Dear editors, As the Director of Interpersonal Violence Prevention, Education, and Advocacy at Goshen College, I find myself grappling with many thoughts and questions in light of the recent events involving Richard Brunson over the past week and a half. First, I commend Goshen College for its swift and thorough investigation, as well as its decisive action in response to the situation. I also affirm the institution’s commitment to reevaluating our systems to enhance our prevention and response capabilities moving forward, as stated in the email from HR on Monday. It is crucial, however, for Goshen College to recognize the...

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The education department on campus has been working to identify ways in which more people can get involved within the educational field.  Suzanne Ehst, director of secondary education and core director, commented on the switch from primarily offering the grad programs in-person to now switching to virtual.  Ehst said, “We have two post-graduate programs. One is the Transition to Teaching program for people who have a bachelor’s degree but no teaching license, and the other is the English Learners licensure addition program for teachers already licensed in one area who are coming back to add EL to their certification.” “This...

By Isis Espinoza • February 15, 2024 • Features

For most of us, grief means reminiscing on the memory of a grandmother, a sibling or a pet, longing to bring something to life that cannot be brought back. We yearn for their presence to return to our lives. But how do you grieve for yourself — your very own essence? In my first years at Goshen College, I began to explore who I was, and I wanted to blossom into my new role as an adult.  During that time, I was secure in who I was and what I wanted for my life. Isis was certain she was destined...

By Isis Espinoza • February 1, 2024 • Features

Last fall, Billy Gene Easton, a member of the communication degree-completion program at Goshen College, undertook a PR project in the course Principles of Public Relations.  Easton focused his project on Importin’ Joe’s, an Ethiopian coffee importation business based in Mishawaka, Indiana.  After the initial assignment, Easton expanded his hypothetical marketing plan beyond the classroom.  He began interning at Importin’ Joe’s at the request of the owner and continued his course-based PR, servicing the company itself. Easton, raised in South Bend, has been invested in marketing for a while.  A musician himself, he worked with several other independent musical artists,...

By Ben Koop • February 1, 2024 • Features

H. Roz Woll has been an assistant professor of music at Goshen College for  three years.  Some of her duties include giving private voice lessons, directing Voices of the Earth, teaching a Music and Social Change class, and being faculty adviser for the Queen Singers.  Her involvement at GC has revolved around voice and performance, with an emphasis on social justice and change. Woll grew up in Chicago in Hyde Park, a diverse neighborhood which made her “more conscious of race than … a white person who grows up in a more typically …  white town,” she said.  “I’m a...

By Isis Espinoza • February 1, 2024 • Features

Dear editors, Thank you for publishing the opinion piece “An Honors Program Is Not What We Need Most” by Jakyra Green and Mariela Esparza. As the recently-appointed director of the new Honors Program, I was glad to see that the program is getting attention from thoughtful students who care about this college and about the education of all GC students. It should come as no surprise that my take on the program and its ability to serve our students is different than that expressed by Green and Esparza in the piece, but I want to be clear that I respect...

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People say that names carry an extraordinary amount of meaning. There’s some truth to that. To my friends, I go by Dan, but I grew up with my family calling me Daniel. To me, the two names are somewhat different: Daniel is deeper, more emotional, while Dan is fun and free-spirited. I don’t have a favorite; they just feel separate. But no matter what, everyone knows my last name as Eash-Scott — until now. This semester, I made a decision I’ve been wanting to make for a long time: I am now writing under the name Daniel James. I’ve replaced...

By Daniel James • January 25, 2024 • Features

Before Goshen College students started thinking about returning to school, student teachers were already in full swing in the classroom last fall. Suzanne Ehst, director of secondary education, alongside Kathy Meyer Reimer, director of elementary education, oversaw the process and structure of student teaching.  Ehst explained, “everyone gets oriented to the expectations, gathering all the information we need along the way, as well as running a few seminars that relate to what they are experiencing in the schools.”  In the first weeks, the student teachers are doing small tasks to support the classroom teachers such as introducing themselves or doing...

By Mariela Esparza • January 25, 2024 • Features

Last week, during the college’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, students and staff came together to celebrate and honor the contributions of local “sheroes.” The nominees have inspired change, uplifted the voices of others, and made space for future generations to do the same.  Nominated individuals include Kennedy Stewart, Arleth Martinez, Isis Espinoza, Jakyra Green, Mariela Esparza, Bongiwe Ncube, Fatima Zahara, Adela Hufford, Solidia Brown, H. Roz Woll, Cyneatha Millsaps, Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Robina Sommers, Rocio Diaz, Kathy Meyer Reimer, Aja Ellington and Emily Hahn.   Among the nominees stood the leaders of the Black Student Union, the first-place...

By Carmen Merino • January 25, 2024 • Features

I started working on my history senior thesis last week. I’m telling the story of the 2010-11 national anthem controversy at Goshen College, a tale of politics, convictions and identity. Those of you who were around 13 years ago probably remember it well; it’s a fascinating topic — for those of who you don’t know it, I would recommend looking it up. But this isn’t about that subject — what I love about writing this thesis is that I’m using this very newspaper as my most important primary source. The Record is beautiful in that way, I think. Studying both...

By Daniel James • January 18, 2024 • Features

A penguin drawing with a scarf hangs in front of Roy Jackson’s desk. With a smile, he shares, “I have this thing for penguins; a student made this for me.” Adjacent to it is a colorful rendering of a skyscraper: “This student always titled their artwork … I save everything: every little picture, every note.” An Atlanta, Georgia, native, Jackson works in Church-Chapel 115E in the education department. His room is decorated with student artwork and photo collages. Jackson studied English at Western Michigan University, focusing on literature, creative writing and philosophy. His initial aspiration to become a college professor...

By Jakyra Green • January 18, 2024 • Features

​In the community of kayakers in Goshen, there are a few people that like to trace their conversion to one very persuasive proselytizer who has an office on the second floor of the Administration Building, happens to teach social work — and once even had an experience so terrifying that she gave up water sports for 20 years.  ​Jeanette Harder, the director of the master’s program in social work at Goshen College and a professor of social work, has started to recruit faculty and staff from across campus to join her in her joy of kayaking.  ​Growing up surrounded by...

By Steven Lopez • January 18, 2024 • Features

Sauder Concert Hall was built with an emphasis on the details. Architects put in time to create a visually beautiful space that could support large shows, sound good and provide an intimate feel.  But the details go beyond the obvious. If you look past the several seconds of reverberation, the maple stage and the soft hues of the colored LED lights, you can find another place that was designed with care: the bathrooms.  Shirley Showalter was the president of Goshen College from 1997-2004. Around the turn of the century, she hosted several donors in Colorado. The college had just finished...

By Tyson Miller • November 30, 2023 • Features

When he was in third grade, Phil Allman’s parents sat him down to watch the 1975 thriller film “Jaws,” hoping that it would quell his desire to spend all day, every day, at the beach.  But their plan backfired miserably.  Allman couldn’t get enough of the movie about a shark who wreaks havoc on an unsuspecting, beach-going public. In the movie’s final showdown with the bloodthirsty fish, the marine biologist, accompanied by the police chief and a local fisherman, climbs aboard a rickety boat to pursue the great white shark. Allman recalled that he wanted to be on the boat...

By Jennifer Murrell • November 30, 2023 • Features

  After three years of an unchanged lineup of books in the Identity, Culture and Community class all first-years take, a new book has finally arrived in the curriculum: “The Anthropocene Reviewed,” by John Green. Derived from the Greek roots “anthropo” and “cene,” meaning “man” and “new,” respectively, the title refers both to the effect that human beings have on the world and the proposed term for the current geological age of the planet, as Green describes. Green’s affable personality and knack for storytelling shine an interestingly positive light, while he writes topics that are often depicted as bleak and...

By Griffin Eash • November 30, 2023 • Features