Honoraria and Memorials in the Honor Roll (#977)

Topics/tags: Grinnell

In a recent musing, I discussed the Honor Roll of Giving, particularly the Honoraria section, which lists the people or organizations donors wished to honor.

Here’s what the introduction to that section reads.

Each year, Grinnell receives gifts that are made specifically in honor of meaningful Grinnell memories of living Grinnellians, including alumni, students, faculty and staff. Between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, the following individuals and organizations were honored through gifts and pledges to Grinnell. Please note the list is in alphabetical order by last name of the honoree. [1,2]

The Honoraria section is broken into three subsections, one for Alumni and Students [3], one for Faculty and Staff, and one for Friends and Others. I certainly appreciate the broad range of faculty, staff, and students who are honored. That is, I appreciate both the act of honoring and the people being honored.

There are also parts of that section that reveal much about Grinnell. Here are some examples. One alumnus gave in honor of Chelsea Manning, Bernie Sanders, and Edward Snowden [4]. A variety used the in honor of field to speak to union issues on campus: Three in honor of the Grinnell Union of Student Dining Workers, one in honor of students fighting for better working conditions, one in honor of Union students [5], and one in honor of Union Busting. Knowing Grinnellians, there is a possibility that the last one is intended to be satirical.

As one might expect, there are also donations in honor of Posse. And, because it’s Grinnell, one appears in the Memorials section. But perhaps that’s appropriate. While Posse lives on, with the graduation of the Class of 2019, Posse at Grinnell does not.

The donation in honor of Norris 3rd East also feels particularly Grinnellian, and not just because other institutions are unlikely to have a dorm named Norris. Rather, it represents a desire to honor Grinnell memories, or so I hope.

The Memorials section has a nicely written introduction.

Many members of the Grinnell community find memorial gifts to the College to be an appropriate way to remember and celebrate a relative, friend, or special faculty or staff member. Grinnell is grateful to receive these gifts, which provide important resources for Grinnell students and faculty members [6]. Between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, the following individuals and organizations were honored through a memorial gift to the College. Please note the list is in alphabetical order by last name of the honoree.

Like the Honoraria section, the Memorials section is broken up into subsections, including Alumni and Students [7], Faculty and Staff, Others, and Parents and Friends. I’m glad to see that people continue to donate in honor of Tammy Zywicki ’93. Nonetheless, it reminds me that we don’t do enough at Grinnell to honor her memory. Reading the Memorials section makes me sad, so I’m not going to report on any other details.

I see other changes to the Honor Roll [8]. For example, I’m glad to see that I now appear in the list of faculty and staff who give; a few years ago, I appeared in the list of parents who give, even though I don’t consider that my primary role at the College. Now I appear in both places, as well as in the list of honoraria.

In any case, I enjoyed skimming through the Honor Roll. I look forward to reading next year’s. I hope to see your name there!

[1] Grinnell College. 2019. The 2018–19 Honor Roll of Giving. Electronic version available online at https://alumni.grinnell.edu/giving-to-grinnell/impact-2019-honor-roll.

[2] You can find some other comments on that paragraph in the earlier musing.

[3] Presumably, current students.

[4] They gave in honor of other people, too. However, I assumed that if I included enough, the donor would be more easily identifiable.

[5] As opposed to Confederate students?

[6] And, I would hope, staff members.

[7] It’s incredibly sad when someone who would have been a current student needs to be memorialized.

[8] I don’t know whether or not they are new.

Version 1.0 of 2019-01-05.