![](https://www.goshen.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/06/Ben-Beachy-WH-Bio-Photo-2024-876x1024.jpg)
![](https://www.goshen.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/06/Ben-Beachy-WH-Bio-Photo-2024-876x1024.jpg)
Alumni Spotlight: Q+A with Ben Beachy ’04 from the White House
Since November 2024, Ben Beachy has worked in the White House as a Special Assistant to President Biden for climate policy, industrial sector and community investment.
Peace isn’t a niche interest at Goshen College—it’s a shared passion. Peace is central to our identity, which is apparent in our curriculum, our history and our core values. The peace, justice and conflict studies (PJCS) program pulls together and gives full expression to the many strands of peace that permeate campus culture.
As a PJCS student, you’ll study subjects like restorative justice, social change and war and peace in the modern world. And you’ll have plenty of opportunities to put your beliefs into action through a range of internship options. Some are local, with organizations like La Casa (working with low income families) in Goshen and the Center for Community Justice in Elkhart, and some are across North America, with agencies like Mennonite Central Committee. Some students find a way to do international internships as well.
What can you do after college with a PJCS major? Anything that requires the ability to analyze complex problems, come up with creative solutions, be an effective organizer and transform destructive conflict in positive directions. As a graduate of the PJCS program, you’ll have top-notch preparation for your future career as a social worker, teacher, lawyer, mediator or peace worker for a service or mission organization.
Since November 2024, Ben Beachy has worked in the White House as a Special Assistant to President Biden for climate policy, industrial sector and community investment.
Robert Brenneman, professor of criminal justice and sociology at Goshen College, has dedicated his research career to understanding and addressing the root causes of violence, particularly in northern Central America.
Goshen College senior Jakyra Green’s speech claimed first prize in Mennonite Central Committee’s binational intercollegiate C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest, after winning at Goshen College’s contest in February 2023. Green’s speech, titled “The Privilege of Peace,” focused on the illusion or privilege surrounding peace for Black people and their realities in America.
of alumni agree that PJCS professors at GC are genuinely interested in students
of our peace, justice and conflict studies alumni volunteer at least once a year
First peace course taught at GC (War, Peace, & Nonresistance)
of PJCS alumni are satisfied or very satisfied with their undergraduate education
Learn more about Goshen College's exceptional academic outcomes and national rankings.
Jes Stoltzfus Buller ’08 knows firsthand how messy the process of peacemaking can be. Shortly after graduating from Goshen College, Buller moved to Colombia as a part of Mennonite Central Committee's Seed program.
Jes' storyEthan Lapp ’20 is a peace, justice and conflict studies and social work double major from Goshen. He was a leader of the Prevention Intervention Network (PIN).
Ethan's storyLauren Treiber, a 2014 graduate from Grand Rapids, Michigan, came to Goshen College to study peace. While a student, Lauren has formed friendships and learned lessons that will lead her towards a lifetime of peacemaking.
Lauren's storyLydette Assefa ’09 is an attorney and clinical fellow with the Children & Family Justice Center at the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Lydette's storyAJ Delgadillo wanted to improve society's food waste problem, so he took an idea and ran with it.
AJ's storyCade Fisher ‘22 is interested in helping people find themselves on the fringes of our society.
Regina Shands Stoltzfus
Professor of Peace Justice & Conflict Studies
Director of PJCS
Jerrell Richer
Professor of Economics
Carl Kreider Chair
Luke Kreider
Assistant Professor of Religion and Sustainability