GRATITUDE

The Health Wellness

OF OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY

Lund Center’s expansion and renovation will serve all Gusties, whether in exercise classes, intramurals, or expanded academic programs.

When it opened in 1984, Lund Center was the premier sports facility in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.

But over the last four decades, changes in collegiate sports, academic programs, and student wellness have stretched Lund to its limits. This spring Gustavus launched construction on the expansion and renovation of Lund Center. The $60 million project will bring much-needed improvements to the building, expanding Lund Center to meet the needs of the entire Gustavus community for years to come.

Lund is one of the most-used buildings on campus. Before the COVID-19 pandemic restricted the building’s use, Lund teemed with activity every day. Students, staff, and faculty members came from across campus for their workouts—yoga and TRX classes, weightlifting, cardio on treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes. The building has evolved over the course of its 36year history as racquetball courts were replaced by a functional workout space for TRX and yoga, weightlifting equipment spilled into every available space, and intramural participation and pick-up games exploded.

Tens of thousands of people visit Lund Center for the Nobel Conference, athletic camps, high school tournaments, and Gustie sporting events. If you are one of the many people who have visited Lund in recent years, you know the building is due for an update.

Student health and wellness are urgent priorities for the College. Just as corporate leaders recognize that wellness opportunities are important for boosting employee productivity, studies show that college students who exercise earn better grades. Moreover, students who start exercising regularly in

LEVEL 1 EXISTING

LEVEL 1 PROPOSED

LEVEL 2 PROPOSED

27%

of Gustavus students participate in varsity sports

6,000+

campers visit Gustavus sports camps each summer

college keep up with wellness habits later in life. In meeting the wellness needs for the campus community, the expanded Lund Center will provide more flexible exercise spaces. When Lund opened, the most popular workout trends were Jazzercise, racquetball, and Nautilus machines. Just as no one in 1984 could have predicted TRX and Pilates, we don’t know how people will exercise decades for now. The new workout spaces in Lund will be able to adapt to changes. More importantly, Lund Center will increase in workout space, from the current 6,100 square feet to 22,000 square feet— a 72 percent increase.

The new academic wing in Lund will feature new faculty offices, spacious classrooms with up-to-date technology, and a 118-seat lecture hall. The renovations will end the overcrowding of class and office space. Two of Gustavus’s most popular academic programs are exercise science and athletic training, both housed in Lund Center. Before the pandemic, students were packed wall-to-wall in Lund Center classrooms. The Human Performance Lab, necessary for the exercise science program, will move into a space two-and-a-half times larger than students currently have in which to conduct research. Athletic training will also have its own specialized classroom.

Of course, renovation of Lund Center will also benefit varsity sports at Gustavus. Over a quarter of all Gustavus students participate in varsity sports, on 23 men’s and women’s teams. In the late afternoon, these athletes crowd into Lund’s locker rooms, practice spaces, and athletic training rooms. With a new field house attached to the renovated Lund, there will be an indoor practice area for football, soccer, softball, baseball, and track. And because college athletes now train year-round, Lund’s expanded facilities will allow Gusties better opportunities for improving fitness and honing skills in the off-season.

Many visitors have their only experience of the Gustavus

68% OF STUDENTS

nationwide say that wellness facilities are important in their choice of college and their decision to stay at a college

WELLNESS FACILITIES AT AREA COLLEGES

Lund Center opened in 1984, and has not been expanded since then. Meanwhile, most other colleges and universities in the area have renovated or opened new athletics and wellness facilities in the last 25 years.

2004 HAMLINE

Klas Center 27,000 SF

2002 ST. OLAF

95,000 SF

2001 LUTHER

11,000 SF

1984

GUSTAVUS

Lund Center 175,000 SF

1998

SAINT JOHN’S

Field House & Fitness 66,000 SF

2000

CARLETON

Recreation Center 80,000 SF

2008

MACALESTER

Leonard Center 75,000 SF

2019

ST. OLAF

Skoglund Center

2006 UMD

Sports & Health Addition 46,000 SF

2006

AUGSBURG

Kennedy Center

2013 U OF M

Recreation Center 175,000 SF

2010

ST. THOMAS

Athletics & Recreation 185,000 SF

2018 U OF M

Athletes Village 330,000 SF

2022

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

240,000 SF

2016

SAINT JOHN’S

Gagliardi Field/Dome 80,000 SF 2020

UMD

Arena Renovation

1984 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

campus at Lund—their only impression of the College is the 37-year-old athletics building. Most other colleges and universities in Minnesota have constructed new athletics buildings and wellness centers during the last two decades. Even many area high schools have newer and larger facilities than Gustavus. The College is thriving, and the renovated Lund Center will better represent the Gustavus of today and be the wellness, academic, and athletics home for the Gustavus of the future. The new Lund Center will help us keep pace with— and in some ways outpace—our peers. It will reflect Gustavus’s success in multiple areas and facets of campus life, including in alumni support.

WHY WE GIVE: Susan Astrup Lundquist ’84 and Erik Lundquist ’88

LUND IS STILL A SPECIAL PLACE FOR ME. I CONNECT IT WITH ALL OF THAT EXCITEMENT OF BEING ON CAMPUS AS A FRESHMAN.

Susan: My Gustavus experience began before college. I grew up in Austin, Minnesota, and went to Tennis and Life Camp at Gustavus. And when I became editor of my high school yearbook, I went to yearbook camp there. Both Erik and I were the first ones in our families to go to Gustavus. We’re so happy we started a tradition. Our three children have all gone to Gustavus, and I have nieces and nephews who have gone here. My mom even became a big Gustavus supporter. Before she passed away last year, she watched livestreams of Gustie sports and even gave to the College. That really says something. She recognized how important the College was for Erik and me, for our kids, and for her other grandchildren who went there.

Erik: I grew up in Nebraska, but I had family in Minnesota and always wanted to end up here. Part of the attraction of Gustavus was basketball. Coach Bob Erdman was a terrific recruiter. A key part for me was that I was also a tuba player, and I wanted to stay in music. I asked Coach Erdman if I could do both––basketball and music. He said, “Absolutely.” Another big draw was Lund Center. For my campus visit, I got to tour the arena when it was under construction. Then it opened the next year. The excitement of being part of that brand new building was very cool.

Susan: I missed out on that. I graduated the year before Lund opened. Erik and I were four years apart in school. We didn’t meet until years later at a Gustie wedding.

Erik: I didn’t end up graduating from Gustavus. I went there only three semesters and then transferred back home, to the University of Nebraska. But it says something about Gustavus that I got an invitation to a wedding seven years later, from a friend I met in my first year. Because I had both experiences, at

“It is important to give of our time and resources,” says Susan. “We have enjoyed being on the Gustavus Parents Council, for one.” The Lundquists’ youngest child, Peter, just graduated in 2021, following Anna ’16 and John ’18. “Gustavus has been a special place for us and now for our entire family,” adds Erik.

a big university and a small college, I have a real appreciation for a liberal arts education. That is an important motivation for our giving to Gustavus. We have seen the well-rounded experience that our children have had there. All three played a varsity sport, but they also had time for academics and other activities. We believe in what Gustavus provides.

Susan: Our appreciation for the broad opportunities Gustavus offers is reflected in how we give. When Erik and I finalized our gifts last year, we felt so good that our gifts could support Gustavus in a variety of areas. We were glad to have our support go to a number of different areas on campus.

Erik: Our gift to Lund fits within that appreciation of the liberal arts mission. It’s not just about giving to sports, but rather about health and wellness for students. Watching our children go through school, we have seen how important it is that they developed habits of health and wellness early on.

WHY WE GIVE: Dennis Trooien ’74 and Susan Ahlcrona ’74

IF ONE WORD CAN DESCRIBE WHY WE GIVE TO GUSTAVUS, IT IS “GRATITUDE.” SUE AND I ARE GRATEFUL FOR OUR EXPERIENCE AT GUSTAVUS AND THE LIFELONG FRIENDS WE MADE THERE.

I am also grateful for the mentors I had at Gustavus. Two come to mind immediately: Kyle Montague ’34 and Donny Roberts ’56. Kyle, known to students as “Boomer,” was inspirational in teaching business classes and my decision to go to law school. Donny Roberts, of course, was my hockey coach. Gustavus had one of the best hockey teams in Division II sports at the time. Donny had an uncanny ability to get 110 percent out of us. My teammates and I learned what pride and hard work can accomplish. When we put on our black-and-gold jerseys, we were proud of our colors and Gustavus.

I am still grateful for the donation the Lund family made back in 1973 toward the hockey program. Their gift helped the College convert our outdoor natural ice rink to a rink with artificial ice. We were still out in the wind and whatever else Mother Nature threw at us. But now we had consistent ice when the weather was not cold enough, such as in the fall when we were preparing for the season and in the spring when we were getting ready for the national tournaments. Prior to the Lund family’s gift, we had to take a school bus to Shattuck arena in Faribault. It was an hour trip each way, plus an hour of practice. The camaraderie on the bus was great, and Ma Young packed us sandwiches for the trip back. But it was difficult to make up that time in the library.

The Lunds’ gift also bought us a real Zamboni. Until that time, our “Zamboni” had been a 55-gallon drum mounted on top of a sled, with a perforated horizontal pipe on the bottom. The engine had the horsepower of one skater, who pulled the sled around the rink.

Donny Roberts procured that initial gift from the Lund

There will be a small plaque thanking Ahlcrona and Trooien in the new student lounge at Lund Center. The plaque will read: You can achieve great accomplishments from here. Go get them. Says Trooien, “We are grateful Gustavus taught us this lesson—that accomplishments don’t just come to us.”

family. We have all seen how it grew in the years that followed, leading to the indoor hockey arena and then eventually to Lund Center.

Now is the time to remodel that great Lund Center. It’s fun to reminisce about the tough times on the outdoor rink. But when you’re trying to recruit students and you’re trying to get athletes to perform at their best, you need facilities that will enable them to succeed. Sue and I are grateful for the tremendous gifts that other alumni have already made to spearhead this much-needed renovation. Their donations have been jaw-dropping. We’re also grateful for President Bergman’s tenacious leadership.

The gift Sue and I made for the Lund renovation comes from a pay-it-forward gratitude we have for Gustavus. Just as the Lund family’s gift improved my experience as a hockey player and student, hopefully our gift will help today’s students––and then they will be led to give to help future generations of Gusties.