EMU’s Huxman shares goals, updates at Presidential Address

When EMU’s generous alumni are asked about why they choose to give back to the school, their answers are “overwhelmingly the same,” said President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman.

Their response, by and large, is that “EMU changed my life.”

“EMU changed my life in terms of values, in terms of lifelong friends, in terms of where I met my spouse, in terms of how we are raising our children,” Huxman said, echoing those answers.

“It’s one of the reasons that we get up, even though our days are very, very full, and do what we do,” she continued. “We have this incredible honor of walking with students on this formative journey in their lives.”

Huxman spoke on the transformative power of higher education and the importance of developing students as “whole people” as one of four area college and university presidents at a panel discussion on Thursday, Aug. 22. The annual Presidential Address, hosted by the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, also featured remarks from Mr. Charlie King, interim president of James Madison University; Dr. David Bushman, president of Bridgewater College; and Dr. John Downey, president of Blue Ridge Community College. The sold-out event was held at EMU’s Martin Chapel and attended by about 100 guests. This marked the first time it has been held on a college campus, and will rotate between schools in future years.

The quartet of college presidents was given an opportunity to share their goals for the coming year and provide an in-depth update to the crowd of business and community leaders. Huxman is chair-elect of the local chamber of commerce and will officially begin her term as chair in October 2024.

Huxman outlined two evergreen goals at EMU. One of those perennial goals is to go “all in” on delivering “an exceptional student experience year in and year out,” she said. The other goal is to lean into EMU’s five-year strategic plan, Pathways of Promise, which opens new pathways of access, achievement, action, and alignment for EMU students and employees.

The university is in the second year of its first-ever comprehensive campaign for people, programs, and facilities, and is pivoting to raise more money for financial aid. While the school has seen its graduate enrollment increase by 50%, it has missed its enrollment targets at the undergraduate level.

“And so we are doubling down on additional ways in which we can get people to take a second, a third, and a fourth look at EMU because we are not as expensive as you think,” Huxman told those gathered at the Presidential Address (the average net cost for an EMU student in 2022-23 was just $15,309).

Updates

• The university has received two large grants. A $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation supports at-risk student success in STEM. A $2.5 million grant for Eastern Mennonite Seminary funds a “Thriving in Ministry” program and Christian caregiving initiative.

• EMU is launching a new Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Peacemaking and Social Change program. The program will become the second doctoral program offered at EMU, after the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Also, did you know that EMU ranks second among all educational institutions in Virginia for the percentage of graduates who go on to earn a doctoral degree?

• EMU is responding to a growing need in the community by helping teachers with a provisional license get the education they need to keep teaching.

• The school was recently recognized for its commitment to improving experiences and advancing success for first-generation college students. Thirty-five percent of undergraduate students at EMU are first-generation college students.

The Harrisonburg and Rockingham County area, with its four colleges and universities, is “an educational mecca,” Huxman said. Together, the four institutions boast a combined enrollment of about 32,000 students and a workforce of about 4,800 employees.

“We don’t take it for granted at all that out of 185 college towns in the nation, we are in the top 10,” Huxman said. “And that doesn’t just happen automatically. It’s because there is support from the community. It is the fact that we get together. We support one another.”

Following the Presidential Address, guests were invited on a campus tour of the University Commons, the new state-of-the-art track and field complex, and the Suter Science Center.

Read WHSV-TV’s coverage of the event here.