Over midterm break, I had the opportunity to attend the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference at Eastern Mennonite University. I was the only representative from Goshen College, among more than 90 students in attendance from seven different colleges.

Originally started in 1953 and titled the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference of Mennonite and Affiliated Colleges, the ICPF was hosted annually by various colleges. This year was the first ICPF conference since 2020.

Being the only GC student in attendance this year, I had many opportunities to engage in conversation with students from other schools. As I got to know them and hear about what peace work looks like on their campuses, it did not take long to realize that GC was the only school represented that does not have a designated peace or social justice club.

The EMU Peace Club, largely composed of students, planned this year’s conference. When GC hosted the conference in 2016, students also took charge — a collaboration of GC’s Black Student Union, the peace, justice and conflict studies department and PAX Club. PAX was GC’s peace and justice club. Yet, after 2016, it ceased to exist.

Last year, when a group of students at GC wanted the administration to call for a ceasefire in Palestine, they formed “GC Voices for Peace,” which organized a demonstration on the evening of March 20, and a petition they later delivered.

The GC community received an email from President Rebecca Stoltzfus six days later, standing in solidarity with GC Voices for Peace. In that same email, she also commended BSU for their recent efforts to raise awareness of the ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

We have not heard from GC Voices for Peace in a year. Various affinity groups, such as BSU, Muslim Student Association, EcoPAX, Advocates, Latino Student Union, One Circle, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Association and Prevention Intervention Network, have all hosted various social justice activities or events, yet there has not been a designated peace club since PAX.

Peace and social justice are core values at GC and have been for decades. In the late 1960’s, draft resistance was a major issue at GC. More recently, PAX held a three-day demonstration in 2003 raising awareness of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. GC hosted the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference in 2006 and 2016. Compassionate peacemaking is literally one of the college’s five core values.

The problem is not that GC has abandoned peace work, but that we lack the social and organizational strength of a peace club. At the conference in Harrisonburg, I talked to Nick Martin, one of the co-founders of Mennonite Action, and he said that having a designated peace club with longevity provides a greater ability to hold the institution accountable.

Perhaps one of the reasons why PAX has yet to be resurrected at GC is because the administration and student body at GC seem to be more ideologically aligned than their counterparts at our sister schools. Students from almost all the schools I talked to said they received initial resistance from their respective administrations when students asked for official support for a ceasefire — which, at GC we did not.

Sarah Miller, a senior music education major, co-founded GC Voices for Peace alongside Luisa Dutchersmith, Sophia Smucker, Ana Neufeld Weaver ‘24 and Liam Minielly. Sarah said that after the demonstration, President Stoltzfus invited her and others in GC Voices for Peace into further conversation and encouraged them to continue with their work.

I think that affinity clubs, along with The Record — which has had editorial independence since 1912 — do play a large role in keeping the administration accountable. However, a centralized club could have greater capacity and intentionality behind their accountability. A peace club at GC would be able to collaborate with the affinity groups to further the work of justice they are already doing and hold the administration accountable for peace-related issues and initiatives.

Additionally, we are missing an opportunity to connect with our peers. The whole point of the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship is to build relationships and create community with other peacemakers from across universities and colleges.

Right now, EMU is working toward institutional divestment from companies that are complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Most investments from Mennonite Church USA affiliated schools go through Mennonite Education Agency — including GC. If we want our colleges to divest, we must work together.

The EMU Peace Club is currently seeking disclosure of investments. Ciela Acosta, a sophomore and one of the leaders of the EMU Peace Club, said that their next goal, in conjunction with other Mennonite universities, is to draft an investment policy statement, asking MEA for disclosure of investments. This hopefully will include faculty and administrators along with students.

GC should take this opportunity to stand in community and solidarity with our peers. To take this stance for justice. This movement needs collective action. Community and connection are vital to our continued work for peace and justice.

I believe a peace club is our next step. Perhaps we bring back PAX, or we pick up the work of GC Voices for Peace; maybe we form a new group entirely. Either way, I cannot do this alone. No one can.