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Macalester Today                                                          Communications and Marketing

Spring 2021

Macalester Today Spring 2021
Macalester College

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                     TODAY                                                    SP RING 2021
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              STAFF
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              EDITOR
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Rebecca DeJarlais Ortiz ’06
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              dejarlais@macalester.edu

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              A R T D I R EC T I O N
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The ESC Plan / theESCplan.com

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              CL ASS NOTES EDITOR
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Robert Kerr ’92

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              PHOTOGRAPHER
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              David J. Turner

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              CONTRIBUTING WRITER
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Julie Hessler ’85

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              A S S I S TA N T V I C E P R E S I D E N T FO R
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              M A R K E T I N G A N D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Julie Hurbanis

                                      16                                      20                                      26                                                                                                                                  32             36   C H A I R , B OA R D O F T RUS T E E S
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Jerry Crawford ’71

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              PRESIDENT
                                       FEATURES                                                                                                                                                                                      DEPARTMENTS                              Dr. Suzanne Rivera

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              V I C E P R E S I D E N T FO R A D VA N C E M E N T
                                       All Charged Up 14                       Education Illuminated 26                                                                                                                              Correspondence 2                         D. Andrew Brown

                                                                                                                       LEFT TO RIGHT: LESLIE GROSSMANN; ANNA GODEASSI; CHARLES JISCHKE; THERESA SCARBROUGH; SIMONE MARTIN-NEWBERRY
                                       Electric boat motors are the wave       What did the pandemic reveal about                                                                                                                    Sounding Board 3                         A S S I S TA N T V I C E P R E S I D E N T
                                       of the future—and Steve Trkla ’83 is    challenges facing public education,                                                                                                                                                            FO R E N GAG E M E N T
                                       leading the way.                        and how should we think about                                                                                                                         1600 Grand 4                             Katie Ladas

                                                                               what might be ahead?                                                                                                                                   Honoring the Class of 2021’s            MACALESTER TODAY (Volume 109, Number 2)
                                       The Writing Life 16                                                                                                                                                                            work, lessons, and perspectives.        is published by Macalester College. It is

                                       Twin Cities journalist Mary Ann         Making Beauty 32                                                                                                                                      Class Notes 38
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              mailed free of charge to alumni and friends
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              of the college four times a year.
                                       Grossmann ’60 has been penning          Dakota elder Walter “Super”                                                                                                                                                                    Circulation is 32,000.

                                       stories for 60 years.                   LaBatte Jr. ’70 is an artist,                                                                                                                         Weddings 41
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              TO UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS:
                                                                               historian, and culture bearer.                                                                                                                        Books 42                                 Email: alumnioffice@macalester.edu
                                       Freedom From Certainty 20                                                                                                                                                                                                              Call: 651-696-6295 or 1-888-242-9351

                                                                               Lecture Notes: Celebrating                                                                                                                            In Memoriam 48                           Write: Alumni Engagement Office, Macalester
                                       What does it take to acknowledge                                                                                                                                                                                                       College, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105-1899
                                       the validity of other perspectives—     Black History Through                                                                                                                                 Last Look 52                             TO SHARE COMMENTS OR IDEAS:
ON THE COVER:
                                       or even admit that you might be         Theater 36                                                                                                                                                                                     Email: mactoday@macalester.edu
“What I’m hoping to see
as we come out of this                 wrong?                                  “I wanted us to investigate some                                                                                                                                                               Phone: 651-696-6123

is more questioning                                                            of the documented theatrical
about how we want to                                                           history that led us to this moment,”
live together,” says Mac
educational studies                                                            Professor Harry Waters Jr. says.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Macalester Today is printed
professor Brian Lozenski.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        on Rolland Enviro 100, a

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: CHARLES JISCHKE
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                41                               100 percent recycled paper.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Our printer, Royle Printing
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 of Madison, Wis., is FSC®
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 certified. (FSC® C22017)

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CORRESPONDENCE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      SOUNDING BOARD

El-Kati’s legacy                                                                                   ticularly inspiring. I loved her mother’s com-
I enjoyed tremendously the article on Pro-
fessor Mahmoud El-Kati (Winter 2021). I
was a freshman in 1969 and well remember
                                                                                                   ment: “You can’t wring your hands and roll
                                                                                                   up your sleeves at the same time.” Indeed!
                                                                                                       I also learned a great deal about Mah-
                                                                                                                                                              Looking Forward with Hope
                                                                                                                                                              A
the cultural upheaval taking place at that                                                         moud El-Kati. I never had the privilege of
time. A class with Professor El-Kati was                                                           taking one of his classes when I was at Mac                              beautiful cardinal has taken up    bringing with us into our “new normal”
one place we knew we would encounter a                                                             (’85–’89), but he always seemed a wise and                               residence in the tree outside      all the recently acquired tools, skills,
majority of Black students. One final exam                                                         knowledgeable professor. Glad he is still                                my bedroom window. It sings        and strategies that—though learned by
had us students in a circular formation and                                                        involved in the community!                                               in the morning as I prepare for    necessity—will now be incorporated with
the good professor asking questions and                                                                I was dismayed to hear of the loss of                  work, reminding me that spring is com-           thoughtful intention into our classrooms
waiting for the first verbal answer. It was      Thanks to Kim Walton ’79 and Robin Gar-           Galo González. He brought an energy and                    ing. My spouse, Mike, and I have learned         and co-curricular instruction.
like a Black History category on Jeopardy.       cia-Hrbek ’83, we’ve identified the cheer-        passion to his teaching that inspired my                   that Minnesotans like to joke about the in-          These incoming students will begin
     I also remember courses on the Har-         leaders in “Last Look” (Winter 2021).             love of literature, film, and the Spanish                  ordinate length of winter, but the cardinal      their Mac journeys at a time when all of us
lem Renaissance with Evelyn Vanouse,             From left: Vickie O’Neal Iddings ’79, Wal-        language. I taught Spanish at the high                     doesn’t seem to mind the cold. The per-          in higher education are focused deeply on
with many of the same students. During           ton, and Garcia-Hrbek.                            school level for nearly 10 years and lived                 sistence with which it sings each morning        access and equity as essential to academic
one of my summers in the Twin Cities, I                                                            in Mexico and Spain, in large part due to                  causes me to think about the tenacity, re-       excellence. And I am proud that Mac has
participated in a protest march (the cause                                                         Professor González’s influence.                            silience, and hope we all have had to culti-     taken important steps to advance both of
forgotten), and Professor El-Kati was at the     On viewpoint diversity                                                          Joanne Terry ’89             vate in this most challenging year.              these. Our decisions to drop the applica-
front leading the chants.                        Regarding the invitation to answer what                                             Denver, Colo.                 And there is much cause for hope.           tion fee and to use holistic, test-optional
     Thank you for this profile of a very        lessons from past experiences guide you                                                                      Every day, we inch closer to being able          strategies for evaluating applicants have
impactful professor.                             today (“Wise Words for Turbulent Times”):         I was so grateful to read Dr. Rivera’s ar-                 to gather with loved ones as the number          increased the number of talented students
                    Joan Johnson Rooks ’73       When I was a poli sci major at Mac in the         ticle “Practicing Gratitude.” It is unusual to             of people receiving COVID vaccinations           who allowed themselves to dream of be-
                                Hemet, Calif.    ’60s, most of my classmates were Repub-           hear this kind of sharing from an academic                 continues to climb. In our family, we an-        coming Scots, and we know these students
                                                 licans. I was almost the lone DFLer. But we       leader. Her take on how to respond to this                 ticipate the (rescheduled) summer wed-           are deeply committed to pushing them-
Mahmoud is the reason I teach history to-        all got along fine, and I am still in touch       pandemic was pitch perfect. I’m impressed                  ding of our firstborn. On campus, signs          selves in the classroom, on the field, on the
day. His knowledge of the subject, his en-       with many of them. Viewpoint diversity            and filled with thanks that Macalester has                 of life are evident at every turn—from the       stage, in the studio, and in our community.
gaging style, and his commanding presence        was an accepted norm at Macalester back           a leader with this kind of spirit and grace. I             crocus poking up through the ground to               Likewise, we have been working tire-
left an everlasting impression. I have tried     then. Now, I always try to see all sides of       think the ship is in good hands!                           seek sunshine, to the students assembling        lessly to ask ourselves (and answer!) dif-
to duplicate his style for going on 43 years!    an issue, and, typically, there are more                                Rev. Carl Anderson ’64               around the flagpole outside my office for        ficult questions about what we must do to
                            Eric Anderson ’75    than two sides. It’s called critical thinking,                                 Mt. Prospect, Ill.            plein air choir practice.                        be sure our campus is one in which every
                                Pomona, Calif.   something missing at Macalester now. I am                                                                         In just a few weeks, we will celebrate      member of the community can flourish
                                                 a registered independent in California.           One of the most timely and interesting is-                 our 2021 graduates, who overcame seem-           and thrive. Toward that end, multiple task
Professor El-Kati profoundly impacted                When JFK died, my Republican friends          sues in a long while. Congrats!                            ingly insurmountable obstacles to com-           forces and working groups are addressing
my worldview as a student of history. His        reached out and comforted me. They, too,                                     Gerald Stacy ’62                plete their degrees undaunted. Their plans       material barriers, such as food insecurity,
teaching still impacts my perspective of         were shocked and saddened. I recall we in-                                Canyon Lake, Texas                 after Commencement range from pursuing           and leading the kinds of changes that will
our country. Thank you.                          vited Barry Goldwater to speak in ’64. As he                                                                 Fulbrights and PhDs to joining startups and      be necessary to advance the four pillars of
                        B. Todd Jones ’79        entered the convocation, nearly everyone                                                                     taking roles at technology companies like        a Macalester education: academic excel-
                                  St. Paul       stood in respect. None of my GOP friends                                                                     LinkedIn. What an inspiration, to launch a       lence, internationalism, multiculturalism,
                                                 asked for a safe haven that post-election                                                                    cohort of principled, curious, and deeply        and service to society.
                                                 morning in November. No comfort dogs              CONNECT WITH US                                            compassionate young people out into the              Of course, the college cannot dis-
Cheers                                           were roaming the dorms. No one ridiculed
                                                                                                   Visit Mac’s social media hub at
                                                                                                                                                              world beyond our campus, knowing they            mantle every form of inequality in our
Thank you for putting the 1977 cheer squad       them in class that day, so they did not com-                                                                 will transform it for the better.                society, nor fix systemic barriers to access
                                                                                                   macalester.edu/macsocial and join in by
in Macalester Today. We are so often not         plain about microaggressions. I guess my                                                                          In communities near and far, across a       that are beyond our control. But higher
                                                                                                   using the #heymac hashtag when you post
included in the history of Mac. It was a hard    colleagues were adults. How Macalester                                                                       vast range of paths and professions, these       education remains an important ladder of
                                                                                                   on Twitter or Instagram.
row to be on a Macalester cheer squad—           has changed now that students are scared                                                                     soon-to-be Mac alumni will apply the             opportunity. We can, and we must, ensure
there were very vocal opinions on pros and       of viewpoint diversity.                                                                                      lessons, values, and skills they explored        that a Mac education is within reach for        Macalester, now and for generations to come.
cons. I led the cheer squad from fall 1978                              Roger S. Peterson ’67      CORRE SP ONDENCE P OLICY                                   at 1600 Grand. They will not be content          the many talented students who see in this          Like the cardinal outside my window
until we were disbanded by the athletic di-                                      Rocklin, Calif.   We invite letters of 300 words or fewer.                   merely to complain about injustice, vio-         community a place to grow, stretch, and         who is undaunted by Minnesota’s stubborn
rector for allowing men to try out. One of         Founder, Macalester Alumni of Moderation        Messages may be edited for clarity, style,                 lence, bigotry, or suffering. They will assign   dream—whether those students come from          and enduring winters, Macalester looks
those men was Doug Tilton ’82 and he was                                                           and space and will be published based on                   themselves the tasks required to change          Minnesota or Mali or Mexico or Myanmar.         forward with hope and a deep, almost in-
pretty darn good. We performed during                                                              their relevance to issues discussed in                     what they cannot accept. In so doing, they           For this reason, we continue to raise       stinctive, confidence that brighter days lie
basketball season in the original long plaid     Winter reflections                                Macalester Today. Share your thoughts:                     will make us all proud.                          funds for financial aid, to advocate for        ahead. We send off our graduates with that
skirts and sweaters from the past squads.        I have enjoyed the last couple of years of                                                                        And, coming up behind them, a new           doubling the Pell Grant program, and to         abiding hope and we anticipate with great
Greatest memory was breaking our foot-           Macalester Today and believe the level of          • Email: mactoday@macalester.edu                          class of Mac students prepares to join the       expand our recruitment strategies. These        joy a new academic year that will look more
ball losing streak, the People article, and      journalism to be much improved. In the lat-        • Tweet: @macalester using the hashtag                    campus this fall. Selected from the larg-        efforts benefit greatly when our alumni         familiar than the one that soon will end.
the celebration.                                 est issue, I especially enjoyed the feature          #macalestertoday                                        est applicant pool in Macalester’s history,      volunteers and ambassadors get involved.
                     Robin Garcia-Hrbek ’83      story “Wise Words for Turbulent Times,” by         • Mail: Macalester Today, Macalester College,             these students will join a Mac family that       Your talents, time, and treasure are vital      Dr. Suzanne Rivera is president of Macalester
                                                                                                                                                     PEXELS

                           Rosemount, Minn.      Kim Catley. Kris Amundson’s story was par-           1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105                     has persevered and will emerge stronger,         for building a stronger and more equitable      College.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                      HONOR ING
                                                                                   INTRO STATS AND CALC                                   I WASN’T A VERY SOCIALLY ACTIVE PERSON WHEN I FIRST CAME    THE CL ASS
1600                                                                       PROBS, REAL, BAYESIAN AND MATH STATS
                                                                                  CAUSAL, NETWORK, BANG!
                                                                                                                                           TO MAC, AND I DON’T THINK I AM ONE EVEN NOW. HOWEVER, I
                                                                                                                                          TRIED TO PARTICIPATE IN EVERY ACTIVITY DURING ORIENTATION
                                                                                                                                                                                                      OF 2021

GR A N D                                                                                     –ZUOFU HUANG                                AND GET TO KNOW AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. I THINK THIS
                                                                                                                                         WAS THE BEST DECISION THAT I MADE DURING MY YEARS AT MAC.
                                                                                                                                                                                                      This spring all over the Mac
                                                                                                                                                                                                      community, we’re celebrating
                                                                                                                                                                                                      the Class of 2021 as our seniors
                                                                                                                                                                                                      prepare to set out on paths that
                                                                                                                                                          – YOUNG HYUN (CHASE) YOO                    will take them into communities
                                                                                                                                                                                                      all over the world. On May 15, in
                                                                                                                                                                                                      addition to the college’s virtual
                                                                                      CAFÉ MAC TOASTER,                                                                                               Commencement ceremony,

                                                                                   WHY DID YOU EAT MY BAGEL?                                                                                          much of the class will partici-

      SENIORS
                                                                                                                                                                                                      pate in one of two Grad Walks,

                                                                                     WHY ARE YOU ON FIRE?                                       THE WORLD IS MULTIDIMENSIONAL, NOT BINARY.            designed to create an in-person
                                                                                                                                                                                                      celebration while maintaining
                                                                                            – GABRIEL FISCH                                    ONE POOR GRADE, MISTAKE, OR HICCUP DOES NOT            the community’s health and
                                                                                                                                                                                                      safety during the pandemic. Join
                                                                                                                                                      MEAN YOU HAVE FAILED AT LIFE.                   us in sending off our seniors
                                                                                                                                                                                                      by posting your well wishes on
                                                                                                                                                           – FRANKLIN MARQUETTE

         LOOK
                                                                                                                                                                                                      social media using the hashtag
                                                                                                                                                                                                      #heymac.
                                                                                   I LEARNED TO PLAY PIPES,                                                                                                Our community is so grateful
                                                                                                                                                                                                      for the outpouring of support
                                                                               SANG WITH JAZZ AND POP COMBOS.                                                                                         from alumni this year, including
                                                                                                                                                                                                      through Career Exploration
                                                                                 NOW THE WORLD’S MY STAGE!                                          YOU WILL NEVER BE GIVEN THE TOOLS                 initiatives. Here’s how you

         BACK
                                                                                                                                                                                                      can support the Class of 2021,
                                                                                    – ELIAN SAMONIDES-HAMRICK                                  TO DISMANTLE THE SYSTEMS THAT OPPRESS YOU.             wherever you are in the world:

                                                                                                                                                           – JENNINGS MERGENTHAL                      HELP #HIREMAC: If your
                                                                                                                                                                                                      company has openings for jobs
                                                                                                                                                                                                      or internships right now, fill
                                                                                                                                                                                                      out the Google form at bit.ly/
                                                                                      MADE AMAZING FRIENDS                                                                                            helphiremac, and we’ll share
                                                                                                                                                                                                      them with students.
                                          We invited the Class of                    NEVER BEEN IN CARNEGIE                               ASK FOR EXTENSIONS. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME CATERING TO
                                      2021’s graduating seniors                                                                                                                                       CONNECT DIRECTLY with
                                                                                     FOUND LOVE FOR FRISBEE                              PEOPLE WHO DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU. AND BY GOD, LEARN HOW       students to share information
                                            to channel their Mac                                                                                                                                      about open positions: contact
                                       experiences into haiku or
                                                                                             – JULIA RECORD                                TO COOK SO YOU DON’T SPEND EVERY MEAL AT CAFÉ MAC.         careerexploration@macalester.edu.
                                                                                                                                                             – KELSEY RODRIGUEZ
                                        advice for new students.                                                                                                                                      LOGIN TO THE NEW AND
                                                                                                                                                                                                      IMPROVED MACDIRECT:
                                      And they had a lot to say—                                                                                                                                      macalester.edu/macdirect. Our
                                    visit macalester.edu/seniors
                                                                                  MY HOME FOR FOUR YEARS                                                                                              alumni platform features an
                                                                                                                                                                                                      improved search function with
                                             for more responses.
                                                                             LOVE, LAUGHTER, TEARS AND GROWTH                                     BEST SPOT ON CAMPUS TO PROCRASTINATE:               expanded options to update your
                                                                                                                                                                                                      profile and view your volunteer
                                                                                     SIMPLY, THANK YOU.                                           WITHOUT A DOUBT THE LIBRARY BASEMENT.               or giving history. (Even if you’ve
                                                                                                                                                                                                      used MacDirect in the past, you’ll
                                                                                             – ISABEL CONDE                                                    – CARTER GALE                          need to create a new login.)
                                                                                                                                                                                                           In MacDirect, turn on
                                                                                                                                                                                                      your CareerHelper badge to
                                                   YOUR TURN                                                                                                                                          signal that you are open and
                                                   What’s your advice for new students? Can you summarize your Mac years in a haiku?                                                                  willing to connect with students
                                                   Share via email (mactoday@macalester.edu) or social media with the #heymac hashtag.                                                                for career advice.

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                                   VIEW
                                                                           Several of the Class of 2021’s studio
                                                                           art majors share recent creations—                                                               Emily Shang
                                                                                and some of the highlights and                                                              (Beijing)
                                                                             lessons from all the hours they’ve                                                             “Window,” oil painting

                                         COMPILED BY REBECCA EDWARDS ’21           spent in the Art Department.
                                                                                                                                                                            One thing I learned from art at Mac:
                                                                                                                                                                            Art is a very powerful tool. Every deci-
                                                                                                                                                                            sion in the theme, composition, colors,
                                                                                                                                                                            and more elements contributes to the
                                                                                                                                                                            message that one wants to communi-
                                                                                                                                                                            cate through the art with the audience.

                                                                                      Zarra TM
                                                                                      (Jacksonville, Fla.)
                                                                                      Acrylic paint on canvas, part of an in-
                                                                                      progress triptych on dissociation

                                                                                      Favorite day in the Art Department:
                                                                                                                                 Mai Xor Vang
                                                                                                                                 (St. Paul)
                                                                                      Always critique day. No matter what
                                                                                                                                 Vector self-portrait using Adobe
                                                                                      level of the class, putting all the work
                                                                                                                                 Illustrator
                                                                                      up on the wall and really taking a
                                                                                      breath to look is incredibly energiz-
                                                                                                                                 One thing I learned from art at Mac:
                                                                                      ing. You learn as much from your
                                                                                                                                 At Macalester, I was able to discover
                                                                                      peers as you do your instructors, and
                                                                                                                                 myself as an artist. I learned about
                                                                                      collaboration makes fulfilling art.
                                                                                                                                 my work ethic, my artistic style, and
                                                                                                                                 my process whether that be how I get
                                                                                                                                 inspired or stay inspired.

         Ailsa Burke
         (Iowa City, Iowa)                                                                         Camilla Severi
         Untitled linoleum print, made in April 2020                                               (Cesena, Italy)
         from home                                                                                 Vase, Raku clay with clear
                                                                                                   glaze
         One thing I learned from art at Mac:
         No matter the outcome of your creative pro-                                               Favorite day in the Art
         cess, what matters is showing up and put-                                                 Department:                   Malini Basu
         ting time in and getting your energy flow-                                                I recently managed my         (Kolkata, India)                                  Long Nguyen
         ing. It makes you feel better and it makes                                                first Raku ceramic firing.                                                      (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
                                                                                                                                 Icon set, pen and ink, 2020
         your art better.                                                                          We take pots out of the                                                         “13,789km away from home”
                                                                                                   kiln at 1,800 degrees, and    One thing I learned from art at Mac:
                                                                                                   they burn in barrels con-     We have a tendency to miss so much                One thing I learned from
                                                                                                   taining combustible ma-       of the world, simply because we’re                art at Mac:
                                                                                                   terials such as sawdust       not actively looking. We learned this             Push a little harder before
                                                                                                   and wood shavings. So         in Sculpture 1 while sculpting busts of           deciding to give up on an
                                                                                                   many people helped out,       our fellow classmates, realizing how              idea.
                                                                                                   and it was a great day.       little we knew about the contours of a
                                                                                                                                 face. But I think it’s equally important
                                                                                                                                 to be constantly changing the lens
                                                                                                                                 through which we see our surroundings.

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                                                     AT H L E T I C S     The Golf Simulator
                                                                          In the Leonard Center, the golf simulator in Room 36 is a hidden
                                                                          gem. You hit the ball into this floor-to-ceiling five-sided box, and

                    JIM SMITH’S                                           cameras and sensors pick up data: how fast the ball’s going, how                                          Macalester College Student

   Favorite
                                                                          much spin it’s carrying. This connects to a computer system and                                           Government president Fatiya Kedir
                                                                          shows you in real time on a projected screen where that ball would                                        ’21 (right) with President Rivera
                                                                          end up. In the winter, we use the golf simulator several times per
                                                                          week, and it’s a great time for concentrated instruction from Coach                                          As we celebrate                  What’s a standout book that                          capitalism in its present form. I’m really inter-
                                                                          Greene. When we’re on the driving range in warmer weather,                                                                                    you’ve read recently?                                ested in seeing how it relates to capitalism to-
                                                                                                                                                                                    the Class of 2021,

     Places
                                                                          sometimes we’re all clamoring for attention at the same time. This                                                                            All About Love, by bell hooks, taught me a lot       day, neo-liberalism, and why it’s so deeply en-
                                                                          room is really where we work on our swings and improve.
                                                                                                                                                                                         we pause our                   about radical love and self-care. I found that
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        book right when I needed to find it, right after
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             tangled in the ways that we view each other. It
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             changed the way that I view the system I live in.
                                                                          Geography Lounge                                                                                              usual focus on                  last summer. It helped me frame everything
                                                                          There’s plenty of stimulating conversation, collaboration, and                                                                                about the summer and about my own goals              Any guilty-pleasure reads?
                                                                          hobnobbing among students and professors here. It’s where I held                                               faculty book-                  as I started my final year at college. It taught     Comic books—and manga even more—and al-

   When Jim Smith ’21 is on the golf course, some may find his key
                                                                          office hours when I precepted “Contemporary Mongolia,” a first-
                                                                          year course taught by Professor Holly Barcus, a leading scholar on
                                                                                                                                                                                        shelves to ask                  me something so basic, but fundamental to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        my work in my own community: that any work
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             though I don’t own many, I do enjoy stealing
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             some from my brothers when I go home on the
   to success a little unconventional: he likes to make conversation      migration and rural livelihoods in the region. That class hooked                                            student govern-                   needs to always start and be rooted in the self.     weekends. I went from Junie B. Jones when I
   with his competition. “We might be out there for up to nine or ten     me on the topic, and this winter I finished my geography capstone,                                                                                                                                 was first learning English to Magic Tree House,
   hours, and it’s all competition time, even though that may look        “Competing Sustainabilities: Air Pollution and Mitigation Initia-                                            ment president                   What’s one of your all-time                          then straight to chapter books. I thought I was
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        favorite reads?
   different from an intense basketball or football game,” says Smith
   (Shippensburg, Pa.). “Finding things in common with people from
                                                                          tives in Ulaanbaatar.” This spring, I’m collaborating with my GTU
                                                                          [geography honors society] co-president, faculty, and staff to host
                                                                                                                                                                                       Fatiya Kedir ’21                 Angela Davis: An Autobiography. Autobiogra-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             so cool for reading chapter books, but I wish I
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             had read more comic books then. I’m thankful
   other teams helps me stay present and energetic.”                      the Midwest Undergraduate Geography Symposium. We’re grap-                                                    (Minneapolis)                   phies can be overly glorifying, but I love this      for them now.
       Smith carries that spirit into community-building in all of his    pling with figuring that out in a virtual environment.                                                                                        one because it seems very genuine. She’s an
   Macalester roles, from Kirk RA to Geography Department student                                                                                                                   about some of her                   iconic Black woman, but in addition to that,         What book would you recommend
                                                                          The LC Atrium                                                                                                                                                                                      to everybody at Macalester?
   leader to Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) president.
   That’s no easy task this year. “It’s extremely challenging when        I like really solid multiuse spaces like the Leonard Center Atrium.
                                                                                                                                                                                      formative reads.                  she’s also an incredible being in the ways that
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        she is able to truly reflect the full and true hu-   All About Love is one. We do have a sense of
   people can’t be together in person—we all know this by now,” Smith     I’ve worked there, I’ve napped there, I’ve socialized there, I’ve led                                                                         man experience in her writing. Her autobiog-         community and care at Macalester—we’re not
   says. “But there are also opportunities for communities to flourish,   SAAC meetings there. It’s also been transformed into a dining area                                                                            raphy is no exception. She is able to be honest      competing with each other, but we can be re-
   as unique members share different parts of their identities. There’s   this year, so it’s one place where I find community right now. And                                                                            about the good, the bad, and the mixed, in a         ally competitive toward ourselves. The way it
   tremendous opportunity for growth.”                                    people don’t always notice this, but by the big window looking out                                                                            way that made her even more impactful and            talks about love is rooted in self-care in order
       For SAAC, that includes hosting a networking event to connect      over Shaw Field, the old center court of Macalester’s basketball                                                                              powerful in my eyes.                                 to reach community care. Sedric McClure rec-
   alumni athletes with more than 100 student-athletes, amplifying        court is right there. I think that’s pretty neat.                                                                                                                                                  ommended one recently that I’m still reading:
   MIAC and NCAA initiatives on mental health and diversity and in-                                                                                                                                                     What book is crucial to under-                       No Future Without Forgiveness, about the
   clusion, and building new interdepartmental campus relationships.      Old Main                                                                                                                                      standing your academic niche?                        South African apartheid. Even if you don’t nec-
       This spring, Smith is finishing his behavioral economics cap-      I love exploring Old Main’s nooks and crannies. On the fourth floor,                                                                          We read Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic and the         essarily know much about apartheid or South
   stone before joining UnitedHealth Group as an advisory services        there’s a tiny wooden folding desk that must be from the 1920s.                                                                               Spirit of Capitalism in my international studies     Africa today, it’s really helpful to understand
                                                                                                                                                                  DAVID J. TURNER
                                                                                                                                                  KURT STEPNITZ

   analyst after graduation. He’s also a geography major, so naturally,   I’m a taller guy, and boy, it’s uncomfortable. But when you really                                                                            capstone class with Professor Ahmed Samatar.         what forgiveness is, whether it’s self-forgive-
   we asked for a tour of his favorite campus places—three spots where    have to crunch and get something done, if you force yourself to                                                                               It was published in 1905, so you get the spe-        ness or forgiveness of people around you.
   he seeks community and conversation (and one where he doesn’t).        sit in that 100-year-old desk, you can usually find a little success.                                                                         cific history about institutions that helped root                             –Rebecca Edwards ’21

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DIGITALCOMMONS@MACALESTER COLLEGE - MACALESTER COLLEGE - DIGITALCOMMONS ...
Adrian Johnson
1600
GR A N D                            BEHIND THE                                                                                    When Adrian Johnson ’21 met Presi-
                                                                                                                                  dent Rivera last fall, they got to talking
                                                                                                                                  about his crossword projects. Out of
                                                                                                                                  that conversation, this Mac-specific
                                                                                                                                  puzzle took shape for Macalester
                                                                                                                                  Today readers. (President Rivera even
                                                                                                                                  helped write some clues!)

                                    MEET ADRIAN JOHNSON
                                                                                                                                  Here Come the Scots
                                    Adrian Johnson ’21 (Laramie, Wyoming) can’t really explain why he                             ACROSS
                                    loves crossword puzzles so much.                                                               1. Repairs
                                        He could speculate: as an international studies major, Johnson                             6. “That is to say ... “
                                    says he’s used to creative problem-solving, and has always loved                              11.		 Like cheese or wine, over time
                                    giving himself a challenge.                                                                   15. Red-haired Disney mermaid
                                        But the truth is, the draw to crosswords surprised even him.                              16. Like slippers or sweatpants, often
                                    “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you,” he says. “I’m a really passionate and                        17.		 “Veni,      , vici”
                                    driven individual. I’ve tried all sorts of sports and clubs, and I learned                    18. Wriggler inside an Apple
                                    a few magic tricks a while back. I just get really intensely focused on                             computer?
                                    something, eventually not knowing exactly how I got there.”                                   20. Big name in car rentals
                                        What Johnson can pinpoint, though, is when he started to turn
                                                                                                                                  21. “Any questions? Hit me!”
                                                                                                                                  22. Tears, as pages of old class notes
                                    fleeting curiosity into action.
                                                                                                                                  24. Yadda, yadda, yadda
                                        In 2019, he resolved to solve The New York Times Saturday
                                                                                                                                  25. Vietnamese holiday                                                                              See page 51 for the answer key.
                                    crossword, generally considered the week’s most difficult. But when
                                                                                                                                  26. Hyper-masculine Hostess snack
                                    that came easier to him than anticipated, he was unsatisfied. “I told
                                                                                                                                        cake?
                                    my friend, ‘I’m gonna learn how to make one of these,’” he says.                              28. Leather-          shoes                   69.		 Smooths, as a wooden surface     29. Sultanate whose army features
                                        Less than two years later, Johnson has sold crosswords to the                             31. Owner of the first bed Goldilocks         70. How you might look after                 a pipe and drum band
                                    Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and Universal Crossword.                                     slept in                                      lifting in the Leonard Center,   30. Four-leaf clover or rabbit’s foot,
                                    He has puzzles awaiting approval with publications and more in                                32. She/        /hers                               informally                             it’s said
                                    the works, including custom puzzles for individuals. Making cross-                            33. Down Under bird                                                                  31. Prefix with sexual
                                    words, Johnson says, has become more than his latest passion du                               34. Second word of “The Star-                 DOWN                                   34. NCAA conference for Vanderbilt
                                    jour. He’s found a real home in the puzzle-making community, and                                    Spangled Banner”                         1. Owner of the second bed                  University
                                    sincerely loves the craft. “I get a lot of joy out of just sitting down                       35. Rich cakes                                      Goldilocks slept in              35. “Little piggy” of song
                                    and coming up with ideas,” Johnson says. “It’s meditative in a way.”                          38. Gridiron game in which players             2. They’re often named for            36. North Carolina liberal arts
                                         Johnson breaks down the process of building a crossword: “Very                                 burst into a ’90s dance craze?                Presidents                             college
                                    broadly, there are two basic kinds of puzzles, the themed and the un-                         43. Organ supplying an octopus’s               3. Cut while shaving                  37.		 Dropped, as one’s poll numbers
                                    themed. The theme can be pretty much anything—it could refer to the                                 defense mechanism                        4. Activity in many a political       39. Home to the world’s three most
                                    direction of letters on the grid, or the grid art, or the words,” he says.                    44. Female on many a Scottish farm                  science class                          populous cities
                                        “The unthemed is all about just layering innovative and colorful                          45. Fish in a Japanese pond                    5. Lost steam                         40. Accumulated, as expenses
                                    answers—cool pieces of vocabulary that will make the people doing                             46. Yang’s counterpart                         6. Absolutely gross                   41.		 It might give you goosebumps
                                    the puzzle feel good when they figure it out.”                                                47.		 Reaction to a bad pun                    7. Do some lawn maintenance           42. The “O” of M.Y.O.B.
                                        After determining the puzzle’s direction, Johnson brainstorms                             49.		 Change, as the Constitution              8. Musical genre for Juice WRLD       47.		 I Am        (Pakistani Nobelist’s
                                    words and phrases relevant to his idea. Then, he sits down with his
                                                                                                                                  51. Two of a kind in an Eastern                9. Continent with the Pyramids of           memoir)
                                                                                                                                        gambling mecca?                               Giza                             48. Prop for the Tin Man
                                    crossword-developing software and begins to hash out the final grid.
                                                                                                                                  54. Minnesota winter hazard                   10. Woodland fairy                     49.		 What theater majors hope to be
                                        But crosswording isn’t always a solitary task. He’s worked on a
                                                                                                                                  55. German exclamation of dismay              11.		 13th director DuVernay                 later in life
                                    number of collaborations, and has made connections with industry
                                                                                                                                  56. Tug on                                    12. Approximately                      50. Grandma, in the South
                                    veterans. His Feb. 13 Los Angeles Times publication is a collabora-
                                                                                                                                  57.		 Old TV or cell phone component          13. Macalester’s M. Kelso              51.         .com (dating site)
                                    tion with sci-fi novelist Jeff Chen, who has published more than 100                          61.		 Indication that spring in St. Paul is         Professorship in Art             52. “Gesundheit” elicitor
                                    puzzles for The New York Times.                                                                     here, perhaps                           14. Musical era epitomized by          53. Soccer ball inflators
                                        Johnson dreams of publishing a crossword for every weekday in                             63. Impatient cry to a tropical bird?               Saturday Night Fever             54. Ending of a company name
                                    The New York Times, and maybe even using the money he hopes to                                65. Common             (educational           19.		 Granola bit                      57.		 Fills with wonder
                                    continue earning to pay off his student debt.                                                       standards)                              23. “Se-x-x-y!”                        58. Lost clownfish of film
                                        “At the end of the day, there’s a lot of uncertainty in life,” Johnson                    66. Winged vehicle                            26. Poet Angelou, author of            59. Yuletide carol
                                                                                                                  KURT STEPNITZ

                                    says. “But there’s only one right answer to a crossword puzzle. And                           67.		 Late-night dormitory snack                    Phenomenal Woman                 60.          of Green Gables
                                    however trivial that seems, I think it’s a really nice thing. I like giving                   68. Place for an office during                27.		 Sage, e.g.                       62. ltsy-bitsy
                                    that to people.” –Rebecca Edwards ’21                                                               quarantine                              28. Round before the final             64. “Your point is?”

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DIGITALCOMMONS@MACALESTER COLLEGE - MACALESTER COLLEGE - DIGITALCOMMONS ...
Reimagining
                                                                           CAPSTONE
1600
GR A N D                 Community                                                                                                                CHANGING CURRICULUMS, COLLECTIVELY
                         Care
                                                                           CONCLUSIONS
                                                                                                                                                  “I argue that the way to address colonialism in        a year with monthly workshops led by people of
                                                                                                                                                  education democratically is through involving          different ages and community statuses, to really
                                                                                                                                                  the community, parents, and teachers, and by           start to understand the impacts of colonialism in
   The Sustainability Office is evolving fast. When environmental                                                                                 creating a more culturally responsive curricu-         education. At the end of the year, the goal is to
   studies professor Christie Manning became Macalester’s sus-                                                                                    lum that addresses white violence. In the model I      see curricular changes that are created not just
   tainability director last year, part of her mission was to redesign     Before they graduate, seniors close their                              proposed, that starts with prepping teachers, stu-     by the educators but by every stakeholder in the
   the college’s approach to sustainability using an environmental                                                                                dents, and community members to go through             community.” –Lily Alexandroff ’21 (Oak Park, Ill.)
   justice framework. Through partnerships with local mutual aid
                                                                           years at Macalester by digging into an in-
   networks and nonprofits, the office is rerouting its focus toward       depth capstone project. We asked a few
   dismantling environmental exploitation and white supremacy in           how they approached this assignment—and
   Macalester’s own backyard.                                              what they learned. 
        Since 2014 Macalester students have operated a chapter of
                                                                                                   BY REBECCA EDWARDS ’21
                                                                                                                                                  FINDING JOY IN UNCOMMON PLACES
   the Food Recovery Network (FRN)—a student-led movement that
   donates excess food from dining halls across the country. Lately,                                                                              “Queer theorist José Esteban Muñoz says that           bathrooms are places where I feel very watched,
   student workers and volunteers have also employed Mac’s Free                                                                                   queer utopia is created by individual moments in       places that sometimes feel closed off to me as a
   Swap program, which has long been available for students to                                                                                    the present in which queer people are perform-         trans student, so I started thinking, what would
   donate or collect clothing and other essentials, to deliver supplies    FEELING RISKY? BLAME THE                                               ing their imagined futures in everyday spaces. I       it look like to make a dance for that space that’s
   to nearby houseless encampments. That work is part of a partner-                                                                               thought that public restrooms would be a really        intentionally joyful? I want to take that with me
   ship with a local mutual aid organization, the People’s Protection      LEFT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN                                                useful space to create a trans utopia—combin-          into my work in drama therapy: the ability to
   Coalition. Mutual aid systems, in organization theory, are efforts                                                                             ing that with how site-specific dance can change       make the space around you whatever you need
   in which people take responsibility for caring for one another and                                                                             the meaning of a place to the dancer. I’m choreo-      it to be, to have those resources within your own
   creating change.                                                                                           “We know in neuroscience            graphing a piece that I’ll perform in a men’s bath-    body and imagination.”
        These programs illustrate sustainability and social justice                                           that the right hemisphere of        room in Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center. Men’s               –Adar Kamholtz-Roberts ’21 (Evanston, Ill.)
   work’s overlap, says Manning: “One of my goals is to have a wider                                          the brain is the social side. But
   definition of sustainability at Macalester. Sustainability is also                                         when it comes to risk-taking,
   about preserving human well-being, and making it possible for                                              the left hemisphere is the risky
   all humans to survive and flourish.”                                                                       side and the right is the cau-
        Facilities zero-waste coordinator Charlee Gorham ’21                                                  tious side. I looked at the right   GENERATIONAL TRAUMA
   (Woodbridge, Conn.) agrees. “Environmental exploitation always                                             side of the brain to see what
   directly harms low-income communities and communities of                                                   was going on there during peer      “Through interviews with Hmong individuals in          generational trauma. Even if you haven’t experi-
   color much more than wealthy white communities,” says Gorham,                                              pressure to take risks—to see       the Twin Cities and Hmong scholars, I studied          enced something traumatic directly, if your fam-
   citing interwoven examples of St. Paul housing and intentional                                             whether the cautious or social      how Hmong and Hmong American identities                ily has, that can be passed down and experienced
   redevelopment history, including displacing Rondo neighbor-                                                element was dominant.               have been shaped by their experiences with mi-         in younger generations. I also learned about all
   hood families to build I-94 in the 1950s and 1960s and how that             The brain and body are contralaterally mapped, so the              gration, refugee experiences, and war. Though          the different ways in which the Hmong commu-
   relates to the houseless encampment along the interstate today.         participants of our experiment used a hand gripper in their left       our findings are relatively preliminary, one of        nity has documented their stories, to preserve
   “Macalester is a part of the redevelopment that changed our             hand to activate the right side of the brain, or vice versa. Then      the interesting themes that has come up in my          their history and pass it down to younger genera-
   neighborhood’s environment. As people who benefit from that             we gave them a modified version of the Iowa Gambling Task,             conversations and research is this aspect of inter-    tions.” –Anisha RajBhandary ’21 (Portland, Ore.)
   ongoing exploitation and gentrification, we have to do our part         where they had to pick cards in order to win money, but before
   to repair the damage.”                                                  they picked they were told which card a previous participant
        As Gorham points out, there’s a history of “white savior”          had selected, in order to activate a peer-pressure response.
   narratives surrounding the pursuit of environmental justice. At             Our results were really interesting: the groups that activated
   majority-white campuses like Macalester, efforts to center his-         the left side of their brain took more risks when they were pres-      HOW MATH SHAPED THE SEARCH
   torically marginalized communities in environmental activism            sured to be risky than when they were pressured to be cautious
   can be read as self-serving charity work rather than as an integral     or not pressured at all. But for groups that activated the right       FOR WHAT WE’RE MADE OF
   part of the office’s mission.                                           side of the brain, there was no difference no matter the pressure.
        “My students remind me how important it is to approach             We could start to conclude from that research that the cautious        “Back in the 1960s, physicists predicted the ex-       physical world, just like the scientists in the ’60s.
   this work with humility, with an understanding that this isn’t          element of the right side of the brain has greater dominance           istence of subatomic particles called quarks that          I’m a physics and math double major, and
   ‘me helping you,’ this is all of us trying to take the edge off these   than the social element under a peer-pressure situation.”              make up the matter that we see in the universe.        one of the challenges was accessibility: these are
   systems of inequity,” Manning says. “What happens within Ma-                                  –Sam Hochberger ’21 (Maple Grove, Minn.)         For this, they relied on representation theory, a      advanced topics involving a lot of physics, but
   calester affects the Twin Cities community, and vice versa.”                                                                                   branch of mathematics dealing with symmetries          I was presenting to math students and profes-
        Gorham implores alumni to connect with mutual aid work                                                                                    in nature. I studied representation theory and re-     sors. I had to find a balance that wouldn’t involve
   wherever they live—or even start their own food recovery net-                                                                                  produced the results from the ’60s. By studying        too much physics for my math class, and it was
   work. “Our college degrees give us power and privilege. Give                                                                                   properties of particles found in nature and plotting   important to me to make sure that this project
   everything you can to the most vulnerable in your communities,”                                                                                these, I found that these plots resembled a specif-    could be discussed in a way that people could
   Gorham says. “This is how we reimagine community care.”                                                                                        ic aspect of representation theory. Analyzing the      really understand.”
                                                  –Rebecca Edwards ’21                                                                            mathematics allowed me to predict results in the                –Diego Lopez Gutierrez ’21 (Lima, Peru)

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DIGITALCOMMONS@MACALESTER COLLEGE - MACALESTER COLLEGE - DIGITALCOMMONS ...
Electric boat motors are the wave
                                                                 of the future—and Steve Trkla ’83 is
                                                                 leading the way.

                                                                          hausting, yet exciting. Boat makers, dealers, associations, and
                                                                          government officials all wanted to meet him. “Everyone was talk-
                                                                          ing about green power. Getting an audience was not difficult,”
                                         BY GEORGE SPENCER                recalls Trkla, who then spent 70 percent of his time on the road.
                                         PHOTO BY BOB STEFKO                  Today, Torqeedo has sold more than 100,000 motors, and
                                                                          he supervises 21 employees in the company’s office in Crystal
                                                                          Lakes, Illinois, near Chicago. A political science and law and so-
ON AN OVERCAST DAY IN AUGUST 2019, Steve Trkla ’83 pi-                    ciety major at Macalester, Trkla credits emeritus history profes-
loted an electric boat toward the imposing Manhattan skyline.             sor Paul Solon with teaching him the value of personal steward-
He wasn’t alone. As he neared Battery Park’s North Cove Ma-               ship. In an “Origins of Modern Constitutional Systems” course
rina, news helicopters buzzed overhead, and small boats carry-            in Trkla’s senior year, Solon returned his first paper slashed with
ing reporters from CNN and Fox News trailed behind. Surround-             red ink and “a big ‘See Me’ with big exclamation points.”
ing him were 17 sailboats, harnessing the wind to traverse New                Trkla felt invigorated by the personal attention. “I learned so
York’s harbor.                                                            much from him that semester,” says Trkla, who was also a Mac
     They had come to escort the Malizia II, the zero-carbon rac-         football wide receiver and a high hurdler on the track team, where
ing sailboat that carried 16-year-old Swedish climate activist            he met his wife, MaryKay Gallagher Trkla ’86. “The education I
Greta Thunberg on the last leg of her 15-day journey across the           got at Macalester forged my personality and leadership skills
Atlantic. Thunberg, who had been invited to address the United            going forward, and that kind of experience drives me today.”
Nations General Assembly, had opted to travel by boat to reduce
carbon emissions on her trip. A flotilla of sailboats, each repre-        Electric outlook
senting one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, had              Europe will convert to electric boats faster than the U.S., Trkla
met her at the mouth of the harbor. Thunberg invited Trkla to             says—in part because the U.S. recreational market is “still a very
join them in his company’s electric boat.                                 go-fast culture,” and electric motors’ benefits don’t include top
     Trkla made the high-profile journey because he is president of       speeds. He notes changes happening in the commercial market,
the U.S. division of Torqeedo, a German company that is the lead-         though: Torqeedo’s recent projects include converting the San
ing maker of electric motors for watercraft. Its name is a mashup         Antonio River Walk’s 44 boats to electric power, as well as similar
of “speed” and “torque,” the force a motor exerts. Torqeedo motors        transitions for water taxis in other cities.
power both commercial and recreational boats, including kayaks,               Today’s electric boats remind Bill Yeargin, president of pow-
yachts, ferries, and barges. Admirers call it “the Tesla of the water.”   erboat maker Correct Craft, of cell phones in the 1980s. “They
     Trkla, a former software sales and marketing executive, is           were big and hugely expensive, and their batteries didn’t last
leading a revolution in boating. Electric motors currently power          more than a few short calls,” he says. But over the years they
about 2 percent of boats, but that share is predicted to grow rap-        became more compact, powerful—and ubiquitous. “That’s what’s
idly in the coming years. Torqeedo hit $40 million in sales last          happening with electric boats, except it’s going to happen much
year and is projecting $100 million in annual sales by 2025.              faster,” he predicts.
     “An electric drive fits the way many people actually boat,”              That shift will first require a major advancement in batteries,
Trkla says. “It’s quieter, cleaner, and easier. You can have a            says Electric Boat Association of America executive director Tom
normal conversation and enjoy the sounds of nature. No more               Hesselink. Trkla agrees—and with lithium battery technology
leaking, stinking gas cans, oil changes, or driving around look-          already changing rapidly, he looks forward to the “magic point”
ing for ethanol-free fuel. All you do is plug in at night. The next       when smaller, lighter, and higher-density batteries pack the same
day your boat is charged and ready to go.”                                punch as gas. Trkla foresees an avalanche of boat builders chang-
                                                                          ing their boats’ designs to better mesh with electric technology.
Growth mindset                                                                “We have definitely seen the paradigm shift, and it’s taking
Trkla left the software industry for Torqeedo, joining the com-           place dramatically,” he says. “We have blazed the trail.”
pany in 2007 as its second U.S. employee, because he sensed it
was a great career opportunity and it aligned with his previous           George Spencer is a freelance writer based in Hillsborough, North
experience growing startup companies. The early years were ex-            Carolina.

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DIGITALCOMMONS@MACALESTER COLLEGE - MACALESTER COLLEGE - DIGITALCOMMONS ...
THE

   Writing Life
           Twin Cities journalist Mary Ann Grossmann
           has been penning stories for 60 years.                                                            BY DANIEL P. SMITH
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  MARY ANN GROSSMANN ’60
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             PHOTO: LESLIE GROSSMANN

           O
                   ver the last six decades, Mary Ann Grossmann ’60         cede to the digital revolution and a prevailing hush. Still,
                   has led a compelling professional life as a writer and   the job’s principal directive—to capture someone’s story—
                   editor with the St. Paul Pioneer Press.                  never changed.
               She sat in gilded chairs at New York City fashion shows.         “Talk all you want about mechanics, but that’s what
               She traveled from one Middle East palace to another by       journalism’s really about,” says Grossmann, whose first
           royal helicopter.                                                front-page story for the Pioneer Press revisited the famed
               She chatted with the likes of U.S. President Jimmy Carter,   Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940.
           iconic author Kurt Vonnegut, and feminist pioneer Betty              Grossmann served as Women’s Department editor for
           Friedan.                                                         two decades, overseeing its transition from covering soci-
               She penned the obituaries of her parents as well as her      ety—weddings, fashion, nonprofit galas, and the like—to fea-
           husband.                                                         tures, which included reporting on issues such as feminism

                                                                                                                                              FROM TOP: LESLIE GROSSMANN; ISTOCK (2); ARTICLES: MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, WITH PERMISSION FROM THE PIONEER PRESS
               “Whatever came, I took it in stride,” Grossmann says. “You   and abortion.
           take the good with the bad and I’m certainly not complaining.”       “That wasn’t easy because the men running the paper, a
               Encouraged to write by various English teachers              bunch of World War II veterans, wanted change, but didn’t
           throughout her formative years in West St. Paul, Grossmann       want any trouble,” she says.
           pursued a journalism degree at Macalester—“Tuition was               In 1983, a boss banished Grossmann to the books beat,
           $300 a semester, and my mother about flipped,” she recalls—      where he assumed she would succumb to the boredom. As                                                                                                                                        “Good will enfolds women’s group”
           and met her husband, the late Tom Thomsen ’60, in Dean           luck would have it, the Twin Cities literary community ex-                                                                                                                                            — NOV E M BE R 1 9, 1 9 7 7 —
           Huntley Dupre’s French Revolution class.                         ploded around Grossmann. Small publishers like New Rivers
                When she landed a job with the UPI wire service in Minne-   Press, Graywolf Press, and Milkweed Editions emerged. The                                                                                                                                  Grossmann ventured to Houston alongside thousands
           apolis before graduation, she walked into a male-dominated       Loft, the largest writing center in the world, grew out of Min-                                                                                                                            of other women for the first White House-sponsored
           world, emboldened by parents who encouraged her to pur-          neapolis’s Dinkytown neighborhood. Renowned authors and                                                                                                                                    National Women’s Conference. Though designed
           sue her passions. While Grossmann’s metal finisher father        their agents prioritized a Twin Cities stop on national tours.                                                                                                                             to unite women and provide those from differing
           and shoe-peddling mother were simply thrilled to call their          “Being sent to books turned out to be my revenge story                                                                                                                                 backgrounds an opportunity to share their hopes
           daughter a college graduate, her pastor’s wife disapproved       because the dullest beat at the paper became the                                                                                                                                           and perspectives, which Grossmann noted in her
           of a young woman entering a most “unladylike” profession.        most fascinating,” Grossmann says.                                                                                                                                                         November 19 story introducing the conference, the
               “Ladies didn’t go into journalism,” Grossmann laughs.            Though she retired in 2001 from full-time work                                                                                                                                         gathering quickly devolved into intense arguments
               Grossmann, of course, happily bucked tradition, a spunky     at the Pioneer Press, she continues filing copy for                                                                                                                                        about divisive issues, such as abortion and LGBTQ
           soul who joined the St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press in       the newspaper, largely reviewing books and high-                                                                                                                                           rights. Deluged by the tension, Grossmann escaped to
           April 1961 and never left.                                       lighting authors. Her bylines now stretch into the                                                                                                                                         a dog show in the Sam Houston Coliseum’s basement
               She inhabited a front-row seat to journalism’s—and           thousands.                                                                                                                                                                                 where she hugged a Saint Bernard before returning to
           society’s—evolution.                                                 “I couldn’t even venture a guess,” Grossmann                                                                                                                                           the conference.
               She watched the Dispatch, the city’s afternoon paper,        says of her story count, though she acknowledges                                                                                                                                               “Professionalism should kick in, and it does, but I
           vanish and a newsroom of ringing phones, clacking upright        that some hand-spun tales remain more memo-                                                                                                                                                needed a break,” she says of the contentious conference.
           typewriters, cigarette smoke, and the occasional argument        rable than others.

16 / M AC A L E S T E R T ODAY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    SPR I NG 20 2 1 / 17
“Women ‘kicking up a fuss’ in
      state’s first bank strike”
           — DECEMBER 17, 1977 —

On a frigid winter morning in rural Willmar,
Minnesota, Grossmann covered the first day of
a groundbreaking, 400-plus day labor strike in
which a small group of female employees picketed
against inequities and discrimination at Citizens
National Bank. The so-called Willmar 8 would
soon draw the attention of The Wall Street Journal
and The New York Times, turning a bright spot-                                                                                                                                                                                                   “‘Archaeology rock star’
light on their small town and their cause.                                                                                                                                                                                                            discusses Tut”
     “I remember the women picketing through                                                                                                                                                                                                            — JUNE 1 1 , 201 1 —
two different winters in bulky snowsuits and I saw
them get stronger and stronger,” Grossmann says.                                                                                                                                                                                         An archaeology lover, Grossmann begged her
“I also saw the strike divide a small town where                                                                                                                                                                                         bosses for an assignment covering Dr. Zahi Ha-
everyone knew everyone.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                 wass’s visit to the Science Museum of Minnesota
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         to celebrate the “Tutankhamun: The Golden King
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         and the Great Pharaohs” exhibit. When Hawass, the
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         celebrated Egyptian minister of state for antiqui-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ties, arrived with his entourage in a hall designed to
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         reflect a temple, Grossmann admits the energy of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         the moment devoured her objective journalist side.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              “I said to Dr. Hawass, ‘If it weren’t so unprofes-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         sional, I’d hug you.’ And he said, ‘I think we should,’”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Grossmann recalls. “Sometimes in this business,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         you can get a little starstruck.”

                                                                                                                                                                                    “Michelle Obama returns to the
                                                                                                                                                                                         Xcel Energy Center”
                                                                                                                                                                                              — M A R CH 14, 2 0 1 9 —
                                        “A bang-up conclusion:
                                      Rowling brings Harry Potter                                                                                                                 Grossmann beams when recalling Michelle
                                       series to a satisfying end”                                                                                                                Obama’s 2019 visit to the Twin Cities as part of
                                               — J ULY 22, 20 0 7 —                                                                                                               her tour for Becoming, the former first lady’s best-
                                                                                                                                                                                  selling memoir. Grossmann’s recap captured the
                                  Grossmann devoured the 600-plus pages of the                                                                                                    event’s bustling energy, Obama’s candor, and the
                                                                                       FROM TOP: MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY; ISTOCK

                                  final Harry Potter book so she could hustle an                                                        FROM TOP: ISTOCK; AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW
                                                                                                                                                                                  undeniable optimism consuming an arena domi-
                                  immediate review into the paper. Some devoted                                                                                                   nated by a multigenerational sea of women.
                                  Potterheads charged that her resulting 620-word                                                                                                      “There was something in this huge room that
                                  report discussing Harry Potter and the Deathly                                                                                                  was so palpable, yet so invisible, and I found my-
                                  Hallows should have carried a spoiler alert.                                                                                                    self reaching for words I didn’t have,” Grossmann
                                      “I stayed up all night reading the book and                                                                                                 says. “It was all affirmation of how one lovely and
                                  wish I hadn’t, because it would have been a better                                                                                              decent person can make a difference.”
                                  review if I had taken my time,” she admits. “Jour-
                                  nalism is often a balance between being quick and                                                                                               Daniel P. Smith is a Chicago-based freelance writer.
                                  being better.”

1 8 / M AC A L E S T E R T ODAY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                SPR I NG 20 2 1 / 1 9
Freedom from
                                     Certainty
                                                     At a time when everyone thinks they’re right,
                                                          what does it take to acknowledge the validity
                                                       of other perspectives—or even admit that
                                 In today’s polarized world, arguments abound. From
                                 heated threads on social media, to a cacophony of talk-
                                                                                               you might be wrong?
                                 ing heads on TV, to politicians who seemingly refuse to
                                 consider the other side, it can seem like everyone is more
                                 concerned with digging in their heels than digging into
                                 the underlying issues.
                                     As a country, we’re having a hard time talking with
                                 each other—but at Macalester, faculty members are hop-
                                 ing they can equip their students to find another way.
                                     The process doesn’t begin with tools and tricks for
                                 making a case, but rather an environment of trust—one
                                 where students learn to listen passionately and feel
                                 confident taking risks. From there, they develop a deep
                                 knowledge of their position and explore counterargu-
                                 ments, considering their positions from all angles and
                                 looking for fallibilities.
                                     In genuine argumentation—a term defined by phi-
                                 losopher Henry Johnstone Jr.—no one is required to walk
                                 away with a changed mind, but both sides must be open         BY KIM CATLEY
                                 to the possibility. We can’t demand that our opponents        Illustrations by Anna Godeassi
                                 assume all the risks of being open to change, he argues, if
                                 we don’t ask the same of ourselves.

20 / M AC A L E S T E R T ODAY                                                                                                  SPR I NG 20 2 1 / 21
to articulate what they believe and why.                                   space where Macalester students can debate conservative ideas.
                                                                                                                                                     On the first day of his “Conservative and Liberal Political           On a campus that trends to the left, the Mac GOP student orga-
                                                                                                                                                Thought” course, political science professor Andrew Latham tells           nization provides a gathering place where conservative students
                                                                                                                                                his students to throw away all of their preconceived notions. They         can debate and dissect their arguments without starting from a
                                                                                                                                                spend half of the semester tracing the progression of liberalism           defensive position. Kian Sohrabi ’22 (Potomac, Md.), the organiza-
                                                                                                                                                from the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke, known as the                tion’s chair, says when members don’t have to explain or defend
                                                                                                                                                “father of liberalism,” through the New Deal and the 1960s, up to          core principles, they can have a more nuanced discussion about
                                                                                                                                                current thought. Then, he repeats the process with conservatism,           conservative policies.
                                                                                                                                                starting with eighteenth-century Anglo-Irish politician and phi-                Just as the national Republican Party is currently reckoning with
                                                                                                                                                losopher Edmund Burke.                                                     members’ competing visions for the future, students in Mac GOP rep-
                                                                                                                                                     “The way I try to set the table is, ‘We are going to learn two new    resent a spectrum of viewpoints. In fact, Sohrabi says they welcome
                                                                                                                                                languages,’” Latham says. “And when you learn a language, you              members of different political perspectives; conservative, libertarian,
                                                                                                                                                learn the vocabulary, the grammar, you read a little bit of literature.    and even liberal students are invited to join in the conversation.
                                                                                                                                                You immerse yourself, you practice.                                             “Having people who think differently can lead to a better dis-
                                                                                                                                                     “The mainstream political discourse in this country is still from     cussion,” he says. “We’re all actively disagreeing with each other,
                                                                                                                                                slightly center right to slightly center left. Being able to speak that    but at the same time, respecting each other and developing our
                                                                                                                                                language and enter that conversation is important for everybody,           ideas. I don’t have to completely agree with the person I talked
                                                                                                                                                whether they’re a biology major, or an econ major, or a classics major.”   with, but at least I understand their argument better, and hopefully
                                                                                                                                                     Once they have the vocabulary, Latham asks his students to            I’ve developed my own.”
                                                                                                                                                write two papers, one at the end of each unit. First they explain why
                                                                                                                                                they are or are not liberal; then they answer the same question for        Seek out more information
                                                                                                                                                conservatism. Some students still identify with the ideas they held        For more than 10 years, sociology professor and chair Erik Larson
                                                                                                                                                at the beginning but have a clearer sense of why. Other students           has taught “Social Science Inquiry,” a research methods course
                                                                                                                                                might write an essay explaining why they don’t identify with the           that asks students to collect data in response to a client’s ques-
                                                                                                                                                classical definition of liberalism because they’re even further left.      tion. The clients are typically campus offices and departments or
                                                                                                                                                     Wherever they land, Latham hopes they’re better equipped to           community organizations. They’re seeking students’ perspectives
                                                                                                                                                handle intellectual challenges and can explain what they believe           on topics ranging from the college’s first-year courses, to the role
                                                                                                                                                and why.                                                                   of finances in their lives, to their understanding of leadership. The
                                                                                                                                                     Ryan Specht ’21 (Somerville, Ohio) says his conservative              data is then used to inform policies and programs.
                                 “Genuine argument is a deeply human and              is one thing you would change about yourself?             beliefs are rooted in his upbringing. He knew his parents voted                 In small groups, students complete each stage of the research
                             humane activity,” says political science professor           As the week progresses, the groups get larger         Republican, even though they didn’t discuss it often. Specht also          process: designing surveys, implementing them, collecting and
                             Adrienne Christiansen. “It’s about figuring out what’s   and the prompts more complex and controversial.           has a reverence for history and tradition that he says was a major         analyzing the data, and drafting a report. They have to consider
                             in the best interest of the community, and develop-      For example, can online teaching offer a more equi-       influence. Until recently, though, his beliefs were gut instinct; he       the mindset of survey respondents and frame questions to solicit
                             ing relationships with other people.”                    table model of education?                                 didn’t have the language to explain them.                                  responses that accurately reflect what other people believe and
                                 Macalester seeks to create such a community.             “Over the course of five days, these students—             At Macalester, he says he slowly realized he didn’t agree with        how they act.
What approaches help         Whether it’s a class exploring the roots of political    who start as total strangers—experience sharing           his peers on most issues. He avoided debates, because he didn’t                 This semester, one group is exploring how students under-
you navigate conversa-       ideologies, a discussion about cultural norms with       something about themselves that would normally            have the reasoning to dispute their ideas, but also knew they didn’t       stand polarization, and whether it has any influence on their
tions with people who        classmates from Sweden and Pakistan, or seeing the       not come up in a classroom,” Christiansen says.           feel right to him.                                                         day-to-day lives. It’s a question posed by the Civic Engagement
don’t share your view?       real-life implications of U.S. policy while working in   “The key is to create conditions where the students            “That led me to do my own research,” he says. “Like most              Center, in partnership with Move for America, which is launch-
Have you changed your        the community, students are challenging their exist-     feel like they get to know each other and have an         young conservatives I flirted with pure libertarianism for a time,         ing a summer fellowship program for college students and recent
mind lately? Tell us         ing beliefs in an effort to more deeply understand       opportunity to be vulnerable.”                            but I slowly began to see the drawbacks of that and eventually             graduates that aims to bridge the urban-rural divide in Minnesota.
your story: mactoday@        their values, and their vision for the future.               She wants her students to establish trust and cre-    developed some language regarding my own conservatism. I grew                   An early draft of the students’ survey included questions about
macalester.edu.                                                                       ate a classroom environment where kindness reigns,        confident enough to start pushing back against what my peers               how people think about diversity of opinions, whether bipartisan-
                             Get to know your “opponent”                              where there’s space to take risks and make mistakes       were saying about politics.”                                               ship or compromise is good, and how well-prepared students feel
                             In the opening days of her first-year course “Politi-    without fear of being ridiculed. This, she says, is the        Enrolling in Latham’s class helped him take his research a step       to speak with people with different viewpoints.
                             cal Argumentation and Debate,” Christiansen lays         setting for engaging in genuine argument.                 further by going beyond present-day politics to understand the                  “[The survey] will unpack this idea of polarization,” Larson says.
                             the groundwork for healthy, robust deliberation.             “We argue,” she says, “but we want to do it in a      underlying philosophy. “It allowed me to understand more than              “In the course, we encourage each other to get beyond the obvious,
                             Students read about principles of arguing on the         better way, where human relationships are held up         just what I think about a particular policy,” he says, “but why I value    to get to the questions that can help us understand the deeper cul-
                             website of the Better Arguments Project, a national      as central in overcoming our polarization.”               the moral and cultural traditions of this country, why it is that I        tural meanings and connections across these phenomena that we
                             initiative created to bridge divides, and Henry John-                                                              believe the things I do.”                                                  only often talk about in the singular and the abstract.”
                             stone Jr.’s 1963 essay, “Some Reflections on Argu-       Explore the backstory                                          That grounded knowledge of conservatism is what Latham
                             mentation,” in which he explains his idea of genuine     Many students come to Macalester because the              hopes all of his students—both conservative and liberal—take away          Consider every angle
                             argumentation and the importance of being truly          college resonates with their progressive beliefs,         from the class. In fact, the course is a deliberate effort to expose       While having the knowledge to back up your case is a key element
                             open to another’s perspective.                           whether it’s the school’s tradition of social protest     Macalester students to conservative thought, filling what he saw           of debate, genuine argument also requires an openness to seeing
                                  She also turns to a deck of cards designed to       or an emphasis on diversity that goes back decades.       as a gap in the college’s course offerings. He originally developed it     the world through another’s eyes.
                             foster conversation at a dinner party. After breaking    Still, these students are forming their opinions, and     as “Conservative Political Thought,” but reengineered the course to            At Macalester, students are exposed to a spectrum of thought—
                             students into pairs, she gives them a few questions      constantly reshaping them in light of new perspec-        contextualize how conservatism is, in part, a reaction to liberalism.      particularly due to the college’s emphasis on internationalism and
                             to answer: What is one of your biggest regrets? What     tives and life experiences. They’re also learning how          While Latham saw an academic gap, his course isn’t the only           multiculturalism. It’s one thing for American students who identify

22 / M AC A L E S T E R T ODAY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               SPR I NG 20 2 1 / 2 3
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