Goshen College’s Newcomer building will no longer be home to the Mennonite Historical Archives. Instead, they will be finding a new home in Elkhart. Jason Kauffman is the full-time director of archives and records management for this process and is responsible for planning and overseeing the relocation of the archive collections. Kauffman’s responsibilities include acquiring, preserving, organizing and making accessible archival materials in various formats such as paper, audiovisual, photographic and electronic among other formats. He also serves as the consultant to Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). “One big reason [for the moving of the archives] is that we’ve outgrown...

By Elsa Lantz • February 23, 2017 • News

Hanging on display in The Depot is a quilt that was made as a way of saying “thank you.” Located in Goshen, just off of Route 33, The Depot is a thrift shop that supports “the local and global relief, development and peace projects of Mennonite Central Committee,” according to their website. One of those projects took place in Tanzania. In 2015, MCC worked with Albino Peacemakers to provide 91 students who have albinism with education on how best to protect their skin and reminded them that they are loved by God. Albinism is a congenital disorder where the pigmentation...

By Jordan Waidelich • February 23, 2017 • Features Josh Stoltzfus • February 23, 2017 • Features

The weekend before fall break, six students traveled to New York City for the United Nations-Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) seminar. Dona Park and Keshia Ward, seniors, and Simelwe Dlova, Kyle Stocksdale, Chelsea Risser and Hitesh Sharma, juniors, spent three days listening to people from the U.N. and MCC talk about their work in Haiti following the earthquake in 2010. The conference focused on what these organizations have done on the ground in Haiti as well as the cholera outbreak that was a result of Nepalese U.N. Peacekeepers who hadn’t had proper health screenings before going to Haiti. For Sharma, an...

By Jordan Waidelich • November 3, 2016 • News

John Roth, Goshen College professor of history, has had many other jobs that include writer, editor and speaker. Roth has been working at Goshen College for thirty years, starting in 1985. For the past twenty years he has been traveling two weekends a month speaking at churches, conferences, conventions and other events. “My traveling has been a long-standing part of my job as a preacher and teacher,” he said. In the last year, Roth has taken on additional assignments that have him traveling even more often. In September he was in Germany, and then by October he found himself in...

By Elsa Lantz • March 10, 2016 • Features

Leaders of color and white allies within Mennonite Church USA met January 21-24 for a conversation about issues in the workplace. “Equipping the Saints” was the latest conference of the Hope for the Future gathering since it was started five years ago. It began as a way for leaders of color at Mennonite institutions to meet and support one another. After two years, white allies were invited to join that conversation. Toward the end of January, Goshen College sent a group of three students (Nahshon Lora, a first-year; Deeksha Pagar and Gabby Castanon, sophmores), five faculty and staff members (Norman...

By Jordan Waidelich • February 18, 2016 • News

During World War II, Lois Gunden Clemens, a Goshen College graduate, worked in France to smuggle Jewish children out of internment camps. This past Wednesday, she was posthumously honored for her actions. The Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. honored Clemens, a 1936 graduate, as Righteous Among the Nations in partnership with Yad Vashem on Wednesday, January 27. Clemens was the fourth American to be recognized with this honor, and one of four honorees on Wednesday. Righteous Among the Nations is the highest honor the State of Israel bestows on non-Jews in the name of the Jewish people. Clemens, who...

By Elsa Lantz • February 4, 2016 • News

Amid the busyness of midterms, women of Goshen College were given the opportunity to take a step back and reflect. Around 20 GC women participated in a spiritual development workshop called Sister Care which was held at College Mennonite Church this past weekend. The workshop ran from 7-9 on Friday, October 9, and 9-3 on Saturday, October 10. Throughout the workshop, food was provided by many local churches. Much of the weekend was spent discussing Christian faith and women’s issues, particularly self-care and compassionate listening. Beth Martin Birky, professor of English and women’s and gender studies, who helped bring the...

By Maddie Birky • October 15, 2015 • News

In a joint release on Tuesday September 21, both Goshen College (GC) and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) announced they are voluntarily withdrawing their membership from the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). After GC and EMU decided to update their non-discrimination policies and allow hiring of married queer faculty this past July, the CCCU board expressed concerns and decided to consult with all member presidents regarding the possibility of changing EMU and Goshen to affiliate status. The CCCU board requested that all members wait to withdraw until the conclusion of the listening process. According to a CCCU press release,...

By Maddie Birky • September 24, 2015 • News

The following selection is one of the many stories showcased in the Good Library exhibit entitled “Along the Road to Freedom: Mennonite Women of Courage and Faith. Anna Dick Bergmann  Born April 7, 1880 on the family estate Rosenhof, Southern Russia, now Ukraine. Passed away: February 24, 1961. “Anna grew up on her parent’s large estate. Her mother, who came from Alsace, France, provided her with a good education and a grounding in the Christian faith. In 1901, Anna married Abram Bergmann and settled on an estate called Woronaya. Anna gave birth to ten children. Four died at a young...

By Ellen Conrad • September 17, 2015 • Arts

This past July, Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University, both members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), voted to update their hiring policies, officially allowing employees in same-sex marriages to be included in the hiring practices and benefits of the colleges. The CCCU will be deciding on the membership of GC and EMU on September 21. Since the decision, both Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OWU) and Union University have dropped their memberships in the CCCU. “We believe in missional clarity and view the defense of the Biblical definition of marriage as an issue of critical importance to Christian...

By Maddie Birky • September 10, 2015 • News

Though known to most people as a common condiment, SALT at Goshen College is more than a seasoning. An acronym for Summer Academic Leadership Training, SALT is a program primarily for students of color and first-generation college students, many of whom are the recipients of scholarships that include the CIIE Scholarship, the Stoltzfus Diverse Leader Scholarship, and the Dream Scholarship. The program provides students with academic resources, development of leadership skills and an introduction to college life. As stated on the application, the program is an opportunity for students to train themselves with “healthy habits and good discipline required for...

By Lydia Good • September 10, 2015 • Features

From the mountains of the Chanchamayo province in Peru, fair-trade coffee beans made their way to Java Junction to be sold by Mennonite youth groups around the United States. The cost of attending conventions can be burdensome, so this past year, a Goshen College sponsored fundraiser, Menno’s Best Coffee, helped cover partial costs for 55 youth groups to attend Mennonite Church USA’s national convention. The fundraiser also collected money for the global ministries of Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Central Committee. According to the Menno’s Best Coffee webpage, the money received by Mennonite Mission Network went to Top of the...

By Jordan Waidelich • September 10, 2015 • Features

This weekend starting Friday from 7-9:30 and Saturday from 9-3, Carolyn Heggen and Rhoda Keener will be presenting Sister Care, a project of Mennonite Women USA, in Newcomer 19. A grant given to Keener has allowed this to be a free pilot workshop. Women from Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship, Silverwood Mennonite Church, Waterford Mennonite Church and College Mennonite Church will be providing home-cooked snacks, breakfast and lunch. “This is not a Mennonite-only event,” said Beth Martin Birky, professor of English and Women’s Gender Studies Mennonite Women USA board member. “Although they have led workshops at Mennonite-affiliated churches nationally and globally...

By Maddie Birky • March 19, 2015 • News

“The voice to change the hiring policy is far older than GC Open Letter’s three years on campus. It’s a voice spoken by many. It’s a voice that was once silenced, which grew into a whisper, which has turned into a call,” said Stefan Baumgartner, senior and Open Letter co-leader. “It’s a voice that has spoken of love and of pain. It’s a voice that has cheered and has wept. It’s a voice that is strong. It is a voice that is hopeful. It is a voice that is brave. It is a voice we represent today.” On February 20at...

By Frances Fonseca • March 5, 2015 • News

Two weekends ago, Goshen College’s Center for Intercultural and International Education (CIIE) arranged for several staff and students to fly out to Fort Myers, Florida in order to attend the Hope for the Future Conference organized by the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA). The conference lasted from January 23 to 25, and three students affiliated with CIIE were selected to attend: Malcolm Aquinini, sophomore vice-president of the Black Student Union, Dona Park, sophomore representative of the International Student Club, and Samantha Peña, junior representative of the Latino Student Union. Accompanying them were Gilberto Perez, senior director of intercultural development & educational partnerships;...

By Ramona Whittaker • February 5, 2015 • Features