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St. Olaf to host numerous events during Commencement weekend

By Cate Grochala '06
May 19, 2006

Commencement is the culminating event of St. Olaf College's Celebration Weekend 2006 -- three days of events that begin May 26. The weekend will feature three learning seminars and three concerts, all of which are open to the public.

Commencement (open to the public if held outdoors at Manitou Field) will begin at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 28. This year's commencement speaker is Peter Agre, recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Raised in Northfield, where his father was on the faculty at St. Olaf College, Agre went on to a successful career in medical research. In 1991 he discovered the channels that regulate the transport of water through cells, research that has led to a better understanding of many medical conditions and the Nobel Prize. Currently, Agre is vice chancellor for science and technology at Duke University Medical Center.

St. Olaf senior Breanna Peterson, who plans to continue her studies in nursing and public health at Emory University in the fall, will be the student speaker.

A public baccalaureate worship service will precede Commencement on Sunday at 9 a.m. in Skoglund Center Auditorium.

LOOKING BACK
On Friday, May 26, at 4 p.m., Associate College Archivist Jeff Sauve will present his learning seminar, "An Inside Look from the Outside," in Viking Theater of Buntrock Commons. The seminar will show how media depicted a generation of Oles from the 1930s to the 1960s. Topics to be covered include World War II, South African Apartheid protests and the Civil Rights Movement. The next day, May 27, Sauve will host "Walk and Learn" tidbit tours starting from Rolvaag Memorial Library that will look at the college's architecture and Cold War fallout shelters. Open Houses also will be held on Saturday for the Norwegian-American Historical Association and the Shaw-Olson Center for College History from 2 to 4 p.m.

"Rebuilding Ole Football Pride," a presentation on St. Olaf Athletics by Football Coach Chris Meidt, will take place Saturday at 2 p.m. The presentation will feature a film of 2005 football season highlights.

Also on Saturday, May 27, Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dave Van Wylen '80 will present a learning seminar about the new Science Complex that will house five St. Olaf academic departments and seven interdisciplinary programs.

WEEKEND CONCERTS
In addition to these learning seminars, the weekend will include three concerts in Skoglund, beginning with the St. Olaf Orchestra on Friday, May 26, at 8 p.m. An orchestra of alumni will join the St. Olaf Orchestra in a concert that will honor two orchestra alumni who have received this year's Alumni Achievement Award from the college: Charles Barker '75 and William Scott '75.

The next day, Saturday, May 27, will include a performance by the St. Olaf Band at 2:30 p.m. That evening the St. Olaf Choir will perform at 8 p.m., accompanied by a choir of alumni.

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