Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Showalter presidency and contributions celebrated in day-long farewell events
View
more photos from the Farewell Celebration.
GOSHEN,
Ind. – As students, faculty, staff, community and church leaders,
benefactors and alumni filled Sauder Concert Hall on the morning of
Sept. 20 to say thank you and farewell to President Shirley H. Showalter
for her service to Goshen College, many wore scarves in all shapes
and colors to honor a leader whose trademark accessory connects to
her passion for relationships and cross-cultural learning.
Music opened the
special convocation, held in the building completed in 2002 for
which Showalter led the fundraising campaign to build, as the
Chamber Choir, directed by Associate Professor of Music Debra
Brubaker, performed the heartfelt “Jesus, I Adore
Thee.”
After a welcome by
Provost John D. Yordy, who has been named interim president and
will begin serving in that post on Oct. 1, surprise speaker and
mayor of the City of Goshen Allan Kauffman presented Showalter with
a ceremonial key to the city on a maple leaf-shaped plaque.
Kauffman, a 1971 Goshen College graduate, began his term as mayor
around the same time that Showalter was inaugurated in 1997. He
said President Showalter “has been good for Goshen College,
and she has also done so much to strengthen town-gown
relations.”
Showalter, who
resigned her post on Aug. 1, will serve her last day in office on
Sept. 30 after teaching and serving as president of Goshen College
since 1976. In introducing Showalter at the convocation, Goshen
College Board of Directors Chair Virgil Miller, said, This is
a bittersweet day saying goodbye to our 14th president
– a colleague, a friend, a teacher, a mentor. I invite you to
listen to President Showalter, as she delivers her farewell speech,
with thankfulness for an articulate president who believes in the
loftiest goals of Christian higher education, in the ability of a
metaphor to communicate complex ideas and who believes in you and
that you have a special place here at Goshen College.”
Showalter
titled her final address as president of Goshen College “Joy
and the Goshen Journey.” She began by sharing a memory from
when she and her husband Stuart led a Study-Service Term group to
Haiti in 1981, when one student, after arriving at the Port au Prince
airport, opened a bus window and greeting the whole country with an
excited Bon Soir!”
“To me, that
little gesture signifies a special exuberance for loving, living
and learning that I can only call ‘Goshen joy.’ Its
ingredients derive from a hunger for beauty, truth and a better
world,” Showalter said.
She expressed the
sadness she feels at leaving Goshen College, but also the joy of
having been part of the life of the 110-year-old institution.
“We can experience joy today because we have a treasure here
that started at Creation, was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is a
by-product of the suffering of 16th century Anabaptists,
has a long tradition of learning in the academy and has found a
home in this place called Goshen College,” she said.
Showalter calculates
that she has spent 28 years – or 10,311 days – at
Goshen College, teaching in the English department as well as
history, women’s studies and through grant programs, for two
decades before accepting the God’s call to become the first
woman president of Goshen College. In reflecting on her tenure at
Goshen, she described the campus as research center, as classroom,
as worship center, as cheering section, as playground and as
launching pad.
The campus is also
home to sacred spots, said Showalter – not only those places
where she has experienced some of the most meaningful worship
services of her life, but seemingly everyday places. One is at the
south end of the Union Building where students departing to and
arriving home from Study-Service Term host countries meet family
and friends. “It is a place that honors our relationships to
each other, our courage to take journeys by faith and our joy in
each step,” she said.
Then Showalter
offered blessings to all. “I want to thank each person here
today,” she said, then offered gratitude specifically for the
work of the members of the President’s Council who are
carrying on administrative leadership of the college led by Yordy
upon her departure, as well as her assistant and her husband and
family.
Showalter concluded
by saying, The joy I feel today follows many moments of
working, playing, fasting, praying, mourning, rejoicing, disputing
and reconciling. It comes from knowing I love you and reveling in
that feeling. Thank you for this joy, joy, joy, joy I’ve got
down in my heart.”
Bringing ceremonial
closure to her presidency, Showalter invited her mother to the
stage to give a closing prayer at the convocation; Barbara H.
Becker also offered prayer at her daughter’s inauguration
seven-and-a-half years earlier. The audience stood to offer a
collective gift to Showalter – an 800-voice offering of the
hymn “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
Other events of the
day included a luncheon at which Miller also spoke, saying that
“the next president of Goshen College will step on sturdy
foundations laid by the Showalter administration” and that
there is a strong interim leadership structure in place, making for
a smooth transition. Also speaking were Yordy, alumnae and former
Bank One president Karen Thomson and Goshen College Vice President
for Institutional Advancement Andrea Cook. Carlos Romero, executive
director of Mennonite Education Agency, offered prayer for the
college as an educational institution of the Mennonite Church
USA.
Later in the
afternoon, a campus farewell reception was highlighted by an open
mic period during which current and former faculty and staff shared
memories and appreciation of Showalter throughout her Goshen
career. A special treat – a Showalter favorite,
chocolate-covered marshmallows made by Olympia Candy Kitchen in
downtown Goshen was served along with other refreshments. In
addition, a unique wall piece created by area fiber artist Patty
Watters was presented to Showalter; the tapestry, titled
“Interwoven,” was braided with purple, the Goshen
College school color, and items reflective of Showalter’s
gifts and interests, including lines from a hymn, bird feathers
(symbolizing a poem written for her at the time of her inauguration
by alumnae poet Julia Kasdorf) and quotes from favorite authors and
thinkers quoted by Showalter in public writings.
For more resources
about Showalter’s administration, including a career timeline
with accomplishments and highlights, and Goshen College’s
plans for a strong transition under Yordy’s leadership, go to
https://www.goshen.edu/news/For_the_Media/Presidential_transition
Goshen College,
established in 1894, is a four-year 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 https://www.goshen.edu/.
Editors: For more
information, contact News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574)
535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.
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