Winds of conflict and streams of water
If you are a college president, which I happen to be, your inbox is full of alarms and advice about the winds of conflict on campuses this fall.
President Rebecca J. Stoltzfus
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Distinctively Goshen
Reflections from President Stoltzfus
Subversive ideas that have made us better
It is no secret and no surprise: Goshen College has been in many ways subverted – turned from below – by our inquiring and passionate students and faculty and the transformational changes they have brought about. John D. Roth, professor emeritus of history and a leading Anabaptist-Mennonite scholar, illuminates and honors that history in: "A Mennonite College for Everyone(?): Goshen College and the quest for identity and inclusion, 1960-2020."
Do inclusion and Christ-centeredness go together?
“How can you be inclusive if you are Christ-centered?” This is one of the questions still ringing in my ears from a recent regional gathering. Is it possible that in this time of acute and painful need for us to get along better, our most radical vocation is to go deeper — rather than thinner — on our Anabaptist-Mennonite identity, because to be Christ-centered is true fuel and seed for such a new creation?
Deep differences part 2: Security, curiosity and nonviolent communication
I ended my last blog with the question: how would Goshen College be different if we were more truly centered in robust and productive engagement across lines of difference? I suggest we need to become more intentional about three things: security, curiosity and nonviolent communication.
Why we are proud: Pride Month & Goshen College
During this Pride Month, we at Goshen College celebrate the lives, love and impact of our LGBTQIA+ students, employees and alumni.
Women’s History Month: Gender continues to matter, for new reasons
In 1983, when I was a student at GC, I wrote my senior paper on the topic of gender. That was three years after Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin overthrew their male boss in the movie "9 to 5." Things have changed! But gender is every bit as important today, and for some new reasons.
How will we be changed?
In the midst of the heartbreak, tensions and tedium of the pandemic, I am alert to the changes happening within myself and in our society that may form the lasting legacies of this time. Some of these are causes for hope.
When great minds don’t think alike
Last week I was in Arusha, Tanzania to lead a research team meeting at Nelson Mandela African Institute for Science and Technology (NMAIST). I’ve been doing collaborative research on the health of mothers and children in Tanzania since 1992.
What binds us all together
Inclusion is not a quick or easy journey. One public statement — by me or our governor — doesn’t complete the work. More than any formal statement, it is the ensuing conversations, relationships and deepened commitments that create inclusive community — the kind of solidarity that Pope John Paul II defined this way: “We are all really responsible for all.”
Six of my highlights from #MennoCon19
I am writing from Kansas City at the 2019 Mennonite Church USA Convention (aka #MennoCon19), at the end of a rich and spiritually stimulating week. It has been surprising and wonderful to be surrounded by thousands of Mennonites. Here are a few of my personal highlights.