Wednesday, May 19, 2010





Northrop Auditorium


University of Minnesota

[An uninviting, impenetrable, mausoleum?]



University of Minnesota Administration:





[In other words, if the Morrill Hall Gang does not get its way, turn Northrop into a parking lot?]


Star-Tribune:

Over the weekend, the College of Liberal Arts, the University of Minnesota’s largest college, held its graduation ceremony at Northrop Memorial Auditorium. Before the procession, three friends worked against the wind to make sure their tassels were on right —meaning, on the right side of the mortarboard.


Unhappy students in front of uninviting mausoleum...

Letter to the Editor in the Strib:


Letter of the day: Graduation day is a moment when dreams come true

May 17, 2010


This is the season of graduations at the University of Minnesota.

When I step out of our building, I see families with joy on their faces walking toward Northrop Auditorium. I see mothers and fathers, younger and older siblings, and even grandparents all walking toward Northrop.

They are attending the graduation of their brother or sister, or son or daughter, or grandson or granddaughter. This is a day that mothers and fathers dreamt about when their child was born; they planned for this day all those years when their child was growing up and going to school, and they probably had to put aside money to pay for it all.

But today -- today is graduation, the culmination of it all. Today their child becomes a person to be reckoned with, a professional, someone who will change the world.

For me, a professor, this is the happiest time of the academic year, for I had a small part in these graduates' educations. I, too, am proud of them and wish them well.

BRUCE F. WOLLENBERG, MINNEAPOLIS


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why are they blaming the building? When there are events at Northrup that are relevant people tend to show up. I saw the Dali Lama there and it was packed. I saw Elie Wiesel there and it was packed. I took a bunch of students there for Physics Force and it was packed.

It is very easy to be callous about history because of the prospect of shiny new toys, but thinking about the character of the building and what they are intending to do with it causes some concern. In many ways it is a space that is accessible to everyone. All of the events that I mentioned were free to the public. Making the people's space into a home for the honors program is concerning because we are constantly at risk of being considered disconnected and elitist. I just do not think this would play well with the legislature or the community at large.