“I want to share my story. I want others to not struggle, and to have the support that I didn’t have” — that’s how Rocio Diaz describes her work at Goshen College.  Diaz is the director of community engagement and adult outreach, working for the school’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE).  Her job description is extensive and has evolved significantly over the past few years. After moving from Texas, Diaz began working for GC as an administrative assistant for the Center of Intercultural and International Education on Feb. 13, 2008 — an important date to Diaz. “I have it written...

By Daniel James • March 30, 2023 • Features

Cristobal Garza Gonzalez sits at a table in the Hunsberger Commons, holding an old Spanish translation of Dante’s The Divine Comedy. He is reading quietly, until he notices somebody he recognizes walk by.  “Hola! ¿Cómo estás?” he says with a wave, inviting them into conversation. If they choose to take the bait and sit down, Charlas will officially commence.  Charlas, which can be directly translated to “chats,” is a weekly gathering hosted by Garza Gonzalez, assistant professor of Spanish. It has one primary goal: to give people a place to socialize in Spanish.  “The idea for this came from my...

By Greta Lapp Klassen • November 4, 2021 • Features

James Garcia speaks three languages and wants to be a doctor, but he never imagined that he would end up translating in a hospital operating room when he left for three months in Peru with Goshen College’s Study-Service Term (SST) this past summer. But that’s where he found himself a few weeks into his service assignment in Cusco, after a series of events led to his unique experience of being a bridge between people during their most vulnerable times. A junior biochemistry major from Gurnee, Illinois, Garcia is an involved student. He has been a member of the soccer team...

By Katie Hurst • October 29, 2015 • Features

On Thursday afternoons, patrons of Westlawn Dining Hall now have the opportunity to practice their Spanish. Judy Weaver, academic counselor, took the idea of a Spanish table from her previous position as a Spanish teacher at Linfield College in Oregon. She and Dean Rhodes, associate professor of Spanish, have previously tested the idea at Goshen. Weaver reflected, “Dean Rhodes and I offered a Spanish table at Goshen 5 or 6 years ago. I think we did it only for a semester, but both students and staff came and it was fun!” Weaver and Rhodes feel it is time for the...

By Monica Miller • January 22, 2015 • News

Russian chatter spills from the worker’s lounge in the Goshen College Physical Plant. Four custodians from Ukraine gather at the day’s 6 a.m. start, waiting for their cleaning crews and relaxing in the ease of their mother tongue. Here they can take a break from the effort of communicating in English. For most students at the college, Study-Service Term is the longest time they will be completely immersed in a new language, but others on campus grapple daily with the twists and turns of the English language. Valentyna Naumchuk’s face relaxes when she talks in Russian with Svitlana Meyta and...

By Annette Conrad • October 22, 2013 • Features

Employees at Goshen College received an email last Thursday from Norm Bakhit, director of human resources, offering an opportunity for free, non-credit conversational Spanish classes. The classes are funded by human resources and the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning as an attempt to “continue to develop and expand [Goshen College’s] intercultural opportunities,” according Bakhit's email. Bakhit began plans for employee Spanish classes after informally gauging interest levels. He knew that the classes would be well received by employees looking for professional and personal development. Logistics were his first task. He asked himself, “How are we going to do this?”...

By Quinn Brenneke • January 26, 2012 • News

Thanks to a generous gift, the Mennonite Historical Library added an unusual edition of the Koran to its collection. The edition, the first Dutch translation, was completed by a Mennonite and published in 1658.  Timothy and Ruth Stoltzfus Jost, of Harrisonburg, Va., made it possible for MHL to purchase the book from a Dutch bookseller. Aside from the text of the Koran itself, the book “includes a detailed description of Muslim theology…and a fairly lengthy biography of Muhammad,” said Professor John D. Roth, director of the Mennonite Historical Library and head of the history department. In 1657, Mennonite scholar Jan...

By Serena Townsend • October 5, 2011 • Features

If you hear Spanish “jaja’s” floating through the air in the third-floor connector on Tuesday evenings, don’t be alarmed; you’re probably just overhearing the laughter at Spanish Café. Designed for Spanish-speakers of all skill levels, the Spanish Café offers a scheduled place for people to practice their Spanish conversation skills. Quinn Brenneke and Phil Scott, both freshman, started organizing the café as a regular, but informal way to keep Spanish in their lives. “Individual motivation to practice Spanish is hard, so it is nice to have something to go to,” said Scott. The inspiration for the café came from Brenneke’s experiences...

By Sara Alvarez • February 24, 2011 • Features

The conversations start with Jambo! Habań yako, but the fall Swahili class at Goshen College doesn’t end there. Students are gearing up for their Study-Service Term experience in Tanzania this spring by learning the Swahili language, Tanzanian culture, history and geography. The young professor duo, Theo and Agnes Odhianmbo, from Musoma, Tanzania, are teaching the basics. Students meet four days a week, in addition to small group and one-on-one conversations. With only a semester’s experience, students will not be fluent when they step off the plane in Tanzania. Yet according to Theo Odhianmbo, they will know enough to draw people...

By Kelsey Shue • September 15, 2010 • News