{"id":61017,"date":"2026-03-31T17:25:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=61017"},"modified":"2026-03-31T17:28:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T21:28:49","slug":"mayor-reed-reprises-role-as-talk-show-host-for-second-annual-mornings-with-the-mayor-convocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/mayor-reed-reprises-role-as-talk-show-host-for-second-annual-mornings-with-the-mayor-convocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Reed reprises role as talk show host for second annual \u2018Mornings with the Mayor\u2019 Convocation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed <\/strong>channeled her inner Oprah Winfrey for another installment of Mornings with the Mayor<\/em>, a special edition of Convocation, on Friday morning at the University Commons Student Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the second time that Reed, director of alumni engagement and community connections at EMU, has hosted the event. Named among the Top 50 Women Leaders of Virginia for 2026<\/a> and a member of the America250 panel at the 2026 Congressional City Conference<\/a>, she conceived the idea last year<\/a> to celebrate March as Women\u2019s History Month and highlight the trailblazing women leaders guiding the campus forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s event celebrated Women\u2019s History Month and explored the \u201cqueer-affirming, gender-expansive world of nature around us,\u201d Reed said. It featured a conversation and Q&A with P\u0131nar Ate\u015f Sinopoulos-Lloyd<\/strong>, a visionary artist, wildlife tracker, and Indigenous eco-philosopher whose work \u201clives at the intersection of sustainability, science, and deep connections to the natural world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinopoulos-Lloyd (they\/them) shared their personal journey, moving from Turkey to the Bay Area of California at age eight. As a neurodivergent child, they spent a year of near silence carefully observing squirrels, pigeons, and other urban wildlife, noticing how these animals adapted to a city not designed for them. \u201cThat began and initiated my journey in wildlife observation, wildlife tracking, and pattern recognition as a tracker,\u201d Sinopoulos-Lloyd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI noticed they didn\u2019t speak much and were highly observant,\u201d they said. \u201cI could relate to them and feel unmasked with them so easily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wildlife tracker also spoke about community care. While trailing deer in the Scablands of eastern Washington about three years ago, Sinopoulos-Lloyd came across the leg bone of a beaver at the site of an ancient lake. On closer inspection, they saw that the bone had been broken but had healed. \u201cThat meant this being had survived,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reason I was so amazed was that this was a major fracture,\u201d Sinopoulos-Lloyd said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how it happened, but it\u2019s a sign of care. They must have been cared for and fed to recover and heal. As someone who\u2019s disabled and chronically ill, seeing that sign of community care in the natural world touched me in such a profound way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
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Students, faculty, and staff fill the University Commons Student Union for the second annual Mornings with the Mayor<\/em> Convocation hosted by Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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P\u0131nar Ate\u015f Sinopoulos-Lloyd (left) shares their experiences with Mayor Deanna Reed. Mukarabe (right), a conflict transformation student at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, performs djembe to close out Friday’s show.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Mornings with the Mayor<\/em> also included a viewing of the trailer for Bloom<\/em>, a documentary by filmmaker and Visual and Communication Arts professor Elizabeth Miller-Derstine<\/a><\/strong>. The 2024 film<\/a> follows four birth workers making reproductive care safer and more accessible in their community. A screening of the film will be held at 8 p.m. on Monday, April 13, in Suter Science Center 106.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event concluded with a djembe musical performance by Mukarabe<\/strong>, a conflict transformation student at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. She shared her life story, from escaping the genocide in Burundi and coming to the United States to enrolling at EMU. \u201cNow I\u2019m here for my third master\u2019s degree,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cNot just for the paper. I\u2019m studying conflict transformation because where I come from, it is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those attending Mornings with the Mayor<\/em> were treated to a complimentary drink, the Sunrise Refresher (a dragonfruit, mango, and raspberry lemonade), crafted by the talented baristas at Common Grounds Coffeehouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinopoulos-Lloyd, one of the seven professionals featured on the Inclusivity in Science Mural<\/a> inside Suter Science Center, spent the full day on campus. They joined students, faculty, and staff for a lunchtime discussion, then gave a talk and signed their portrait during the mural\u2019s dedication ceremony later that afternoon.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed channeled her inner Oprah Winfrey for another installment of Mornings with the Mayor, a special edition of Convocation, on Friday morning at the University Commons Student ... read more about Mayor Reed reprises role as talk show host for second annual \u2018Mornings with the Mayor\u2019 Convocation<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":61020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14184,14715,5861,17562,17564,4513],"tags":[5868,17812,18497,18955,18358,18857,18859,18958,17222,18957,18956],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-61017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-guests","category-campus-life","category-conferences-and-events","category-digest","category-events","category-student-life","tag-convocation","tag-deanna-reed","tag-elizabeth-miller-derstine","tag-mornings-with-the-mayor","tag-mukarabe","tag-pinar-ates-sinopoulos-lloyd","tag-ssc","tag-student-union","tag-suter-science-center","tag-wildlife-tracker","tag-womens-history-month-2","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nMayor Reed reprises role as talk show host for second annual \u2018Mornings with the Mayor\u2019 Convocation - 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