If you’ve ever stepped foot on Goshen College’s campus, chances are you’ve seen Kellam Venosky. Maybe it was at a Maple Leafs game, a concert  or on a walk to the cafeteria.  Wherever he is, Venosky is known to stop and say hello — because he probably already knows your name.

Venosky, a senior admissions counselor, is a man of many titles and many friends. This month, he is celebrating his 10th anniversary as a GC employee. This year, he was also honored with the “Fan of the Year” award at the Leafys event.

“It meant a lot to me to win this award,” Venosky said.

Venosky may have clinched the award on Sept. 3 when he stayed to watch the entire men’s soccer game against Siena Heights University, which was delayed three times because of  a thunderstorm — and lasted three and a half hours. Even though he was cold, he was there to the end, even holding up his umbrella for several students.

“Kellam was really helping me a lot during the game; he kept coming over to me and covering me from the rain,” said Angel Moncada, a first-year at the game.

In role as a recruiter for international, transfer, adult and graduate students, Venosky demonstrates a similar level of dedication.  

“He’s always responding to my Instagram story over the summer,” said Liam Shaw, a sophomore journalism major on the track and field team from Ireland. “He says ‘good luck’ before or congratulates me after a track meet — it means a lot.”

Beginning in their home countries, Venosky helps students find their place at GC. Whether he’s answering questions from across the globe or giving tours to new students, his job is all about building relationships.

Venosky works with students from around 54 different countries, including Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain.

Two students from New Zealand, William Jackson, a senior transfer student, and Noah Gray, a first-year, said that Venosky is like an email machine that never turns off.

“I would text him a minimum of 10 times a day to ask him questions,” Jackson said. “The funny part is that he would usually answer pretty fast.”

“I never sent that many emails to someone in my life.” Gray said. “I would have trouble with Moodle and he would always help me out.”

Venosky recently hired a student intern, Tim Groenenberg, a senior business major from Koblenz, Germany. Groenenberg sends out emails to students who could potentially be interested in transferring to Goshen. He also will be making goodie bags for conventions. 

“I’m excited to start working with Tim,” Venosky said. “He will do a great job in helping me.”

Groenenberg said, “It’s super fun to work with Kellam. It doesn’t feel like he’s a boss to me but simply a friend I get to work with.” 

However, Venosky is still learning, too. He is stepping into a new role in the admissions department. He will be adding adults and grad recruiting, which means new challenges — and more travel. 

“I’m never done learning new things,” Venosky said, “but that’s the way I like it.”

“Last month was very busy,” Venosky said. “I was travelling a lot, but I love it and if I didn’t have so many things to do, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

Outside of his day job, Venosky plays viola in two orchestras, the Maple City Community Orchestra and the Symphony of the Lakes.  

Venosky shared that he’s still involved in community theater, which he really enjoys. Most recently, he worked on “Freaky Friday”, a live musical held at the Goshen Theater.

He is involved in volunteer work, local service projects, weekend events, or whatever’s happening on campus. Shaw sees him as the kind of person that doesn’t make it about him; he just shows up, helps out, and offers a warm welcome. 

“You can tell he loves his job,” Shaw said. 

Around campus, Venosky has become known for the small things — stopping to say hello, checking in with students or showing up to events that don’t always draw a big crowd. It’s not flashy, but over time, these consistent gestures have made a difference in how connected people feel.

“Kellam is one of the people that helped knit the campus community together,” Shaw said.