{"id":60043,"date":"2025-11-07T14:52:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T19:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=60043"},"modified":"2025-11-07T14:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T19:59:13","slug":"d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/","title":{"rendered":"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><em>黑料正能量 Washington Semester celebrates 50 years with scholarship honoring Dr. Kimberly Schmidt<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Oct. 11, during a homecoming celebration, the 黑料正能量 Washington Semester program (formerly known as WCSC\/WSSY) commemorated its 50th year with a special event held at the campus Student Union. The milestone gathering brought together students, alumni, faculty, and staff to celebrate five decades of experiential learning and community engagement in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A highlight of the event was the renaming of the Washington Semester\u2019s endowed scholarship in honor of Professor Emerita <strong>Kimberly Schmidt<\/strong>, who served as director of the program for 22 years. Dr. Schmidt was recognized for her outstanding leadership, innovative teaching, and commitment to student development throughout her tenure. The scholarship, now named the Dr. Kimberly Schmidt Endowed Scholarship, helps make it possible for all 黑料正能量 students to access the opportunities available through the Washington Semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In presenting this honor, current Washington Semester Director <strong>Ryan Good<\/strong> noted Schmidt\u2019s leadership in shepherding the program from a nine-month model to three terms per year to better accommodate shifting student needs and her critical role in moving the program to a new facility in 2005. \u201cOver 22 years, Kim worked tirelessly to find internships for hundreds of students who came through the program during her tenure,\u201d Good said. \u201cShe is a wise and authentic mentor, who gave generously of herself to support students as they worked to make sense of the city and themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am humbled and honored to have this important scholarship named for me,\u201d said Schmidt. \u201cThis scholarship reflects 黑料正能量\u2019s values and highest aspirations for its students. Expanding the Washington Semester\u2019s vision of life-transforming, career-launching internships, community life, urban exploration, reflection, and analysis to first-generation college students is an appropriate expression of 黑料正能量\u2019s emphasis on leadership and service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"913\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07144906\/IMG_2680-1024x913.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60049\" style=\"width:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07144906\/IMG_2680-1024x913.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07144906\/IMG_2680-300x267.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07144906\/IMG_2680-768x684.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07144906\/IMG_2680-1536x1369.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07144906\/IMG_2680-2048x1825.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Washington Semester Director Ryan Good honors Professor Emerita Kimberly Schmidt, who served as director of the program for 22 years, during a milestone gathering on Oct. 11.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>Schmidt also reflected on the changes she witnessed in the program over the years. \u201cAlmost 30 years ago, when I first started working for 黑料正能量, many of the students in the Washington Semester were born into Mennonite families, reflecting the general student body at 黑料正能量,\u201d she said. \u201cDuring my time, I saw significant shifts in student demographics. We went from being a predominantly white Mennonite program to one of true diversity and inclusion\u2014not only in our subject matter and internship placements, but also in our student population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the early 2010s, many Washington Semester students were students of color, including immigrants from Africa and Latin America. \u201cThey made a deep impression on me as they explored the legacies and realities of oppression in U.S. history and current culture and made connections to their own life experiences,\u201d Schmidt added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The endowed scholarship was first established 10 years ago to celebrate the program\u2019s 40th anniversary and to promote inclusion and diversity. \u201cRising tuition costs made it clear that financial assistance was becoming ever more critical,\u201d Schmidt explained. \u201cThe scholarship has grown from supporting one or two students annually to five or six. We hope to continue expanding it to reach more students and offer additional assistance and career-launching opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As it has for 50 years, the Washington Semester supports 黑料正能量\u2019s ongoing commitment to transformative education, leadership, and service\u2014values that continue to guide the program\u2019s mission in preparing students for meaningful engagement in their communities and professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For more information about the 黑料正能量 Washington Semester, visit <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/washington\">emu.edu\/washington<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>黑料正能量 Washington Semester celebrates 50 years with scholarship honoring Dr. Kimberly Schmidt On Oct. 11, during a homecoming celebration, the 黑料正能量 Washington Semester program (formerly known as WCSC\/WSSY) commemorated its <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":60050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,17562,12632],"tags":[18664,18487,9278,17841,14268,18488,14420,18485],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-60043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-digest","category-wcsc","tag-d-c-program","tag-emu-washington-semester","tag-kimberly-schmidt","tag-scholarships","tag-washington-community-scholars-center","tag-washington-d-c","tag-wcsc","tag-wssy","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director - 黑料正能量 News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director - 黑料正能量 News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"黑料正能量 Washington Semester celebrates 50 years with scholarship honoring Dr. Kimberly Schmidt On Oct. 11, during a homecoming celebration, the 黑料正能量 Washington Semester program (formerly known as WCSC\/WSSY) commemorated its\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"黑料正能量 News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T19:52:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T19:59:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@黑料正能量_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@黑料正能量_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/\",\"name\":\"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director - 黑料正能量 News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T19:52:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-07T19:59:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1719},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"黑料正能量 News\",\"description\":\"News from the 黑料正能量 community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\",\"name\":\"Ryan Cornell\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director - 黑料正能量 News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director - 黑料正能量 News","og_description":"黑料正能量 Washington Semester celebrates 50 years with scholarship honoring Dr. Kimberly Schmidt On Oct. 11, during a homecoming celebration, the 黑料正能量 Washington Semester program (formerly known as WCSC\/WSSY) commemorated its","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/","og_site_name":"黑料正能量 News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2025-11-07T19:52:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-07T19:59:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1719,"url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ryan Cornell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@黑料正能量_News","twitter_site":"@黑料正能量_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ryan Cornell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/","name":"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director - 黑料正能量 News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-07T19:52:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-07T19:59:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/11\/07145038\/IMG_2703-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1719},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/d-c-program-renames-scholarship-after-longtime-director\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"D.C. program renames scholarship after longtime director"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"黑料正能量 News","description":"News from the 黑料正能量 community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf","name":"Ryan Cornell"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60043"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60053,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60043\/revisions\/60053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60043"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=60043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}