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St. Olaf to award honorary degrees to human rights activist, play director

By Kari VanDerVeen
March 8, 2010

St. Olaf College will award honorary degrees to Marjorie Jobson, a South African human rights activist, and Joe Dowling, longtime artistic director of the Guthrie Theater, during a convocation ceremony Thursday, March 11, at 11 a.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel.

In addition, Jobson will present "Living with Legacies of Trauma: Healing and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa" Thursday at 4 p.m. in Buntrock Commons, Viking Theater.

The degree ceremony (which will be streamed live and archived online) and lecture are free and open to the public.

Marjorie Jobson

South African liaison
Jobson, a physician, has played a vital role in St. Olaf’s South Africa Interim program for the past 15 years. From arranging student meetings with political activists, religious leaders, and artists to organizing home stays for Oles in rural villages or black settlements on the outskirts of Johannesburg, she has worked tirelessly to ensure that the college’s South Africa Interim program provides students with a diverse view of life in her country.

She has a long and distinguished record of human rights work, including her work with the Khulumani Support Group formed by survivors and families of victims of South Africa’s apartheid past. As a leader in Khulumani, Jobson has done advocacy work for many individuals whose cases were not addressed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and has helped its 58,000 members form groups to work at healing and personal development. Since 2004 Jobson also has been an appointee to South Africa’s Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious, and Linguistic Communities.

Joe Dowling (by Ann Marsden/ Guthrie)

Theatrical ties
A visionary leader who is dedicated not just to theater but also theater education, Dowling is in many ways responsible for the strong and vibrant link between St. Olaf and the Guthrie Theater.
Dowling arrived in Minneapolis nearly 15 years ago to become artistic director of the Guthrie Theater. During his tenure at the Guthrie, Dowling has directed more than 35 productions. In 2006, under his leadership, the Guthrie opened a new facility on the banks of the Mississippi River that expanded the performance space from one to three stages and created the Guthrie Learning Center.

With the exception of the University of Minnesota, no other institution of higher learning is more represented on the stage, behind the scenes, or in the offices of the Guthrie Theater than St. Olaf College. Dowling’s close association with St. Olaf Artist in Residence Gary Gisselman has meant that some three-dozen St. Olaf theater students have enjoyed postgraduate employment at the Guthrie.
 

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.