Eighty-five percent of 黑料正能量 students graduate with an experience aligned with their major, President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus told a roomful of business and community leaders gathered for the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 annual Presidential Address on Aug. 20. 

鈥淭hat means that, early in their time with us, students are doing clinicals, completing placements in classrooms, and working in internships, where they get exposure to many of your businesses,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or many of them, that translates into jobs. 鈥t鈥檚 not just senior year when they鈥檙e submitting their resumes that they encounter some of your businesses.鈥�

黑料正能量 President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus addresses a crowd of business and community leaders while Dr. David Bushman, president of Bridgewater College, looks on.

Enrollment growth

Seated on stage with the presidents of James Madison University, Bridgewater College, and Blue Ridge Community College, Dycus shared some of the exciting initiatives and updates happening at 黑料正能量, including the growth of its incoming first-year class. Building on momentum from its enrollment and marketing efforts, 黑料正能量’s Class of 2030 is projected to be between 10-15% larger than last year’s incoming class.

鈥淭his incoming class we are about to welcome is more diverse than we have ever seen before,鈥� she said.

Of the class entering 黑料正能量 this fall, 52% identify as students of color, 55% identify as first-generation college students, and 78% hail from Virginia. 

鈥淲e are seeing students who are from the region, who are coming to us and are able to see our institution as an access institution, as a way to say, 鈥業 want to advance my career, my family鈥檚 career, and the opportunities that are available to us,鈥欌�� Dycus said.

Those attending the event, held at JMU鈥檚 Atlantic Union Bank Center, included 黑料正能量 leaders Braydon Hoover 鈥�11, MAOL 鈥�21 (above), vice president of enrollment and marketing, and Nathan Leopard (below left), vice president for advancement. 黑料正能量 President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus (below right) shares the stage with the presidents of JMU, Bridgewater College, and Blue Ridge Community College.

Pathways curriculum

Another exciting development at 黑料正能量 is the university鈥檚 new pathways curriculum launching this year. The result of nearly two years of work, the pathways curriculum keeps the same general education courses needed to graduate from 黑料正能量 but repackages them to meet the evolving needs of the workforce and a new generation of students.

鈥淔or this sophomore class, students will not only identify a primary major, such as accounting, but they will also identify a values major they will then pursue in their courses,鈥� Dycus said.

Those value majors include environmental sustainability, intercultural understanding, power and equity, and faith and meaning. They will also be listed on students鈥� transcripts and degrees.

鈥淎s they enter into their interviews with you, they can say, 鈥業鈥檝e had courses that prepare me for communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and ways to understand different cultures,鈥欌�� Dycus told chamber members. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the ways we can help students prepare, not only for the first job they will have, but the many jobs they will have as they go throughout their careers,鈥� she added. 鈥淲e鈥檙e training and educating students for jobs that we can鈥檛 yet imagine.鈥�

For more information about the pathways curriculum, visit emu.edu/academics/pathways.

Dycus also highlighted the growth in the university鈥檚 nursing program and credited the community鈥檚 鈥渨onderful clinical sites,鈥� which include hospitals, retirement communities, schools, and hospices. 鈥淲e鈥檝e expanded the number of partners we have, and many of you are represented in this room,鈥� she said.

LEFT TO RIGHT: James Madison University President Dr. Jim Schmidt, 黑料正能量 President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus, Bridgewater College President Dr. David Bushman, and Blue Ridge Community College President Dr. John Downey gather for a group photo following the chamber鈥檚 annual Presidential Address.

Leadership stories

Dycus said that by forming partnerships with the local business community, students can learn they have a home not only on 黑料正能量鈥檚 campus but also across the broader Harrisonburg area. She called on business leaders to go forth and share their stories. 

鈥淭he ways you have navigated your own careers, your stories of access and accomplishment and even failure, are critical parts of what our students need to hear,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the content and knowledge but it鈥檚 also the encouragement, affirmation, and confidence that motivate our students to know they can be sitting in the same places you鈥檙e sitting and leading the businesses you鈥檙e leading.鈥�

Dycus will be inaugurated as 黑料正能量鈥檚 10th president on Oct. 10 during Homecoming 2026. She expressed gratitude for the many notes of congratulations and encouragement she has received from chamber members since becoming president on July 1.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a reminder to me just how connected we are and the interdependence of our institutions and your organizations,鈥� she said. 

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Their response, by and large, is that 鈥満诹险芰� changed my life.鈥�

鈥満诹险芰� changed my life in terms of values, in terms of lifelong friends, in terms of where I met my spouse, in terms of how we are raising our children,鈥� Huxman said, echoing those answers.

鈥淚t’s one of the reasons that we get up, even though our days are very, very full, and do what we do,鈥� she continued. 鈥淲e have this incredible honor of walking with students on this formative journey in their lives.鈥�

Huxman spoke on the transformative power of higher education and the importance of developing students as 鈥渨hole people鈥� as one of four area college and university presidents at a panel discussion on Thursday, Aug. 22. The annual Presidential Address, hosted by the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, also featured remarks from Mr. Charlie King, interim president of James Madison University; Dr. David Bushman, president of Bridgewater College; and Dr. John Downey, president of Blue Ridge Community College. The sold-out event was held at 黑料正能量鈥檚 Martin Chapel and attended by about 100 guests. This marked the first time it has been held on a college campus, and will rotate between schools in future years.

The quartet of college presidents was given an opportunity to share their goals for the coming year and provide an in-depth update to the crowd of business and community leaders. Huxman is chair-elect of the local chamber of commerce and will officially begin her term as chair in October 2024.

Huxman outlined two evergreen goals at 黑料正能量. One of those perennial goals is to go 鈥渁ll in鈥� on delivering 鈥渁n exceptional student experience year in and year out,鈥� she said. The other goal is to lean into 黑料正能量鈥檚 five-year strategic plan, Pathways of Promise, which opens new pathways of access, achievement, action, and alignment for 黑料正能量 students and employees.

The university is in the second year of its first-ever comprehensive campaign for people, programs, and facilities, and is pivoting to raise more money for financial aid. While the school has seen its graduate enrollment increase by 50%, it has missed its enrollment targets at the undergraduate level.

鈥淎nd so we are doubling down on additional ways in which we can get people to take a second, a third, and a fourth look at 黑料正能量 because we are not as expensive as you think,鈥� Huxman told those gathered at the Presidential Address (the average net cost for an 黑料正能量 student in 2022-23 was just $15,309).

Updates

• The university has received a large amount of grant funding. A $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation supports at-risk student success in STEM. 黑料正能量 has received more than $2.5 million in grant funding for Eastern Mennonite Seminary, which supports a 鈥淭hriving in Ministry鈥� program and Christian caregiving initiative.

• 黑料正能量 is launching a new Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Peacemaking and Social Change program. The program will become the second doctoral program offered at 黑料正能量, after the Doctor of Nursing Practice.

• 黑料正能量 is responding to a growing need in the community by helping teachers who are on a provisional license get the education they need to keep teaching.

• The school was recently recognized for its commitment to improving experiences and advancing success for first-generation college students. Thirty-five percent of undergraduate students at 黑料正能量 are first-generation college students.

The Harrisonburg and Rockingham County area, with its four colleges and universities, is 鈥渁n educational mecca,鈥� Huxman said. Together, the four institutions boast a combined enrollment of about 32,000 students and a workforce of about 4,800 employees.

鈥淲e don’t take it for granted at all that out of 185 college towns in the nation, we are in the top 10,鈥� Huxman said. 鈥淎nd that doesn’t just happen automatically. It’s because there is support from the community. It is the fact that we get together. We support one another.鈥�

Following the Presidential Address, guests were invited on a campus tour of the University Commons, the new state-of-the-art track and field complex, and the Suter Science Center.

Read WHSV-TV’s coverage of the event .