Thirty-three seniors and graduate students participated in Wednesday's Donning of the Kente ceremony at Eastern Mennonite University. Each graduate received a special stole of their choice, symbolizing their heritage and roots, to wear at the May 6 Commencement ceremony. The wearing of stoles is a special tradition at EMU and the formal presentation of these stoles celebrates the accomplishments of graduating students of color as well as the history of black students' and students of color achievements at the university.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary students present Master of Divinity (MDiv) capstone projects that touch on both the personal formation experienced within the students' seminary journeys, and the transformation they hope to bring about as leaders in ministry. The capstone requirement helps seminarians synthesize and integrate into their unique ministry setting the four guiding curricular principles that have formed the rich foundation of their learning: wise interpretation, mature practice, discerning communication and transformational leadership.

The pre-professional health sciences practicum is a required course that places students in settings that match their career interests. Students gain insights into the realities of work life in health care professions.

Four EMU men's volleyball team players were named to the All-Continental Volleyball Conference teams. Additionally, senior Micah Buller (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) claimed a major award as the CVC's Libero of the Year. Buller was joined on the All-CVC Second Team by teammates Dan Lutz (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim), William Ragland (North Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale) and Christian Taylor (Richmond, Va./Deep Run). Eastern Mennonite had the most honorees of any team in the CVC this year, topping three each from Kean and Marymount, the respective regular season champions from each of the conference's two divisions.

Volunteers from Earth Keepers, an environmental organization at Eastern Mennonite University, helped with the annual Blacks Run Clean-Up Day.

Eastern Mennonite University students won the annual Kryptos cryptoanalysis competition hosted since 2011 by the mathematics department at Central Washington University in Ellensburg and sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Section of the Mathematical Association of America. Only four teams solved all three puzzles within the five-day contest window, with EMU's winning trio submitting correct answers first and in less than 20 hours.

If there was one thing Appreciation Week planners at Eastern Mennonite University hoped to leave out in the February gray and drear last week, it was this: the winter doldrums.

Students competed in the C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest at Eastern Mennonite University, an annual contest, established in 1974 by the directors of the C. Henry Smith Trust. The contest offers students an opportunity to discuss the application of the Christian peace position to contemporary concerns in an 8-10-minute speech. The winner of the school contest will go on to compete at the bi-national level against winners from other Mennonite-related colleges in the US and Canada.

Grant Amoateng (Bristow, Va./Patriot) was named the ODAC Field Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this year.

Ten graduating seniors will be honored as Cords of Distinction recipients in a ceremony Saturday afternoon, May 5. They will wear gold and blue cords during the graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 6, as recognition for their significant and verifiable impact on the university and on student life; for their contributions to developing the institution's positive image; for substantial contributions to the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County area and beyond; for their high academic and social standing; and their embodiment of EMU's shared values of Christian discipleship, community, service and peacebuilding.

Elementary education students studying classroom management and organization are gaining real world education experience at the Early Learning Center (ELC). The ELC experience challenges EMU students to think on their feet both responsively and proactively. More than 500 alumni have gained teaching experience at the center, which has served area families since 1977.

Eastern Mennonite University senior Maleke Jones (Charles Town, W.V./Washington) has proven himself consistent and confident on the basketball court, and is the Royals Athlete of the Week.

More than 100 prospective students converged on Eastern Mennonite University last weekend - an inaugural Scholarship Weekend coupled with the traditional annual Honors Weekend. Current honors students were insturemental in the organization and success of the weekend events.

Eastern Mennonite University junior and entrepreneur Andrea Cable has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship in Insureon's Small Business, Big Impact essay contest.

Senior Myneshia Walker (Freeman, Va./Brunswick) is known for being consistent and a humble leader for the EMU women's basketball team. She is also known as one of the best shooting guards in ODAC, with a field goal percentage at 40.4%. In last Saturday's game against Emory & Henry, Walker poured in a season high 27 points, including a stretch in the fourth quarter where she scored 15 of EMU's 17 points.

Seminary commuter students who travel more than an hour each way to attend seminary classes this semester are doing so for various reasons - the emphasis on personal formation, small class sizes, the relationships created, and the diversity of beliefs represented.

Eastern Mennonite University is pleased to recognize students who were named to the Fall 2017 Dean's List. The Dean's List, compiled at the end of each term, includes degree-seeking students who achieve a semester GPA of at least 3.75 with no withdrawn, incomplete, or failing grades for 12 semester hours of standard grades.

Eastern Mennonite University biomedicine graduate students presented and defended theses in December 2017.

Eastern Mennonite University spring 2017 production of 'The 39 Steps' has been selected for presentation at a regional event of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The seven-character cast, which received a Certificate of Merit for Ensemble Acting from the KCACTF in spring 2017, also earned nominations for the KCACTF's Irene Ryan Acting competition and stage manager competition.

Students were honored for leadership, service, academic work, and athletic success at the Fall Recognition Chapel on December 8, 2017.

Eastern Mennonite University students, Earnest Kiah, Matej Gligorevich, and Bruce Cypress. arranged and performed the music in the video Advent greeting for 2017.

Eastern Mennonite University Lancaster RN-BSN program is pleased to recognize students named to the Dean's List for the summer semester 2017. The Dean's List, compiled at the end of each term, includes degree-seeking students who achieve a semester GPA of at least 3.75 with no withdrawn, incomplete, or failed grades for 12 semester hours of standard grades.

Four Eastern Mennonite University students received second-place in the pitch contest at the Nov. 2-4, 2017, convention of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). The EMU team took second place with "Better Health, Better Wealth," a proposal to train Liberian community members to address mental health concerns using methods based on the "direct connection" of mental health to agricultural output in rural Africa.

The Eastern Mennonite University field hockey team raised more than $1,200 to purchase 40 "Sweet Cases" for foster children through the nonprofit organization Together We Rise. They decorated the duffel bags, filled them with items, and returned them to the organization for dispersal. The project had special meaning for top fundraiser Bri Miller, who is adopted.

The "Story Exhibition," hosted by EMU's DACA Dialogue Planning Committee, was a way to raise awareness on campus about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and highlighted a current EMU student, an EMU alumnus, four students in the Harrisonburg community, and five others from around the nation.

Audiences laughed, reflected, celebrated and sang at the performances of "What we bring. What we take. What we leave." during Eastern Mennonite University's Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend, Oct. 13-15, 2017. The production, commissioned by EMU's Centennial Committee and sponsored by Everence Financial, was a collage of stories of the experience of being a student at EMU written by Ingrid DeSanctis '88 and Ted Swartz '89, MACL '92.

Lebanese native Myriam Aziz MA '17 returns to Eastern Mennonite University as a teaching fellow at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. She has significant work experience with Syrian refugees, some of whom are featured in a documentary she produced with funding from CJP's Arts in Peacebuilding grant program.

Sabrina L. Burress, a graduate student in the MA in Counseling program at Eastern Mennonite University, is one of 30 students to be awarded an NBCC Minority Fellowship Program-Youth by the National Board for Certified Counselors Foundation.

During its fall concert, the Eastern Mennonite University Jazz Ensemble will play swing, up-tempo funk, two Benny Carter pieces and more. The 16-member ensemble under the direction of Robert Curry will take the stage in Lehman Auditorium at 7:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 30.

Senior Mikaela Zook (Millersburg, Ind./Northridge) was a force to be reckoned with on Eastern Mennonite University's women's soccer defensive line, and this week she wrapped up her soccer career with being voted onto the All-ODAC Third Team by the other coaches in the conference.