I live a short 58 minute drive from Payson High School, in Utah, where the movie Footloose was filmed.  Footloose, which was released in 1984, is about a boy named Ren McCormack, played by Kevin Bacon, who moves to a small midwest town where dancing and rock music have been made illegal.  He spends the rest of the movie trying to convince the town that dancing should be allowed. In the end, a prom is held behind a grain mill, across town lines, and the teens dance the night away.    Imagine my surprise, when I learned that Goshen College...

By Alyssa McDonald • March 27, 2025 • Features

In 1995, Dr. Regina Shands Stoltzfus, professor of peace, justice and conflict studies, together with Dr. Tobin Miller, founded the Damascus Road, an initiative aimed at dismantling racism within the Mennonite Church and broader society. In September 2012, Shands Stoltzfus and Miller’s Damascus Road was officially renamed to Roots of Justice. Shands Stoltzfus and Miller directed the program for several years, though they no longer lead the initiative. Throughout their time, they collaborated with a team of trainers to lead organizing and educational efforts within Mennonite Church USA and other Anabaptist institutions, including seminaries and colleges such as Goshen College....

By Igor Sapucaia • March 13, 2025 • Features

On Tuesday evening, College Mennonite Church hosted “Looking Back, Living Forward: A Worship Service Celebrating 500 Years of Anabaptist Faith and the launch of the Anabaptist Community Bible.” Hundreds of Anabaptists from the Goshen area and beyond gathered to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first adult baptisms in Zurich, Switzerland. The service included a series of songs from Goshen College’s choirs, congregational hymns, reflections from members of the Anabaptist Community Bible publication team, and a homily from John Roth, the project director of Anabaptism at 500. They even had a life-sized cardboard cutout of Menno Simons. “500 years ago...

By Kate Bodiker • January 23, 2025 • News

I started working on my history senior thesis last week. I’m telling the story of the 2010-11 national anthem controversy at Goshen College, a tale of politics, convictions and identity. Those of you who were around 13 years ago probably remember it well; it’s a fascinating topic — for those of who you don’t know it, I would recommend looking it up. But this isn’t about that subject — what I love about writing this thesis is that I’m using this very newspaper as my most important primary source. The Record is beautiful in that way, I think. Studying both...

By Daniel James • January 18, 2024 • Features

Mary Oyer died in Goshen on January 11, 2024, at the age of 100. Oyer was a professor emerita of music at Goshen College.  Oyer moved to Goshen in August of 1924 at 16 months old, after her father, Noah Oyer, took a job as the dean of GC. She moved into a yellow house on Eighth Street, right across the road from campus.  Oyer graduated GC in 1944 and then began working at GC the following year where she would work until 1987. In those early summers she studied cello at the University of Michigan. In 1958 she would...

By Tyson Miller • January 18, 2024 • News

A month ago, the president of Goshen College hugged U.S. Senator and preacher Raphael Warnock. That was before she realized she wasn’t supposed to. Every year, President Rebecca Stoltzfus takes a trip with her sisters, Tina and Melinda. This year, they went to Atlanta for a few days — and although there was “so much to do” in the city, Stoltzfus said one destination was a must. “The one thing that we wanted to do for sure was go to the Ebenezer Baptist Church,” she said. The church in downtown Atlanta — where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and...

By Daniel James • April 13, 2023 • Features

Just over two years ago, Goshen College librarians Erin Milanese, Abby Nafziger and Tillie Yoder started their first podcast, “Just Plain Wrong.”  In it, the three discuss different areas of Amish culture and depictions of Amish and Mennonite life in the media.  Although they first began discussing strictly Amish romance novels, they have recently found more enriching areas including the presentation of Amish and Mennonites in movies, novels, comics and nonfiction stories, as well as research on Amish life.  One of their more recent episodes featured Dirk Eitzen, the author of “Fooling With the Amish: Amish Mafia, Entertaining Fakery, and...

By Sadie Brenneman • March 23, 2023 • Features

Before I came to Goshen College, I had no idea what a Mennonite was.  After three years at GC, I know what “Martyrs Mirror” and Mennonite Central Committee are. I have played Dutch Blitz and held “Voices Together.”   I know there is more depth to the Mennonite experience, but I think it is fair to say that in a short time, I have not only been exposed to the culture, but immersed.  The population at GC is shifting, though. We know most students are not Mennonite anymore.  So then why does this institution feel inescapably Mennonite? In a few years,...

By Mariela Esparza • March 23, 2023 • Features

After 20 years, Goshen College will host the Mennonite/s Writing Conference, spanning 4 days from Thursday, Sept. 28, to Sunday, Oct. 2. The theme for this year is “Celebrating 30 Years: Looking Back, Looking Forward.” “The featured writers at the conference this weekend are amazing writers who address multiple audiences,” said Ann Hostetler, professor Emeritus of English at GC. “They display diversity in styles and perspectives.”  Workshops will be led by Casey Plett, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, and Steven Rubin, along with book signings from Sofia Samatar, Rachel Yoder, Patrick Friesen, and the conference founder Hildi Froese Tissen. Many speakers are...

By Jakyra Green • September 30, 2022 • News

How do you learn about global health issues during a pandemic? Because of travel restrictions, two mennonite organizations, Goshen College and the Mennonite Central Committee, piloted an online class to replace international learning. Both organizations found themselves in a similar predicament. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GC’s Study Service Term (SST) and the MCC’s counterparts, such as Serving and Learning Together (SALT), had to adapt to continue global learning without travelling. The result was the Global Health Virtual Practicum. According to an article by the MCC, this is a year-long class meeting every Saturday for two hours beginning in Oct....

By Patrick Webb • March 12, 2021 • Features

When the Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) assembly meets in 2021, they will be presented with a call for legal reform, written by two Goshen College students.  The “For Justice In the U.S. Criminal Legal System” resolution calls for MC USA to commit to “reforms to the criminal legal system of the United States of America.” The resolution was written by Zack Begly, senior broadcasting and journalism double major, and edited by Elizabeth Reimer, junior peace, justice and conflict studies and Bible and religion double major.  The criminal system “causes pain and suffering,” the resolution states, “especially [among] poor people...

By Patrick Webb • October 15, 2020 • Features

This year, Goshen College is partnering with Mennonite Central Committee to offer SST-alternative courses in the form of a year-long series on global public health.  The Global Health Virtual Practicum, as the series is being called, will cover a wide variety of global health issues, including projects done in partnership with organizations around the world. “Over the year we will be working with a wide variety of MCC’s partner organizations from around the world,” said Paul Shetler Fast, MCC’s Global Health Coordinator and one of the organizers of the practicum. Fast ‘08 and his wife, Rebecca Shetler Fast, have been...

By Kristin Jantzen • September 24, 2020 • News

Friends, family and colleagues of the late J.R. Burkholder gathered on Saturday to celebrate the life of the Goshen College professor emeritus, ethicist and peace activist. Burkholder passed away on Dec. 20, 2019, one day after his 91st birthday.  Burkholder is remembered at Goshen College for his 22 years as a professor, his role in founding what is now the Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies program and his influence as a thinker in the broader Mennonite Church, helping move the Mennonite peacemaking tradition from its history of nonresistance toward one of active, nonviolent resistance.  “Among all of the 20th-century Anabaptist...

By Gabe Miller • January 31, 2020 • News

Goshen College retention rates are high, compared to other Mennonite institutions and other universities in Indiana. Retention refers to the number of students who start as full-time students and return for a second year. Universities are specifically interested in first- and second-year students because those are the most tumultuous years of college, when students are most likely to leave due to institutional circumstances. Historically, Goshen College has maintained high retention rates. In the 18 years, from 2001 to 2018, the average retention rate was 79.9%. Retention for the most recent cohort, current sophomores, was slightly lower at 75.5%. Adela Hufford,...

By Greta Lapp Klassen • November 6, 2019 • News

It rained on the 51st annual Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale.  Lightning lit up the sky and raindrops drummed against roofs this past weekend, as hundreds of people came together under tents and awnings to share food for a cause. Congregations from across Michiana sold food, crafts and more to raise funds for the Mennonite Central Committee’s relief efforts.  According to Dayton Freys, treasurer for the Mennonite Relief Sale, this year’s efforts brought in over $440,000. MCC will use the money for relief and development work around the world.  Everyone has a favorite food. Haystacks, Kenyan samosas, cinnamon rolls, pancakes and...

By Gabe Miller • October 2, 2019 • Features