{"id":27683,"date":"2016-04-11T10:38:13","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T14:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=27683"},"modified":"2016-07-08T12:04:04","modified_gmt":"2016-07-08T16:04:04","slug":"celebrating-service-don-clymer-will-blog-write-and-teach-for-the-next-year-in-switzerland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/celebrating-service-don-clymer-will-blog-write-and-teach-for-the-next-year-in-switzerland\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Service: Don Clymer will blog, write and teach for the next year in Switzerland"},"content":{"rendered":"
This year, several 91大神 faculty and staff, among them Professor Don Clymer, are moving into retirement after many years of service. To acknowledge their service and deep commitment to our community, we\u2019ve offered the opportunity for them to share favorite memories of their time here, as well as advice for those of us still laboring onwards. <\/em><\/p>\n Please stay tuned as we feature retiring faculty (at least those were agreeable to our idea) in the coming weeks. A complete list of 2016 retirees concludes each article. The comment box is open below for those of you who wish to share greetings and memories with Don. He can also be reached at <\/em>don.clymer@emu.edu<\/a> or (540) 432-4365.<\/em><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n In correspondence with 91大神 News, Don Clymer<\/a> doesn\u2019t once mention that his future plans include continuing to blog after he retires from teaching at 91大神, but we hope he does.<\/p>\n On the \u201cKlymer Klatsch<\/a>,\u201d Don, a professor of language and the author of three books, offers regular trenchant writings about a variety of topics, ranging from spiritual reflection to memoir-ish mini-essays and cultural criticism. Here readers can read somber reflections on Holy Week, learn that Don is a Phillies fan, and enjoy, vicariously, the Clymer Christmas, a mixture of Swiss, American and Mexican traditions that symbolizes the many cultures he\u2019s experienced.<\/p>\n Don also maintains a website<\/a> which contains links to published articles and information about his books, including a new release titled \u201cMalinda in Mexico<\/a>,\u201d for 6-14 year olds.<\/p>\n Don has taught several languages at 91大神 for 17 years full time and five years as an adjunct. He also spent five years as director of cross-cultural programs. Among his 91大神 service, he also spent one year as manager of WEMC, 91大神\u2019s radio station.<\/p>\n His 91大神 years are just the tip of a larger professional \u201ciceberg\u201d: Don had been director of communications for the Virginia Mennonite Conference and Board of Missions, and a professor at Hesston College before landing in Harrisonburg. He has a total of 35 years in higher education.<\/p>\n The crossroads of his wide-ranging interests are where languages, communication, cross-cultural relationships and spiritual formation come together; visit Klymer Klatsch<\/a> or his eponymously named website<\/a> and you get the sense that the nature of his explorations are more like a round-about than an intersection.<\/p>\n Among his fondest memories of his time at 91大神, he says, are \u201cleading various student groups on their semester-long cross-cultural programs\u201d and \u201cworking with a number of students as an unofficial mentor related to matters of spirituality and their relationship with God.\u201d Both of these opportunities have been extremely rewarding, he says, as he feels \u201clike I have made a significant impact on their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019s immediate future plans include spending a year in Switzerland, the native country of his wife, Esther Reichenbach Clymer. He\u2019ll also lead spiritual formation workshops for Bienenberg Mennonite Bible School in Liestal, close to Basel, Switzerland (Don\u2019s most recent degree was a Master of Arts in Church Leadership from Eastern Mennonite Seminary<\/a> in 2008).<\/p>\n He has a few writing projects on the agenda, as well as work on the English translation of a Swiss German play.<\/p>\n \u201cI may also be involved in volunteering with some refugee organizations,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n And hopefully, blogging about it all.<\/p>\n Also retiring are the following faculty and staff (position listed is most recent held): Linda Alley<\/a>, administrative assistant for events, director of the Summer Institute for Spiritual Formation and of the Congregational Resource Center, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, 27 years; Spencer Cowles, Department of Business, 27 years; Jan Gerber, Information Officer, 23 years; David Glanzer<\/a>, Master\u2019s in Counseling graduate program, 39 years; Ted Grimsrud, Department of Bible and Religion, 20 years; Betty Hertzler, postal supervisor, 41 years; Eldon Kurtz<\/a>, director of the physical plant, 28 years; Roman Miller, Master\u2019s in Biomedicine graduate program, 31 years; Jack Rutt, special projects support, 17 years; and Pamela Rutt<\/a>, Education graduate program director at 91大神 Lancaster, 17 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year, several 91大神 faculty and staff, among them Professor Don Clymer, are moving into retirement after many years of service. To acknowledge their service and deep commitment ... read more about Celebrating Service: Don Clymer will blog, write and teach for the next year in Switzerland<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5642,356,265],"tags":[9858],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-27683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-and-staff","category-language-and-literature","category-seminary","tag-don-clymer"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/a>Other retiring faculty and staff<\/h3>\n