September 27, 2006
The author of the first published contemporary Mennonite memoir in the U.S. will be the speaker for the second annual Melva Kauffman Memorial Lecture Series at Hesston College.
Cynthia Yoder, who wrote Crazy Quilt: Pieces of a Mennonite Life, published in 2003, will speak at the 11 a.m. chapel service Wednesday, October 25 in the sanctuary of Hesston Mennonite Church. Her topic is "Follow the Yellow Brick Road."
Yoder will also give a presentation titled "Crazy Quilt: Pieces of a Mennonite Life" to students and the community at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 26. That presentation will also be in the sanctuary of Hesston Mennonite Church.
The public is invited to both events. Yoder will also speak in several classes, to resident assistants, and to faculty and staff. She will also sign her book at the Hesston College Bookstore at 3 p.m., October 26.
Yoder's memoir follows her quest back to her Pennsylvania Dutch roots during a difficult time in her life. She has given many talks based on her book, inspiring listeners to see difficult times as an opportunity for positive change. Her speaking engagements have taken her to Yale University, Princeton University, and elsewhere.
A poet as well as narrative writer, Yoder has been published in national magazines such as New Jersey Monthly, Mothering Magazine, and the children's magazine Ladybug, as well as literary publications. She has appeared on radio shows nationwide, and has appeared in Glamour, First for Women, and Women's Day.
Yoder studied literature at Columbia University's Graduate School of Comparative Literature and holds a master of fine arts in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College. She earned her bachelor's degree from Goshen (Ind.) College. She was a guest instructor for fiction writing for the spring 2005 semester at Bluffton (Ohio) University.
Yoder is working on another non-fiction narrative and recently began leading meditation workshops. She lives with her husband and son in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.
Melva Kauffman was an English and education instructor at Hesston College from 1944-77. She graduated from Hesston Academy in 1936 and from Hesston College in 1939. She also taught part-time at Goshen (Ind.) College, Bluffton (Ohio) University, and at Bethel College, North Newton, Kan. Beside academic teaching, she spent many years teaching Sunday school classes and leading book studies at Schowalter Villa where she resided after her retirement.
Kauffman died in October 2003. In the spring of the following year, her family established the annual lecture series using funds from her trust which named Hesston College as the recipient.
According to Phyllis Weaver, a Hesston College development officer who had Kauffman as an instructor and later kept in contact with her after Kauffman's retirement in 1978, "Melva's family chose to set up this lecture series to preserve her memory and contribution to Hesston College and to continue her lifelong interests in learning and the humanities," she said. "By having an annual lecture series, the students, faculty, staff, and the community will benefit from her generosity."