Another day that will live in infamy
My dear sorrowful, angry, unbelieving but recovering classmates, reflecting on last Tuesday’s catastrophic and unthinkable tragedy:
Some headlines on that unforgettable event:
Wednesday, September 12: Terrorized, “Act of War”
Thursday, September 13: Economic
Toll, No Longer Invincible, Recovering from the
Unbelievable, the Search
We all know what these are about. We have been glued to radio, TV and daily papers. We mourn, we pray, we display the flag at half-mast, we go to prayers at church, we shake our heads in dismay, we renew our patriotism, we give blood, we watch and wait.
BUT, we rely on God’s presence to soothe our minds and souls. Our Christian faith comforts us. Our land that we love is blest by God who stands beside her to guide her. America will survive! Evil has had its day. “We shall overcome.” We know that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)
Now for an older and more challenging headline, BUILDING A GREATER GUSTAVUS because of our beefed-up giving.
I am pleased to report that our dwindling class members are doing fairly well in support of that motto through our Gustavus Alumni Fund. Out of 38 survivors from the 99 graduates in our class, 24 of us (63.2%) pitched in last go-around the nice sum of $28,000. Let’s go for 99% and shoot for $35,000 this year!
Together we are over 20,000 alumni. (Tuesday’s death toll was around 6,000.) We are joined by more thousands of parents of students, supportive citizens, faculty and staff, corporations and foundations, and other nation-wide givers. We all seek a secured future for Gustavus. What a happy task!
You and I will be thankful to have had a part in this glorious venture. All we have to do is think more, pray more and give more. I’m counting on you to join me in this so worthy a cause. And not with small change!
After our church pledge, this cause should be next on our giving budget. Many in our class are doing this, not with “two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar” but in dollars by the hundreds and thousands. Let’s join such a grateful gang!
We are people who care about Gustavus. Our college and its people have earned national respect. Our “dear mother” surely will become a Greater Gustavus because you and I love her dearly and will boost our giving as we live and breathe and even after that in our giving away plans. Thanks for listening!
Tom Wersell
1938 Class Agent
Campus News:
The Alumni Office is sending this class letter via U.S. Postal Service Mail and also e-mail to those alumni for whom we have an e-mail address. Eventually class letters will be sent via e-mail only, when an address is available, unless you notify the Alumni Office that you prefer to continue to receive your letters via U.S. Postal Service. Contact the Alumni Office at alumni@gustavus.edu.
As Gustavus enters
its 140th academic year, the 2001-2002 year opened with an
enrollment of 2,540 full-time students including 670 first-year students. The Class of 2005, selected from a record
number of applications (2,163), includes 18 National Merit Scholars and 18
international students, doubling last year’s number of
nine international students.
Last year Gustavus athletic teams finished 18th out of 395 competing in the NCAA Division III national Sears Directors Cup Standings. Standings are based on national tournament finishes. The Gustie women athletes won the MIAC All-Sports title for the first time in its 18-year history.
Gustavus ranked among top colleges – Gustavus is ranked in the second tier and one of the top 114 best national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report magazine. Gustavus ranked in the first tier in two categories, retention and graduation rates. Gustavus’ first-year to sophomore retention rate of 92 percent ranks in the top 15 percent of all national liberal arts colleges and graduation rate of 76 percent ranks in the top 20 percent of all national liberal arts colleges. Alumni giving ranks in the top 25 percent, down from the top five percent and a tier one ranking five years ago. Raising the percentage of participation of alumni giving is of highest priority for the college and the offices of Alumni Relations and Gustavus Alumni Fund.
Nobel Conference XXXVII, What is Still to be Discovered?, is October 2 & 3. This year’s conference includes five Nobel laureates and three other experts who will give participants a foretaste of what the next big discoveries might be as we look toward the second Nobel century. This year celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Nobel prizes and the conference will include the premier of Steve Heitzeg’s ’82 The Nobel Symphony, two art exhibitions in the Hillstrom Museum, and an exclusive 10-course banquet with a menu recreation of the Nobel dinner 100 years ago. Alumni are invited to visit the Alumni Hospitality Room during the conference located in the Hall of Fame Room on the second level of Lund Center. Conference information and registration material was inserted in the Fall Quarterly or call Office of Public Affairs at 507-933-7520 or on the web at gustavus.edu.
G.I.V.E. (Gusties In Volunteer Endeavors), a day of community
service, is scheduled for Saturday, October 13. Numerous sites have been identified in the Twin Cities and alumni
in other cities around the country are participating in the event. Contact the Alumni Office at 800-487-8437 or
alumni@gustavus.edu for more information or visit the events section
of the alumni page at gustavus.edu.
Comprehensive alumni directory – In partnership with Publishing Concepts, the Gustavus Alumni Association is publishing its fourth comprehensive alumni directory. Surveys were sent to all alumni in August and information will be used only for publication of the directory and updating database information in the Alumni Office. The book is available for purchase only by former students of Gustavus. Please correct or update any information and return to Publishing Concepts in the enclosed envelope provided with the survey.
New chaplain announced - The Rev. Rachel Larson has joined Rev.
Brian Johnson ’80 in the Office of the Chaplain. Larson will work in partnership with Chaplain Johnson and the
other members of the Office of the Chaplain to provide spiritual guidance,
worship, leadership, counseling, teaching, and other pastoral services to
Gustavus students, staff, and their families.
Larson is a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD, and of
what is now Luther Seminary in St. Paul.
Christmas in Christ Chapel, A Celtic Pilgrimage, is November 30 & December 1-2. A ticket order form was inserted in the Fall Quarterly. Contact Office of Public Affairs at 507-933-7520.