I wonder. I wonder, when God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “seek the welfare of the city,” could such a mandate, by extension, be applied to our mission as a college in relationship to the City of Goshen and other cities and towns within our sphere of relationships? I wonder how any college – especially a private Christian liberal arts college like Goshen College – assesses its value to the city or community in which it lives? I wonder how a town or city determines the relative value of having a college or university as part of its community?

During the last 200 years of the Industrial Revolution, right up to our own time, it was generally understood that building strong communities meant spending capital, usually defined as money. On the way to the flattened world of the global marketplace a funny thing happened. We became more aware of how human, social, cultural and intellectual capital also played crucial roles in the health and wealth of a community. Lester Thurow, economist and former dean of MIT’s School of Management, declared a community’s intellectual capital its “most important resource.” In truth, a vital, growing, vibrant community or college requires a variety of forms of capital. In the pages of this issue of the Bulletin, the town-gown connections between Goshen College and the City of Goshen underscore our mutual interdependence in creating an awesome context for learning and living.

Bill Johnson, former CEO of Goshen Rubber and long-time benefactor of Goshen College, some years back introduced the Horizon Project to the Goshen/Elkhart civic and business community. He laid out an inspiring vision for Elkhart County that can easily be said of many other cities and towns in which our alumni live. In it, he prophesied that “Elkhart County will be a globally recognized center for creativity … built by residents who have the courage to take risks and help each other succeed in an environment of tolerance and respect that provides opportunities for all.” He went on, “Outstanding businesses and talented professionals will locate in our county because of the excellent schools, rich cultural life, clean and healthy environment, safe attractive neighborhoods and vibrant downtowns. The entrepreneurial culture of the county will be supported by a highly skilled workforce, a diverse economy, opportunities for life-long learning and effective governmental collaboration and community planning.”

“We must,” he concluded, “recognize that education is more than a benign necessity, and is more than an obligation for young people; it is an absolute economic necessity” for the future of Indiana, especially for Elkhart County. What a truly remarkable vision, not just for Goshen or Indiana, but for the whole world!

Recently, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce defined those skills that are absolutely necessary to succeed in the 21st century. The Commission and CEOs of major industries like UPS, Dell and Microsoft insist that their 21st century employees must be global in their outlook and able to easily cross cultural and language boundaries. The Goshen City Web site speaks for all of the schools in Goshen, including Goshen College, when it recognizes the assets a diverse population offers to a community: “… exposure to [such a] rich diversity of people helps prepare students to successfully deal with the global marketplace of the 21st century.” I couldn’t agree more. At Goshen College through Study-Service Term, our new Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning, our international students, our Multicultural Affairs Office and our deep commitment to helping prepare leaders for the global church, we have and always will work to fulfill our calling of creating Christ-centered global citizens.

Jim Collin’s definition of a truly great social organization, including a great college, invites us to scrutinize our town-gown relationships by asking: Does Goshen College “make such a unique contribution to the communities it touches and does it work with such unadulterated excellence that if it were to disappear, it would leave a hole that could not be easily filled by any other institution on the planet”? I hope and pray so!

Will Goshen College always seek the welfare of the city? We will.