Alumni and the Community

Conference on Worship, Theology and the Arts: For the Fruit of All Creation

The 2006 St. Olaf College Conference on Worship, Theology and the Arts presented nationally recognized musicians, artists, scholars, and theologians who brought their own perceptions and expertise to this week-long event. The next conference will be held July 21 – 25, 2008.

Oles Shadow Alumni for Insights into Service Vocations

Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street in Washington, D.C., is as famous for its history as it is for its chili. The restaurant opened in 1958 when the area, known as "Black Broadway," was graced by the likes of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Bill Cosby and Martin Luther King Jr. King's assassination began a decades-long decline for the area, but the restaurant remained open when few other businesses survived.

To Merrie Benasutti, associate director of service and civic leadership in St. Olaf's Center for Experiential Learning, Ben's Chili Bowl is an icon of vocation, and was the perfect place for her and six St. Olaf students to kick-off an Interim break trip that focused on public and social service work in the capital.

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