convocation
October 15, 2015
Holiday an opportunity for learning, mourning
As much of America celebrated Columbus Day this past Monday, Goshen College juniors Anya Kreider and Sarah Hofkamp led a convocation event in honor of an alternate holiday: Indigenous People’s Day. Renaming the day and thus shifting its focus is a growing national trend. At least nine cities across the US celebrated this holiday as a way of calling attention to the bloody history on which this nation was founded. Popular social media sites featured the hashtags “#indigenouspeoplesday” and “#abolishcolumbusday.” In keeping with this rising movement, Kreider and Hofkamp used this day as a time to educate the GC community...
January 29, 2015
Convocation goes to China
Today's convocation from the fall 2014 China SST group began with pictures—some humorous, some sobering, and all depicting a culture widely different than our own. The students wanted to present their experience in China in the most real way possible, using different presenters and stories to highlight the good, the bad and the confusing. They began by explaining the start of SST in Nanchong, where they studied the language, art and culture of the Sichuan Chinese. They even got to learn how to navigate traffic-crowded streets, some with more success than others. The students then presented their service...
January 29, 2015
New convocation credit options
Select sporting events may be a new option for convocation credit. With the new convocation format this year, students have been offered convocation credit for going to special events on campus. Up until now, these events have been mostly arts and science events. In an attempt to add more diversity, the idea of allowing convo credit for select sporting events was introduced. Beverly Lapp, professor of music and member of the convocation planning committee, said that the idea behind the new convocation style and additional events is to expand interest in other areas of campus. “We were concerned for diversity...
November 19, 2014
Altar And Convocation Honor Missing Students
On Monday, Nov. 4 a “Dia de los Muertos ofrenda,” or a Day of the Dead altar, was constructed in the Center for Intercultural and International Education (CIIE) office to commemorate all students who have died in aspects of activism throughout the world. Although traditionally in Mexican culture, “ofrendas” are made to represent a specific person, this “ofrenda” not only represents the many students who have died in activism, but also the 43 students who disappeared from a teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa, Mexico on Sept. 26. Beginning as a “News Flash” assignment for the History of Mexico class, Marcia Good,...
October 30, 2014
Bonus Convo Focuses On Gender Issues
An additional convocation on gender issues will confront topics ranging from sexual assault to Goshen Dating on Monday, Nov. 3. An evening panel and discussion will follow the event that evening. “There have been a lot of unhealthy forms of discussion of these issues,” Ammon Allen-Doucot, a junior, said “We’re trying to provide an opportunity for the campus to handle it.” He mentioned a number of forums where discussion has taken place, including The Record and the infamous Yik Yak app. The event is being organized Neal Friesen, assistant director of residence life; Eva Lapp, a senior; Stefan Baumgartner, a...
September 17, 2014
Constitution Day Begins Due Process Discussion
During Wednesday’s convocation, two local lawyers spoke on due process for child refuges from Central America. Lisa Koop, an associate director of legal services at the National Immigration Justice Center and a 1999 graduate, said, “Anyone who cares about human rights, immigrant rights, children’s rights, or really any rights should be passionate about due process.” The lawyers, Koop and Felipe Merino, owner and managing attorney at Merino Law Firm, P.C., spoke about their work as immigration lawyers and about what has become important to them in these positions. “Fundamentally, procedural due process involves notice and the right to be heard,” Koop said. “Due process demands...
September 4, 2014
New Focus In Convo/Chapels
This semester will be the first semester that convocation and chapel will only be offered on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Each week will alternate between convocation and chapel. The shift from the old schedule was motivated by student feedback in response to a survey from November 2013, put out by the convocation review taskforce. The taskforce, appointed by the President’s Council, was asked to prepare the survey and submit recommendations for re-structuring. The taskforce consisted of David Lind, professor of sociology; Beverley Lapp, professor of music and core curriculum director; Rebecca Horst, interim registrar; Bob Yoder, campus pastor; and DaVonne...
March 12, 2014
Chapel, Convocation Planners Concerned About Attention
Some staff have asked ‘more maturity’ from students attending weekly assemblies Ten hours: the amount of time, approximately, that each student enrolled at Goshen College is required to spend every semester sitting in the Church-Chapel. Convocation and chapel requirements have become nothing more than a chore for many students, and staff and faculty members are starting to notice. “The other day I was in the balcony and a quick count of the students in my line of sight revealed 40 students,” said Gwen Gustafson-Zook, chapel coordinator. “Eleven had their heads up and appeared to be engaged with the speaker, while...
February 19, 2014
Black Students Lift Voices in Story and Song
This Monday, the Black Student Union (BSU) led convocation to celebrate Black History Month. Members shared personal stories and reflections on growing up as part of the Black community. Antianna Terrell, Esra Heisey and Quinn Brenneke shared an interpretive dance to Kirk Franklin’s song “Chains,” highlighting the emotional power of the struggle of Black people throughout history to break free of their chains: slavery and racism. Next, members of the BSU told their stories. Trevor Emory described growing up in a biracial family without a father. As a child, he thought he was White like all of his friends. He...
October 13, 2013
Alumni recognized for lives of service
At the close of his speech, Tony Brown, a 1971 Goshen College graduate, led the diverse attendants of Friday’s homecoming convocation in song. It was not the venerable 606 or some other equally challenging hymn, but the simple Sunday school tune “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Though lacking the four-part harmony so characteristic of Goshen College and the larger Mennonite community, the song—with generations of Goshen College students singing together—testified to a rich heritage, recognizing a shared history of place and community. Peter Eash-Scott, director of the alumni board, introduced the awards and the award recipients by...
October 6, 2013
Steve Thomas for the defense
Steve Thomas, a Mennonite pastor with a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, wants to know what you would do if someone attacked your roommate. Would you run away? Would you pray for the attacker? Or would you hit the attacker with everything you’ve got? Thomas will offer an alternative response during several presentations on campus the week of October 7. During Sexual Violence Awareness Week, Thomas will address the issue of violence in a unique way. Using convocation on Monday, he will frame the issue of personal violence and present his combination of martial arts and conflict transformation. On...
March 13, 2013
Chapel is fun or a drag, depending on who you ask
Aaron Stiffney is no stranger to idea of the “swipe and run.” “I went to chapel, and in my head I was thinking ‘I’m going to swipe and run,’” confessed Stiffney, a sophomore. “Then I met up with my friends and they said I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to get caught because I’d probably lose my swipe.” This seems to be an increasingly familiar scenario for Goshen College students faced with the attendance requirement for convocation and chapel. Some students–though certainly not all–are tempted to swipe their ID for credit and then leave. Although unknown to many students,...
January 24, 2013
Smith speaks on radiation, racism and forgiveness
Students and community members witnessed the power of forgiveness Sunday evening, and again at convocation Monday, after hearing author and award-winning filmmaker Wilbert Smith. Smith, an insurance agent from California, told the story of his friend, Vertus Hardiman. Smith and Hardiman met through their church choir. Hardiman was born in 1922 in Lyle’s Station, Ind., and at the age of five became a victim of illegal medical experimentation aimed specifically at African-American children. The experiments were allegedly carried out to study how much radiation the human body could handle. Hardiman’s story began in what Smith referred to as America’s “radiation...
October 11, 2012
Urrea to speak on borders
Luis Urrea, a Mexican-American poet, author and novelist, will speak in convocation this Monday, Oct. 15. Urrea has authored 14 books, including mysteries, historical novels and non-fiction narratives. Urrea, who was born to a Mexican father and an American mother, often writes on issues of love and loss through a dual-culture perspective. Last spring, students in Ann Hostetler’s Latino Literature class read Urrea's “The Devil’s Highway,” a 2005 Pulitzer finalist in non-fiction writing. The novel follows 26 Mexican men as they travel through the Arizona dessert. The men encounter heat, Border Patrol and for some, death. Steph Swartzendruber, a senior,...
September 27, 2012
Alcohol panel: Can consuming consume you?
Students may know Bill Born, the Vice President for Student Life, as someone whose job involves enforcing Goshen College's "no alcohol" policy. But during this Monday morning's convocation, students saw him on the front of a beer bottle. Born said the can was picked up by a security guard last year who declared it one of the night's “best finds.” The words emblazoned on the can,“Culture for service; Beer for pleasure,” would become the title of a panel discussion held during the convocation about drinking and recreational drug use at Goshen College. The panel consisted of four representative members of...