons of native language, learning or physical disability, poor quality of previous schooling, or a combination of reasons – receive free support through EMU's academic support center. "Many students with diverse backgrounds come to the university to pursue their degrees," wrote graduate student Sanjay Pulipaka in 2006 in The Hindu
, a national newspaper in India. "Given their diverse backgrounds," he continued, "there is disparity in the communication skills of the students. Instead of indulging in deprecatory humorous statements about the alleged low standards of incoming students, the university runs an academic support center where the students are provided with various services such as proofreading and editing of their term papers." A young woman hit by a drunk driver – leaving her unable to walk, track with her eyes, retain information in her short-term memory, or write by hand – was able to graduate from EMU after five years, with the help of the academic support center and one-on-one help from faculty members and fellow students. In 2006 Fadi El Hajjar, a blind man from Lebanon
, completed a master's degree in conflict transformation on a Fulbright scholarship, after EMU personnel made it possible for him to learn to walk with a white cane, cook for himself, use an electronic reader, listen to books on tape, dictate his papers for transcribing, and receive support from fellow students.
has been accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada
since 1986. It is approved as an institution for the training of candidates for ordination in the United Methodist Church
, in addition to being approved by the Mennonite Church USA. Students from many branches of Christianity, however, have studied at this seminary.
EMU offers graduate programs, accredited to offer master degrees, in business administration, conflict transformation, counseling, education, and ministry. It is common for graduate students to take courses that cross these disciplinary lines. Extensive summer study programs are available through: EMU's Summer Peacebuilding Institute (four consecutive sessions); Washington Community Scholars' Program; Summer Bridge Scholarship Program, in which EMU collaborates with the National Science Foundation
to offer scholarships for incoming science students to spend a summer working with faculty; a Ministry Inquiry Program in which upper-level students are able to spend 11 weeks as an intern in a congregation; nine-day Summer Institute for Spiritual Formation; graduate-level courses for teachers (i.e., 16 courses offered through the Lancaster site for 2011 and two offered online). The Intensive English Program typically attracts students who need to improve their mastery of spoken and written English before continuing into higher studies at EMU or another American college. Some simply use it to advance in their careers around the globe.
of Virginia. Heading south and east from EMU, a traveler reaches hubs of urban activities in five minutes; heading north and west from EMU, a traveler immediately enters rural farming scenes laced with meandering two-lane roads that may be unpaved.
) to advocate for and practice safe, sustainable and enjoyable cycling on roads, trails, and streets.
& canoeing
, swimming, golfing, hiking
, horseback riding, hunting
& fishing
, spelunking and skiing
& other winter sports at nearby private and public parks and centers, such as Shenandoah National Park
, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
, and Massanutten Four-Season Resort. On campus, students, staff and faculty maintain a greenhouse, an arboretum, and a large vegetable garden.
Indoor recreational possibilities include gyms (for basketball
, volleyball
, indoor soccer
, etc.), fitness center with exercise equipment, and climbing wall. Swimmers head 2.1 miles to the year-round municipal swimming pool at Westover Park.
. Sports include field hockey
, basketball
, volleyball
, soccer, baseball
, softball
, and track and field
(indoor and outdoor). At the end of the 2009-10 season EMU's men's basketball team had 25-5 record and was ranked No. 4 in the nation by D3hoops.com
, an unprecedented achievement. In the spring of 2010, women's softball entered in the ODAC Tournament as the eighth seed team. They beat Guilford, Lynchburg, and Randolph- Macon and went on to face Virginia Wesleyan on April 25, 2010 for the championship game. The lady royals defeated Virginia Wesleyan 5 to 1 to become the 2010 ODAC Champions with a tournament record of 4-0. The Royal's softball team then advanced to the D-III National Softball Championship for the first time in school history.
Team victories and individual record-breaking are celebrated, but EMU stresses a holistic approach to athletics: "The athletic program provides men and women with the opportunities to integrate personal growth in leadership, athletic skills, wholesome attitudes and spiritual understanding," says a statement posted online by the athletics department. "EMU emphasizes a balance between academic achievement and athletic accomplishment" and aims to graduate every student-athlete.
, playing against peers as well as college employees, in friendly, often coed competitions. In 2009-10, dozens of teams competed at various levels in basketball
, billiards
, floor hockey
, flag football
, golf
, table tennis
, and dodgeball
.
Beyond physical activities, students at EMU are involved in clubs and groups typical of college campuses, such as student government, the student newspaper, literary magazine and theater productions. Many students also are involved in choral or musical groups, both formal and informal. This reflects, in part, the presence on the faculty of well-known hymnal editor Ken J. Nafziger – he's an accomplished conductor who also directs the Bach Festival each summer – and a wide-ranging instrumental music program,
EMU expects its employees and students to commit themselves to a lifestyle based on "clearly stated expectations [to] promote orderly community life," coupled with "trust in and responsibility to one another." This includes refraining from "sexual relationships outside of marriage, sexual harassment and abuse, pornography, acts of violence, abusive or demeaning language and the use of illegal drugs." EMU also expects community members to "respect and abide by the university policy that prohibits the use of alcohol and tobacco on campus or at university functions and the misuse of alcohol off campus." EMU calls for "stewardship of mind, time, abilities and finances," and takes the unusual step of asking for "social responsibility in my standard of living and use of economic resources." The 361-word statement, adopted by EMU's board of trustees in 2001, also refers to "forgiveness" in three places, including seeking forgiveness and extending it in the spirit of "unselfish love."
This "Lifestyle Commitment," which reflects the official position of the Mennonite Church USA, has been cited as reason for ending the employment of faculty and staff members who are actively homosexual or lesbian and who live with a partner. President Loren Swartzendruber says the university's policy that sexual relationships are reserved for a man and a woman in marriage applies equally to faculty members who are heterosexual, and that a number of heterosexual employees have been let go after having extramarital sexual relationships. He has repeatedly said that he wishes the campus to be hospitable to people regardless of their sexual orientation, adding "we will not tolerate bigotry, poor language, inappropriate comments about persons of any sexual orientation."
In the fall 2006 issue of the EMU alumni magazine, university president Loren Swartzendruber wrote a four-page essay on refusing the mantle of either liberal or conservative and daring to be "different from other colleges," in keeping with Anabaptist tradition and theology. "How do we define ourselves within a cultural context that wants to reduce complex realities to simplistic cliches?" he asked rhetorically. He told the online journal Inside Higher Ed: "We are, I think, a different kind of Christian... If [students] assume they’re going to find at EMU what they would also find at Liberty University [the nearby institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell] they’re not going to be very happy here. They’re going to run into it headlong. They’re going to hear about the peace tradition. They’re going to hear a lot of language about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in this world. From our perspective, that means less nationalism, and a much more global perspective, care for creation. What they would find here is a concern for personal piety … but we’re not willing to stop there because we also believe that the New Testament is pretty clear that there is a social dimension to what Jesus called us to be and to do.”
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
of Virginia, affiliated with one of the historic peace churches
Peace churches
Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating Christian pacifism. The term historic peace churches refers specifically only to three church groups among pacifist churches: Church of the Brethren, Mennonites including the Amish, and Religious Society of Friends and has...
, the Mennonite Church USA
Mennonite Church USA
The Mennonite Church USA, or MCUSA, is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century...
. Its 97 acres (392,545.4 m²) main campus is on the edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia in the United States. Its population as of 2010 is 48,914, and at the 2000 census, 40,468. Harrisonburg is the county seat of Rockingham County and the core city of the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical...
, about three miles from state-owned James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...
. EMU also has a satellite site in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, which caters to working adults in that region.
Worldwide, EMU is probably best known for its Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), especially its graduate program in conflict transformation
Conflict transformation
Conflict transformation is the process by which conflicts, such as ethnic conflict, are transformed into peaceful outcomes. It differs from conflict resolution and conflict management approaches in that it recognises "that contemporary conflicts require more than the reframing of positions and the...
. CJP has educated and trained more than 3,000 people from 119 countries. CJP's founding director, John Paul Lederach
John Paul Lederach
John Paul Lederach is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, and concurrently Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University. He has written widely on conflict resolution and mediation. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University...
, and its expert in restorative justice
Restorative justice
Restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of victims, offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or punishing the offender...
, Howard Zehr
Howard Zehr
Howard Zehr is Professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Zehr previously served 19 years as director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Office on Crime and Justice...
, are considered to be international leaders in the fields of peace and justice. In October of 2011, CJP alumna Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. This led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, the first African nation with a female president...
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
.
Half of EMU's undergraduate students do not come from Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
backgrounds, though the majority are Christian. EMU's graduate students represent a diversity of faiths, as exemplified by the mini-bios on Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu alumni posted on EMU's website. About 57 percent of EMU's undergrads are from out of state (32 states; 21 countries), and 19 percent are persons of color, non-U.S. origins, or minority ethnicity.
EMU describes itself as a "leader among faith-based institutions" in emphasizing "peacebuilding, creation care, experiential learning, and cross-cultural engagement."
History and mission
Eastern Mennonite University was launched in 1917 by a handful of Mennonite church members. They recognized that their church-centered communities needed to offer schooling beyond the basic level for young-adult Mennonites who were hungry for more knowledge and for opportunities beyond the farm. These church leaders sought to stem the tide toward enrolling in secular educational institutions. One of that founding group, Bishop George R. Brunk Sr., stated that “the world standard of education is self-centered, self-exalting, and materialistic.” By contrast, he advocated a form of Christian education that “expands and develops the God-given powers both natural and spiritual, guides them [students] into channels of activity most conducive to God’s glory and the blessing of mankind.”From exclusively serving members of the Mennonite church in the early and mid 1900s, EMU has evolved to educating thousands far beyond its original constituency of “Anabaptists,” a broad term for Mennonites and kindred subscribers to the theology of Anabaptism. EMU and its seminary are affiliated with the Mennonite Education Agency of the Mennonite Church USA, as are five other higher education institutions in Kansas, Indiana and Ohio – Bethel College (Kansas)
Bethel College (Kansas)
Bethel College is a private college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. The college is located on the edge of the Flint Hills and the vast wheat fields of south central Kansas in the town of North Newton...
, Goshen College
Goshen College
Goshen College, is a private Mennonite liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana, USA with an enrollment of around 1,000 students. The college is accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities...
, Bluffton University
Bluffton University
Bluffton University, located in Bluffton, Ohio, United States, is a Christian liberal arts college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA.It was founded in 1899 as Central Mennonite College and became Bluffton College in 1913...
, Hesston College
Hesston College
Hesston College, a two-year college founded in 1909, is located in Hesston, Kansas, United States, north of Wichita. The college has an enrollment of about 450 students who typically come from about 30 states and 30 other countries...
and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary is an accredited Christian seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, affiliated with Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA....
. Of these colleges, only Goshen College has a higher percentage of Mennonite students (53%) than EMU (50%).
Anabaptist distinctives
Though it is to sum up almost five centuries of evolution and differentiation among the Anabaptists, five distinctive attributes of Anabaptist Christians can be discerned: Firstly, they do not practice infant baptism – they believe it is important for someone to be old enough to make a mature choice about whether to be baptized and to be a church member. Secondly, Anabaptists have put special emphasis on the New Testament’s teachings on nonviolence and peacemaking. They also have stressed simple, non-materialistic lifestyles, and communities based on service to others or “works of love.” Finally, they have tried to put their understandings of Jesus' teachings into daily practice. As explained by Menno SimonsMenno Simons
Menno Simons was an Anabaptist religious leader from the Friesland region of the Low Countries. Simons was a contemporary of the Protestant Reformers and his followers became known as Mennonites...
, the 16th century leader from whom the term “Mennonite” comes: “True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant. It clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute and it serves those who harm it. It seeks those who are lost. It binds up what is wounded. It becomes all things to all people.”
These core beliefs are shared by the Anabaptists who belong to the conservative Mennonite streams (including the Old Order, horse-and-buggy-driving groups) – who tend to dress distinctively and to live separately from mainstream society, thus avoiding higher education – as well as those modern Anabaptists who attend EMU and who go on to become physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, lawyers, business people, teachers and other highly educated citizens fully functioning in the larger world. A study of the 80 members of EMU's class of '59 found that three quarters went into three fields of human services – education, social work and health, including 10 who became physicians (comprising one-eighth of the class of '59). Many of the remaining class members did church work. More than 25 percent of the class spent at least one year in work or service assignments outside of the continental United States, most often in the developing world. The countries or regions where they served included: Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
.
"Servant leaders"
As its class of '59 suggests, EMU tends to graduate people oriented toward the wider world and toward helping others. "Motivated by faith and a philosophy of service, the Mennonites – cousins to the generally more conservative AmishAmish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
– have come to be regarded as leaders on the international relief stage," stated an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 10, 2010. The article described "massive volunteer effort" to ease suffering worldwide, especially in the face of disasters, "despite the fact that there are fewer than 370,000 Mennonites in the United States and only about 1.5 million worldwide."
This culture of service is reflected in the university's mission statement. EMU’s insists on linking peace and social justice – it is home to the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and its mission statement refers to Micah 6:8 on doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. This distinguishes it from most of the other 108 members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, whose mission statements sometimes mention justice but almost never mention peace work. ”It’s no exaggeration to say that the graduate program in conflict transformation epitomizes the mission of EMU as a whole,” reported All-American Colleges in 2006. University president Loren Swartzendruber has said: "We're a people who don't always talk a lot about our faith. But we do put it into action."
Embracing diversity
In 1948-49, EMU quietly admitted two local African American students, becoming one of the first historically white colleges in the U.S. South to integrate, defying written and unwritten rules enforcing segregation prior to the Civil Rights ActCivil Rights Act
Civil Rights Act may refer to several acts in the history of civil rights in the United States, including:-Federal legislation:* Civil Rights Act of 1866, extending the rights of emancipated slaves...
of 1964. (The University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
also admitted African American students, beginning in 1948.)
Internationalism
In the last 20 years in particular, EMU has attracted people from all over the world and various faiths who are interested in the way it combines peace, social justice, simplicity and community. EMU orients its students toward “experiental learning” (i.e. hands-on learning, connected to real-world work), “creation care” (environmental sustainability), and “cross-cultural engagement” (required of all undergraduates).In August 2010, a 1991 graduate of EMU, Glen D. Lapp, was among a group of 10 unarmed volunteers with International Assistance Mission
International Assistance Mission
The International Assistance Mission is a non-profit Christian development Non Government Organization working in Afghanistan since 1966. IAM runs projects in medicine, engineering, languages, small business and community development...
in Afghanistan, who were shot and killed while returning from providing health care in a remote region. "As with many of our alumni around the world, Glen was fulfilling EMU's mission of serving and leading in a global context, which often involves great personal sacrifice," said university president Loren Swartzendruber. Suraya Sadeed – an Afghan-American candidate for EMU's MA degree in conflict transformation and the founder and executive director of Help the Afghan Children – told a newspaper reporter that such murders would not deter her and others from continuing to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
Environmentalism
EMU claims that it is a leader among universities nationwide in low-energy consumption, solar energy production, sustainable new construction, and recycling efforts. Its newest building, a dormitory, meets the gold-level requirements of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental DesignLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
).
Academics
In the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, EMU positions itself as a university that produces "servant leaders" who, it says, are readily hired or accepted to graduate schools. The university says the acceptance rate into medical school for students who complete EMU's pre-med program is over 95%. For education majors, 99% who seek teaching positions are employed within six months of graduation, according to EMU. In total, the university claims that 91% of EMU grads find work or pursue further education in their field within a year of graduation.EMU's current undergraduate programs include 35 majors, 16 teacher education certification programs, 9 pre-professional programs such as pre-engineering and health sciences, and 4 associate degrees. A relatively new major, digital media arts, focuses on internet, digital video, audio and photography. A popular option at both the Harrisonburg and Lancaster locations is called the Adult Degree Completion Program.
Cross-cultural study requirement
EMU was one of the earliest colleges to require cross-cultural study of all undergraduates, with a university-sponsored program beginning in the 1970s. EMU recommends that its undergraduate students earn 15 semester hours of credit by living, studying and serving in cross-cultural settings. Nine cross-cultural credits are the minimum number required for graduation; these can be earned through in-class study and a summer stint of three to six weeks in a cross-cultural setting. Most undergraduates embark on semester-long, faculty-led, cross-cultural experiences, usually involving home stays in non-U.S. settings, such as IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. But some students opt to satisfy the cross-cultural requirement by studying and interning in Washington D.C., while living in EMU-owned housing supervised by faculty members. Others choose individualized alternatives, such as a summer of studying business with an international manufacturer or 11 months of service with the SALT program of Mennonite Central Committee
Mennonite Central Committee
The Mennonite Central Committee is a relief, service, and peace agency representing 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in North America. The U.S. headquarters are in Akron, Pennsylvania, the Canadian in Winnipeg, Manitoba.-History:...
.
More than 75% of EMU's faculty members have lived in a cross-cultural context. The leaders of EMU-sponsored trips are drawn from the ranks of faculty and staff members who have had extensive experience in the settings to which they are leading students. Since 2001, three EMU faculty members have been Fulbright Scholars.
Academic range of students
Each year EMU offers a dozen high-achieving high school students the opportunity to be part of the university's honors program. To be eligible for this program, students must have a minimum high school GPA of 3.5 and a minimum 30 ACT or 1350 SAT (reading and writing combined). Selected students receive 50% to 100% tuition scholarships, renewable for each year of undergraduate study. They also receive mentoring from assigned faculty members and attend honors seminars and social gatherings together.Students who struggle academically – whether for reasons of native language, learning or physical disability, poor quality of previous schooling, or a combination of reasons – receive free support through EMU's academic support center. "Many students with diverse backgrounds come to the university to pursue their degrees," wrote graduate student Sanjay Pulipaka in 2006 in The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
, a national newspaper in India. "Given their diverse backgrounds," he continued, "there is disparity in the communication skills of the students. Instead of indulging in deprecatory humorous statements about the alleged low standards of incoming students, the university runs an academic support center where the students are provided with various services such as proofreading and editing of their term papers." A young woman hit by a drunk driver – leaving her unable to walk, track with her eyes, retain information in her short-term memory, or write by hand – was able to graduate from EMU after five years, with the help of the academic support center and one-on-one help from faculty members and fellow students. In 2006 Fadi El Hajjar, a blind man from Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, completed a master's degree in conflict transformation on a Fulbright scholarship, after EMU personnel made it possible for him to learn to walk with a white cane, cook for himself, use an electronic reader, listen to books on tape, dictate his papers for transcribing, and receive support from fellow students.
Seminary, graduate and summer programs
Eastern Mennonite SeminaryEastern Mennonite Seminary
Eastern Mennonite Seminary is the graduate theological division of Eastern Mennonite University , which is an accredited Christian liberal arts university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. EMU was initially established as Eastern Mennonite College in 1917...
has been accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada
Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada
The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has more than 250 member institutions...
since 1986. It is approved as an institution for the training of candidates for ordination in the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, in addition to being approved by the Mennonite Church USA. Students from many branches of Christianity, however, have studied at this seminary.
EMU offers graduate programs, accredited to offer master degrees, in business administration, conflict transformation, counseling, education, and ministry. It is common for graduate students to take courses that cross these disciplinary lines. Extensive summer study programs are available through: EMU's Summer Peacebuilding Institute (four consecutive sessions); Washington Community Scholars' Program; Summer Bridge Scholarship Program, in which EMU collaborates with the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
to offer scholarships for incoming science students to spend a summer working with faculty; a Ministry Inquiry Program in which upper-level students are able to spend 11 weeks as an intern in a congregation; nine-day Summer Institute for Spiritual Formation; graduate-level courses for teachers (i.e., 16 courses offered through the Lancaster site for 2011 and two offered online). The Intensive English Program typically attracts students who need to improve their mastery of spoken and written English before continuing into higher studies at EMU or another American college. Some simply use it to advance in their careers around the globe.
Campus life
Eastern Mennonite University is situated on the rural-flavored edge of a small (45,000 population), non-bustling city in the scenic and historic Shenandoah ValleyShenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
of Virginia. Heading south and east from EMU, a traveler reaches hubs of urban activities in five minutes; heading north and west from EMU, a traveler immediately enters rural farming scenes laced with meandering two-lane roads that may be unpaved.
Biking
As a result of EMU's location, many faculty and students enjoy bicycling to commute, do errands, and take recreational jaunts around the countryside, both on and off roads. Biking also fits the EMU community's stated desire to be good stewards of one's body (i.e. physical exercise by biking) and good stewards God's earth by not using fossil fuels unnecessarily. The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition regroups people of all ages, often affiliated with one of the three universities in the area (EMU, James Madison, and Bridgewater CollegeBridgewater College
Bridgewater College, is a private, coeducational, four-year liberal-arts college located in Bridgewater, Virginia, a town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States...
) to advocate for and practice safe, sustainable and enjoyable cycling on roads, trails, and streets.
Outdoor and indoor recreation
Other popular outdoor activities are kayakingKayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
& canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
, swimming, golfing, hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
, horseback riding, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
& fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, spelunking and skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
& other winter sports at nearby private and public parks and centers, such as Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. This national park is long and narrow, with the broad Shenandoah River and valley on the west side, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont on the east...
, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests are U.S. National Forests that combine to form one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States. They cover of land in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky...
, and Massanutten Four-Season Resort. On campus, students, staff and faculty maintain a greenhouse, an arboretum, and a large vegetable garden.
Indoor recreational possibilities include gyms (for basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, indoor soccer
Indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...
, etc.), fitness center with exercise equipment, and climbing wall. Swimmers head 2.1 miles to the year-round municipal swimming pool at Westover Park.
Campus ministries
The Campus Ministries program says that it offers a "supportive community, place to nurture and form faith, and caring faculty and staff who mentor students" and sponsors activities such as: campus-wide chapels on Wednesday and Friday mornings, a student-led praise-style service on Sunday evenings, monthly hymn sings and Taize worship services, annual "spiritual life week," and service experiences under the Young People's Christian Association. Campus Ministries is led by the three trained pastors, assisted by students at various stages in their education, including in graduate-level studies in the seminary at EMU. A Ministry Assistant lives on each hall of every residence building.Intercollegiate sports
EMU's sports teams are known as the Royals. In most sports, EMU competes as NCAA Division III, a member of the Old Dominion Athletic ConferenceOld Dominion Athletic Conference
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. Its member schools are located primarily in Virginia, with other members in North Carolina and Washington, DC. Only the American Southwest Conference in Texas is larger in Division III. -History:The conference was...
. Sports include field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, soccer, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, and track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
(indoor and outdoor). At the end of the 2009-10 season EMU's men's basketball team had 25-5 record and was ranked No. 4 in the nation by D3hoops.com
D3hoops.com
D3hoops.com is a website that covers men's and women's NCAA Division III college basketball. D3hoops.com is most noted for its Top 25 poll of Division III schools, featured on the website of the NCAA. The site is run by Pat Coleman and has been featured in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, the...
, an unprecedented achievement. In the spring of 2010, women's softball entered in the ODAC Tournament as the eighth seed team. They beat Guilford, Lynchburg, and Randolph- Macon and went on to face Virginia Wesleyan on April 25, 2010 for the championship game. The lady royals defeated Virginia Wesleyan 5 to 1 to become the 2010 ODAC Champions with a tournament record of 4-0. The Royal's softball team then advanced to the D-III National Softball Championship for the first time in school history.
Team victories and individual record-breaking are celebrated, but EMU stresses a holistic approach to athletics: "The athletic program provides men and women with the opportunities to integrate personal growth in leadership, athletic skills, wholesome attitudes and spiritual understanding," says a statement posted online by the athletics department. "EMU emphasizes a balance between academic achievement and athletic accomplishment" and aims to graduate every student-athlete.
Active campus
Two-thirds of EMU's students participate in intramural sportsIntramural sports
Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...
, playing against peers as well as college employees, in friendly, often coed competitions. In 2009-10, dozens of teams competed at various levels in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
, floor hockey
Floor hockey
Floor hockey is a family of indoor hockey games, usually in the style of ice hockey, that are played on flat floor surfaces, such as a basketball court. As in other hockey codes, players on each team attempt to shoot a ball or puck into a goal using sticks, usually with a curved end...
, flag football
Flag football
Flag football is a version of Canadian football or American football that is popular worldwide. The basic rules of the game are similar to those of the mainstream game , but instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier to end...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
, and dodgeball
Dodgeball
Dodgeball is any of a variety of games in which players try to hit other players on the opposing team with balls while avoiding being hit themselves. This article is about a well-known form of team sport with modified rules that is often played in physical education classes and has been featured...
.
Beyond physical activities, students at EMU are involved in clubs and groups typical of college campuses, such as student government, the student newspaper, literary magazine and theater productions. Many students also are involved in choral or musical groups, both formal and informal. This reflects, in part, the presence on the faculty of well-known hymnal editor Ken J. Nafziger – he's an accomplished conductor who also directs the Bach Festival each summer – and a wide-ranging instrumental music program,
Expectations for community members
Residential undergraduates, faculty and staff gather for twice-weekly chapel services, planned by the campus pastoral team. Voluntary Bible study and worship also occur in smaller settings during the week and on weekends.EMU expects its employees and students to commit themselves to a lifestyle based on "clearly stated expectations [to] promote orderly community life," coupled with "trust in and responsibility to one another." This includes refraining from "sexual relationships outside of marriage, sexual harassment and abuse, pornography, acts of violence, abusive or demeaning language and the use of illegal drugs." EMU also expects community members to "respect and abide by the university policy that prohibits the use of alcohol and tobacco on campus or at university functions and the misuse of alcohol off campus." EMU calls for "stewardship of mind, time, abilities and finances," and takes the unusual step of asking for "social responsibility in my standard of living and use of economic resources." The 361-word statement, adopted by EMU's board of trustees in 2001, also refers to "forgiveness" in three places, including seeking forgiveness and extending it in the spirit of "unselfish love."
This "Lifestyle Commitment," which reflects the official position of the Mennonite Church USA, has been cited as reason for ending the employment of faculty and staff members who are actively homosexual or lesbian and who live with a partner. President Loren Swartzendruber says the university's policy that sexual relationships are reserved for a man and a woman in marriage applies equally to faculty members who are heterosexual, and that a number of heterosexual employees have been let go after having extramarital sexual relationships. He has repeatedly said that he wishes the campus to be hospitable to people regardless of their sexual orientation, adding "we will not tolerate bigotry, poor language, inappropriate comments about persons of any sexual orientation."
Values
Is Eastern Mennonite University liberal or conservative? George Duncan, former editorial page editor of the Harrisonburg (Va.) Daily News Record, noted that it was hard to pigeonhole EMU, because on some matters (e.g., internationalist views rather than nationalist ones) it tends to side with traditional "liberals," and on other matters (e.g. "religious critiques about the awful materialism and consumerism of American society"), EMU tends to sound conservative.In the fall 2006 issue of the EMU alumni magazine, university president Loren Swartzendruber wrote a four-page essay on refusing the mantle of either liberal or conservative and daring to be "different from other colleges," in keeping with Anabaptist tradition and theology. "How do we define ourselves within a cultural context that wants to reduce complex realities to simplistic cliches?" he asked rhetorically. He told the online journal Inside Higher Ed: "We are, I think, a different kind of Christian... If [students] assume they’re going to find at EMU what they would also find at Liberty University [the nearby institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell] they’re not going to be very happy here. They’re going to run into it headlong. They’re going to hear about the peace tradition. They’re going to hear a lot of language about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in this world. From our perspective, that means less nationalism, and a much more global perspective, care for creation. What they would find here is a concern for personal piety … but we’re not willing to stop there because we also believe that the New Testament is pretty clear that there is a social dimension to what Jesus called us to be and to do.”
Notable alumni and faculty
- Ingida Asfaw '62 – Leading cardiovascular surgeon in Michigan and major philanthropist on behalf of health care in Ethiopia.
- Hizkias Assefa – Part-time EMU professor since founding of CJP in 1995, who works internationally as mediator for protracted national conflicts in over 50 countries, often as a consultant to the United Nations, European Union or NGOs. Has master's degrees in law (from Northwestern) and in economics (from U. of Pittsburgh) and a PhD in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.
- Myron Augsburger '55, ThB '58 – Former president of EMU, global evangelist, author of more than 20 works of fiction and non-fiction.
- Rick Augsburger '91 – Managing director of the KonTerra Group. Formerly deputy director and emergency services director for Church World Service.
- Emmanuel Bombande, MA '02 (in conflict transformation) – Executive director & co-founder of West Africa Network for Peacebuilding. Winner of the Millennium Excellence Peace Award 2005.
- Sam Gbaydee Doe, MA '98 (in conflict transformation) - Co-founder and first executive director of West African Network for Peacebulding. As of 2011, employed by United Nations on development and reconciliation. A fellow Liberian, worked with Leymah Gbowee on Liberian peace movement. Has PhD in social and international affairs from University of Bradford (UK).
- Leymah GboweeLeymah GboweeLeymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. This led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, the first African nation with a female president...
, MA '07 (in conflict transformation) - A co-honoree for the 2011 Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for leading the women's peace movement that brought an end to 14 years of warfare in Liberia in 2003, most recently the Second Liberian Civil WarSecond Liberian Civil WarThe Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...
. - Merle Good '69 - Writer and co-owner/publisher of Good Books, a supplier of books to Target, Costco, Wal-Mart and other major outlets, headquartered in Intercourse, Pa. Co-author with wife Phyllis Good of the bestselling 20 Most Asked Questions About the Amish and Mennonites.
- Ali Gohar, MA '02 (in conflict transformation) - Founding director of JustPeace International, which has combined restorative justice with traditional jirga practices into community-level conflict resolution implemented in much of Pakistan as of 2011. Translator and adapter of Howard Zehr's Little Book of Restorative Justice into Pakistan’s languages of Pushto, Urdu and Persian.
- Glen D. Lapp '91 - A Mennonite Central Committee volunteer who was one of 10 members of the International Assistance Mission murdered on August 5, 2010 while returning from a medical relief trip in the mountains of northern Afghanistan.
- Erik KratzErik KratzErik Floyd Kratz in Telford, Pennsylvania is a catcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He played baseball at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia...
'02 – Baseball Player in the Philadelphia PhilliesPhiladelphia PhilliesThe Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
organization. - Donald KraybillDonald KraybillDonald B. Kraybill is a prolific author, lecturer, and educator on Anabaptist faiths and living. Kraybill is widely recognized for his studies on Anabaptist groups, and is the foremost living expert on the Old Order Amish....
'67 – Expert on the Amish, Mennonites and other Anabaptist topics, frequently quoted in the worldwide media. Author of more than 20 books, including the bestselling The Riddle of Amish Culture and the Upside-Down Kingdom, which won the National Religious Book Award in 1979. - John Paul LederachJohn Paul LederachJohn Paul Lederach is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, and concurrently Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University. He has written widely on conflict resolution and mediation. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University...
– Founding director of Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at EMU. Professor of international peacebuilding at the Joan Kroc Institute of the University of Notre Dame. Author, co-author, or co-editor of eight English-language books on peace, healing and/or reconciliation. - Anthony PratkanisAnthony PratkanisAnthony R. Pratkanis is Professor of Psychology at the University of California in Santa Cruz, California. Pratkanis is an expert on economic fraud crimes, terrorist and dictator propaganda, marketing and consumer behavior, and subliminal persuasion.-Career:...
'79 – Expert in techniques of propaganda and ways it can be recognized and resisted, often quoted by the media. Co-author, The Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion; founding editor of journal Social Influence. - Lisa Schirch - Faculty member at EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding since late 1990s. Founding director of 3P Security (formerly 3D Security), an international "partnership for peacebuilding policy." Author of five books on conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Huffington Post blogger and frequent public speaker on U.S. foreign policy. Holds PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.
- Larry SheetsLarry SheetsLarry Kent Sheets , is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played for the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Seattle Mariners from 1984 to 1990 and 1993...
'87 – Former major league baseball player for Baltimore, Detroit, Seattle. - Howard ZehrHoward ZehrHoward Zehr is Professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Zehr previously served 19 years as director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Office on Crime and Justice...
– EMU professor known as "grandfather of restorative justice." Quoted widely on the subject in academic and media outlets. Author, editor or co-editor of more than 30 books, including the 16-volume series of Little Books on Justice and Peacebuilding.
External links
- Eastern Mennonite University
- Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA)
- Eastern Mennonite Seminary (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA)
- Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA) at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia OnlineGlobal Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia OnlineThe Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to Mennonites and Anabaptism. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on anabaptist-related topics....