On Monday, Jan. 20, Goshen College hosted a student-led convocation in the Church-Chapel to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event was followed by a short march to the Recreation-Fitness Center, where participants engaged in activities such as interactive stations and raffles while enjoying snacks and drinks. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader who fought for racial equality and justice through nonviolent activism in the United States. On the campus of GC, his achievements and history are annually celebrated. This year, students in the Black Student Union, Advocates (LGBTQIA+ advocacy),...

By Igor Sapucaia • January 23, 2025 • News

The Queen Singers, one of Goshen College’s singing ensebles, is set to return to the stage this Monday as a part of GC’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. The group has been preparing for their performance, which will mark two years since the ensemble’s beginning. The Queen Singers were originally founded by Jakyra Green and Nakiyah Kilpatrick, and are a group that “amplifies and honors the BIPOC feminine experience,” according to H. Roz Woll, assistant professor of music and faculty adviser to The Queen Singers. Green and Kilpatrick were familiar with activism on GC’s campus through being heavily involved...

By Caoimhe Farrell • January 16, 2025 • Arts

Last week, during the college’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, students and staff came together to celebrate and honor the contributions of local “sheroes.” The nominees have inspired change, uplifted the voices of others, and made space for future generations to do the same.  Nominated individuals include Kennedy Stewart, Arleth Martinez, Isis Espinoza, Jakyra Green, Mariela Esparza, Bongiwe Ncube, Fatima Zahara, Adela Hufford, Solidia Brown, H. Roz Woll, Cyneatha Millsaps, Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Robina Sommers, Rocio Diaz, Kathy Meyer Reimer, Aja Ellington and Emily Hahn.   Among the nominees stood the leaders of the Black Student Union, the first-place...

By Carmen Merino • January 25, 2024 • Features

Goshen College’s 2023 King Celebration honored the life Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 20 with a faculty recital by H. Roz Woll, associate professor of music, and colleague Roy Jennings, pianist, arranger and founder of Arch Angel Productions.  The recital included music from all African-American composers and spoken word from Jakyra Green, a junior English and secondary education major and a song performed by Nakiyah Kilpatrick, a senior sign language interpreting major. Initially slated for October 2022, the recital was postponed to GC’s King Celebration due to Jennings being ill.  With the date change, Woll decided to have...

By Sarah Miller • January 19, 2023 • Arts

Goshen College hosted its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day convocation this past Monday at 10 a.m. titled “Hidden Treasure: Untold Stories.” The event’s keynote speaker was Dr. Daryl Heller. Heller serves as the director of the IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center and an assistant professor of women’s and gender studies. As students, staff, and community members filed into and nearly filled up College Mennonite Church, Roy Jennings blissfully played the piano.  Jennings is the founder and artistic director of Arch Angel Productions, a not-for-profit performance company for the presentation of African-American concert music, with a special emphasis...

By Phil Witmer-Rich • January 19, 2023 • News

“Because of these immoral and persistent inequalities, Goshen College joins in saying Black lives matter. Not more than other lives, but in the face of such injustice, Black lives must draw our concerted attention,” said President Rebbecca Stoltzfus during the first virtual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Monday. Stoltzfus said she wanted to honor King and “to draw connections from his life and legacy to us and where we are today and where we go from here.” To describe King, Stoltzfus quoted Vincent Harding, a Mennonite minister and colleague of King who spoke at Goshen several times. Harding described...

By Jackson Steinmetz • January 21, 2021 • News

Goshen College kicked of the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations on Sunday, Jan. 19, with the theme “Unapologetically Just: Rooted in the Way of Jesus.”  Dr. Lakendra Hardware, chair for the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration committee and associate director of student life for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, explained the motivation in continuing to recognise the work of Martin Luther King Jr.  “This year was about really calling us to task as a community, as a country, even -- to be just in all situations,” Hardware said. “Sometimes that's making hard choices, being uncomfortable in spaces, but it’s about...

By Megan Bower • January 24, 2020 • News

This past weekend, the Goshen College community once again gathered to celebrate and honor the life and legacy of the Martin Luther King Jr.. This year marked the 35th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at Goshen College. The first event to take place was the Martin Luther King Jr. Coffeehouse, which was held the evening of Sunday, Jan. 20 in Sauder Concert Hall, a change from prior years.   Dr. LaKendra Hardware, chair for the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration committee and associate director of student life for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, explained the reasoning behind the coffeehouse...

By Kadie Daye • January 24, 2019 • News

Anyone who braved the cold on Monday morning for the Martin Luther King Day Coffeehouse heard first-year slam poet LaShawn Smith-Wright describe the racially-charged discomfort she felt in her Identity, Culture and Community class. Smith-Wright is both a storyteller and a listener. As an African-American woman, experiences of racism have challenged her to think about the nature of stories. Through poetry, she strives to tell her own truth. “People don’t know my story, but always want to comment on it, without actually learning it,” she said. “I never want to be that kind of person.” In an effort to avoid...

By Jenae Longenecker • January 18, 2018 • Features

Following the tradition of years past, Monday morning’s second MLK Day event, the Spoken Word Coffeehouse, gave space for the Goshen community to listen to poetry and song from fourteen students of color, who volunteered to perform for the event. The event was planned by GC Black Student Union (BSU) leaders Alia Byrd, a junior elementary education major, and Achieng Agutu, a senior public relations major. When asked about the mentality behind the organization of the event, Byrd reflected on the importance of hearing the experiences of students of color. “The rest of the day is about listening to voices...

By Jace Longenecker • January 18, 2018 • Features

Passing of both knowledge and pieces of wood took place this past Monday in College Mennonite Church. The day’s main events included a convocation as well as two Beloved Community (a term coined by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) sessions in College Mennonite Church. Both events took place as part of Goshen College’s Martin Luther King Jr. weekend celebration. The convocation took place first, which began with musical performances by Beverly Lapp and Jose Rocha, both professors of music. As they played, students, faculty and community members packed the room. The speaker of the convocation was Leonard Dow, former pastor...

By Nathan Pauls • January 18, 2018 • News

Students gathered together for a convocation led by Sarah Thompson in light of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. Thompson is the executive director of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an organization that seeks to rectify injustice in nonviolent ways. She is also a licensed pastor in the Indiana-Michigan Conference of Mennonite Church USA and has traveled to 60 countries and countless communities through her work. Thompson spoke at College Mennonite Church on Sunday, Jan. 15. Her sermon was on Martin Luther King Jr. and the four horsemen of the apocalypse. These four horsemen were relating conquest to racism, war...

By Elsa Lantz • January 19, 2017 • News

During Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, students, community members and faculty faced the reality of discomfort. The weekend, planned by the MLK Day planning committee, was packed with events: workshops, convocations, sermons, meals and more. The theme of the weekend was “It Is Time,” and students were encouraged to use the hashtag #ItIsTime on social media posts about the weekend. During each event, students had time to express pain, suffering and hope. Events kicked off Sunday morning when Sarah Thompson, executive director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, preached at College Mennonite Church. Following her sermon was a time of response and...

By Abby King • January 19, 2017 • News

This past weekend, 14 students participated in a timely course entitled Conversations on Race, taught by Regina Shands Stoltzfus, professor of peace, justice, and conflict studies. In four sessions over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, students engaged in conversations focused on the history of American racist structures, mass incarceration and white identity, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement. “Every year the course changes with whatever theme we are having for MLK Day,” Stoltzfus said. The theme for MLK Day events this year was “It Is Time.” Stoltzfus continued, “This year it was harder to pin down,...

By Marris Opsahl • January 19, 2017 • Features

Goshen College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations began this past Saturday. The slogan for this year’s theme was “Trouble I’ve Seen: Naming the Nightmare, Re-imagining the Dream.” The celebration filled the weekend with a wide spread of activities for students and community members alike. The weekend began with a few guests including Sofia Samatar, a Goshen College graduate of 1994 and world-renowned science fiction writer. On Saturday, Samatar gave a public reading that featured excerpts from her novel “A Stranger in Olondria,” another excerpt from the upcoming sequel, a short story titled “How I Met the Ghoul,” and a...

By Frances Fonseca • January 28, 2016 • News