From touring organic farms to engaging in food issues in Northfield schools, students in the Community Agriculture and Local Food Movements course learned about the local food system by asking the experts and getting involved.

Commencement Weekend will conclude with commencement exercises for the Class of 2011 held inside Skoglund Center beginning at 2 p.m. Tickets are required to attend the event, which will be streamed live and archived online, and broadcast to various locations across campus.

Amy Click '11 recently had the "opportunity of a lifetime" when she was invited to meet with and hear the stories of the 180 Freedom Riders who gathered in Chicago for Oprah's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride.

A study of romantic relationships co-authored by Assistant Professor of Psychology Minda Oriña that will be published in Psychological Science has attracted attention from such popular media as Glamour and Discovery News.

Egemen Kesikli '12 recently had one of his compositions premiered by a professional symphony, while Sonja Midthun '11 and Eric Choate '12 have been invited to attend a summer music program in Paris.

Zach Gingerich '13 has been selected to perform in the Boston Early Music Festival this summer, where he'll showcase the skills he's developed on campus as a member of Collegium Musicum.

Have you had a run-in this semester with students carrying around a moving-picture "crankie" or perhaps witnessed the theatrical lamentations of a pack of Victorian mourners parading behind a hearse? You may have had an encounter with the Creating Spectacle class.

Tune in to President David R. Anderson's third and final Lunchtime Live of the academic year May 20, where he'll discuss the priorities identified in the college's strategic plan.

St. Olaf women's tennis player Abigail Ho '11, a four-time All-MIAC singles and three-time All-MIAC doubles player who also happens to be a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has been named the college's Dave Hauck Award winner.

With the support of a grant from the St. Olaf Center for Experiential Learning, four students launched a successful virtual-tours company that they hope will last long past graduation day.

After Ann Raiho '11 and Natalie Warren '11 pick up their diplomas, they're not starting a new job or preparing for graduate school. Instead, the duo will put a canoe in the Minnesota River near Fort Snelling and attempt to be the first women to paddle the 2,250 miles from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay.

The New York Times named Anna Klenke '11 one of four runners-up in this year's "Modern Love" essay contest. Her piece — titled "A Love for the Ages, but Which One?" — can be read online and will appear in the Sunday paper.

After years of helping St. Olaf students identify and pursue their vocation in the health care field, Professor of Biology Ted Johnson has been honored with an award for outstanding advising.

Professor of History Mike Fitzgerald has received a $6,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for "Race and Railroads in Alabama Reconstruction: Economic Issues and the Challenge to White Supremacy," his study of post–Civil War Alabama.

A number of organizations on campus have long worked to promote social change — and now a new umbrella organization, the Activism for Social Change Network, is helping to better coordinate their efforts and publicize their work.

Three years after he was partnered with his third mentee through Project Friendship, Gabe Rysdahl '11 continues to meet weekly with that same local youngster to play soccer, chess, and skateboard — a commitment that recently earned him a "Making a Difference Award."

"'Idiots – the media are a bunch of idiots,' I bellowed to my wife tuning in to the tail end of Donald Trump's response to President Obama's release of his birth certificate," begins Professor of Philosophy Gordon Marino in "Why I watched Trump and the birthers instead of PBS News Hour," a recent Christian Science Monitor opinion piece.

Through campuswide events and one-on-one meetings, peer educators with the St. Olaf Wellness Center aim to arm students with the information they need to make healthy choices.

Darrin Thomas, conductor of the St. Olaf Gospel Choir, uses no music when he sings. Nobody does. Once everyone has their parts, the choir sings together. Not more than a few seconds go by until the singers start clapping and moving along, and shouts and whistles fill the wordless spaces . . .

The recent Downbeat win by the St. Olaf Jazz I ensemble — named best large undergraduate ensemble by the magazine — has been noted by Minnesota Public Radio and Jazz Police.

The St. Olaf Jazz I ensemble recently was named best large undergraduate ensemble by Downbeat magazine. Faculty member Dave Hagedorn calls the "huge" win "a testament to the level of skill these guys have, and what they're doing."

St. Olaf will host a ceremony Friday to dedicate the newly opened Tomson Hall, which houses several academic programs and a wide variety of student services.