The Bluffton University Board of Trustees has a new chairperson for the first time since 2001.
The trustees’ recent spring meeting was the last for Morris Stutzman, who retired from the board after 33 years, including the last 14 as chairperson. Kent Yoder, a trustee and Middlebury, Ind., businessman, assumed the chairperson’s duties from Stutzman, a Wooster, Ohio, attorney.
“In his many Bluffton board responsibilities over a third of a century, Morris helped provide effective long-term leadership to the board and to the university that has overlapped with the tenure of three presidents,” said Dr. James M. Harder, Bluffton’s president. “With the rapid evolution occurring in the world of higher education, the institutional changes he has been part of during this timeframe are truly remarkable—including at least 10 major campus building projects.”
In recognition of Stutzman’s service, his fellow trustees voted to grant him the rank of honorary board member, a nonvoting status reserved for retired trustees with 16 or more years on the board.
A 1972 Bluffton graduate in philosophy and English, Stutzman was vice chairperson of the trustees before becoming chairperson. Also during his board tenure, he chaired the Academic Affairs Committee; the task force that prepared Bluffton’s Statement of Arrangement with the Mennonite Education Agency; and the search committee whose work led to the appointment of former President Lee Snyder. In addition, he was active in multiple capital campaigns.
Stutzman earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1975. He has been a partner since 1981, and a managing partner since 1992, in the Wooster law firm of Logee, Hostetler, Stutzman & Lehman. He is a member of the American, Ohio State and Wayne County bar associations, as well as the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys.
The Wooster resident is also involved in the Wayne County community, including at Oak Grove Mennonite Church, Smithville, and as current board chair for the Mennonite Mutual Insurance Co., Orrville.
Kent Yoder
Incoming chairperson Kent Yoder is completing his ninth year on the board of trustees. He is president of MDK Enterprises LLC and chief financial officer of Re-Gen Inc., a Middlebury, Ind., firm that specializes in innovative recycling solutions. He was formerly senior vice president and chief financial officer at Jayco Corp., the Middlebury-based recreational vehicle manufacturer where he worked for 30 years.
Yoder graduated from Bluffton in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management. A Middlebury native, he is also active in his community and in Mennonite circles. He is a member of Silverwood Mennonite Church, Goshen, which he has served as board chair; past board president for Camp Friedenswald; and treasurer of Mennonite Church USA’s Central District Conference, which he represents on the Bluffton board.
Joining Yoder on the trustees’ executive board, and continuing in their positions, are vice chairperson Mark Weidner, from Bluffton; secretary LaVonne Hartman, from Elida, Ohio; and treasurer Ernie Thomas, from Richfield, Ohio.
In other board transitions, the trustees:
• Welcomed new member Jane Roeschley, from Graymont, Ill., who was appointed by Mennonite Church USA for a four-year term. She is a 1977 Bluffton graduate and an associate pastor at the Mennonite Church of Normal, Ill.
• Said farewell to Terry Shetler ‘69, from Bellvue, Colo., an alumni representative on the board who served for 12 years. During that time, he was a member of the Fiscal Affairs Committee and the “Extending Our Reach” campaign steering committee, which successfully engineered the largest capital campaign in university history. Replacing Shetler will be Cheryl Hacker ’81, appointed by the alumni association board to a four-year term effective July 1. An attorney from Columbus, Ohio, she is retired general counsel and special assistant to the president at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio.
• Reappointed for a four-year term, meanwhile, was Greg Wannemacher ’77. An at-large trustee since 2009, he is president and CEO of Wannemacher Enterprises Inc. in Lima, Ohio
• Also during the spring meeting on June 19 and 20, the trustees granted promotions and, in two cases, tenure to the following faculty members: Dr. Walter Paquin, promoted to associate professor of social work; Dr. Crystal Sellers Battle, granted tenure and promotion to associate professor of music; and Dr. Zachary Walton, granted tenure and promotion to associate professor of communication.
