What does it mean to be a Grinnellian today?
Dear Grinnellians,
More than 1,110 of you were on campus for the 145th (WOW!) Grinnell College Reunion, hailing from 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 21 countries around the world. I know more of you were here in spirit, watching the livestream of Alumni Assembly, following your friends on social media, and thinking about how this extraordinary college has shaped your path through the world. We here at the College have been shaped by you and continue to be inspired by you.
President Anne F. Harris
Alumni Assembly was, as ever, a moving event. I had the honor of presenting the first Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award to Randy Morgan ’65 – a champion of health equity, medical innovation, and public health throughout his distinguished career. Fourteen other distinguished Grinnellians were honored for their scholarship, mentorship, environmental conservation, law, and policy work to mitigate climate change, economic solutions for international social justice, medicine and global health, technology and ethics, community service, education, and the arts. Each of these distinguished alumni and each of YOU have an enduring impact on your friends, families, colleagues, neighbors, communities, and professions. Because that’s what Grinnellians do.
In the words of Joseph Welch (class of 1914) “we exist on an almost daily diet of breathless crisis.” As we do, we have seen Grinnellians show up for each other, for your communities, and for what Mr. Welch aptly characterized as “decency” when he took Senator Joseph McCarthy to task for personal attacks made in the name of ideology. Grinnellians are proof that a sense of decency is powerful in an environment of noise, chaos, and “breathless crisis”.
As I have been advocating on behalf of Grinnell with elected representatives and their staff members in Iowa and Washington, D.C., as well as through the national media, I do so propelled by the resolve of thousands of Grinnellians. For more than 175 years, our college has been committed to academic excellence for positive change, to the principles of free inquiry and the open exchange of ideas, to ensuring access for bright, committed students, and to serving the common good. We will persevere in the face of criticism of higher education, proving the value of our mission through the achievements of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
I was recently asked “What does it mean to be an Iowan today?” I take that question to us: “What does it mean to be a Grinnellian today?” I see the answer in the multiple ways that Grinnellians practice and embody care, decency, and positive change, as well as in the capacity for joy and coalition, which were both in tremendous abundance at Reunion. I see it in celebrating your philanthropy as an expression of solidarity with fellow Grinnellians to lift up this college and its values. I see it in your navigating the world with curiosity and determination.
Thank you. I hope that you feel the love from “the Middle of Everywhere” for all that you do for the college, to cherish and sustain our exceptional community of inquiry, as well as in the world and for each other.
Sincerely,
Anne F. Harris
President