finance
February 10, 2017
Students urge GC divestment from Chase
Naomi Gross and Hannah Yoder, both seniors, wrote* a petition on Jan. 31 to the Goshen College community which stated their demand for the institution to divest its accounts in J.P. Morgan Chase, the banking company which has given its support to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. That day was also the day in which North Dakota senators recommended an easement passed on to them by the Army Corps of Engineers suggesting they allow the drilling under Lake Oahe and the Missouri River, both on top of lands held by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s land. The petition...
February 2, 2017
Latino scholarship dinner brings hope
Tonight, Feb. 2, Goshen College will hold its second Latino scholarship dinner, a banquet that celebrates the college’s Latino students and their accomplishments. The meal is a fundraiser opportunity to provide adequate funding for scholarships for these Latino students, who now make up 20 percent of Goshen’s student body. In addition to Latino students and faculty, alumni, donors, business owners, educators and other associates who have shown interest in Goshen College and its Latino population have been invited to listen to the stories of these students. Students will elaborate on some of the challenges, successes and other stories they’ve taken...
December 1, 2016
Faith and vocation grant projects announced
Earlier this year, Goshen College received a grant of $25,000 dollars allowing faculty and students to pursue unique avenues that explore the relationships between faith and vocational interests. The grant was given from the program NetVUE, whose goal is to aid undergraduate students to combine theology and vocation. Campus Ministries took the lead on the grant and has given a group of 10 faculty members the opportunity to develop personal projects to accomplish these goals. The faculty members are in the process of recruiting groups of eight to 10 students to help work on these projects, which range from racial...
October 27, 2016
Goshen College teams up with LaCasa
Goshen College received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, in partnership with LaCasa, to provide a unique financial aid offer to new students. The project is called the Goshen College “Individual Development Education Accounts,” or IDEA. It works as a kind of savings account; low-to-moderate income students will open an account through First State Bank in Middlebury after LaCasa has verified their income. When the student has saved up to $500, they will receive an 8-1 match, meaning that the student will get $4,000 for the $500 they saved. This money will go towards paying...
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...
September 22, 2016
Goshen receives grant to explore faith and vocation
A grant of $25,000 has been awarded to Goshen College Campus Ministries to help students and faculty explore the intersection of faith and vocational interests. The grant comes from NetVUE, a program of the Council of Independent Colleges. NetVUE’s website describes its mission as “enrich the intellectual and theological exploration of vocation among undergraduate students.” The Lilly Endowment is financing this CIC initiative. Bob Yoder, campus pastor, plans to divide the $25,000 grant into 10 smaller grants, each to be given to a group of students and a professor, administrator or staff member, to pursue projects that will help them...
September 22, 2016
Spilling the divestment conversation
In an effort to end Goshen College’s investment in oil companies, Hannah Yoder, a junior, and Cecilia Lapp-Stoltzfus, a senior, conducted research over the summer regarding Goshen’s divestment progress. Lapp-Stoltzfus and Yoder wrote an extensive literature review as an educational resource and consolidation of GC Divest ideas. This review was done for Goshen College and the Mennonite Education Agency’s (MEA) Investment Fund Committee. Ken Newbold, provost, and Glenn Gilbert, Goshen’s sustainability coordinator, consulted the two throughout the project. Three years ago, conversations began within GC Divest, a student-led group committed to ending Goshen’s investment in fossil fuels. As Lapp-Stoltzfus and...
September 8, 2016
Record spike in donations to GC
Recently, Goshen College experienced a rapid rise in donations. The spike for the 2015-2016 school year adds up to more than just a part of an overall growth trend. It involves both the short-term steps of Goshen’s development department and the long-term relationships they have established. “You could say this is 40 years in the making,” Roger Nafziger, GC’s director of planned giving, said of the $9,071,000 total donations. Forty years is how long Goshen’s development department has fostered a relationship with Milo Albrecht, a perennial donor to Goshen College. Following Albrecht’s passing in the last year, the college received...
February 11, 2016
GC Divest and Divest EMU write joint letter
The GC Divest movement, whose mission is “to lead the Goshen College community’s divestment movement through values grounded in ecojustice and Indigenous rights,” grew out of EcoPAX, an environmental justice organization on the campus of Goshen College. The goal of divestment movements is to stop investments in companies that are believed to be acting unethically, particularly in regards to environmental issues. Looking to build partnerships beyond the college, GC Divest recently began to partner with Divest EMU, a similar student-led organization at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA. Divest EMU student leader Alicia Poplett is grateful for the chance to...
February 4, 2016
Business Department awards grants for students
This year, the Goshen College business department granted students from a variety of disciplines entrepreneurship grants to further pursue their business ventures. The business department heard an assortment of different pitches, “Shark Tank” style, but eventually decided upon four businesses to award a total of $18,000. The grants were divided into two venture grants and two experimentation grants. Maddie Gerig, a junior art major, and Preston Carr, a junior business major, were the two recipients of the venture grants: grants given to those who have already started their own business. Gerig’s work is based in Goshen, under the name “Madeline...
December 3, 2015
Students find support in off-campus jobs
Above: Ashley Davenport obvserves in the control room during preparation for the 10:00 show. Below: Tyra Carver unloads inventory at Speedway.Top photo contributed by Ashley Davenport.Bottom photo contributed by Tyra Carver. It is 3 a.m. on a school night and Tyra Carver, a Goshen College senior, unloads inventory from the back of a truck at Speedway on Lincolnway Road. Ashley Davenport is sound asleep, having just finished her shift at ABC 57. Ryan Miller is an hour away from waking up, so that he can do homework before his shift at Violett Cemetery. After a day filled with classes,...
November 19, 2015
Latino Scholarship Dinner celebrates scholars, raises funds
Goshen College hosted its first ever Latino Scholarship Dinner Tuesday night in the College Church Fellowship Hall. The goal of the dinner was to raise $50,000 for Latino students, and were able to come up very close to that goal, with around 160 people attending. Attendees included students, faculty and members of the greater Goshen-Elkhart community. The event also had a large number of speakers, including President James Brenneman; Janeth Vela, a junior; Rebecca Espinoza Kubacki, a former state representative; Edgar Saucedo-Davila, a GC alum; Alexa Valdez, a junior; Toby Faustino, a senior; and Isaac Torres, the founder and president...
November 19, 2015
Personal assistant scam
On October 29, an advertisement searching for a personal assistant ran on page five of the Record. That same day, Melia Watkins, a junior, replied to the advertisement via email. On November 5, the advertisement ran again on page six. After exchanging a few emails back and forth, Watkins attempted to deposit her first check she received in the mail, only to find out it was fraudulent. “I saw this ad that looked pretty legitimate,” said Watkins, “minus the fact that they had horrible grammar and punctuation, which seemed a little fishy. But I thought, why not apply?” Watkins received...
October 8, 2015
Goshen City Council approves 2016 budget
The Goshen City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the first reading of the 2016 budget. Changes to the budget that do not result in an overall increase in spending for the year can still be made before the next council meeting. Eric Walsh, a certified public accountant who works with the city’s finances, presented an outline of Goshen’s current financial standing and predictions as to what the next year will bring. “Everyone really is striving for the one thing—making the best use of what revenues do come in,” he said. Walsh explained that property tax caps, commonly known...
March 19, 2015
Board of Directors update
The Board of Directors met on February 23 and 24 to discuss and vote on various issues at Goshen College. One of the decisions the board made was to accept roughly $160,000 in gifts that Goshen College donors left the college in their wills. The board also decided to pass a new plan entitled Grow Goshen 2020. This plan establishes the priorities the college will be looking to work on for the next five years. The ultimate goal this plan lists is that “GC will reach sustained enrollment growth made up of students open to faith and learning from an...