LGBTQIA Student Leader Scholarship

On July 18, 2015, the Goshen College Board of Directors voted to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the Institutional Non-Discrimination Policy. With help from many donors and in an effort to continue the work of empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA) student leadership on Goshen College’s campus, 2011 GC alum and founder of GC Open Letter Pax Ressler initiated the LGBTQIA Student Leader Scholarship at Goshen College. In providing financial assistance to LGBTQIA student leaders who demonstrate a commitment to social justice, this scholarship seeks to increase their access to education at Goshen College. The LGBTQIA Student Leader Scholarship also prioritizes students of color as well as students with a financial need.

Verlin “Lin” Garber, a Goshen College music major from the class of 1957, was incredibly proud of his alma mater for solidifying institutional policies on inclusion. As a long-time member of the Mennonite Congregation of Boston, he was involved early in the formation of the Brethren Mennonite Council for Gay and Lesbian Concerns, and was a founding member of Urban Ministers ans was helpful in it’s transition to MennoNeighbors. Lin had experienced the challenges of exclusion in the church and in his communities. Time brought positive change, so in the last decade of his life while living in Massachusetts Lin was able to marry Jay, his beloved partner of nearly 50 years. Knowing that gender identity and sexual orientation was no longer a barrier for hiring and spousal benefits at Goshen College gave him the confidence to joyfully support this scholarship and the social justice it represents.

Lin died at 88 years old October 19, 2023 in Goshen, where he had moved to be closer to family and his many friends. In conversations with Goshen College’s Advancement staff, he clearly made it known that the college was a beneficiary of his estate, and that he wanted to endow this scholarship. A warm, generous, and thoughtful soul, Lin’s gift will secure aid for LGBTQIA+ student leaders for many generations to come.