Sarah Augustine is a Tewa woman who is the co-founder and executive director of  the coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery.  Announced publicly on March 27, Augustine will be the keynote speaker for the 127th Commencement Ceremony at Goshen College.

Augustine said the main work of the coalition is decolonization. “Our work is to undo in the name of Christ what was done in the name of Christ … dismantle laws and policies that are the product of colonization,” she said. They invite people who are descendants of Christians and settlers to join with Indigenous peoples in their movements for liberation, particularly for water and land protection.

President Rebecca Stoltzfus referred to Augustine as a friend of GC and a mentor to the student leaders of One Circle. “Sarah Augustine is a unique voice in the world, a visionary Indigenous leader, activist and author of exceptional faith and courage. Sarah has enlivened my world view with truly electric insights, and I am excited to hear her message to our graduates this year,” Stoltzfus said.

Recently, GC and the coalition collaborated to hire someone for the new position of scholar activist, set to begin on June 1, who will teach part-time in the religion, justice and society department, and organize part-time on behalf of the coalition. GC has not released the name of the hire. 

Two years in the works, Augustine says she hopes this position can bring a lens of decolonization to GC students and organize in the Elkhart-Goshen area supporting “repair communities,” their campaigns and bringing them into their national networks.

The title and core message of Augustine’s speech is “You are enough.” She said it will be a message of encouragement amidst the anxiety and joy of graduation. “I have great hope and optimism, and I am excited to share that hope and optimism with … largely young people taking the next step in their life,” Augustine said.

“I think that there are many people going around saying to young people, you’re the future and you’re going to save us,” Augustine said, “and I think that’s unjust and inaccurate.”

She said she believes that young people bring vital vision and energy to these liberation movements but she recognizes that they are not the ones who created the systems they live in now and it is not their responsibility to solve every problem. “We have to do that collectively in community with some mentorship of people who have been in these movements for a long time,” she said. 

In response to what many perceive as an increasingly uncertain future, Augustine said, “I have a lot of hope and optimism in working collectively for justice, and I believe that … imagining and dreaming and building a world that doesn’t yet exist is work that is embarked upon by multiple generations at once.”

Augustine said she finds hope in engaging in multi-generational work, knowing that the generations that follow will be impacted by the actions we take today.

The coalition has a one-hundred-year plan to work towards their goal of dismantling the doctrine of discovery. While the current moment feels bleak for many of the people connected to the coalition, Augustine sees “great opportunity for the awakening of many people who have been asleep.”

Augustine said, “Those people who are the beneficiaries of colonization are often satisfied with a status quo that is subjugating the vulnerable peoples. And so, I see those beneficiaries who have been comfortable for a long time beginning to awaken to the injustices that have been going on for a long time.”

The Commencement Ceremony is set to take place on April 27 at 3 p.m. in the Recreation-Fitness Center.

Revisiting the message of “You are enough,” Augustine said, “What you have to bring is enough for this time and this place. We need you and we want you — and it’s not all on you … We will imagine and build together.”