As graduates make their way across the stage at Eastern Mennonite University’s 2016 Commencement ceremonies, one other person on the stage will also be celebrating both student and personal accomplishments and transition. President Loren Swartzendruber has presided over 13 commencement ceremonies at EMU and 10 prior to that at Hesston (Kansas) College. On Sunday, May 1, at 1 p.m., he will make his final speech as a college president, offering a commencement address titled “Sacred Conversations Continued.”
The ceremonies are traditionally held outside on the front lawn. A livestream of the event will be available. In case of rain, commencement will be held in the University Commons which has seating capacity of 3,600. There is no reserved seating in the Commons.
Swartzendruber, whose tenure at EMU ends June 30, has dedicated more than 35 years to Mennonite higher education. A native of Iowa, he graduated from EMU with a bachelor’s in liberal arts and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Eastern Mennonite Seminary. He earned his Doctor of Ministry degree at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.
At EMU Swartzendruber was associate director of admissions and part-time associate campus pastor before becoming ordained in 1975. He was a pastor before becoming associate general secretary of the former Mennonite Board of Education in Elkhart, Indiana, for 10 years.
Saturday Baccalaureate Events
The Baccalaureate ceremony, planned by the senior class, will be Saturday, April 30, at 7 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium. Chad Gusler, assistant professor of language and literature, will speak on “Fear, Love and Wanderlust.” Gusler received his bachelor’s degree in Biblical studies and theology from Eastern Mennonite College in 1993. In 1998, he received a master’s in religion from Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and in 2007, his MFA in creative writing (fiction) from Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington.
Following the Baccalaureate ceremony is a concert at 8:15 p.m. in Martin Chapel provided by EMU music students. The traditional President’s Reception, during which the president and his wife receive graduates, their families and faculty, begins at 8:30 p.m. on the second floor of the University Commons.
Seminary Graduation Events
Eastern Mennonite Seminary celebrates their baccalaureate on Friday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Martin Chapel. Linda Alley will speak. Alley has fulfilled many seminary roles and is currently administrative assistant for events, director of the Summer Institute for Spiritual Formation, and director of the Congregational Resource Center. She retires this spring after 27 years of service to EMU.
The seminary hosts a 2:30 p.m. commencement ceremony on Saturday, April 30, in Lehman Auditorium. Dr. John D. Roth, professor of history and director of the Mennonite Historical Library at Goshen College and editor of the Mennonite Quarterly Review, will bring the address.
Complete Schedule
For complete information about weekend events, including Center for Justice and Peacebuilding events, the nurses’ pinning/commission ceremony, a list of special activities hosted by departments and special celebrations for EMU Lancaster graduates, please visit www.emu.edu/commencement.