March 2008

Question:

Dear Abbot Pennings,

Are there time capsules in any campus buildings, and if so, do you know what’s in them? 

Kara Wymelenberg Eulgen ’91

Answer:

During my 63 years as president of St. Norbert, I witnessed more changes than it is possible to conceive – so many beginnings and endings. And so, often, I have been asked about a time capsule. My regretful answer, that there is no time capsule on campus, must come as a surprise to many. I only wish I had thought of such a thing in those early years.

If I could revisit that time, I would put these items in a capsule (perhaps buried near Main Hall): early letters between myself and the esteemed Abbot of Berne, in which we discussed my intention to establish a school in Wisconsin; the favorite cap of my first student, Francis Van Dyke; the Latin primers of the four boys who made up the 1898-99 student body; those first 12 books donated by the 12 literature students that formed our first library; and finally, a white robe – the robe that identified all the great teachers, priests and friends of St. Norbert College in those days.

Responses to “Ask the Abbot” questions are penned by St. Norbert College staff in the name of Abbot Bernard Pennings, O.Praem., who founded St. Norbert College in 1898.