Hail, hail to thee, our college dear.

B and I have been living in Minnesota all summer, and yet we've neglected to visit our dear alma mater, Macalester College, located in beautiful Saint Paul, Minnesota. We took advantage of the fact that a few of our good friends were in town for a wedding and went for a walk around the campus.

Macalester has recently built a new athletic facility. I was one of approximately five people on campus who actually used the old athletic facility, and despite the fact that I do not self-identify as an athlete I wholeheartedly agreed that we needed a new one.

I couldn't believe it when we walked into the new gym. It was gorgeous, huge, beautiful. Beautiful design. Fantastic aesthetics. I was so impressed. I was also pleased to see that they incorporated the M in the center of the old basketball court as part of a sitting area now.


Yeah, I know it's upside-down. I was too lazy to move to take the picture. The other best part of it was the Kofi Annan Ping Pong Table. Oh yes, you heard me right.

I think the current students playing ping pong at the table were a little annoyed that us old people were walking around and giggling and taking pictures while they were trying to concentrate on their game. But I think it's just fantastic that Macalester has taken its ridiculous Kofi obsession to a new level.

We later managed to sneak into the new Markim Hall, the home of the Institute for Global Citizenship, on the corner of Grand and Snelling. Now this is a beautiful building. The outside is a little to Kagin-esque for me, but the inside is wonderful. They've made it as green as possible by doing things like using recycled glass to decorate the floor.

And they attempt to incorporate natural light into the building with things like these fantastic skylights (which we hear doubles as a sundial).

I was so impressed with how the campus looks. It actually made me anxious to get the next Annual Fund mailing so that I can send them all my monies. The college is doing a fantastic job, in my opinion, with these new buildings and I'm excited to see what they have in store for the new art building someday.

And no, I don't work in the Development Office!