Category: 1949
Centennial Histories Symposium taps into Mennonite higher ed’s ‘commonality and unity’ to face challenging times
Students and seasoned scholars alike gathered March 24 at Eastern Mennonite University for the Centennial Histories Symposium, a day-long intellectual gathering featuring the authors of five histories of Mennonite higher education institutions. Among the 80 participants were representatives of each of the five schools, all founded in the 30 years between 1887 and 1917. The … More
‘Our Second Century’: Find inspiration and vision in EMU’s fall/winter Crossroads magazine
The Fall/Winter 2017 issue of Crossroads, in mailboxes this month, is the second of two issues celebrating our Centennial year, 2017-18. Eastern Mennonite University was founded 100 years ago, opening for the first classes in October 1917. Click here to view the digital issue. View individual articles by clicking on the links below: New president Susan Schultz Huxman … More
Centennial history now on sale
Eastern Mennonite University: A Century of Countercultural Education was released by Penn State Press in time for EMU’s Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend Oct. 13-15, 2017. In this unique educational history, Donald B. Kraybill ‘67 traces the sociocultural transformation of EMU from a fledgling separatist school founded by white, rural, Germanic Mennonites into a world-engaged … More
Centennial worship offers thanks for 100 years of blessings and a call to listen
October 15, 1917, was the first day of classes at the new Eastern Mennonite School located in a rented hotel near Harrisonburg, Virginia. One hundred years later to the day, the school — now known as Eastern Mennonite University — concluded a special Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend with worship in a near-capacity Lehman Auditorium. … More
Centennial play by Swartz and DeSanctis, with troupe of alumni actors, delivers reflection and affirmation
They’d wanted audiences to laugh, reflect, feel goosebumps, pause, celebrate and sing — and that’s exactly what happened at the two performances of What we bring. What we take. What we leave. in Lehman Auditorium during Eastern Mennonite University’s Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend, Oct. 13-15, 2017. The production, commissioned by EMU’s Centennial Committee and … More
Joe Lapp led a shrinking college to be a growing university
Of EMU’s eight presidents during its 98 years of existence, only one came from a career in a totally secular field. Law. This was president no. 7, Joseph L. Lapp ’66. After graduating with a J.D. from the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1972, Lapp practiced law in several situations before becoming a partner … More
100 Years of the Arts at EMU
Students entering Eastern Mennonite University today may not realize that in their grandparents’ generations, this institution offered one music option: Singing, usually in four-part harmony, a cappella hymns only. For arts more broadly, until the late 20th century, many North American Mennonites limited the arts to purposes of functionality, as in hand-crafted quilts for beds … More
Crossroads Spring/Summer 2017 issue honors EMU’s 100 years of countercultural education
The Spring/Summer 2017 issue of Crossroads is the first of two issues celebrating our Centennial year, 2017-18. Eastern Mennonite University was founded 100 years ago, opening for the first classes in October 1917. A photographic timeline of the first 100 years is featured in this issue. Click here to view the digital issue. View individual articles … More
Weather Vane’s ‘2016-17 Year In Review’ disappears from the racks: here’s a digital issue in case you missed it!
Not all issues of the Weather Vane fly off the racks quite so quickly as the final issue of the 2016-17 academic year –a special nostalgia-laden “Year in Review.” Because the racks are empty and the compliments for this special 12-page issue abound, we’re making it available here for eager readers far and near. “I … More
The Snack Shoppe Part II: Longtime manager Helen Ours talks about the favorite campus gathering place
Part I recalls the first snack shop, thanks to information provided by Janet Weaver Yoder whose father launched the enterprise. Now Helen Ours takes up the story. Say “snack shop “and you’ll conjure a lot of warm memories for alumni of Eastern Mennonite College—and yes, we’ll say EMC because that was the institution’s name when … More
Bell comes from Ohio to EMU, continuing long life of ‘gathering, sending, remembering’
In 2012, Fred E. and Carolyn Augsburger donated the bell that now resides in front of Lehman Auditorium. The story of that bell, which first rang at West Camelback School near Elida, Ohio, and how it came to the Harrisonburg campus, is shared below by Fred Augsburger, and then by his friend, Bruce Stambaugh. The … More
Alumni of the Year 1976: B. Charles and Grace (Brackbill) Hostetter
Charles (C 48, S 54) and Grace B. (HS 36, Cng38) Hostetter were named joint recipients of Eastern Mennonite College’s tenth “alumnus-of-the-year” award during the Alumni Association’s homecoming April 24. The Hostetters completed six years of mission work in West Africa this month under the auspices of the Mennonite Board of Missions, Elkhart, Ind. They … More