For many first-generation college students, the transition from high school to higher education can feel like stepping into a completely different world. But at Goshen College, a new summer bridge initiative, known as the Leadership, Engagement, Academics and Development program, is helping students take that leap with confidence, community and purpose.  Launched in summer 2025, the LEAD program welcomed its first cohort of incoming first-year students for a three-week intensive experience designed to ease the transition to college life. Funded in part by the Lilly Endowment grant, the program specifically serves students who are first in their families to attend...

By Ana Alves Machado • September 18, 2025 • Features

Tucked away on Main Street in downtown Goshen, just blocks from the theater, sits a hidden gem, the Maple City Market. Known simply as “the co-op” to many longtime shoppers, this small but mighty store is more than just a grocery stop. It’s a hub for sustainable, local living and a symbol of community values in an ever-commercialized world. At first glance, the store seems relatively small, with not much going on outside. Once inside, though, the aisles reveal a treasure trove of goods from locally made soaps and creamery products to fresh produce and organic bulk foods. The aroma...

By Alianna Reyna • September 18, 2025 • Features

Goshen College is back online … well, mostly. Back in late July, the updated version of goshen.edu went live to the campus community and the broader public. It was clear within the first few days of its launch that the new website had some challenges.  The main goals of the website rebuilding process included visual branding and design, content migration and content formatting according to the “Web Launch FAQ” document shared by the Communications and Marketing Office. The document also stated that the process officially began in September 2024.  “It had been a while since we had done a complete...

By Eliza Alemán • September 18, 2025 • Features

Now that I’ve started my senior year at Goshen College, I cannot help but reflect on the time and contributions I’ve given to The Record. With this reflection comes a critique. A year ago, Carmen Merino wrote a letter to the editor, voicing her disappointment in the editorial staff and communication department over the misrepresentation of minority students.  Merino calls out the glaring pattern within the leadership application process. You would expect such a forewarning letter would encourage future executives to always be inclusive in each article they write. However, this was set on the backburner when it came to...

By Aaliah Higareda • September 4, 2025 • Features

Up three flights of stairs, tucked into the shelves of the Mennonite Historical Library, is the collection of Maple Leaf Yearbooks. They span the years from 1916 all the way through 2014, when their time came to an end. Cloth-bound and hardcover, they are surrounded by other historical records of Goshen College: Alumni Newsletters, GC Bulletins, The Record and more. They tell the story of the college.   The Maple Leaf, for its part, portrays the spirit and liveliness of students over the years. From literary society portraits to satirical dictionaries filled with inside jokes, the old yearbooks give insight into...

By Josiah Miller • September 4, 2025 • Features

On Wednesday, Sept. 3, immediately following the first chapel of the semester — where campus pastor Jen Shenk introduced the year’s theme, “The Time Is Now” — Goshen College hosted its annual Clubs, Organizations and Affinities Fair. The event gave student leaders the opportunity to showcase their passions and invite others to join the vibrant extracurricular life on campus. In a previous article for The Record, Kate Bodiker wrote, “Some of the most notable [clubs] that seem a bit far-fetched today are groups like the Aero Club … in which students paid roughly $390 to receive their private pilot’s license,”...

By Ana Alves Machado • September 4, 2025 • Features

After eight years in retirement, a jewelry class will once again be offered as an elective this May with the help of Tiffany Wyse-Fisher, assistant professor of art.  Jewelry began at Goshen College when Marvin Bartell, a professor emeritus of art, joined GC in the 1970s. Bartell first taught the jewelry-making class before leading courses in ceramics and art education.  Judy Wenig-Horswell, an associate professor of art from 1973-2009, took over the class when she began her tenure. “She was my jewelry professor,” Wyse-Fisher said, “I took every jewelry class I could under her. She was fantastic.”  After Wenig retired...

By Aaliah Higareda • September 4, 2025 • Features

The graduation ceremony is not just the culmination of years of hard work and dedication for students; it’s also a finely oiled machine that needs to funnel about 1,900 people in and out of the Recreation-Fitness Center in a timely fashion. Cynthia Good Kaufmann,  director of planning and events, is in charge of logistics, but was keen to mention that the ceremony is put together by “a bunch of departments coming together.” Coordination between departments such as the Registrar, the Dean’s office, Comm-mar and the Events office as well as cooperation from students is necessary for a successful ceremony. Brian...

By Phil Witmer-Rich • April 18, 2025 • Features

“Voces Fuertes” means “strong voices,” and it is also the name of the new immigrant advocacy group on campus that will be making its official debut on Thursday, April 17 at 3 p.m. in Schrock Plaza. This group has been in the works for some time, meeting weekly since spring break as they prepared to have at least one event before the semester was over. Areli Guzman, a senior biochemistry major and one of the founders of Voces Fuertes, made reference to racist remarks in bills such as HB 3133, an antiterrorism  act passed in Oklahoma, and executive orders by...

By Josiah Miller • April 18, 2025 • Features

In Goshen, Indiana, approximately 30.9% of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, with many speaking Spanish as their primary language, according to Data USA. For nearly a decade, Goshen College has responded to this linguistic and cultural diversity by offering English as a new language classes to adult learners from the community — who range in age from 18 to 70. What started as a small initiative has grown into a program that now serves nearly 200 students. Launched in 2016 through GC’s Center for Intercultural and International Education, the ENL program does more than just teach English. As...

By Ana Alves Machado • April 18, 2025 • Features

Writing your final editorial is a daunting task. I seriously considered writing an editorial about some random topic and never acknowledging the fact that this is the last one. But, here we are, and I can’t pretend that this isn’t the end —  in barely over a week I’ll stroll across the stage and receive a diploma, ending four years of hard work. Shout out to the rest of the seniors, we really are a great class aren’t we? But the ending of our college journey makes me think about how we end things, and what it feels like to...

By Tyson Miller • April 17, 2025 • Features

At the beginning of this semester I decided to make a small change to the masthead. Next to the editorial, the masthead features the staff of The Record, as well as a few other bits of information.  I added the line “The Record is made without the use of A.I.” It felt important. We live in a world where A.I. is being used for more, and getting better every single day. Over the past 18 months, A.I. has hurtled forward at breakneck pace.  I remember first playing with A.I. as a first-year. I signed myself up for a beta version...

By Tyson Miller • April 3, 2025 • Features

The less “green” parts of campus are due for an update, from the poles that literally light students’ way at night to the most hidden away boiler rooms on campus.  For all the students currently at Goshen College, the light pole replacement project has been an ongoing effort since before they arrived on campus. When it first started out, the poles were only getting switched out if they needed to be replaced due to damage or other issues, but now the whole host of new light poles are getting an expedited arrival time on campus.  Brian Mast, director of facilities,...

By Kate Bodiker • April 3, 2025 • Features

  In Sara Method’s backyard stands her former residence, a portable tiny house that housed her, her husband and her two children for five years. Since it no longer serving as their home, it has now been repurposed.  The journey of the tiny home began with Method, assistant professor of art and department chair, and her husband needing to find a place to live quickly before she attended graduate school.  “We needed a home, we had looked at tiny homes for years and it became quickly apparent that we were not going to be able to pay rent where we...

By Kevin Liddell • April 3, 2025 • Features

Look! What’s that up in the sky? A bird? A plane? It could certainly be Superman, but a whole new flying man has been added to the usual list of suspects. Isaac Sensenig, a senior marketing major, recently conquered the skies by earning his A license for skydiving.  Though anyone can jump from extraordinary heights with supervision, this A license allows him to jump on his own, without a skydiving instructor guiding him, like someone fresh off the street would have to do.  Sensenig has been skydiving for three years after a close friend introduced him to the sport. As...

By Kenna Rohrer • April 3, 2025 • Features