This article is from the EMU News Archive. Current EMU new is available at www.emu.edu/news

Students to Hear Community Stories

Everyone has a story to tell, and Eastern Mennonite University students will have the opportunity to hear stories from many longtime Harrisonburg residents, immigrants, community activists, leaders and pastors.

Some 230 first-year and about 35 transfer students will spend Saturday afternoon, Aug. 27, learning about some of the 47 languages and cultures represented locally.

"We want students to get acquainted with the complexity of living here – a growing microcosm of our larger global world - before jumping into their course requirements," said Deanna F. Durham, coordinator of community learning at EMU.

"Our desire is that students have some insight and understanding of who settled this Valley, why they came here, how things have changed in recent history, why we are such a diverse community, and what the wonderful benefits and challenges of our growing diversity are," she added.

Representatives of more than 30 participating groups, agencies and churches will give information on their programs, share personal stories of how they got involved, identify needs they see among the people they serve, and talk about how students can get involved.

"Learning through listening to personal stories lends itself to more equitable exchange," Durham said. "Rather than one person being the giver or doer, it allows for sharing and connecting much deeper than often happens in a traditional service setting."

Organizations that students will visit range from Salvation Army, Blacks Run Greenway, Harrisonburg Children's Museum to Mercy House, Camp Still Meadows, Our Community Place and A World of Good: Gift and Thrift, Artisan's Hope and Booksavers. Two groups will join a family reunion of one of the deacons of First Baptist Church in the Northeast neighborhood. EMU students have been invited to get acquainted, eat and join the celebration.

Activities for EMU students will begin at 12:15 p.m. with a welcome ceremony at Court Square Theater in downtown Harrisonburg that will include Harrisonburg mayor Larry Rodgers and Vaunda Brown, coordinator of the International Festival held at Hillandale Park each September. Students will then fan out into the community in groups of 15-20 for the afternoon.

"Our hope is that our students will be inspired, informed and eager to get involved in the local community," Durham said. They will have the chance, as part of the First Year Seminar course (FYS), to walk with and work with these same agencies, churches, farmers and community members in many settings and contexts.

"The theme for the FYS course is 'Storylines,' and our hope is that they hear stories of joy, pain, grief and change — starting Saturday," she added.

— article by: Jim Bishop; posted August 23, 2005