Standing on the Edge of Wonder

With a deep family connection to the school, Northland’s new board chair is committed to following in his father’s footsteps.

By Ted Bristol Chair of the Board of Trustees

Northland’s homepage currently features an image of a student gazing at a moss-covered rock waterfall deep in the evergreen Northwoods. The accompanying text says “Stand on the Edge of Wonder.” It makes me think of my first trip to Madeline Island as an eight-year-old and why, more than fifty years later, as the newest chair of Northland College’s board, I am committed to inspiring that same sense of wonder—the sense of wonder that moved Sigurd Olson to fight to save the Boundary Waters, protect the Apostle Islands, and urge the adoption of our environmental focused curriculum.

My path to Northland has been unconventional. I first learned of the College through my father, Michal Bristol, who was a trustee from 1992 to 2007. He was recruited to the Board by Ellen Green (trustee emeritus 1989-2004). Like me, Dad was not a Northland alumnus, but he had a deep interest in education, having served on the board of the school my brothers and I attended. In fact, he was so engaged in his board service that we all thought his true interest was becoming the head of the school rather than an investment advisor, which was his career.

My dad brought me for my first visit to Northland in the early 2000s. I had heard many stories about the College and his colleagues on the Board but had never been on campus. He had been chair of the annual giving campaign, and worked closely with Craig Ponzio ’72, then Northland’s Board chair, on the successful $50 million Strategy for Excellence campaign. He wanted to show Bob

Gross

me the College and what had been accomplished. What I remember best is touring the brand-new Ponzio Campus Center and historic Wheeler Hall with the turtle inlaid on the floor (a gift from my father!) and the stained glass Northland seal over the door. Our tour guide was Don Chase ’62!

I had no idea at the time that, roughly a decade later, I would become a board member and serve not just with Don, but several others who had been on the Board with Dad and knew him well. When I joined, several of those board members— including John Allen ’77, Lowell Noteboom, Craig Ponzio, Mary Rice, and Jim Williamson ’59—were still serving! Their welcoming graciousness helped me understand why Dad’s board service had been one of the most significant and rewarding experiences of his life.

Seeing my dad through the eyes of his peers has been both a stressful and rewarding experience because I knew my father to be both exacting and generous. I wasn’t sure which version my new colleagues had experienced. The answer was both. John told me how my dad had gotten tired of listening to everyone complain about how uncomfortable the chairs were in the small meeting room in the office next to the president’s and bought new chairs just to stop the complaining. Don told me about the Strategy for Excellence campaign and the bell in the advancement team’s office that they would ring when a new contribution came in. ( Jackie Moore ’05 sent me a picture of it still hanging in her office!) And, Lowell recognized the emotions involved by immediately sharing kind words after the vote electing me board chair.

I share these stories because they reinforce what I have learned and come to value during my board service. The first is the dedication to the College and passion around the environmental mission of the College of all who work and study here. The second is the powerful connection to the region and community, not just on campus, but in those surrounding Chequamegon Bay. As an “outsider,” I came to Northland sharing this love those qualities that position Northland to provide a unique, deeply personal, hands-on learning and living experience. Availability of water, access to healthy food, wise resource use and management, and social justice are among the biggest challenges facing the world today, and all these are at the heart of the Northland educational experience. Fifty years ago, when Northland followed Sigurd Olson’s recommendation to move to an environmental liberal arts curriculum, the College took a big risk, as chance to live and work among dedicated people with a shared love of nature and commitment to its sustainability is a rich experience.

As a boy, my most powerful memories from Northland are of stones and water. Cold water of perfect clarity and stones like I had never seen before—sandstones, agates, basalts, jasper, quartz—in all shapes and sizes. Some were perfect for skipping and some we treated like gems. My brothers and I (and later my wife and children) collected and brought home jars of them so of the region but unfamiliar with the community. I have been profoundly moved by the commitment and the reward of working with a group of people who deeply care about the College and are determined to enable it to realize its potential and meet the challenges we see in the world.

Being a small college on the northernmost edge of the country, four hours from a major city, is a challenge that we all know and understand. But, what we all individually celebrate and deeply believe, is that it is just environmental education was in its infancy. We were ahead of our time: environmental studies are now commonplace.

At Northland, our challenge now is to continue to take risks, to evolve, to recognize and celebrate the value of the special type of educational experience we offer—creative courses and professors who blend disciplines, and the unparalleled outdoor learning opportunities in the woods, on the Apostle Islands, and in the small communities and farms which are the heart and soul of the region. The that we could keep our connection to the lake. As an adult, I still search for the perfect skipping stone and still love to count how many skips I can get.

When I ride the ferry between La Pointe and Bayfield, I’m drawn to the horizon, the clouds hanging on the water, the sun bursting through. We truly do stand on the edge of wonder at Northland, and as board chair, my mission is to enable our College community to inspire, share, and preserve this wonderland for generations to come.