Students walking into Lehman Auditorium for the event were greeted by rows of faculty and staff members, who cheered and held signs welcoming them to campus. Bubbles filled the air outside the brick performing arts venue, while Kool & the Gang鈥檚 鈥淐elebration鈥� played on a loop.

As students filtered into the auditorium, they were welcomed by the drumming of adjunct faculty member Makinto GC 鈥�26, along with his wife, Mukarabe, and members of the 黑料正能量 Chamber Singers. They led the crowd in chants of 鈥淭ogether, we are power, 黑料正能量!鈥�

Dr. Tynisha Willingham, provost and vice president for academic affairs, welcomed returning students, faculty, and staff, as well as those joining the campus community for the first time. 鈥淵ou are stepping into a world of endless possibilities, new friendships, and academic challenges,鈥� she said. 

Willingham introduced 鈥減ower and equity鈥� as the university theme for the 2026-27 academic year and encouraged students to exercise, share, challenge, and transform the power they have. 

鈥淓very day, through our choices and our relationships, we have the opportunity to use power that is entrusted to us to make 黑料正能量 a place where more people, where students like you, can belong, learn, flourish, and contribute to the world,鈥� she said.

Christina Harrison, director of intercultural programs; Dr. Gaurav Pathania, assistant professor of sociology and peacebuilding; and Brian Martin Burkholder, university chaplain, offered a blessing for 黑料正能量鈥檚 intercultural learning programs this semester. One of those programs, a trip to India led by Pathania and Dr. Mary Sprunger, professor of history, departed campus on Tuesday. 

Harrison recognized the 13 new international students at 黑料正能量 this semester, who join 37 returning international students representing 24 countries. 鈥淭hey will be learning interculturally every day, while also giving us the opportunity to learn about their cultures as we welcome them into the 黑料正能量 community,鈥� she said. 

Davis Bert, a sophomore biology major serving as Student Government Association co-president this year, welcomed students and introduced the SGA Executive Team, which includes Co-President Esm茅 King Martin, Vice President Yuji Wenger, Marketing Coordinator Jose Lopez Vasquez, and treasurer Bennett de Tenley. He encouraged students to find new ways to get involved and support one another.

鈥淭here is no better time than now to get out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a new semester for all of us.鈥�

As someone who鈥檚 preached and spoken to hundreds of crowds on countless stages, President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus recounted the first time she stood on such a stage. She was a six-year-old girl in ballet class, and her teacher would often encourage her to 鈥渞aise those beautiful brown arms and let us see your beauty.鈥�

鈥淭hose words inspired me,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey empowered me. And I stand here today because those words still ring true in my heart and in my head.鈥�

鈥淚 hope you know that this is a year that will encourage all that is within you,鈥� she added, 鈥渁nd that there will be voices around you who will remind you to raise your beautiful arms and to show your beauty.鈥�

This marked Dycus鈥� first Opening Convocation as 黑料正能量鈥檚 10th president. She began her term on July 1.

Esm茅 King Martin, Troy Martin, and Maria Esther Showalter shared stories of how they have experienced power throughout their lives, while members of the 黑料正能量 Jam Collective (pianist Dr. David Berry, vocalist Tabatha Parrott, drummer Dr. Benjamin Guerrero, and guitarist Adam Wirdzek) played musical interludes. 

King Martin, a senior environmental science and Spanish major and SGA co-president, spoke about how she had worked on a soft pretzel truck every summer since she was 14. Through that job, she learned to connect with customers over 鈥渟omething as simple as a soft pretzel.鈥�

鈥淭hese skills of connection are a form of power,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey will benefit me in future jobs and in future communities that I live in.鈥�

She challenged students to expand their social webs by connecting with at least 10 new people this year. 鈥淲hat would it look like if the connection you made with a student in a different major, religious group, racial or ethnic group, or political group at 黑料正能量 comes up again in 20 years when you need a lawyer, banker, doctor, or a couch to sleep on?鈥�

Martin, director of financial aid, reflected on his father, Carl, a lifelong farm laborer and construction worker in rural New York who had 鈥渄ecades of dirt and sawdust鈥� under his fingernails and thick calluses and scars on his palms. His father had an eighth-grade education and was mostly illiterate, while his mother worked as a hairdresser at a nursing home. Both parents worked hard and sacrificed so much to send him to college. That opportunity, he said, opened a new world to him and exposed him to new people and different cultures.

鈥淲hile Carl Martin didn鈥檛 hold much of what we stereotypically think of as power in his life, he exercised a power through faith, service, and care for his family that created a lasting legacy,鈥� Troy Martin said. 

Showalter, director of 黑料正能量鈥檚 language and literature program, shared how she accepted a call to serve as advisor of the fledgling Latinx Student Alliance during the spring of 2014 and watched it blossom into a 鈥渧ibrant student club full of energy and life.鈥�

During club meetings, members dreamed up all sorts of activities to celebrate Hispanic culture, including the LSA banquet that has become a highlight of the semester and the tradition of creating an Easter alfombra. 

Showalter also highlighted how past LSA members had gone on to serve as SGA co-presidents. 鈥淚 am grateful to every LSA member for the impact you have had on my life and the 黑料正能量 community,鈥� she said.

President Dycus called on students, faculty, and staff to tell stories this year and listen for them, to be curious about which stories are missing, and to have the courage to ask whose experience still needs to be heard.

鈥淧ower is right here,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t starts in summer jobs on pretzel trucks, in the legacy of courageous and arthritic hands, and in sharing important parts of our identity and cultures as our LSA group does. It lives in our ability to shape what happens around us.鈥�

鈥淲here power allows us to influence a room, open a door, make a decision, or speak a word, we are invited to explore each of these in our intellectual exercises this year.鈥�

黑料正能量鈥檚 financial aid notification packet has a new look, and people are starting to notice.

The packet of information, mailed to every admitted undergraduate student with a FAFSA on file at 黑料正能量, simplifies the often complicated financial aid process by outlining the total aid offered and the costs students will be expected to cover. It includes information on grants, scholarships, and loans, as well as direct and indirect costs of an education at 黑料正能量.

Once a drab bundle of letters and forms, the financial aid notification packet has been delightfully redesigned through a collaboration between 黑料正能量鈥檚 marketing and communications department and Farmville, Virginia-based marketing agency .

The new-and-improved 鈥淔AN packet鈥� features the design of a sunrise over the familiar Massanutten Mountain ridgeline and bright, attention-grabbing colors. It also uses friendly, approachable typefaces with bold, easy-to-read text. Each packet comes with a set of 黑料正能量-branded stickers, perfect for laptops, phone cases, water bottles, and notebooks.

It鈥檚 anything but ordinary, reflecting 黑料正能量鈥檚 unique and diverse campus, its commitment to providing a transformative and accessible education, and the care it puts into supporting students and families through the financial aid process.

鈥淭his project was all about transparency, organization, and user-focused design: helping students and families navigate an important decision with confidence,鈥� reads a Facebook post from Letterpress Communications.

黑料正能量鈥檚 marketing and communications department teamed up with Farmville-based Letterpress Communications to design its reimagined financial aid notification packet.

Best of Show

Representatives from the marketing agency attended the Southwest Virginia American Advertising Awards in Abingdon, Virginia, on Feb. 28. There, 黑料正能量鈥檚 FAN packet won a Gold ADDY, a top honor in the advertising industry, as well as the Best of Show award, recognizing it as the best overall piece in the competition.

It will now compete at the district level against Gold ADDY winners from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. If the FAN packet wins gold at the district level (winners are announced in April), it will advance to the national competition in June.

鈥淭his is truly terrific news,鈥� said Braydon Hoover 鈥�11, MAOL 鈥�21, vice president of enrollment and marketing. 鈥淔or the nearly 1,000 students and families who have already received the FAN packet, this award demonstrates just how special the financial aid process is here at 黑料正能量.鈥�

鈥淲e are committed to doing everything we can to make the financial aid process as simple and understandable as possible,鈥� said Troy Martin, director of financial aid for 黑料正能量. 鈥淭he next step, if you鈥檝e received a FAN packet and haven鈥檛 done so already, is to review it with your family and your admissions counselor.鈥�

For more information about your financial aid notification, visit .

After a full day of classes at 黑料正能量, Kevin Garcia clocks in at 5 p.m. for his eight-hour shift at George鈥檚 Inc., a poultry plant in Harrisonburg. By the time he gets home, it鈥檚 1:30 a.m. and he鈥檚 eager to get some much-needed sleep. In less than seven hours, he鈥檒l be back on campus bright and early for his 8 a.m. class.

The hardworking, indefatigable first-year student emigrated from Cuba three years ago to join his family in Harrisonburg. He graduated from 黑料正能量鈥檚 renowned Intensive English Program (IEP) this spring. When he learned he could transfer 15 credits from his IEP classes to his college degree and that he would receive the 黑料正能量 Promise Grant, which fully covers the tuition costs for eligible students, he knew his future belonged at 黑料正能量.

The biology and Spanish double major, whose full-time job helps support his family with their expenses, said his parents both graduated from college in Cuba. 鈥淭hey had an expectation that I needed to go to college, as well,鈥� said Garcia, who is interested in the emerging and rapidly expanding field of epigenetics. 鈥淲ithout the Promise Grant, that wouldn鈥檛 be possible.鈥�

Garcia is one of 76 first- and second-year students at 黑料正能量 who have access to an exceptional, tuition-free college education thanks to the 黑料正能量 Promise Grant. The initiative is open to Virginia residents whose adjusted gross family incomes are below $75,000. It is for first-time, full-time undergraduate students. See checklist below for more eligibility criteria.听

The 黑料正能量 Promise Grant covers 100 percent of all remaining tuition costs after state, federal, and institutional grants or scholarships have been awarded. It does not cover any fees or living expenses.

Now in its second year, the tuition-free initiative continues to tackle systemic barriers by offering more financial aid, in alignment with 黑料正能量鈥檚 2023-28 strategic plan, Pathways of Promise: Preparing Tomorrow鈥檚 Unifying Leaders.

Troy Martin, director of financial aid for 黑料正能量, said that raising the income threshold for Promise Grant eligibility (it was previously set at $65,000) ensures that a college education at 黑料正能量 is accessible to more students in Virginia than ever before. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want money to stand in the way of a student choosing to attend 黑料正能量,鈥� he said. 

鈥淲e have lots of prospective students who show promise, and our promise is to help them fulfill their promise,鈥� Martin added. 鈥淲e offer a transformative education for these students and allow them to achieve their educational goals and dreams in a setting that will support them every step of the way.鈥�

While there is no deadline to apply for the 黑料正能量 Promise Grant, the deadline for submitting a VTAG application is Sept. 15, 2026.

For more information about the 黑料正能量 Promise Grant, visit .

Let Braydon Hoover, vice president of enrollment & marketing, walk you through the 黑料正能量 Promise Grant in the video below.