With a drastic decrease in positive cases and a rise in vaccinations across the campus, Goshen College appears to be headed in the right direction as it pertains to COVID-19. But the Student-Led Pandemic Task Force is still hard at work. The on-campus testing clinic has administered close to 5,200 tests this semester, with only six positive cases emerging. Meanwhile, around 350 campus members have reported that they’ve received at least one dose of the vaccine. “We are very glad that there have been zero cases of Covid-19 spreading on campus these past few weeks,” Katja Norton, a senior and...

By Graysen Cockerham • March 18, 2021 • Features

On Tuesday, an estimated 225 Goshen College employees and students received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, due to a last minute opportunity given by Goshen Community Schools. However, many students registered to receive a dose were turned away later in the day.  The clinic was made possible by a federal vaccination initiative to vaccinate educators, coordinated by Meijer Supermarkets and Goshen Community Schools. According to Kevin Miller, lead campus contact tracer, approximately 1000 educators were vaccinated at Goshen High School.   On Tuesday afternoon, all GC employees, including student workers, received an email informing them that they would...

By Greta Lapp Klassen • March 12, 2021 • News

A young woman settles down at her computer. She takes the mouse and clicks the icon labeled “Open Broadcaster Software.” After adjusting the lighting and launching a video game, she takes a moment to pause.  Even though she’s been doing this for a year, the nerves still arise sometimes. But she shakes them off, dons a smile and presses the “start livestream” button. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, countless large-scale organizations have had to move operations online: schools, churches, workplaces, etc. But how has the pandemic impacted platforms that were already solely online? A variety of online content-sharing platforms...

By Riley Borntreger • February 19, 2021 • Features

Commencement for Goshen College’s class of 2021 will take place in person on Sunday, April 25 at 3 p.m. in the Roman Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center, a decision announced by President Stoltzfus and the commencement planning committee last Friday. After last year’s commencement ceremony was held online due to COVID-19, a student advisory group pushed to give themselves and their peers a chance to walk across the stage and receive their diploma in person – a request being made by college students all across the United States. “Keeping safety as our guiding concern, our highest priority is to honor our undergraduate...

By Mackenzie Miller • February 19, 2021 • News

Story Summary: This article delves into the daily routines and lives of healthcare workers at a local hospital during the pandemic while encouraging readers to take a look at the importance of remaining vigilant to the on-going problem of COVID-19. Alarms, buzzers and tones go off, alerting staff that something needs immediate attention. Nurses, doctors and other staff whirl past each other, each with tasks to accomplish. Close your eyes and imagine standing on a hospital floor and watching as people and carts stream past you. It could be that everything seems to move at hyper-speed or perhaps slow motion;...

By Amber Heydon • February 11, 2021 • Features

Building and living in a tiny home wasn’t part of Trevor Stutzman’s original college plan. But neither was COVID-19.  Stutzman, a sophomore physics and engineering double major, came up with his plan to remodel and travel the West Coast in a mini school bus while living at Merry Lea this fall as a participant in the Sustainability Leadership Semester.  Faced with the changes on campus due to COVID-19, Stutzman said, “I realized that I was not looking forward to coming [back to campus] in the spring. That’s when I realized I would only need to take one class online and...

By Sierra Ross Richer • February 11, 2021 • Features

President Joe Biden’s plan for the third stimulus package, called the American Recovery Act, will for the first time provide eligibility to adult dependents, allowing some Goshen College students to claim a $1,400 check through their parents. When talking to GC students, it is clear that the stimulus money would be much appreciated.  A few students, such as sophomore Wes Beck, said that they would invest it in a retirement fund.  Conrad Liechty, a first-year, said that he would save around a quarter of it, but would find ways to spend it on friends and himself over the next few...

By Caleb Shenk • February 11, 2021 • News

Six students tested positive this week after almost four weeks of a COVID-19-free campus, putting nine students and one employee in quarantine. According to Kevin Miller, lead contact tracer, all of these cases are directly connected to the same source. The first positive case was caught during the on-campus surveillance testing last Thursday, and it is suspected that the student contracted the virus on a weekend trip off-campus to visit family.  “In a way, that’s good,” Miller said, saying that it is comforting to know that the student probably was not infected at GC.  Additionally, the student had reported symptoms...

By Greta Lapp Klassen • February 11, 2021 • News

It’s Mar. 16, 2020 and you receive an email from Chad Coleman, the director of student life operations, letting you know that the residence halls are closing and you have 48 hours to vacate Goshen College’s campus. The coronavirus is to blame. Life hasn’t been the same on campus since Mar. 16. But faculty and students are working hard to retain a sense of normalcy while following the Big Four and attempting to combat this global pandemic. Last May, the Goshen College Pandemic Task Force was created in preparation for the 2020-21 school year. Last Friday, a campus-wide email was...

By Graysen Cockerham • January 28, 2021 • Features

Four hundred and fifty-four students tested negative for the coronavirus on campus last week as part of the college’s weekly surveillance testing effort. The first week of testing launched Jan. 17, and no participating students have yet tested positive. Since Jan. 11, six cumulative positive cases have been reported at GC, though these positive results – five in the past and one current – all originated off campus and stayed off campus, according to lead contact tracer Kevin Miller. In addition to the surveillance testing efforts, 71 students and employees have reported receiving at least one dose of the coronavirus...

By Mackenzie Miller • January 28, 2021 • News

In the results of a recently released survey, Goshen College students indicated significantly higher satisfaction rates with the college’s COVID-19 policies as compared to other peer schools.  As part of the Higher Education Data Sharing consortium (HEDS), GC participates in surveys with schools of comparable sizes and resources that allow them to anonymously measure how students are doing in comparison to other institutions.  In a follow-up to the March survey released soon after students were sent home, the fall COVID-19 survey was offered by HEDS to gauge student satisfaction with their college’s procedures related to COVID-19.  Twenty-eight schools participated in...

By Caleb Shenk • January 28, 2021 • News

[caption id="attachment_38644" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Students discuss election results last fall.[/caption] The U.S. recently passed 400,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. With colder temperatures and less opportunities for outdoor activities, medical professionals have warned the public of a bleak winter. After 52 days of winter break, Goshen College is back for a second semester of in-person classes and extracurriculars in the midst of the worsening pandemic.  Many of Goshen College’s policies are the same as last semester: the Big Four, the locations for isolation and quarantine, and restricted entry to residence halls and buildings. However, in order...

By Greta Lapp Klassen • January 21, 2021 • News

From the office to the sidelines, Richard Warren has recently accepted two new roles on campus. In the past three years, you would’ve found Warren cooped up in the Admissions Office. Today, he’s hiding out in the bottom of the Administration Building or on the basketball court with the Goshen College women’s team. After serving as the senior admissions counselor at Goshen College, working specifically with adult and graduate studies for the last eight months, Warren sought a new opportunity and a change of pace. The nameplate on his desk now reads, “Annual Giving & Advancement Coordinator” as of Dec....

By William Troyer • January 21, 2021 • Features

“I wanted to make something that truly reflects the wonders of SST.” And after spending three months abroad, third-year film production major, Eric Miller, did just that after being inspired to create a two-part documentary conveying his memorable trip to Ecuador. “I remember before embarking on this journey, I knew next to nothing about what you actually do on SST,” Miller said. “There were some videos, but it’s mostly just people talking about it, rather than showing it.”  Titled ‘El Refugio de Ecuador’, Miller’s first documentary captures the chaos that ensued as the coronavirus swept across the globe.  The third...

By Record • January 21, 2021 • Features

Fall 2020 has been a very eventful semester for all students, faculty and staff on the Goshen College campus. The graphic below highlights key moments and numbers from the past 15 weeks of school.

By Admin • November 19, 2020 • News