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HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — Eastern Mennonite University announced Monday, June 22, that it has named the Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus as its 10th president.
Dycus, who has led the university as interim president since July 2025, begins her five-year term on July 1, 2026.
“I’m humbled to continue the bold legacy of EMU,” Dycus said in a release. “EMU leaders have been courageous and visionary stewards of this sacred community. Being called to serve among them is a responsibility I’m excited and honored to step into.”
The EMU Board of Trustees unanimously voted to appoint Dycus as president during its June 12 meeting.
The board’s decision reportedly followed several months of feedback gathered by its Presidential Succession Planning Committee from representatives across the EMU community, including faculty, staff, students, senior administrators, alumni, donors, church constituents, and other key stakeholders, regarding her potential appointment.
“The committee found broad and consistent support for Dr. Dycus across nearly every constituency engaged during this process,” the report said. “Stakeholders repeatedly described her leadership as authentic, relational, transparent, collaborative, strategic, mission-centered, and deeply aligned with EMU’s values.”
Prior to serving as interim president, she was vice president for student affairs, equity, and belonging. She previously served as dean of students from 2019-23 then vice president for student affairs and dean of students from 2023-24 before being promoted to vice president for student affairs, equity, and belonging (2024-2025).
Before coming to EMU, she was an academic adviser and adjunct faculty member at Franklin University of Ohio (Indianapolis campus) and co-pastor at First Mennonite Church in Indianapolis.
She holds a 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 a Bachelor of Arts in middle and secondary education from Butler University.
Dycus is the first Black woman to lead EMU as president. She succeeds President Emerita Dr. Susan Schultz Huxman, who served as the university’s ninth president from 2017-25.
An inauguration ceremony on Oct. 10 during EMU’s annual Homecoming Weekend will celebrate Dycus as the university’s 10th president during its 110th year.