St. Olaf launches a sesquicentennial year of reflection and connection
As members of the St. Olaf College community gathered in Boe Memorial Chapel to kick off the academic year with Opening Convocation, President Susan Rundell Singer started by noting the historic nature of the moment.
“This year we celebrate St. Olaf’s 150th birthday,” she told the hundreds of students, faculty, and staff who packed the chapel for the celebration.
The St. Olaf Sesquicentennial, she said, is a moment to reflect on the past while embracing the promise of the future. “We are committed to moving forward, finding joy, and making a difference in the world,” she said.
“We are committed to moving forward, finding joy, and making a difference in the world.”
— President Susan Rundell Singer
Founded in November 1874, St. Olaf has stood the test of time by providing students with a transformative liberal arts education that prepares them to become innovators and collaborators who seek solutions — and go on to make a difference in the world by working together with others.
In 1944 Dean of the College Norman Nordstrand stated that “Ours is the double responsibility of holding to the best that St. Olaf has accumulated in the past and of breaking ground for all the potentialities of which [the college] is capable in the future.”
Eighty years later, his words still hold true.
Throughout this sesquicentennial year, the college will honor its rich history by reflecting on the generations of teachers and learners who have laid a strong foundation for St. Olaf, while also looking to the future impact that Oles can have.
Some of that history is available for exploration in a new digital exhibition from College Archives that features 150 objects and documents from the last 150 years. Grouped by decade, the selected items provide a bite-sized taste of St. Olaf’s history and the types of materials held in the College Archives. It’s the newest in a series of virtual exhibits that bring the college’s history to life for a new generation of Oles.
Rundell Singer will reflect on the college’s history and the promise of its future as she delivers a special St. Olaf Sesquicentennial address during the Founders Day Chapel Service on Thursday, November 14. Following the service, there will be birthday cupcakes and celebration in the Buntrock Commons Crossroads.
As we mark the college’s 150th anniversary during the 2024-25 academic year, Oles are invited to engage in a number of other programs and events that encourage reflection and connection throughout the St. Olaf Sesquicentennial. Opportunities this fall include:
Visit the Flaten Art Museum exhibit celebrating 150 years of political engagement on campus
As St. Olaf launches the celebration of its 150th anniversary this fall — and the campus community prepares to once again head to the polls for a presidential election — a new exhibit highlights the ways that students have been at the forefront of political activism throughout the college’s history.
Attend Homecoming and Family Weekend
Throughout the year, St. Olaf events will have special programming to mark the college’s 150th anniversary. During Homecoming and Family Weekend October 4-6, attendees can:
- Take a “Then and Now” tour of campus
- Record a reflection of their St. Olaf experience in the Skifter Hall studio
- Stop by a pop-up exhibit by St. Olaf Archives featuring the history of homecoming
- Attend a gathering with retired St. Olaf faculty from throughout the decades to reminisce and catch up
- Enjoy one of several concerts throughout the weekend by St. Olaf musicians that include songs in honor of the 150th anniversary
- And more!
Engage with the Why Treaties Matter exhibit
St. Olaf is hosting the Why Treaties Matter exhibit on campus as part of the college’s ongoing work to educate the campus community about indigeneity, decolonization, and Native sovereignty since adopting a land acknowledgment statement in 2020. In St. Olaf’s 150th Year, the exhibit will encourage members of the college community to engage a more expansive narrative around the founding of St. Olaf and the history of the land on which it sits, as well as our relationship to our Native neighbors. This exhibit reveals how Dakota and Ojibwe treaties with the U.S. government affected the lands and lifeways of the Indigenous peoples of the place we now call Minnesota, and explains why these binding agreements between nations still matter today.
Learn about a new sesquicentennial book highlighting untold stories
Honest Storytelling: A Sesquicentennial Exploration of Identity, Mission, and Vocation at St. Olaf College will give voice to some of the untold stories of St. Olaf’s institutional saga — from those of the Wahpekute Band of the Dakota Nation who preceded the college’s founders, to those of the women, immigrants, Lutheran Christians, and first-generation students the college has served since its inception, to those of students, faculty, and staff across a diversity of identities not envisioned in 1874 as a part of St. Olaf’s story.
Listen to six new digital albums available through St. Olaf Records in honor of the 150th
In celebration of the St. Olaf Sesquicentennial, St. Olaf Records has released six new digital albums featuring music by the St. Olaf Band, St. Olaf Choir, and St. Olaf Orchestra. These new releases are available to stream and download on platforms that include Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube.
Share your St. Olaf story!
Sharing the untold stories of the people, places, and programs that have made up the fabric of the campus community over the decades is an important part of celebrating the college’s sesquicentennial. The history of St. Olaf is not one story, but many — and we want to hear yours!
Join us for special events throughout the year
Campus events throughout the 2024-25 academic year, from the St. Olaf Christmas Festival to Reunion Weekend, will have special 150th programming as well. Stay tuned for more information. We hope to see you on the Hill!