EMU reports enrollment uptick, outlines downtown event and community partnerships

Eastern Mennonite University interim president Dr. Shanna Dicus told members of the Harrisonburg City Council liaison committee that EMU is 15% ahead of last year’s enrollment, finished one of its strongest recent fundraising years and is expanding community-facing programs, including the university’s fourth annual Royals Go Downtown event on Sept. 25.

The update matters to Harrisonburg because EMU leaders said the university’s students, alumni and programs are intertwined with the city’s workforce, downtown economy and services for immigrant residents. City and university officials discussed ways to deepen partnerships around events, workforce training, English-language instruction and interpreter certification.

“We're 15% ahead of where we were last year,” Dicus said, describing an increase in applications and yield after enrollment declines in recent years. She told the committee EMU is prioritizing marketing and advancement work to sustain gains and expand access through fundraising for student aid.

EMU described recent campus investments and programming that intersect with city planning and recreation. Dicus and other university leaders highlighted a new track-and-field facility and recently built pickleball and tennis courts on Park Road, which they said have increased community use of the campus. Melissa Heatwel, EMU’s director of continuing education and events, said the university hosted a range of summer conferences and camps and is expanding continuing-education offerings for regional partners.

Royals Go Downtown, an annual fall event meant to bring students into downtown Harrisonburg, is returning for its fourth year on Sept. 25. Dicus said the event typically draws about 250–300 students, begins at Magpie Diner and concludes at Turner Pavilion with a DJ and community tables. The university prints a walking-route map that includes return coupons so students are encouraged to patronize downtown businesses again after the event. Dicus said EMU works with downtown businesses and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance to minimize disruption to merchants and to encourage repeat visits.

University and city officials also discussed workforce and language programs that affect local service delivery. EMU leaders described the university’s Intensive English Program (IEP) and other continuing-education courses and said those programs are well regarded locally. Council members and community speakers pressed EMU and city staff to explore paths for foreign-educated professionals — such as teachers, engineers, physicians and others — to recredential or take targeted courses so they can use their existing credentials locally.

A recurring concern at the meeting was a shortage of trained, certified interpreters for health care, courts and social services. Participants noted that a regional provider formerly offering interpreter training stepped back, leaving a gap in certified interpreters for languages in demand locally. Committee members and city staff cited Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, Swahili and Amharic among the languages encountered in Harrisonburg’s immigrant communities. “There has been a real gap in interpretation and interpretation training,” a city official who works with children’s services said, adding that case managers struggle to find bilingual providers and interpreters for client appointments.

The group discussed certification requirements and exam-based pathways for health-care and legal interpreters. Several speakers urged EMU to consider offering interpreter training and statewide-recognized testing (for example, the health interpreter track used previously through regional AHEC programming) so bilingual residents could obtain certified credentials. City representatives and members of the Welcoming Harrisonburg Council offered to share contacts and meet with EMU to pursue partnerships.

City staff also offered programmatic connections between EMU and municipal departments. The city’s environmental and public-works staff said they could link EMU to stormwater management, urban-wood reuse and cost-share programs (including incentives related to permeable pavers and other on-site stormwater practices). Parks and Recreation and Harrisonburg Police Department staff were described as active partners on event permitting and public-safety planning for large student events that cross busy intersections.

“EMU is a faith-based institution. We're rooted in Anabaptist values connected to the Mennonite church,” Dicus said when asked about diversity, equity and inclusion work, adding that EMU’s commitments to belonging and inclusive curriculum are grounded in those values.

The committee agreed to follow up: city staff will connect EMU leaders with the public-works sustainability team and with Welcoming Harrisonburg Council members to explore interpreter training, credentialing pathways for foreign-educated professionals and additional workforce partnerships. No formal votes or policy actions were taken during the liaison meeting; the group planned to meet again in November with the city scheduled to host the next session on EMU’s campus.

At the meeting’s close, Mayor Dana Reid thanked EMU leaders for the partnership, and Pam Ulmer, the city clerk, confirmed logistics and future meeting planning.