Archive for November, 2022Page 2
Professor Roland Thorstensson
“The Professor Emeritus and former Director Of Scandinavian Studies on one of his legacies: The Sweden Today Program.” Fifteen or so years ago, College president James Peterson asked Thorstensson to design a custom program to Sweden for Gustavus students. Thorstensson hesitated—among other reasons, he was close to retirement. Then he thought, “Why not try to […]
Martin Lang ’95
“I Didn’t Leave Gustavus a Flag-Waving Gustie. My Perspective On Gustavus Really Changed After I Started Grad School.” I am a first-generation college student, so when I was applying to schools, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into. I wanted to play soccer at a big state school, but I soon found out […]
Cheryl Downey ’66
“Be resilient. Have faith in yourself.” “I was very aware of being a pioneer,” Downey says. One of the first women in the Directors Guild of America two-year apprenticeship program, she started as the second assistant director for the 1976 Western The Missouri Breaks, starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. She was the first woman […]
James McPherson ’58
“Some stories entertain us. Others define us. They shape our identity, our sense of character and community, our understanding of right and wrong. Stories from the past have this power, which is why history is often so contested. Historians conduct their work under a weight of this charge.” As one of the most respected historians […]
Professor Julie Bartley
The faculty point person for the Nobel Hall expansion and renovation reflects on tending to it. She wasn’t exactly the faculty “leader” on the Nobel Hall of Science expansion and renovation. She was more of a guide, a chaperone, an escort. Call her the “faculty shepherd.” The Geology and Environmental Studies professor carried no crook, […]
Professor Jeff Dahlseid ’90
“One of the things that attracted me as a professor was the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program.” I grew up in Fergus Falls. My parents met at Gustavus. They were both first- generation college students who became public educators and really strong proponents of the liberal arts. I was interested in the biomolecular fields and […]
Jon Schmidt ’11
“Jon ‘The Potter’ is part ceramic artist, part entrepreneur, part Youtube star, and all Gustie.” “What’s up guys? I’m Jon the Potter.” It’s Jon Schmidt’s signature opening line, and it signals the start of a clay-throwing good time over on the Waconia, Minnesota native’s YouTube channel, where 115,000 subscribers regularly tune in to watch him […]
ReAnn Eidahl ’20
From Chapel Choir to Habitat For Humanity to the Campus Activities Board and beyond, this Gustie woman has seized the lead. Gustavus had a very pragmatic advantage over other colleges Eidahl considered: She was able to sing in a choir without being a music major. During her four years on the hill, Eidahl was a […]
Conrad Oddoye ’20
“A last-minute collegiate track career, a musical score to finish, and then there was COVID.” Basketball got him to Gustavus from Alberta, Canada. But always there was music, which Oddoye had been playing since he was seven and composing since he was ten. “I was producing music in my room in Co-Ed,” he says, and […]
Ty Moore ’12
“My mom said, ‘You’re going back. We worked too hard to get here.’” In the weeks after George Floyd was murdered, I spent a lot of time out in Minneapolis. I grew up on the north side. This is my city. I helped a friend clean up broken glass after his store was looted. I […]