This upcoming fall, Dan Koop Liechty ’88, director of alumni engagement and international student advisor, and Jill Koop Liechty ’89, former manager for annual giving at Goshen College, are leaving Indiana for Woodstock School. Woodstock is an international boarding school located in the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, a state in Northern India. 

This move is not the couple’s first time at Woodstock. Dan Koop Liechty first visited the school as a kindergarten student when his father, GC’s dean of students at the time, took a year of sabbatical leave in India. Dan Koop Liechty returned seven years later as a boarding student.

In 2006, Dan Koop Liechty decided to return to Woodstock again, this time with his wife and family. “We decided we wanted a change for us and our kids,” Jill Koop Liechty said. “So we sold our house, got rid of a lot of our stuff and moved to India for three years with our three children.” 

She worked as a personal counselor for students, and Dan Koop Liechty was a college and career counselor. 

After struggling to find jobs back in the United States after the Great Recession, the Koop Liechty family briefly moved to Michigan before finally returning to Goshen in 2011 when Dan Koop Liechty was hired as the director of admissions. He eventually transitioned into other roles at GC, such as the director of alumni engagement, annually teaching a section of the first-year Identity, Culture and Community course, international student advisor and advisor to the International Student Club. 

“Students are why we’re here,” Dan Koop Liechty said. He added that he will miss his whole job, but the relationships he builds and the projects he works on with the ISC are a huge highlight. 

Silas Immanuel ’25, producer for Five Core Media, member of GC’s AI Task Force and a former leader on the ISC for four years, shared his appreciation for the work and leadership that Dan Koop Liechty brought into the ISC. “Dan knows exactly what he’s looking for, but, at the same time, he’s really happy to pivot as other leaders have ideas,” Immanuel said.

Immanuel brought up several ISC highlights: “legendary” trips to Chicago, Coffeehouse and dinners hosted at Dan and Jill Koop Liechty’s house. “It was always fun,” Immanuel said. 

Jill Koop Liechty has also worked for GC, most recently as the manager for annual giving. “We just respond to needs that alumni have. We try to encourage alumni to give because alumni giving keeps the college afloat, and that’s how current students survive,” Dan Koop Liechty said. 

Concerning their move to Woodstock, Dan Koop Liechty highlighted two main reasons: looking for a life change and Woodstock’s recruitment persistence. He restated how much he loves his job at GC, adding that it is the longest job he has ever held. But Dan Koop Liechty felt at the point where he wanted something new. “[Woodstock] kept cajoling, and at first, it was like, ‘No,’ and then we started thinking about, ‘Well … maybe it would be kind of fun!’ he said. 

Dan Koop Liechty also explained that, because Woodstock is a school, they will get around three months of vacation each year, and they plan to return biannually. For the Koop Liechtys, it felt like everything came together to take on this decision. Jill Koop Liechty doesn’t plan to work at all during the first year at Woodstock. “But I hope to be volunteering!” she said. 

“We love it when our worlds collide,” Jill Koop Liechty said. “Our India Woodstock world and our Goshen College world.” 

“There’s so many people in Goshen who were Goshen grads and Woodstock grads,” Dan Koop Liechty added. “We wanna keep that going.” 

They also extended an invitation to any Goshen students who want to visit them in Woodstock, especially student-teachers or education graduates looking for jobs. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful place,” Dan Koop Liechty said.

Immanuel concluded with words of gratitude. “I think what Dan and Jill have done for the international student community at Goshen College over the last 10 years is just incredible,” he said. “I cannot imagine what my time at Goshen College would have been like without them.” 

“We’re leaving Goshen; in some ways, it’s a little bittersweet, but we know we’re gonna return,” Dan Koop Liechty said. “[We] know that we’ll stay connected.”