I volunteer once a week (or try to anyway) at the Neighborhood Thrift Store, run by People And Christ Together (PACT) Ministries in Mankato. There are quite a few regulars who are working every week, but it seems like every Saturday there is a new face when I arrive. When meeting a new person who is working at the store, the obvious first question is … Continue reading Take a break from the hill
The theme of this year’s Mayday! conference is “Imagining Peace.” Each successive Mayday conference is about peace-related issues in some way. But what does the word “peace” really mean? Peace is such a loaded word, so laced with connotation that it may seem to be devoid of any meaning, especially in the eyes of the public at large. This makes the issues confronted by the … Continue reading Pondering peace
I was on the drive north to our family cabin, sitting in the backseat with my dog as my father and older brother talked logistics of assembling wood duck boxes up in the front, and I kept thinking I didn’t really know them. Who are these people and why have I entrusted my life—or at least this afternoon by the Kettle River—to them? I resisted … Continue reading What are you going to do about yourself?
Finally, the snow is gone, Spring Break is behind us, and the shorts have been put in the drawer where the ugly sweaters once were. If you’ve been anxious for spring like I have, the end of March is one of your favorite times in the year. Not because the trees have leaves and you can get a great tan, but because green is beginning … Continue reading Making the most of things
Each April, in a show of solidarity for their Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) friends and family members, tens of thousands of students across the country refrain from speaking for either part of or the entire day. The Day of Silence is meant to protest the bullying and harassment directed towards many queer-identified individuals and their supporters (or allies) specifically in schools, but also … Continue reading Keep it quiet: Day of Silence
As all good Gusties know, our five core values are Excellence, Community, Justice, Service and Faith. The first four are real values and are appropriate for an educational institution. Faith, however, is not a virtue and is subversive to the process of education. I want to make it clear right away that I am not arguing against the study of religion or the value of … Continue reading Faith is not a virtue
I would like to take this opportunity to clarify some rumors regarding our coverage of the Judicial Board case involving The Weekly and Mary Cunningham. Any attempt to interfere with our ability to distribute the newspaper is something we take seriously. When our right to distribute is infringed, so is our ability to discuss important issues facing Gustavus. We distributed 1,200 copies on Feb. 26, … Continue reading Response to Weekly Case Day Controversy/J-board hearing
I think that I’ve become a militant vegetarian overnight. Excluding meat from my diet is not what is new for me; I started experimenting with vegetarianism in the spring of 2007, and I’ve been what you might call “strict” since February of 2008. What is new is an evangelizing attitude that I have developed, a habit of spouting my vegetarian manifesto in various social and … Continue reading To Meat or Not to Meat
Last week, Susan Kranz shared her thoughts and questions about Faith on campus. As a CII student, my experience at Gustavus rings of a similar perplexity. In Biblical Studies (aka the Bible for CII), I was shocked at the questions my classmates and I were vocalizing—things I had assumed true or false based on my experiences at home. My dad is the pastor of my … Continue reading Faith at Gustavus: the dialogue
“It’s senior year. You have to … ” At this point in the school year, it seems as if this line can make any senior do whatever you want them to. As we all start realizing that graduation is just a short time away (thanks Gustavus for the constant reminders… 72 days is the current countdown) and the college life is slipping through our fingers, … Continue reading It’s senior year
