August 2011
‘Alma mater, we love you’
There’s something special about Goshen College alumni. Almost wherever and whenever alumni gather: friendships are rekindled, special memories are evoked, creative energy, intelligent dialog, and good humor are unloosed – all to remind us why we sing without reservation “alma mater, we love you.”
One of the many reasons I love Goshen College, as do you, is the emphasis on bridge-building across time, cultures, national and denominational borders, intellectual philosophies, political ideologies, social and class and racial/ethnic barriers. Such bridge-building is among our deepest aspirations and calling as a Christ-centered liberal arts college. You model that for our students, as you build bridges in so many pockets of this country and around the globe – in Lancaster, Denver, Toronto and Goshen.
No wonder we sing “alma mater, we love you.” There’s a lot to love and a lot of love to pass around. It’s that deep and abiding love that will bind us together no matter our differences on a host of issues. This past year in one of the Listen & Learn alumni events where the decision to continue to play the national anthem or not was being hotly contested – one alum made a passionate plea for us to continue playing it; immediately, thereafter, another alum spoke up and said, “I couldn’t disagree more.” And it wasn’t more than a minute or two later, the one who disagreed so strongly, stood up and walked across the room and put her arms around the other alum and said, “You know I love you. I really do.” In that moment a bridge of reconciling love was built that completely transformed our evening which turned out to be filled with laughter, light-hearted banter, serious disagreement and a whole lot of love.
You know, brothers and sisters, it’s that deep and abiding love for one another – even in our disagreement – that inspires me and gives me hope in leading our beloved alma mater in the days and years ahead. As we move forward, I hope we interpret that calling ever more generously, holding on to what’s essential, while reaching out to an ever-expanding student pool. I hope we can increasingly trust our five core values to bridge the gap between who a student is when he or she enters GC and who they are when they leave to join the ranks of our great alumni.
As we begin a new school year, I invite you to continue to pray for each one of us at GC: faculty, administrators, staff and above all – our most precious gifts, our students.
James E. Brenneman
President
