housing
February 13, 2025
Housing application process changes
On the evening of Monday, Feb. 10, students who will return next year gathered in the Church-Chapel fellowship hall for a housing meeting led by the Residence Life team. The purpose of the meeting was to inform students of changes being made to the housing application process for the upcoming year. Several significant changes were introduced, beginning with the housing placement fee required from students upon application, which is now a $20 non-refundable deposit. This payment will be the same across all housing options: Intentional Living Communities, Octavio Romero Student Apartments, Kratz and Yoder Residence Halls and now the first...
January 16, 2025
Finding family far from home
Of the 114 international students attending Goshen this fall, 11 stay with host families. According to Dan Koop Liechty, international student adviser, Goshen College has moved away from host families in the last few years. Koop Liechty noted, “generally speaking, students who are now living off campus with families are related to them or had a relationship prior to arrival.” This was true in the case of sisters Senper and Shalom Solomon. The sisters’ father and Paul Shetler, son of Jan Bender Shetler, former director of global education, had a connection. Through their familial relationship with Bender Shetler and her...
November 21, 2024
GC reassures despite sex offender proximity
An email from Campus Safety was sent out on Monday afternoon, notifying students that a registered sex offender had moved into a home adjacent to Goshen College. The email was intended to provide information to students rather than cause any alarm. Also, in an effort to ensure that students felt safe and valued, campus representatives from human resources and student life held a listening session in Newcomer 17 on Monday evening to ensure that students had a space to be heard. The email was released adhering to GC’s official policy on sex offenders, stating that when Campus Safety is notified...
March 21, 2024
47 waitlisted for apartments
The number of students who were initially waitlisted for housing increased by over 42% compared to last year. The application opened for students who graduated from high school in 2021 or before — classified as seniors by residence life — on March 4. The application opened for 2022 high school graduates on March 7. In the weeks following, students received emails from Chandler Buchfeller, director of residence life and housing, about whether their applications got them into the apartments for the 2024-25 school year. Some received their first choice, while others were glad to secure an apartment — even if...
February 15, 2024
Res Life on housing
Goshen College’s Residence Life team hosted this year’s Housing Information Night for the 2024-25 school year this past Monday evening in the Church-Chapel fellowship hall. Led by Chandler Buchfeller, director of residence life and housing, the meeting covered housing and meal plan options available for the upcoming school year, timelines for housing selection, and application processes for all on-campus spaces. The first notable change for next year is that housing deposits for the Intentional Living Communities and the Octavio Romero Student Apartments are $75, compared to $200 in previous years. This change is partly due to “Homies 4 Housing,” a...
October 26, 2023
‘Homies 4 Housing’ pushes for change
“Homies 4 Housing,” a group organized by seniors Annika Alderfer Fisher and Brielle Agnew, and juniors Virginia Jimenez and Arleth Martinez-Vargas, launched their campaign last week by distributing posters across campus. “The group formed as a result of a class,” Martinez-Vargas said. Agnew described the initial purpose for the group, stating: “[We] needed to pick a policy or policies on campus and come up with a campaign to get those policies changed for the better of the students.” The group’s work is inspired by the conflicts that arose over housing last spring when 33 students were waitlisted for the Romero...
September 14, 2023
5-month follow up
Goshen College saw its first protest last semester since before the pandemic. In April, around 60 students gathered with the aim of seeking transparency, communication and equity after the surge of waitlisted students for the Student Apartments. It has been over five months since the protest, and The Record followed up with leaders of the protest, students unable to get into the apartments and Chandler Buchfeller, the director of residence life and housing, to see what has happened since April. Immediately following housing announcements last semester, 33 students were waitlisted for the apartments. Of that list, 11 eventually got into...
April 6, 2023
Students protest housing policy after 33 waitlisted
Around 60 students gathered at Schrock Plaza at 10 a.m. today to protest this year’s surge in students waitlisted to the Romero student apartments and what students have described as a lack of transparency, communication and equity. As people began to circle the fountain, music played and leaders encouraged attendees to make signs. After twenty minutes of an open-mic style session where students shared their frustrations, they walked to the Adelphian Fountain chanting “we want change” and posted their signs near the administration building. Students then offered Gilberto Pérez, Jr., dean of students and vice president for student life, the...
September 15, 2022
Upperclassmen housing options falling short
Every apartment unit in the Octavio Romero Student Apartment building is occupied this semester. In years past, many have remained empty. However, that is not to say the building is at capacity. As interim facilities director Cynthia Good Kaufmann explained: “Apartments are full, bedrooms are not…we have capacity there.” She went on to say that while there are several under-capacity apartments this semester, in the future, they may need to be more full. Good Kaufmann also brought up the potential for Coffman Hall to be brought back if needed, which would provide additional space for upperclassmen. For the past two...