Donor endows Atlee and Winifred Beechy Peace Peace, Justice and Reconciliation Lectureship

Atlee ’35 and Winifred Beechy ’38 dedicated 34 years of their lives to counseling and educating Goshen College students while promoting peace and justice in our communities, our nation and our world. Atlee served as dean of students, director of counseling services and professor of education, psychology and peace studies, helping found the college’s peace studies program. Winifred was a teacher, writer and coordinator of peace and social concerns for the Mennonite Church and served in numerous overseas relief and service assignments with Atlee.

Winifred and Atlee were co-leaders of the first GC Study-Service Trimester in Poland (1974) and then in China (1980). They traveled to dozens of countries in the interest of international education, relief work and peace and justice concerns under the auspices of Goshen College, Mennonite Central Committee and other organizations.

Corinne (Rohrer) Dixon ’66 initiated the fund with a gift in 2015, and it was established with the knowledge and consent of Atlee and Winifred’s daughters Karen ’66, Judith ’70 and Susan ’72.

The goal of this endowed lectureship is to provide an annual opportunity for the college community to focus, re-examine and promote those ideals through a public lecture by a speaker knowledgeable and expert in peace, justice and reconciliation issues in current local, regional, national or international affairs.

At this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Study Day convocation, Leonard Dow, Stewardship and Development Specialist at Everence Financial, presented first annual Atlee and Winifred Beechy Peace Lecture.

The fund remains open for future contributions. If you wish to make a gift to build up this endowment fund, please make your checks payable to Goshen College and indicate that the gift is for the “Beechy Peace Lectureship Fund” either on the memo line or in a separate note.