{"id":6082,"date":"2016-09-29T09:17:25","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T14:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/?p=6082"},"modified":"2016-09-29T11:31:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T16:31:00","slug":"festschrift-honours-president-emeritus-gerald-gerbrandt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/2016\/festschrift-honours-president-emeritus-gerald-gerbrandt\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Festschrift&#8221; honours CMU President Emeritus Gerald Gerbrandt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"s1\">CMU Press is pleased to announce the release of a <i>Festschrift<\/i> honouring Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt, who served as Canadian Mennonite University\u2019s first sole President.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"s1\">Titled <i>A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt<\/i>, <em>the<\/em> <i>Festschrift\u2014<\/i>a German word for a collection of writing that is meant to honour a scholar\u2014is a series of essays that reflect on what it means to be a Mennonite university.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThe essays are high quality. The writers were clearly engaged in a labour of love that called forth their best efforts in honouring this leader and friend,\u201d said CMU Press editor Dr. Paul Doerksen. \u201cAll of the essays have something to do with what it might mean to be a Christian university. On that level, it\u2019s an important contribution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The book, which takes its name from a phrase Gerbrandt coined to describe CMU, was co-edited by Dr. Paul Dyck, Professor of English, and Dr. Harry Huebner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Dyck and Huebner presented the book to Gerbrandt during CMU\u2019s 2016-17 opening program on Saturday, September 24.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6073\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6073\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_0363.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-6073 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_0363-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"President Emeritus Gerald Gerbrant\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_0363-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/IMG_0363-683x1024.jpg 683w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6073\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">President Emeritus Gerald Gerbrandt comments on <i>A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt, the Festschrift<\/i>\u2014a gift from CMU faculty presented to Gerbrandt at CMU\u2019s 2016 Opening Program<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Huebner noted that as president, Gerbrandt shaped CMU\u2019s vision and mission, gave leadership in molding its faculty, and created a climate of open, free exchange of ideas and respect for difference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThe essays in this book are all written out of a deep appreciation for this culture of open discussion, of open debate, guided by a commitment to the Christian faith,\u201d Huebner said. \u201cIn a small way, it is an example of what a university of the church for the world might look like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Dyck added that the aim of the book was to bring together the various disciplines and activities at CMU and give readers an in-depth look at the life of the university.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It features 17 essays, including contributions from CMU faculty who teach international development, biblical and theological studies, music, English literature, biology, and math.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The book also includes essays on academic freedom, co-curricular activities at CMU, and CMU\u2019s practicum program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Additionally, the book features essays by University of Manitoba President David Barnard, Bluffton University President James Harder, church leaders David Wiebe and Robert J. Suderman, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe recommend the book to you as an example of the intellectual life of this university, both in the insights of its chapters and in the joyful interaction of them between these covers,\u201d Dyck said at opening program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Gerbrandt expressed his deep thanks for the book, particularly to the authors who took time to contribute essays.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI really do look forward to reading each one of your reflections and seeing what I can learn from them,\u201d Gerbrandt said, adding later: \u201cI do trust that\u2026 the various contributions in it serve to help CMU and perhaps other universities to become more effective to serve the world and the church.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Born in Chihuahua, Mexico and raised in Altona, MB, Gerbrandt earned his Bachelor of Christian Education from Canadian Mennonite Brethren Bible College (CMBC), one of CMU\u2019s predecessor institutions. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana as well as a PhD in Old Testament from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">After working for many years as a professor at CMBC, he was appointed the college\u2019s Academic Dean, a position he held from 1982 to 1997. From 1997 to 2003, he served as President of CMBC, and from 2003 until his retirement in 2012, he served as President of CMU.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Gerbrandt and his wife, Esther, are active members at Bethel Mennonite Church, Winnipeg. They have three adult children, Nathan (Ang), Brad (Natalie), and Virginia (Andrew), and four grandchildren.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>About CMU<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU\u2019s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as\u00a0graduate degrees in theology,\u00a0ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent\u00a0students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>For information about CMU visit <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/\"><em>www.cmu.ca<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For additional information, please contact:<br \/>\nKevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications &amp; Marketing<br \/>\nkkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621<br \/>\nCanadian Mennonite University<br \/>\n500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB\u00a0 R3P 2N2<\/p>\n<div class=\"addtoany_share_save_container\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CMU Press is pleased to announce the release of a Festschrift honouring Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt, who served as Canadian Mennonite University\u2019s first sole President. Titled A University of the Church for the World: Essays in Honour of Gerald Gerbrandt, the Festschrift\u2014a German word for a collection of writing that is meant to honour a scholar\u2014is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,5],"tags":[26,159,135,457],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6082"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6088,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082\/revisions\/6088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}