Administration CoverageAs journalists, it’s our job to keep GC’s administration in line. The Record is in place to act as a watchdog publication.
As journalists, it’s our job to keep GC’s administration in line. The Record is in place to act as a watchdog publication.
April 16, 2026
Biyani joins GC executive office
Raj Biyani ’92, after volunteering his time at Goshen College for the newly-created AI Task Force, was hired as GC’s first Chief Innovation Officer, a role which he began on April 1. Biyani has already progressed GC towards the next goal of submitting a grant proposal to the Lilly Endowment Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education Initiative, due by May 1. GC, which already received $125,000 from the Lilly Endowment after an initial proposal was accepted, is closing in on the finalization of the proposal to receive $5 million in funding. “We’re down to the tweaking stage,” President Rebecca Stoltzfus said....
February 12, 2026
More turnover at Merry Lea
Goshen College’s Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center is unexpectedly starting the spring 2026 semester without Ryan Sensenig, their interim executive director. A search for a new executive director started on Jan. 30, and the center announced the opening via Instagram on Feb. 2. In the meantime, Ann Vendrely, vice president of academic affairs and academic dean at GC, is acting as the interim executive director. Sensenig resigned from his position in early December. He was appointed to the temporary position in August, after the resignation of Jason Martin in late July, following the college’s sudden decision to put Martin on...
January 15, 2026
AI to shape Goshen’s future
President Rebecca Stoltzfus announced the establishment of the Goshen College Artificial Intelligence Task Force on Nov. 28. This task force will lead the implementation of GC’s Lilly grant planning period. According to its charge, the AI task force will “provide broad thinking and compelling ideas for GC’s in Higher Education Phase 2 Implementation and/or Collaborative Grants.” The task force will be led by Stoltzfus alongside Raj Biyani ’92, who will serve as AI strategy advisor and co-chair. Biyani is currently leading a seminar series that was opened up to GC staff in December. Biyani says that his goal for the...
January 15, 2026
HSI grant cuts, 6 months later
John Sauer, the U.S. solicitor general, on July 25, 2025 made a determination based on the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment that it was unconstitutional to provide government mandated initiatives to give funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions. This was startling news to not only Goshen College, but to the Goshen community as well. GC was designated an HSI in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Education, after the percentage of students identifying as Hispanic grew from just 2% in 2007 to 30% when the designation was given. GC was primarily using the funding from the initiative to provide the...
December 4, 2025
GC receives $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
Just before Thanksgiving, President Rebecca Stoltzfus announced that Goshen College has been chosen to receive a grant for just under $5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc., an organization based in Indianapolis. In a campus-wide announcement, President Stoltzfus said, “More than 1,100 organizations from across the country applied, and only 48 were selected. We are deeply honored to be among them!” According to Lilly’s grant list, the program, entitled “National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life,” aims to “seek out and share stories that illuminate the vitality of Christian faith and life.” GC will be putting the funding toward five...
October 30, 2025
GC responds to ICE arrests in the area
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that there have been four people from the Michiana area who have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. A local pastor, who requested anonymity for safety on behalf of herself and her community, said that one was deported, and the others are being held in Kentucky and Indianapolis. She said, “ICE is not ‘as active’ in the Michiana area as it is in other parts of the country, but they are active.” Gilberto Pérez Jr, vice president for student life and Hispanic Serving Initiatives and the dean of students, said, “It...
October 10, 2025
New Masters of Arts in teaching program in Session
Goshen College has added a Master of Arts in teaching program as of the fall 2025 semester. 19 students are currently enrolled in the first class of the program, many of them already teachers who are working full time during the day and earning their degree online in the evening. The master’s degree, which is the sixth graduate program at GC, is designed for people who already have a bachelor’s degree and are pursuing their first teaching license in elementary or secondary education. “Although this program began this fall semester, I feel like I am in my second year. And...
October 10, 2025
GC’s resilience after HSI cuts
Less than three years after becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution and two years after receiving its first federal grant for HSI development, Goshen College learned this month that the U.S. Department of Education is terminating the funding and other support for HSI schools. The federal government designated GC as a Hispanic-Serving Institution in January 2023, the fourth HSI school in Indiana at the time. The college qualified in part by having at least 25% of its undergraduate students identify as Hispanic/Latino. In October of that year, the Department of Education awarded the college a highly competitive $3 million Title V grant...
September 18, 2025
Department of Education cuts funding to minority-serving institutions
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will be ending grant funding to certain minority-serving institutions. This includes Goshen College, which has had the designation of Hispanic-Serving Institution since 2023. This change represents a significant cut to grants nationally. According to the DOE’s press release, “Approximately $350 million in discretionary funds were expected to be allocated to support these programs in fiscal year 2025. These funds will be reprogrammed into programs that do not include discriminatory racial and ethnic quotas and that advance Administration priorities.” President Rebecca Stoltzfus said that this did not come as a total...
September 4, 2025
Student life undergoes role and title shifts
Though there aren’t any new faces within the Student Life team this year, there has been some departmental shakeup. With a promotion for Chandler Buchfeller, extended hours for Jen Shenk and yet another position for Chad Coleman, students are still likely to see some changes. For Buchfeller, now the associate dean of students, the transition from director of residence life and housing was one that he feels will play even better to his strengths. The new role is “giving me an opportunity to utilize my knowledge and skills to continue working at crafting the best student experience that we can...
September 4, 2025
Bontrager takes new position at Everence
In an email to Goshen College employees on Aug. 19, President Rebecca Stoltzfus announced that Ben Bontrager, vice president for finance and operations and GC’s chief financial officer, will be departing from his role at as of Sept. 17. He has accepted a role at Everence as chief financial officer. Bontrager has been working in his role at Goshen College since 2022. In this role, he provides oversight to all of the financial functions of GC, especially when it comes to the behind the scenes of the college’s academics. Mindy Schlegel, director of ITS enterprise applications and innovation, works with...
May 14, 2025
Dwight Gingerich named AD, men’s basketball head coach
Goshen College announced Dwight Gingerich as the new athletic director on Wednesday morning. Gingerich is currently the head of school and boy’s basketball head coach at Hillcrest Academy in Kalona, Iowa – formerly named Iowa Mennonite School. He will start his duties at GC on July 1. Gingerich said in GC’s press release, “Our family loved our time at Goshen and I am very grateful to President Stoltzfus and the search committee for this opportunity to return. “I am excited to lean into the college’s core values of Christ-centeredness, passionate learning, servant leadership, compassionate peacemaking and global citizenship, as we...
March 27, 2025
Localizing executive orders: Effects on GC
Nine weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump has signed over 100 executive orders. Last Thursday, one of four executive orders signed included an order to start the process of dismantling the Department of Education. The Education Department was created through a congressional act in 1979, under former President Jimmy Carter. Ann Vendrely, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, said, “The president’s executive order was expected and is not legally binding. Any changes to the function of the Department of Education require congressional action, so we will watch to see what action they agree to do.” Vendrely...
February 13, 2025
GC faces reality of new presidential administration
In light of President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders and policies on immigration, Goshen College has begun establishing protocols for the possibility of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers appearing on campus. Amidst feelings of fear and anxiety from students who may be affected by these changes to national policy, GC leaders are doing their best to provide reassurance. ICE is a branch of law enforcement that focuses on “criminal investigations and enforcing immigration laws,” according to the organization’s mission statement. Peter Claassen, a supervising attorney at the Goshen branch of the National Immigrant Justice Center, described the specific section of...
September 12, 2024
New Master of Arts in Teaching
After two years of development Goshen has the final approval for its new Master of Arts in Teaching program. Although the program doesn’t officially start until the fall of 2025 the first cohort is already in swing. Suzanne Ehst, professor of education and director of the M.A. in teaching, said that they have “21 new students in the new version [of the program]. The classes they are taking this year are not yet master’s level, but they will be able to finish the full program with a master’s degree as long as half of their coursework is master’s level.” Despite...