{"id":60838,"date":"2026-03-18T13:34:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=60838"},"modified":"2026-03-18T13:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:44:17","slug":"emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><em>Award reflects EMU\u2019s commitment to providing a transformative and accessible education<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet has a new look, and people are starting to notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The packet of information, mailed to every admitted undergraduate student with a FAFSA on file at EMU, simplifies the often complicated financial aid process by outlining the total aid offered and the costs students will be expected to cover. It includes information on grants, scholarships, and loans, as well as direct and indirect costs of an education at EMU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once a drab bundle of letters and forms, the financial aid notification packet has been delightfully redesigned through a collaboration between EMU\u2019s marketing and communications department and Farmville, Virginia-based marketing agency <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/letterpresscommunications.com\/\">Letterpress Communications<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new-and-improved \u201cFAN packet\u201d features the design of a sunrise over the familiar Massanutten Mountain ridgeline and bright, attention-grabbing colors. It also uses friendly, approachable typefaces with bold, easy-to-read text. Each packet comes with a set of EMU-branded stickers, perfect for laptops, phone cases, water bottles, and notebooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s anything but ordinary, reflecting EMU\u2019s unique and diverse campus, its commitment to providing a transformative and accessible education, and the care it puts into supporting students and families through the financial aid process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis project was all about transparency, organization, and user-focused design: helping students and families navigate an important decision with confidence,\u201d reads a Facebook post from Letterpress Communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"60841\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133526\/647147708_1511818880920391_4169291350333577805_n-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60841\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133526\/647147708_1511818880920391_4169291350333577805_n-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133526\/647147708_1511818880920391_4169291350333577805_n-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133526\/647147708_1511818880920391_4169291350333577805_n-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133526\/647147708_1511818880920391_4169291350333577805_n-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133526\/647147708_1511818880920391_4169291350333577805_n.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"60840\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133224\/image-12-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133224\/image-12-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133224\/image-12-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133224\/image-12-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133224\/image-12-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133224\/image-12.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EMU\u2019s marketing and communications department teamed up with Farmville-based Letterpress Communications to design its reimagined financial aid notification packet.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best of Show<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Representatives from the marketing agency attended the Southwest Virginia American Advertising Awards in Abingdon, Virginia, on Feb. 28. There, EMU\u2019s FAN packet won a Gold ADDY, a top honor in the advertising industry, as well as the Best of Show award, recognizing it as the best overall piece in the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will now compete at the district level against Gold ADDY winners from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. If the FAN packet wins gold at the district level (winners are announced in April), it will advance to the national competition in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is truly terrific news,\u201d said <strong>Braydon Hoover \u201911, MAOL \u201921<\/strong>, vice president of enrollment and marketing. \u201cFor the nearly 1,000 students and families who have already received the FAN packet, this award demonstrates just how special the financial aid process is here at EMU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are committed to doing everything we can to make the financial aid process as simple and understandable as possible,\u201d said <strong>Troy Martin<\/strong>, director of financial aid for EMU. \u201cThe next step, if you\u2019ve received a FAN packet and haven\u2019t done so already, is to review it with your family and your admissions counselor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about your financial aid notification, visit <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/fan\">emu.edu\/fan<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Award reflects EMU\u2019s commitment to providing a transformative and accessible education EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet has a new look, and people are starting to notice. The packet of information, <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":60842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5725,17562,5730],"tags":[18915,17357,18911,13574,14088,18909,11336,18910,18912,17745,18913,18914,18703],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-60838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admissions","category-digest","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-addys","tag-admissions","tag-best-of-show","tag-braydon-hoover","tag-fafsa","tag-fan-packet","tag-financial-aid","tag-financial-aid-notification","tag-letterpress-communications","tag-marketing-2","tag-southwest-virginia-american-advertising-awards","tag-swva-aaf","tag-troy-martin","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>EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition - 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\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Award reflects EMU\u2019s commitment to providing a transformative and accessible education EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet has a new look, and people are starting to notice. The packet of information,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T17:34:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T17:44:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/\",\"name\":\"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T17:34:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T17:44:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"EMU News\",\"description\":\"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\",\"name\":\"Ryan Cornell\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition - EMU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition - EMU News","og_description":"Award reflects EMU\u2019s commitment to providing a transformative and accessible education EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet has a new look, and people are starting to notice. The packet of information,","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/","og_site_name":"EMU News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2026-03-18T17:34:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-18T17:44:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ryan Cornell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EMU_News","twitter_site":"@EMU_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ryan Cornell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/","name":"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition - EMU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png","datePublished":"2026-03-18T17:34:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T17:44:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/03\/17133855\/EMU-2026-03-17T130941.685.png","width":1536,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/emus-financial-aid-notification-packet-crowned-best-of-show-at-competition\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EMU\u2019s financial aid notification packet crowned Best of Show at competition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"EMU News","description":"News from the Eastern Mennonite University community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf","name":"Ryan Cornell"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60847,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60838\/revisions\/60847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60838"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=60838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}