Mid-January 2000
To the dear and gentle 41 of us who still list Earth as our residence:
This historic first Class of ’38 letter of the New Millenium brings my well wishes for your well being and my hope that you, with me, find the benediction at worship’s end more and more personal and meaningful.
Strom Thurmond at 98 supposedly said, "I have the growing…feeling that the older I get, the better I was." I’m at that stage. I "was better" at golf, at swimming and dancing, at snow shoveling, at remembering, at eating smart, at going to church?whatever!
But, our class is better at giving to the Gustavus Fund now than a year ago. Then 17 of us ponied up $4,400 by December 20. This year, same date, 20 are listed for nearly $19,700. WOW! What made the difference? Someone did some estate planning and made the Gustavus Fund an heir, is my guess. Someone- may have designated the Endowment Fund in memory of a loved one, or donated valued property, or drew up a gift annuity, or cashed in an insurance policy or made one out to the college, or gave a larger cash gift. Whatever. Thanks be to those givers! To quote Jesus: "Go thou and do likewise."
Mortimer B. Zuckerman, editor of U S News and World Report in the January 17 issue, uses this quote: "How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterwards," applied to the current U. S. Congress. Surely! Surely! Not one of the 21 non-givers to date would like that quote applied to him or her after the Fund’s closing date of May 31! Therefore, my beloved, kindly kick-in!
My shaggy old friend Robert Frost was "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening" and this is what he wrote:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
We Earth people, the living of our noted class, also "have promises to keep." Promises that all alums are challenged to make. Promises to the New Millenium students now on campus and to those out there in high schools on their way to St. Peter and up the hill on College Avenue towards Old Main. We promise to aid them financially on their quest for knowledge. The Gustavus Fund does that. I pray we will keep on helping and have many, many, many miles to go before we sleep."
Up to now, I have written about giving, inspired by a famous quote from the Apostle Paul to a congregation in Corinth. He wrote, "And now about the collection in aid to God’s people." Exactly why we have the Gustavus Fund, an annual way to help others, as good Christians should.
And now a few words from campus:
The Gustavus campus is in the midst of January term with over 20% of the student body away from campus this month participating in internships, study abroad programs, student teaching or studying at other domestic institutions. On campus there are many unique classes being offered such as Archeology and the Bible and Analyzing Japan in addition to numerous classes and programs around a J-Term 2000 theme - Focus on Women's Studies. Next year January Term will focus on environmental studies. Winter sports, fine arts and extra-curricular activities are also in full swing. Even though there is little snow at Gustavus the new Nordic Ski Team is preparing for competition. The band and choir are preparing for southern tour destinations—the band to Florida and the choir to Texas.
Construction on campus continues, as the new Campus Center will be finished in February with the completion of renovating the former dining service building. Many offices will then move to their new location in the Campus Center including Admission, Dean of Students, Student Activities and Residential Life. Construction of the new International House-Swedish House, a new residence hall/international center to replace Johnson Hall and the Swedish House that were destroyed in the March 1998 tornado, will begin this spring. Construction on an outdoor track and new soccer field stadium will begin this summer. If you have not been back to campus lately, you are encouraged to make a visit to see these exciting changes.
If you can not make it back to campus, but want to stay connected, check out the Internet site at gustavus.edu. The college is thrilled to recently have hired a web coordinator who has been busy updating the Gustavus home page. Look for more changes to alumni services on the web coming this spring.
You are invited and encouraged to attend these upcoming alumni events:
Naples gathering February 5 (Marco Island gathering cancelled)
Tucson Chapter gathering February 7
Phoenix Chapter gathering February 8
Sun City Chapter gathering February 9
Seattle G.I.V.E. project February 19 and Seattle Chapter
gathering on March 2
Bay Chapter gathering March 4
Los Angeles Chapter gathering March 5
San Diego Chapter gathering March 6
Helen and Paul Baumgartner, Gustavus music faculty will perform two piano recitals in the Twin Cities on March 12, 1:30 p.m. at Cross of Glory Lutheran Church, Brooklyn Center and March 19, 7:00 p.m. at Wayzata Community Church
50th Anniversary Class and 50 Year Club reunions - May 26-27
A reminder that all other reunion classes (1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995) will have their reunions at Homecoming on September 29-30.
A new method of giving to the College is now available! Lutheran Brotherhood created a highly successful and popular program for Lutheran churches called Simply Giving and has just extended this opportunity to Gustavus and other Lutheran colleges. Simply Giving is an automatic bank draft program that allows you to make regular monthly gifts from a checking or savings account to the College. You do not need to be Lutheran to participate, there is no cost to you or the College for this service, and you can make changes at any time. For so many people, it is much easier to give $50 a month than to write a $600 check once a year. Please call Heather Nancarrow at (800) 726-6192 or (507) 933-7518, or e-mail her at hnancarr@gustavus.edu to request more information.
Now about some other stuff. People who have houses have stuff, more so than apartment dwellers or condo people. Stuff goes into a closet or the attic or a garage sale. Trash goes to the curbside. "Women’s Wisdom" said, "Amazing! You just hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks two sizes."
For me, the Gustavus Quarterly always avidly read, gets stuffed along with other periodicals and papers, but it’s more than "useless matter." The current issue (Winter 1999) with that smiley, top-notch Prexy Steuer greeting you, is a duzzey! I read it all in detail except the gold-edged section. No kidding, I was enthralled, captivated, thrilled, especially by Dr. Steuer’s ten tremendous pages.
His educational credentials (page 5) surpass those of any predecessor, all due respect to those highly qualified leaders who led Gustavus well. "Steuer’s academic credentials are impeccable," writes Steve Waldhauser. Dig out your copy and be impressed.
I lift these impressive quotes from the Steuer pages; the stuff of which he’s made, thank God:
"I’ve tried to identify ways in which Gustavus is distinctive, beyond that it’s a college of the church and that it has a Swedish heritage and a special Nobel connection…Our challenge is to advance those qualities that make Gustavus stand out from other very good liberal arts colleges."
It strikes me as distinctive that the College combines strong music and athletics programs and a strong core liberal arts program with an emphasis on community service."
"The number one goal that the trustees set for me and I then set for myself was raising the endowment and unrestricted funds for operations…we also agreed that Gustavus was for many people a buried treasure that deserved wider recognition."
"The college’s endowment is three times larger today than it was in 1991…we’re in fact playing in the national liberal arts college league today."
"I am convinced that the Gustavus faculty on the whole are deeply committed to high quality teaching. It is essential that we provide our teachers the resources to follow through on their commitment."
"Our strategic plan calls for every academic department to be among the top 25 among national liberal arts colleges by 2010, an admittedly very ambitious goal."
"A report just released by the Peace Corps ranks Gustavus 12th nationally among smaller colleges and universities (under 5000 enrollment) in numbers of graduates currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers."
We aspire to be a community where people of color, people with different backgrounds, people from different geographic regions of the world can all say, ‘This is my place.’"
"We put the focus on ensuring excellence across the board. My special charge."
"One thing has changed (in this post-tornado era) and that is that the development of facilities became a real priority. Necessity has provided us with a wonderful opportunity."
"I get a lot of credit that I don’t deserve. I continually thank God that I get to work with so many talented and committed people."
Dr. Steuer, an authentic leader, builds on stuff of the past.
Assisted by his lively, gifted, visionary wife, Loreli, he has done
that and has added his own stuff to the glory of Gustavus. Skoal to
Axel and Lori!
Tom Wersell
1938 Class Agent