The Heart of GC

This presidential column originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2025 issue of The Bulletin.

By Rebecca J. Stoltzfus ’83, President of Goshen College

I often ask you, our alumni and friends: What was it about your Goshen College experience that was most formative and enduring?

At the heart of your responses is a common thread: relationships. You tell stories about friends, mentors, professors and host families — the bonds you formed with specific people you encountered through GC. And you speak about how Goshen College steeped you in a deep sense of community — a way of being in relationship with others.

The heart of GC bears witness to a way of relating to one another that is rooted in love: in belovedness, empowerment, learning and action.

The first person who impressed upon me that the heart of GC was relationships was Arlene Martin Mark ’55, who became a personal friend and mentor to me early in my presidency. From her experiences as an alumna, a donor and a past board chair, Arlene urged me to cherish and steward GC’s culture of relationship above all else. She echoed the pithy words of philosopher Martin Buber: “Relationship educates.”

Arlene was a well-known community leader in Elkhart County and a fierce advocate for justice and peace in our community and world. She was a founding donor to our immersive Inside-Out course, which brings together GC students and incarcerated students in the Elkhart County Jail. Arlene knew that our understanding of our justice system is transformed when we are in relationship with people who are behind bars.

The GC heart is alive and beating in the injustice and violence of our world today. As we ache for a better world, it is tempting to believe that there is a set of moral rules that will give us justice and peace. But relationships are even more foundational than moral rules. When Jesus was asked, “Teacher, you know the law and prophets. What is the greatest commandment?” Or, which is the most important rule? Jesus said, Love God and love each other. And love doesn’t follow a strict set of rules. It is a creative journey that always puts relationships at the center.

In the first month of my presidency, Arlene made a lead gift to the President’s Innovation Fund, enabling us to distribute many grants to support faculty scholarship and innovation. Later, through the Connected Cause Campaign, she gave an even more generous gift to the renovation of Westlawn Hall. This gift is commemorated in the Mark Community Room in Westlawn, which now hosts a wide variety of gatherings and groups, including students, employees, alumni and the Board of Directors.

Each of you is part of the living heart of Goshen College. Our connectedness spans decades, cultures and continents, and it makes alumni gatherings so much fun! I am encouraged whenever I learn about the ways that you are building relationships in your communities around the world.

May our shared heart beat on, Maple Leafs!