Welcome to the May 2024 edition of the Parents and Families newsletter!

Spring Finals Schedule and Commencement Weekend

As you begin to make travel arrangements with your student for the end of this academic year, please keep the following key dates in mind:

• Tuesday, May 14: Last Day of Classes
• Thursday, May 16–Tuesday, May 21: Final Exams
• Saturday, May 25: Baccalaureate/Commencement

For families with seniors, check out the Commencement Weekend schedule of events for more information on the many exciting ways to celebrate your graduate. Some events do require a ticket purchase, while many events are free and open to all!

Celebrating Leadership: St. Olaf’s 21st Annual Student Leadership Awards

As the parent of a St. Olaf student, you take pride in their academic achievements and holistic development. On top of intellectual growth, St. Olaf College fosters leadership development. The Office of Student Activities recognizes outstanding student leaders through their annual Leadership Awards program. This program offers a variety of awards for individuals and organizations, acknowledging the diverse ways students contribute to the vibrant campus community.

Awards for Individual Leaders

• Emerging Leader Award: This award recognizes first-year or sophomore students who demonstrate initiative, responsibility, and a commitment to serving the St. Olaf community. These students are emerging as leaders within their residence halls, student organizations, or other campus groups.
• Established Leader Award: This award honors junior and senior students who have consistently demonstrated strong leadership qualities throughout their time at St. Olaf. They are known for their ability to motivate and inspire others, tackle complex challenges, and contribute meaningfully to the college.
• Distinguished Senior Award: This prestigious award recognizes one graduating senior who exemplifies the very best in St. Olaf leadership. This student has made a significant and lasting impact on the campus community through their leadership, scholarship, and character.

Awards for Student Organizations

• Student Organization of the Year Award: This award recognizes a student organization that has consistently demonstrated excellence in its mission, programming, and overall impact on campus life. The winning organization fosters a positive and inclusive environment, promotes student engagement, and contributes to the college’s core values.
• Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award: This award honors a faculty or staff member who has provided exceptional guidance and support to a student organization. This advisor empowers students to succeed, fosters a positive organizational culture, and helps the organization achieve its goals.

Awards Recognizing Community Impact, Legacy, and Service

• Campus Impact Award: This award recognizes a student or student organization that has demonstrated outstanding involvement and strong dedication to the St. Olaf campus, fostering a positive impact on those around them.
• Community Impact Award: This award recognizes a student or student organization that has made a significant positive impact on the Northfield community beyond the St. Olaf campus. This could involve volunteer work, community service initiatives, or projects that bridge the gap between the college and the surrounding town.
• The Bill Green Award: Established in memory of Bill Green, a former Assistant Dean of Students, this award recognizes a staff member who embodies Bill’s commitment to student leadership and service. The recipient demonstrates exceptional leadership qualities, a strong work ethic, and a genuine care for the St. Olaf community.
• The Gertrude Hilleboe Award: This award honors a faculty member who exemplifies the leadership qualities of Gertrude Hilleboe, a Professor of Latin and Dean of Women for over 40 years. The recipient demonstrates strong leadership, a commitment to students, and a passion for making a difference in campus life.
• The Dave Hauck Award: Given in recognition of academic achievement, community service, and athletic excellence, the Dave Hauck award is the top honor for St. Olaf senior student-athletes.

What These Awards Mean for Your Student

Being nominated for or receiving a leadership award is a significant honor. It signifies that your student’s peers, faculty, and staff have recognized their contributions to the St. Olaf community. These awards acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and positive impact your student makes on campus.

How to Support Your Student’s Leadership Journey

As a parent, you can play a vital role in supporting your student’s leadership development. Here are some ways you can get involved:

• Express interest in their leadership activities. Ask them about their roles in student organizations, their leadership experiences, and the challenges and rewards they encounter.
• Encourage them to reflect on their leadership style. Discuss what motivates them to take on leadership roles and how they approach leading others.
• Help them connect leadership to their future goals. Discuss how the skills they are developing through leadership roles will benefit them in their chosen career path.
• Celebrate their achievements, big and small. Let them know how proud you are of their dedication, initiative, and positive impact on campus.

By understanding your student’s leadership journey, you become a partner in their growth and development. St. Olaf College values student leadership, and these awards are a testament to the outstanding young leaders who are shaping the college community. The 21st Annual Student Leadership Awards will take place in Buntrock Commons Ballrooms on Friday, April 26 at 5 p.m. CDT. There will also be a livestream of the event.

To learn more about the awards, click here.

Mail Forwarding and Tips for Seniors

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

As the spring semester starts to wrap up, your student might be wondering about how Mail Services works over the summer. Here’s some tips on how to help your student make sure they get all their mail this summer.

Tip #1: All students (graduating and not graduating) should go into their Student Information System (SIS) and verify their forwarding address in the “Personal” section. This way the Post Office can forward any first class mail that accidentally comes to St. Olaf to your student’s summer address.

Tip #2: If your student is staying on campus for the summer, they should keep an eye out for an email from the post office to sign up for regular on campus mail. That way, letters will go in their P.O. boxes and packages can be picked up at the Post Office like during the school year.

Tip #4: Always check where packages are being sent before pushing that ‘Confirm Order’ button. Forwarding mail can be slow, so by the time a package arrives at St. Olaf and then gets forwarded to your student, it can be weeks after your student’s package was originally ordered!

Tip #5: The Post Office can hold mail that they receive in the summer, but only in specific situations. For example, if your student’s summer address is not a domestic address, your student can work with the Post Office to have that package held until they return to campus. If your student accidentally has a package delivered to St. Olaf, they should get in touch with the Post Office once they receive a package notification to discuss their forwarding/holding options.

Things are a little bit different for graduating seniors. If your student is a member of the class of 2024, they should take these additional steps to make sure that all of their mail and packages get to them in a timely manner after graduation. 

Tip #6: In addition to verifying their off campus address, graduating seniors should make sure that their SIS profile and Alumni Profile have a non-St. Olaf phone number and non-St. Olaf email address in case the Post Office needs to contact you after your St. Olaf email account has been deactivated. 

Tip #7: Remind your graduating student to make sure that all of their subscriptions have been changed from their St. Olaf address to their post-graduation address. In addition, they might want to go into their accounts on online shopping platforms (Amazon, Walmart, etc.) and delete their stored St. Olaf address entirely. 

Heading into the summer should not be stressful in regards to receiving mail! Hopefully keeping these tips in mind will make your student’s transition into summer a little easier!

Conversation Starters for Families with Graduating Seniors

The end of senior year can be stressful, exciting, scary, or anything in between. Here are a few conversation starters to help your Ole make the most of their remaining time on the Hill:

• What parts of the transition from St. Olaf make you nervous or concerned?
• Have you thought about your ideal living situation following graduation?
• Are there activities you are involved in at school that you would like to continue? Have you thought about how you might find those opportunities?
• Tell me about what your friends are planning after graduation.
• How can we help you finish strong?