Activism
January 26, 2017
Women’s March makes history
Millions of people across the globe gathered to march in support of women, with Goshen College students in the midst. The main march was in Washington D.C., with sister marches across the nation and in other countries including France, India and even Antarctica. These marches are estimated to have been the biggest march in U.S. history with nearly 2.9 million people gathering in the U.S. alone. Students from GC were able to attend the marches in D.C, Indianapolis, South Bend and Chicago. Among the students who went to D.C. were Lena Charles and Katie Hurst, both juniors. “I have always...
January 19, 2017
Sister rally to DC march will take place in Indianapolis
This coming Saturday, Jan. 21, people across the United States will be participating in the Women’s March on Washington. This march is planned to take place in major cities all around the U.S., the day after President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn into office. The goal of the Women’s March on Washington is to make heard the voices of those threatened by the rhetoric of the winning candidate of this past election cycle: women, Muslims, members of the LGBTQ+ community and many more. “It is also a statement that equality matters to more than just ‘feminists,’” said Beth...
November 17, 2016
Benefit to raise funds for Standing Rock
Currently, near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota there are thousands of people nonviolently protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The Dakota Access Pipeline would put the community’s water source at risk and destroy sacred Native American sites. As for students, being so far removed from the conflict doesn’t stop them from trying to help. On Saturday, Nov. 19, residents of Elkhart and Goshen are trying to raise funds to send to the water protectors at Standing Rock. Standing with Standing Rock: A Benefit Event will include many local and non-local musicians, artists, poets and speakers. Some of...
November 17, 2016
Purple safety pins show solidarity
In the days following the presidential election, Richard Aguirre wanted to do more to support vulnerable people. Aguirre, the director of corporate and foundation relations, purchased purple safety pins to sell for 25 cents on campus. He encourages students and faculty to wear the pins to show support for Latino students on campus as well as other marginalized groups. Students can stop by his office in the basement of the Administration Building to pick up a safety pin. There they will also receive a card that explains what the safety pin represents. The card reads, “By wearing this Purple Safety...
November 3, 2016
GC group protests at Standing Rock
For four days over fall break, a group of Goshen College students travelled to Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Seniors Sarah Hofkamp, and Anya Slabaugh, juniors Chelsea Risser, Kenan Bitikofer, Benjamin Wiebe, Deeksha Pagar, and Hannah Yoder, and sophomore Christi Sessa were able to make the trip with the sponsorship of GC’s Social Reform Club and additional funding from Student Senate. Since early April, thousands of Native Americans and allies have set up camp along the Missouri River in Cannon Ball, North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL. The pipeline route will cross underneath the Missouri River just...
October 13, 2016
Black Lives Matter demonstration
The cries of passionate students rang out above the rush of traffic on Friday night as a demonstration was held in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The demonstration, planned by Malcolm Stovall with the help of Claire Frederick and Sarah Hofkamp, all seniors, and Marco Fraticelli, a junior, was spurred by the discussions and actions surrounding NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the national anthem, as well as the recent deaths of two black men, Terrence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott, at the hands of police. The Black Lives Matter movement is an international campaign and was founded...
September 29, 2016
Take Back the Night Preview
This Friday, students will move in procession across campus with candles in hand to support survivors of sexual violence. Goshen Student Women’s Association (GSWA) will be hosting Take Back the Night – an event that hopes to help the women of Goshen College reclaim their position on campus and demand safety from sexual violence for all students. “It’s about saying that as women, we are here on campus,” said Mimi Salvador, one of the many leaders of GSWA. “And we recognize that women here come from many different cultural backgrounds. We want to acknowledge all women for who they are,...
September 29, 2016
GC works towards awareness
This week is Sexual Violence Awareness Week (SVAW) on the Goshen College campus. Led by different members of Goshen Student Women’s Association (GSWA), an event has been held each day of the week to raise awareness, spark conversation and show solidarity in regards to sexual violence. On Monday night, students worked to set up the Clothesline Project in Schrock Plaza. This project, which has been set up in years past on GC’s campus, allows students to “air out their dirty laundry.” Originally started in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women, the project provides a space for women...
September 29, 2016
Protesting in solidarity with Standing Rock
In an effort to stand in solidarity with Standing Rock Dakota Access Pipeline protestors, Goshen College students organized a rally downtown on Saturday Sept. 17. In July 2016, the U.S. Army Corps granted authorization of the Dakota Access Pipeline, a pipeline that will destroy cultural lands as well as endanger the tribal citizens’ access to clean water. The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation is currently home to members of the Dakota and Lakota nations. The reservation lies at the border of North Dakota and South Dakota, near landmarks such as Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir. This area has been home...
September 22, 2016
PIN program expands
Laura Miller, Sarah Hofkamp and Zach Zimmerman, all seniors, are determined to make Goshen College a safe community for everyone – no exceptions. This summer, as Maple Scholars, Miller, Hofkamp and Zimmerman teamed up with Beth Martin Birky, a professor of English and women and gender studies, and Kendra Yoder, a professor of social work, to improve Goshen’s Prevention Intervention Network. PIN is a student group that aims to empower bystanders to intervene and stop sexual assault, harassment and rape. “[PIN] wants to expand,” said Yoder, the faculty advisor of PIN. “We want to have a 100 percent trained student...
March 10, 2016
GC to host Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference
For the first time since 2006, Goshen College will be hosting the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference, this year centered on the Black Lives Matter movement. The Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference of Mennonite and Affiliated Colleges, established in 1953, is hosted annually by one of six participating Anabaptist colleges. Students and faculty from GC’s PAX Club, Black Student Union and the peace, justice and conflict studies department have been working together the conference that will be held next weekend, March 18-20. The conference theme is “Solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement: Why and How?” Students and faculty will have the...
February 4, 2016
Commuter, Latina, and activist: Alexa Valdez’s story
Alexa Valdez has become quite the prominent figure on campus as a third year social work major. As one of the leaders of Latino Student Union, or LSU, she has grown to become a leading voice in the campus Latino community. “I am in charge of social media [for LSU],” Valdez said. “I write Facebook posts, announcements in the communicator and emails about what’s going on and what we are planning.” Valdez, a Goshen local, chose GC for a variety of reasons. She was involved in college activities as a child and a member of the children’s choirs in the...
October 15, 2015
Students work for climate justice
Two weeks ago, Mike Tidwell roused GC students to step out of complacency about the impending climate crisis and instead, to get involved in local climate action efforts. He lauded the work of two Goshen College student groups who are already hard at work on this issue: EcoPAX and GC Divest, two groups working to create both grassroots and policy-level change. Tidwell’s message was energetic, but not everyone agreed with the entirety of his speech. The week after his Yoder Public Affairs lecture, Hannah Barg, a senior and leader of EcoPAX, noted that Tidwell “missed the huge component of social...
October 1, 2015
Tidwell calls for rally to climate action
Author, filmmaker and climate activist Mike Tidwell challenged Goshen College to fight for climate justice in three public lectures this week. Tidwell’s appeal to the GC community centered on the idea that a solution to the climate crisis is possible and while it “can’t happen overnight, it has to happen soon.” Tidwell called students in particular to action, stating boldly that “We need a mass movement to overcome the very very powerful fossil fuel industry.” Young people, Tidwell pointed out, have a unique influence in the realm of advocacy, from changing college policies to national laws. “[Authority figures] don’t look...
September 17, 2015
Panel discusses gender realities
As a part of Sexual Violence Awareness week, a panel of four students and a graduate of Goshen College discussed their own gender realities and how they have grown, changed and developed during their time on campus. Led by Natalie Thorne, a junior, and Erin Bergen, a sophomore, Tuesday’s panel produced discussion of a range of themes, including both male and female sexual violence, gender fluidity and the roles that women and men are expected to play in other countries, as well as many others. Jacob Putnam, a senior, discussed the struggles of growing up with locker-room talk and how...