{"id":58517,"date":"2025-03-20T11:59:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T15:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=58517"},"modified":"2025-03-26T16:10:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T20:10:37","slug":"emu-celebrates-its-phenomenal-women-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-celebrates-its-phenomenal-women-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU celebrates its phenomenal women leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Special \u2018Mornings with the Mayor\u2019 Convocation pays tribute to President Huxman and other women shaping our campus<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a new morning talk show host in town, and she\u2019s here to celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a special Mornings with the Mayor<\/em> edition of Convocation on Wednesday, Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed<\/strong>, director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, stepped into the role of host as she interviewed several trailblazing women leaders making their mark on campus. The one-of-a-kind program, held at the Student Union, celebrated Women\u2019s History Month and paid tribute to departing EMU President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reed steered the show with her trademark candor and panache, holding court over the \u201clive studio audience\u201d\u2014one student could be seen regularly holding up an \u201cApplause\u201d sign\u2014while she posed fascinating questions to EMU students, staff, and alumnae. \u201cIt\u2019s the show where we bring you big energy, great conversations, and way too much coffee,\u201d quipped Reed.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Arelys Martinez Fabian, left, and Ray Ray Taylor MS \u201924 answer questions from Deanna Reed at the Mornings with the Mayor<\/em> event.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The first guests to grace the stage were a pair of EMU students, Arelys Martinez Fabian<\/strong> and Meredith Lehman<\/strong>, and a recent alumna, Ray Ray Taylor MS \u201924<\/strong>. Fabian, co-president of Student Government Association, highlighted the increased representation of women in campus leadership roles. Taylor, a lab instructor who was a star on the Royals<\/a> track and field team, called for erasing negative stereotypes and for supporting women in sports. When asked about which woman in history she would share a meal with, Lehman, a Rhodes Scholar<\/a> studying at Washington Community Scholars\u2019 Center<\/a>, answered that she had recently heard about Zheng Yi Sao, a pirate leader active in the South China Sea from 1801 to 1810. \u201cShe was one of the most successful pirates in a time where you don’t really hear about female pirates,\u201d Lehman said. \u201cI would ask her where she pulls from to gain confidence and belief in herself\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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From left: Carrie Bert, Dr. Shannon Dycus, and Dr. Tynisha Willingham answer questions at the Student Union.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Another panel discussion featured three powerhouse administrative leaders who are \u201cchanging the game in education and beyond\u201d: Carrie Bert<\/strong>, Dr. Shannon Dycus<\/strong>, and Dr. Tynisha Willingham<\/strong>. Asked to provide her younger self advice, Bert, EMU athletic director, said she would\u2019ve told her to pause and breathe to appreciate the moment. Dycus, vice president for Student Affairs, Equity and Belonging, shared some tough conversations she had when starting in her role about fighting hard to be heard. Willingham spoke about unique challenges she\u2019s faced as a woman provost. “I think we often still see that even when women are in leadership roles, they are expected to be nurturing and can’t be as direct,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
EMU President Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman riffs on influential civil rights leader Ida B. Wells.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Clad in her signature royal blue pantsuit, Huxman, the featured headliner for Reed\u2019s morning show, bounded down the aisle and shined in the spotlight. Huxman is EMU\u2019s ninth president, the first woman to lead in the role, and is retiring this summer<\/a> after nine years of service. She joked about some unexpected lessons learned over those years. \u201cI started with a closet that had five blue outfits,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s half my closet now, skirts and outfits like this, and even shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also spoke about forming closer connections between the university and city, colloquially known as the \u201ctown and gown relationship,\u201d during her time at EMU. Early on, she said, she had visited with elected officials, educators and business leaders who told her they had never stepped foot on EMU\u2019s campus. \u201cI tried to work, especially in that first year, to get folks to campus,\u201d she said. \u201cI brought the delegates and our elected representatives up to my office. And, again, they said, \u2018Well, I’ve been an elected representative for 12, 15 years, and I’ve never been in the president’s office.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when many colleges across the nation are shuttering their DEI programs, EMU is doubling down on its commitment to the initiatives that bolster diversity, equity and inclusion and make all students on campus feel welcome. Huxman spoke about initiatives she\u2019s witnessed over her two terms, including the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration<\/a> started by Celeste Thomas<\/strong> during her second year as president, the Black Lives Matter mural<\/a>\u2014the only city in Virginia with a BLM street mural, Reed said\u2014the establishment of the Office of DEI<\/a>, the start of the Lavender Graduation<\/a>, and the institutional statement<\/a> on land acknowledgement. \u201cIt is EMU’s time to lean into DEI,\u201d Huxman said. \u201cIt’s wrapped into our mission, it’s wrapped into our vision and values, it’s wrapped into the Sermon on the Mount. And this is who we are as a faith-based institution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about which woman she would share a meal with, Huxman answered Ida B. Wells, a journalist and co-founder of the NAACP. \u201cEvery time I reread her biography, I just think, how did somebody walk the earth of this magnitude?\u201d said Huxman, regaling the crowd with tales of Wells\u2019 accomplishments. \u201c\u2026I always think that, in a very real sense, the graduates from our university at EMU are well-prepared to be peace and justice advocates like Ida B. Wells.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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EMU senior Meredith Lehman joins the panel discussion on Zoom from the Washington Community Scholars’ Center.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A special treat honoring the president was free for those attending the event. Baristas at Common Grounds Coffeehouse whipped up mugs of the \u201cHux Deluxe,\u201d a vanilla latte with a little cinnamon sugar on top. \u201cI love that it\u2019s a latte and it has cinnamon on it,\u201d Huxman said. \u201cSomebody knows I like that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interviews were interspersed with video segments documenting powerful EMU alumnae who are shaping the world. These included Khadija O. Ali MA \u201901<\/a><\/strong>, who became the first female state minister of the Somalian government and serves as an ambassador for the country, and Najla El Mangoush MA \u201915<\/a><\/strong>, who was the first female foreign minister of Libya. Another video showcased the legacy of the late Sadie Hartzler<\/strong>, EMU\u2019s first full-time librarian whose name graces the library today.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Mukarabe sings to the crowd while her husband, Makinto, plays guitar.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Mukarabe<\/strong>, a student at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding who fled genocide in Burundi in 1993, read from a poem and led the crowd in a moment of silence for women persecuted around the world. She was joined by her husband Makinto<\/a><\/strong>, a student at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, as they performed music to cap off the event. Together, they shared \u201cAmahoro,\u201d a Kirundi cultural expression conveying peace and God\u2019s blessings, through song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braydon Hoover, vice president for enrollment, served as sidekick\/announcer for \u201cMornings with the Mayor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Special \u2018Mornings with the Mayor\u2019 Convocation pays tribute to President Huxman and other women shaping our campus There\u2019s a new morning talk show host in town, and she\u2019s here to ... read more about EMU celebrates its phenomenal women leaders<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":58523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14184,14715,13679,5861,17562,5642,4513],"tags":[18402,17510,16275,5868,17812,18404,18401,18405,18406,17927,18403,18358,18407,17896],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-58517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-guests","category-campus-life","category-center-for-interfaith-engagement","category-conferences-and-events","category-digest","category-faculty-and-staff","category-student-life","tag-arelys-martinez-fabian","tag-carrie-bert","tag-celeste-thomas","tag-convocation","tag-deanna-reed","tag-dr-shannon-dycus","tag-dr-susan-schultz-huxman","tag-dr-tynisha-willingham","tag-khadija-o-ali","tag-makinto","tag-meredith-lehman","tag-mukarabe","tag-najla-mangoush","tag-ray-ray-taylor","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nEMU celebrates its phenomenal women leaders - 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