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 The Record of Spring 2018.Like most of you, I attended the many of the events planned in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. earlier this week.
I was struck and deeply challenged by the words Rev. Leonard M. Dow shared with us.
“We all have prejudice,” he said. “Hard-wired in our DNA, that we have to be real about.”
“Diversity isn’t enough,” he said. “Inclusion isn’t enough.”
Dow’s words spoke to my hopes and dreams for what I believe The Record has the potential to both be and do this semester.
As editor-in-chief, my deepest hope for The Record this semester is that it would be a powerful tool for discovering what it is the Goshen College community cares about.
That it would invite conversation that goes beyond what is published, doing so in a constructive and healthy way fueled by a genuine care and respect for all.
That while yes, diversity of voices is important in order to discover what our community cares about, the pages of The Record are only the beginning of a conversation that moves us toward actually changing what needs to be changed in an effort for equity to be alive and well for every person in this community.
A conversation that seeks to validate, to reconcile, to ask tough questions of ourselves and each other and to commit ourselves to getting to know one another.
The first step to strengthening this beloved community is awareness. Awareness that is best achieved through story-telling.
As one of my favorite writers Danielle Doby writes, “I believe that when we allow our stories to exist, we invite others to see themselves more clearly in our shared truths—where pain, heartache, struggle, hope and happiness are no longer unique to just one person. They’re in everyone. Proving that we’re not alone.”
My promise to you is that the pages of The Record will not shy away from the pain, the heartache and the struggle that is present here in our beloved community. That while we may preach diversity and inclusion, there are still many who are lonely, silenced and afraid. May the pages of The Record allow us to recognize the good work that is being done here at Goshen College, as well as the work that needs to be done.
