5 minute read
ON THE HILL
Physics professor Chuck Niederriter atop Olin Hall with one of six electric bikes recently added to the Gustavus bike rental program, and next to Olin’s solar panels.
BIKES AND BENCHES
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Thanks to sustainably minded Gusties, it’s now much easier to bike up the hill. And there are more places to sit and rest when you get there.
In 2016, a group of student-athletes led the push for a bike rental program. Last summer, with the Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation, the program expanded to include six electric bikes. Electric bikes o er a sustainable alternative to driving around town, says Kari Wallin, the College’s Compost, Waste, and Environmental Sustainability Manager. And they’re especially useful for students without vehicles on campus.
Ride a bike around campus and you’ll also notice three new benches outside The STEAMery. They represent more than two thousand pounds of recyclable plastic saved from landfi lls by members of the Gustavus community. Through a partnership with TREX, a company which builds deck materials from recycled plastic, the College receives one bench per every 500 pounds of recycled plastic it collects.
Such programs feed into the College’s goal to divert 90 percent of waste away from landfi lls. It’s a bold challenge, but with the committed leadership of talented Gusties, there is a lot of energy behind it. “Our students drive so much of environmental action here. The students have a lot of inspiration, and they bring good energy into all of these projects,” says Wallin.
“The students are what inspire me,” adds Chuck Niederriter, physics and environmental studies professor and codirector of the Johnson Center. “They get us thinking about how we can reduce our energy and waste.”
Whether at rest or on the go, Gusties on campus are surrounded by tangible proof of how their individual actions can aggregate into real good.
THE 2021 AND 2020 CARLSON TEACHING AWARD WINNERS: PHIL BRYANT ’73 AND KATE KNUTSON
This past May, both the 2021 and 2020 award were given. Gustavus faculty, staff, administrators, and students nominate professors for this award, the highest teaching award given at Gustavus.
English and African Studies professor Phil Bryant ’73 received the 2021 award. After graduating from Gustavus, Bryant went on to earn his master’s in creative writing from Columbia University before returning to the hill as a faculty member in 1989. He bases his teaching on studentcentered discussions that foster genuine learning and connections. “The students,
they’re so surprising in what they bring to the classroom,” Bryant says. “Not just information, but a part of themselves.” I had teachers that when they saw me, Beyond the classroom, they said ‘you belong here.’ That’s what I Bryant has authored four try to follow and mimic, to get students to books of poetry. Today, he mentors faculty and recognize what some people 50 years ago students, with a unique recognized in me.” blend of wisdom and —professor Phil Bryant ’73 humor. “I have never met another professor who laughs so much and can inspire so much laughter in me,” a student nominator wrote. MAYDAY! PEACE CONFERENCE, IN PERSON AND ONLINE. This year’s conference, Growing Peacebuilders, will feature Maya Soetoro and Kerrie Urosevich ’93, peace educators and the founders of Ceeds of Peace, a nonprofit aimed at raising peacemakers and educating communities on sustainability, justice, and peacebuilding. By planting the “ceeds” of compassion, commitment, collaboration, and more, Ceeds of Peace hopes to provide individuals with the tools they need to work towards positive change and remain resilient while doing so. Soetoro and Urosevich will share these tools with the Gustavus community through a presentation and a variety of interactive workshops. Wednesday, April 27; presentation in Christ Chapel at 10 a.m. Workshops throughout the day. Visit gustavus.edu/events/mayday for more information.
Political science professor Kate Knutson was named the 2020 recipient. “I love teaching at a residential liberal arts college because we focus on supporting the whole student—developing their intellectual gifts, discerning who they want to be and what they want to do in the world, and equipping them with the skills to be able to achieve those goals.”
Knutson, who has led January Term study trips to Washington D.C. and Hawaii and was previously awarded the College’s Faculty Service Award, appreciates teaching political science because the topics intersect with many different aspects of life. “Every course I teach feels timely and relevant. The things students learn in political science will make them educated, informed, and active citizens who are prepared to engage in the world.”
“Kate asks her students to engage critically and thoughtfully with complex topics, and she does so with compassion and grace,” a student nominator wrote. “She pushes all of her students to examine their opinions and back them up with evidence.”
CAMPUS SOCIAL
@cj_zino Beautiful day! #gustavusadolphuscollege #gustavusfamily
@gustiesoccer This team is amazing!! This year, we made 50 tie blankets to donate to the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital! #gogusties #tieblankets Follow @gustavus, @gustiealum
@gustavus They met through @Gustieswhockey, and their resulting friendship carried them through ice rinks around the world. Meet the Gustavus Eight. #whygustavus
@gustavus #FutureGusties and their families are meeting with current students, faculty, and sta at today’s Picture Yourself at Gustavus admission event at International Market Square in Minneapolis! #whygustavus #Gusties26
“Carlos Balbuena ’21 recently played the Minnesota Opera with the mariachi band, Mariachi Mi Tierra.” —Ópera Afuera, the opening performance of the Minnesota Opera’s 2021-2022 season, was held outside at Allianz Field. A celebration of the Latinx opera and music tradition, Balbuena and Mariachi Mi Tierra accompanied Vanessa Alonzo as she performed, “La Cigarra” and “La Malagueña”.
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10:00 a.m. Time for Refl ection
“We need you to break the silence because the stakes are actually life and death. What we believe about one another leads to grave harm. We must fi nd ways of speaking honestly and intelligently about our past. We need more people opening up conversations, removing the taboo and changing the culture of silence by breaking the silence.”
— Dr. Carolyn Roberts, historian of medicine and science at Yale
University, from her lecture as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Speaker on January 17
