Deirdre Longacher Smeltzer Archives - �� News

After 33 years, nursing professor Ann Hershberger ’76 moves to MCC leadership role

Lauren Jefferson — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 12:13:00 +0000

Professor Ann Graber Hershberger ‘76, who began as assistant instructor in the nursing department at �� and served in several influential leadership roles over 33 years of service, will retire June 30.

Professor Ann Hershberger has held several leadership positions within the university, and is appreciated campus-wide for her mentoring and teaching skill. (Photo by Andrew Strack)

Within the nursing department, Hershberger chaired both the undergraduate (interim) and graduate programs, developed and updated the foundational “Sacred Covenant” model of nursing, led an enrollment expansion in 2004, and proposed two new degree programs — the accelerated second degree and the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree — that would position �� as a top regional provider of nursing education.

Hershberger’s nursing department colleagues, nursing department chair Melody Cash and MSN program director Don Tyson, recognize her as both a mentor and a consummate professional, devoted to advocating for the most vulnerable, to seeking challenging and transformative experiences for �� nursing students, and for elevating the departmental discourse around public health issues and challenges, among many other contributions.

Tyson’s office was located just across the hall from Hershberger’s for the last 20 years: “It has been a blessing and treat as we have laughed, cried, disagreed, affirmed each other, consoled, and problem solved in so many ways.”

Cash has appreciated her “wise discernment and support …a listening ear when I needed it …advice that came from years of experience and a place of compassion and caring.”

Hershberger’s impact on the entire university has been no less substantial. She moved through the academic ranks to full professor in 2002 and in addition to teaching and leadership responsibilities within the nursing department, was tapped for leadership roles as core curriculum coordinator, director of the Humanitarian Action Leadership program, and finally, her current role as director of the cross-cultural program.

Additionally, Hershberger contributed to several innovative initiatives, each of which have shaped the university’s core niche as a unique, Anabaptist-rooted liberal arts institution. She helped to launch the cross-cultural program, a core curricular requirement for all undergraduates; chaired the faculty committee to launch the graduate Conflict Transformation Program, now the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding; and provided leadership to several undergraduate general education revisions.

“Ann has made a lasting impact and we are deeply grateful for her deep commitment to �� over nearly four decades,” said Undergraduate Dean Deirdre Longacher Smeltzer. “She has been a beloved professor and mentor to numerous students, both in the classroom and as leader of nine cross-cultural study semesters, and also to her many colleagues. Her wise leadership and her ability to gracefully balance completion of tasks with nurturing of relationships have afforded her numerous opportunities to serve off-campus as well, most notably including prominent roles with Mennonite Central Committee.”

To Mennonite Central Committee

Professor Ann Hershberger speaks with students during orientation for the Masters in Nursing program.

It is to MCC that Hershberger will devote the next few years. She recently accepted the newly created position of interim associate director, and will help Executive Director J. Ron Byler lead the organization during MCC’s centennial activities over the next 2-3 years.

Hershberger has served on MCC boards since 1996, including 10 years from 2009-19 as board chair of MCC US. She served with her husband Jim as MCC representative in Nicaragua from 1985-90 and again in 1999-2000. Her first service with the organization was in 1983 in El Salvador.

The interim leadership role with MCC was “an unexpected, but clear calling,” Hershberger said. “The interdenominational relationships I’ve built over the years through working with MCC will help me work within the organization as it adapts to important challenges. I am grateful that �� has been my occupational home and the focus of my service to God and the church for many years, and I hope to continue the relationship after the interim position concludes.”

Appreciations

As a colleague, Hershberger contributed to ��’s intellectual community with “perceptive comments and questions during meetings as well as over meals,” said Professor Marti Eads, of the �� Language and Literature Department. “I treasure the challenging example she provides of living with integrity, and how she demonstrates measures of kindness, humility and cheerfulness when devoting herself to difficult tasks, such as a campus-wide curriculum revision process. I never had Ann as a teacher, but I imagine her to function as a teacher in the same way that she functions as a friend: encouraging others to do our very best because she believes we can and is waiting in excitement to watch us bloom.”

Sue Cockley, dean of the graduate school and seminary, shared similar sentiments about Hershberger’s versatile capabilities. “Ann is one of those very rare people who can care intensely about individual students in her class and, at the same time, think structurally about the well-being of the entire university. She is at once an inspirational idealist and a very practical realist.”

Current and former students appreciated Hershberger’s role modeling and mentorship, pointing out that her words and actions has always shown genuine care, authenticity and intentionality.

Maria Yoder, a senior biology major, travelled to Guatemala and Colombia with Hershberger as a sophomore. Yoder and Hershberger were co-investigators on a diabetes research project in Guatemala and travelled together to present at the fall 2018 American Public Health Association national conference.

“Without the experience, motivation, and guidance from Ann, I never would have thought I was capable of carrying out the research with Concern America. And that’s the beautiful thing about Ann — she is a natural teacher because she cares about the end product, not her own personal glory. She has hopes for this world that extend well beyond her lifetime and knows that teaching a younger generation is the best way to create a lasting impact.

“She has given me great counsel not only in regards to academics, but life in general,” said nursing student Asenie Daniel, who was also on the spring 2017 cross-cultural. “I am so thankful to have such an incredibly intuitive and receptive person in my life.”

Nursing student Esther Ghale recalls how Hershberger helped her through a challenging situation on that same cross-cultural, and continued her support back to campus. “Ann came and gave me a big bear hug, exactly what I needed at that time. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t ask questions, she just embraced us.”

Tessa Gerberich Hershberger ‘13 [no relation], a nurse care coordinator for the women’s health and prenatal care program at Harrisonburg Community Health Center, still speaks with her former undergraduate advisor frequently. She says Hershberger has had a lasting influence on her own practice of nursing, from nursing clinicals at �� to her postgraduate Serving And Learning Together (SALT) term in an HIV/AIDS clinic in Nigeria and her transition back into the U.S. health care system.

One of Ann Hershberger’s strengths, Tessa Hershberger said, is her strong commitment to interacting with grace and respect for all, whether patients, students, friends and colleagues. “More than doing for someone, nurses walk with and share information for people to cultivate their own strengths and independence, rather than creating dependency, and Ann exemplifies this, not just in her nursing, but in her teaching and mentoring roles as well. She holds our questions, thoughts and experiences with grace; asks good, thoughtful questions; and encourages us and reminds us of the strength within ourselves.”

Ann Hershberger will be recognized at a reception on campus in late April. Any appreciations offered in the comment box below will be passed along to her.

A meditation on vocation: academic departments host chapel services

Lauren Jefferson — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 16:46:26 +0000

Professor Ryan Thompson is a former Christian Church youth pastor who began a master’s degree in counseling at Richmont Graduate University, affiliated with the evangelical church, and then finished his master’s degree and a doctorate in psychology at George Fox University, an institution with Quaker roots.

Now at ��, he recognizes a rooted affinity to Anabaptist teachings, “which I’ve come to realize I’ve followed for longer than I knew it existed.”

Ben Bailey, administrative assistant for the Department of Applied Social Sciences, talks with junior peace and development major Noah Haglund during chapel in Common Grounds coffeehouse.

Thompson shared how his work and faith are deeply intertwined during a special chapel service last week jointly hosted by ��’s STEM academic departments. Around campus, at the same time, other departments hosted special, unique chapel gatherings.

Just as his immersion in various “denominational streams has shaped my relationship with Christ and made it more full,” Thompson told the gathered, “likewise, the science and art of psychology has contributed to my understanding of what it means to be made in the image of God. My faith informs my work. My work informs my faith. I don’t know any other way to do it.”

Thompson’s words were encouraging to psychology major Lydia Musselman. “Hearing a professor’s personal story and reflection opens doors to conversation and deeper relationship, and gives hope to those struggling with our faith journey,” she said. “Connections and growth make sense in reflection. It was good to be reminded of that truth.”

��’s professors tend to be “down to earth and open people, but there’s a clear difference between a classroom and a chapel,” said junior English and writing major Josh Holsapple, who attended the Language and Literature Department gathering. “Having that extra layer of chapel is important.”

��’s annual departmental chapels offer students, faculty and staff the opportunity to talk about understanding, finding and living the work to which one is divinely called. While exploration and recognition of the Christian faith is part of the university’s core curriculum, these chapels are another time and place where faculty and students relate in deeply meaningful ways, said Undergraduate Dean Deirdre Longacher Smeltzer.

“The connection of faculty, staff and students around the idea of vocation is a piece of the faith mentoring and personal relationship-building that makes the �� experience special,” she said. “The fact that we care about students as whole people is a value that students cite over and over again as something they really appreciate.”

Junior biology major Caroline Lehman agreed. “The professors at ��, are, in my opinion, the school’s best asset. Being surrounded by people who not only do their jobs exceptionally well but also seem to love their work and grow in faith along the way has had a huge impact on what I hope to find in my future career. What that career will be, however, and how I will get there is still clouded with uncertainty, which can be really stressful at times. Hearing ��’s professors, people who excel in their work and love their jobs, speak about their own experiences in finding their career paths and using faith as a guide through the uncertainty has been both comforting and inspiring.”

Poetry and stories for enlightenment and new energy

Rebekah York ’15 catches up with Undergraduate Pastor Lana Miller. A graduate student at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, York was on campus representing the school at Career and Service Days.

In the Roselawn gathering space on the second floor, Professor Vi Dutcher opened the Language and Literature Department chapel with the introduction of alumna and novelist Patricia Grace King, on campus for her Writers Read event later that week. Those present were invited to offer a single-word descriptor of their early childhood religious experience — and all but one person needed more words, with “nearly everyone offering a phrase or brief story,” said Professor Marti Eads, adding that everyone’s contributions were gladly heard and appreciated. The group then joined in a reading of Seamus Heaney’s “Station Island XI,” a translation of a 16th century poem by Spanish mystic San Juan de la Cruz.

The Student Education Association titled their time “Walking your faith…Teach like no other,” hosting a discussion around relationships and religion, and how to integrate faith and calling in a constantly changing world.

“What I find meaningful in the department chapel is the opportunity for faculty and students to collectively examine how faith and teaching intersect in the classroom,” said department chair Cathy Smeltzer Erb. “Each participant brings his/her own story to the conversation, and leaves with a reservoir of new stories to shape one’s faith journey.”

In other chapels…

Students, staff and faculty of the Department of Applied Social Sciences gathered in Common Grounds coffeehouse for readings, prayer and conversation.

The Business and Economics department hosted four students who attended the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) convention in November 2017. MEDA works at the intersection of faith and business as an international economic development organization with the mission of creating business solutions to poverty. The students shared about how they were personally and professionally inspired by their participation in the conference. Speaking were Lucas Miller, junior economics major; Isaac Brenneman, a junior double major in business administration and recreation leadership and sports promotion; Ryan Faraci, senior double major in accounting and business administration; and Kyungho Yu, a junior economics major.

The Department of Applied Social Sciences based their time around an entry in “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals,” focusing on the anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X and Hebrew 10:26-39.

The History and Bible and Religion departments joined for a time of reflective scripture reading, prayer and singing around the theme of Living Water, while the Nursing Department also spent the time in worship and reflection.