The 2018 Eastern Mennonite University alumni award recipients were honored – and invited to speak – at a Sunday luncheon during Homecoming and Family Weekend.
The three honorees included:
- Alumna of the Year Regina Horst Chacha ‘85 founded Teamwork Ministries’ City of Hope in Tanzania with her late husband John Chacha ‘84. (Read more about Chacha’s award and her 2017 recognition from Vanity Fair.)
- Outstanding Young Alumna Claudette Monroy ‘10 has advocated for immigrants in need while courageously speaking publicly about her own status in the United States. (Read more about Monroy’s award and appearance in the Washington Post.)
- Distinguished Service Award recipient Gilberto Perez Jr. ‘94 has filled many roles – as therapist, social worker, peace evangelist, community advocate and social work professor – and is currently the dean of students at Goshen College. (Read more about Perez’s award and his previous awards for work and advocacy.)
Following are their speeches:
Regina Horst Chacha ‘85, Alumna/us of the Year
Teamwork Ministries’ City of Hope, which Chacha serves as international executive director, includes two schools, a home for 100 orphans and the Amani – “peace” – Medical Center. The ministry has been honored three times for bringing peace to the area, its secondary education offerings, agricultural work and water collection cisterns. Chacha’s six children have joined in her work in various positions.
When I was asked to share about what EMU has meant to me over the years, my first reaction was, “Oh no!” Of all the awardees, I’m the one who has taken a different path and not stayed as connected to EMU. However, the more I reflected, the more clarity I had about the ways EMU has shaped my life. Here are four of the most important ways:
EMU gave me a great academic start. I majored in home ec ed because of my interest in missions. I used those skills for nine years teaching in Martinsville, Virginia, City Schools. Though I pursued an MBA and ended up working in missions more administratively, that education background helped tremendously. God knew it would be important for me as we have founded two schools in Tanzania, Destiny Primary School and the Dr. John Chacha Secondary School and Institute of Leadership.
EMU is where my interest in missions was nurtured. When I came here, I hadn’t traveled anywhere outside of the United States and Canada, but through international friends, professors and others who had been involved in international missions, my eyes were opened to see more of what God was doing in the nations of the world. I became excited as I realized how the church was growing rapidly even in places where persecution was taking place. That led me first to being part of a team that started the Student Missions Fellowship here and later led to joining my husband in missions, eventually founding City of Hope in his home village in Tanzania.
I appreciated the openness of the EMU environment to people from other nations, of other ethnicities, and the emphasis on peace-building. I didn’t feel any rejection when I started becoming close friends with the man I married a year after graduating, John Chacha. He, too, shared that he felt EMU was a good open environment to those from other backgrounds. Though he knew nothing of Mennonites when he first came to Rosedale Mennonite Bible Institute and later EMU, he told me often that culturally, he found it easy to relate to the Mennonites because of the family values, work ethic, frugality, hospitality and non-violence. Having come from a village known for clan violence and cattle theft, he knew the devastation of conflict, and became the one who brought peace to his community.
EMU nurtured my faith and was a time of spiritual growth. I made many wonderful friends during my time here. I remember great times of singing and sharing together on at the Discipleship Center and in residences. I lived in two intentional communities, Edgewood and Martin House. These were great opportunities to share together and pray for one another. I remember interesting discussions in Faith and Vocation class as we wrestled with what it means to be a Christian in the world. I learned to speak up in class and share as God led. Though some in class did not believe, I knew that we can hear from God and follow Him in whatever vocation He has called us to as we heard from some of our guest speakers in that class. My faith in God is what gives me the confidence to lead when I was thrust into the leadership position after the death of my husband. I know that I can trust God to lead me, as I know he has led me here this weekend.
It is an awesome privilege to be here and share with you. I thank you.
Claudette Monroy ‘10, Outstanding Young Alumna/us
As both an advocate and a DREAMer, Monroy assists immigrants in need and speaks publicly about her own status in the United States. The operations manager of The District Church in Washington D.C., she credits her economic professors at EMU with challenging her academically and equipping her professionally. Monroy was invited to the Joint Address to the Congress after she was profiled in a Feb. 2017 Washington Post front-page article.
Good afternoon EMU,
It’s so good to see you! I’m so incredibly grateful for the ways that you have always showed me your support and for the ways you have empowered me to be the person God created me to be.
A few weeks ago, one of my colleagues led us in a devotional. She asked us to close our eyes and think about the place that we call home, the place where we feel safe and that we feel we belong. I thought of this place: Harrisonburg, the Friendly City – EMU.
When I arrived to EMU as a freshman in 2006, I still felt ashamed of my undocumented status and I didn’t really know my identity as a daughter of God. I just knew that I wanted to continue my education and that I loved learning. It’s because of the people here in this room that I was able to attend college and graduate in four years.
I think of this place as my home because this is where I have felt the most safe in my whole life. This is the place where that has been the most formative in all aspects of my life. EMU is where I learned to value all people for their humanity, that we all are made in the image of God – including myself.
During my time at EMU, I started to share my story as an undocumented student. This was before the majority of the population really knew about the DREAM Act and before the movement took off. As I got to share my story and as the community began to embrace me and support me, I began to understand that I am strong and resilient and that I shouldn’t be ashamed of my status.
I am also eternally grateful for my time at EMU because this is the place where I learned to make Christ the Lord of my life and to make him part of every area of my life. My economics professors Walt, Chris and Jim challenged me with course work and set high expectations for the things that I could achieve academically. They believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. In their classes I also learned about the brokenness of this world and how systems and people oppress those who are most vulnerable.
Thank you so much to all of you! Thank you for empowering people and for seeing people for their humanity. I want to challenge you to continue doing that even in the midst of the political environment that we are currently living in. This is something that I have been thinking about a lot this year. How do we stay engaged and use our privilege to continue advocating against oppressive policies? What are ways that we can fight against the division of this country? What are ways that we can be in dialogue with people who have different political views than us? How do I see those people for their humanity even when my community is being targeted?
I pray God helps us understand one another.
Thank you!
Gilberto Perez Jr. ‘94, Distinguished Service Award
The roles Perez has filled over the years are all part of his one overarching goal: simply to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Along the way he wrote a mental health promotion curriculum which has been nationally used and recognized, and has advocated for Latinos in Indiana. In 2017, he won the Chickadee Bird Award for his steadfast support for immigrants and immigrant youth throughout that state, and earlier this year Perez was selected as one of seven Local Defender of Human Rights Award recipients.
I wish to thank the awards and nominations committee and the alumni association for naming me the Distinguished Service Award recipient for 2018. It is a great honor to be the recipient of this important award. Over the years I have come to have a deeper appreciation of my education at EMU because of how it has shaped my life.
Sometimes in my life I have been in a hurry to achieve things and I have experienced impatience. At EMU I learned that growth is slow and that not all processes are completed quickly. I remember asking Mary Jane Fox, my social work professor, for a signature for my application to graduate school. Mary Jane let me know she wouldn’t sign because she thought it would be good to work as a social worker first before entering graduate school. Through Mary Jane, I learned that I must not hurry to achieve things; rather I must enjoy the moment and live life with a profound sense of respect for relationships. Working in community before graduate school gave me a strong sense of meaning and perspective for how people experience poverty, mental illness, threats of deportation, and terminal illness.
At EMU I learned how to understand the importance of building partnerships with those who are in conflict. Taking John Paul Lederach’s course Fundamentals of International Peacebuilding taught me to advocate for an issue through partnerships and alliances. Through John Paul I learned that I must trust the people who know the conflict, for they possess the skills and knowledge to obtain peace.
At EMU I sent my first letter to the editor stating my opinion on unnecessary violence toward immigrants. This letter led me to participate in my first protest march in Harrisonburg. This march put me on a journey of entering situations of chaos with those who experience oppression. Through Titus Bender I learned that I must struggle with an issue by shaking, twisting, turning and pushing, and not give in to injustice.
At EMU I learned to think of the future through a lens of social justice. Having a forward look [for] the onward push toward justice with my family, friends and strangers has been my goal ever since.
Indeed, growth is slow and relationships are important when doing service and social justice. It’s a blessing to know EMU helped shape my being, knowing and doing. These are all things that matter to me. These are all things that guide me.
Again, thank you for honoring me with the Distinguished Service Award. May God continue to guide and direct us in everything we do.
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