Melody Pannell: a bright picture of diversity

Dressed in a bright pink hat, black-and-red patterned pants, and high heels, Melody Pannell looks like she has stepped off the fashion pages of Vogue or is coming straight from a 5th Avenue clothing store.

Pannell is entering her office at EMU as director of Multicultural Services. Her office door is adorned with pictures of her students, and inside the office welcomes all into a friendly atmosphere, with many candles and music playing in the background.

Though Pannell now lives in Harrisonburg, her roots are in Harlem, NY, where she grew up as the daughter of a nurse and a pastor of 7th Avenue Mennonite Church.

In high school, Pannell’s life centered on the social arena, and she became interested and involved in the fashion and beauty industry. It was while she was working on 5th Avenue that Pannell realized a new calling. At the encouragement of a youth pastor, Pannell spent ten days working at Camp Deerpark, a decision that transformed her life and encouraged her to take a new path.

Eventually, Pannell found her way to EMU, receiving degrees in social work, youth ministry, and family studies. As an undergraduate, Pannell advocated that making a difference was possible only through participation, noting her motto, "get involved, make a change."

Pannell sought to bring up issues of race and ethnicity that others at the time dodged around. As a person of mixed racial heritage with an ethnically Mennonite background, Pannell said even she felt outside of the EMU community during her undergraduate years. "If I feel uncomfortable," said Pannell, "it’s a problem."

After leaving EMU, Pannell went on to get her masters of social work from Fordham University, and then worked in varying capacities for several years. By the spring of 2003, Pannell knew she was going to move, though she did not expect to return to Harrisonburg. At the encouragement of her younger brother Richard, Pannell applied for the position of director of Multicultural Services, and within a week, she had accepted the job.

Pannell describes her return to EMU as "coming full circle" with her work, acknowledging that her mission of increasing diversity remains the same as in her earlier years at EMU. Upon her return, Pannell was distressed to find that not much had changed during her years away, especially noting a lacking diversity in faculty and staff. While pleased with increasing numbers of international students, she notes that other ethnic and racial groups have not experienced significant growth in numbers. Pannell admits to initial discouragement, but also said she felt that "God has called me here" to continue encouraging an environment of diversity.

Though not faulting the Mennonite church or EMU, Pannell would like to see more work and outreach in cities in the United States. Pannell notes her frustration that cross-culturals celebrate diversity, but EMU lacks the same celebration for members of different races and ethnic backgrounds within this community.

Working closely with other departments on campus such as Financial Aid, Pannell tracks academics of AHANA (African-American, Hispanics, Asians, and Native American), or “her students,” and spends a good amount of time meeting with those students. Pannell expressed that she feels like "a bridge" between professors and her students, a relationship she would like to get away from. Rather than be a liaison between the two, Pannell would like to encourage professors to contact people directly when looking for students with diverse backgrounds to participate in an event.

When asked about her favorite event so far during her employment, Pannell responded that the fashion show, talent show, and gospel extravaganza held Feb. 6 - 8 of this year are her favorites thus far. Though the events drew a large crowd, it was not the numbers that Pannell was especially concerned with. More importantly, it drew people to EMU that would normally stay away and label it a place where their diversity would not fit in. Rather, this weekend encouraged those people to come and participate.