Welcome to Eastern Mennonite University

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Welcome

Tour stop audio transcript

Welcome to Eastern Mennonite University, home of the Royals! Founded in 1917, EMU is a part of the bustling college town of Harrisonburg, Virginia, nestled in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Let us show you why it's a great place to launch your future!

Before we get started, let me explain the many ways you can explore our beautiful campus.

-You can click on the forward-facing arrow to start walking around.

-You can jump to the next stop by clicking on the "Next" button.

-Now, if you already know where you want to go, you can select any location by using the list OR by clicking directly on the map.

-Lastly, remember that you can explore any particular location in more detail by clicking the 360, Photos, or Video icons.

EMU's Front Lawn is one of many green, open spaces on campus. It's a place to relax, play pickup games, study, and enjoy concerts and festivals. Classes often move to the lawn on warm days. And each academic year culminates in commencement right here overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains.

College is unlike any other experience. For many students, it's your first time living away from family or other loved ones. You probably have a lot of questions about what life is like on a day to day basis, including what it's like to live in the dorms and what clubs you can join. We have over 35 student clubs and organizations ranging from identity groups like the Black Student Alliance, Queer Student Alliance and Latino Student Alliance to activity-based groups like the Cycling and Badminton Clubs. We also have professional and academic networking clubs to help you connect with others in your future career field or areas of interest.

At EMU, we lead together, learn together, belong together, compete together, experience together, and discover together. While life together at EMU is different for everyone, we guarantee that you will be loved and supported as you navigate each next step on your college journey!

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University Commons

Tour stop audio transcript

Welcome to University Commons, a central campus hub for events, studying, hanging out, and playing games like pool and table tennis. The upper level features our newly-renovated Common Grounds Coffeehouse and student union adjacent to Royals' Den snack shop and the Hall of Nations where we recognize EMU's mission to prepare graduates to serve and lead in a global context by displaying flags from current and former students' home countries. The upper level also houses our fitness center, indoor track, visual and communication arts offices, Royal Barbershop, Student Life suite, Health Center, and other support services. In the Commons' lower level, you'll find our Admissions suite, Athletics suite and training facilities, gym, art gallery, theaters, box office and lounge areas. Let's check out the activity around here.

Common Grounds

Tour stop audio transcript

Want a coffee, smoothie or muffin? Hang out with friends at Common Grounds Coffeehouse, renovated along with the adjoining student union in 2022. This shared space is perfect for taking in a concert or film, participating in a community discussion, joining a team for trivia night, or meeting up with friends. A student-run enterprise, Common Grounds employs students interested in business, marketing, management, or customer service.

MainStage Theater

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The MainStage Theater brings together performers and audience members for shared arts experiences. Performers include students of any major, who have the opportunity to participate in productions with faculty, staff, alumni, and community artists in this dedicated theater space featuring a state-of-the-art lighting and sound system. Next to the MainStage Theater is our more intimate, black-box Studio Theater, a flexible space that allows for experimentation with staging in the round and other unique configurations. Just around the corner is the Margaret Martin Gehman Art Gallery, which hosts exhibitions by students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visiting artists.

Varsity Court

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EMU's 18 NCAA Division III sports teams compete in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Men's and women's basketball and volleyball compete in Yoder Arena. With some of the best facilities in the ODAC, EMU's pep band and lively student section help provide a home court advantage. Dozens of intramural options include indoor soccer, sand volleyball, dodgeball and floor hockey. EMU's fitness center has aerobic and weight machines, free weights and group exercise classes. You'll also enjoy hanging out in the game room for pool, foosball, video games and more.

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Woods Residence Halls

Tour stop audio transcript

Welcome to the Woods! Here you'll find Cedarwood, Elmwood, and Maplewood, three of our award-winning undergraduate residence halls. Residence hall-living gives you a chance to explore living on your own within a caring community. Staff includes a professional residence director and student community advisers to help you adjust and thrive on campus. Residence halls include quiet study areas, fast WiFi, kitchens on each floor, individual temperature control in each room, and free laundry facilities. Lounges and common spaces feature lots of natural light, TVs, wireless printers and often hold student-led events. All residence halls are environmentally-friendly and LEED-certified gold.

Turf Field

Tour stop audio transcript

Our varsity men's and women's soccer teams and women's field hockey and lacrosse teams practice and compete on the Turf Field. On many crisp, fall evenings, students pack the stands to cheer on their friends and classmates. Students also participate in various outdoor intramural sports, including soccer and ultimate frisbee, on the Turf Field.

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Suter Science Center

Tour stop audio transcript

The Suter Science Center is home to the biology, chemistry, and mathematical sciences departments, which include our ABET-accredited engineering program and renowned pre-professional health programs. Students enjoy state-of-the-art lab facilities including a unique feature of the EMU science program: our cadaver lab. As early as the first year, students have the opportunity to work with human cadavers, learning about the incredible human body firsthand. Engineering students benefit from small class sizes and cutting-edge technology, including 3D printers and a wind tunnel, as they prepare for the most pressing jobs of the future.

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Sadie Hartzler Library

Tour stop audio transcript

The Sadie Hartzler Library provides books, individual and group study spaces, tutoring, and electronic resources for your research needs. The professional library staff will answer questions and help you find resources on-site and online. Located on the third floor is the Academic Success Center, which offers free tutoring, paper review, and support in developing your study and time management skills. The third floor also houses the Office of Academic Access, which provides confidential discussion and evaluation of needs for accommodations. Located in the basement is EMU's Help Desk for all your technology needs, as well as several classrooms.

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Lehman Auditorium

Tour stop audio transcript

One of the most historic buildings on campus, Lehman Auditorium comes alive several times a week for university gatherings, including Convocation, campus worship, concerts, and keynote speakers. Formation of faith and values is woven into the curriculum and student life. We like to say that here at EMU that we aren't afraid to talk about Jesus. But we're also not afraid to engage all faiths, beliefs, backgrounds, and stories. At EMU, students of ALL backgrounds, beliefs, gender and sexual identities, races, nationalities, and physical abilities are encouraged to be their whole selves; we will celebrate you just as you are! Students represent over 60 faith traditions from 47 countries of origin. Thirty-nine percent of our students are BIPOC or international, a number growing each year as we continue our commitment toward a culturally-rich community.

The building also houses EMU's music program and features rehearsals and performances by the university choir, orchestra, wind and jazz ensembles, and other student-, faculty-, and visiting artists and groups throughout the year.

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Seminary Building

Tour stop audio transcript

Eastern Mennonite Seminary, a graduate division of EMU, is an integral part of campus. The second level of the building houses seminary offices and Martin Chapel, which holds concerts, recitals, banquets, and Seminary Chapel Gatherings. Celebration, a student-led Sunday evening worship service, also takes place in Martin Chapel. The first level is home to the offices of marketing and communications and graduate and professional recruitment. Popular graduate programs include seminary, education, nursing, and counseling. Graduate counseling offices are on the lower level.

A world-renowned graduate program of EMU is the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, an institution grounded in Anabaptist theology, life, and values. CJP strives to practice and model holistic and values-based peacebuilding, with degrees and certificates in conflict transformation, restorative justice, and transformational leadership. CJP has produced local, national and international peacemakers, including 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leyman Gbowee.

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Campus Center

Tour stop audio transcript

The Campus Center sits at the top of the Thomas Plaza steps, with a balcony that overlooks the Front Lawn. Inside, the spacious main lounge provides comfortable study areas; a commuter student lounge provides space for study, meals and relaxation for those who live off campus. The Campus Center houses the business and leadership, nursing, and education programs. You'll also find the Business office, mailroom, administrative suite, registrar, Career Services, Intercultural Programs, and Financial Assistance office.

EMU will prepare you for a career and develop, mentor, support and challenge you to make the world a better place. As a new student, you'll be assigned a first-year advisor who will provide you with holistic support to equip you for success at EMU. Your advisor will help you develop and document a four-year personalized college and career plan and connect you to campus resources as needed.

One aspect of your college plan will be preparing for incredible life experiences through the intercultural component of the core curriculum, which has been required since 1982. Every semester, groups of EMU students travel near and far with a professor who has lived or worked extensively in the region. Learn history where it happened and speak a new language with those who use it every day. The world will become your classroom, and you will more deeply understand your place in it. Travel and stay closer to campus at the Washington Community Scholars' Center in D.C., which provides both housing and classrooms and life and career experiences in the heart of our nation's capital.

We understand that paying for college is a scary proposition, which is why EMU financial assistance officers and admissions counselors are committed to working closely with you and your family through each step of the financial aid process. The good news is that ALL admitted students receive financial aid! You'll find out the exact amount of your merit-based scholarship, which is based on your high school GPA, the same time you're admitted to EMU! The reality is that EMU's bottom line cost of attendance is on par with many public colleges and universities—and may even be less expensive.

Here at EMU, you matter. When you choose to join the EMU story, you become a part of an inclusive and equitable community of learners who are connected, accepted, valued and respected. At EMU, you will learn to build intentional relationships, be rooted in who you are, articulate your values and beliefs, and put your passion into action.

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Northlawn

Tour stop audio transcript

Welcome to Northlawn, home of our historic campus dining hall and four-floor dorm. Students living in the dorms here and across campus benefit from an unlimited meal plan that features a wide variety of food options, including a fantastic selection of locally-sourced food, some coming from as close as the university gardens. Look for fun-themed meals including Burger Fridays, Guacamole Wednesdays, Steak and Shrimp nights, and weekly "bonus bites." Our dining hall staff is responsive to student requests and comments, and food selections are clearly labeled for those with dietary restrictions.

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Art Building

Tour stop audio transcript

The art building is central to EMU's visual and communication arts, or VACA, department. While VACA offices are located in University Commons, the art building houses a visual arts classroom, ceramics studio, and digital media lab. EMU is one of only a few smaller, liberal arts universities to offer majors in studio art, art education, digital media, and photography. Students benefit from award-winning faculty and state-of-the-art digital media labs to produce documentaries and gather images that have an impact on real-world issues. Student work has been featured in The Washington Post and the BBC, and VACA students have interned at prominent organizations such as National Geographic and the Smithsonian.

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Roselawn

Tour stop audio transcript

Roselawn is a brightly-lit, high-tech academic building that houses the applied social sciences, Bible and religion, history, language and literature, and psychology departments. It features dynamic meeting spaces where students work side by side with professors. Roselawn is also home to our Intensive English Program, which prepares students from all over the world, including in our own backyard, for higher education in their second language.

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Hillside Suites and Parkwoods Apartments

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Hillside Suites and Parkwoods Apartments offer juniors and seniors the chance to live on campus in apartment-style housing. Groups of up to four students generally share a suite, allowing them to live more independently while still taking part in on-campus activities. Many students living on campus take on leadership roles with student government, the student newspaper, or Campus Activities Council. Next to Hillside, you'll find sand volleyball courts for pick-up games or organized tournaments. Near Parkwoods Apartments, you'll enjoy our 19-acre forest with walking paths and Park Cabin, where informal gatherings, campfires, and seasonal events take place.

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EMU Hill

Tour stop audio transcript

Welcome to EMU's iconic hill, the highest point on campus and where students often fall in love with EMU. In one direction you'll see "The Friendly City" of Harrisonburg with Shenandoah National Park in the distance. On the other side sits George Washington National Forest and the Allegheny Mountains. Harrisonburg is consistently ranked as one of the nation's best college towns. Whether you're looking for award-winning food or opportunities to explore the great outdoors, our students have endless opportunities for adventure!

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