convocation
April 5, 2018
#MeToo informs about sexual violence on campus
Students gathered in the church-chapel for convocation last Wednesday to discuss the impact of sexual violence on Goshen College’s campus. The convocation was inspired by the #MeToo campaign — a movement started originally by civil rights activist Tarana Burke in 2006, but popularized by actress Alyssa Milano following the sexual violence accusations against Harvey Weinstein during the fall of 2017. Many women posted the hashtag #MeToo on social media, often with an added story of sexual violence they experienced. Beth Martin Birky, Title IX deputy coordinator and professor of English, made it clear that while the #MeToo campaign was often...
January 18, 2018
Rebecca Stoltzfus officially named Goshen College’s 18th President
A new era was ushered in as Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus was officially named as Goshen College’s 18th President on Saturday, Feb. 17. During the weekend, there were three main events that propelled Stoltzfus into office. The weekend kicked off at 10 a.m. on Friday with a special convocation that was planned in part by Stoltzfus herself. Duane Stoltzfus, professor of communication and chair of the Goshen Core, introduced President Stoltzfus to the students and faculty that were gathered. Stoltzfus then proceeded to lead a panel which featured four different people, all of whom are alumni of Goshen College. The panel...
January 18, 2018
Goshen College celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.
Passing of both knowledge and pieces of wood took place this past Monday in College Mennonite Church. The day’s main events included a convocation as well as two Beloved Community (a term coined by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) sessions in College Mennonite Church. Both events took place as part of Goshen College’s Martin Luther King Jr. weekend celebration. The convocation took place first, which began with musical performances by Beverly Lapp and Jose Rocha, both professors of music. As they played, students, faculty and community members packed the room. The speaker of the convocation was Leonard Dow, former pastor...
October 26, 2017
Community Wellness Week convo addresses substance abuse at GC
As part of Community Wellness Week, Barbara Meyer, MD came to campus from Goshen Family Physicians on Oct. 25 to give a convocation called “Your Body: Your Choices.” In this presentation, Meyer covered why substance abuse is a problem, especially for college students, in terms of health, opportunities, and relationships. Meyer said that this wasn’t just any presentation; it was one that was close to her heart and occupation. “Your health and your happiness is part of my job,” she said. “In the hubbub of all the educational and social and spiritual opportunities that flow through your college years, you...
September 28, 2017
Convocation kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month
Last Friday, Latino Student Union held a convocation in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Students that attended the event experienced music, community and prayer. The convocation was organized by the leaders of LSU: Elijah Lora, Nora Rangel, Jorge Soto, Samantha Camacho-Ramirez, Lourdes Resendiz, Jose Ramirez, and their advisor, Rocio Diaz. They opened with a welcoming for those who had gathered and a statement of the LSU theme for the month: “know your neighbor.” The convocation kicked off a month of LSU-sponsored campus. From Sept. 15- Oct. 15, Goshen College students can pay tribute and celebrate the many different Hispanic cultures...
September 28, 2017
Buller shares on planting seeds, peacemaking
On Wednesday morning, Jes Buller took the stage for a special convocation on her peacebuilding work in Colombia, where she lived for the past seven and a half years. Throughout her speech, Buller used the metaphor of a seed to reflect her spiritual growth; when she left college she had an idea of the kind of work she wanted to do, but no long-term structured plan. Her boss in Colombia had a saying: “Any individual seed has the knowledge to become a full tree.” Buller graduated from Goshen College in 2008, with a double-major in Bible/Religion/Philosophy and Sociology. She left...
September 14, 2017
Hamilton subject of convo
Goshen College students were in “the room where it happens” on Wednesday as the campus recognized Constitution Day with a Hamilton-themed convocation. Hamilton: An American Musical, is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda inspired by the biography Alexander Hamilton, by historian Ron Chernow. The show debuted in 2015 and has been gaining popularity and garnering praise, awards and fans ever since. The convocation was facilitated by Jan Bender Shetler, professor of history, and organized by the History department as a whole, as part of a federal requirement that requires any institution that receives federal funding to...
March 30, 2017
‘Pride week’ recognizes LGBTQ
For the first time in a long while, Goshen College is hosting a whole week to celebrate LGBTQ pride. A number of activities were planned for this week by three students: Kate Brooks, a senior, and Brenner Burkholder and Eli Studebaker, both juniors. The week was put together by Advocates and Prism. Monday students were invited to a bonus convocation at which Hayley Brooks spoke about the history of the LGBTQ community and the different expressions of pride throughout history as well as in the Mennonite context. “[The convocation] was a history of pride, so a little background on Stonewall,”...
January 19, 2017
Thompson encourages embracing discomfort
Students gathered together for a convocation led by Sarah Thompson in light of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Thompson is the executive director of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an organization that seeks to rectify injustice in nonviolent ways. She is also a licensed pastor in the Indiana-Michigan Conference of Mennonite Church USA and has traveled to 60 countries and countless communities through her work. Thompson spoke at College Mennonite Church on Sunday, Jan. 15. Her sermon was on Martin Luther King Jr. and the four horsemen of the apocalypse. These four horsemen were relating conquest to racism, war...
January 19, 2017
GC celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.
During Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, students, community members and faculty faced the reality of discomfort. The weekend, planned by the MLK Day planning committee, was packed with events: workshops, convocations, sermons, meals and more. The theme of the weekend was “It Is Time,” and students were encouraged to use the hashtag #ItIsTime on social media posts about the weekend. During each event, students had time to express pain, suffering and hope. Events kicked off Sunday morning when Sarah Thompson, executive director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, preached at College Mennonite Church. Following her sermon was a time of response and...
November 3, 2016
Students join bone marrow registry
Fifty-six students signed up to save lives at Monday’s convocation. The convocation, although primarily a pep rally to celebrate the men’s and women’s basketball teams, also included an opportunity for students to add their names to a bone marrow registry for an organization called Be the Match. Be The Match, operated by the National Marrow Donor program, specializes in connecting patients with blood cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma with non-related donors. Be the Match is the most diverse bone marrow registry in the world, with over 10.8 million samples. Angela Touseull, community engagement representative for Be The Match, represented...
October 6, 2016
Mark Campanale talks divestment
This past weekend, Mark Campanale, founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, visited Goshen College’s campus to provide lectures and discuss the future of investing in oil and gas companies. Campanale spoke twice, first in a presentation Sunday evening, Oct. 2 and then during a bonus convocation panel discussion the following Monday morning to continue the conversation and engage the student body. The Carbon Tracker Initiative is a group of financial experts that offer analyses and map the financial risk in investing in fossil fuels. Their goal is to encourage the divestment of large oil and coal companies and to allocate...
October 6, 2016
A look at Homecoming Weekend
The upcoming Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 7-9, will be full of events for students, parents, grandparents and alumni alike. It will include many traditional activities, along with new opportunities for participants. The weekend will kick off on Friday with convocation in the church-chapel. During this time, various alumni will be receiving awards for outstanding displays of GC’s core values through their professions. Receiving “Culture for Service” awards are Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, ’88 and Doug Swartzendruber, ’78. Allfrey will be recognized for her contribution to the publishing industry and will be the speaker for the convocation. Swartzendruber will be acknowledged for his...
November 19, 2015
Bonus convo for missing Mexican students
A bonus convocation will take place next week concerning the disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Mexico in September 2014 and the progress that has been made in finding out more about what happened to them. Alma Carrillo Flores, Maddie Birky, Malcolm Stovall and Noemi Salvador, all juniors, are working to organize the convocation. The organizers of the event are hoping to inform the student body about “the lack of action of the Mexican government in trying to find them, what has the US done so far, possible theories about their disappearance and how the 43 have changed each of...
November 5, 2015
SST Coordinator visits Goshen for first time
Today, Wilfred Villavicencio, the in-country service coordinator for the Peru SST program, ended his three week visit to the U.S. and Goshen College’s campus. During his visit, he spent time reconnecting with past SSTers and their leaders, exploring the area as it was his first time in the U.S., and giving a convocation this past Monday about his experience working with Goshen College students. “My goal is to understand the culture and the life here on campus,” said Villavicencio. “I work in Peru for students and I know my country, but I want to learn more about [Goshen].” Before his...