Gilberto Perez Jr., dean of Students at Goshen College, is receiving an award, but that is one of the last things on his mind. Perez is being recognized by his alma mater, Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Distinguished Service Award is awarded annually to a graduate of EMU who has made an outstanding contribution to EMU, the church or the greater community. A 1994 EMU graduate, Perez has crossed off all these requirements and more in his postgraduate life. Whether creating mental health curriculum for immigrants from Latin America, helping bring churches and law enforcement together in...

By Zack Begly • September 26, 2018 • Features

Justin Crew, the new Goshen College women’s soccer coach, says he’s from “all over.” Crew was born in Maryland, moved to southern West Virginia when he was young, graduated high school in Grove City, Pennsylvania, attended Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio and graduated from Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois. What followed Crew to every state and city is a passion for soccer. Crew has played soccer his whole life and has been coaching soccer full time for the past 14 years. “I love the competition,” he said. “I love the teaching aspect. And I love hopefully making a positive...

By Mary O’Connell • September 26, 2018 • Features

It was at his faculty farewell reception for his role of professor of communication that David Kendall, newly minted coordinator of career networks at Goshen College, was approached by Duane Stoltzfus, professor of communication, about taking on his new role. From the moment Stoltzfus mentioned the possibility of him working in career networks, Kendall was hooked.   From 2015 to 2018, Kendall served as an associate professor of communication. His new position, coordinator of career networks, is a new position at Goshen College. The aim of this new position is to help students be fully aware of the resources provided...

By Carter Mckay-Epp • September 19, 2018 • Features

Harold M. Watson, who has experience in all three NCAA divisions, was named Goshen College’s athletic director in August. Watson intends on building relationships and winning championships. Watson, 35, who most recently served as assistant athletic director for strategic marketing at Georgia Southern University, said that Goshen College is ideally suited for shaping a community. “Small colleges allow you to build intimate, lasting relationships within both the college community and city — relationships that go on beyond the four years our students are here,” Watson said. “It really is a unique experience and I am excited about getting back to...

By William Troyer • September 12, 2018 • News

When Phil Mason, associate professor of business, received a Google calendar invite late one night in the fall of 2017 for a meeting the next day with Goshen College’s provost, the interim vice president of academic affairs, and the director of Human Resources, he had a hunch that he has going to lose his job. Unfortunately for Mason, he was right. In September, 15 faculty members, including Mason, learned their jobs were being reduced. (For the sake of their privacy, their names will be omitted.) The programs impacted include: business, communication, education, English, Bible and religion, and music. Departments impacted...

By Abby King • April 12, 2018 • News

Tony Miller is a statistician, a historian and a jokester.  He’s an information-driven writer with a mind full of sarcasm and statistics. This savvy, sedulous, side-splitting soul, sometimes seen falling off tangent mountain, came to the realization at the age of 4 that his motor skills and physical limitations due to his cerebral palsy would prevent him from becoming a professional athlete. He knew, however, that people got paid to speak about baseball and set his mind to stay involved with sports through this avenue. Two decades later, he continues to focus on connecting with athletes and telling their story....

By Brad Stoltzfus • April 12, 2018 • Features

Last month, Goshen College recognized three professors for the completion of their doctoral degrees. Suzanne Ehst, associate professor of education and director of secondary education, earned a Ph.D. in English education from Western Michigan University. Colleen Geier, program director and associate professor of American Sign Language, earned a Ph.D. in education with a concentration in adult education from Walden University. Regina Shands Stoltzfus, associate professor of peace, justice and conflict studies, earned a Ph.D. in theology and ethics from Chicago Theological Seminary. How long was the process of working toward your degrees? S: It was a total of six years....

By Megan Bower • April 5, 2018 • Features

Reporting by Emily Kauffman In January 2018, Goshen College president Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus issued a mandate for the creation of a Task Force to focus on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion within the campus community. The Task Force is led and facilitated by two co-chairs that have been appointed by President Stoltzfus for a two-year commitment: Beth Martin Birky, professor of English, women and gender studies director and Title IX deputy coordinator, as well as Dominique Burgunder-Johnson, director of marketing. This new group has intentionally been named a Task Force, as it is designed to be a time-bound working...

By Abby King • March 29, 2018 • News

For the past three years Rocío Díaz, Coordinator of Parent and Community Engagement, has been coordinating a non-credit program of adult English classes at Goshen College. What first began as a pilot program with only three teaching levels, is now a fully structured English program with 56 current students that meet four times a week for 12 weeks and six levels of education based on the evaluation of the student. Díaz has been living in the United States for over 20 years and learned English by watching TV, listening to music, and not using interpreters. In the past, Díaz did...

By Cecilia Garcia • March 15, 2018 • Features

Juan Pacheco Lozano, from Bogota, Colombia, moved to the U.S. seven months ago. He has previously worked as the administrative assistant for the not-for-profit organization Justapaz (an agency of the Columbian Mennonite Church) in Bogota and served with Mennonite Central Committee at the United Nations in New York City. He now finds himself at Goshen College as the administrative assistant for student life. After marrying Goshen alumni Lizzy Diaz, class of ’13, in August 2017, Pacheco came to Goshen in 2015 to view the campus where his wife had earned her undergraduate. During his visit he was introduced to Gilberto...

By Megan Bower • March 15, 2018 • Features

“Did you know they’re selling smoothies at Java Junction?!” Even after my interview with them is over, Sue Burkholder, a Greencroft resident, along with her husband, J.R. Burkholder, continue to pore over the contents of The Record with a level of engagement I rarely see from students. Sitting on a wooden shelf near the doorway of Sue and J.R.’s home are a multitude of editions of The Record going back several weeks. Each of the four Greencroft residents interviewed have connections to the college that go back decades. “I was very involved for 15 years in serving on a planning...

By Carter Mckay-Epp • February 22, 2018 • Features

It was announced in the faculty bulletin this past Friday that women’s soccer coaches Scott and Anne Gloden, who have been with Goshen for three years, will no longer be working for Goshen College. The announcement comes after conversations that took place between the women on the soccer team and administration. Last semester, the women’s soccer team sensed that the Glodens were not a good fit for the team as head and assistant coaches. After an attempt to talk to the Glodens directly did not go well, the team decided to go to the administration about the issue. The issue...

By Nathan Pauls • February 15, 2018 • News

Jeanette Shown, associate professor of computer science and information technology, will tell you that anyone can build their own computer. That’s exactly what she did. As a matter of fact, Shown has been building computers for a long time now. She even built her own telescope at the age of 11. But why build your own computer? “I think someone in the computer science department should have a state of the art computer,” Shown said. “The nice thing about building your own computer is you know exactly what’s on it and you can [use] the software you want.” Her computer...

By Cecilia Garcia • February 1, 2018 • Features

Before the fourth of January, Rev. Dr. LaKendra Hardware (or just Rev. LaKendra, as she’s known on campus) and Rev. Gwen Gustafson-Zook’s paths had never crossed. Now, based in Wyse 108B, they share not only the role of interim campus pastors, but also a passion for aiding students, staff and faculty at GC. “It’s been great,” Gustafson-Zook said when asked about working with Hardware. “We bring different experiences. We are better together than either of us are by ourselves.” Hardware echoed this same excitement to be working with Gustafson-Zook, “We need each other.” She said “I’m in awe of how...

By Megan Bower • January 25, 2018 • Features

Goshen College President Rebecca Stoltzfus released her strategic plan for the GC community in an all-faculty and staff meeting on Monday. President Stoltzfus’ two-year strategic plan came from a number of different things: her “Soup Talks” where she invited around 130 students, administrative personnel and faculty to her house for dinner and discussion, “heat-mapping” of approximately 150 participants, a cabinet retreat, discussions with presidents from other institutions, and personal reflection and prayer. From the heat-mapping of the 150 participants, all of whom are faculty, staff or administrators, five statements were chosen to be “most vital to GC’s future”: “Known for...

By Abby King • January 25, 2018 • News