For the RecordFor the Record is a weekly editorial usually written by the current executive editor of The Record. It may also be written by other Record editors.
For the Record is a weekly editorial usually written by the current executive editor of The Record. It may also be written by other Record editors.
September 5, 2018
FOR THE RECORD: ‘I am so glad you are here. Your story is welcome here.’
Welcome back to campus from someone who was here all summer. I have to be honest — I feel at least a little important after spending the summer working for Goshen College Communications and Marketing. There is some unexpected dignity found in power-walking across the empty campus on a special mission to pick up cardboard boxes from the admissions office. I marched with purpose over to the Music Center for interviews and sauntered into the Registrar’s Office with signage for their recent move. As the first visible person at the Com-Mar front office, I answered a lot of strangers’...
April 12, 2018
For the Record
Throughout my final semester of college I have been lamenting. Lamenting the fact that I haven’t had enough time to take advantage of everything the community of GC has to offer. I wish I would’ve worked for The Globe. I wish I would’ve taken Human Sexuality with Keith Graber-Miller and Restorative Justice with Regina Shands Stoltzfus. I wish I would’ve spent a semester at Merry Lea. I wish I would’ve been apart of Goshen Monologues. The list could go on. I think the tendency for us, as students, is to either become so overwhelmed with all that is in front...
April 5, 2018
For the Record
Instead of applying for graduate school, or a service term with Mennonite organizations such as SALT and MVS or landing a job that will look good on my resume after graduation, I’m looking forward to working full time at a well-known bakery and cafe here in Goshen, Anna’s Bread. After finishing high school, I chose Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas, to begin my college career. After earning an Associates degree from Hesston I made the decision to transfer to Goshen College to finish my undergraduate career. And around the same time I decided to come to GC, my family also...
March 29, 2018
For The Record
Two weeks ago our campus community participated in the nationwide walkout honoring the 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting. This weekend some from our community joined in the nationwide March for Our Lives protesting against the lack of gun control. And this week we anticipate the end of Lent with the celebration of Holy Week, reminding us that life and death are intertwined through the life of Jesus. At the walkout, campus pastor Gwen Gustafson-Zook began by reading Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death, therefore choose life, that you and your children...
March 22, 2018
For the Record
It’s easy to say that racism doesn’t affect me, that homophobia has no impact on my life, that sexism isn’t something that actually exists, transphobia is a myth. As a privileged straight white woman, I could easily say all of those things and more. I could avert my eyes from the suffering of others and focus on my own privileged straight white world. But I won’t say those things. I can’t say those things.Because I am a part of the Goshen community where I interact with people who face oppression on a daily basis. I have friends, classmates and peers...
March 15, 2018
For the Record
March is Women’s History Month. March 8 was International Women’s Day. A month and a day celebrated by many, many of whom identify as feminists. I think it’s important noting that while I identify as a feminist, I have not always agreed with those who share this identity. When angry slurs were used to describe our president and dehumanizing signs depicting his face were held up high at the Women’s March I attended in January 2017, I was uncomfortable. To me, they undermined what I believed we were marching for. I was marching for the humanization and empowerment of all...
February 22, 2018
For the Record
During her inaugural address on Saturday, Feb. 17, President Stoltzfus offered four “distinctively Goshen” affirmations. One of her affirmations was that a Goshen education “will continue to express and to integrate the transcendent values of beauty, truth and goodness,” she said. Beauty, truth and goodness are all values I have discovered in my almost two years at Goshen College. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on where I have found them. Beauty. When I think about what makes Goshen beautiful, I think about the people that make up this diverse community. Of the 800 undergraduate students, 43...
February 15, 2018
For the Record
“Warriors for the Human Spirit are awake human beings who have chosen not to flee. They abide. They serve as beacons of an ancient story that tells of the goodness and generosity and creativity of humanity. You can identify them by their cheerfulness. You will know them by their compassion. When asked how they do it they will tell you about discipline, dedication and the necessity of community.” —Margaret J. Wheatley I heard stories from warriors for the human spirit at the Intercollegiate Peace Conference. Warriors for the spirit of the Indigenous, the incarcerated, the professor and the student, social...
February 8, 2018
For the Record
“As I walked through the square this morning I saw old folks playing badminton (better than I can) and square dancing. The place was buzzing with positive energy. As old as these people were, the place felt full of young life, of vibrant colors and smiles. These people are making the most of their time. Despite the aging bones and muscles in their bodies, they are making meaning. Connecting with one another through the beat of the music. So powerfully beautiful. I think I may need to retire in China.” I wrote these words in the beautiful city of Langzhong...
February 1, 2018
For the Record
I recently ordered myself a cheap essential oil diffuser on Amazon. Not knowing that the same day I received it in the mail I would start to feel ill, I opened the box and the instruction manual. All I had to do was complete the simple process of filling a measuring cup to the line, pouring the water into the base, adding three to six drops of essential oil and plugging it in. I crawled into bed and fell asleep to the smell of lavender filling my room. When I awoke, my fever was gone, but my body was still...
January 25, 2018
For the Record
On Jan. 20 around 11:30 a.m. I walked into the Great Clips here in Goshen with my friends Hannah and Annika by my side. It was time. For the past two years I have made comments to my friends and family about wanting to chop off all my hair, but eventually found enough excuses to then chicken out. But here I was, mouthing the words “ready or not, here I come.” What led me to this point was a conversation with a friend in which we were trying to decide whether or not it was worth the three hour drive...
January 18, 2018
For The Record
Margaret Wheatley writes in her book, “Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future,” “To advocate human conversation as the means to restore hope to the future is as simple as I can get. But I’ve seen that there is no more powerful way to initiate significant change than to convene a conversation. When a community of people discovers that they share a concern, change begins. There is no power equal to a community discovering what it cares about.” With these words in mind, it is my honor to welcome you to the first issue of...
November 16, 2017
For the Record
I’ve been thinking a lot about solidarity. This week on campus is Sexual Violence Awareness Week, organized by the Goshen Student Women’s Association, and features a variety of activities, events and opportunities to say to those in our community affected by sexual violence, I stand with you. This week also marks the launch of the Goshen Resident Identification Card program for the city of Goshen, an ID card that will be especially helpful for those who are unable to get other official forms of identification. The card is available to all Goshen residents, however, and is an opportunity to say...
November 9, 2017
For the Record
I have a habit of oversharing. I open my mouth and suddenly all of my most intimate thoughts jump from my mind to my tongue, and then my high school math teacher knows all about my seasonal affective disorder or the entire Goshen College campus knows about my existential crisis or the guy I’m talking to on Tinder finds out about the time I peed all over myself. It’s not always the most becoming characteristic. However, I think it’s an important characteristic to possess as a person, but more importantly as a writer. Lang Leav, in her book “Sad Girls,”...
November 2, 2017
For the Record
Eboo Patel came to Goshen last week, and his talks both Thursday night and Friday morning were challenging and hopeful in a number of ways. I could use this space to tell you all about him and his work and his interactions on campus, but I’ll let you read Abby’s article instead (peep page 1). I was challenged by something he said on Thursday night about diversity. He asked, when everyone in a room looks differently, talks differently, comes from a different place, is of different socioeconomic status or educational level, or speaks a different language, but still agree on...