The fifth annual student leadership retreat was held on Saturday at the Goshen Chamber of Commerce, which hosted 26 students. 

This retreat invited students who applied for leadership positions as residential assistants, orientation leaders, campus activities council members and spiritual connections team members. 

This event has taken place every spring semester to prepare these students for their roles in Leaf Launch, the orientation period for the upcoming first-year students.

There were six supervisors present: Chandler Buchfeller, assistant dean of students and director of residance life; Kevin Schultz, assistant director of residence life; Jordan Blank, resident director; Adela Hufford, director of orientation transition and retention; Sabrina Camargo, student success program coordinator; and Jen Shenk, campus pastor. 

The goal for this retreat was to reinforce the importance of Goshen College’s mission and core values in order to incorporate these tenants into the leadership roles of the students. 

Hufford said, “It’s crucial to engage in sessions to begin answering these foundational questions of why leadership is important at GC, what does it mean to lead well and how can I apply what I learn in my leadership role.”

Buchfeller gave an overview of the 360-degree model of leadership which talks about leading in, leading up, leading across and leading down. Leading in means to lead yourself. “If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why should anyone else?” he said.

Leading up means to lead up to your supervisors. Leading across is to lead along with other peer leaders and leading down is to help others to find their leadership potential.

Throughout the retreat, each supervisor shared their leadership stories. Hufford shared the story when she was first accepted into the role of a residential assistant at Anderson University, influencing her career decision to equip younger students to take on leadership roles and continue passing it on.

Miguel Aguilar, a first-year business major, attended the leadership retreat and applied to be an orientation leader. He said that he has a better understanding of  viewing his position as not just a title, but embracing that role to build confidence in leading and welcoming the upcoming students. 

Hufford said that orientation leaders don’t necessarily report back to Student Life, but their mission aligns with what orientation leaders are trying to accomplish as well. 

“That’s our guiding compass, and it’s helpful for new student leaders to learn to incorporate GC’s core values in their roles as orientation leaders,” she said.

Aguilar looks forward to putting the skills and knowledge into practice for his role as orientation leader. “I think it would be a challenge to see what we discussed in the retreat and what we should do, but we also have that chance to pitch our ideas and try things out in our own ways,” he said.

New student leaders, returning leaders and faculty had the opportunity to connect and learn from each other about what it means to be a leader at GC. Reinforcing the importance of implementing GC’s core values into leadership styles and choices.

Training for these leadership roles will begin towards the end of August, right before Leaf Launch welcomes all new students to GC for orientation and just before classes for the 2026-27 year begin.