The Bulletin | Fall/Winter 2021
The Fall/Winter 2021 issue of The Bulletin will arrive in mailboxes in early December. Look for yours!
ABOUT THE COVER
Illustration by Hannah Gerig Meyer ’08
Community engagement is rooted in a place and in its people. While this college may be more broadly known for its history of global community engagement, our local community engagement goes back to our founding in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts. Since then, Goshen College has played an important and enduring role in shaping the people and culture of Northern Indiana — and in particular, Elkhart County — but also being deeply shaped by this community we call home. This topographic map of part of Elkhart County represents the land, landmarks and pathways of this particular place, and the chain of purple paper people represent the partnerships and relationships we seek to build, hand-in-hand, together.
FROM THE PRESIDENT
The enduring value of ‘Culture for Service’
By Rebecca J. Stoltzfus ’83, president
FEATURES
What is our community engagement?
Our mission begins: “Goshen College transforms local and global communities…” It is also true that our local and global communities transform us.
As we ponder our local community engagement, we ask: What would Elkhart County be like if Goshen College had never been formed? And how different would Goshen College be if it began somewhere other than here in this land filled with diverse people — from Amish to Evangelicals, from Appalachian migrants to Mexican immigrants, from artists to manufacturers — who are exceptionally community minded?
Meet our students and local alumni who demonstrate what community engagement looks like, how it happens and what kind of an impact it can have — on us and the people we engage with.
- What is community engagement? An introduction
By Erika Buhring, Suzanne Ehst, David Kendall, Jan Shetler ’78, Duane Stoltzfus ’81 — the directors of the Center for Community Engagement - How students engage the community
Meet six students who have had unique college opportunities to learn experientially and connect with the local community at the same time. - The impact of alumni in Elkhart County
Meet 13 of our 3,407 alumni who live in Elkhart County and are great examples of the ways alumni deeply shape various corners of this community.
LASTING TIES
Investing in the community, ahead of the curve
BY JOE SPRINGER ’80, curator, Mennonite Historical Library