COVID-19
September 17, 2020
A guide to wearing your mask the right way
Masks are the new normal on the Goshen College campus this semester. Though they aren’t overwhelmingly popular. Masks muffle your voice, make your face hot and they can seem difficult to breathe in on occasion. Still, they are the new form of expression, giving you a way to be creative and send a message, and whether solid-colored or patterned, there is still a right and safe way to wear them. “Nose, mouth, and gills,” said Corie Steinke, director of student involvement. “Whatever is intaking and outputting air is where your mask should go.” As part of the Big Four, students...
September 17, 2020
Despite national trend, GC COVID-19 numbers stay low
[For the most up-to-date COVID-19 statistics, visit Goshen College's COVID-19 DashBoard by clicking here] On Tuesday, Sept. 15, the third confirmed case of COVID-19 at Goshen College sent a student into isolation for the first time since the second week of the fall semester. Despite the recent case, the coronavirus’ presence on campus remains low as the fifth week of classes wrap up. According to a New York Times article updated on Sept. 10, GC joins more than 1,190 colleges and universities around the U.S. where COVID-19 has been reported. Still, more than 150 colleges have experienced 100 positive cases....
September 17, 2020
Market Brings fresh approach to COVID-19
The Goshen Farmers Market is creating new ways to stay open in unconventional times. “We had to adjust our operations during the [stay-at-home] order,” said Jo Ellen Davis, Goshen Farmers Market manager. “But being a food-based business, we were allowed to stay open under the governor’s mandate.” In the first weeks of the stay-at-home order, only food vendors were allowed to sell produce at market. “So there was probably about half the number of vendors at that time of year that would normally be there, but we were able to remain open every week,” she said. Additional changes were made...
September 17, 2020
A clean campus for all: Custodians stay busy
Even after a majority of students left campus last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the custodial department remained at work. A GC custodian’s day starts at 5 a.m., according to Christy Farley, custodial supervisor. Farley has worked for the custodial department for five years, and was promoted to supervisor two years ago. The custodians clock in at 5 a.m., clean until their break from 9-9:30 a.m., break at 11 a.m. for lunch and then clock out at 1:30 p.m. The earliest impact on the custodial department took place “when the students were sent home due to COVID-19,” Farley said....
September 3, 2020
COVID-19 confirmed on campus for the second time
The second case of COVID-19 was confirmed last Wednesday evening in an email from Student Life. It was later recorded in the Goshen College COVID-19 data dashboard as the first positive case in isolation among GC employees. The confirmed case required the entire volleyball team to be quarantined in the second floor of Miller Residence Hall, sources confirmed. The news comes just eight days following confirmation of the first student case. As of yesterday afternoon, there are officially 18 students in quarantine, 11 of whom are on campus according to Chad Coleman, director of student life operations. A student in...
September 3, 2020
Local health workers share COVID-19 experiences
According to USAFacts, a non-profit civic initiative, the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elkhart County have been declining since cases last peaked in the middle of June. Most recent numbers indicate there are currently 5,702 known cases. Speaking about the healthcare experience in Goshen, Dr. Dan Nafziger, an infectious disease specialist and Goshen Hospital Chief Medical Officer joined Dr. Rose Gillin, a Goshen Family Medicine Specialist, President Rebecca Stoltzfus, and senior nursing student Katja Norton in convocation on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The reason for decline, Nafziger expressed, has to do with a combination of procedures put in place from different...
August 27, 2020
COVID-19 confirmed at Goshen College: First Case in isolation, varsity team plus seven others in quarantine
The first case of COVID-19 on Goshen College’s campus was confirmed last Tuesday, Aug. 18. Soon after, seven individuals were notified through contact tracing and are now quarantining on floors one and two of Miller Residence Hall for two weeks. Positive COVID-19 numbers remained stagnant until Aug. 26, when Student Life informed athletes that an entire varsity team would be quarantining after being exposed to a single positive case. “The Crossroads League has been notified, and the first matches of this team’s season will be rescheduled to a later date,” Erica Albertin, interim athletic director and head athletic trainer, and...
March 15, 2020
SST units to return home, all international May Term classes cancelled
The current Ecuador and Tanzania Study-Service Term units were informed over the weekend that they will return home this week, nearly three weeks earlier than planned. This decision came only hours after all Goshen College international May Term classes and summer SST units were also cancelled following a level 2 or 3 travel advisory issued by the U.S. State Department of Bureau of Consular affairs. While those who were set to travel in May digest the information, the SST units have begun preparing to return home. Noelia Calderon, a sophomore business major currently based in San Vicente, Ecuador, explained that...
March 14, 2020
GC Athletics Suspended for Three Weeks
All Goshen College athletic events will be suspended until April 1, the interim athletic director team informed student athletes in an email Friday evening. The announcement followed a decision by the Crossroads League earlier in the day to suspend competition in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, of which the men’s volleyball team is a member, canceled the 2020 spring season for good. The GC athletic teams most affected are the four currently in season: baseball, softball, track and field and men’s volleyball. The men’s volleyball team found out Friday evening that their win against Judson University...
March 14, 2020
Workshops to prepare students and faculty to move online
As Goshen College prepares to transition to online classes on Monday March 23, workshops will be available on Thursday March 19 and Friday March 20, to train faculty and students in preparation for the change. Ann Vendrely, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, is currently working alongside Erin Milanese, head of learning technologies, to plan for the faculty workshops. “Moodle will be the primary learning platform for online courses,” Vendrely said. “We will also provide training on Zoom for use in some courses and for advising. Some faculty are already using Google Hangouts and FaceTime, so that will...
March 13, 2020
Coronavirus cancels China SST
On Thursday, March 5, Goshen College announced that the China fall Study-Service Term would be relocated to Indonesia. The announcement was made on the college’s website where a specific Coronavirus page has been set up to keep the campus community updated and informed about the virus and its impact on the college. An email was then sent out to students, employees and retired Goshen faculty and staff from the Dean’s office to inform them of the change. The change in the SST destination is a result of China remaining at a level 4 on the travel Advisory scale by the...
March 13, 2020
Goshen College begins transition to online instruction
Shortly after noon on Friday, March 13, Goshen College’s Crisis Management Team announced the plan for the college to transition from in-person classes to online instruction on Monday, March 23, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goshen is joining campuses across the country, including sister school Eastern Mennonite University, in transitioning to online education for the immediate future. Many colleges, especially larger universities, have a somewhat robust digital education system already in place; online lectures and webinars are a regular part of the curriculum at Arizona State University and Pennsylvania State University, and even at regional schools like Trine University...
March 13, 2020
International students granted permission to take classes online during national emergency
On Friday, March 13, Dan Koop Liechty, director of alumni engagement and international student advisor, announced via email that international students would be able to make the transition to online courses without it affecting their visa status. According to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program’s (SEVP) website, international students are restricted to only one online or distance learning class a semester in order to maintain their status as an F-1 student in the U.S. This means that transitioning to online classes could impact the students legal ability to remain in the States. Liechty’s email informed the students that during this...
February 7, 2020
Coronavirus causes concern for SST
On Saturday, Feb. 2, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular affairs announced that China is now a Level 4 on the travel advisory scale. This announcement informed U.S. residents to not travel there due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus. On Wednesday, Chinese health officials raised the death total of the virus to 490 people. The recent news has created concern amongst those set to travel in the fall to China on SST. Jan Bender Shelter, director of international education, contacted the students who are currently signed up for the trip and their parents via email. Shelter expressed...