convocation
September 12, 2012
Year of the passionate learner includes new core curriculum
This is the year of the passionate learner, announced Dr. James Brenneman, President of Goshen College, at an opening convocation on September 5. Whereas 2011-2012 focused on the core value of servant leadership, 2012-2013 is the year of the “contagion of passionate learning,” Brenneman said. Brenneman offered the story of Merle E. Jacobs, who taught at Goshen from 1953-1954. Jacobs was obsessed with birds and owned 87 canaries. Yet Jacobs’ passion for learning drove him, Brenneman said. Brenneman called students and faculty to seek their passions just as Jacobs did. “Ask yourself, ‘What is it you’re passionate about? Or, what...
January 12, 2012
Dr. Vincent Harding to head MLK festivities
As a part of Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities, civil rights pioneer Dr. Vincent Harding will speak to the Goshen College community in the Church-Chapel on the theme of “Hope, History and Change” at convocation on Monday, Jan. 16. Harding was a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. while living around the corner from him in Atlanta, Ga. He drafted King’s speech, “Beyond Vietnam,” given on April 4, 1964 at Riverside Church. Harding became the first director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1968, a few years after King’s death. Harding and...
November 9, 2011
Peter Illyn to present at convo
Peter Illyn is an evangelical pastor, avid hiker, specialist in social media, environmental activist and leader in bringing Christian faith and environmental stewardship together. His success in reaching the church community with a message of environmental stewardship has been featured on CBS Evening News, CNN, Outside Magazine, Charisma and Christianity Today, among others. On Monday, Illyn will present “Why Modern Christianity has Abandoned Kinship with Nature in a Mechanistic World” in convocation. Illyn, who grew up in South Carolina as a Russian Orthodox, graduated from Rhema Bible College as an evangelical minister. He worked in Portland, Ore. and Yakima, Wash....
September 14, 2011
Invisible Children seeks partners to end use of child soldiers
Invisible Children, an organization that seeks to combine film with social action to end the use of child soldiers, shared a story on Monday of how motivation and determination can change the world. Three representatives from Invisible Children’s Frontline Tour showed a film entitled “Tony." Later, Godfrey Opiyo, a man from Uganda, shared his personal testimony in hopes of inspiring Goshen College to join the journey. Only eight years ago, three young men with cameras traveled from California to northern Uganda in search of adventure and a story. Their documentary of child soldiers in Uganda, first shown to friends and...
September 7, 2011
Invisible Children to tell of waging peace in Ugandan war
An organization working to end violence in Uganda will be featured in Monday's convocation. A group of representatives and a native Ugandan plan to share about Invisible Children’s efforts in Uganda and central Africa where a war has been raging for 25 years. “I hope we have a large turnout for convo on Monday, even though the time will be extended to 10:50,” said Becky Horst, associate registrar and convo coordinator who invited Invisible Children. “It will be a rare opportunity to see the work of passionate young filmmakers who want to heal the world peace by peace.” Uganda and...
March 23, 2011
Author and advocate to speak on mental health issues
The convocation next Monday, March 28, titled “You Are Not Alone: Coping with Mental Health Issues,” will feature speaker Sean Campbell discussing his experiences with depression and anxiety and advocating for heightened awareness of these issues. Campbell grew up dealing with mental illness as an everyday reality due to dealing with his own struggles and an abusive father suffering from untreated bipolar disorder and alcoholism. After learning to cope with these harsh realities, Campbell became committed to maintaining positive mental health. Campbell, now 21 years old, is an author, screenwriter, and award-winning mental health advocate who seeks to promote mental...
February 5, 2011
Bonus convocation to confront racism
Even if you're not awake for morning class, there's a good reason to get out of bed on Wednesday, Feb. 9. A bonus convocation, “That's Not My Name – Words, Power and Race at GC,” is being offered at 10 a.m. The hour will focus on how we at Goshen College identify and confront racism, through skits, stories and information. The program was planned by a group related to the Multicultural Affairs Office. “We are introducing the [revised] racial harassment policy,” said Odelet Nance, one of the coordinators. “We wanted to present the policy in educational, creative and humorous ways.”...
November 10, 2010
Convocation to focus on meditation practices
It's easy to define prayer in narrow ways when put in the broader context of spirituality across religions. Monday's convocation will provide an opportunity to broaden one's spiritual horizons, as Sanyatha Thawalanthanne, a Buddhist monk, and Ann Hostetler, professor of English, present "Meditation Practices: Buddhist & Christian Perspectives." The convocation will explore the purpose and value of meditation, which has arisen from the Buddhist tradition, in the context of our society. Senior Ross Weaver, who will introduce the chapel speakers, met Thawalanthanne at a meditation course in which they were both participating over the summer in Illinois. Both Weaver and...
October 6, 2010
Bordas calls students to new ‘multicultural millennium’
Speaker and author Juana Bordas encouraged students to embrace servant leadership, cultural diversity and “The Power of ‘We’” during convocation on Monday morning. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Bordas spoke to call for a new multicultural millennium and to advocate the principles of community, solidarity and generosity. In her presentation, Bordas invited students to not only celebrate their own personal heritage but also to embrace the traditions of other cultures. Drawing on the values of Latino, African-American and American Indian traditions, Bordas explained how multicultural leadership strives to cultivate inclusive environments and generate a sense of community amongst...
September 30, 2010
Juana Bordas to bring ‘salsa, soul and spirit’
Speaker and author Juana Bordas will be on campus on Monday, Oct. 4, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, inviting students to celebrate their own personal heritage, and “join the dance of our global community” by embracing other cultural traditions. Bordas will present “The Power of ‘We’” during convocation at 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 4 in the church-chapel and also lead a discussion that night at 7:30 p.m. in the church-chapel fellowship hall. As a young adult, Bordas volunteered in Chile with the Peace Corps. Her experience in Chile resulted in a life-long commitment to multicultural community enrichment, which has...
April 21, 2010
Senior statements: holding on and letting go
Four Goshen College seniors presented their senior statements during convocation on Monday. In their speeches, Anna Pasquarello, Errick McCollum, Piper Voge, and Steve Cress reflected on their experience at Goshen College. Pasquarello, a music technology major, stated that at first she didn’t really like Goshen College. “I didn’t fit in,” said Pasquarello. She had no Mennonite affiliations and wasn’t sure what she wanted to major in, but the college challenged her ideas about God, community, and travel. Looking back at her Goshen College experience, Pasquarello says she is “glad [she] ended up staying.” After graduation, she is taking a year...
March 5, 2010
“From the Wilderness to Goshen College”
One lesser known facet of Goshen College is the Masters available in environmental education at Merry Lea, a program which is currently in its second year. David Ostergren, the environmental education director, helped explain the program in addition to briefly chronicling his journey to Goshen during convocation on Monday. Throughout Ostergren's talk, he stressed the importance of knowing what motivates you--what inspires you to get through each day. For Ostergren, the two loves that have helped shape his journey are that of wilderness and education. Ostergren's love for wilderness began at an early age, inspired in part by a 42-day canoe...
February 18, 2010
Assessing the GC experience
During Monday’s convocation, Ross Peterson-Veatch, the associate academic dean and director of curriculum for Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning at Goshen College, announced the continuing assessment of the Goshen experience. Peterson-Veatch is more interested in the Goshen College experience as a whole, than any individual general education class. In addition to Goshen’s core values, Peterson-Veatch suggested that Student Learning Outcomes such as knowledge, skills, responsibilities and integrative learning help identify the need for certain general education requirements. “If these are the outcomes, how do we get there?” asked Peterson-Veatch. Goshen College is continually planning, delivering, assessing and adjusting. In...
February 12, 2010
Terry Evans extended caption
Terry Evans, Chicago, Ill., visited Goshen College earlier this week, presenting in several classes, public lectures and in Monday's convocation as the Eric Yake Kenagy memorial art lecturer. Evans is a photo-documentarian, specializing in aerial photography, who worked on large projects on the U.S.'s remaining prairies and Greenland's glaciers. Jordan Kauffman, a junior art major, enjoyed Evan's presentation. "Evans does not preach to you about being environmentally friendly," he said, "instead, allowing her work do that for her by just documenting the changes and patterns that are evident in our world." To view and learn more about Evans' work, visit...
February 3, 2010
“Different Shades, Same People” –GC from an African-American Perspective
During convocation on Wednesday, three Goshen College graduates and one current student shared their experiences at Goshen from an African-American perspective. Diversity at Goshen isn’t a new topic, but it isn't every day that the student body hears it from the African-American perspective. Nate West Jr., a current Goshen senior opened the chapel. Coming from the city of Canton, Ohio West said that when surrounded by the Mennonites and Amish buggies, he experienced cultured shock. “I didn’t even know what a Mennonite was before I was at Goshen!” The beginning of West’s Goshen experience was hard. He mentioned that students...