LGBTQ
October 9, 2025
1,739 ‘kairos’ cranes return to campus
A decade ago, on any given Friday at Goshen College, students, staff and faculty could be seen across campus wearing the same dark purple cotton T-shirt. The front carried a question in canary yellow Times New Roman font: “Where is my LGBTQ prof?” The five words hinted at a much larger policy discussion happening in GC Board of Directors meetings. Until 2015, a section of the GC Community Standards documents stated, “The Mennonite Church USA Confessions of Faith places intercourse within the convent of marriage between a woman and man, and therefore employees are expected to follow this understanding.” Simultaneously,...
September 12, 2024
Student-Athletes weigh in on NAIA trans-athlete policy
“Only students whose biological sex* is female may participate in NAIA-sponsored female sports.” That was the decision that passed unanimously by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, or the NAIA, on April 8, 2024. This decision only applies to female sports, as stated in the press release, “All eligible NAIA student-athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports.” As Goshen College, a member of the Crossroads League, tries to walk the fine line between upholding the integrity of women’s sports, and still providing equal opportunities for everyone, one question has yet to be asked, how do student-athletes here at Goshen College...
January 25, 2024
GC preps for annual drag show
Goshen College will be hosting its third annual drag show on Saturday, Feb. 3 in Umble Center. The event will be hosted by Advocates, GC’s LGBTQ+ proponent group, along with support from other affinity groups. Traditionally, the show includes spirited performances by local drag queens alongside students who volunteer to perform. The show is still in need of more student performers. To sign up, students can fill out the Google Form linked in the Jan. 19 Communicator, or send an email to advocates@goshen.edu. There will be a drag workshop before the show for those who are interested but inexperienced. Leaders...
December 8, 2022
Goshen graduate puts Queer theory and Mennonite literature in conversation
Parts of this article have been edited for clarity. Daniel Shank Cruz’s Twitter biography is lengthy. First, there is the flag of Puerto Rico, in emoji form. Afterwards, the entry reads, “queer disabled Mennonite lit Phd MFAing@Hunter_College. Author of Queering Mennonite Literature (Penn State UP, 2019). he/they.” Shank Cruz, 42, a former associate English professor who is now completing a MFA in Creative nonfiction at Hunter College, City University of New York, wears quite a few hats. Growing up in Mennonite communities in Lancaster and eventually Goshen, Shank Cruz had difficulty finding a space to internalize and accept his identity...
December 1, 2022
Advocates club calls for greater student involvement
Advocates hosted a vigil at Schrock Plaza on Sunday, Nov. 20, in observance of the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. Advocates is a Goshen College club whose mission is to educate and promote communication between LGBTQ and straight students, faculty and communities on campus. At the vigil, names of trans people murdered this year were read following a moment of silence. There was also a discussion on the importance of the day of remembrance. A prayer concluded the event. Advocates leader, Aiden Schloneger, a junior environmental science major, expressed his disappointment at the lack of attendance: “We did not get...
March 25, 2022
Gender-inclusive housing finally finds a home
After multiple short-lived attempts over the past few years, gender-inclusive housing will return to campus next fall. Available to students of all genders, this housing option will be located on the first floor of Kulp. The Advocates club has been a long-time proponent of this addition, as its mission is to educate and promote open lines of communication between LGBTQ people and straight, cisgender communities. While an original plan would have labeled the floor an Intentional Living Community (ILC), as it has been in the past, the new model released by Residence Life categorizes it as a standard dorm floor...
November 11, 2021
Standing room only at GC’s first drag show
History was made on Friday with Goshen College’s first-ever drag show, featuring performances from a local drag queen and students. Earlier that day, Newcomer 19 had been transformed into a colorful drag arena by members of GC’s Advocates club. They prepared the room for the crowd of students and community members that would soon flock to the show with pride flags, rainbow streamers and a stage. Eli Reimer, Advocates leader and MC for the night, greeted the packed crowd before the show began: “Clearly, next time we need to book a much bigger venue.” The mission of Advocates is to...
September 24, 2020
Changing campus culture one button at a time
Colorful pronoun buttons may be the next accessory to spread across the GC campus. The coin-shaped buttons are designed to pin to a backpack. They’re custom-made with your pronouns and color of choice and are currently being sold by the campus LGBTQ Advocacy club, Advocates, as a way to bring awareness to gender language issues on campus. “We want people to be confident in sharing their pronouns,” said Elizabeth Reimer, who co-leads Advocates along with Josie Strader. “I don’t know if everyone would necessarily need to put them on their backpack,” Strader added, “But that’s just an easy, convenient way...
March 13, 2020
Monologues: A space to be heard
On Sunday March 8, Goshen College’s Umble Center stage witnessed and heard 27 personal stories and reflections presented by 16 cast members. With more than 200 audience members in attendance, Goshen Monologues was able to deliver the “unspoken” words of women and non-binary members of our community. Monologues committee members this year included: Stephanie Dilbone, Genevieve Cowardin, Rachael Klink, Sophia Martin, Kyra Krall, and Ana Avila, who started the preparation of this event at the beginning of the fall semester. After more than six months of preparation and six weeks of practicing and rehearsals, the Monologues committee – along with...
February 7, 2020
Sowers story sparks online discussion
Since Goshen College first released President Rebecca Stoltzfus’ official apology to Katie Sowers on Jan. 22 for denying Sowers a volunteer coaching position on the basis of her sexual orientation, reactions on social media from within and beyond the Goshen College community have been mixed. Many commenters have expressed gratitude for the college’s statements, while others shared profound frustrations and concerns. President Stoltzfus followed up her initial apology to Sowers on Jan. 22 with a blog post on Feb. 3, “What binds us all together,” in which she acknowledged the mixed responses from the community. “The responses from our students,...
January 31, 2020
GC alumna makes history, college works to reconcile past
On Super Bowl Sunday 2020, Goshen College graduate Katie Sowers will make history as the first woman and the first openly gay coach to appear at the Super Bowl. 11 years ago, Goshen College denied Sowers a volunteer coaching position on the basis of her sexual orientation. An official apology released by Goshen College President Rebecca Stoltzfus last week acknowledged the denial and has sparked conversations about the college’s past and present policies related to supporting LGBTQ+ students and faculty. Sowers, who attended Goshen after transferring from Hesston College, played basketball for the Maple Leafs. After she graduated, Sowers applied...
January 24, 2020
#dobetterGC campaign responds to last semester’s hate speech
On Monday, the Goshen College Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion shared plans to roll out a hashtag campaign - #dobetterGC - and hold a series of campus-wide activities in conjunction with Student Life as a response to the homophobic and racist slurs written on campus last semester. “We want to roll out this hashtag campaign that encourages Goshen College to be the Goshen College that we say we are,” said Dr. LaKendra Hardware, director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Zachariah Begly, a leader of Black Student Union, affirms the campaign as meeting a need in the GC community that...
November 29, 2019
Administration sticks to policy, stays silent on identity of hate speech perpetrator
On Sunday, Nov. 3, reports of homophobic and racist slurs written on Goshen College’s campus were made to the college. On Nov. 4, the administration began two investigations into the incident and has since identified the party or parties involved. Despite calls from students to release the name or names of the perpetrators, the administration has withheld the information in accordance with the college’s policy on bias-related incidents. Since President Rebecca Stoltzfus condemned the hate speech in an email to the student body on Tuesday, Nov. 5, the administration has provided no further public information about the incident. Katie Baer,...
October 9, 2019
The history of GC and LGBTQ+ community
October is a special month for the LGBTQ+ community and allies. It is a time to recognize the history of the gay rights movement, known as LGBTQ+ History Month. The purpose of this month is to educate, provide LGBTQ+ icons and acknowledge the important contributions LGBTQ+ people have made to society. LGBTQ+ History Month was founded by Rodney Wilson and was first celebrated in 1994. Wilson chose October for multiple reasons, mainly because National Coming Out Day is Oct. 11. The acronym LGBT was first used in the 1990s and gained popularity as a way of emphasizing the many diverse...
September 12, 2019
Goshen College implements gender-inclusive housing
Goshen College, for the first time in its history, is offering gender inclusive housing. Introduced by Student Senate in October, gender inclusive housing gives students the opportunity to live in the same environment regardless of their gender identity. All throughout the past fall semester, Corie Steinke, director of student involvement, alongside members of Student Senate, resident assistants, and other staff members worked to propose a thoughtful, well-researched plan for what gender inclusive housing would look like at Goshen College. According to Steinke, one of the inspirations for having gender inclusive housing was so LGBTQIA+ students would have a housing option...