Mennonite Higher Education Conference draws visitors to EMU from across U.S., Canada

The 2024 Mennonite Higher Education Conference hosted by EMU on Tuesday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 15, drew about 90 faculty and staff members from Mennonite institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Participants hailed from each of the Marpeck Fund institutions: Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Bethel College, Bluffton University, Canadian Mennonite University, Conrad Grebel University College, Goshen College and Hesston College, in addition to Eastern Mennonite University and Seminary.

Held every two years at a different institution, the conference provides faculty and staff members an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions, share innovative ideas and learn from others in higher education. EMU last hosted the event in 2008.

The theme for this year’s conference was “Creating Resilient and Restorative Campus Environments for Students, Faculty and Staff” and featured a variety of panel sessions, presentations, workshops and other events. Participants could join in singing with others at a “Coffee and Choruses” event and make music at a drum circle.

EMU Provost Dr. Tynisha Willingham, a presenter and member of the conference planning committee, said the event “was a beautiful opportunity to bring our Mennonite Higher Education faculty and staff together to build community and share resources.”

“It was a privilege to welcome everyone to EMU,” Willingham said. “It was a reminder that we are navigating the challenge of higher education together.”

In her welcoming remarks at the conference, EMU President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman reflected on the timeliness of this year’s theme.

“Living into our post-pandemic times has meant facing bravely and imaginatively a whole new set of disorientations and disruptions,” Huxman said. “… And yet, the five-alarm fires we were putting out most days of the pandemic years taught us some valuable lessons about resilience and restoration, compassion and creativity, and caring for self, others and community.”

The Mennonite Higher Education Conference is sponsored by the Marpeck Fund, which provides grants to foster collaboration between Mennonite institutions of higher education. Everence Federal Credit Union and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding also sponsored the event.