The life-cycle of an organization is generally not more than 100 years, says organizational leadership expert Dr. David Brubaker, who leads Eastern Mennonite University’s MBA program. That is, he notes, unless the organization continually remakes itself … listening, evaluating, reviewing the mission and, essentially, transforming itself.
“Serving. Leading. Transforming.” – the theme of Eastern Mennonite University’s Centennial year – marks the transformation of a quiet school on a hill meant to protect its students from the world, into a place engaging with, welcoming and sending alumni out into the world.
A new website captures that story and will provide details about Centennial year events as they are finalized. The university will celebrate throughout the academic year 2017-18, with emphasis on Centennial Week (Oct. 11-18, 2017) and Centennial Homecoming and Family Weekend (Oct. 13-15, 2017).
“There is a lot of fascinating material to explore on the site for current campus community members, alumni from all decades, and the local community or anyone interested in EMU,” says Mark Metzler Sawin, professor of history and member of the Centennial Steering Committee.
A historical timeline links to articles about iconic places on campus such as the dining hall and snack shop, as well as key events such as the library fund drive, and significant developments such as EMU’s experience with integration of African-American students.
In addition, EMUStories.com is a new repository of EMU alumni stories and campus history in print, audio and video format. Users can sort by decade, theme or topic or search for specific individuals and key words. Visitors can submit stories and photos via an online form.
Preparations for the Centennial have been underway for several years under the leadership of steering committee chairwoman, Louise Otto Hostetter ‘79. “This website provides a wonderful centralized location for telling the EMU story,” she notes. “And we want to remember that our Centennial isn’t just about the past. It is also about the future and where EMU goes in the next century of preparing students to serve and lead in a global context.”
EMU’s Centennial history, titled Eastern Mennonite University: A Century of CounterCultural Education (Penn State Press) by historian Donald Kraybill ’67 will also be available September 2017.