Recognizing our amazing alumni

IN MY ROLE as director of alumni engagement, one of my most meaningful tasks is to collect nominations for our annual alumni awards: the Culture for Service Award and the Young Alumni Servant Leadership Award.

These awards are presented each year during the convocation on Homecoming Weekend. That convocation is always well attended with alumni and their families, faculty, staff and students filling the Church-Chapel sanctuary. They have the opportunity to hear each of the awardees present a brief and powerful presentation about the impact that GC has had on their lives and vocations.

Prior to that convocation, months and sometimes years of work goes into getting the awardees to campus. We accept nominations on a rolling basis, but generally need to have a completed nomination package by January for the awards that year.

Once the initial nomination is received, we work with that nominator to find others who would be good candidates to offer additional nomination materials. Once we have a minimum of three nominators for the candidate, the executive committee of the Alumni Council and an emeritus faculty member consider the nominees and selects two Culture for Service Award finalists and one Young Alumni Servant Leader Award finalist to present to the whole Alumni Council. The council members discuss and ultimately approve the nominations in their spring meeting.

After that, we have the pleasure of contacting the awardees and asking them if they would be open to receiving the award and joining us for Homecoming Weekend. We require each awardee to be able to be present on campus, so that sometimes means moving an awardee to a different year if they have a schedule conflict.

Why are we sharing this information? First, we want the process to be as transparent as possible, but more importantly, we need you to be part of it to be successful. The nominations do not originate from the college, but rather from our alumni and friends community. We rely on you to share your knowledge of Goshen College graduates who are making a difference in our world.

So, alumni, the ball is in your court. Who will you nominate? For more information, to view previous awardees and to learn how to nominate someone, visit goshen.edu/alumni

We look forward to hearing from you and bringing amazing alumni back to campus each October.

2021-22 annual report available

Goshen College’s 2021-22 annual report is available for viewing online at goshen.edu/give/reports. It is one opportunity to reflect back on the past year and say a big “thank you” to each of the individuals, churches and organizations that supported our students and mission during the past fiscal year. Every donation matters!

Stay connected with classmates and other alums

Connect GC: Our alumni network of 20,000+ individuals are spread around the world, but can be a vital resource to each other. Maybe you are looking to make a hire and know that a Goshen College grad would be a great fit. Maybe you’ve lost touch with an old friend and want to reconnect. Maybe you wish you knew if there were other alums living close by to get to know. With our online alumni directory, Connect GC, all of those ways of connecting are pretty easy. Join us at: connect.goshen.edu

Facebook: Another way to stay in touch with people from your class is through Facebook. Each class from 1950 to the present has a dedicated Facebook group. In addition to catching up and conversation, you can post photos, add files, create events and share memories with your former classmates. You can even invite other class members to join if they haven’t already. Find links at goshen.edu/alumni under “Stay Connected,” or simply search for it in the Facebook search bar.

And stay connected with us online too

• Stay in touch with what’s happening at Goshen College from home by subscribing to the various e-newsletters that we publish regularly at goshen.edu/news/e-subscribe

• Find us on our various social media platforms by using our social media directory at goshen.edu/com-mar/social-media-directory

• And do you miss attending convocation and chapel? While we can’t offer you credit for watching, you can still attend virtually! Chapels and convocations are video recorded and posted on goshen.edu/podcasts