Thanks to each and every Carl who returned for Reunion 2017!

Recognition of Alumni Association awards, presentation of the 25th and 50th Reunion class gifts, and remarks by President Steven G. Poskanzer.

In conclusion of Carleton's Sesquicentennial activities, President Steven G. Poskanzer and former presidents Robert Edwards, Stephen R. Lewis Jr., and Robert A. Oden Jr., came together to reflect on Carleton's past and share their hopes for the future of higher education and for our College. The panel was moderated by Dean of the College Beverly Nagel '75.

If Cuba's future was not already very uncertain, the advent of the Trump Presidency has raised a number of additional questions about how Raul Castro's efforts to reform the island's economy and politics will be sustained. The prospect of an uncooperative Washington and a failing Venezuela suddenly leave Cuba with fewer options. Al Montero, Frank B. Kellogg Professor of Political Science, Director of Advising and Faculty Diversity Recruitment, and Director of Political Economy at Carleton, addressed these and many other aspects of Cuban politics, the economy, and the future of the island's relations with the United States.

Carleton College and the Department of Political Science lost a dear friend and colleague when Ambassador Burt Levin, passed in October at age 86. Burt taught part-time in the Political Science Department at Carleton as the SIT Investment Visiting Professor of Asian Policy from 1994 until the fall of 2013.  Often co-teaching with legendary Professor Roy Grow, students flocked to their classes to hear accounts of Burt's long career in the U.S. State Department at embassies and consulates in Taipei, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and finally as the Ambassador to Burma from 1987-1990.  

We honored Burt's memory and contribution to our community with a discussion of of contemporary issues in Burmese politics and US-Burma relations. Leading the conversation was former Ambassador to Japan and to the Philippines Michael Armacost '58, Col. John Haseman, U.S. Army-Retired, who served in Burma with Ambassador Levin, Professor Penelope Prime, clinical professor of international business at the Institute of International Business at Georgia State University and director of the Master of International Business program, and Associate Professor Of Political Science Tun Myint, a specialist on the politics of Burma.

Vice President for Student Life Carolyn Livingston and Associate Dean of Students Joe Baggot presented Civil Discourse on a Diverse Campus: An experiential Living-Learning Community. Carleton recently received a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to create a living learning community and connected academic course. This past year was the first year of this project and 14 members of the class of 2020 were selected to live together in Myers Hall and also enroll in a course that met weekly in the Myers classroom. A central question of the course was, "What makes discourse good?" Hear reflections about the initiative and plans for the next academic year.

Some of us can trace straightforward paths from out current lives back to our time at Carleton. Many of us cannot. Life took unexpected turns. New interests and areas of expertise developed long after we were in college. A selection of alums who followed unplanned paths briefly describe their experiences--some professional, some personal--and consider how their present-day identities are rooted in their Carleton selves of twenty-five years ago. Topics will include social justice, social work, and sex education.

Friday night fireworks finale

Friday night fireworks

Alumni sing the “Sevenfold Amen” at the Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Celebration in Skinner Chapel

Sing-along with Marc Reigel '67 and friends at Froggy Bottoms Lily Padio