EMU has announced its two 2025 Yoder/Webb Scholars.
The full-tuition scholarship is EMU’s highest academic award. Recipients are selected based on academic performance, community and extracurricular involvement, creativity, clarity of thought, and leadership potential.
The Yoder Scholars program was founded by Carol and Paul R. Yoder Jr., both graduates of 1963, with a significant leadership gift to endow the scholarship. Read more about their long legacy of philanthropy here.
The Webb Scholars program honors Ada Webb, one of the first African-American students to attend the university, and Margaret (Peggy) Webb, the first African-American graduate in 1954.
Applicants were tasked with creating a 400-word conceptual response to the prompt, “There are three types of people in the world; which are you?” through the medium of a blank 3”x5” card in whichever way they chose.
Read about the 2025 Yoder/Webb Scholars below:
Zainab Kamran
During her senior year of high school, Zainab Kamran, a psychology major from Lahore, Pakistan, had spent two to three months researching different universities in the U.S. She had come across the Wikipedia pages for James Madison University and the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Those pages naturally led her right to EMU. “I liked what I read about the school, but then I forgot all about it,” she said.
When her older brother, who graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, mentioned that an economics professor of his (Ryan Swartzendruber ’16) had graduated from EMU and “loved the experience,” Kamran resumed her search. “I started to dig deeper and was fascinated by EMU’s focus on community and service because those were things I was involved in,” said Kamran. The school’s small size, which allows for closer connections and meaningful one-on-one interactions with professors, was also a major draw, she added.
While at International School Lahore, Kamran was president of the Community Building Society club and organized volunteers to serve free meals to those in need. On Christmas, she helped pack and distribute more than 60 gifts for Christian orphans in Lahore. She was also involved as a publication director of events on campus and collaborated with a professor on a research paper. She received the Director’s Award for Community Building and the Director’s Award for Research and Publication.
Kamran said she’s excited to take part in service- and art-related activities and clubs on campus and that she’s found a welcoming home at EMU. “The people here are so friendly,” she said. “EMU has such a diverse international student population. I’ve met students from Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Afghanistan, and it’s been a lot of fun meeting them.”
Kayden Beidler
Kayden Beidler, a nursing major from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is the latest in a long line of family members to attend EMU. His older sister, Miranda Beidler, is a senior; his parents, Lyle Beidler, class of ’98, and Melissa Spory Beidler ’98, met and began dating while EMU students; and his aunt, Marcy Spory Weaver ’08, graduated from the university’s top-tier nursing program.
With so many personal connections at EMU, the school automatically made his list of colleges to consider. But, he still had to decide for himself. When Beidler visited EMU during an Admitted Student Day and spoke with a nursing professor, he came away thoroughly impressed with the quality of the program. “The way she described how EMU teaches nursing really resonated with me,” he said. “Seeing those values of caring for others reflected not just in the major I want to study, but also across the college, made me think, ‘This is where I want to be.’”
A National Merit Scholarship finalist this year, Beidler received National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for his story submissions in 2022 (Honorable Mention) and 2023 (Gold Key Award, American Voices nominee). He was also selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Regional Chorus Festival. Beidler, who has joined the EMU University Choir, was involved in all 12 of his high school’s theater productions during his four years at Lancaster Mennonite High School, and served as editor of the school’s literary arts magazine.
Beidler said he wanted to attend a college that aligned with his values of community, living intentionally, caring for others, and caring for the world. “EMU checked all those boxes,” he said. “Visiting those other schools only made me more certain that EMU was the right fit for me.”
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