Photo: Auguste Bernick/The Olaf Messenger
Most members of the St. Olaf community know the new president through her speeches at the many college traditions that dominate the first few weeks of the school year. From a St. Olaf Welcome, to Opening Convocation, to the International Day of Peace, President Susan Rundell Singer is there, speaking on the importance of community. Her same friendly smile and careful consideration for words were present in our conversation with her at the President’s House.
Rundell Singer marks a turning point in St. Olaf’s history of leadership: she serves as the 12th president in the College’s history, but is St. Olaf’s first female president.
After assuming office on June 1, Rundell Singer has met with countless community members, making it a priority to strengthen her relationships with people. “I’ve met with almost every staff member over the summer,” Rundell Singer said. “My goal in the fall, but it will probably take the whole year, is to go to all the department meetings for the faculty.”
“I have regular breakfasts scheduled with the president and vice president [of the Student Government Association (SGA)],” Rundell Singer said. “I’m really interested in having, a couple of times a semester, a forum for students but having the SGA sponsor it.”
Besides connecting with faculty and staff, Rundell Singer is also making efforts to meet the ever-changing student population. She takes advantage of informal situations to interact with students, even having baseball players coach her before pitching the first ball at the St. Olaf Night Twins Game.
In Rundell Singer’s freetime, she enjoys activities that challenge her mentally and physically. When asked if she was a “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer” fan, she confessed to not viewing either. She instead prefers reading over movies. Rundell Singer said she recently has been enjoying books surrounding the experience of Indigenous people in the United States. “I’m finally getting around to reading ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ for a book group in town,” Rundell Singer said.
“It’s wonderful we are seeing more authors write about indigenous populations and all [their] knowledge.” Her other recent favorites include “The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America” by Andrés Reséndez and “Origin: A Genetic History of Americas” by Jennifer Raff.
These books have pushed Rundell Singer to reflect on her previous research projects and have reinforced her value of a liberal arts college. “The work that has been most deeply satisfying for me is with teams where you ask questions in different ways, and you challenge each other. It certainly enhanced my appreciation for the value of all the different ways we know,” Rundell Singer said. “Oles are going to leave St. Olaf with that natural inclination to be curious and to think about truth in a different way.”
Rundell Singer returns to Northfield, her longtime home during her tenure as a professor at Carleton College, to live in the newly built St. Olaf President’s House. The H-shaped house has two wings: one where Rundell Singer, her husband, and dog Emmy reside, and one to host. The hosting wing includes a two-story living room with abundant windows to view the surrounding lands and a full industrial kitchen.
Rundell Singer is also an avid cyclist, and one of her inauguration events is a community bike ride. Rundell Singer’s Presidential Inauguration will be held on Oct. 11 at 3:15 p.m. in Skoglund Auditorium. RSVP on the Office of the President webpage.
