The June 18-19 meeting of the EMU board of trustees was the final one for Susan M. Godshall to preside over as chair.
Godshall, of Elizabethtown, Pa., handed the gavel to her successor, Andrew (Andy) Dula of Lancaster, Pa., at the close of the two-day sessions.
Susan Godshall passes the gavel to her successor as EMU board chair, Andy Dula. Photo by Jim Bishop
Dula, a 1991 EMU graduate, is chief financial officer at EG Stoltzfus Construction, Lancaster, Pa. He will serve a three-year term as board chair.
Godshall, a 1965 EMU alumna, joined the board of trustees as a representative from Lancaster Mennonite Conference in November, 1998, and was elected board chair in 2004.
Alumni following Godly path
Godshall opened the meeting with a devotional based on Psalm 78. She told the board that she recently reviewed old trustee minutes and felt as though she was reading “a developing story” that began with the school’s founding in 1917.
“The vision behind the school’s beginning remains much the same today – training young people in the ways of God and of the Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective on Christian service…to live as God’s people in a society that would pulls us in other directions,” Godshall said.
“I am impressed, in reading EMU’s ‘Crossroads’ magazine, by seeing the difference that EMU alumni are making as their stories connect with God’s story,” she said.
Board adopts budget, reports funds
In board actions, the trustees adopted a preliminary operating budget with $30.1 million in total revenues for the 2010-11 fiscal year, a 6 percent percent increase over 2009-10.
The budget includes funding of $1.3 million for capital expenditures and debt reduction and $4 million in student scholarship funds and calls for $1.8 in contributions to the University Fund by June 30, 2011.
Gerry Horst, chair of the advancement and enrollment/marketing committee, reported that EMU’s University Fund (for annual unrestricted contributions) was running over 6% behind last year’s pace.
“Intensive year-end efforts continue to close the gap by June 30,” Horst said.
Outgoing trustees
Several other trustees concluded terms of service at the June board meeting. In addition to Susan Godshall, the board recognized:
- Steve Brenneman of Nappanee, Ind.
- Shirley Hochstetler of Kidron, Ohio
- Robert Hostetler of Erie, Pa.
- Joan King of Telford, Pa.
- Lillis Troyer of Walnut Creek, Ohio