InDepthA collection of our most-followed stories. From immigration to administration, we cover it all.
A collection of our most-followed stories. From immigration to administration, we cover it all.
November 4, 2021
SST returns in full swing
With the first post-pandemic Study Service Term (SST) unit going strong in Ecuador, Goshen College plans for a full return to international study this year, with a new twist. This spring and summer, traditional SST units will return to Indonesia and Senegal as well as Ecuador. Students will also participate in shorter, immersive experiences in Guatemala, India, London, Arizona and northern Indiana as part of a new alternative SST option. The group in Ecuador right now has six participants, but Jan Shetler, director of global engagement, said that, as concern around COVID-19 goes down, rosters for upcoming units have grown....
October 14, 2021
Students receive COVID-19 relief funds
Seven hundred and sixty two Goshen College undergraduate students received COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government last week, including students who didn’t qualify for the first two batches last year. Students were notified last Thursday of the funds provided by the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) act. While the previous two batches of COVID-19 relief money were not awarded to international, DACA and undocumented students, a ruling by the government last May changed that. The Biden administration passed the ARP act in March of this year. It allocated $39.6 billion...
October 7, 2021
Homecoming Gala features students and faculty
The music department opened their season with the Homecoming Music Gala in Sauder Concert Hall on Saturday. It was the first performance with a live audience of community members since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Performing were the Goshen College choirs (Chamber Choir, Vox Profundi and Voices of the Earth), directed by Scott Hochstetler and H. Roz Woll, the GC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Brian Mast, the Sherer Trio (Solomia Soroka, violin; Dato Machavariani, cello; Matthew Hill, piano) and a string octet which was made up of both students and faculty. The annual Homecoming Gala was the first event held in...
September 30, 2021
Mask mandate to remain
Ninety-two percent of students and employees at Goshen College are now fully or partially vaccinated. Still, the mask mandate will remain in effect until infection rates in the Goshen area decline, the Pandemic Task Force (PTF) announced last week. The increase in vaccination rates on campus is partly a result of additional reporting by students and employees in the past few weeks. As of this week, only four percent of employees and five percent of students have yet to report on their status. “Getting to over 90 percent [for full and partial vaccinations], that is huge,” said Jodi Beyeler, vice...
September 16, 2021
International SST returns
Two weeks ago, the arrival of six Goshen College students in Ecuador, marked the return of Goshen’s international Study-Service Term program after a year and a half. The group made an early departure from Goshen on Aug. 31. Besides a minor complication with one student’s visa which delayed her entrance into the country for a few days, the trip is running smoothly and the students are steering clear of COVID-19. “Ecuador made international news for the dire situation they faced early on in the pandemic,” said Caleb Longenecker Fox, one of the leaders of the unit. Since then, over half...
September 9, 2021
COVID-19 in 2021
With 82 percent of the student body vaccinated, and an even higher rate among employees, Goshen College may soon become a mask-free campus. The college announced a vaccination mandate for all of campus when the FDA gave full approval for the Pfizer vaccine in August. The mandate, placed in effect the day students arrived on campus, specified that masks would be required until 90 percent of campus is vaccinated or until “our county is no longer considered to have ‘substantial community transmission’ of the virus by the CDC.” At the present, thirteen percent of students and employees have...
September 9, 2021
Southwest Indigenous perspectives SST lays foundation for future domestic units
Goshen College is known for its immersive, cross-cultural Study-Service Term (SST) experience. Traditionally, that experience has involved a semester abroad; however, the college is beginning to explore new programs within the United States, including a six-week SST on the Navajo and Hopi reservations in the American Southwest this summer. Consisting of 18 students and led by sociology professors Kendra Yoder and David Lind, the first Southwest Indigenous Perspectives SST unit departed for the Navajo Nation on June 15 and returned to Goshen on July 26. Students signed on for this SST option for several reasons. Some did not feel comfortable...
April 9, 2021
Clothesline brings style and safety to Goshen
Barbara Gingerich’s front yard has become the talk of the town. Whether you’re walking, running, biking or driving down Eighth Street, you won’t miss her colorful operation. A small white sign in the grass reads “FREE MASKS.” Meanwhile, a homespun clothesline hangs between two trees — and on it, over a dozen handmade masks sway in the wind. The initial recommendation for face coverings to combat COVID-19 came in March of 2020, and since then, Gingerich has been supplying the community with different patterned masks. “It was at a time when there was a shortage of commercial masks,” Gingerich said....
April 9, 2021
China SST canceled for second consecutive year
On Mar. 26, the Global Engagement Office made the decision to cancel the fall 2021 China SST unit. It’s the second year Goshen College has delayed their longest running SST unit, run consecutively since 1980. Jan Bender Shetler, director of global engagement, said that GC has been in conversation with their partner institution, China West Normal University (CWNU) in Nanchong, Sichuan Province. “We have been talking to them through emails and Zoom conversations since last year when it was cancelled,” she said. “Certainly more intensely in the fall and again in the spring. They kept thinking that things would open...
April 9, 2021
Vaccination rates on campus climb
As of yesterday, 558 members of the Goshen College community have reported receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. Four hundred and twenty eight of these people have received both doses. These numbers are likely lower than the actual number of students and employees who have been vaccinated, as individual reporting is the only way statistics on this subject can be gathered. According to Kevin Miller, pandemic task force coordinator, Goshen College was able to vaccinate 196 and 76 people on Thursday and Friday of last week respectively, “including some friends and family from the community, not just GC...
March 25, 2021
New culturally immersive opportunities announced
International and domestic study opportunities will be adapted in 2021 with new locations and opportunities beyond the traditional Study-Service Term. With four semesters of SST cancelled due to COVID-19, many students are scrambling for more flexible options to receive their SST credits, and the international education office is working to meet students’ needs. Jan Bender Shetler, director of international education, has been working with faculty to create a wide variety of international and domestic travel courses. Each program is led by a professor, and according to Bender Shetler, they fall under “two buckets:” INTL 251 Cultural Perspectives and INTL 271...
March 25, 2021
Public health professionals speak on COVID-19 disparities
On Monday at noon, a workshop co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the MLK Jr. Day Planning Committee was held, featuring three presenters who spoke on COVID-19 disparities among the African American and Latino communities. The workshop was led by Richard Aguirre, coordinator for community impact. The presenters were Dr. Rose Alvarez Gillin, family physician; Brianne Brenneman, assistant professor of public health; and Zenton Yobera, the first student set to graduate with a degree in public health. They each spoke on their experiences related to COVID-19, and the inequities that they have witnessed in the past...
March 25, 2021
Search for athletic director narrows
The search for a full-time Goshen College athletic director has been narrowed to four candidates. Among the top candidates is current interim athletic director, Erica Albertin, who has handled the athletic director duties since the spring of 2020. Robert C. Cole, Jr., Phillip Miller and Kevicia A. Brown are also in consideration for the position. Each candidate was invited to campus to participate in a day and a half interview as a part of their evaluation process. The interviews will be conducted through Mar. 30. In charge of the selection process will be the GC search committee. The committee is...
March 18, 2021
Longenecker Fox prepares for future SST students
A little over two months ago, Caleb and Nina Longenecker Fox left the United States for Ecuador. As leaders of the upcoming Study-Service Term units, there is a lot to accomplish before the students arrive in the fall. Caleb and Nina Longenecker Fox have been excited about this opportunity for a while. Caleb Longenecker Fox went to Nicaragua for SST when he was a student at Goshen and has been interested in leading SST ever since. The pair have always wanted to live abroad for a more extended period of time. With this in mind, Caleb Longenecker Fox said that...