{"id":62723,"date":"2026-11-03T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=62723"},"modified":"2026-11-02T10:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T15:19:29","slug":"whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\/","title":{"rendered":"WHSV goes one-on-one with President Dycus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In her first sit-down television interview as EMU president, the <strong>Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus<\/strong> shared her excitement about leading the university into a new chapter, reflected on the role of faith in her life, and discussed how EMU connects with a generation of students whose relationships with religion are changing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The eight-and-a-half-minute interview with WHSV-TV3 anchor Caleb Peek was recorded in the Administrative Suite of EMU\u2019s Campus Center and aired Oct. 22, less than two weeks after Dycus\u2019 investiture during Homecoming and Inauguration Weekend.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dycus, who joined EMU in 2019 and served as interim president beginning in July 2025, officially became the university\u2019s 10th president on July 1, 2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked to share a word that encapsulates how she\u2019s feeling after her recent inauguration, Dycus chose one familiar to many members of the campus community: <strong>together<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s actually a part of our brand here,\u201d she said. \u201cWe talk about leading together and creating together and being together in ways that create the community that we have on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peek asked Dycus, an ordained minister and trained spiritual director, how her journey in faith shaped her leadership.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dycus, who grew up in a family deeply rooted in faith and in a congregation pastored by her grandfather, said the church has always been a part of her life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy faith \u2026 has really been a grounding piece for me as I listen and pay attention to who I can become,\u201d she said. \u201cBut my faith, for me, is also about paying attention to how God is moving around us and how God allows us to create relationships between us. And that\u2019s what grounds EMU as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dycus is the first Black woman to lead EMU as president and just the 10th person to serve in the role in the institution\u2019s 110-year history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked what it means to be a part of that legacy, Dycus reflected on the university\u2019s past leaders, including President Emeritus <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/in-memoriam-dr-myron-s-augsburger-put-emu-on-the-map\/\">Dr. Myron S. Augsburger<\/a><\/strong>, who died Oct. 15 at age 97.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn his passing, it became even more clear to me just the courageous leadership that\u2019s required to offer a vision for an institution like this, and I\u2019m inspired,\u201d she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leadership extends well beyond the President\u2019s Office, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a campus that is filled with incredible faculty, with staff who care deeply, and being president here means that I am only helping us all do the work that we need to do,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so, while it\u2019s an honor to sit in this seat, the true honor here is to be able to give vision and guidance for all of the folks who are leading on this campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Citing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/2026\/02\/12\/religious-diversity-around-the-world\/\">recent Pew Research Center study<\/a> on changing religious attitudes in the United States, Peek asked Dycus how declining religious identification among younger Americans affects her approach to leading a Christian university.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dycus described how people are changing the language they use to express their faith and the ways they live it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is still a strong longing that we see in our students and in our community leaders here who talk about compassion and justice and the care that we know in Jesus, that we know in many of the ways that faith takes form,\u201d she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is still God informing how we live and move, and we get to talk about it in ways that connect more clearly with young people right now,\u201d she added.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dycus expressed gratitude for the support she\u2019s received from the local community as she begins a \u201cnew season of leadership\u201d at EMU.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe get to journey with students who are growing and becoming in really important ways,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m excited about the ways we get to launch into a new season that grows our students and grows our connections across the Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whsv.com\/2026\/10\/22\/one-on-one-with-emu-president-rev-dr-shannon-w-dycus\/\">Watch the full interview with President Dycus here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In her first sit-down television interview as EMU president, the Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus shared her excitement about leading the university into a new chapter, reflected on the role <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about WHSV goes one-on-one with President Dycus<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":62762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14184,17562],"tags":[17875,5981,19166,19260,5727,17609,19261,18423,17702,11980,18297],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-62723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-guests","category-digest","tag-in-the-news","tag-inauguration","tag-investiture","tag-media","tag-office-of-the-president","tag-presidents-office","tag-publicity","tag-rev-dr-shannon-w-dycus","tag-shannon-dycus","tag-whsv","tag-whsv-tv3","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 v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>WHSV goes one-on-one with President Dycus - 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\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WHSV goes one-on-one with President Dycus - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In her first sit-down television interview as EMU president, the Rev. 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Dycus shared her excitement about leading the university into a new chapter, reflected on the role\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2026\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-11-03T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/10\/02101758\/44.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ryan Cornell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"headline\":\"WHSV goes one-on-one with President Dycus\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-03T12:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu.edu\\\/now\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/whsv-goes-one-on-one-with-president-dycus\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/02101758\\\/44.png\",\"keywords\":[\"In The News\",\"inauguration\",\"investiture\",\"media\",\"Office of the president\",\"President's Office\",\"publicity\",\"Rev. 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