HERITAGE

IN 1922, A NEW GYMNASIUM (now O.J. Johnson Student Union) was completed. It housed a basketball court, indoor track, and, in the basement, a pool with locker rooms, showers, and changing areas. (The “men’s” and women’s” entrances are still marked). The pool was home to swimming and diving teams and competitions, as well as Aquatic League Water Ballet and canoeing and water safety classes. “Ancient history: Proving we could manage a swamped canoe before heading out on the river with Professor (Vic) Gustafson ’42,” noted Jan Johnson LeClair ’80 on the Gustavus Alumni Facebook page. After the pool in Lund was complete (later named for Coach Gustafson), the Johnson Student Union pool was drained. For a few years it was offices. Then, in 1998, it reopened as The Dive, a name that nodded—like the salvaged tiles of the pool walls—to space’s history. The Dive was “a combination canteen, bar, and coffee house,” and a place “to dance and socialize on a Friday night,” says a yearbook story on its renovation. Clinton Dietrich ’98 noted on Facebook, “There would be so many people dancing, the tile walls would be wet!”

In 2020, The Dive plunged into a new role as home to the Center for Inclusive Excellence (formerly the Diversity Center). It’s still an all-access hangout, with study rooms, offices, and a multiuse space. The iconic dance floor, disco ball, and neon sign remain, as do the tiled walls from the old pool, politely reminding everyone, “Please no diving from the gallery.”

Plunging into the pool circa 1936.

A 90s-themed Dive Dance in 2012.

EQUITY ALERT

Without a women’s swimming team in 1951, Inga Carlson ’53 competed as a diver on the Gustavus men’s team, prompting a MIAC-wide ban on women competing on men’s athletic teams. Women swimmers and divers would not compete with other colleges until at least the late 1960s.