Goshen College

Goshen College

170ppx
Motto	Culture For Service
Type	Private Liberal Arts
Established	1894
Affiliation	Mennonite Church USA
Endowment	U.S.$105 million
President	Dr. James Brenneman
Provost	John Yordy
Academic staff	70
Students	1000
Address	1700 South Main Street Goshen, IN 46526 , Goshen , IN , USA 41.56570-85.82860
Campus	Large town: 135 acres (0.5 km²) 1,150 acre Merry Lea
Athletics	File:GoshenCollegeSpiritMark.jpg 14 Division II NAIA teams, called Maple Leafs
Colors	Purple
Mascot	Maple Leaf
Website	www.goshen.edu
Goshen College Logo

Goshen College is a Mennonite liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana with an enrollment of around 1,000 students. The college is accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Goshen College is owned by Mennonite Church USA. Based on Goshen College's standards for hiring, all professors at Goshen profess the Christian faith.

Goshen's Study Service Term (SST), probably its best-known program, takes students overseas for three months. Their time is split between the study of the nation's language and culture, and performing volunteer service. The program was pioneering when it was founded in 1968 before study abroad programs became widespread.

Home to the Mennonite Quarterly Review and the Mennonite Historical Library, a 68,000 volume library compiling the most comprehensive collection of Anabaptist material in the United States.

Goshen tends to maintain a fairly steady 55/45 ratio of women to men. Goshen's student percentage of Mennonite students to other affiliations also is approximately 55/45.

History

The history of Goshen College is a story that is intertwined with that of the Mennonite experience in America. Because both histories have been so important each other, it is necessary to explain Goshen's stories as related to larger American and Mennonite society. Goshen College is the second oldest currently operational Mennonite school of higher education in North America. "Old" Mennonites had traditionally been suspicious of higher education, however by the late 19th century, opinion started to change. Decades earlier US mainline church denominations had started on a spree of founding colleges across America with hopes of developing well trained clergy for their congregations. As more "Old" Mennonites sent their children to other Christian colleges, they realized that without a college of their own, many of their youth would leave the church. Thus, prompted in part as a reaction to mainline Christianity, the "Old" Mennonites started the Elkhart Institute in Elkhart, Indiana in August 1894 to prepare Mennonite youth for college. Because of this vision, even though Goshen is today open to everyone, its historical relationship with the Mennonite Church has had a lasting impact which is still very visible today: home to the Mennonite Quarterly Review, Mennonite Historical Library, Archives of Mennonite Church USA, including Mennonite Central Committee archives, offices of "The Mennonite" and numerous alumni connections with the broader Mennonite Church.

File:MnF=postcard.jpg

Goshen College in the early 1900s

H.A. Mumaw, a practicing physician, first conducted the small operation. In 1894, a group of 15 "Old" Mennonite ministers and laymen started a corporation which they named the Elkhart Institute association. The first diploma was handed out in 1898. Lured by businessmen to relocate several miles away to Goshen, Indiana, the Institute moved in September of 1903 and added a junior college course list, renaming itself Goshen College. By 1906, the Mennonite Board of Education took control of the college, dissolving the Elkhart Institute Association. A complete college course was established in 1908 and the first Bachelor of Arts degrees were conferred in 1910. The Academy program of Goshen College was discontinued in 1935, however after 1910, most of Goshen's students were enrolled in college courses. From 1914-1919, partly out of response to its constituents, Goshen College attempted a "School of Agriculture" which sought to prepare Mennonite young people to return to their rural communities. The hope was that such a program would spark a technological revolution among some of the farmers. Unfortunately the program was never a success, and after World War I the program was cut, five years after it began.

The school closed down during the 1923-1924 school year by the Mennonite Board of Education due to many problems, but reopened the following year. One of many factors in closing the college was due to denominational tension from larger modernist and fundamentalist Christian theologies of the 1920s, and their impact on Mennonite theology at the school. In response to this crisis, many of the Goshen's faculty and dozens of students, angry with the Mennonite Board of education's decision, relocated to Bluffton College. As part of the larger ongoing reaction against liberalism through the early twentieth century, Hesston College and Eastern Mennonite School were formed among "old" Mennonites, although staunch traditionalists realized that no higher education was particularly safe. When the institution was reopened, it was marked by the new leadership of Harold S. Bender, a man whose influence upon the "Old" Mennonites was significant for much of the 20th Century. Bender carefully piloted the stormy waters of theology by stating after Goshen College reopened that Mennonitism was not liberalism. Bender later went on to say that fundamentalism also contributed to problems with theology, and created the The Anabaptist Vision, a "third way" which sought to spell out the direction for the future Mennonite Church. More than arguing doctrine, Harold Bender and a younger group of intellectuals at Goshen College sought to shape the Mennonite faith that was more ideological than institutional. The goal was to articulate a faith that could stand the test of academic scrutiny in broader society while also carefully upholding traditional beliefs of the church. Out of this ideology, Bender started the Mennonite Quarterly Review. Throughout this time, Goshen remained the epicenter of "Old" Mennonite theology and higher education, and became known as the "Goshen Historical Renaissance".

During the 1940s, Goshen was one of Mennonite Central Committee's key places to form a "relief training school" that helped to train volunteers for Civilian Public Service, an alternative to conscription that many Mennonites did because of their beliefs regarding Biblical pacifism and nonresistance. In 1980, Goshen College was granted care of Merry Lea environmental Learning Center, a 1150 acre nature preserve which now offers Goshen's Mater's degree in Environmental Science. In 1993, Harold and Wilma Good, longtime friends of the college, left their estate to Goshen. the estate was estimated at roughly $28 million, the majority in stock of the J.M. Smucker Company because Wilma was a daughter of the company's founder. The college sold the stock and added the funds to its endowment, more than doubling it at the time.[1] The campus experienced a building boom in the later half of the 1990s through the present, with an estimated $30 million dollars worth in new or renovated structures on campus. this time saw the addition of the Roman Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center, the Music Center, the Connector, and the renovation of all dormitories. The college is currently in the midst of a new campus master plan and plan of study which will define the college's priorities for the coming years ahead. Today, more than 20,000 Goshen College alumni have been counted, residing throughout the world in more than 85 countries, and the campus has flourished from less than 50 acres to 135 acres with 18 major buildings. The college now offers 32 majors and 35 minors of academic study, with quality professional programs and facilities.[2]

Academics

Goshen College offers 32 different majors and 35 minors. Some of the most popular programs are American Sign Language, business, biology, nursing, and environmental science. Goshen College recently approved a Master of Arts in Environmental Education and a master's degree in nursing.

Study-Service Term

Started in 1968, Goshen College's Study Service Term is a program that is unique to Goshen. Goshen was one of the forerunners of colleges in offering programs abroad, due in part to its Mennonite heritage of missions and foreign service, particularly Mennonite Central Committee. Study-Service Term (SST) is a requirement for all students at Goshen College. Students are required to spend one semester abroad in a country, where they study the language and culture for six weeks at a foreign university, and then do service for the remaining six weeks. Service can range from working at a hospital, nursing home, kindergarten, or missionary service. Countries Goshen College students can currently visit include Cambodia, China, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Germany, Jamaica (ASL majors), Peru and Senegal. Students from adult classes are offered an SST program to Mexico. Previous SST spots include Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti, and Ivory Coast. Over 7,000 students and 230 faculty members have journeyed to 20 different countries.[3]

Student Life

Athletics

Goshen offers a variety of varsity sports. Goshen is a member of the NAIA and Indiana's Mid-Central Conference (MCC), one of the NAIA's most competitive basketball leagues. Because Goshen is part of the NAIA, it is eligible to award athletic scholarships. Men's sports include Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, and Track & Field. Women's sports are Basketball, Cross Country, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track & Field, and Volleyball.

Intramurals are also an integral part of Goshen's campus. Throughout the year, students participate in Baseball, Soccer, Ping-Pong, Volleyball, Frisbee Football, Badminton, Softball, and Racquetball. Rugball is an especially popular and dangerous sport among Goshen students. Invented by a Goshen College student in 2001, the game is a combination of rugby, football, and soccer, and has gained popularity on several other campuses.[4]

Clubs and Organizations

Goshen College has no official fraternities or sororities. This is due in part to the college's philosophy of inclusiveness and contributing to a sense of community. Regardless, many different types of clubs and organizations exist to help facilitate campus life. Clubs that play a significant part in campus life include: Black Student Union (BSU), Latino Student Union (LSU), Association of Mennonite Ice and Street Hockey (AMISH), Fellowship of Rock Climbers (FORC), American Sign Language Club, Pre-Med Club, Goshen Student Women's Association (GSWA), Knitting Club, Eco-PAX.

Campus Activities Council, or CAC, is the main extracurricular organization on campus that hosts a variety of weekend activities and events. CAC is responsible for Goshen's Saturday Night Live, as well as a talent show at the beginning of each semester called "Kick-off". CAC also hosts "Hour After" shows, where talented students on campus perform music, comedy, or dancing for the audience. Goshen has a vibrant extracirricular program, with many students and faculty being involved on campus.

Media

Goshen College has many different clubs and extracurriculars for students to be involved in on campus. For media outlets, Goshen has its own school news paper, The Record, along with its own weekly news show, GC Journal, and its own radio station, WGCS, branded as 91.1 The Globe. GCTV also has been involved in several large projects, including the broadcast of the school's annual Festival of Carols on WNIT. In 2006, four students, part of Soluz Films, received a grant from the school's Peace and Justice Journalism program to make a documentary entitled Fuerza, on immigration in the Goshen area.

Nickname

Goshen College athletic teams are known as the "Maple Leafs", picked from the city of Goshen being referred to as "The Maple City".

Performing Arts

Goshen College students have a variety of shows to attend in either the Music Center's Sauder Concert Hall or Reith Recital Hall, or the Umble Center, Goshen's theater. With the addition of the Music Center to campus, the college has offered a Performing Arts Series of nationally renowned artists from across the country. Previous guests include Nickel Creek, Colm Wilkinson, Chanticleer, Canadian Brass, Tokyo String Quartet, and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

Spiritual Life

Because Goshen college is a Christian college, spirituality plays an important part of campus life. Although Goshen maintains that any people of different faiths are welcome to the college, the school operates around Judeo-Christian values in regards to operation, justice, and teaching. All faculty members at the school are Christian, with at least eighty percent adhering to Mennonite convictions. The College holds convocations every Monday, and chapels every Friday, with special events every so often, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Students are required to attend fourteen of these services per semester.

Goshen College operates a campus ministries team, headed by the campus pastor. The team is made up of students who all help guide and plan spiritual life on campus for the school year. Activities include managing the network of Goshen's small groups, spiritual friendship, leading campus worship, or planning chapels. Campus worship night is a voluntary praise and reflection time held every Wednesday night. Students also hold a Taizé prayer service every other Tuesday night. Because service is an important aspect of Christian faith, volunteerism ties in with spiritual life on campus.

Volunteerism

Every September, Goshen College participates in an activity called Celebrate Service Day (CSD). Students team with professors and faculty and go out into the larger Goshen community for a day of service. First year students go with their colloquium advisors, while other students go with their dormitory floor or small group. Aside from CSD, many students donate their time to work at local kindergartens, elementary schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Campus facilities

Goshen College currently has three dormitories or residence halls for all students, two junior and senior dorms, apartment living, and several small group houses connected to the college. Four-year residency was typical until the mid-1970s, when a growing student enrollment prompted school officials to forgo building new dormitories and allow upperclassmen to live off campus. In 2005, Goshen College announced its plan to return to four-year residency. Because of concerns for campus life, four-year residency was re-instituted for the class of 2008, despite opposition from students. With more students on campus, the school has spent over $10 million over the past several years building and renovating dorms. As of 2007, Apartments, Kratz, Miller, and Yoder dorms have air conditioning, and all dorms have wireless Internet and cable television.

The Roman Gingerich Recreation and Fitness Center is a $7 million facility constructed in 1994 with three full-sized basketball courts, four racquetball courts, a 200 meter indoor track, swimming pool, hot tub, and 2,800 ft² (260 m²) weight room. The fitness center is open to all students and staff, and is used by community members as well.

The $24 million, 68,000 ft² (6300 m²) Music Center, completed in October 2002, has become regionally renowned for its design and acoustics. The Music Center consists of several main sections: Sauder Concert Hall, Rieth Recital Hall, the Art Gallery, and various classrooms, practice rooms and offices. Several highlights are a central recording studio, MIDI labs, and Opus 41, a 1600 tracker pipe organ, the first in the world with tempering based on alumnus Bradley Lehman's research of Johann Sebastian Bach's notation.

Small Group Housing

Small Group Housing (SGH) is a popular option for many juniors and seniors on Goshen's campus. Started in the 1970s, SGH offers students the opportunity to live in a house arrangement, with common kitchen and living spaces. The purpose of SGH is for students to develop another living experience alternative to dormitory life. This same idea was carried out with the construction of the Apartments. Goshen College maintains that SGH living is a privilege, and students must apply as a group to live in a residence. An application board consisting of resident directors, spiritual life, and physical plant review all potential candidates in the spring for the next school year. Each group must create a housing plan, division of responsibility, show examples of volunteerism, and a commitment to better the Goshen campus, as well as resolve conflict. Other factors considered in the application process include house cumulative GPA, extracurricular involvement, median age of the group, and personal faculty recommendations.[5] Houses are then rewarded to applying groups who exemplify high academic, moral, and volunteer efforts, based on objective and subjective review. Goshen currently offers several Small Group Houses, including: Adelphian House, Aurora House, Avon House, Coffman 2 North, Coffman 2 South, Coffman 3 North, Coffman 3 South, Coffman 4 North, Coffman 4 South, East Hall, Hospital House, Howell House, Hymnal House, Kenwood, Kulp North, Kulp South, Kulp West, Valesco House, and Vita House. All these houses have a combined occupancy of approximately 150 students.

Satellite facilities

In addition to the 135 acre (½ km²) main campus, Goshen College maintains several other facilities. Merry Lea is the college's fully endowed 1,150 acre (4.6 km²) nature preserve located at Wolf Lake in Noble County, Indiana, about 30 miles (50 km) east of Goshen. In 2006, Merry Lea completed construction of a two-million dollar facility with classroom and living space. The construction was platinum LEED certified, representing the highest quality of environmental construction process currently available. Merry Lea hosts various schools and organizations throughout the year, and offers a Masters program in environmental education.

Goshen's Florida Keys Marine Lab, located on Long Key, FL (Layton), provides learning space for the marine biology class during May term. Long Key, vacation home to Zane Grey offers an opportunity for students to discover the ecosystems that create the Florida Keys.

Other properties maintained by Goshen College include Brunk's Cabin in Cass County, Michigan.

Core values

In 2002 the college approved five core values that would become the vision of the college. These five values: Christ-centered, passionate learners, global citizens, compassionate peacemakers, and servant leaders continue to define the college's future. These values were selected by Goshen College's board of directors because they identify the college's understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

Christ-centered

Based off 1 Corinthians 3:11, this is the main value with which the college seeks to identify. The remaining four branch from this value.

Passionate learners

Goshen College believes that its faith is supported and sustained by knowledge. As a center of learning, its goals are to educate and renew the minds of its students through a spirit of academic excellence. (47Template:Bibleverse with invalid book)

Servant leaders

In a world searching for future leaders, Goshen seeks to produce servant leaders, embodied by the example Jesus has shown. By following Christ's example, Goshen seeks to create a culture of joyful service. (Matthew 20:26–28)

Compassionate peacemakers

Goshen College embraces biblical shalom, the peace that God intends to build for humanity. Goshen seeks to renounce the violent and oppressive powers of this world while living lives that are examples of God's peace. (Matthew 5:9)

Global citizens

Goshen College teaches its students to go forth into the world offering their talents and gifts. Goshen seeks to respect the differences of others, while at the same time seeking common ground. (47Template:Bibleverse with invalid book)

See also

• List of Goshen College people

Past Presidents

• John D. Yordy (Interim President), 2004-06
  
• Shirley H. Showalter, 1997-2004
  
• Henry D. Weaver, (Interim President), 1996
  
• Victor S. Stoltzfus, 1984-96
  
• J. Lawrence Burkholder, 1971-84
  
• Paul E. Mininger, 1954-70
  
• Carl Kreider (Acting President), 1950-51, 1970-71
  
• Ernest E. Miller, 1940-54
  
• Sanford C. Yoder, 1923-40
  
• Daniel Kauffman, 1922-23
  
• Irvin R. Detweiler (Acting President), 1920-22
  
• Henry Frank Reist, 1919-20
  
• George J. Lapp, 1918-19
  
• John E. Hartzler, 1913-18
  
• Noah E. Byers, 1901-13
  

Principals of the Elkhart Institute

• Noah E. Byers, 1898-1903
  
• Willis E. Tower, 1895-98
  
• Rev. F.A. Hosmer, 1894-95[6]

Recent Events

On October 25, 2006, Goshen College announced that it was the recipient of a $12.5 million Lilly grant to create the Center for Intercultural Learning and Teaching (CITL). The purpose of this grant is to research challenges that come with changing demographics in rural towns with small colleges, hopefully putting Goshen College at the forefront of the study. Goshen received this money in part because of it's heritage with SST, and priding itself on being a good "global citizen", one of the school's core values. Goshen College's location in Elkhart County is optimal for such as study because of the community's large and rapidly growing Latino population (12.6 percent of the population in 2006). The grant will also provide a venue for growing and retaining minority (particularly Latino) students. Despite growing minority populations, Indiana's minority enrollment in its colleges and universities has only increased two percent. [7]

Traditions and Trivia

• Goshen's motto, "Culture for Service" was coined by president Noah E. Byers in 1903.

• Goshen's school colors, purple and white, were modeled after Northwestern University, where President Byers attended and wanted to model Goshen after.

• One of the college's many traditions is "sampling" sap from the city of Goshen's official Maple Tree, located on campus, and "testing" how many more weeks of winter there will be. Professors from the science department bring out their equipment with much fanfare to determine the official length of winter. In 2006, the maple tree was removed because of disease rotting the hardwood and was replaced by a new tree, now the official maple tree of Goshen. In 2007, new president Jim Brenneman replaced this tradition (which probably resulted in the early death of the maple) with "Weather or Not Day"; a day celebrating Northern Indiana's fickle weather.

• Early (1925) advertisements for the college were refreshingly direct. One said “Goshen [is] not the best college in the United States. But it is better than the rest for Mennonite young people.”

Alma Mater

There's a spot in Indiana, where the leafy Maple grows
It's the dear and glorious parkside, where the Elkhart River flows
'Tis a spot we love most dearly, 'Tis a spot we'll cherish long
After youth and strength have faded, and this world has heard our song

Chorus:
Goshen College, Ever Singing
To our motto we'll be true
Honor to our Master bringing
Alma Mater, we love you

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• Campus map
• Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center
• FM 91.1 The Globe, WGCS website