EMU names Rev. Dr. Shannon Dycus, interim president: First Black woman in that role

Eastern Mennonite University announced April 11 the selection of the Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus as interim president.

Dycus serves as vice president for student affairs, equity and belonging at EMU and is a member of both the Executive Leadership Team and President’s Cabinet. She is the first Black woman in EMU history named as interim president, which begins July 1, 2025, and spans a minimum of two years.

Dycus has spent 15 years working in learning communities and ministry settings, including the past six years at EMU. She served as dean of students from 2019 to 2023 and as vice president of student affairs and dean of students from 2023-2024 before assuming her current role where she oversees the Student Life, DEI and Athletics departments, and nurtures a co-curricular vision of social accountability, holistic well-being and academic success for all students.

Dycus’ selection as interim president was approved by unanimous vote from the EMU Board of Trustees at a meeting on March 26. The decision followed a national search process that began after Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman, EMU’s 9th president and first woman president, announced her retirement in October 2024, effective June 30, 2025. The Interim President Search committee included diverse representation from across the EMU community and was co-chaired by Dr. Jim Leaman ‘86, associate professor of business and director of the business and leadership program, and Jane Hoober Peifer ‘75, MDiv ‘98, vice chair of the board.

“Shannon has proven her outstanding ability to set vision, listen well, and execute the best way forward as an EMU administrator, and she is a trusted and gifted spiritual leader. Shannon is committed to preparing EMU students to be peacebuilders in the world, and her collaborative and decisive leadership is needed in this climate of ever-changing higher education realities,” Peifer said.

According to Board of Trustees Chair Manuel (Manny) Nuñez ‘94, EMU has established “terrific momentum” in spite of headwinds in higher education.

“A key piece of our success standing out in the world as peacebuilders is achieving academic excellence while maintaining fidelity to our Anabaptist faith tradition. Shannon brings both spiritual depth and strategic vision to the role of interim president — qualities that will serve EMU well in this season of opportunity,” Nuñez said.

Dycus has “made it a priority to support EMU students as they arrive on campus and to navigate barriers in their education” since 2019 when she created and led the C.A.R.E. Team, a proactive and coordinated response to addressing students and their well-being. In 2020 and 2024, she was awarded Department of Justice sexual violence prevention grants to fund EMU’s Safer Together office. She has worked with EMU Counseling Services to increase staffing and training for mental health support, and has been a staunch student advocate for peaceful responses to global injustices.

“I have always seen my own call to lead communities, in both education and ministerial contexts, toward our growth and becoming in relationship with each other and God. I look forward to leading EMU through this transitional moment and continuing its commitment to a values-based education that inspires achievement and compassion,” Dycus said.

Dycus serves as a board member for Eastern Mennonite School and On the Road Collaborative. She is a Women in Leadership advisory board member for Mennonite Church USA. Prior to her time at EMU, she served as an academic adviser and adjunct faculty member at Franklin University of Ohio (Indianapolis campus) and as co-pastor at First Mennonite Church in Indianapolis.

She received her doctor of ministry in public theology from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, a master of divinity from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, and her bachelor’s in middle and secondary education from Butler University.

EMU offers undergraduate, graduate and seminary degrees that prepare students to serve and lead in a global context. A leader among faith-based universities, EMU was founded in 1917 in Harrisonburg, and has a site in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.