鈥淭hat first or second week, I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 not gonna make it. This is my last semester here, and I鈥檓 not coming back,鈥欌�� she recalled.

But then, she said, she began forming deep connections with her professors.

鈥淕oing to school with students nearly half my age, I felt a little more connected with my professors than with my fellow students,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I started making those connections, I had this feeling that I was going to be OK after all.鈥�

She had met her advisor, English Professor Dr. Kevin Seidel, during an open house the previous fall. 鈥淗e checked in one day to make sure I was doing all right,鈥� Beachy said. 鈥淲e talked about how my experience was going, and that was super helpful.鈥�

Beachy graduated with degrees in English and writing studies last spring after five semesters at 黑料正能量. She had transferred to the university from online classes at Blue Ridge Community College. By the time she enrolled at 黑料正能量, she had already spent four years teaching at the church school she graduated from and another 10 years developing curriculum at in Harrisonburg.

When Beachy, who lives in Staunton, expressed interest in pursuing a bachelor鈥檚 degree, a co-worker at Christian Light recommended 黑料正能量. He thought the close-knit community would be a good fit for her, and he was right.

鈥淭he fact that 黑料正能量 is small makes it more personable,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like you get to know your professors better. I didn鈥檛 know that when I started, but I鈥檝e enjoyed that.鈥�

She mentioned Dr. Marti Eads and Chad Gusler as faculty members she鈥檚 grown close to. 鈥淚 appreciate the connections I made here, and I feel that some of my professors are still my friends,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e people I connect with when I see them, which is really useful.鈥�

Beachy worked part-time at Christian Light while taking classes as a full-time student and tried to find courses that fit her busy schedule. When the registrar suggested she take a sociology class, she enrolled in Dr. Gaurav Pathania鈥檚 class.

She described the sociology professor as 鈥渧ery personable鈥� and fondly recalled that he served chai and cookies in class. 鈥淭hat was something I always enjoyed,鈥� Beachy said. 鈥淲e would have discussions outside of class, too, and it was interesting to hear his perspectives on life in India versus life here.鈥� She enjoyed his introductory sociology class so much that she signed up for more classes with Pathania. Those sociology classes helped her think about the world differently and better understand social issues.

Pathania remembers Beachy as never missing a class and demonstrating a level of thoughtfulness and maturity that set her apart. 鈥淛oyce is truly one of the most exceptional students I have encountered in my five years of teaching at 黑料正能量,鈥� he wrote.

Through a 鈥淟ocal Context鈥� intercultural program, Beachy spent a summer studying various neighborhoods and social groups in Harrisonburg. That experience led her to try different ethnic restaurants in the area. 鈥淚 still enjoy doing that to this day,鈥� she said.

Last spring, Beachy served as an editorial intern for 黑料正能量鈥檚 marketing and communications department, writing many well-received articles for 黑料正能量 News. She attended the 2025 Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference and wrote a recap about it. Her story about the intercultural to Guatemala and Mexico was one of the most read stories of 2025. She also wrote about an initiative by the Latinx Student Alliance to distribute 鈥淜now Your Rights鈥� cards to members of Harrisonburg鈥檚 immigrant community. At the same time, she volunteered to help adult English learners at 黑料正能量鈥檚 Intensive English Program, which was at the heart of another article written by her.

Near the end of her time at 黑料正能量, Beachy was promoted to the role of literacy coordinator at Christian Light Publications. She said her employer is helping reimburse her for tuition costs.

鈥淚n the (conservative Mennonite) setting where I come from, it鈥檚 not as common for people to pursue higher education,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 have any program in place to help with tuition costs, but now they want to offer it to others who want to go to college, which I鈥檓 really excited about. It means some reimbursement for me, but it also opens a path for other people.鈥�

Beachy said there are advantages to attending college as a nontraditional, older student. She met students who knew what they wanted to do and were serious about studying, as well as others who were in college because their parents wanted them there. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 know what they were doing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 always felt sorry for them and wished they could just go out and work for a couple years and figure out what they actually wanted to do.鈥�

She mentioned reading The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was turned into a Brad Pitt movie a couple decades ago.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about a guy who鈥檚 born an old man, and he goes through life backwards,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e thought about that story sometimes with my experience at 黑料正能量. I felt like I was doing things backwards. Most people go to school and then start their careers. I did my career first, then went to school. But I鈥檓 really glad I did it. Now, if I have friends in their 30s who say, 鈥極h, I want to go to college,鈥� I tell them, 鈥榊eah, you should. It鈥檚 absolutely worth it.鈥欌��

The novel is about a pastor and wife who are dealing with family issues, Davis said. It carries a clear faith message.

Copies of the novel will be on sale at the event for $10. Her other books will also be available to purchase for $2 or $3.

黑料正能量 the author

Davis was a dedicated Weather Vane staffer while at 黑料正能量 and graduated with an English degree. She worked for Mennonite Broadcasts Inc., now known as MennoMedia, in Harrisonburg for 43 years before retiring in 2018. She has written 12 books, mostly nonfiction. When her daughter challenged her to “write what people like to read: fiction,” she endeavored to write her first novel. A Place in the Fold released in November 2025.

She is the recipient of 黑料正能量’s 2005 Distinguished Service Award.

Sizemore will read from his work Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. in Common Grounds Coffeehouse on the 黑料正能量 campus.

Sizemore himself was raised in the home of a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, where the King James Bible was he says in one interview. He graduated from Liberty Baptist Theological School, and earned an MFA聽from Seattle Pacific University in 2009. He teaches at Central Virginia Community College.

His short fiction has been published or is forthcoming in StoryQuarterly, Southern Humanities Review, Connecticut Review, Blue Mesa Review, 厂辞耻鈥檞别蝉迟别谤, and elsewhere.聽 Excerpts from his novel The Calling are published or forthcoming in Connecticut Review, Portland Review, Prick of the Spindle, Burrow Press Review, Relief, Rock & Sling, and Pithead Chapel.

Sizemore brings to his writing a 鈥渟harp sense of observation, of being able to see right into something to make it close,鈥� says assistant professor of English Chad Gusler, who got to know Sizemore when both were at a summer MFA residency in New Mexico. 鈥淗is characters are thrust into action immediately, and the places where his characters live out their lives are palpable and real. There鈥檚 a persistent pulse in his stories, a sneaky beat that sinks into a reader鈥檚 subconscious lingers there for quite some time.鈥�

Sizemore’s fiction has won the New Millennium Writings Award. In recognition of the edginess of his writing and its appeal to today鈥檚 youth, Sizemore鈥檚 work was nominated to 鈥淏est American Nonrequired Reading,鈥� an annual anthology of fiction and nonfiction works selected by a panel of high school readers.

His work has also been nominated for the prestigious .聽Nominations are聽limited to six entries per year from little magazine and small press editors, or from contributing editors to Pushcart Press, according to the prize鈥檚 website.

Sizemore has been a frequent contributor to on the evangelical channel of Patheos.com, where he has blogged about a myriad of topics, as related to Christian faith: food deserts, the World Cup, the movie 鈥淣oah,鈥� the Ken Ham-Bill Nye debate at nearby Liberty University, and parenting three children.

鈥淚 lived [in Austin] for a summer, and a bunch of things happened all at once,鈥� Hostetter said. 鈥淗arlem got signed to a record label. And right as soon as that happened I decided that the rock-and-roll lifestyle was not for me鈥�. We went all over the United States playing shows, and I said, 鈥楾his is not the kind of lifestyle that I can live.鈥欌��

So Hostetter returned to his hometown and approached , chair of the undergraduate teacher program at 黑料正能量, about gaining a degree in education.

鈥淲hen he first explored the option of pursuing the program, he didn鈥檛 have either English or education as his major. So he was kind of starting over, after already having the undergrad degree,鈥� Smeltzer Erb said.

鈥淎nd what so inspired me from the very beginning, which I think speaks highly of his character,鈥� she continued, 鈥渨as the way in which he interacted with peers who were several years younger, in age, and several years younger in development as teachers. He just navigated that classroom with such integrity, such interest, such grace.鈥�

This spring, Hostetter was honored as one of five . His peers selected him to represent Shelburne Middle School, where he is a 6th-grade language arts teacher.

鈥淚鈥檝e been playing music since middle school,鈥� said Hostetter, whose mother, Louise ’79, was recently in 2017-18. 鈥淲hen I graduated high school, I think I knew in the back of my mind that I would be a teacher eventually, but Berklee was kind of my way to prevent that from happening right away, because music was my first love.鈥�

Raised in a Mennonite family and educated at , Hostetter developed early on a sense of social responsibility that influenced his decision to become a teacher.

鈥淚 think that probably a lot of my calling has to do with my Anabaptist heritage, the whole idea of serving the community, serving others,鈥� Hostetter said.

鈥淚 want [my students] to develop a love for reading and a love for learning and discovery,鈥� said Hostetter, who occasionally uses his vintage 鈥�73 Epiphone electric guitar to incorporate music into a lesson. 鈥淲hen I meet a student at the beginning of the year who doesn鈥檛 necessarily like reading, or isn鈥檛 very excited about language arts, if I can foster some kind of change in that disposition, I think that鈥檚 incredibly rewarding 鈥� because the habits that they make in 6th grade are usually the ones that they take with them for the rest of their academic careers.鈥�

Last summer, Hostetter married Staunton 4th grade teacher, Nicole Barbano Hostetter. who was also one of the five teachers recognized as Teacher of the Year for Staunton City Schools. She was chosen from the faculty of Bessie Weller Elementary School.

The two met at a Staunton bakery three years ago, shortly before teacher orientation began.

鈥淲e were both first-year teachers and it was definitely luck that we were in the same place at the same time,鈥� Nicole said. 鈥淲e were both coming from different experiences, and I think that making the transition to teaching together was such a good experience for us to have. We really supported each other that first year and we continue to do that now.鈥�

Smeltzer Erb attributes John Hostetter鈥檚 success in the classroom to his deep passion for learning to teach over time, and his respect for middle-schoolers and colleagues alike.

“For many students, the classroom is perhaps the only safe place in their day,鈥� Smeltzer Erb said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the place where somebody like John can truly care about them as individuals.鈥�

As one of just two 6th grade English teachers in Staunton, Hostetter鈥檚 job connects him to the community.

鈥淪helburne is wonderful because I get to know half the children who are in Staunton City schools,鈥� Hostetter said. 鈥淲hen my wife and I are walking through the park, I mean, everybody knows us 鈥�. And because you鈥檙e teaching, and you鈥檙e spending seven hours a day with these kids, you get to know the parents pretty well, and I think it does provide a service. I think that public education is an extension of the community.鈥�

Hostetter hasn鈥檛 abandoned music. He has 鈥渢oo many鈥� guitars, a home recording studio and plays guitar in a local band named 鈥淓lephant Child.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e got my guitar in the classroom, and they think that鈥檚 the coolest thing in the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I try to goof around on occasion, and sometimes I鈥檒l play my guitar, and they love that. But it鈥檚 not every day that I get to actually sit and sing to them.

鈥淚鈥檓 going to dress up like Johnny Cash here in the next couple weeks, for a history lesson.鈥�

A third individual selected as Staunton Teacher of the Year, Dixon Educational Center art teacher Gina Gaines, is also an 黑料正能量 alum, having taken classes in the late 1970s.

A new Amish romance is published about every four days, with at least 86 released in 2012, said Weaver-Zercher at a Saturday morning talk sponsored by 黑料正能量’s .

She herself had never read an 鈥淎mish romance鈥� until Johns Hopkins University Press approached Weaver-Zercher, suggesting she investigate this burgeoning market. That led to Weaver-Zercher鈥檚 first published book, .

No explicit sexual description

Even within the Anabaptist world, the books are widely read, despite their questionable authenticity. Weaver-Zercher, a 鈥�94 grad who majored in , mostly focused on why people are reading this genre, rather than delving deeply into the books’ accuracy or literary quality.

She interviewed several Amish romance authors and numerous readers 鈥� mostly non-Amish, evangelical women 鈥� who cited two basic appeals of the books: evocation of 鈥渁 slow and simple life,鈥� and 鈥渁 clean read鈥� (i.e., no sexual explicitness).

Her audience laughed when Weaver-Zercher elaborated that a love scene within the genre 鈥渕ight be some romantic glances over a pot pie.鈥�

Although the Amish comprise only one-tenth of 1 percent of the U.S. population, the genre is well-covered in the mainstream media, including a recent , who is also managing editor at and a contributing editor for .

At her presentation, several alumni, whose student years dated from the 1950s to the 2000s, named as a favorite the recently reprinted , a Mennonite author who penned a semi-fictional account of his mother, first published in 1940.

One million book sales, plus TV dramatization

Weaver-Zercher noted the first commercially successful contemporary Anabaptist-themed romance, Beverly Lewis鈥� 1997 , published by Bethany House and dramatized on television, has sold over a million copies. Its heroine endures ostracism after finding she was adopted.

Lewis, who based the character on her Mennonite grandmother, ranks with Wanda Brunstetter and Cindy Woodsmall among the genre鈥檚 top three authors, who together have sold more than 24 million books. Yet only one current Amish romance author, Linda Byler, is Amish or Old Order Mennonite (the two branches of Anabaptists share more similarities than differences) 鈥� which Weaver-Zercher notes engenders skepticism about the field鈥檚 authenticity.

The genre鈥檚 female protagonists tend to be virgins or young wives; the men, earnest and sensitive, Weaver-Zercher notes. At least four authors are men, and Weaver-Zercher found an elderly, Oklahoma Mennonite farmer who has read 90 Amish romances.

In her , Weaver-Zercher said some authors blend 鈥渁 divine love story鈥� with the earthly one. She cited a sentence in Brunstetter’s The Hope Chest in which a young woman, being kissed, finds herself 鈥渞eveling in God’s glory.鈥�

Gentle mysteries tucked in

鈥淪ome authors add gentle mysteries along with the romance narrative,鈥� said Weaver-Zercher. Byler鈥檚 series, Lancaster Burning, portrays a community plagued by arson.

Weaver-Zercher finds 鈥渄istinctive styles鈥� among some authors, unlike the formulaic products of some mainstream romance publishing houses. However, they follow parameters common to 鈥淐hristian fiction鈥� 鈥� although a 鈥渇alse hero鈥� sometimes appears, endings are always happy.

鈥淭he 鈥榯hrill of the chaste鈥� may be rooted in the broader idea of moral innocence 鈥� a rejection of the mass culture,鈥� said Weaver-Zercher.

She suggested the novels exemplify a 鈥減urity culture鈥� in reaction to what Pamela Paul鈥檚 book Pornified terms today鈥檚 mass culture. They may also, Weaver-Zercher suggested, be seen as 鈥渁 Christian version of “The Way We Never Were,鈥� referring to the title of an analysis of the American family by Stephanie Coontz.

Pointing to what French theorist Gilles Lipovetsky has labeled 鈥渉ypermodernity鈥� 鈥� a rushed, materialistic, technology-dominated culture 鈥� Weaver-Zercher added with a smile that the books give readers 鈥渁 temporary vacation from hypermodernity, even when they read them on Kindles or Nooks.鈥�

Ironically, however, she noted Amish romances are 鈥渟ituated smack-dab in hypermodern publishing models.鈥� She pointed to Christian publishers getting bought up by big houses (including HarperCollins, now owned by Rupert Murdoch), and the large stock of the romances in such stores as WalMart.

Part of commercialization of Amish phenomena?

Given those dynamics, she says, 鈥淚t is likely that not everyone is amused.鈥�

Weaver-Zercher鈥檚 audience mentioned other commercial Amish-related phenomena, ranging from the 鈥淎mish Mafia鈥� reality show, to 鈥淎mish vampire鈥� novels, to bestseller Danielle Steel鈥檚 new venture into the setting.

Audience member Shirley Hershey Showalter, a 1970 黑料正能量 graduate, suggested Amish romances appeal to 鈥渘ostalgia for the rural life in general.鈥� Showalter, former president of Goshen College, recently published .

At Herald Press, Weaver-Zercher edited a soon-to-be-released book which she terms 鈥渉istorical-romance fiction.鈥� Jacob鈥檚 Choice by Ervin R. Stutzman, former dean of and current executive director of , deals with the life of Amish farmer Jacob Hochstetler, whose family was massacred during the French and Indian War. She says Stutzman, who was raised Amish but is now a modern-living Mennonite, did meticulous research and 鈥渟tays very true to details, but adds fictional elements to make the narrative read like a novel.鈥�

Reserve tickets online at or by calling the at 540-432-4168 by Oct. 26.

Inspired by actual events from her teenage years, Blue Hole Back Home explores the tensions and eventual violence that erupt in a small, all-white Appalachian town when a Sri Lankan family moves in. Ultimately, Blue Hole Back Home is a story not only of the devastating effects of racial hatred and cowardice, but more centrally, a celebration of courage, confrontation and healing, according to Jordan-Lake鈥檚 website.

Jordan-Lake has also authored Grit and Grace: Portraits of a Woman鈥檚 Life (Wheaton Library Series, 2000), Whitewashing Uncle Tom鈥檚 Cabin: Nineteenth-Century Women Novelists Respond to Stowe (Vanderbilt University Press, 2005), and Why Jesus Makes Me Nervous: Ten Alarming Words of Faith (Paraclete Press, 2007).

After earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Furman University and a master鈥檚 from a theological seminary,聽 Jordan-Lake earned a master鈥檚 and a PhD in English literature from Tufts University, specializing in the role of race and religion in 19th century American fiction.

More information

Several of the author鈥檚 books will be available for purchase. A book signing and short question-and-answer session with the author will follow her reading. Sign-language interpretation is available upon request.

• General admission, $15
• 黑料正能量 students with meal plan, $5
• All other students, $7

His own story moves from growing up in a rural church in southern Michigan to 黑料正能量 (黑料正能量), Harrisonburg, Va., to Guatemala to Notre Dame (Ind.) University, where he completed a doctoral program in the sociology of religion. His dissertation has been published by Oxford University Press as the book Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America.

Born in Pennsylvania, Bob moved to Michigan, where his parents helped Bob鈥檚 grandfather, who had started the North Wayne Mennonite Church as a church plant of the Conservative Mennonite Conference. Later Bob鈥檚 father served as pastor of the church.

In 1993, Bob began studies at 黑料正能量, where he majored in and and minored in . During his four years there, he spent a semester in Guatemala at the CASAS program, in which students learn Spanish and live with a local family.

After graduating from 黑料正能量 in 1997, Bob returned to Guatemala and worked with for four years. There he met Gaby Ochoa, now his wife.

He became interested in studying at seminary and spent one semester at Associated (now Anabaptist) Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Ind., in 2001, before returning to Guatemala, where he and Gaby married.

Pentecostalism: In 2003, he decided to study sociology of religion and enrolled in the graduate program at Notre Dame. He had read such authors as Peter Berger, Robert Wuthnow and Christian Smith and wanted to understand better the interplay of religion and society. He also studied liberation theology and Pentecostalism.

鈥淪ociology emphasizes method and quantitative analysis,鈥� he says. He thought that provided a better understanding of what鈥檚 going on in religion. He also hoped to get a theological degree at AMBS and took several more courses there. But once his children, Nicol谩s, who鈥檚 now 6, and Gabo, 4, were born, he gave up that goal.

Eventually, he needed to choose a dissertation topic. He was interested in studying foot-washing practices of Mennonites and published an article in Mennonite Quarterly Review. But his advisor talked him into focusing on another topic that interested him: gangs in Central America.

During his service with MCC, he had met an MCC worker from Colombia, Ricardo Borres, who worked with the Honduran church on reconciliation between warring gangs. But Bob had not dealt with them firsthand.

He returned to Guatemala and collected data in 2007 and 2008. As his book describes, he interviewed 63 former gang members who had chosen to leave that life. Many joined a church, usually an evangelical or Pentecostal church in their city or town.

But Bob did more than collect data. He told many of these (mostly) men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 stories. He begins each chapter of the book with a story of a former gang member. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to just use quotes to make a point,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wanted to dignify the person telling his story and in the process change the one hearing the story.鈥�

Global capitalism: Writing the book changed him as well, he says. And it helped him resist change. Academia tends to pull a person toward success and a safe environment, he says. But the book pulled him back 鈥渋nto caring about the plight of those being ground under by global capitalism.鈥�

He has become more aware of the vast chasm between the opportunities he and his students have and what those young people he interviewed in Central America have who are tempted to join gangs. 鈥淚 realize how privileged I am and how deeply divided the world is鈥� between those who have so much and those who have so little.

What enables these gang members to leave their gangs, at the risk of their lives, and join a church? The churches are there, first of all, in the communities where these people live. The churches tend to stress transformation and see this as a social process, not just a psychological change. The churches also emphasize community, discipleship and nonviolence.

While most of these churches are evangelical or what we would call Pentecostal, the Honduran Mennonite Church has been involved in working with ex-gang members for many years. Bob says their ministry is among the most holistic and effective of all he witnessed.

Courtesy The Mennonite, Oct. 1, 2012

The language and literature department at 黑料正能量 will feature the narrative poetry of Cheryl Denise Miller at its next Writers Read program, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 黑料正能量.

Cheryl Denise, of Philippi, W.Va., draws from her Canadian Mennonite roots in Elmira, Ont., rural life and an attachment to the people and mountains of West Virginia in her book of poetry, “I Saw God Dancing” (Cascadia Publishing, 2005).

“Her poetry is rich in concrete detail, and many poems contain a storytelling quality,” a reviewer noted of her work. “Subjects range from sheep farming to lusts and longings, biblical women, legs, old lovers and laundromats. Often humorous, she penetrates to the deep current of human relationship. Many people who don’t read poetry find themselves drawn to Cheryl’s truthful, clear style.”

After nursing school, the writer worked as a public health nurse in a rural Hispanic community in Colorado. Currently she and her husband, Mike Miller, are part of the Shepherds Field intentional community on a sheep farm in the hills near Philippi. She works as a nurse at the Barbour County Senior Center.

Cheryl Denise will have wool blankets from her farm for sale in addition to copies of her book.

Admission to the program, which includes dinner, is $14. Reservations are required and should be made by Friday, Feb. 15 by calling the language and literature department at 540-432-4168 or email: langlit@emu.edu.