Sustainability
March 15, 2018
Speaker challenges campus resource use
Students were called to action against coal-fired power plants on March 6. Ashley Williams, who is an Indiana organizer with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, came to campus this week to give a workshop about coal-fired power plants in the area and what their effects are locally and globally. She became involved in the campaign after learning about fracking mining that was going to take place in her hometown, Ottawa, Illinois. After doing more researched about this environmental issue, she found ways to get involved. She started petitions, went to local county meetings, talked with the governor of Illinois, organized...
February 22, 2018
Joint investment to bring solar panels to campus
Solar panels will be installed on the roof of the Roman Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center at Goshen College announced by President Stoltzfus at the staff meeting on Feb. 12. The installation of 924 solar panels has been made possible by an ongoing partnership between GC and College Mennonite Church. Interest in a solar installation began a couple years ago when David Lapp Jost ‘11 and Lucas Geiser Godshalk ‘13 started generating excitement at the church and fundraising. More recently it became a shared project which will allow for a larger installation. “My friend Lucas and I both have a lot of...
February 15, 2018
Sustainability potlucks leads to conversation
Goshen College may be known for many things, but one thing that needs more attention from students are the Sustainability Potlucks. About three years ago, a film featuring Elkhart County’s food system was shown on campus and the faculty organized a potluck for that event. Eventually, those involved in this initial event realized a potluck would be a great way for students to connect, talk, and learn about sustainability, food systems, and issues concerning the community and agriculture. Every year the group of people involved in the sustainability potlucks keeps growing. One person who has been there since the very...
February 15, 2018
GC celebrates lowest energy consumption in 25 years
As 2017 came to a close, Goshen College celebrated its lowest year of electrical consumption since 1991 — despite building space increasing by 60 percent — seeing a 23 percent reduction from 20 years ago and a 35 percent reduction from 10 years ago. Reducing the energy consumption is an important goal at GC. Glenn Gilbert, director of facilities at the college, explained how since 2005, when energy prices spiked following Hurricane Katrina, the college had been using an energy management system and had been more aggressive with scheduling. “If you go into a room and it’s not scheduled to...
October 5, 2017
Brant leads campus-wide printing reduction efforts
During the first week of the fall semester some students, such as Mariah Ackerman, noticed a lack of paper being handed out in many classes in comparison to previous semesters. “Some professors handed out printed copies of the syllabus and some told us that it was online,” Ackerman said. The change is a result of a suggestion of best practice handed down to faculty by Jo-Ann Brant, interim academic dean, in order to reduce paper usage on campus. According to Brant, “There has always been an effort [at Goshen College] to reduce the usage of paper on campus wherever possible....
September 14, 2017
Sustainability Leadership Semester currently underway
Reena Ramos, Laura Hochstetler, José Chiquito and Seth Lapp, the four students who are participating in the Sustainability Leadership Semester, are embarking on a journey that will take them through the ecosystems of the Elkhart and St. Joseph rivers all the way to their destination: Lake Michigan. So far, the journey has been an enjoyable one for the participants. “The trip is an important opportunity to navigate the local watershed in the most experiential way possible,” said Ramos, a senior. However, the trip isn’t just interacting with the flora and fauna along the waterways. There is some hard work involved,...
March 16, 2017
The discipline of sustainable food
Growing up in south-central Indiana, Jon Zirkle didn’t have many ideas as to what he wanted to do as a career. He found himself in a position many young people find themselves in: a creative, artistic person, with a love for the outdoors, open to the possibilities. Zirkle is an educator and farm manager at Merry Lea Sustainable Farm, part of an environmental center owned by Goshen College. The farm is located in Albion, a 30-minute drive southeast from Goshen. “I didn’t know what I wanted after I left high school, but I know I was passionate about the environment...
February 23, 2017
Summit for justice meets at Merry Lea
This past weekend, while students gathered outside on the lawn to enjoy warm temperatures, a group of 45 students gathered at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center for the Fourth Annual Sustainability Summit. This year’s theme: justice. Environmental justice, social justice and the drive to “let justice roll on like a river, righteousness as a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24). This is all to facilitate a conversation surrounding ways to create change in one’s own life and community. The weekend began with the showing of the documentary “Eagle Gone” by film-maker Terry Doran, which explores the story of Native Americans in Indiana....
February 16, 2017
Divestment: an ongoing discussion
Amid conversations on campus concerning how Goshen College will respond to calls for divestment from Chase Bank, which is helping to finance the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Army Corps of Engineers has granted the easement allowing for the continued construction of that pipeline. Students who are campaigning for the divestment have met with key administrators: Ken Newbold, the provost; Deanna Risser, the interim vice president for finance; and Glenn Gilbert, the utilities manager and sustainability coordinator. These conversations were held on Feb. 2 and 14, with a shifting national narrative as the backdrop. The proposed pipeline, which would carry 470,000...
February 10, 2017
Students urge GC divestment from Chase
Naomi Gross and Hannah Yoder, both seniors, wrote* a petition on Jan. 31 to the Goshen College community which stated their demand for the institution to divest its accounts in J.P. Morgan Chase, the banking company which has given its support to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. That day was also the day in which North Dakota senators recommended an easement passed on to them by the Army Corps of Engineers suggesting they allow the drilling under Lake Oahe and the Missouri River, both on top of lands held by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s land. The petition...
February 2, 2017
Radical garden, epic harvest
Luke Gascho, a vibrant Goshen citizen, rejects the idea of hibernation. “This morning, as part of my breakfast, I had blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and currants, all that we had frozen,” Gascho said. “And that’s every morning.” It’s the middle of winter in Indiana: a bleak, grey sky the norm for the next few months. The average Goshen resident slips into a pseudo-hibernation, taking asylum within homes, refusing to brave another day without sun. Gascho is a radical gardener, transforming his home and garden at the corner of Kercher Road and Route 15 into a smorgasbord of growth. Adjacent...
January 27, 2017
CMC looks toward solar panels for energy
In order to be a light in their community, College Mennonite Church is on a mission to install solar panels for their sanctuary. CMC’s solar mission is led by David Lapp Jost and Lucas Geiser Godshalk, Goshen College alums from 2011 and 2013 respectively, who have spent the last year formulating the plan for CMC’s solar panels. CMC is not the first Mennonite church to explore solar panels and will most likely not be the last. Benton Mennonite, Waterford Mennonite and Kern Road are all local congregations that have already invested in solar and renewable energy, some with smaller budgets...
December 8, 2016
GC group attends ‘Greening the Statehouse’ conference
Ellen Conrad, Kayla Gray and Morgan Short, all seniors, and Phil Mason, executive director of graduate and continuing studies, joined over 500 participants at the “Greening the Statehouse” conference to discuss environmental injustices in Indiana on Nov. 19. The seniors, all passionate environmentalists, heard about the conference through an email from Goshen College club, EcoPAX, just a few days before the event took place. Gray, an environmental science and sustainability major, has finished taking all of the classes required for her major and missed learning about the environment. “Last year, I did the sustainability leadership semester at Merry Lea,” Gray...
November 17, 2016
Benefit to raise funds for Standing Rock
Currently, near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota there are thousands of people nonviolently protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The Dakota Access Pipeline would put the community’s water source at risk and destroy sacred Native American sites. As for students, being so far removed from the conflict doesn’t stop them from trying to help. On Saturday, Nov. 19, residents of Elkhart and Goshen are trying to raise funds to send to the water protectors at Standing Rock. Standing with Standing Rock: A Benefit Event will include many local and non-local musicians, artists, poets and speakers. Some of...
November 3, 2016
The growth of an ethical chef
On a cool autumn evening, with a guest on hand to watch her at work in the kitchen, Naomi Gross, a senior, surveyed the counter top. The surface was covered in produce: celery, tomatoes, onions, and plenty of apples. This sight may seem challenging to some, however Gross greatly enjoys the process of cooking. Some of the vegetables had begun to show signs of going bad, from insects here and small rot there. Fortunately, she said, all of it was free. “Normally we get most of the food we use to cook with from the corner garden on 9th Street,...