11 things to know about President Stoltzfus

Full coverage of the presidential inauguration (videos, photos and stories): goshen.edu/inauguration

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Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Stoltzfus ’83 became Goshen College’s 18th president on Nov. 1, 2017. As we celebrate her inauguration, here are 11 things to know about President Stoltzfus:

• She was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and grew up in North Lima, Ohio.

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• When she was little, Becky dreamed of becoming a farmer’s wife and to live in a big stone farmhouse in central Pennsylvania with children and a dog.

  

  Becky (left) and her older sister Tina.

  “Note that my childhood was so gendered that I could not conceive of myself as the farmer!”

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• When she was a student at Goshen College, Becky’s favorite activities included lying around on a dorm floor discussing the meaning of life and love late into the night, taking piano lessons and serving as an accompanist to the Chamber Choir. 

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• Her favorite spot on campus?

  “Walking the sidewalk from the Science Building to the Church-Chapel when students are between classes.”

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• She knows (to varying degrees) 6 languages.

  “I have studied and become conversational or beyond (at least for a time) in French, Haitian Creole, Spanish, Indonesian and Swahili. And I’m quite proficient in English.”

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• She’s visited 40+ countries 

  (In alphabetical order: Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France , Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.)

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• Her favorite food is a tie between well-prepared steel-cut oats for breakfast (“with cinnamon and touch of nutmeg and salt”), or an excellent piece of fish for dinner (“like seared tuna, medium-rare, with sesame-chili-soy sauce and wasabi on the side with a side of baby bok choy”).

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• Her favorite song, at the moment at least, is “Take Me to the Alley” sung by Gregory Porter.

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• While she loves Rise N’ Roll donuts, she claims that the homemade ones that she and her husband Kevin make are even better.

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• Her favorite silly movies are Anchorman and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

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• Becky and Kevin are known for reading children’s literature aloud to each other at night.

  “Lately, its Frog and Toad stories.”

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