Inspiring Good
The Community Foundation of Elkhart County seeks to inspire good in Elkhart County, Indiana.
This podcast, hosted by Kevin Deary and Marshall King, will talk to nonprofit leaders and others in the county, where generous donors support a strong network of nonprofits.
This community produces many recreational vehicles in the United States and is also where Alka-Seltzer was invented and many band instruments were made. The Community Foundation has assets of nearly $500 million and works to inspire generosity.
This podcast is a look at how nonprofits operate in this unique place and improve the community.
Inspiring Good
Inspiring Leadership and Community Service with Goshen College President Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus
In this episode of the Inspiring Good Podcast, hosts Marshall King and Kevin Deary talk with Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus, President of Goshen College, discussing her journey back to her alma mater and her vision for the college. The conversation highlights Goshen College’s history, its focus on undergraduate education, and the college’s enduring Christian and service-oriented values. Dr. Stoltzfus shares insights on the evolving landscape of higher education, the college’s significant projects like the new nursing and public health center, and the impact of their communications and social work programs. They also delve into Goshen College’s initiatives like Building Strong Brains and the transformative power of community-focused projects like Eco Sistema. The episode concludes with Dr. Stoltzfus reflecting on her leadership principles and the hope she finds in being part of a larger mission.
00:00 Introduction to the Inspiring Good Podcast
00:23 Meet Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus
00:58 Returning to Goshen College
02:45 Changes in Higher Education
04:06 Goshen College’s Core Values
08:09 Student Success Stories
13:55 Building Strong Brains Initiative
16:16 Leadership and Challenges
18:37 Future of Goshen College
28:35 Closing Thoughts and Hope
This show is a production of the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. It is powered by equipment from Sweetwater and recorded in The Riverbend building in Elkhart's River District. Editing is done by the award-winning communication students at Goshen College, home of one of the best college radio stations in the nation. Listen to Globe Radio at 91.1 FM. Learn more about the Community Foundation of Elkhart County at inspiringgood.org You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Music is provided by Sensational Sounds. Thanks for listening. We hope you are inspired and inspire good and your community.
Marshall King: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Inspiring Good Podcast. This podcast is brought to you by the Community Foundation of Elkhart County, which serves a vibrant community in northern Indiana, known for its generosity and strong network of nonprofit organizations. I'm Marshall King, who is hosting this podcast with Kevin Dear, a former nonprofit CEO who now coaches others.
Our guest today is Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus, president of Goshen College since 2017. And part of our Building Strong Brains Initiative. Welcome to the Inspiring Good podcast, Becky. Good morning, Marshall.
Kevin Deary: Good morning, Rebecca. Good. So good to see you. Now in full disclosure, full full disclosure, I am on your board of directors at Goshen College.
You are. So I have a chance to watch you and your leadership skills. Uh. Every quarter. So, and, and also being engaged with Goshen College throughout the, throughout the year. So it is a [00:01:00] privilege to have you with us today. So the first question, what led you back to Goshen College and what energizes you?
Hmm.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Mm. Let me just say for a moment, so appreciate my board of directors and your role on that, Kevin, so I get to see your leadership too. Board leadership matters and thank you for that. What led me back to Goshen College? You know, I'm an alum of Goshen College, so I have a deep sense of, um, what the college does and what the college is about.
My parents are Goshen College alumni. My children are Goshen College alumni. But then I moved east, um, had a academic career in other, um, other universities in New York and Maryland. And um, what led me back was, um, the gradual realization that my leadership could matter more at a small college like Goshen [00:02:00] than at a large.
Elite Research University, which was the context in which I spent, uh, 25 years of career before coming back here and. Not only my leadership would matter more, but, um, it was at a, a time when my children were Goshen College students. And so I was seeing Goshen College through the eyes of a parent and the effect of the Goshen College experience on my, you know, late teen and young adult children and the kind of happiness and friendship and opportunity that Goshen College offered them.
Kevin Deary: So one of the things that is unique is, uh, your dad was president of Goshen College.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: He was,
Kevin Deary: so, he just wasn't an alum, or, but he actually led the college and now his daughter does. And I have, you know, I've, I've known your dad a long time and he's a tremendous leader and I have a great amount of respect for him.
[00:03:00] Uh, but now you, as his daughter also leading Goshen College now, how has the landscape changed from when your dad led the college to today?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, um, I think it's changed in some, some important ways, um, in the, I mean, my dad was three presidents ago, so when I refer to his leadership being in the last half of the prior century, that's actually true.
Although he's, he's, um, he's still a vibrant person who I love to hang out with. Um. That was an era of sort of a, a general growth atmosphere in higher education. The demographics supported that, um, and. That is less true now. Uh, the demographics are contracting and, and you may have heard about that in other places, and we can't turn the dial back 17 years and have more babies [00:04:00] 17 years ago.
We, we deal with the generation that is, that is served up to us. So it's a, it's a more competitive environment for higher education and, um. We, you know, we're in a moment too where a lot of American institutions are being questioned, including higher education institutions, and so it's, uh, it's a historic moment where people in my position and leading higher education need to be very clear and articulate about what we're doing, what we offer, and why we're really important institutions.
Marshall King: So Becky, uh, I mean, we, we jumped right in as if people know Goshen College and know its story. I mean, it's been in this community 125 or more years, but Yeah. But you said it is changing. What is Goshen College now? Um, in terms of like, it's, it's on a lovely spot on the south side of Goshen where it's been for a long time after originally starting in Elkhart.
Yeah. But, but what is Goshen College? Kind of [00:05:00] what's it, what's it made of at this point? What's its, what's its DNA at this moment?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Yeah. Well, we're 131 years old, began in the city of Elkhart, moved in 1903 to the city of Goshen. And I, I just wanna begin with some, some things that haven't changed. We are very focused on, our students are, um.
Our primary focus is the undergraduate student experience. So we don't claim or aspire to be a large research university. We're very focused on the undergraduate experience. We, um, offer a wide variety of majors and disciplines, and those include, um. The arts and humanities and the sciences, and then professions as well.
And that's always been part of Goshen College. So we train teachers, we train nurses, we train social workers, we train, um, American Sign Language interpreters. We have a business department. So it's, it's a beautiful combination of, of people who are writing long research papers in the library [00:06:00] and people who are doing internships at a local manufacturing, um, company.
Um, we are related to, we're affiliated with, uh, we we're a Christian college affiliated with the, the Mennonite Church, which has deep roots in, in Elkhart County. And, um, that remains important to us and that the most important thing to say there is that we. We attempt to follow Jesus and we take that call seriously,
Kevin Deary: today, uh, today's students are facing.
Technology has changed all of us. Yeah. As a Goshen College alum, myself, as well as an adjunct professor, uh, students really haven't changed their needs, but technology around them has changed the challenges. How is Goshen College preparing our students for a life of service and purpose today?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Um, I think the word that you used there, purpose, um, matters a lot.[00:07:00]
Um, we want our students to live lives that are meaningful and exciting to them, and where they feel like they have a sense of their individual purpose and can see ways to offer that in the world that gives them economic stability. Um. And also personal growth and um, a sense of using your gifts in the world.
I think we all have a deep desire for that. And so when a student enrolls at Goshen College, they may have a. A very firm idea of what major they want to pursue. But that might change because when you're 17, you don't know everything yet and you might not know everything about yourself or the opportunities in the world.
So wanting to be a place where students can explore you also use the word and explore and find their purpose. And you also use the word service, and that's. Fundamental to who Goshen College is. So, um, in [00:08:00] 1903, uh, then President Noah Byers said our motto will be Culture for service. And that is a motto that we have claimed now for 120 some years.
Um. An education is certainly about developing yourself and your own potential, but I think this is where our Christian foundations come in. We also believe that, um, ultimately one's purpose is larger than one's self. And so having students connect with community, connect with larger purposes, um, so that they can see themselves not only.
As pursuing what's good for them, but being part of a community and understanding the needs of the community and that one of the highest joys of a human life is serving others and, and serving a purpose that is larger than yourself. [00:09:00]
Kevin Deary: So Marshall and I both feel very strongly about stories, especially Mar Marshall.
Can you recall a, a story of a couple students maybe that have over your tenure as president, that have really touched you or speak to the values of Goshen College?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Yeah. Um, here's a story of, uh. Student that grew up in Delhi, India, didn't know much about American Higher Education or, or Goshen College, but had an opportunity through Goshen alums who lived and worked in India to find out about Goshen College.
And he came to Goshen College. Um. Tried just about everything on campus. Became a, um, I'm not even sure what he majored in and I think it was business. He [00:10:00] is now a, um, professor at, uh, university in California working on robotics and artificial intelligence. And he is somebody that, um. Didn't come to Goshen College through a Christian faith tradition, and yet at this point he would say what I got in terms of the values of Goshen College and Culture for Service really changed my life.
And he has funded a, an award for our top for three top students at Goshen College that we give every year now to celebrate. Um. Students that, um, that exemplify our values. So that's an alum now who is in the second half of life, a major philanthropist at Goshen College. One of the students receiving that award this year is um, Asia Atkins.
She is a [00:11:00] local student from the city of Goshen. She is tremendously talented in music and theater, but another example of a student who has explored a lot of things, she's done the Inside Out program that we collaborate on with Cory Martin in the. Um, in the Elkhart County Jail and where Goshen College students learn alongside incarcerated, um, people who are spending time in the Elkhart Jail, um, she has volunteered with Mennonite Disaster Service doing tornado relief and Selma, Alabama.
Um, so she is, uh, somebody who, uh. Also exemplifies from a performing arts and music and theater, um, coming up through Goshen High School and the wonderful music program there, how that set of gifts can also be used to serve our community in, um, in unique ways.
Kevin Deary: Hmm. [00:12:00] Goshen College has such a strong history in particularly the music.
Solder Hall is a fa if you've never heard a, any music from Solder Hall, whether it was singing or, or instrumental, it's, it's a special place. Um. We have so many strong singers, uh, composers, musicians that have come through Goshen College. Uh, I, we were part of ecosystem or together, and we had a chance to be able to bring music to, to chil little children, kindergarten, first, second grade.
Uh. Because they learn so quickly. And, and these are children who specifically have not grown up with music, parents that are musically inclined and they have taken to music so quickly and are now in the system. So we're hoping that they, they go through Goshen High School and then eventually into, uh, onto Goshen College or, or other pursuits, uh, but the love of music, why is it children so young?
Can [00:13:00] grasp not only music, but languages so, so easily.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Yeah. Well, I think their, their brains are still developing. All those neurons are still literally connecting and building synapses. This is what building strong brains is all about. And Echo Stema, I think, in the large landscape as part of building Strong Brains and the Music Together program, because what.
The scientific research would tell us that making music together when you're young, uh, when you're a young child, is one of the most powerful things that you can do to, um. To build a strong brain. E Systema is also a great example of community connectedness and culture for service. Um, I'll try to name some of the ways that that happens and I probably will forget a few, and you can remind me of them.
But E Systema is a program out of the Community School of Arts at Goshen College in our. Music Center that [00:14:00] introduces children from young ages all through, um, the K through 12 and our students at Goshen College to music education in a way that is really inviting, um, you know, I would say non elitist, highly participatory, believes in every human being's potential to make music and invites them into that.
And it now is flourishing in Elkhart County through partnerships with. Bacher and the Boys and Girls Club and Tulsa and the school systems and, um, who am I missing? Roosevelt Steam Academy earlier. And it is supported by, um. The donor community of, of Elkhart County. Certainly some, some grants that come from outside the county too.
But it is something that we can be really proud of here in our county.
Kevin Deary: And EcoSistema was founded in Venezuela?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Yes. And,
Kevin Deary: and brought here. But it's really flourishing [00:15:00] in Elkhart County.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: It is. It puts instruments in the hands of. Children and helps them realize, um, yeah, their talent and their
Kevin Deary: power. And we're not talking recorders here.
The little, the little things we all played in fourth, fifth grade, we're talking string music, violin, very difficult. Uh, instruments to play. So they're learning how to read music. They're playing cello, they're playing violins, and they are extremely talented as they're picking up difficult, um, languages.
Let's talk a little bit about, you mentioned building strong brains. Yeah. So the community foundation of Elker County started an initiative called Building Strong Brains. Led by Dr. Kim Boyton and, uh, there is, uh, well over 300 partners that are involved in it. Goshen College has taken a leadership role.
Can you talk a little bit about that initiative and how wide it is and, and about a systems way of looking at building strong [00:16:00] brains?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Yeah, I strongly believe that. The, the future and thriving of Goshen College and the future and thriving of Elkhart County are inextricably linked. Um, we need each other.
And so when building strong brains began to appear on the horizon, it immediately has struck me as something that is Mission central for Goshen College. And because we need Elkhart County. Babies and children and youth to thrive and to, um, to grow well in a safe and stimulating environment. Um, so it's been my privilege to really collaborate with, um, with Kim Boynton, with Candy Yoder and, and Andy Murray and, and other leaders in the county to think how we can develop this as an initiative that's led from the community foundation, but actually put into action through lots of partnerships.
Um, a specific way that Goshen College is involved is [00:17:00] through our social work department. So, um. Professor Jeanette Harder in Social Work is working with rta, another nonprofit in Elkhart County, to bring together and provide resources and professional development for a, a variety of. Of individuals who are employed by different nonprofits in Elkhart County to be what we call resource navigators for families who are, um, trying to figure things out, uh, maybe facing some tough times economically or socially.
How do we connect families with, with resources? So I am so. Um, pleased that our social work department is involved in, in a leadership way, in that it provides, um, really great research and practical experience for our Master of social work students. And, um, yeah, just as another example of how Goshen College is, [00:18:00] um, interdependent and connected with our community and using our academic culture for service to the community.
Kevin Deary: So it's that time now in the podcast where we started to talk about you. Mm-hmm. And your specific leadership skills, which are many, but I'd like to have maybe share with our audience, let's talk about your particular skill sets that you have learned and evolved. What are your strongest skill sets as a leader?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Hmm. Well, leadership is a lot about relationships and it's about, um. Being present with people and whether those people are students, employees, community leaders, potential donors, alumni. Um, so I think one of the, the leadership skills that's central for me is, um, creating relationships [00:19:00] with people.
Understanding where they're coming from, what is their view on the work of Goshen College, and how can I create more mutuality and understanding between the mission of Goshen College and the many stakeholders of Goshen College, um, bringing together a great leadership team, and that's not easy. In any organization, whether you're in business or nonprofit, but it never boils down to one person.
So building, recruiting and building the talent that you need, and, um, giving them the opportunities to develop and, um, perform at a high level and holding them accountable to that. And I, I feel like. I am very fortunate right now to be surrounded by a good leadership team of vice presidents that report to me and to be working with a great board of directors, um, who helps lead as well.[00:20:00]
Um. I think communication and, and public speaking and be being able to convey the mission of, um, of the college to a, a wide variety of audiences matters as well.
Kevin Deary: You are always prepared. Uh, every board meeting is well thought out, A strong agenda, a good blend of reviewing. In the past, maybe the last.
Quarter, but also always looking through the windshield of where we're going and the navigation of a very challenging landscape for small colleges, particularly small Christian colleges. Uh, so I've always appreciated your ability to, to move us as a board with you in sync as we carry out a mission.
What's some of the exciting things that are happening in the future for Goshen College?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Well, you might have noticed if you drive along College Avenue or, or um, south [00:21:00] Main Street into Goshen, that we've had a major construction project that is now completed. Um, it's been a renovation project, not new construction, but we took a, a 1950s historic building called West Lawn Hall and, um.
Completely transformed it from 1950s dorm dormitory style housing, which was underutilized into a truly state-of-the art center for nursing and public health. Um, that, uh. Project just won a national award for, um, its technology, which was all done, um, in-house by our IT department, but it is a very high tech building with a lot of simulation and a lot of technology built into it.
I think there's like nine miles of high, of fiber cable in, in that building that, um. That we put in. So that is very exciting. The, the actual physical structure is now complete and the, the future excitement [00:22:00] there is building our nursing workforce and we have great partners. We are, um, we have. Scotian Health on one side and Crot on the other side.
And then we have other clinical partners, um, in Beacon and Maple City Healthcare Center and the Elkhart County Public Health Department. So we really want to, um, nursing is a terrific career. It's very flexible. It has, uh, very strong career pathway. So looking to bring people into that and offer a great education and great careers, which again, will serve our community.
Marshall King: Becky, uh, I mean in an era of, of changes on campus and, and with enrollment and funding and such, you have also, I mean, the nursing program is a great example, but there are others where you haven't. Had to only shrink you've built.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Yeah.
Marshall King: And the communications department was one of those as well. Yeah. I should have named at the front like Kevin did.
I'm, I've been an adjunct professor at the college and I'm a current [00:23:00] MBA student. Um, and I've been delighted for, for those interactions with the college. But the communications program continues to, I mean, just produce. Uh, excellent students, but also excellent results in national competitions. Yeah, and I, I love the story about you getting to campus and saying, you know, this is a really good program.
Let's find some money from a donor and, and build this out a little bit, fill in some of those details, if you would, about how you made that happen.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: So our, we are, we have a very strong communications department and, um. Journalism in radio, in tv, in film, and in public relations. But it was all scattered across campus and these odd little nooks and crannies and the faculty were frustrated by that.
And so we saw an opportunity to engage, um, a regional donor in, in that, an [00:24:00] alum of. Of the college and we're able to pull all of those programs together into one, um, just outstanding co-curricular student run space where the, the news office, the radio station, the film and TV studio. Um. And they have data editing and, and all sorts of things in there, which, um, I can't fully explain, but, um, all in one place.
So the students love that place. There's no faculty offices in there. It's all student offices and student run spaces and they punch way above their weight in terms of their impact in terms of college, radio, college film, um, college journalism, um, win a crazy number of awards.
Kevin Deary: Having been through and walked through there, uh, it is amazing to see the leadership that is in the students for that building and for those [00:25:00] degrees and how focused they are on putting out quality product, whether it's a newspaper or whether it's, uh, marketing pieces or the radio station, which is.
A lot of awards for the globe. Uh, what other achievements under your leadership do are you most proud of?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Well, the, the nursing, um, facility renewal is part of a total comprehensive campaign, um, which is now public. It's called the Connected cause. We're in our fifth year of that campaign and it's going very well.
Um, so that feels like an overall accomplishment. Um. The communication Center, we've started a new program, two new programs, one, and these were both started in 2019. Um, criminal Justice and Restorative Justice. Um, so our partnership with, um, Cory Martin's Jail Ministry with um. [00:26:00] Other legal firms and, um, restorative justice nonprofits around the county.
Um, that is a new program. Public Health is a new program. The Master of Social Work is a new program and the Master of Social Work, um, has about 70 students enrolled in it now. Um, there is a big social worker shortage and, um, as. Um, if you care about Oak Lawn and Caps and Maple City Healthcare Center and those, those nonprofits, then um, you should be glad that we've developed a new PO pipeline to train local social workers.
Um. Yeah. So those would be some of the things that, that I would point to. We have a lot of things going on in campus and just improving landscaping. We'll have a new, um, signage initiative to help people, um, just navigate our campus internally. It's small, but if you're new to the campus, you gotta learn your way around.
So that's a [00:27:00] way to, um, to really, uh, promote the brand to people walking through the campus.
Kevin Deary: How has online technology. Enhanced or challenged Goshen College.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Whew. Yeah, both of those things. Um, I mean, I would say that technology has, the enhancements are what stand out to me the most. Um, oh my goodness.
Didn't we all learn about technology during the pandemic? And that really pushed us in terms of some of the hardware and software that we adopted on campus, but also just people's facility with, with using, um. With using technology libraries on campuses like oceans have been transformed from being primarily, you know, card catalogs and stacks of books to being amazing librarians that.
Help you navigate what is now a really complex world of print and digital material. And part of that complexity [00:28:00] is that it's, it's always been true to some extent in the print world as well, but certainly in today's digital world, you have to be a discerning con consumer to understand what is the quality of the information that you're getting and what are your standards for truth.
Um, so that. Totally changes what goes on in the library today. Um, and that raises some of the challenges and when we want to hold students accountable for their own intellectual integrity and to be able to understand what is their work compared to work that they're getting from print materials or now artificial intelligence that, um.
That places new, uh, new challenges for our faculty in terms of evaluation and holding students accountable to presenting their own work.
Kevin Deary: You've had to navigate some tough times. Yeah. Over for your time. I'm sure like every leader of a [00:29:00] nonprofit or even for a profit does, but if you could look at one thing that you had to navigate and what specific leadership principles did you use to navigate on behalf of the college?
Um, could you tell us about not only what you had to navigate, but more importantly, how did you do it? Mm-hmm. Like why did you select that navigation tool?
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Yeah. I would say, um, I can use the pandemic as an example of this, but a tool that has served me really well that I rely on again and again as a leader, is before jumping to solutions or paths forward to a moment to clarify the values that you are going to guide you in using those decisions.
So when we headed into the pandemic and realized that we might be. Facing one of the biggest challenges that our society and economy and [00:30:00] campus have faced in a hundred years. The very first thing that I worked on is what are the values that are gonna guide us, that our employees and students can rely on us to be true to as we make a bunch of decisions that are gonna feel jerky and half informed, because that's what we were all doing in the pandemic, is making jerky decisions that were half informed.
But I wanted our community to know that. Um. We were going to perform and stay true to the, to a set of values that included things like we are gonna communicate with you and be transparent. We are going to be trustworthy. Um, we are going to try to keep you safe, uh, and. And keep our community safe. So, and that's what we are doing now.
Also in a time of real stress on higher education economically. And also [00:31:00] in terms of, um, you know, we live in a really immigrant, rich community. Goshen is a Hispanic serving institution. And, um, and those populations are feeling anxious and the subject of, of some. Pretty harsh rhetoric. So it's another moment where I am glad and grateful and committed to saying, what are our first principles here?
What are the values on which we were founded a hundred years ago, and which we still live today? Um, because we want to be trustworthy and we want to. Continue to be Goshen College and support our students and not be over overly reactive to what's going on around us, but to stay true to our commitments
Marshall King: here in Elkhart County.
Um, you have thousands of alumni. Yeah. And they shape and help build our community. Tell us a little [00:32:00] bit more about, about that and what role alumni play particularly in this community.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: Well, we are. Very proud that many Goshen College, um, alumni stay in this community and contribute to this community. So throughout the nonprofit sector, throughout our schools, um, in and businesses, um, you know, walk Main Street in Goshen.
And, and I sometimes wish like we could. Like light up in yellow or something just for a day. All of the Goshen College alumni and they working purple. It would be purple. Yeah, it would be purple. That's true. Um, so yes, we have so many alum locally, and that is one thing that, that I would, I would love for this community to be, to, to stay aware of is that one of the, the beauties of having a undergraduate.
[00:33:00] Highly ranked baccalaureate college in your community is that our alumni stay local. Um, we are a brain gain to Elkhart County and that shows up. All over the place. And that also means for me as president, I have the, the luxury, the privilege of being just bumping into our alumni all over the place. And sure, that means that all over the place, somebody's gonna pull me aside and say, Hey, Becky.
Hey President Stoles Foods. You know, what's going on here, or are they, because they care. They, they want me to know what they think about what's going on in the college. But, um, I feel like I just am surrounded by, um, a great community of alumni here in Elkhart County.
Marshall King: Well, Becky, thanks for coming on the podcast today, but also thanks for your servant leadership.
Um, your gracious leadership of this important, um, [00:34:00] institution, uh, in our community and for your, uh, engagement with the community as well. We always end the podcast with the question of what gives you hope.
Rebecca Stoltzfus: You know what gives me hope is that I feel like I'm part of a bigger story. The big story of Goshen College, you know, I get to drop in and I have the privilege of, of leading for a, for a window of time, but I'm part of a story that's so much bigger than myself in terms of Goshen College and it's service to this community.
And also the bigger story of, um, Christian faith and Christian journey. And, and again, that it doesn't all rest in my shoulders. I, I want to stay true and do my best to wake up each morning and bring, um, bring joyful energy to that, but, um, realizing that I serve a purpose larger than myself [00:35:00] and it doesn't all rest on my shoulders.