Welcome to the November 2023 edition of the Parents and Families newsletter!

Holidays in the Halls

Photo: Evan Pak ’19

The winter holidays are coming, and with them comes Residence Life’s annual Holidays in the Halls celebration! Holidays in the Halls is a time where students come together at their all-hall winter parties to relax following the busyness of the fall semester before they head into finals week. As part of the celebration, every student receives a hall-themed gift to promote community and connection. The spirit of this tradition is to give students a keepsake that signifies their belonging to their hall community and to ensure that every student feels included during the holiday season.

Be part of the celebration with your students by making a gift through the Holidays in the Halls campaign, launching Monday, November 13. Keep an eye out for an email from your student’s residence hall that will include details about how you can support this important community-building celebration.

Your participation in the Holidays in the Halls campaign helps ensure that Residence Life can continue to provide this a unique memory for our Ole community.

Um! Yah! Yah!

Thanksgiving Break – A Letter of Advice and Encouragement for Families

Written by Joshua D. Lee, Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Relations and Former Assistant Dean of Students

With Thanksgiving and Winter Break approaching, students may be returning home for the first time this academic year. This can be an exciting time, but it can also come with some unexpected tension. Over the last few months, students have developed a new sense of independence with different sleep schedules, personal habits, changes to their appearance, new ideas, and even new worldvieww. Family dynamics may have also changed during this time. Rest assured, this is all an important and normal part of growing up! 

If your student is coming home this upcoming break, offer them grace, support, and understanding. This can be a challenging time as they navigate new social norms and expectations with family and friends. If you have expectations for your student while they are home such as a curfew, attending certain family events, etc., it is important to communicate openly while also making compromises.

In the moments you have to catch up with your student, consider asking open-ended questions that create space for them to share their joys, achievements, progress, learning, challenges, concerns, and future plans. Yes/no questions can pressure students to say the “right” thing when your intent is likely for them to openly and honestly share their experience thus far. 

Recommended Conversation Starters

Transition to college

• What are you hoping to do while you’re home for Thanksgiving?
  • Take note of how their priorities align with yours
• What are you missing about home?
  • If something concerning comes up, consider follow-up questions that will help you understand how you might help their transition.
• What are you enjoying most about being on campus?
  • If this question is challenging for your student, ask them about opportunities they THINK could be enjoyable.

Finances

• How are you doing with your monthly budget?

Social and emotional wellbeing

• What are you doing for self-care at school? We know college can be intense — how are you taking care of yourself?
  • Take note of how your student describes their exercise, diet, and rest.
• What does your daily routine look like this year?
  • Take note of how your student describes their exercise, diet, and rest.
• Tell me about the people you’ve met this year at St. Olaf.
  • New relationships can come from the classroom, dorms, extracurriculars, etc. If this question is challenging for your student, consider helping them identify the small ways they have connected with new people.

Academics

• Have you made an appointment to see your advisor? What did you talk about?
  • As noted in last month’s academic support and registration articles, appointments with an advisor are an important part of the college experience. Encourage your student to reach out, even just to check in.

Finally, if any of these topics bring up significant concerns about your student, please continue to follow up with them about those concerns and encourage them to reach out to the numerous resources available on campus within the Division of Student Life.

The 2023 St. Olaf Christmas Festival

Written by Lily Moreschi ’24. Lily is a Dance and Quantitative Economics major from Virginia and works as a Student Specialist in Alumni and Parent Relations.

Photo: Steven Garcia ’20

As the end of the fall semester approaches, so does the annual St. Olaf Christmas Festival!

The St. Olaf Christmas Festival, affectionately known on campus as “Fest”, began in 1912 as a musical program for the college community. The first Christmas Fest was planned and directed by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf Music Department. Since its creation, Christmas Fest has grown into a massive concert, featuring over 500 student performers with five choirs and one orchestra that reaches over 7,000 audience members every year. 

Participating music ensembles perform in Christmas Fest both individually and as part of a Massed Ensemble. This year, Anton Armstrong ’78 is Artistic Director of the Festival and Conductor of the St. Olaf Choir; Adam Reinwald ’00 conducts the St. Olaf Chapel Choir and Viking Chorus; Therees Tkach Hibbard conducts the Manitou Singers; James E. Bobb conducts the St. Olaf Cantorei; and Chung Park conducts the St. Olaf Orchestra.

Performances will take place on Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, December 2 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. 

Here are answers to common questions parents and families have about Christmas Fest:

How can I purchase tickets to Christmas Fest?

Ticketing is managed through Orchestra Hall’s Box Office. If assistance is needed in order to complete your purchase, please call the Minnesota Orchestra Box Office at 612-371-5600. Ticket prices range from $40 to $85.

If your student is not performing in the Christmas Festival, they will receive a promo code for one complimentary ticket to reserve at the $40 and $55 seating tiers. Students will also have access to purchase four additional tickets. If you want to sit with your student, please coordinate with them directly in order to redeem their complimentary ticket. Students gain access to the presale on Wednesday, November 1.

Is there a presale for parents and families?

The ticket presale is open to St. Olaf students, parents, faculty, staff, retirees, alumni, volunteers, and donors. The ticket presale for the 2023 Christmas Festival will take place the week of October 30. The general public will be able to purchase tickets on November 6. If you are eligible for the presale, you will receive an email with information on your presale date and will be sent out by the end of October with access information for ticket purchasing. If you haven’t received your presale access information by October 30, please email christmas-festival@stolaf.edu or call 507-786-3811. 

I cannot attend this year’s Christmas Festival in person. Will there be a livestream option?

Yes! There will be a free live stream offered of the Saturday, December 2 performance at 7:30 p.m. from St. Olaf Multimedia’s Christmas Festival website. 

Answers to other frequently asked questions can be found on the Christmas Fest webpage. If you have further questions, please email christmas-festival@stolaf.edu or call 507-786-3811.

On-campus Resources for Students

Written by Lily Moreschi ’24.

St. Olaf has a lot of on campus resources available for your Ole, but it can be confusing to keep track of all of them. Here is a quick guide to a few of the resource centers on campus and how they can support students.

The Smith Center for Global Engagement connects students to opportunities to study off campus in the U.S. and abroad. The Smith Center provides resources and support during the process (even for parents!) to ensure that off-campus experiences serve as rich learning experiences. The Smith Center also supports the Academic Civic Engagement program, which helps connects St. Olaf students to the local Northfield community.

The Piper Center for Vocation and Career helps students explore careers, gain experience outside of the classroom, and pursue meaningful post-graduate work, service, and education. The Piper Center has both full-time Career Coaches and student Peer Leaders who can assist your Ole in every aspect of their career planning journey. Whether your Ole is looking for information on internship funding, exploring potential career paths, or needs someone to look over a cover letter or resume, the Piper Center can help.

The Academic Success Center is here to assist your Ole in exactly what it sounds like: their academic success! The Academic Success Center offers student-centered, accessible, and inclusive services that help unlock the potential of every Ole. Some of these services include academic advising, academic tutoring, success coaching, multilingual support, supplemental instruction (SI), and writing tutoring. The Academic Success Center is also home to the Disability and Access (DAC) offices and TRIO Student Support Services for Students with Disabilities (SSSD).

The Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion aims to foster an inclusive environment across the intersections of race and identity that students bring to St. Olaf. The Taylor Center is open to all students of all identities, and provides educational and community building programs for BIPOC, multicultural, international, and LGBTQIA+ students. Taylor Center programming stretches far and wide across campus, including Taylor Center Coffee Hours, First-Year International Student Orientation, and the Taylor Center Townhouses. The Taylor Center is located across from the Office of Student Activities and it is open all day, even if a program is not going on. 

The Institute for Freedom and Community (IFC) seeks to improve the quality of public discourse and critical thinking discussions on campus. The IFC encourages free inquiry and meaningful debate of important political and social issues. Each semester, the IFC produces a series of discussions with scholars from across the country about a specific topic. Fall 2023’s topic theme is Food Policy & Food Politics. The schedule for Fall 2023, as well as recordings of this semester’s programs, can be found on their webpage.

The Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community exists to encourage the interreligious exploration of faith, values and vocation and provides opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and alumni to connect with each other around questions of belief, meaning, purpose, and life choices. The Lutheran Center also provides programming and guidance to Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregations, as well as other denominations, faiths, and higher education institutions. The Lutheran Center aims to serve all members and friends of the St. Olaf community, whatever their beliefs may be.