December 2014

Question:

Dear Abbot Pennings, 

In my time here, I’ve noticed several memorials spread around campus. How many are there?

Rebecca Liming ’15

Answer:

My dear Rebecca,

Each memorial that you and your fellow students come across here on campus has a unique story, as each has been gifted by friends and/or family who desire their loved one to be remembered in a special way here at St. Norbert College. These tributes appear in a variety of forms across our splendid campus: from bricks, benches and trees to scholarship funds, memorials have been established in honor of those who – at one moment in time – found our beloved school a place to call their own.

A stroll through the Shakespeare Garden alone reveals more than 40 memorial bricks set into the pathway beneath our feet. Many such paving bricks at Schneider Stadium are dedicated in tribute or in memoriam, as well. Twelve of the trees in our beautifully arboreal campus have been given in honor of loved ones, and of the 19 benches on campus, nine have been named in remembrance. 

Furthermore, I must add that 61 scholarship funds have been established as memorials. What a wonderful way to ensure that the achievements of one individual continue to empower future lives of transformation!

Such distinctive tributes are not always the result of loss: students or alumni may unite to honor a friend or to give thanks for the mentoring of a beloved professor, for instance. These beautiful tokens enrich our shared legacy and beautify our campus. 

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.