{"id":59693,"date":"2025-09-09T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=59693"},"modified":"2025-09-08T20:05:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T00:05:22","slug":"meet-zainab-and-kayden-this-years-yoder-webb-scholars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/meet-zainab-and-kayden-this-years-yoder-webb-scholars\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Zainab and Kayden, this year\u2019s Yoder\/Webb Scholars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>EMU has announced its two 2025 Yoder\/Webb Scholars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The full-tuition scholarship is EMU\u2019s highest academic award. Recipients are selected based on academic performance, community and extracurricular involvement, creativity, clarity of thought, and leadership potential.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"highlight highlight-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/admissions\/honors\/yoder-webb\">Learn more about the Yoder\/Webb Scholarship<\/a>.<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>The Yoder Scholars program was founded by <strong>Carol<\/strong> and <strong>Paul R. Yoder Jr.<\/strong>, both graduates of 1963, with a significant leadership gift to endow the scholarship. <em>Read more about their long legacy of philanthropy <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/yoders-named-philanthropists-of-the-year\/\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Webb Scholars program honors <strong>Ada Webb<\/strong>, one of the first African-American students to attend the university, and <strong>Margaret (Peggy) Webb<\/strong>, the first African-American graduate in 1954.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Applicants were tasked with creating a 400-word conceptual response to the prompt, \u201cThere are three types of people in the world; which are you?\u201d through the medium of a blank 3\u201dx5\u201d card in whichever way they chose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Read about the 2025 Yoder\/Webb Scholars below:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Zainab Kamran<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/09\/08142310\/20250903-Zainab-Kamran_Yoder-Webb-Scholar_MM-002.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59696\" style=\"width:250px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/09\/08142310\/20250903-Zainab-Kamran_Yoder-Webb-Scholar_MM-002.jpg 500w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/09\/08142310\/20250903-Zainab-Kamran_Yoder-Webb-Scholar_MM-002-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>During her senior year of high school, <strong>Zainab Kamran<\/strong>, a psychology major from Lahore, Pakistan, had spent two to three months researching different universities in the U.S. She had come across the Wikipedia pages for James Madison University and the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Those pages naturally led her right to EMU. \u201cI liked what I read about the school, but then I forgot all about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When her older brother, who graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, mentioned that an economics professor of his (<strong>Ryan Swartzendruber \u201916<\/strong>) had graduated from EMU and \u201cloved the experience,\u201d Kamran resumed her search. \u201cI started to dig deeper and was fascinated by EMU\u2019s focus on community and service because those were things I was involved in,\u201d said Kamran. The school\u2019s small size, which allows for closer connections and meaningful one-on-one interactions with professors, was also a major draw, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While at International School Lahore, Kamran was president of the Community Building Society club and organized volunteers to serve free meals to those in need. On Christmas, she helped pack and distribute more than 60 gifts for Christian orphans in Lahore. She was also involved as a publication director of events on campus and collaborated with a professor on a research paper. She received the Director\u2019s Award for Community Building and the Director\u2019s Award for Research and Publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kamran said she\u2019s excited to take part in service- and art-related activities and clubs on campus and that she\u2019s found a welcoming home at EMU. \u201cThe people here are so friendly,\u201d she said. \u201cEMU has such a diverse international student population. I\u2019ve met students from Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Afghanistan, and it\u2019s been a lot of fun meeting them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Kayden Beidler<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/09\/08142332\/20250902-Kay-Beidler-004.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59697\" style=\"width:250px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/09\/08142332\/20250902-Kay-Beidler-004.jpg 500w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/09\/08142332\/20250902-Kay-Beidler-004-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Kayden Beidler<\/strong>, a nursing major from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is the latest in a long line of family members to attend EMU. His older sister, <strong>Miranda Beidler<\/strong>, is a senior; his parents, <strong>Lyle Beidler, class of \u201998,<\/strong> and <strong>Melissa Spory Beidler \u201998, <\/strong>met and began dating while EMU students; and his aunt, <strong>Marcy Spory Weaver \u201908<\/strong>, graduated from the university\u2019s top-tier nursing program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With so many personal connections at EMU, the school automatically made his list of colleges to consider. But, he still had to decide for himself. When Beidler visited EMU during an Admitted Student Day and spoke with a nursing professor, he came away thoroughly impressed with the quality of the program. \u201cThe way she described how EMU teaches nursing really resonated with me,\u201d he said. \u201cSeeing those values of caring for others reflected not just in the major I want to study, but also across the college, made me think, \u2018This is where I want to be.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A National Merit Scholarship finalist this year, Beidler received National Scholastic Art &amp; Writing Awards for his story submissions in 2022 (Honorable Mention) and 2023 (Gold Key Award, American Voices nominee). He was also selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Regional Chorus Festival. Beidler, who has joined the EMU University Choir, was involved in all 12 of his high school\u2019s theater productions during his four years at Lancaster Mennonite High School, and served as editor of the school\u2019s literary arts magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beidler said he wanted to attend a college that aligned with his values of community, living intentionally, caring for others, and caring for the world. \u201cEMU checked all those boxes,\u201d he said. \u201cVisiting those other schools only made me more certain that EMU was the right fit for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EMU has announced its two 2025 Yoder\/Webb Scholars. The full-tuition scholarship is EMU\u2019s highest academic award. Recipients are selected based on academic performance, community and extracurricular involvement, creativity, clarity of <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/meet-zainab-and-kayden-this-years-yoder-webb-scholars\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Meet Zainab and Kayden, this year\u2019s Yoder\/Webb Scholars<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":59694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,5725,5583,17562,5600,5603,4513,14139,5730],"tags":[18221,5990,18556,8381,17841,18035,17845,18036,18555],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-59693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-admissions","category-campus-community","category-digest","category-nursing","category-psychology","category-student-life","category-student-profiles","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-academic-excellence","tag-international-students","tag-kayden-beidler","tag-lancaster","tag-scholarships","tag-yoder-and-webb","tag-yoder-webb-scholars","tag-yoder-webb","tag-zainab-kamran","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet Zainab and Kayden, this year\u2019s Yoder\/Webb Scholars - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/meet-zainab-and-kayden-this-years-yoder-webb-scholars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Zainab and Kayden, this year\u2019s Yoder\/Webb Scholars - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EMU has announced its two 2025 Yoder\/Webb Scholars. 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