Mateo Gonzalez of Hesston College won first place at the inaugural Peace Talks contest held at Goshen College on Sept. 19 for his speech, “More Than a Sentence: Exploring Restorative Justice.”
Gonzalez is a sophomore studying engineering mechatronics at Hesston College in Kansas. He is from Madrid, Spain.
“I was inspired to choose restorative justice because of a documentary my mom made for her master’s degree titled ‘Before It’s Too Late,’ which explores the Los Angeles Police Department’s Juvenile Impact Program,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said he felt surprised when he won because “all of the other contestants did such a fantastic job.”
Katherine Brown of Tabor College, in Hillsboro, Kansas, received second place in the Peace Talks competition. She is a senior psychology and Biblical and theological studies major from Liberal, Kansas. Her speech was entitled, “The Woman on the Corner: Prostitutes are People too.”
She chose her topic because she has had a compassion for sex workers since she was in middle school and the urgency to advocate for that marginalized group has only increased for her.
A project of Goshen College’s More Than Just Stories, Peace Talks is a new annual public speaking event for young people to cultivate leadership through faith-based speaking and storytelling about peace and justice. It builds on the tradition of the C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest, a longstanding contest for Mennonite colleges and universities.
That separate contest continues even as Peace Talks will draw from a much wider pool of participants. For the first year of Peace Talks, schools that participate in the C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest were invited to send a speaker. In 2027, students at faith-based schools in Indiana will be invited to apply to participate in Peace Talks; in 2028, students at all Indiana schools will be eligible; in 2029, students at any college or university in the country will be eligible.
In addition to Gonzalez and Brown, the other contestants this year included:
Caoimhe Farrell, a junior communication major with minors in public relations and writing at Goshen College, spoke on “Screens and Society: Building Our Lives Around Each Other Instead of Technology.” Farrell is from Galway, Ireland.
Sophia Kauffman, a peace and conflict studies and political science major at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, shared her speech, “Sitting with Our Shame: Facing the History of Mennonite Residential Schools.” Kauffman, a sophomore, is from Leamington, Ontario.
Preston Vicenzi, a junior who is studying political science and history and communication arts at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, gave “The Second Crusade: The Iran War’s Dangerous Myth of Redemptive Violence.” Vicenzi is from Newton, Kansas.
All five speakers receive prize money and written feedback from the judges.
“I found that the connections I made, coaching I received and new perspectives I got to hear were even more valuable than a title I could win.”
Katherine Brown
The Peace Talks day began with a keynote from Rebecca Stoltzfus, president of Goshen College. Dr. Jamie Pitts and Dr. Gilha Lee of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary served as coaches for the speakers. Dr. Allan Rudy-Froese, also of AMBS, led a breath and voice workshop for the students.
Brown said that Peace Talks opened her eyes to a “world of opportunity.”
“I found that the connections I made, coaching I received and new perspectives I got to hear were even more valuable than a title I could win,” she said.
The panel of independent judges included: Dr. Anuj Gurung, the Gladdys E. Muir assistant professor of peace studies at Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana; Dr. Gariot Louima, chief of staff and vice president for equal opportunity and compliance at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana; and Dr. Amy Lindeman Allen, associate professor of New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.
More Than Just Stories, a media organization founded by Goshen College and financed by Lilly Endowment Inc., manages five innovative storytelling projects. The other four include:
- Just Stories – a podcast about the places where justice and faith intersect and sometimes collide
- The Gratitude Letters – a podcast built on the conviction that it’s never too late – and always a good time – to say thank you
- “The Inheritance” – a documentary film that follows the journeys of courageous people as they pursue a spirituality that feels worthy of being called Christian
- Climate Commons – a storytelling conference that highlights how people of faith are confronting climate change
Lilly Endowment awarded Goshen College a five-year, $5 million grant in 2025 through its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.