Goshen College seniors Tavo Parral, an elementary education major from San Antonio, and Yvette Cardenas, a nursing major from outside Chicago, meet with Assistant Director of Diverse Student Support Sophie Metzger in the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning offices.
Photo by Jodi H. Beyeler

Goshen College students Tavo Parral and Yvette Cardenas recently donned caps and gowns to receive their diplomas at graduation in front of their families—the blood relatives who traveled from a distance and the families they formed on campus.

The two seniors, who were both raised by single moms, were able to attend Goshen College—along with nine other graduates this year—because they received scholarships through the college’s Center for Intercultural and International Education (CIIE), which offers up to full tuition for first-generation Latino students.

Though they both experienced initial challenges as they adapted to being away from home at a small college in a small town, being ethnic minorities on a predominantly white campus and not being Mennonite, the support they found through CIIE made all the difference.

“They gave me opportunities and helped me feel welcomed here,” said Parral. “They set me up to succeed with financial, emotional and academic support. And they told me that if I ever needed anything, ‘we’re here for you.’”

Being a first-generation minority college student, that support was “definitely needed,” he said. “These people have become another family for me and it feels like home when I am with them.”

CIIE
CIIE was developed (it was formerly called the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning) when Goshen College received a $12.5 million grant in 2006 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to recruit and retain first-generation Latino students, to create an intercultural learning community and to research the impact of changing demographics in the region and the campus.

One measurement of what has changed at the college since is to consider that in 2007, 6.2 percent of undergraduate students were Latino, and in 2012 that almost doubled to 12.3 percent.

As the grant-funding period comes to an end for CIIE, the college’s goal is to become a Hispanic Serving Institution, which requires that at least 25 percent of students be Latino.

“CIIE serves as a sign post of our abiding commitment to make Goshen College, inside and out, top to bottom, through and through, a World House of Learning,” said President Jim Brenneman. “Everything Goshen College has been in the past has brought us to this moment.”

Getting to Goshen
For Parral, an elementary education major, the home he grew up in is 1,300 miles away in San Antonio, Texas. College wasn’t even on his radar until high school, though he had always been a good student; it just wasn’t the priority in his family.

Culturally, Goshen was also worlds away from the big city, Catholic, Spanglish-speaking Mexican-American community he grew up in. He adapted to living in a small town, to the food and now “most of my friends are white,” he said. The Midwestern winters, on the other hand, are harder to get used to.

For Cardenas, a nursing major, home was a little closer—just outside of Chicago—and education was a high priority for her family. Her mom, who hadn’t graduated from high school and struggled to get ahead, always said “not going to college wasn’t an option.”

When the time came, Cardenas was planning to go to a community college near because of the cost and to be close to family. But at a college fair, she was instead drawn to the purple table and “fell in love with Goshen College.”

“Being the first in my family to attend college was something honorable, but also a responsibility, especially when you have two younger sisters who look up to you,” she said.

Understanding selves and developing as leaders
As participants in CIIE, Parral and Cardenas had the opportunity to develop as leaders and explore their ethnic identity.

“They really make you examine yourself, what you believe, your identity and how you can then use that to help others. Growing up, we never sat down and discussed being Latinos,” Cardenas said. “We just were.”

Not only have these students been changed by Goshen College, but they have changed the college as well. CIIE encourages participants to serve the campus and the broader community while developing their leadership skills.

Parral was the men’s basketball team captain and a resident assistant. Cardenas helped plan events for local Latino high school students and facilitated a mentoring group for other college students.

“I now see myself as a leader and a community organizer,” she said. “I gained self-confidence that I can do it because I know my own talents better.”

Faith connections
Most of the students who are part of the CIIE program are Catholic, like Parral, or Evangelical, like Cardenas, but not Mennonite like the majority of GC students. Though neither Parral nor Cardenas have become Mennonite, they both spoke of coming to respect and appreciate the faith during their four years. But more importantly, their own faiths have been impacted positively in this context.

“Experiencing other faith traditions really opened me up spiritually and deepened my Catholic faith,” said Parral, who participated in Catholic worship on and off campus. “It helped me to understand myself better and appreciate my Catholic faith.”

Beyond Goshen
The CIIE program culminates with helping students integrate their ethnic identity and leadership development for life beyond. Both Parral and Cardenas are clear that they want their life work to be focused on helping others. For Parral, that means teaching and mentoring kids. For Cardenas, being a nurse is where she finds fulfillment, especially working with non-English speaking patients.

“After taking care of a Spanish-speaking patient who couldn’t understand a word from his health care professionals, it became evident that I was able to give a bit more by helping bridge that gap between two cultures—two cultures that I was born into,” she said. “I have learned that being bicultural and bilingual is a blessing.”

With graduation over, Cardenas plans to move back to Chicago, pass the nursing board exam, get a good job and help her mom financially. In five years, she hopes to put her nursing skills to use as a missionary.

Parral will return home to the Mexican-American community that he grew up in as he prepares to seek his first teaching job. But his second home has left a mark on him.

“Being here forever changed me,” he said. “I know myself now.”

- By Jodi H. Beyeler

Luis Urrea.

Mexican-American poet, essayist and novelist Luis Urrea will present Goshen College’s annual S.A. Yoder Lecture on Monday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. The lecture, titled “The Border, Immigration and the Devil’s Highway: A Journey with the Author Luis Urrea,” will take place in the college’s Church-Chapel and is free and open to the public.

Urrea is a prolific and award-winning writer. He is a master of language and a gifted storyteller who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana, Mexico to a Mexican father and an American mother, Urrea grew up in San Diego, Calif.

The author of 14 books, Urrea has published extensively in many genres and has received many prestigious awards. In 2009 he wrote his first-ever mystery short story, “Amapola,” and won an Edgar Award. “The Devil’s Highway”, his 2004 non-fiction account of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert, won the Lannan Literary Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Urrea attended the University of California at San Diego, earning an undergraduate degree in writing, and did his graduate studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder. In addition to receiving a teaching fellowship at Harvard University, he has also taught at Massachusetts Bay Community College, the University of Colorado and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Urrea is currently a professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

As a young man, Urrea served as a relief worker amongst people living in the slums in Tijuana. Issues relating to the U.S.-Mexican border have defined his life and colored much of his writing. Regarding this point he once said, “The border is simply a metaphor that makes it easier for me to write about the things that separate people all over the world, even when they think there is no fence.”

The S.A. Yoder Lecture Series, begun in 1972, honors Dr. Samuel A. Yoder, a professor at Goshen College from 1930 to 1935 and again from 1946 until his death in 1970. The lecture is sponsored by the Goshen College English Department and the Center for Intercultural and International Education.

Exhibit

Young adults from local high schools and Goshen College are combining art with social justice to share their perspectives in a new exhibit in the Goshen College Good Library Gallery, titled “Photovoice: Student Perspectives on Iterculturalism, Diversity and Educational Access.” The exhibit will show in the Good Library Gallery from Sunday, Sept. 16 until Friday, Nov. 6, with an opening reception on Sunday, Sept. 16 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

A collection of photographs and accompanying narratives, the exhibit allows participants to utilize photography and creative writing to voice their perspectives and share their stories. The exhibit is the culmination of two projects involving local youth in examining critical social issues. The first engaged local Latino high school and college students in examining educational access. The second project engaged Goshen College students in exploring interculturalism on campus.

The show is sponsored by the Goshen College Center for Intercultural and International Education and the Theater Department. The Good Library Gallery, located on the lower level of the Harold and Wilma Good Library on the campus of Goshen College, is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 3 to 11 p.m. on Sunday. Hours vary during academic breaks, summer and holidays. For gallery hours, call (574) 535-7418.

Building on the success of its master’s degree programs in environmental education and nursing, Goshen College will offer a new Master of Arts in Intercultural Leadership, starting in January 2013. It will be led by (left to right) Associate Dean of Intercultural Development and Educational Partnerships Dr. Rebecca Hernandez, Associate Dean Dr. Ross Peterson-Veatch and Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs Anita Stalter.

GOSHEN, Ind. – Building on the success of its master’s degree programs in environmental education and nursing, Goshen College will offer a new Master of Arts in Intercultural Leadership, starting in January 2013. The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools approved the program on Aug. 22.

“This program is a natural extension of GC’s longstanding expertise in the area of intercultural and international education,” said Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs Anita Stalter. “The curriculum is designed to meet the demand for leaders with the knowledge, skills and capacity to lead increasingly diverse organizations.”

The program is designed for mid-career working professionals, including business managers, educators, health-care professionals and non-profit leaders, who want to enhance their preparation for engaging the multiple cultural contexts in which modern organizations operate. The 18-month program consists of three 9-day residential sessions on campus (in January, July and January) as well as online coursework. Tuition for the program will be $6,300 per semester (3 semesters total), plus textbook fees. Numerous current Goshen College faculty members will teach in the program, which will be led by Associate Dean of Intercultural Development and Educational Partnerships Dr. Rebecca Hernandez and Associate Dean Dr. Ross Peterson-Veatch.

“Students will gain practical skills as well as expertise in organizational theory, with a unique emphasis on understanding how culture informs effective approaches to leadership,” said Hernandez. “In addition, students will design and implement a major action research project which links learnings from the program to their professional contexts. Throughout the program, students will demonstrate and reflect on their growth using an electronic portfolio.”

This master’s degree is one of several initiatives that were part of a $12.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., which Goshen College used to establish the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning (CITL). The work of the center, launched in 2006, has focused on three areas: researching the resources and challenges that changing demographics bring to a rural Midwest community and to higher education, creating an intercultural learning environment to benefit all students and strengthening current efforts in recruiting and retaining regional Latino and other minority students. More specifically, it has established scholarships and recruited minority undergraduate cohorts, provided cultural programming on campus, connected with the local Latino community, improved student support services on campus, offered opportunities for faculty to learn Spanish, developed multiple research initiatives, created a “bridge” program to assist minority students in preparation for college, presented research findings at national conferences, partnered with other educational institutions and helped assess and renew the college’s general education curriculum.

“With the launch of this program, we seek to address a major challenge of the 21st century, which is the need to promote systemic global awareness in all our institutions, organizations and communities,” said President James E. Brenneman. “This new master’s degree is closely tied to the college’s vision and our core values of Christ-centeredness, passionate learning, servant leadership, compassionate peacemaking and global citizenship will provide the framework through which the program will operate.”

For more information about Goshen College’s Master of Arts in Intercultural Leadership, contact Rebecca Hernandez at (574) 535-7800 or rhernandez@goshen.edu.

For more information about The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools go to www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org or call (312) 263-0456.

To learn more about and order copies of the reports, contact Goshen College’s Center for Intercultural Teaching & Learning at (574) 535-7800, or visit their website at www.goshen.edu/citl. Reports can be purchased for $10 per volume, or for $20 for all three volumes.

GOSHEN, Ind. – Goshen College’s Institute for Latino Educational Achievement, in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, published a three-volume series of research reports, titled “Latinos in Northern Indiana,” during the spring of 2011. The reports assess the educational experiences of local Latinos and provide recommendations for improvement.

The research shows a rapid growth of the local Latino population over the past 20 years, though the source of the growth isn’t from immigration; it is from births in the United States.

During a press conference to announce the publication of the reports, Associate Director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies Allert Brown-Gort said, “We need to work on how we integrate these young people and how we make them part of Indiana’s future. We cannot do well unless they do well.”

Many local Latinos have low incomes along with low high school graduation rates and high poverty rates. According to the research, they are generally welcomed and comfortable in schools, but foreign-born students face more social difficulties than those born in the United States.

The report includes several recommendations: better cultural awareness (cultural knowledge and bilingual counselors and teachers), more guidance in college preparation and peer-support programs for parents.

Robert Reyes, director of research for Goshen’s Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning, said, “We are responding to one of the greatest social problems of our time – the challenge of education inequality in America.”

Reyes described the reports as written in a qualitative manner, using stories and quotes to bring the research to life. The first volume, “A Demographic Profile,” examines the recent demographic surge of the Latino population in St. Joseph, Noble and Elkhart counties in North Central Indiana. The second volume, “A Historical Account of Their Settlement 1990-2009,” describes the settlement and adjustment experiences of Latinos in the four cities of South Bend, Elkhart, Goshen and Ligonier. The third volume, “Educational Challenges and Opportunities,” assesses how Latino immigrant students and parents experience the educational systems in North Central Indiana.

Brown-Gort said that he hopes people beyond the academic setting will use the information. “They’re not academic documents; they’re not meant to be stored in a library,” he said. “They’re really meant for working decision makers at all levels from the local to the state and, not only in government, in business also.”

– By Alysha Landis

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.

GOSHEN, Ind. – An “exciting new chapter” has begun at Goshen College, according to the college’s President James E. Brenneman on March 24 as he launched three institutes, all focused on the college’s distinctive academic strengths as they relate to faith.

“Today, I’m pleased to formally announce the creation and launch at Goshen College of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, the Institute for Ecological Regeneration and the Institute for Latino Educational Achievement,” said Brenneman at a gathering on campus. “Naming these distinctive programs as identifiable institutes will make explicit the quality of our academic work and I believe these institutes will enhance our vision of becoming a truly interdisciplinary, integrative liberal arts college.”

Academic Dean Anita Stalter added, “An institute is a place of study, reflection, analysis and education. The focus of each institute will be achieved by conducting and collaborating on research, delivering academic programming, and sharing what is learned with others.”

Institute for Ecological Regeneration

The Institute for Ecological Regeneration, under the umbrella of Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, “will be committed to bringing renewal and vitality to ecosystems through research and education,” said Luke Gascho, executive director of Merry Lea and director of the institute. “Humankind is part of – not separate from – local, regional, national and global ecosystems. Humans have adversely impacted many natural systems — necessitating the call for transformative practices. The institute will study natural history, biotic and abiotic systems and the intersecting human dynamics. The institute will use the best investigative techniques and apply imagination to achieve an improved care and stewardship of creation. Principles of faith and shalom will guide the choice of actions to bring regeneration to ecological issues.”

The projects and programs of the institute will be designed on the integration of four core themes: land, community, faith and peace. “The intersection of these four themes will create a powerful synergy,” Gascho said. Conducting research, maintaining field collections and data, delivering formal academic courses, hosting symposia and disseminating learnings through various media to an array of publics will achieve the goals of the institute.

“The institute provides a context for studying, integrating and applying the interdisciplinary constructs of resilience of the land, responsibilities of people in community, and commitments to peace and justice,” Gascho said.

The current and planned programs of the institute include the agroecology summer intensive and a sustainability semester in residence for undergraduate students, a master’s in environmental education, and conferences and symposia on topics of ecological stewardship. Undergraduate and graduate students will have direct involvement in the goals of the institute through various research projects.

For more information about the Institute for Ecological Regeneration, visit www.goshen.edu/institutes/eco. Questions about the Institute for Ecological Regeneration can be directed to Dr. Luke Gascho: (260) 799-5869; lukeag@goshen.edu

Institute for Latino Educational Achievement

The Institute for Latino Educational Achievement is the research arm of the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning (CITL) at Goshen College. The research agenda of the institute is focused on factors that impact the academic success of Latino students in higher education settings, particularly in small liberal arts colleges in the Midwest.

“Findings from research will be used to improve educational practices at Goshen College that impact the academic success of Latino students,” said Rebecca Hernandez, director for CITL and the institute. “Improving the educational success of Latino students is a relevant issue locally, regionally and globally. The Latino population continues to grow across the United States and it is imperative that the factors leading to their academic achievement be both identified and put into practice in higher education institutions.”

The current and planned research of the institute includes a three-part series titled “Latinos in Northern Indiana”; research on faculty and students of color in the Council of Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU); and community, schools and families action research. Undergraduate students, along with faculty and visiting research fellows, will participate in the institute’s research agenda.

For more information about the Institute for Latino Educational Achievement, visit www.goshen.edu/institutes/latino. Questions about the Institute for Latino Educational Achievement can be directed to Dr. Rebecca Hernandez: (574) 535-7775; rhernandez@goshen.edu

Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism

In recent decades, the most dramatic growth in the Anabaptist-Mennonite family of faith — as in the Christian church more generally — has occurred in countries outside of Europe and North America. There are 1.7 million Anabaptist-Mennonites in the world, representing 227 groups in 83 countries. “From the perspective of five centuries of Anabaptist history, this is a phenomenal development that is transforming the character and future of the tradition,” said John D. Roth, director of the Mennonite Historical Library, Goshen College Professor of History and director of the new Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism. “Mennonites in North America are vaguely aware of this transformation, but we have not been clear about the details of what is unfolding or about its larger significance and meaning.”

The institute – a program of the college’s Mennonite Historical Library (MHL), one of the world’s most comprehensive collections related to Anabaptist and Mennonite history– will build on a rich tradition at Goshen College of Anabaptist-Mennonite studies, the unique oncampus resources of the Mennonite Church USA Archives and the expertise of faculty. The institute will help to nurture a new generation of scholarship and exchange explicitly oriented to the global Anabaptist church. “The institute will serve as a visible and vibrant point of intersection between Goshen College students, Mennonite Church USA, the worldwide Anabaptist communion and the rapidly expanding global Christian church,” Roth said.

The current and planned research of the institute includes the Global Anabaptist Wikipedia, a Global Anabaptist History publication series and participation in the Multi-Nation Anabaptist Profile. The current and planned programs of the institute includes regular conferences, international partnerships with Anabaptist Study Centers, visiting scholars and church leaders and hosting of global church partners. Each year, the institute will identify a Goshen College international student who is associated with a Mennonite church to serve as a student intern or research assistant, as well as offering other student research opportunities.

For more information about the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, visit www.goshen.edu/institutes/anabaptism. Questions about the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism can be directed to Dr. John D. Roth: (574) 535-7433; johndr@goshen.edu

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The collegeÕ’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.

GOSHEN, Ind. – Sometimes you don’t have to travel thousands of miles in an airplane over oceans to truly encounter another culture. Sometimes you just have to cross the street.

This summer, Goshen College students are participating in the 40-plus year old program Study-Service Term (SST) in Senegal, Peru, Nicaragua – and Northern Indiana. Four college students are participating in the Goshen College Latino Studies Semester in Northern Indiana, the first domestic SST location.

Ana Juarez, the director for the program, said that all four students grew up around here and this is “changing their perspectives on their community, even though it is the same place.”

Sophomore Jair Hernandez, who grew up in Goshen, said, “This program wasn’t set up to be a complete immersion. The purpose is to study a culture that is trying to integrate here. It has opened my eyes to things I wasn’t aware of before. Now I have a different perspective.”

Similar to other SST locations in places that have “significantly different” cultures, the students are studying another language, in this case Spanish. Two of the students are beginners and are learning conversational skills. The more advanced students are learning professional skills, as well as research and literature. In addition, students write weekly journal entries and work on papers and projects.

Junior Ivette Sifuentes, from Elkhart, said that she is enjoying the Spanish classes, the first she has taken as Spanish is her first language. Her teacher is correcting her grammar and helping her not to speak in Spanglish, a mixture of English and Spanish that she grew up with.

Though Hernandez and Sifuentes, as Latino students themselves, are much more familiar with the culture that they are studying this summer, “they are learning their own culture in a different way and have more appreciation for their own culture,” Juarez said. “They are learning more the reasons why different groups immigrated, as well as what people and organizations are already doing.”

Part of that learning comes from regular field trips, guest speakers and cultural events. One month the group met the Fort Wayne Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, attended a quinceanera (a 15-year-old Latina girl’s birthday party) in Michigan, toured Latino businesses in Goshen, explored Chicago’s Mexican and Puerto Rican neighborhoods, participated in an immigration rally in Indianapolis, watched folklorico dancers, heard about the immigration system from different perspectives, and traveled to Toledo, Ohio, to volunteer at a migrant workers camp.

Juarez said she is trying to introduce the students to three distinct groups of Latinos near Northern Indiana: the group in Michiana who are mostly newcomers working in the manufacturing sector, another being the long-term Latino communities with established organizations in urban Chicago, and the last being migrant workers in agricultural settings.

Like students in other study abroad locations, the students in Goshen are paired up with host families, though they meet with them weekly instead of live with them. Senior Kellyn Yoder sometimes goes shopping with her host family and is helping them paint in their new house. “It helps me put a face on the immigration issue,” she said, as she has talked with them about the possible effects of the recent changes in Arizona’s immigration laws.

In addition, the students have the opportunity to do service throughout the three-month program in a position that fits their interests. Hernandez is interested in community organizing and is working to get more Latinos involved with neighborhood associations through his service assignment with La Casa. Though he had “really wanted” to go abroad during college, he ended up deciding that he would rather “help people here where I am from.”

Yoder, an English major, is teaching English and citizenship classes at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Goshen. “The program offers opportunities to be more immersed than I was before,” she said. “This has been really good. I am more involved in the community now and know so much more about this place I grew up in.”

Sifuentes is translating for patients at the Center for Healing and Hope health clinic in Goshen. “I am learning more about the Latino community in Goshen,” she said. “We are going to a deeper level with people and I am seeing needs in the community and what people have to offer. … I have gained a sense of more responsibility [for my community]. As I see needs, I feel more responsible.”

Sophomore Chris Ballge is doing his service assignment at the San Jose Carniceria, where he has opportunities to interact a lot in Spanish with his coworkers and he hears customers speaking the language frequently while he shelves and stocks groceries. He had wanted to study abroad in Peru for a college cross-cultural immersion experience, but he has a family and is very involved in his church, so he couldn’t leave for three months.

Since 1968, when Goshen College was one of the first colleges in the country to require international education to graduate and began the unique semester-long SST, the college also has had the option for students unable to travel abroad – often due to life circumstances and commitments – to fulfill the requirement by taking related elective, on-campus courses. Approximately 20 percent of students take the alternative courses, which are taken when their schedule permits and are spread out over several academic years.

The impetus for the development of a domestic SST location was funding designated in the 2006 Lilly Endowment grant for the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning (CITL), which was created to serve the educational needs of a rapidly increasing Latino immigrant population. Minority enrollment in Northern Indiana schools – particularly of Latino students – has grown dramatically in the last 20 years.

– by Jodi H. Beyeler

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.

Dr. James E. Brenneman, president of Goshen College, announced creation of the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning at Goshen College. Lilly Endowment Inc. will fund the new center with a $12.5 million grant – the largest single grant Goshen College has ever received – which will focus on three areas: researching the resources and challenges that changing demographics bring to a rural Midwest community and to higher education, creating an intercultural learning environment to benefit all students and strengthening current efforts in recruiting and retaining regional Latino and other minority students.

The new center will build on the college’s historic academic strengths, core values and its experience in international education and extend these more intentionally to the increasingly diverse local community and the world of higher education.

“The exponential power of this grant and program is for the research and information to be shared on the national stage,” President Brenneman said in announcing the gift. “Goshen College is excited about creating additional opportunities to better partner with students able to succeed in college if given the opportunity. We are determined to make this program successful, and the gift from Lilly Endowment Inc. will help us create a brighter future for this diverse community.”

President Brenneman added, “While this new venture represents a bold step for Goshen College, we will continue to honor our values, tradition and mission as a Mennonite institution of academic excellence while we serve all students from this region and beyond.”

The Endowment offered Goshen College the opportunity to dream about a truly transformative program for their campus. Goshen College suggested to the Endowment this visionary plan of creating a center that addresses the needs of the college, the community and higher education. The program is a faith response of an educational institution whose roots are firmly planted in the Christian tradition, which calls for welcoming newcomers in their midst.

“From our colleagues in education and community development around the state, we hear time and time again of their desires to engage new immigrant populations in higher education and community life,” said Sara B. Cobb, Endowment vice president for education. “With its tenet of welcoming the newcomer and its legacy of excellence in education and community service, Goshen College is well suited to launch this new center. It will benefit not only Goshen students and communities in Northern Indiana, but through research and dissemination efforts it also should help colleges and communities throughout the country in enhancing their efforts to reach out to Latino and other minority students.”

Minority enrollment in Northern Indiana schools has grown dramatically. For example, in Goshen Public Schools it has grown fivefold – from 8 percent to 41 percent – since 1990. Statewide, research shows (National Center for Education Statistics) minority enrollment in Indiana’s public schools has grown almost 9 percent in that same period. But minority enrollment in Indiana’s colleges has increased only 2 percent during the same time.

Latinos and other minorities have been drawn to areas such as Northern Indiana by increased employment opportunities in industry and agriculture. Other Midwest communities with small liberal arts colleges have large and growing Latino populations.

Plans call for the new center to be created early next year and include hiring a staff, establishing scholarships, recruiting a minority cohort for enrollment in the fall of 2007, providing cultural programming for the campus, addressing student support services, reaching into the local Latino community and offering opportunities for current faculty to learn Spanish. Other possibilities include collaborative faculty-student research, a “bridge” program to assist minority students in preparation for college, partnerships with other colleges and universities and the local public schools, recruitment of Latino and other minority faculty and assessment of the college’s academic curriculum.

As part of its commitment to educational excellence, Goshen College launched in 1968 a pioneer study abroad program called Study-Service Term (SST). Since then, this program has transformed the college’s educational curriculum, the campus culture and the lives of its students and alumni. Through SST, about 80 percent of Goshen students spend a semester abroad in a developing nation immersing themselves in the country’s language and culture, and performing volunteer service. Goshen was one of the first colleges in the nation to require an international education component in its curriculum, and it is the college’s experience with this program that is the foundation for the new center.

“Given recent trends in regional demographic cultural growth, bringing the institutional vision of global citizenship closer to home makes sense at this time,” said President Brenneman.