Costa Rica, a small Central American nation, is the home of a sizable Conservative Mennonite population. In 1968, my uncle immigrated with his family to the Arenal region of central Costa Rica. His family, along with a handful of others, were amongst the first Mennonites to call the country home.  Costa Rica is historically known for its peaceful approach to both global and local politics as the only country in Latin America to boast no military. Given the combination of untouched wilderness and a culture of peace, it only makes sense that the Mennonite tradition would take hold there. In...

By Adrian Delgadillo • March 27, 2025 • Features

For a campus that’s over a century old, there are plenty of secrets and surprises littered throughout that facilities staff have to work with, or in, every day. On this ride along with Brian Mast, I was allowed to get a glimpse into it all. The whirring of fans and generators was the white noise that filled the Heating Plant on Tuesday morning, and Brian Mast, director of facilities, worked diligently on the bottom floor, tinkering with a pipe that was leaking water.  At the end of the steep blue staircase, the leaking pipe had a black and yellow screwdriver...

By Charlie Aldrich • March 27, 2025 • Features

  I live a short 58 minute drive from Payson High School, in Utah, where the movie Footloose was filmed.  Footloose, which was released in 1984, is about a boy named Ren McCormack, played by Kevin Bacon, who moves to a small midwest town where dancing and rock music have been made illegal.  He spends the rest of the movie trying to convince the town that dancing should be allowed. In the end, a prom is held behind a grain mill, across town lines, and the teens dance the night away.    Imagine my surprise, when I learned that Goshen College...

By Alyssa McDonald • March 27, 2025 • Features

A staring contest — possibly one of the first games we ever learned how to play. The goal is to out-stare your opponent.   As young children, this game brought out light-hearted joy and competitive spirits. The Asian Pacific Islander Desi American  Student Union decided to spark some of these light-hearted memories throughout campus with their own staring contest. On Tuesday, March 25, APIDA, formally known as the Asian Student Association, hosted a staring contest, with the winner walking away with sore eyes, a free t-shirt and a $50 cash prize. Jason DuBois, the president of APIDA, was thrilled about the...

By Egypt Boyd • March 27, 2025 • Features

As I get to the end of my college career, I am, like every senior before me, incredibly daunted by the fact that I am going to have to go do something with my life. Like, very soon.  All the seniors are at different places with our future plans, and some of us have better ideas about what we want to do than others. I am one of those with nothing concrete, with no goals.  It sounds scary, but the more reflection I’ve done over the past few months, I’ve realized that I really just don’t have any big goals....

By Tyson Miller • March 27, 2025 • Features

Throughout my grade-school years, I thought of college as a big deal because of the extreme academic rigor I was sure was about to ensue. I imagined spending endless hours in the library grinding away at the research paper that would determine my future. And yes, I did end up spending hours at the library, but I’d say about half of that time was spent talking with people, or playing some obscure game from the reserves with a group of friends. I have learned a great deal academically throughout my time at GC, but academic improvement was simply not what...

By Phil Witmer-Rich • March 13, 2025 • Features

One facet of college life that has become almost synonymous with U.S. higher education is that of “Greek life,” or fraternities and sororities. Goshen College has never been a part of this student organizational system, however, while they weren’t frats, GC did use its literary societies. These societies began in 1900 as a division of the, at the time too large, Ciceronian Debating club. The resulting societies were called the Aurora Society and the Coming Men of America Debating Club, which later changed its name to the Adelphian Society. These were the societies for men on campus. As for women,...

By Kate Bodiker • March 13, 2025 • Features

In 1995, Dr. Regina Shands Stoltzfus, professor of peace, justice and conflict studies, together with Dr. Tobin Miller, founded the Damascus Road, an initiative aimed at dismantling racism within the Mennonite Church and broader society. In September 2012, Shands Stoltzfus and Miller’s Damascus Road was officially renamed to Roots of Justice. Shands Stoltzfus and Miller directed the program for several years, though they no longer lead the initiative. Throughout their time, they collaborated with a team of trainers to lead organizing and educational efforts within Mennonite Church USA and other Anabaptist institutions, including seminaries and colleges such as Goshen College....

By Igor Sapucaia • March 13, 2025 • Features

Collections of books and places to study are often what define college libraries — there’s nothing like finding a place to hunker down and type up a paper in a building where you have access to everything that you’ll need to get your work done.  Those things ring true for the Harold and Wilma Good Library, but there’s also so much more that it has to offer beyond academics — hot drinks, board games, gaming systems and seed swapping.  Within the walls of the library, there’s a reason for everything that has come to be. “We follow your trends,” said...

By Sarah Miller • February 20, 2025 • Features

This past week The New Yorker celebrated 100 years. For context, The Record will celebrate its 113th birthday this year. Just a lowkey flex. Anyway.  In their celebratory edition, Jill Lepore, a staff writer, wrote an article titled, “The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker.” It takes a deep dive into the relationships between various editors and writers over the history of the magazine.  Reading it was overwhelmingly validating, from the standpoint that it affirmed something that I’ve experienced and observed in my time working with The Record — the relationship between writers and editors is a tenuous one. ...

By Tyson Miller • February 20, 2025 • Features

The history within the walls of Goshen College’s buildings is plentiful. The red brick, the vines and limestone trim add to the charm that is GC. This vast history comes with years of repurposing buildings, and with constant repurposing, regular updates end up falling through the cracks.  The Visual Arts Building, tucked between the Leaf Raker parking lot and Administration Building, was built in 1940 and started its life as the library. The last renovation was made in 2003, which included some electrical upgrades, offices, new windows, reworking the ceramic lab and masonry restoration on the exterior according to Brian...

By Charlie Aldrich • February 20, 2025 • Features

  Goshen College is the place “where everything connects,” and through these connections many opportunities arise for students.  Collaboration with other institutions can give academic and global experiences to students at GC, and in turn to others at other universities. Two of the programs available are through the global studies department and the physics department.  The physics department works with Notre Dame, Case Western University and Valparaiso University. They provide a 3-2 program, three years at GC, then two years at one of the respective universities.  Being a small liberal arts school, GC does not have programs for  specific engineering...

By Kevin Liddell • February 20, 2025 • Features

College students are no strangers to illness, and this winter is no exception, with reported instances of COVID-19, Influenza, RSV and cold symptoms, many missed classes and even rescheduled events.   This was the case for both Fatima Rhana, senior music and theater major, and Victor Vegas, senior music major, who were forced to reschedule their senior recitals. These recitals are a requirement of the music major, and thus essential to complete. Rhana said that it was a hard decision to reschedule, but a necessary one that the department was very understanding of.  “The department was so fast and super understanding....

By Kate Bodiker • February 13, 2025 • Features

  Powdery white snow sprinkles from the clouds, following the trail the icy wind has created for it before it takes its place amongst the flakes collecting on the frozen ground. As winter hits its peak, Goshen College’s students walk to and from their classes, cold bursts of air burning their faces as they continue on toward their destinations.  There has not been a shortage of snow and ice this winter, and with it comes significant responsibility for the groundskeeping team on campus. In the event of snowfall or ice formation, the team prepares by shoveling walkways and spreading salt...

By Atty Montague • February 13, 2025 • Features

Along with homework, exams and late night study sessions, Lars Razor, a senior communication major, and Matija Margetic, a junior film production major, find the time to express their creativity through the art of music. Both transform their feelings and experiences into tunes for listeners with similar journeys.  Razor’s musical journey began at age 5 as he listened to his grandmother, Lillian Jones, a singer from a gospel music band, The Vocalaires.  The gospel group performed across the country, from Michigan to Missouri to California. Although she stopped performing before Razor became a teenager, he vaguely remembers attending his grandmother’s...

By Kena Oropeza • February 13, 2025 • Features