The Grinnellian
The Grinnellian is a monthly e-newsletter launched July 2019 to broadly share Grinnell College stories, events, and activities. Besides being informational, a key goal of the newsletter is to demonstrate the differences donors and volunteers are making in the lives of current and future Grinnell students.
The Archive
Please note, the archived issues of The Grinnellian are exact versions of the e-newsletter sent out. As such, some of the events, contests, and links may have expired. If you have any questions, please contact us at alumni@grinnell.edu.
2022 Archive 2021 Archive 2020 Archive 2019 Archive
The Grinnellian Trivia
In each issue of The Grinnellian, we include a Grinnell trivia question. The first five who reply each month with the correct answer wins a prize. Please see the archived questions, answers, and a list of winners.
October 2024
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Grinnell’s program in what city?
Answer: London
Winners: Sam Perlman ’90, Doug Hodum ’93, Geneva Guadalupe ’17, Lilya Woodburn ’20, and Yesenia Mozo ’22.
September 2024
What indoor sport did Harry Hopkins 1912 play at Grinnell?
Answer: Basketball
Winners: Bomi Mistry ’84, Katie Tremper ’85, Merel Timmermans ’22, Ashley Phipps, and Emili Stoll.
August 2024
The largest geothermal system on campus lies under what campus landmark?
Answer: Mac Field
Winners: Julie Luner ’82, Alison Hayes ’87, Nadia Ries ’90, Janet Mathews-Flynn ’95, and Emily Creery.
July 2024
Now 110, Edith Renfrow Smith ’37 worked at what profession from 1954 to 1976?
Answer: Teacher
Winners: Nina Homel ’65, Flaire Mills ’77, Heather Metz ’99, Andrea Amour ’11, and Susan Ferguson.
June 2024
What year was Grinnell College’s first Pride Week?
Answer: 1987
Winners: Cindy Maier ’70, Claudia Bogard ’77, and Tony Pham ’03.
May 2024
What future U.S. president gave Grinnell’s Commencement address in 1944?
Answer: Harry S. Truman
Winners: Don Cassiday ’56, Ron Cogswell ’68, Katie Dodge ’68, Mitch Erickson ’72, and Esther Hwang ’19.
April 2024
What tech inventor was a Grinnell College trustee from 1980-1988?
Answer: Steve Jobs
Winners: Nathaniel Borenstein ’80, Scott Porter ’80, Randy Gleason ’82, Tammy McKanan ’86, and Jackie Stockdale-DeLay ’89.
March 2024
Read Hall is named after what former Grinnell dean of women?
Answer: Luella Jane Read
Winners: Mimi Trangsrud ’62, Cindy Maier ’70, Cornell Rudov ’79, Dana Johnson ’88, and Jen Jacobsen ’95.
February 2024
In 1991, the Black Cultural Center was renamed for what former dean of student affairs?
Answer: Conney M. Kimbo
Winners: Don Kraitsik ’69, Robert Etzkorn ’73, Jared Gottlieb ’73, Deb McKnight ’73, and Miranda Thomas ’17.
January 2024
The Grinnellephants and Grinneleanor Roosevelts compete in what sport?
Answer: Ultimate Frisbee
Winners: Meredith Ing ’97, Benjamin Cantor-Stone ’07, John Bruns ’10, Annie Pigott ’12, and Rita McCall ’16.
December 2023
What character did Walter Koenig ’58 portray on Star Trek?
Answer: Pavel Chekov
Winners: Louise Alcorn ’92, Dana Sly ’15, Jin Chang ’18, Anthony Fitzpatrick ’18, and Sharon Falduto.
November 2023
In 1991, Grinnell’s Human/Gay Resource Center was renamed to what?
Answer: Stonewall Resource Center
Winners: Sharyn Obsatz ’93, Steven Sacks ’95, Javon Garcia ’14, Ian Soderholm ’15, and Cassie Oliver.
October 2023
Where was the original location of Grinnell’s Pub Quiz?
Answer: Lyle’s Pub
Winners: Chris Zug ’93, Mitch Avitt ’10, Gina Falada ’16, Zainab Thompson ’22, and Tara Rawlings ’23.
September 2023
What Grinnell music ensemble has performed in Romania, Russia, and Finland?
Answer: The Grinnell Singers
Winners: Revae Nelson ’02, Kate Giuca ’07, Deborah Gertner ’08, Clare Patterson ’08, and Ari Anisfeld ’09.
August 2023
What do the flags hanging above Spencer Grill represent?
Answer: The different nationalities of current Grinnell students
Winners: Lester Alemàn ’07, Paige Wheeler ’16, Zainab Thompson ’22, Khondamir Imomnazarov ’23, and Paul Catanzaro.
July 2023
Who was the longest serving Grinnell College president?
Answer: John Hanson Thomas Main
Winners: Ann Lousin ’64, Jim Hamilton ’65, Kim Thomas ’72, Tara Rawlings ’23, and Gene Wubbels.
June 2023
“The men of old were strong and bold” are the first few words of what school song?
Answer: Here Comes the Pioneers
Winners: Gary Wilson ’66, Jane Meyer ’67, Amy Spitzer ’73, Jim Strickler ’78, and Carissa Lehning ’22.
May 2023
What DAR staff member is Grinnell softball’s all-time leader in career doubles?
Answer: Dinah Zebot ’03
Winner: Rania Robb ’03
April 2023
What alumna was co-founder and president of the League of Women Voters Iowa chapter?
Answer: Louise Rosenfield Noun ’29
Winners: Betsy Clarke ’69, Bob Eckardt ’73, and Chris Zug ’93.
March 2023
What College building was the first in Iowa to receive LEED gold certification?
Answer: CERA’s Environmental Education Center
Winners: Cindy Maier ’70, Natalie Rehm ’96, Carissa Lehning ’22, Pamela Cox, and Em Heath.
February 2023
Who was the first African American woman to receive tenure at Grinnell College?
Answer: Kesho Scott
Winners: Jack Spence ’64, Jon Gray ’73, Rae Whatley ’88, David Fuller ’90, and Emma Knatterud-Johnson ’05.
January 2023
What residence hall was initially built to accommodate the Officers’ Candidate School during WWII?
Answer: Cowles Hall
Winners: Ann Lousin ’64, Kim Thomas ’72, Susan Grodsky ’74, John Nordmeyer ’83, and Anushka Kulshreshtha ’21.