Reunion Weekend 2022Alumni College Programming

As a community of lifelong learners, we offer our alumni opportunities throughout Reunion Weekend to take classes from current and former Gustavus faculty and alumni experts on special topics that you can't get anywhere else. 

Take a look at what's on your course calendar for this Reunion Weekend 2022!

The Path of Purposeful Aging - presented by Richard Leider '66 | When we were young, people asked "What do you want to be when you grow UP?" Now that we're grown UP, the question becomes, "Who do you want to be when you grow old?" That's the key question this presentation helps answer. Purposeful aging is not a luxury for the few but is accessible to all and fundamental to health, happiness, and longevity. As a result of this presentation, people will be able to: Navigate the transition from adulthood to elderhood; Learn new mindset and practices to grow whole, not old. Get your free copy of Who Do You Want to be When You Grow Old? by Richard Leider.

Gusties Then and Now - A Story of Climate Action on the Hill - presented by Paul Thompson '70, Dr. Jeff Jeremiason, and Kari Wallin Compost Waste and Environmental Sustainability Manager for Gustavus | Join us for a presentation / conversation about how individual actions can mobilize a global effort to address Climate Change. Hear personal stories from an alumnus, current a student(s) and staff at GAC and learn what Gustavus is doing to cut carbon emissions, reduce waste and prepare students for low carbon future. Attendees will be offered ideas to take home to their communities and share with others.

A Nation of Immigrants? U.S. Immigration Policy Then and Now - presented by Dr. Maddalena Marinari | This lecture will look at the history of U.S. immigration from the end of the 19th century to the present. Although Americans have long embraced immigration as a central aspect of American identity, they have long been divided about the role that immigrants have in American society. Today's divisions over immigration represent the culmination of a century-old history.

Neutrinos in Minnesotapresented by Allen Lipke '70 | I had the opportunity after teaching science at Hibbing high school for 34 years to work at the University of Minnesota Soudan Underground Physics Lab for 12 years. I was the outreach person so I told people about our neutrino research. Neutrinos were proposed as a theory in the 1930's by Wolfgang Pauli and proven to exist in the early 1950's. Neutrinos are the second most abundant particle in the universe second only to light. Neutrinos are the smallest particle. The neutrinos we study in Minnesota are beamed from the Fermilab in Illinois. Neutrinos were proposed as a theory in the 1930's by Wolfgang Pauli and proven to exist in the early 1950's. I accumulated a lot of useless interesting things about neutrinos and thought I would share the characteristics.

John Quincy Adams...One Voice Can Make a Difference!presented by Rev. Dr. Tim Berg '73 | Despite great travails in his personal life, J.Q.A. persevered against all odds in almost a one person crusade against slavery right up until the moment of his death at age 80. Please come and be inspired by the hearing of his remarkable life's story...one voice can make a difference!

Toni Morrison's Greek Mythpresented by Professor Emeritus William K. Freiert | Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's Classical education enabled her to infuse her novels with allusions and insights from Greco-Roman antiquity. After briefly surveying Morrison's use of myth in most of her works, we will examine Song of Solomon in more detail. 

Wellness Workshop: Envision - Explore - Discover - presented by Kari Eckheart, Mayo Clinic and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach at Gustavus | During this interactive workshop you will EXPLORE your values, ENVISION your best self, and DISCOVER tips to set you up for success in reaching your goals for 2022. This workshop will be in person and registration is limited to 20 employees. This workshop will be facilitated by Kari Eckheart, Mayo Clinic and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. Registration is limited to 20 participants.

Tour of the Gustavus Archives - lead by Gustavus Archives Collections and Records Manager Adrianna Darden | Come and experience a brief presentation about what the College Archives does and how it can help you and your office, then stick around for a behind-the-scenes tour of our closed collections area, plus grab some Archives swag!

The Art of Livingpresented by Professor Emeritus Douglas Huff | The only serious human enterprise is living; which simply emphasizes the question: How should one live? Socrates puts some urgency into answering this question when he suggested that some human lives are meaningless and pointless. In the Apology he states this clearly, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” We will look at some of the ramifications of this statement and attempt to identify what is that makes life worth living.

The Secrets and Stories of the Kensington Runestonepresented by David Spilseth '67 | Philadelphia has the Liberty Bell and Massachusetts has the Plymouth Rock but Minnesota has something far older and more important! In 1898 a Swedish immigrant farmer, Olaf Ohman, was clearing his land near Kensington, MN when he found a rectangular , 5” by 16” by 31”, stone with strange writing on it in the roots of a Poplar tree he had just upended. The stone has 13 lines of Swedish runes with a date on it of 1362, 130 years before Columbus! The stone’s authenticity has been very controversial with the doubters accusing Ohman of carving the stone. I will explain that compelling new evidence makes that claim ridiculous.

Author talk with Timothy Hoover '82 on his book Soul Serenade: King Curtis and His Immortal Saxophone - presented by Tim Hoover '82 | Although in 2000 he became the first sideman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, “King Curtis” Ousley never lived to accept his award. Tragically, he was murdered outside his New York City home in 1971. At that moment, thirty-seven-year-old King Curtis was widely regarded as the greatest R & B saxophone player of all time. He also may have been the most prolific, having recorded with well over two hundred artists during an eighteen-year span. Soul Serenade is the definitive biography of one of the most influential musicians of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. Timothy R. Hoover chronicles King Curtis’s meteoric rise from a humble Texas farm to the recording studios of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and New York City as well as to some of the world’s greatest music stages, including the Apollo Theatre, Fillmore West, and Montreux Jazz Festival. Curtis’s “chicken-scratch” solos on the Coasters’ Yakety Yak changed the role of the saxophone in rock & roll forever. His band opened for the Beatles at their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965. He also backed his “little sister” and close friend Aretha Franklin on nearly all of her tours and Atlantic Records productions from 1967 until his death.