As Dorothy “Dottie” Nolt Weber ’75 can attest, there’s a special kind of magic in the air in the days leading up to Homecoming. The retired teacher, who taught for 40 years at Lancaster Mennonite High School, has had plenty of her students go on to attend EMU. And on Thursday, as she parked her car near the Sadie Hartzler Library to catch up with Systems Librarian Audrey Shenk, she bumped right into one of them.
“I get out of the car and these two girls are running by and, all of a sudden, one of them says, ‘Hi, Dottie,’” said Weber. That student turned out to be Maria Longenecker, a senior biology major who had Weber as an eighth grade teacher.
“Maria was one of the students I wanted to see,” Weber said. “And here she was, the first person I meet on campus. It’s unbelievable.”
Her husband Tim chimed in: “You have to understand, we could be at the top of Mount Everest and she’d know somebody. We could go anywhere and inevitably someone will say, ‘There’s Dottie!’”
Weber recalled last being on campus in 2005 to cater the wedding reception of alumna and former faculty member Catherine R. Mumaw. She was one of nearly 70 members of the Class of 1975 making a special trip back to EMU this weekend for their milestone 50th reunion during Homecoming 2025.
As she and a group of classmates sat at a table in the Seminary Building on Friday leafing through a Shenandoah yearbook from 1975, they marveled at old photos and reminisced, sharing stories and memories from their time at EMU.
“It’s amazing who I can remember from these photos,” someone says.
Another alumna asks, “Does anyone remember taking classes in the old chicken house? Is this the building where it used to be?”
One of those classmates, Julia Shultz King ’75, traveled all the way from Melbourne, Australia, to attend the homecoming festivities. After graduating with a nursing degree, she worked for the Medical College of Virginia and eventually the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, before serving as a missionary with Youth With A Mission. She has lived the past 13 years in Australia.
She shared a story about putting out a fire in the Northlawn dormitory, after someone had left a candle near the window and a curtain had caught alight. This was the first reunion she could remember attending. She had missed the 50th reunion for her high school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, because Australia had been in lockdown in 2021, and so “it made me extra want to be here,” she said.
“I’m happy to be well enough that I could travel alone to get here,” King said.
Her friend, Weber, said something similar: “Who knows, at this age, you might not be able to come back in another five years.”
This group of alumni, said Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed, who serves as director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, was the only graduating class to ever create a two-volume yearbook. The Class of 1975 welcomed Alex Haley, author of Roots, to campus as part of a lecture music series. And the cross country team made EMU history, becoming the National Christian College Athletic Association cross country champion that year.
“There was also a unique tradition that happened during y’all’s time here,” she said. “Newly engaged students were thrown in the fishing pond. A lot of people got engaged that year, from what I’ve learned.”
Homecoming weekend is all about celebrating and reconnecting with one another, with this campus, and with the values that make EMU such a special place, Reed said during the Homecoming Kickoff Celebration on Saturday morning. “Whether you’re an alum returning after many years or a student just beginning your journey, this is a time to remember that EMU is family,” she said. “And there’s always a place for you here.”
Keep reading for highlights and photos from the weekend’s events!
Seated on a couch in the Student Union, Doris Horst Toll ’79 and her husband Marvin took the morning on Saturday to relax and unwind as they sipped on a hot cocoa from Common Grounds and flipped through the latest issue of The Weather Vane student newspaper. The couple from Michigan had returned for Homecoming to connect with old friends and had attended the a capella concert at Lehman Auditorium the night before. “It brought back a lot of good memories of being in that chapel as a student,” she said.
Hall of Honor
MainStage Theater was packed to the gills on Saturday for a ceremony celebrating this year’s four Hall of Honor inductees:
- Athletics events coordinator Phil Guengerich ’70 was introduced by EMU Athletic Director Carrie S Bert ’97.
- Volleyball middle blocker Justin Reesor ’10 was introduced by former teammate Ben Yoder ’08.
- Soccer forward Mitchell Leap ’12 was introduced by former coach Roger Mast ’85.
- Basketball center David Falk ’15 was introduced by former coach Kirby Dean.
An alumna attending the ceremony, Debbie Swartley ’08, of Penn Laird, Virginia, ran cross country and track while at EMU, and said she typically comes to Homecoming every year. “It’s just so much fun to be back on campus,” she said. “We typically walk around to see the changes for people who haven’t been here in awhile, and the kids love it.”
Gatherings and reunions
The weekend featured several gatherings, including:
- one celebrating the 50th anniversary of EMU’s social work program and the tenure of Professor Deanna Durham,
- a gathering of alumni shaped by their experiences in the Middle East during 50 years of faculty-led interculturals to the region,
- and a 50th anniversary get-together for alumni of the recently rebranded EMU Washington Semester program.
An alumnus of the D.C. program, Avery Trinh ’22, was attending the lattermost gathering with his mother, Rebecca Dietz ’79. Both of them were in the program while it was called different names (Trinh was in WCSC in Fall 2021, while Dietz was in WSSY from 1977-78) and under different program directors (Trinh was led by Ryan Good, while his mom was taught by Ryan’s father, Nelson Good). In fact, Trinh said, his mom used to babysit Ryan Good.
It was his first homecoming since graduating from EMU, Trinh said, and the D.C. reunion offered a way for both him and his mom to get involved.
“There’s always a lot of chatter about how EMU is changing,” he said. “The reason I really enjoyed my time here is the professors who taught me. They were in it to help students grow. So, as long as people like them stick around, I think EMU is in good hands.”
It had been a little more than a decade since Chris Fretz ’05 had been back to Harrisonburg. But for the economic development grad, who now works as a web developer for a marketing agency in Lancaster, the 20th reunion was enough of a draw to bring him back to campus. His wife, Lindsey Frye ’04, was a student and staff member for the D.C. program and so they also attended the 50th anniversary gathering.
Some of the biggest changes he’s noticed since he’s been gone include Common Grounds’ move upstairs and the renovation of the old gym into the MainStage Theater, though other changes less visible have been just as significant.
“It’s been encouraging to see the growing diversity of EMU and to see that the administration is really looking to meet students where they’re at,” Fretz said.
Meet-and-greet with Interim President Dycus
At a meet-and-greet with EMU’s interim president inside the Campus Center, the Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus answered questions from first-generation student and senior nursing major Emily Suarez Nunez. Dycus spoke about her path to EMU and to the leadership position she’s held since July 1, as well as what excites her most.
She called on alumni to loudly and proudly share the stories of EMU’s successes and talk to others about how EMU has impacted their lives, their children’s lives, and the ways their families have been nurtured by the university.
“We’re not proud enough about who EMU is, but we have an amazing community here, a meaningful mission, and it shows up across the world,” said Dycus, who is the first Black woman to serve in the role. “And I am most excited about being able to be the person who gets to advocate for that everywhere I go.”
TenTalks
At the annual TenTalks event hosted at Martin Chapel on Saturday afternoon, EMU’s three 2025 alumni award winners each had 10 minutes to impact, influence, and inspire the audience. This marked the first time that alumni award winners presented at the event.
The speakers were:
- Jessica “Jess” King ’96, recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, has led equity-driven public sector organizations for more than 20 years. She spoke on the theme of fear and the role it’s played in her career and in her life.
- Outstanding Alum of the Year Brittany Caine-Conley MDiv ’14, one of the lead organizers for Congregate Charlottesville, shared her experiences making connections with local justice groups leading up to the white supremacist rally in 2017 and spoke on the importance of solidarity.
- Alum of the Year Fabrice Guerrier MA ’15 (conflict transformation), founder and CEO of the first collaborative worldbuilding production house for science fiction and fantasy storytelling, spoke about the power of imagination. He invited audience members to close their eyes and picture building a city on a new planet in the year 2035.
Royal City Celebration
Outside on the Front Lawn, the Royal City Celebration had everyone grooving to live music from the Richmond-based Premiere Band and savoring bites from food trucks offering barbecue, tacos, and ice cream. The crisp fall temperature and clear skies could not have been more perfect for the occasion.
The event also featured EMU’s second annual crowning of a homecoming court, which included:
- Seniors Jamaury Starks and Royale Parker
- Juniors Christopher Varone and Janaria Kenreich
- Sophomores Bennett de Tenley and Shawna Hurst
- First-years Johnathan Badowski and Logan Turchetta
I was very encouraged by the sharing time during our 50th class reunion for the class of 1975. So many people reported how coming to EMC touched their spiritual lives deeply and had an impact for a life time. It brought back such good memories of my first experience with Christian education. I am grateful that I chose EMC for my nursing education.
I believe the baseball alumni game was also during homecoming weekend. I didn’t see it covered- did I miss it?