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Center for Lifelong Learning keeps campus busy all year-round

by Le Ann Finger '85
September 17, 2004

September is back-to-school season for many. At St. Olaf, however, learning is lifelong and year-round. That is most evident during the summer when the Center for Lifelong Learning serves an average of 7,000 people during camps, conferences, professional meetings and workshops, as well as banquets, reunions and weddings.

About 2,000 of those 7,000 campus guests are ages 10 through 18. Many are here for the St. Olaf camps in music, swimming and theater and Trio programs. Others come for guest camps such as Alan Merrick Soccer, Coach Koz Basketball, Pacific Coast Dance Camp, Minnesota Show Dance, Eden Prairie High School Drama, Eastview Marching Band and Girl Scout Jamboree.

This summer's first adult group was the joint assembly of the Minneapolis and St. Paul synods of the ELCA. Closing the season was the Korean Presbyterian Church's large annual gathering. In between were such diverse groups as the Biblical Archaeological Society, Catalyst Foundation, Hamline Writers' Workshop, Yoga Meditation Retreat, Optimal Health, PEO, the Conference on Worship, Theology and the Arts and the Conference on Sport and Religion, as well as individual study in the Kierkegaard Library and at the Norwegian-American Historical Association. The campus is also popular for weddings, reunions and other private and business events.

"Making our beautiful campus and hard-working staff available during the summer is one way that St. Olaf opens its doors to the wider community," says Karen Hansen '77, executive director of the Center for Lifelong Learning. "The college benefits, too. The impression of this place as one of warm welcome and great teaching and learning has significant ripple effects for admissions, the college's reputation and public relations."

Visit the Center for Lifelong Learning or contact Karen Hansen or Pat Anfinson, director of conferences and events at 507-646-3042.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3416 or finger@stolaf.edu.