faculty
March 26, 2015
Professors Conley and Fashun to leave GC
[caption id="attachment_31546" align="alignright" width="216"] Photo contributed by: Com/MarGoshen College will part with two faculty members at the end of this academic year: Seth Conley, associate professor of communication and GCTV advisor; and Dr. Christopher Fashun, assistant professor of music.[/caption] Pat Lehman, professor of communication, voiced the sentiments of many. “Our department is sorry to see Seth leave, but we also wish him well in his new position in Nashville.” She thanked him for his large contributions in the development of the department. “Seth has been a superb colleague, professor and mentor for students. We will miss him greatly!” Senior...
March 19, 2015
Women’s soccer coach announced
On Monday, March 9, the Goshen College Athletic Department announced the hiring of Scott Gloden as the new head coach of the women’s soccer team. Gloden, who played soccer at the University of Michigan, has since held roles as assistant coach with a number of other Division I teams, most recently at Saint Louis University. This will be Gloden’s first time head coaching, which he describes as the fulfillment of “a lifelong dream.” He has already met with the team for two practices. “Even in just the two practices last week, I could see a lot of talent,” said Gloden....
February 12, 2015
Goshen College names new athletic director
After many months of transition, Goshen College now has a new athletic director: Josh Gleason. When Tim Demant resigned as athletic director last summer, an interim model was put in place and has been followed until now. Because the job was not opened externally, “the interim model that was put in place went through an extensive review process led by Lee Snyder, the provost, which is who the athletic department reports to now,” said Josh Keister, director of the Recreation and Fitness Center here at GC. “It was then decided to take the interim model and continue it full time...
January 29, 2015
Music Faculty performs
The next installment of the Faculty Recital Series is upon us. Goshen College faculty from the music department have been performing at these recitals throughout the year, and this weekend there are not one but two chances to hear the gifts of the music faculty performed live in Reith Recital Hall. This Sunday, February 1 at 3 p.m., Scott Hochstetler, associate professor of music, will be performing with Rebecca Dengler Kaufman, adjunct instructor of music, and Christine Larson-Seitz, staff accompanist, in Rieth Recital Hall. Hochstetler and Dengler Kaufman are both vocalists, singing the baritone and mezzo soprano parts respectively. According...
January 15, 2015
Patricia Oakley returns to teach
Patricia Oakley, an avid gardener, environmentalist and knitter has returned to Goshen College as an adjunct mathematics professor. From 1998 t0 2013, Oakley was a vital part of the Goshen College mathematics department. In addition to teaching the three-course Calculus sequence, Abstract Algebra and Linear Algebra, Oakley consistently made connections between mathematics and the arts. In the spring of 2013, Oakley resigned in order to pursue some of her passions: sustainability, education and small-scale farming. During the past year, Oakley worked at Clay Bottom Farm, an “artisan farm” in Goshen. On their website, Clay Bottom Farm highlights that they are...
January 15, 2015
New Leaders for SST
Each year faculty members are given the opportunity to apply to lead a Study Service Term. According to Tom Meyers, Director of International Education, a committee reviews faculty applications and then Meyers makes final decisions with the academic dean, Dr. Anita Stalter. For the 2015-2016 academic year, three SST destinations will be offered: Peru, Cambodia and Senegal. While Peru units would normally have been offered in fall, spring and summer, the fall unit has been cancelled due to lack of interest. Assistant Professor of Biology Kris Schmidt and his wife Kathryn will lead the remaining spring and summer units. The...
November 6, 2014
Sing From Your Ovaries
Lying over a chair in Dr. Debra Brubaker’s office is a black t-shirt with a logo printed along the bottom that reads, “sing from your ovaries.” Brubaker, whom everyone knows as “Dr. B,” has been a member of the Goshen College faculty for 17 years, and has also conducted the Women’s World Music Choir since its beginnings in 2004. The women’s choir sings music from around the world, and in concert its members are arrayed in colorful scarves and floor-length black dresses that cover their bare feet. As Dr. Brubaker tells the story, the choir came into being after James...
September 17, 2014
Milne Always ‘Traveling Home’
Michelle Milne has returned this semester from travelling, performing, and teaching around the country to, once again, act as an assistant professor of theater at Goshen College. Between 2005-10, Milne was at GC and she taught classes such as Playwriting, Voice for the Actor, and Movement for the Stage as well as directed plays such as “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Big Love.” Since her departure from Goshen College in 2010, Milne has engaged in a variety of different projects and events in the fields of theater, choreography, writing and many others. “Doing a variety of projects is always exciting,”...
September 10, 2014
Miller Named Sports Information Director
On Sept. 4, Tony Miller was named sports information director for the Goshen College athletic department, taking on some of Josh Gleason’s previous responsibilities. As the sports information director, Miller will be keeping goleafs.net updated, relaying information to the media with press releases and recording the statistics of all athletic events. For the majority of his four years at Goshen, Miller’s major was broadcasting, but during the latter part of his education, he switched to general communications. “My goal is to promote Goshen athletics in a new and positive light, as well as endorse something that would normally fly under...
September 4, 2014
Education Adds Two
Suzanne Ehst and Long Tran joined the Education Department for the 2014-15 academic year. The Education Department has two unfamiliar faces this semester—new professor Long Tran and newly returned professor Suzanne Ehst. Both professors are settling into a new routine at a new place, but seem to be not only passionate about but refreshed by Goshen College’s students, faculty, and community. Suzanne Ehst has returned to Goshen College after a three-year hiatus to work on her PhD, on which she will continue to work alongside responsibilities as full-time faculty member, Associate Professor of Education, and Director of Secondary Education. Professor...
April 9, 2014
Men’s Soccer Parts Ways with Tavi
The second-longest-tenured coach in the Goshen College athletic program is gone. After 13 seasons at the helm of the Maple Leafs, men’s soccer coach Tavi Mounsithiraj informed his team last week that he had been asked to resign. According to athletic director Tim Demant, the coach opted not to take that offer, and the separation proceeded accordingly. Demant said, “I have nothing but respect for Tavi, who has been the face of Goshen soccer for many years, but I have to keep in mind the best interests of the soccer program moving forward.” In the release announcing the coaching change,...
March 5, 2014
Making a way for women in sports OLD
Before Title IX, a comprehensive regulation that encouraged the inclusion of all genders and gender orientation in sports, women were not accepted or integrated into the sporting world. Sports for women both lacked an initiative and craved a pioneer that could lead females down the court. Ruth Gunden, an alumna, saw this opportunity and used her vision and love of athletics to carry it through. “If it is okay for the men, then why would it not be okay for the women? That was my question,” said Gunden. In 1953, Gunden began her journey to establish intercollegiate athletics for women...
February 19, 2014
Introduction to Passion, Informatics; Farewell to Palmer
Kent Palmer, associate professor of informatics, always wanted to be an environmentalist. In his words, computer science, his current profession, was “sort of accidental.” After four years of teaching at Goshen College and helping develop three new majors, Palmer plans to leave this summer and teach at MacMurray College, in Illinois. His father, who lives near MacMurray, is getting sicker and needs more care, so this arrangement will be more convenient for them both. Kent Palmer’s GC office After graduating high school, Palmer selected a college that focused on environmental studies. He studied physics at the University of Wisconsin Green...
January 15, 2014
Goshen Trims Faculty Positions, Budget in Strategic Shift
At the semester’s end, Goshen College announced faculty reductions and other changes for the 2014-15 academic year. Academically, the college plans to increase student-faculty ratios, implement the use of connected academics “schools” to create more interdisciplinary majors, and offer fewer low-enrollment courses. Further changes will come late in the spring as the administrative side of campus is reviewed and restructured. The changes come during a long-term strategic planning process and preparation for institutional re-accreditation in March 2015. At the same time, the college is in the process of addressing a several million dollar budget deficit for 2014-15. During the course...
December 7, 2013
A sixth-month journey, made on bike wheels alone
In 2010, Neal Friesen spent six months riding a bike. His goal: ride through all of the 48 lower states. Friesen, the resident director for Yoder Hall at Goshen, spent 25 weeks from May to November on his bike. In May of 2010 he left his resident director position at Hesston College and embarked on what he called “the trip of a lifetime.” An avid biker, he had already made one trip from Kansas to Idaho with a friend in 2008. As Friesen’s contract was coming to an end at Hesston, he was trying to figure out what to do...