Just as the daffodils are opening up all over campus, we are also experiencing a blossoming of activities. My head was spinning yesterday with all the people and events on campus. First it was a visit day for prospective students and their families, so many people were here for tours. At the same time, students filled the quad for activities and sun, as other people were drawn to the Hilltop for special events.
Artists, curators, and students of art were on campus Thursday for the first Inland Visual Studies Center Symposium. The Center focuses on the history and current state of visual studies in the Midwest. Bill Brown, author of American Colossus: The Grain Elevator, 1843–1943, spoke about the sublime impact of something as huge as a grain elevator rising from our flat midwestern prairies.
I was so proud to see one of our alums, Joan Scott Wallace, back on campus yesterday. She spoke to students as part of Garrett Week, which celebrates diversity. Wallace, who graduated in 1952 with a degree in social work, served as the assistant secretary of agriculture under President Jimmy Carter and as a diplomat for President George H.W. Bush.
At the annual “Beer Drive,” Bria Schlax cheered after navigating a course while wearing goggles that show how alcohol affects vision. “It was fun,” Schlax said. Obviously, you really have no clue where you’re going.”
I have to say once again how much I love our students! Yesterday more than 100 had their heads shaved at the St. Baldrick’s event, which raises money to fund childhood cancer research. Anna Krueger, left, and Brittany Zarate, seemed to have a great time losing their locks.
