St. Olaf College

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St. Olaf College St. Olaf is a nationally ranked liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. One of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, St. Olaf experience.

Olaf College offers a distinctive education grounded in academic rigor, residential learning, global engagement, and a vibrant Lutheran faith tradition. Many excellent colleges provide one, two, or even three elements of the St. What makes St. Olaf unique is the combination of so many distinguishing features working together at the highest level: an intense academic program that sharpens minds and an emphasis on a global perspective that broadens them; the vitality of a residential community that engages thoughtful people across the full range of human experiences; and a faith tradition that encourages reflection and honors different perspectives. By cultivating the habits of mind and heart that enable graduates to lead lives of financial independence, professional accomplishment, personal fulfillment, and community engagement, St. Olaf College provides an uncommon educational experience that fully prepares students to make a meaningful difference in a changing world.

How the Minnesota state gemstone got on the license plateThe idea started in the simplest of spaces: just a father and h...
10/11/2026

How the Minnesota state gemstone got on the license plate

The idea started in the simplest of spaces: just a father and his kids exchanging ideas in the car about the variety of new license plates on Minnesota’s roads. A rock enthusiast, Lars Leafblad ‘99 asked his kids, “What if the Lake Superior agate was on a license plate? How does that work?” Leafblad's curiosity led him to work with state legislators on a bill to celebrate the North Shore and the Lake Superior agate.

The “agate bill,” HF3699/Chapter 57, passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by Governor Tim Walz in May.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is holding a design contest, and the winning design will be announced in December, with entries accepted through October 31, 2026.

👉 Read more at St. Olaf News! https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/how-the-minnesota-state-gemstone-got-on-the-license-plate

Always fallin' for St. Olaf 💛
10/08/2026

Always fallin' for St. Olaf 💛

The Buntrock Institute for Freedom and Community will host a series of speakers on campus this fall to provide insight o...
10/07/2026

The Buntrock Institute for Freedom and Community will host a series of speakers on campus this fall to provide insight on "America at 250: Founding Ideals, Pivotal Moments, and Current Challenges."

"This series represents an opportunity to connect historical debates that have animated the American experiment for two and a half centuries with the contemporary challenges that foreground public debate,” says St. Olaf Professor of Political Science Chris Chapp, the Morrison Family Director of the Buntrock Institute for Freedom and Community.

He notes that the series will continue into the spring, and will examine issues including Indigenous rights, the obligations of citizenship, and America’s footprint abroad.

🗓️ Mark your Calendar:
October 8 — David Siemers '91: "Hate the Game, Not the Player: The Politics of Rumor, Innuendo, and Allegations of Crime"

October 22 — Franita Tolson: "In Congress We Trust? 250 Years of ‘We the Voters’ in the American Democratic Experiment"

October 29 — Lisa Tetrault: "When Women Won the Right to Vote: An American Fiction"

November 16 — John Sides: "The Bicentennial Midterm: What Happened in the 2026 Election and What It Means for American Democracy"

December 10 — Judge Eric Tostrud ’87: "Public Confidence: How the Judiciary Should Earn It (and What Lessons That Might Hold for the Political Branches)"

👉 Read more at St. Olaf News: https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/series-of-institute-speakers-will-reflect-on-america-at-250

Image Description:
This year’s fall speakers include (clockwise, from top left) David Siemers ’91, Franita Tolson, Lisa Tetrault, Eric Tostrud ’87, and John Sides.

Renowned mathematician to deliver talk on building resilience in the age of AICarnegie Mellon University Professor of Ma...
10/05/2026

Renowned mathematician to deliver talk on building resilience in the age of AI

Carnegie Mellon University Professor of Mathematics Po-Shen Loh uses theories from improvisational comedy to help people think about how they can build communication skills and prepare for feeling chaotic or out-of-control. He says applying improv in a state of disruption — say, AI in the workforce — stretches an individual to get to know themselves and others in a different way.

Loh acknowledges that AI has slow dangers to humanity, including less human-to-human social interactions, deepfakes, cybercriminal scams, and dangers we have not contextualized yet. His hope is to create an “immune system for human civilization” through a network of people who are deeply committed to being critical, capable, and flexible.

He will discuss this work as part of the “Math Across The Cannon” public lecture happening in Tomson Hall 280 on October 5 at 7 p.m. Afterwards, attendees have the opportunity to mingle with Loh for a reception.

👉 Read more about Loh's talk at St. Olaf News: https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/renowned-mathematician-to-deliver-talk-on-building-resiliency-in-the-age-of-ai

The perfect weekend on the Hill 💛Thank you to everyone who joined us for Homecoming and Family Weekend! From T-shirt can...
10/05/2026

The perfect weekend on the Hill 💛

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Homecoming and Family Weekend! From T-shirt canons at the football game to having fun on the campus green to beautiful music performances — it was a great weekend to be an Ole!

📷 Evan Pak '19 and Brandon Cash '16

As she began preparing for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Rav Michaela Brown had an idea: she would use locally harvested...
10/02/2026

As she began preparing for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Rav Michaela Brown had an idea: she would use locally harvested weeping willow branches to decorate the Sukkah, a temporary outdoor structure built for the weeklong harvest festival.

So she reached out to Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies Jake Grossman for assistance with collecting weeping willows, which are one of the four sacred species of the Sukkot holiday.

Grossman brought his student researchers to the big weeping willow tree located on the way up the hill from the college's south entrance, and used the opportunity to teach them about properly collecting tree samples. Brown, the associate chaplain for Jewish life, taught the students about the holiday and the importance of the weeping willow branches.

"It felt like a really cool moment of bringing together disparate offices on campus with multiple educational opportunities!" Brown says.

10/01/2026

Mellby Hall Room Tour!

Riley Peterson ‘26 and Katie Nail ‘26 give an inside look at their room.

🦁 Most Oles live on campus for all four years, making it possible to form deep connections with each other between classes and on weekends.

👉 Check out more information about our special community and campus life at stolaf.edu. Link in bio!

📹 Mary Staplin ‘26

St. Olaf is named a Best Value College!The Princeton Review has named St. Olaf College in the “Best Value Colleges for 2...
09/29/2026

St. Olaf is named a Best Value College!

The Princeton Review has named St. Olaf College in the “Best Value Colleges for 2027,” a prestigious list that measures the quality of education, support services, and affordability.

St. Olaf meets 100 percent of the demonstrated financial need of students and their families.

Through the Piper Center for Vocation and Career, 91 percent of students at St. Olaf have participated in an internship, undergraduate research and field work, civic engagement, or similar experiential learning on campus. In addition to the support provided by the Piper Center, opportunities are available through the college’s Collaborative Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (CURI) program and the Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement.

👉 Read more about the Princeton Review's rankings at St. Olaf News.
https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/st-olaf-recognized-by-princeton-review-for-affordability-and-career-services

From the Hill to the hills of Italy, Ole digs into the pastRiley Holets ’25 has pursued archaeological fieldwork in Turk...
09/28/2026

From the Hill to the hills of Italy, Ole digs into the past

Riley Holets ’25 has pursued archaeological fieldwork in Turkey, Ireland, and Italy. They hope to eventually make archaeological work a constant part of their life.

“The moment I actually got on a site, I was a goner,” Holets says with a laugh. “I fell in love with archaeology, and no one could talk me out of it.”

“What makes archaeology important to me is that the communities of the past offer a whole new perspective to learn about and from. You can’t put your modern-day expectations on them, because they are living in an entirely different world from you – they have different values, different understandings, and different circumstances. I think studying history offers you a unique opportunity to practice empathy for those unlike yourself, in a way that can then be extended to other facets of time, place, and culture,”

👉Read more about Holets experience at St. Olaf News: https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/from-the-hill-to-the-hills-of-italy-ole-digs-into-the-past

St. Olaf celebrates civic leadership and community engagement!The Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement, established with ...
09/26/2026

St. Olaf celebrates civic leadership and community engagement!

The Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement, established with a generous gift from Paul Svoboda '81, nurtures students' passion for public service and builds their capacity to engage in their communities through Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) courses, internships, volunteering, and research opportunities.

One year after St. Olaf launched the Svoboda Center for Civic Engagement, scores of community members gathered on campus on September 24 to celebrate its work. More than 1,000 students take an ACE course each year, and the center works with more than 50 local organizations to connect St. Olaf students with opportunities to learn and serve. Over the last year, the Svoboda Center has expanded the number of students involved in St. Olaf’s community-based work-study program and student service organizations.

"The high-level purpose of higher education has always been to prepare civic contributors. We talk all the time about life on purpose for the common good, and we prepare Oles to make a difference in the world," President Susan Rundell Singer told those gathered for the celebration. But, she noted, that work is a muscle that needs to be developed at a young age. "Thanks to Paul, we are giving our students a chance to build that muscle. We are so grateful."

👉 Read more about the day's celebration and find Anderson's chapel talk at St. Olaf News. https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/st-olaf-celebrates-civic-leadership-and-community-engagement

📸 Steven Garcia '20

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1520 St. Olaf Avenue
Northfield, MN
55057

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+15077862222

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