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St. Olaf one of 40 schools included in influential guide

By David Gonnerman '90
August 22, 2006

St. Olaf College is one of 40 U.S. colleges listed in Colleges That Change Lives (Penguin, 2006), the influential guide by former New York Times education editor Loren Pope. St. Olaf is the only Minnesota college to make the cut and the only Lutheran-affiliated school in the book. Other colleges on the list include Beloit College in Wisconsin, Reed College in Oregon and Denison University in Ohio -- the previous employer of St. Olaf's new president, David R. Anderson '74.

"This book... will help youths of many levels of academic aptitude find catalytic colleges that will change their lives," writes Pope. "In doing so it will free them from our system's obscene obsession with academic aptitude, which does not determine achievement, satisfaction with life, or the merit of a human being."

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Jerry Pope
Director of St. Olaf Admissions Jerry Pope (no relation) says that many people he meets during the admissions process are passionate about Colleges That Change Lives. "It has a huge following," he says.

What the admissions director finds most exciting, however, is that the book reflects the St. Olaf application philosophy. "We take a holistic approach in reviewing a student's file and look at the total person," he explains. "For students who are looking for a college that offers a quality education while providing a balance of what college is all about academically, socially, culturally, athletically and even spiritually -- St. Olaf can prove to be a great fit."

AN ACADEMIC CAMELOT
In the St. Olaf chapter author Pope writes, "Aesthetically and academically, it is Camelot. If it were on the East Coast it would be as selective as any Ivy. But it will just have to be satisfied with being better." Pope, who interviewed students and faculty for their candid opinions, includes a special section highlighting St. Olaf's achievements in academics, music and sports (noting, for example, that two St. Olaf baseball players were signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003).

St. Olaf Student Support Services, directed by Kathy Glampe, earns special recognition in the book. SSS is one of three federally funded TRiO programs that help students -- up to 150 each year -- overcome class, social and cultural barriers to complete their college education.

In the book, a 2003 alumna and SSS participant recounts to Pope how she "grew up in a single-parent home, surrounded by drugs and violence." She never considered college until SSS got her interested and taught her how to study. While at St. Olaf, she tells Pope, she was able to study abroad and hold leadership positions. She also became interested in serving low-income, disadvantaged youth like herself.

"The SSS program prepared me for St. Olaf and St. Olaf's programs prepared me for life," says the alumna.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Currently in its third edition, Loren Pope first wrote Colleges That Change Lives in 1996. A major point of the book is to dismiss magazine rankings based on "inputs" like test scores and alumni giving as an appropriate measure of a college's "quality."

It is significantly more valuable, he advises, to consider the characteristics -- classroom and campus-wide discussions about values, for example, and a sense of community that goes beyond four years of attendance -- that are at the heart of a college's ability to enrich and empower students year after year, generation after generation.

Learn more at Colleges That Change Lives. Contact the St. Olaf Bookstore to order a copy of the book.

RELATED LINKS
Read how St. Olaf fared in the current U.S. News and Princeton Review rankings.

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