Canadian Mennonite
Volume 12, No. 10
May 12, 2008
First Hutterite graduate of CMU
WINNIPEG—“If your experience at CMU [Canadian Mennonite University] doesn’t make you a better Hutterite, we’ve failed you!” That’s what one Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) professor said several times over the past year to Jesse Hofer, the first Hutterite to graduate from the university. “Far from failing me, CMU has gifted me with a renewed commitment to my roots and new tools to both challenge and appreciate my tradition,” says Hofer, a member of the Silverwinds Colony near Rosenort, Man. Hofer’s journey to CMU began when his colony called him to become a teacher. “Unlike other students, I did not choose to go to university,” he says. “For Hutterites, university education is an assignment based on the needs of the community. Silverwinds needed a teacher, so I was asked if I’d be willing. Of course, I agreed.” Hofer will now go on to education studies at the University of Manitoba to become a teacher at the colony.