Gustavus Adolphus College

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Gustavus Adolphus College
Old Main at Gustavus Adolphus College
Motto: E Caelo Nobis Vires (Latin, "Our Strength Comes From Heaven")[1]
Established: 1862
Type: Private liberal arts
Endowment: $119.5 million
President: James L. Peterson
Faculty: 170 full-time, 94% tenure-track faculty. 13:1 student/faculty ratio. Average class size 17.
Students: Approximately 2,700
Location: St. Peter, Minnesota, U.S.
Campus: 340 acres
Colors: Black and Gold
Nickname: "Golden Gusties"
Mascot: Gustavus Lion
Affiliations: MIAC, ELCA
Website: gustavus.edu

Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Contents

[edit] History

The college was founded in Red Wing, Minnesota by Eric Norelius in 1862 and was originally named Minnesota Elementar Skola (Elementary School in Swedish). The school was moved to East Union, MN the following year.[citation needed] In 1865 on the 1,000th year anniversary of the death of St. Ansgar, "the Apostle of the North", the college was renamed and incorporated as St. Ansgar's Academy. In May 1873, the college was again renamed and reincorporated as Gustavus Adolphus Literary and Theological Institute in honor of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. On October 16, 1876, it opened as Gustavus Adolphus College in its new location in St. Peter, Minnesota. Gustavus is the oldest of several Lutheran colleges in Minnesota. It was founded as a college of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1962 it became a college of the Lutheran Church in America, when the Augustana Synod merged into that body. The Lutheran Church in American merged in 1988 to create the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

[edit] Academics

Gustavus consistently ranks highly among U.S. liberal arts colleges, currently placed among the best 100 national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. Gustavus students choose from over 50 major subject areas, ranging from physics to religion to Scandinavian Studies. The College is lauded for its Writing Across the Curriculum program, which fosters strong writing skills in all academic disciplines. Since the 1980s Gustavus has had a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States.

[edit] Campus life

The vast majority of Gustavus' 2,700 students ("Gusties") live in residence at the College, in traditional dormitories, College-owned houses, and theme areas, such as the Carlson International Center and the Swedish House. Campus life is enhanced by the many musical ensembles which perform throughout the year, including the Gustavus Choir, Christ Chapel Choir, the Lucia Singers, the Gustavus Adolphus Symphony Orchestra, Gustavus Wind Orchestra, Jazz Band, etc. Theater is also a regular part of campus life and there are two art galleries on campus, the Hillstrom Museum of Art and the Schaefer Art Gallery.

While achieving off-campus status as a Junior or Senior is more difficult than living in an on-campus dormitory, many upperclassmen choose to live off-campus within the community of St. Peter. It is traditional for students to create names for their homes (The Mulberry Bush, Nassau, The Dime, The Hotel, The Zoo, The Cockpit, The Clinic, The Chandelier, The Yellow Submarine, The Campground, The Lemon Drop, The Duplex, etc...)

[edit] Campus

The Gustavus campus features state-of-the-art science facilities, several computer and language labs, and a large, new dining facility which has improved the cafeteria food from that endured by previous generations of students. The College's majestic Christ Chapel, which seats 1500 people, stands in the center of campus. Gustavus' first building in St. Peter, Old Main, originally housed the entire college. Major renovations to the building, such as the addition of an elevator, have recently been completed. The campus is well-landscaped with every tree indigenous to Minnesota in the Linnaeus Arboretum and it is further graced by a number of remarkable sculptures by the late, well-known, Minnesota sculptor, Paul Granlund — an alumnus of the College who for many years was sculptor-in-residence. Recently Gustavus announced that they will no longer require an ACT or SAT score for acceptance into the college. It is the first private college in Minnesota to no longer require either test.

The "Old Main" building was completed in 1876. The school was relocated from the town of East Union upon completion of this building.
The "Old Main" building was completed in 1876. The school was relocated from the town of East Union upon completion of this building.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Distinctions

  • In the November issue of Men's Fitness magazine, Gustavus Adolphus College was ranked 6th in the 25 most fit colleges in the nation.
  • Gustavus Adolphus College was named on the list of "All Steinway Schools". There are only 66 schools on the list, and only 4 of those schools are in the state of Minnesota. To be considered for the Steinway designation, a school must first have at least 90 percent of its pianos be Steinways — which are completely handmade and can run upwards of $140,000 — or be of Steinway design.
  • In 2006, Gustavus Adolphus College was ranked 9th in the nation for Best College Food by The Princeton Review.
  • With over 50 percent of Gustavus Students studying abroad before they graduate and over 27 possible programs, Gustavus was ranked 4th in the nation for best baccalaureate institutions to study abroad at by The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2003
  • In 2007 the school was ranked as the 79th best liberal arts college in America by US News and World Report.
  • Gustavus is home to Perry, the Amorphophallus titanum (commonly known as the Corpse Flower), which bloomed on Saturday, May 12, 2007. This is one of the rarest flowers in the world, with only 50 recorded blooms in US history.
  • The 2003 Fiske Guide to Colleges named Gustavus one of 300 best American colleges and one of 43 Best Buys nationwide.
  • The National Review named Gustavus one of the 50 best liberal arts colleges in America.
  • “Small class size and superior faculty accessibility” earned Gustavus high praise in The Insider’s Guide to Colleges, along with its “close-knit campus community.”
  • The Peer Assistants Program, a group of peer educators, has been consistently named one of top network affiliates and chapters of the BACCHUS Network. The Director of the Peer Assistants program at Gustavus, Judy Douglas, has also been awarded the prestigious outstanding adviser award numerous times for her work with the Peer Assistants program.

[edit] Core values

The College's mission statement describes five core values:

  1. Excellence
  2. Community
  3. Justice
  4. Service
  5. Faith

[edit] Nobel Conference

Gustavus has been host to the annual Nobel Conference since the first conference in 1963. The conference has a focus on scientific topics such as "Medicine: Prescription for Tomorrow" (2006), "The Legacy of Einstein" (2005), "The Science of Aging" (2004), "The Nature of Nurture" (2002), "Virus: The Human Connection" (1998), and "The New Shape of Matter: Materials Challenge Science" (1995). The conference is open to the public and geared toward lay persons. The 2007 conference topic was "Heating Up: The Energy Debate" and took place October 2-3. The 2008 conference topic is "Who Were The First Humans."

The Nobel Conference is the first ongoing educational conference in the United States to have the official authorization of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. This conference links a general audience with the world's foremost scholars and researchers in conversations centered on contemporary issues related to the natural and social sciences.

The conference began in the early 1960's when College officials asked the Nobel Foundation for permission to name the new science building the Alfred Nobel Hall of Science as a memorial to the great Swedish inventor, Alfred Nobel. Permission was granted, and the facility's dedication ceremony in 1963 included officials from the Nobel Foundation as well as 26 Nobel Laureates.

Following the 1963 Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm, College representatives met with Nobel Foundation officials, asking them to endorse an annual science conference at the College and to allow use of the Nobel name to establish credibility and high standards. At the urging of several prominent Nobel laureates, the foundation granted the request., and the first conference was held at the College in January 1965.

The goal of the conference is to bring cutting-edge science issues to the attention of an audience of students and interested adults, and to engage the panelists and the audience in a discussion of the moral and societal impact of these issues. Another major goal of the conference is to attract world class speakers. Beginning with the help of an advisory committee composed of Nobel laureates such as Glenn Seaborg, Phillip Hench, and Sir John Eccles, the conferences have been consistently successful in attracting the world's foremost authorities as speakers. Fifty-nine Nobel laureates have served as speakers, five of whom were awarded the prize after speaking at our conferences.

[edit] Disasters

  • On January 8, 1970, the Auditorium was completely gutted by a fire.
  • On March 29, 1998, the College's campus was hit by a mile-wide F3 tornado that broke 80 percent of the windows, leveled nearly 2,000 trees, toppled the chapel's spire, and caused more than $50 million in damages. This event is considered to be one of the most expensive college disasters in history. Amazingly, there was only one death (not a Gustavus student), despite the tornado's widespread path; this is due, most likely, to the fact that most of the college was on spring break at the time of the tornado. Hundreds of volunteers worked extremely hard to get the campus back into a condition where the students could return after a three week hiatus. Still, students were forced to attend some classes in FEMA trailers as some on-campus buildings were too severely damaged.
Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College.
Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College.

[edit] Attractions

[edit] Athletics

Gustavus is a member of the MIAC and is well-known for excellence in both men's and women's tennis. Other key sports at the College are swimming, golf, and soccer. Gustavus has had two players drafted in the NFL Draft. They are Kurt Ploeger in the sixth round to the Dallas Cowboys in 1985, and Ryan Hoag in the seventh round to the Oakland Raiders in 2003. The school's team name is the Golden Gusties with their mascot a Lion given that Gustavus Adolphus was known as "The Lion of the North." Professional tennis player Eric Butorac has established himself on the tour as a doubles player.

[edit] Varsity sports

[edit] Men's

[edit] Women's

[edit] Performance

The Gustavus soccer team finished second in the NCAA Division III national tournament in 2005 — lead in part by three-time all American Robert "Bobby" Kroog. Also, in 2003 the Gustavus men's basketball team finished second in the NCAA Division III national tournament in Salem, Virginia, losing by only 2 points. Recently, The Gustavus football team has had below average performance under coach Jay Schoenebeck. They were known for football in the middle part of the century thanks to long-time coach/AD Moose Malmquist. Conversely, Jon Carlson coached both the men's and women's swim teams to top 10 finishes at NCAA Division III Nationals. In 2008, the men's and women's teams finished first in the conference. In addition, the women's hockey team, coached by Mike Carroll, is consistently strong, and has placed third and fourth at the last two NCAA national tournaments.

[edit] Campus media

Gustavus Adolphus College is home to five different media outlets which are represented on the campus media board.

  • The campus newspaper, The Gustavian Weekly is the oldest media outlet having first published in 1891. The publication which is entirely student written and produced features articles and opinions about events and issues on campus and beyond.
  • Firethorne is an arts and literary magazine that is published twice per year. Students are encouraged to submit short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, photography, visual art, or other creative content.
  • KGSM is a radio station run entirely by students. The station is webcast only and recently upgraded its studio to improve the quality of its webstream and a digital audio workstation. The station hopes to include a weekly campus newscast among its collection of podcasts.
  • The third and newest campus media outlet is GAC TV. Started by an enterprising group of students looking to bring the power and versatility of television broadcasting to campus, GAC TV became an instant success when students started watching the weekly show before free on-campus films.
  • The Gustavian Yearbook publishes a yearbook for each class.


[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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