Vision

The St. Olaf Buntrock Commons is a community center for the campus, serving all of the members of the college family. Students, faculty, administration and support staff, alumni/ae, parents, and friends and supporters of the college all belong to the St. Olaf family. The Buntrock Commons serves as the physical and social crossroads of campus life. As such, it provides the primary services needed by students to support their academic, residential and social lives. These include dining, student government offices, meeting space and offices for student organizations, bookstore, post office and others. Social and cultural needs are met through co-curricular activities and events and supported by spaces where formal and informal gatherings take place. While serving the whole college community, it is a student-centered Commons.

History

The St. Olaf Center, which served nearly 2,850 students, was dedicated in 1960 to accommodate a student body of 1,800. The need for places for students to gather, eat, relax, study, and see and be seen has grown as the student body size has. In 1995, President Mark U. Edwards Jr. appointed a committee to further study the requirements for spaces on the campus that serve students. A committee of faculty, staff, and students was established and began the process for developing a new college commons. In the summer of 1996, Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Massachusetts, was chosen to design the Commons. Schematic design for the building began in November of 1996, and under the construction management of Oscar J. Boldt Construction of Appleton, Wisconsin, the building was dedicated in the fall of 1999. A lead gift of $26 million from the Buntrock family made the building possible.



ACU-I: The Role of the College Union

As an institutional member of the Association of College Unions International, St. Olaf College subscribes to many of the core philosophies and beliefs stated in the following mission statement of ACU-I. Although the Buntrock Commons is not a college union in the traditional sense, the use of the word union in ACU-I's mission statement is done in historical context.

The union is the community center of the college, serving students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests. By whatever form or name, a college union is an organization offering a variety of programs, activities, services, and facilities that, when taken together, represent a well-considered plan for the community life of the college.

The union is an integral part of the educational mission of the college.

  • As the center of the college community life, the union complements the academic experience through an extensive variety of cultural, educational, social, and recreational programs. These programs provide the opportunity to balance course work and free time as cooperative factors in education.
  • The union is a student-centered organization that values participatory decision-making. Through volunteerism, its boards, committees, and student employment, the union offers first-hand experience in citizenship and educates students in leadership, social responsibility, and values.
  • In all its processes, the union encourages self-directed activity, giving maximum opportunity for self-realization and for growth in individual social competency and group effectiveness.
The union's goal is the development of persons as well as intellects.

Traditionally considered the hearthstone or living room of the campus, today's union is the gathering place of the college. The union provides services and conveniences that members of the college community need in their daily lives and creates an environment for getting to know and understand others through formal and informal associations.

The union serves as a unifying force that honors each individual and values diversity. The union fosters a sense of community that cultivates enduring loyalty to the college.

Adopted by the Association's general membership in 1996, this statement is based on the Role of the College Union statement, 1956.