Heather Riggs::  Okay, so.. Yeah, just before we start, if you could each go around and say your name, your class year, and where you live now, just for the microphone.
Margo Gray::  Cool. I’m Margo Gray of the class of 2005, and, what else am I saying?
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  Your home.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  Where you live.
Margo Gray::  I live in Chicago, Illinois.
Jenny Noyce::  My name is Jenny Noyce, the class of 2005 and I live in Oakland, California.
Maggie Montanaro::  I’m Maggie Montanaro, also class of 2005, and I live in Avignon, France.
Heather Riggs::  Wow. So, what are your strongest memories of Grinnell?
Maggie Montanaro::  Harris Parties.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Mud sliding in the rain.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah, mud wrestling. Mud sliding on Mac Field. Lots and lots of work.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  I guess I remember people, like, I still am in touch with a lot of people from Grinnell and yeah. So I don’t, I mean I don’t have like these really specific memories of like meeting people, but just mostly, like this whole sort of like pool of memories of times when I was hanging out with people or working with people or, yeah. Building the sort of, you don’t think of it when you’re there, it’s not like, "Ah, I’m building connections to last me!" You’re just like, "I’m hanging out with my friends." But those sort of things tend to last.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Lots of good hanging out.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yes.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce::  What kind of Harris parties did you have? Like themed...
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce::  All the, I assume they still have them, the hall ones like the Haines Underwear Ball, the Mary B. James, Disco... what else? Lots of just themed…
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce::  They started a Fetish party.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce::  Really? They still have Fetish?
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce::  I never went to that one. Maybe I was too close-minded.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  What are your first memories of Grinnell?
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Move-in day.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Katie Luland’s dad telling us all to lock our computers down because it was really dangerous to leave them.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah we had, ‘cause I think we’d left stuff in the hallway.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Other people's parents.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah, other people's parents.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  You telling people they were gonna get raped.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I never said that. You can’t say that out of context.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Yeah.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  So now we have to tell the whole context.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Go for it.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  So, during New Student Orientation one of the trainings they do is sexual harassment or, and…
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Race aware- I don’t remember what it was called.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Victim and like, taking care of yourself awareness, ‘cause so many assaults and sexual assaults happen on college campuses. And, someone was like, “Oh we’re not gonna go to that. We’re gonna skip it even though it’s mandatory.” And so Maggie had to say to them…
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  I said, "Well, don’t come crying to me when you get raped." Which obviously is not a very nice thing to say. You could definitely come crying to me if you got raped.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  It's true.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  But-
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  But at that point...
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  We were just being irresponsible that night. We did go though.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  We did, we did attend.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  See? It worked.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  And we remember it as the first joke.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Right.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  You been told.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Y'know, see how that sort of like awk- you know, when you first move in and have roommates, ‘cause we all lived on the same hall our first year. There were two quads of freshman girls that were across the hall from each other, and so we are-
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  In Dibble.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Three of those eight.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah. But you sort of have to work up to jokes like that.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  I just put it out.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  That’s like day two.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Why did you decide to come to Grinnell?
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I came because my, I think, of my prospie experience. But, I visited so many schools and I was actually pretty stressed out at the end because I hadn’t heard back from Grinnell yet, and then when I visited… I don’t remember how that all went, if you visit after you find out get in... Probably not.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  You do.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  But I visited before. But I got to campus and I was actually really homesick and felt really weird and I wasn’t talking to anyone. Then I went to a movie and I walked around by myself and I felt like, at the end of my time here I was like, “Hey, I like this place for some reason.” It just kind of fit, and I like, got over myself, and, I don’t know.
Maggie Montanaro::  The other time, the other experience that I had I was with a host who I didn’t like very much, whereas here my host was like, “OK, I’m busy, but, let me know if you need anything.” It was kind of like, "You’re independent. You don’t need me," and I think that really was good for me instead of trying to get to know someone in two days that I obviously wasn’t going to, and didn’t like in most cases. When we went to her boyfriend’s- there was some other school I visited where we went to her boyfriend’s drinking competition with his wrestling buddies. I was like, "This is not..." In a frat house.
Jenny Noyce::  Can you picture yourself?!
Maggie Montanaro::  "I don’t see myself going here."
Margo Gray::  I think it was a, sort of a late decision for me to come to Grinnell, because I didn’t even... I don't know, I visited very late because I was very, sort of like that person who, my sophomore year of high school, was like, “I’m going to order all the brochures from all of the places.” I had my little filing cabinet. Yeah, you know how it is. So I was very sort of like, reading all the material. But I didn’t visit Grinnell, I think until after I got admitted so sort of very late in the process. At that time I had visited a bunch of other schools and, like Maggie had some comparative experiences that were unfavorable.
Margo Gray::  When I came here, I remember I visited... I had asked at other places to visit with professors and had a lot of people tell me, “I don’t really have time for that Prospie. Student. Possible student-person.” So, but I asked to meet with Pip Gordon, who was the head of the Theater department at the time and she was like, “Sure, yeah, come in.” So I came in and I remember she had Tim Curber, who was a senior that year and he was her like, department assistant and he was just hanging out in her office and she was like, “Do you mind if Tim hangs out?” I was like, “Sure.” Seeing their interaction and them very much sort of like bantering back and forth, I was like, “Oh, I want to be friends with my professors. That looks like a lot of fun.” Now I am friends with Pip so, booyah. But I think that was sort of, seeing the relationships between people that I thought were... good.
Jenny Noyce::  And how it’s so different than when you were in high school. You were like, "Oh, my God these adults, they have power," or this or that and to see teachers as mentors instead of someone who’s just controlling your grade. It’s cool.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  I was the opposite of you. Where, I was like, “College? Yeah, I guess I know have to do that.” Then, I didn’t know anything about the process or what to do and my mom had to... I think I saw the school counselor once. She was like, “Oh, are you applying to schools?” I'm like, "Yeah?” and she was like, “OK, bye.” My mom sort of drug me through-
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Thanks for your guidance.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah- drug me through the process. So, I only applied to three schools.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I ended- at first I wanted to go to Carleton. So the first time I visited I was like, "They’re too snobbish. I don't want to go there." The second time I visited I was like, “Oh no, I could totally handle this place.” And then I didn’t get in and then I got into Lawrence and but didn’t want to go there then, because it was too urban.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  That is where the wrestling-drinking contest was.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Really? At Lawrence?
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  See! High five!
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  So good choice.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  No Lawrence! Go Grinnell! I’m really happy that I went to Grinnell, and it feels good. It was a good place.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Were there any professors, students or staff who had a strong influence on your time at Grinnell?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  I would say Kara Lakey and Jean Ketter from the education department. For me, it was the first time that I did have adults who I felt saw me as a person as opposed to just a number or grade. So, it was nice to be able to sort of come into adulthood but have other adults sort of guiding you and not giving you feedback about what that’s like.
Margo Gray::  Yeah, and I think most of the Theater department professors I had, it was very like, small department. Russian too, actually, they were just very, yeah. They were interested in you as an individual, and I remember going to one of my first oral exams for beginning Russian and I was so nervous ‘cause I was like, “OK, we’re going to be talking about grammar and stuff.” The exam itself was her asking me how my first semester at Grinnell was going and how my other classes were. So we were, of course, talking about this in Russian, but, I mean, she was actually interested even though it was a class of like 20, which was huge.
Margo Gray::  She was actually interested in how my time was going, so I think there were a lot of professors who were really, especially my major departments who were really, and Pip, of course, who I’m still friends with, was very much and continues to be... I will sort of write to her when I’m like, “I don’t know what to do about my career, tell me what to do!” She’ll say, “Well, here’s what you should think about but ultimately you gotta do what you want and you know that." And you’re just, yeah. So, that was always very nice.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  You passed on good advice to me, too. I think. I’m assuming it was from her as well, but it was like, “Have you thought about what you want to do as opposed to what you should do?”
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  That was on Plans, I read that too.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Yes. That was.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I know, she was totally, she was like, “You have to like- You feel like you have to do this. Why do you feel that way? You can do whatever you want.” I was like. “…Oh! ....Duh.”
Jenny Noyce::  I think it’s changing my view of graduate school ‘cause now I’m just like, “I’m gonna do this and get it over with.” It’s not such this huge like, life-structured thing, as I feel like college was. ‘Cause, I have more direct goals and plans for after it. So yeah. Need to help me chill out there, really.
Margo Gray::  Go team.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  How about you, Maggie?
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I don’t feel like I had like a big connection with one professor, but I always was very surprised and pleased when professors I had, like the year before, would recognize me on campus and say hi, and I was like, “Oh, I didn’t think you knew who I was.” Or, that’s always nice to feel, that you could, I always felt like I could talk to my professors if I needed to. So, but I would say my friends were the biggest influence on...
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Bad influence.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Yeah, that’s right.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Awesome influence.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  How has Grinnell changed since you were students?
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  Well obviously the buildings. I don’t know much about how, ‘cause I don’t know many current students, so it’s sort of hard to say how the culture has changed.
Jenny Noyce::  I think one thing, just from being back, from what I’ve heard from staff or people, is having a different president has really made it change in the fact that he seems much more involved in the community and so it has a much more positive feel, I guess, about him or about this idea of here’s this person who’s leading us or who has power.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah, he’s only been around for the past year so it’s been different for us, too. Is there something that was available on campus when you were students but, that is no longer available but is still meaningful to you?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Oh my gosh.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Building-wise, or programs..
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  I think it’s so weird to come and, like, coming across the Loggia and looking at the JRC or the Joe, whatever you guys call it and being like, "Darby’s not there." That was really weird. Even though Darby-
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  We used to work in the upstairs of Darby.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Or go to basketball games.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yes.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah. Although that was gone by the time we left.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah. I think they tore it down our senior year?
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah. I didn’t, I didn’t like, cry about it.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I think it’s just something where I'm like, "Whoa, there’s something that’s hugely different." I think I haven’t gone over to the PEC yet where, or where the PEC used to be. So it’s, I would be there at least twice a week at work, so.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  The Forum is weird to see, but it’s like a Computer Lab now. ‘Cause that was the hangout when we were here. You can tell that a lot of the alumni still wish it was because they’re all hanging out, yeah, and drinking. It’s like, “Oh.”
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  It's not actually a thing now.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  It’s kinda funny, like they’re mourning the Forum.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Pouring one out for the Forum.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Yeah, libations.
Margo Gray::  I think Plans, I mean I know Plans still exists but even, the sort of switch happened when we were students from it being kind of like, a hosted college thing to something that’s independently sort of student-run now, so that was a big shift. But I mean that’s something I use so much to keep in contact with other alumni, and current students even. It’s the one time that I ever interact with current students is, if something connects randomly on plans. But, that was one sort of change I noticed.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah. I’m curious how Plans was then, compared with how it is now because you’ve probably kept in touch with Plans, if not with the campus.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  I think Plans is pretty much the same format. I don’t feel like anything about that has changed. I think, as I think about us growing older, there is the in-fluctuation and the up-and-down of how much people use it. What you’re using it for, how you keep in touch with people, like who updates, you know, versus who doesn’t.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Well, and when we were here there was also- there were like, a couple scandals, weren’t there? Some kid wrote some threat on Plans? Do you remember this?
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Oh yeah. And then he got-
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  And so then there was that- I think that kind of started a whole debate, like "The College can’t be responsible for this. It’s not connected to the college."
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Because he made a comment about bringing guns to campus to get narcs, and he was being sarcastic. So, the FBI came and got him.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Oh, yeah!
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs::  And he was put in prison, and then he got to come back the next year, but he had to wear an ankle bracelet.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs::  Oh, I didn’t know that.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs::  Wow.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs::  And for him, he was like- I guess it was an eye-opener of like… y'know this...
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs::  Free speech only goes so far?
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs::  So far. Yeah, things like that. So... I mean...
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  It's- because there’s so much, I mean, "social" social networking has changed so much that like, we didn’t really have Facebook.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah. That started at the end of our time here.
Margo Gray::  Yeah, but the way the people use Plans is so different from the way that, well, some people, use Facebook and Twitter. And it’s such, such a different community where you feel like you can sort of address someone across time or social circles and be like, “Hey, got here via Montanaro,” y’know, like, “I do have a recommendation about restaurants in downtown Chicago.” Whatever it is, weird stuff like that. "I hear you’re talking about grad school in Moscow," or random stuff like that. I think that that’s been pretty consistent across my years of using plans, at least.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  I think it’s the one place where... I mean there’s the social norm of still being friendly. It’s not like, "Whoa, who is this person?" but it’s fine to post something up there, being like, "Oh, anybody know this?" And then knowing- Like the implicit trust of knowing the answer you get back will be honest, or...
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Well thought-out.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah. Well thought-out or well-meaning.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  There can actually be like, debate about, y’know... There was that sort of body image debate recently, where someone said something about... yeah, just like body image and that was sort of like that’s what the discussion point was that day. It was about body image, or something about how your major influences your earning potential over your lifetime and then that was the point but on Facebook, y'know, that would turn into…
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  A flame war of some sort, so I'm like...
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Yeah. So like, something really not very productive. But y'know, people are like, “Well, here is my well thought-out response. Here is a link to the New York Times article to support my point and I also recommend that you read-,” y’know?
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  That is funny because there are kind of these trends in Plans. I read the body image things on Plans, but it’s pretty cool that even when, like seven years between our classes you can still kind of like, "Oh-"
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  St. John’s can still search- stir up… Saul St. John who was the- anyway, nevermind.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  But wait! Tell us the memory of Saul St. John.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  No, that was him! He initiated this body image conversation. He was the one who said some really inflammatory things and then he's just... He’s.. two years below us, I think? Anyway, he’s just sort of, kind of one of those intentionally inflammatory folks. But it’s OK because everyone on Plans was like, "Here’s my very reasoned response and here’s why I think I don’t want to engage with you on that point because I reject your premise." So there was- yeah.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  That’s pretty funny.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  What were some of your favorite places on campus?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  I think, I mean obviously just saying like, the Loggia for me, just because it’s something that’s so different and you don’t see it in architecture all the time. But, I think the big tree really stands out to me, on North campus right outside of Cowles and Dibble and Clark. It’s just... I'm just like "Oh, yay."
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  I smoked my first cigarette under that tree.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Really?
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  For a film we made for tutorial. I didn’t know how to smoke. Tried to look cool. Not so cool.
Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  Oh, great. They’re emailing all the new kids today about tutorial choices.
Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  Wow.
Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  Exciting.
Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  Yes. I was like, "Whoa." My little brother’s gonna come in this semester, so I’m reliving moments.
Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro::  That's exciting.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Where did you guys live, when you were here?
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  First year we were all in Dibble. Younker second year.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Younker.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  And I was in a house, 1217 Park. That was crazy.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  That was one of my favorite places that year. We did a lot of hanging out over there.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Chips and dip parties.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Yeah we had Chip and Dip Club.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  It was like midnight..? On Tuesdays...?
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  It was funded by the school.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  It was one night a week, right, like midnight? Funded by the SGA.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Something like that.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Our friend would go to the, well it was before there was a Mexican restaurant in Grinnell so he would go- was it Marshalltown?
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  He'd go there and get like, a trashbag full-
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  La Cabana.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah, La Cabana. - Get a trash bag full of tortilla chips and a bucket full of salsa, and we’d have-
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  It was like a huge, industrial bucket.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  - Chip and Dip Club. Everyone was invited.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  It was great.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  It was mostly the same people every time, though.
Jenny Noyce::  That’s what, I rem- That'll be my most vivid memory I think, for Katie and Colin. Because, Colin came to Chip ‘n Dip night – I was telling Wes this story earlier – and it was this big snowstorm. And he was like, “Oh, I have to go move my car. I need to go move my car,” and y’know he, he did his goodbyes and was like, “All right, gonna go move my car.” He’d like, put on his coat, put on his backpack, and then Katie came in the door and he like, completely changed his tone, and he was going to stay! And then his car got towed.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  And now they’re married.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yes, so then I’m like, "Awww."
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Chips and dip brought them together.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  That's right.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yes.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  I didn’t know that story.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  I didn't either.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah, so...
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  That’s good.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Have a lot of people from your class gotten married to each other, or...? ‘Cause y'know, they say that 40% of Grinnellians...
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah, yeah...
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Is it really 40%?
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Well, you’re dating a Grinnellian now, but you weren’t dating at Grinnell.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  I am. I know, I was too judgy. I rejected him at Grinnell, so. It’s sort of a joke 'cause I rejected him like two times, and then finally I was like, "Okay."
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  He persevered.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yes, he did.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  I know there are a few people from our- There’s like, a few couples from our class who have gotten married but I don’t know them personally. I’m sure there are more.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Or like- And people who have married people from other classes, like Mark Henry. Or like, Molly Obsats and Amber Griffin. So, there’s a lot of them though.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  I feel like they’ve gone through the first wave, which usually happens like two to three years out.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Maybe some people will meet some future spouses this year at reunion.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Maybe. Never know.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  You never know.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  I feel like within the next five years there will be another big smattering.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Wave.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  How do you feel like your class is different from the classes before you and the classes after you? Do you feel like there was any big changes?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  I think our class was really affected by the suicides that happened on campus, and so I know that there is... I feel like, a different mentality around what being a healthy college student means or what the college should provide and what they needed to focus on. So, I think that definitely affected us and even the way we view suicide. I know, movies with suicide I get really really touchy about it and don’t like to watch it. Or if people bring it up and are talking about- or, joking about suicide I’m just like, "Don’t do that. That’s awful to do."
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah, and I think our sort of perspective on the community shifted a little bit because when the, y’know there was that whole, like, cluster suicide phenomenon and that was when we were sophomores? The second semester of our sophomore year? And so I- Right? Right.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  It was in May, I think.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah. So I think the idea was that after that people felt more responsibility. I mean, there’s already a very strong sense of community at Grinnell but I think that after that, when you think about, you know, your responsibility for your fellow students and the idea that it is sort of a matter of life and death whether you can sort of provide support for so- or at least help someone get whatever it is that they need for help. So I think there was more emphasis for all of us in terms of like, “Hey, are you doing OK? Have you talked to this person lately? They seem like maybe they’re having some problems. Has anyone-" y'know, "Is someone on that?” sort of a situation, sorry.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Or even knowing what resources were available on campus and being able to use them.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  And destigmatizing mental health. I think that that was-
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  That was a big thing that the school pushed for too, after that and all that happened.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  But in some ways, I almost feel like after that experience, that has served me well in dealing with people outside of Grinnell which are not maybe as accepting of mental health as a legitimate thing. So.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Margo Gray::  We also were freshman when September 11th happened.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Margo Gray::  Yeah.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Margo Gray::  Oh, wow.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs & Margo Gray::  Oh, that’s true.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  What was that- What was the campus atmosphere like?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  I think when I'd shown up...
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  It was almost a void...
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Was that the first month of freshman year?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah, it was!
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I was in tutorial-
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Morning tutorial. Tuesday, 8:30 in the morning.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  -and our professor came in, and it was like.... Oh, I don't know exactly what time it was, but- and she came and announced it to us. It was so weird, to see a professor so shaken and we were all just like, “What?” Like, no, it was very strange. Like you said, it was shock and we all got around TVs to watch it.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I was in the hallway at...
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Here? At ARH?
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  No, I was in the hallway over in the Science Building, and going to Math class, and there was like a girl sort of crying in the hallway ‘cause her family worked in that area of New York. And I heard someone else talking, being like, “Oh my God, they flew a plane into a building,” I was like, “Oh, are you talking about a movie?” They were like, “No, no, like...” So it was sort of like, whoa, and then our math teacher was like, “There’s nothing I can do. I mean I guess yes, just take this test and if you do OK, you do OK." Like, "Don’t worry about it, we’ll support each other.” But it was just sort of like, y'know, this idea of like, "OK, we have to go on, but we don’t know what’s gonna happen."
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Just, confusion.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  I think there were a lot of people on campus who were from New York. Like there always have- I mean, I think that too.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah, I just remember a lot of people on their cell phones trying to call people.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  And then when we invaded Iraq, I remember being Grinnellians in Mexico and that was interesting to… 'Cause there had been a big push beforehand of activism on campus and people being like "No! No war, no war!" and then what- to see we invaded and then to be in Mexico and to have other people there who were very much, who weren’t Grinnellians and they were very much anti-the-invasion, so that was interesting.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  So those are some depressing things that make our class different. But we’re also just pretty cool.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  We’re good people.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Good times.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  And when you look back on your years you’ll be like, “Oh yeah, that was a piece of history that I witnessed at that time.”
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  What was student and campus life like while you were students?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Goofy.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  Yeah.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  How do you describe that?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray::  I know. It's like, a huge-
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  There was always a sort of like, North-South Campus divide. Like hippie vibe on South Campus, jock vibe on, y’know. That’s always kind of the stereotype. I don’t know if it still is, but-
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Well, East Campus is...
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Now there’s East Campus, what’s that?
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Business.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Preppy?
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Preppy.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Business?
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Sterile.
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Sterile?!
Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  But, that wasn't always true.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Was East Campus finished when you were..?
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Our s-
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Junior year.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Junior year.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  ‘Cause we moved, D wasn’t, Katie and I were supposed to live in D with Patty Cakes! And Patrick Hall was there, for posterity.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  And David Koontz.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  And David Koontz. So we were supposed to live there at the beginning of our junior year and D was not finished, and so they had to put us in off-campus housing for like five weeks while they finished that, and then we had to move again. And then I was leaving for my semester abroad so I only stayed there for like five weeks. Good times.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  What else about student.. Just the idea sort of like, of everyone was working really hard and it was definitely like a badge of pride like, how much you were, y'know. You’d be standing around, sitting around in the hallway drinking - or not drinking - and everyone being like, “Man, I have like two hundred pages of reading to do for tomorrow I haven't even started on, and a three page paper plus a test! What d’you got?” It was just sort of, bragging rights, who has, y'know, who has the most work left to do.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  In retrospect I’m like, "Oh look! Who's procrastinated the most?"
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah. Pretty much, pretty much.
Jenny Noyce::  So... but I think like, when you think of college life, and on Grinnell campus too it is the idea tof like, it’s not just study hard, but play hard and that openness of being like, “Oh, we're gonna do this! You wanna go try that with me?” Like, meeting someone else random and being like, "Yeah, you wanna come join us? Cool, totally come do this with us."
Maggie Montanaro::  I also felt like the school, like Grinnell has always been... I don’t know if it’s still this way, ‘cause I felt like there were some changes happening when we were here, but the fact that they trust us to be self-governed, y'know, that they let us have parties where maybe underage people might be drinking, y'know. They give us a lot of freedom. People can smoke. Y'know, there’s not this whole policing thing. There’s no RAs, that sort of thing. I think that was really important to me when I came here, and I think that was definitely a big positive to student life at that time.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  I think it was positive to student life but in retrospect, I look back and I still wish we would have had more adult guidance.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Really?
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  Yeah.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  No.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro::  I don’t.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  And not necessarily like, I wish that there had been something where- or maybe it’s just me regretting that I feel like I didn’t take advantage of campus support enough. Of like, what it meant to be on a college campus as opposed to just like, "Oh, you’re on your own. This is what college is." But really understanding how to take advantage of academic advising or student affairs or the career counseling center and things like that. I think that would’ve helped some, direct us and-
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Transition afterwards.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah, and direct us too, to make sure we’re living healthy…
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Well, I think those things were available, but you can’t make... y'know, people pay attention.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Make people do- No, that’s so true. So true.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  I also think, and maybe this is just my learning more about the community as I spent more time in the town of Grinnell, but connecting. I always found that connections with the community were valuable and sort of enriching. Like, going to Community Meal. Love Community Meal. Or, hanging out, like –
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Love free food.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  I love free food. Or like, I helped coach at the high school, the speech club, or just those sort of connectionswith the community. But it was like, "Oh yeah," Grinnell isn’t just by itself in the middle of the prairie. There’s actually a real world and a whole community right here. So, yeah, that was something I found valuable.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  What memories do you associate with the town of Grinnell, besides Community Meal?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Scoopin’ the loop!
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Scoopin' the loop.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Our friend-
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  What is that?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Our- What?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  What is that?
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Oh! Scoop- The current lights! The current lights!
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  No- and it's not a-
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  The stoplights.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  It's not one-ways anymore. It’s not one-ways.
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Okay, so..
Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Scoopin' the loop. This is not just Grinnell. This is a lot of, small...
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah, they do this in Ohio, too, by the way.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  They do. Yeah.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  My mom has told me about scoopin’ the loop.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Scoopin’ the loop.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  So it’s like, you get in your car and you’re literally, you’re just driving around in a big circle around downtown.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  To see who you can see and who can see you.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  To see what’s going on.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Yeah, and so we- our friend Al had an apartment, his senior year, literally on the loop, and so I can remember he had like, a balcony up there and we’d be like "Oh! That car drove by at least two times already."
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  And people like, washed their cars in preparation for scooping the loop, y'know?
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  Wow.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Heather Riggs::  It’s a big deal.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah. Oh..
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Like, "What are you guys gonna be doing tonight?" "Oh, we’re gonna scoop the loop, y’know?" What else is there to do?
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah, town of Grinnell, that was good. Or Saint’s Rest, hanging out at Saint’s Rest.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  The Pub, which doesn’t exist anymore.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Where was The Pub?
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  It’s where the Voodoo Lounge is now..?
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  It was disgusting really so it’s probably good that doesn't exist.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah. It's probably a public health violation, yeah.
Margo Gray & Maggie Montanaro & Heather Riggs & Jenny Noyce::  There’s a new bar there though now. Is there like some lounge...?
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  There's a Voodoo Lounge there.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  That must be- is that-
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Then there's Rabbitts.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah, Rabbitts was pretty trashy too. That started. There was a girl from our class who worked at Rabbitts senior year.
Heather Riggs & Maggie Montanaro & Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Oh, I did not know that. What else in town..? Oh! The like, the park, just like, music in the park, or... And I like, that was where I did a show.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Weren't there plays in the park?
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Yeah.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Yeah.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  And you guys like brought in a little Shakespeare tent. Or, wagon.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  No, it’s a- the wagon? Yeah, so I directed after my- summer after my senior year, I directed a show that was, Grinnell Shakespeare at the Park.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Wow.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Yeah, and they had this pageant wagon that folds out and was...
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Cool.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Hip. So, that was fun.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Yeah, I mean I don’t have any more questions. Do you guys have anything to add?
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  What else? Our brilliant- Your brilliant wisdom.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  I know.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Share.
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  Brilliant wisdom. What would I tell kids who weren't here today?
Heather Riggs & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  About your memories of Grinnell.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Grinnell advice. What advice would I give people?
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  I would say- well, the one thing that I regret is that I didn’t talk to people more. I wasn’t more outgoing ‘cause I was intimidated by people that I thought were smarter than me or more involved in social justice than I - well, they were, ‘cause I wasn’t, but.. I really admired a lot of people here and I thought that would be a good, y'know, I wanted to come here because my scores were a little lower than the ave- y'know. I wanted to come here to be challenged, and then I don’t feel like I really took advantage of the people I was around as much as I could have, so I would say, don’t be afraid to-
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Engage.
Jenny Noyce & Maggie Montanaro::  Engage with other people and don’t think that what you have to say isn’t as cool or smart as what other people have to say.
Jenny Noyce::  Take the classes you wouldn’t have taken in high school, I feel like. I feel like, the way I structured my academics, at least for freshman year was like, "Oh, well, this is the way they had us do it in high school so I guess I’ll just take this class and this class and this class." And they were from like every category, but that didn’t really broaden my horizons.
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  I think just the, as you were saying, taking advantage of the- because y’know, we’re all so busy in college. It was like, when would I have taken two more ExCo classes anyway? You know? Like, I- That’s nice to think about but I don’t think I actually could’ve done it, but even just taking advantage like, post Grinnell, of all the connections that you build because I think that we don’t quite like, we don’t know how good we’ve got it, but-
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  We don’t!
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  We don't in a way-
Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce::  And we need to not take ourselves as seriously I think, on campus. I would’ve taken my, not myself but I would’ve taken everything a little less seriously.
Margo Gray::  Yeah, and just the idea that the Grinnell community is, I mean it’s not unique in all the world. There are close communities, but the fact that Grinnellians are genuinely interested in changing the world for the better and in sort of like, helping each other. So many people- I live in Chicago right now which is a huge concentration of Grinnellians, and other people who I know, they’re all like, “Oh are you guys talking about Plans again?” Or, they’ll say things like, “Ugh, another Grinnellian who's helping you with something? Ah! Why are there so many of you?” It's like, there aren’t so many of us. We just find each other and are willing to help each other. Like, if you call up a Grinnellian,  you’re like, “Oh by the way, do you know anything about this?” and they’re always willing-
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Lucinda’s husband decided he wanted to make some version of some Plans things for people…
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Oh, for Plans spouses?
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Yeah, for Plans spouses.
Jenny Noyce & Margo Gray::  Plans widows really, ‘cause your... 'cause really your Grinnell spouse spends so much time on Plans that you might as well be a widow. Yeah. That’s our advice, for the future generations listening to this in the basement of Burling.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  I gave some real advice, I don’t know what you guys are talking about.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Oh, you did! No, you were very thoughtful. Jenny and I are full of crap.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Dude, life is full of crap. You gotta make fun of it.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Well, thank you guys so much.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Thank you.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  Yeah, thank you.
Maggie Montanaro & Margo Gray & Jenny Noyce & Heather Riggs::  That’s great.
