Brenna Ross::  Say your name, your class year, and where you currently live.
James W. Dunn::  Okay. My name is James William Dunn. I’m class of 2001. I currently live in Manhattan, New York City.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  All right. So, just kinda start talking: How did you end up coming to Grinnell?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  I’m actually a third generation chip, so I always knew of Grinnell. My grandparents came here, my mother and uncle came here, and then when I was looking for a college, y'know, junior year of high school I'm like, "I don’t know what I wanna be when I grow up," kind of thing. So my mom, she, for a long time, ‘cause she was on academic probation for a long time, or a couple times and she said, "It’s tough. It’s gonna kick your ass." And when I said I don’t know what I wanna be when I grow up she said, "OK, now you can start looking there, liberal education."
James W. Dunn::  So we came out here for a prospective weekend and I just totally fell in love with the campus. Met some really fantastic people, I was staying on Read second or first, something like that, in this prospective student room and just fell right in. Everyone was really welcoming and I remember flying back and I just went home, it’s like, "I’ve done all my looking. It just feels right. It feels really good."
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  So, what’s your first memory of being on campus?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Well the very first memory was actually for reunion weekend with my mother. Then, like after I became a student it was kind of that whirlwind coming in. My parents dropped me off at the airport so I was kind of flying- I was living outside of Seattle at the time. Dropped me off at the airport so I was flying all by myself. Y'know, meeting a couple upperclassmen there at baggage claim in Des Moines airport and they drove me here.
James W. Dunn::  I literally had enough time to drop off my bags before my roommate was there. He’s like, “We’re going out to dinner. You’re coming with us.” I’m like, “OK?” It was out with his family for some pizza or whatever. It was sort of that, just meeting everybody. That first rush that everybody has of, "Who are you? Where are you from?" Just kinda that- everybody is so new and so excited to be there. And then it just sort of progressed that- y'know, through that night, meeting upperclassmen that were there for various programs, like help out with New Student Orientation. So that whole like, super great energy that first 24 hours on campus.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Okay. So, was there any certain professor or student or staff member who influenced you in your time here?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  I would have to say it was a German professor, Dan Reynolds. He came in my sophomore year and he’d interviewed with us and, so he was kind of- and then I did an independent study with him and he just really was... Not without- not kind of forcing any agenda or anything but just sort of asking those questions of, “What do you wanna be when you grow up?” sort of thing. He knew I was an Art major, and just kind of, just kinda- yeah, kind of a little bit of a mentor but he wasn’t even my advisor. Just sort of... kind of interested in who I was going to be later and sort of guiding me.
James W. Dunn::  We ended up doing an independent study together in German film, which was his interest and I saw a lecture that he did and it really got me interested on kind of how do I bring art and my German studies together. And so I worked quite a bit with him. He would kind of say, “Well here’s a huge list of movies to watch,” and so it’s great. I mean you’re watching movies for a project, and then just sitting and discussing them and saying, "Well, when you’re looking at them, how are you seeing them?" Just kind of like...
James W. Dunn::  And so now, even now, I watch a movie and I- as opposed to like passively watching a movie with popcorn and whatever, it really has me thinking of, oh, you see this really great shot or, just based on how things are filmed you can kind of get a sense of, either a subtext that’s going on that some people may miss or you’re noticing how people refer to each other just to get a little bit more. You don’t see it so much in like, the summer blockbusters now, but more the independent films. Having that critical eye of some- like a mass cultural media, which is fun.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Very cool. So what would you say is your best or maybe worst, just most memorable memory of Grinnell?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Most memorable memory... There’s so many to go through. I’m sure you’ve been hearing that all weekend. When I was a new student, I was hearing about academic probation for the first time. Two upperclassmen came up – I was living on Main fourth, and two upperclassmen came up and said, "y'know, partying like we all do that first couple weeks," they said, “Let me tell you about academic probation,” and they were going on and on about how, like, "Academic probation sucks," and just to hear, as an incoming student you’re like, “Ooooh great.”
James W. Dunn::  You don’t know- It’s like, "Is my first year gonna be with -" ‘cause they were living on my floor "- is it gonna be all like this all the time, or do I really have to worry about academic probation now?" ‘Cause it’s almost like your parents trying to scare you straight. It’s like, “Study hard!” and everything, and I just remember sitting there with - I think there were nine of us, nine freshman - and we were all looking at each other going, "Is this for real? What’s going on?" So that kind of- we were all little deers in headlights going,"Oh my gosh!"
James W. Dunn::  That was one of the first really strong memories, and then just even... You’re hanging out in Bob’s coffee shop with friends, playing bingo or kind of right before finals week. We’re all having the same complaints. We’re all like, collectively at one point I remember looking up and four or five people all.. we all looked at each other like, "I’m cranky. I’m sick and tired. I’m not getting enough sleep. I have way too much to do," and we all just had that moment of.. solidarity, I guess, is the best way to describe it. Yeah, those are probably the two that definitely stick out in my mind that really sum up, I think, my Grinnell experience of being a little scared straight and then having a huge moment of solidarity with classmates.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  So, what kind of activities were you involved with on campus?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  I was involved with the Orchestra with Doug Diamond as conductor, and did GEAR, the Grinnellians Escalating AIDs Response. We did the AIDs walk in Chicago every year. German and the Art SEPCs. I'm trying to think of all I did. Yeah, I did ExCo classes: life-drawing and Irish tap dancing. Yeah, one of my classmates taught it and then we did it for senior showcase- like, was our big thing.
James W. Dunn::  Yeah and- I did an internship through the Career Development Office, hosted prospective students... Kind of a, it was almost- if there was an organization or someone said, “Hey, do you wanna go do something?” I was like, “OK sure, why not?” y'know? And then I fully tried to keep doing if, y'know, "Hey do you wanna go do something?" It’s like, "Sure, why not? Let’s go do it."
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Very cool, so, I’m kinda looking at the list. How has Grinnell changed since you were a student?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Well there’s the obvious physical changes. When I was here Darby Gymnasium was in Central Campus. There was no East Campus, and just even walking around the campus, it’s the, it’s just like a physical change. There’s definitely- being here for reunion weekend, you fall into old patterns, your old, it’s that old energy of... y'know, we all know each other, obviously. It’s kind of just a warm feeling that I have being back on campus.
James W. Dunn::  Yeah, so I would have to say it hasn’t changed a whole lot. A few little cosmetic things here and there, and even just walking around the town it’s, y’know, the bakery’s still there and he’s still the same guy, y’know, working at Hanson’s bakery. Yeah, it’s a- I would have to say other than the sheer cosmetic aspects of it, it’s the same place, and it’s almost timeless, I think. Yeah, I’m just like, filled with nostalgia, y’know walking in the first time. So yeah, that’s...
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  So do you have any specific memories of the town of Grinnell?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Things like doing bakery runs early morning. You needed something from the hardware store, you walk right downtown. It was just... the memories have... I remember even like, seeing - It was like- I think it was fall break or something - and there was a movie playing in town and a whole bunch of us were like, “Let’s go see it in town!” It almost was like an adventure going a couple blocks downtown.
James W. Dunn::  The memory I always have is, the town is very inviting and welcoming. It’s like they know we rely on them and they rely on us. And even now it’s- walking to Saint’s Rest café or Café Phoenix, you get that sense of everybody is really excited even to see people that used to work there ten years ago and they’re coming back. You just even, downtown used to have a whole bunch of one way streets and there was... People would kind of- we call it 'scooping the loop'. 'Cause just driving around in circles downtown, it was just like high school kids, I guess, and you kind of knew to stay- keep your distance away from them or something ‘cause they were always like, right in the back of a pick-up truck, screaming at the top of their lungs.
James W. Dunn::  And actually one of the best memories I have was, I lived in German House at the time and y'know, getting- to get a haircut in town, I remember walking into the barbershop - I can’t remember exactly where it was - but it definitely was... The barber must have been, at the time, like, he looked like he was 90. And, y'know, like the five guys all on the wall, just all hanging out first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee and just chatting. I’m walking in all, y'know, the college kid who was, "I just need a haircut!" And he’s like, “Yeah, sit down,” and immediately he started chatting like we were old friends. And just going, “This is so bizarre,” ‘cause I’d never been there before and I remember going back several times, just be like, hanging out with the barber.
Brenna Ross::  Very cool. So what was your favorite place to hang out on campus?
James W. Dunn::  Definitely Bob’s. Freshman year I lived in Main, and so it was a quick elevator ride or y’know, just run down the stairs and hang out and I was in a really small triple ‘cause our class was so big, and I just remember spending hours and hours and hours down there studying or hanging out, playing Bingo, listening to open mic nights.
James W. Dunn::  I’d have to say it was.. my campus hang out was... y'know. They has tho- these green velvet couches that were super super comfortable and every now and then you’d be kind of studying and falling asleep with your cup of coffee in the hand and a cigarette in the other and going, “Ooooooh, time to wake up.” Or passing out and they like, "OK, doesn’t matter where you go but you can’t stay here. We're going to bed." Yeah, I drank so much coffee in Bob’s. It was great.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  You bought any of those Bob’s coffee mugs they’re selling?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  I haven’t bought a new one ‘cause I still have the old ones where they were the thermal mugs.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Oooh.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Same logo. I think I have two from just the years... I don’t know if now, but we useed to have like a paint pen. We could write our names on ‘em and just leave ‘em down there, which is the best ‘cause, y'know it's like, "I don't wanna-" And they would do your dishes for you as long as you - they're like, “You need a cup of coffee?” I’m like, “Yeah, my mug’s back on the shelf somewhere.” They're like, “Oh yeah.” And cheap coffee. Even now, I went down there and like, and I got a coffee. It was nothing. It’s great. Very different than having to go to Starbucks or something.
Brenna Ross::  So what would you say is your favorite academic experience you had at Grinnell?
James W. Dunn::  Favorite academic experience... It was my senior seminar- oh I can’t remember her name. It was a visiting professor, and it was, I’ll have to think a bit. But it was- yeah, so it would’ve been 2001 so we were all first getting used to the idea of online research or something and we all picked a museum and had to present to the class, 'Here’s the museum website', and discuss it. It was- the seminar was on museums and galleries and... But I just remember, I tested out the website several times on the projector and it worked flawlessly. It was great, I loved it; it was the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh.
James W. Dunn::  And... y'know, this was before class, so came back an hour later to give my presentation during class. We pull up the website and absolutely nothing worked on it. So it had like all these little animation things and here I'm like, clicking on ‘em, and I’m like, "OK an hour ago this worked!" And we’re all just kind of in that look of, what do you do when a website’s down?
James W. Dunn::  Just to even thinking about it now it’s.. it’s such a weird, foreign experience of problems with websites or even just learning about ‘em kind of for the first time and the technology that goes along with them. But yeah, it was a very humbling experience ‘cause I was all prepared and ready to go and this- We all had that look of horror and I was just constantly saying, “Well this is what it’s supposed to do and this is what it did a little while ago. I don’t know what to do.” I just, the professor was very relaxed about it. She was like, “Oh, it’s the internet. Y'know, can’t really depend on it.” Yeah that was... my most memorable academic experience.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  So what was the kind of social environment like?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Oh, the social environment was phenomenal. I was consta- Like, in Main, we were always hanging out- We had a little lounge on our floor so freshman year I would always be sitting, reading, talking, and then I lived on- in German House, which at the time was 1019 Park, right next to Grinnell House, and sitting in front of the television with, even with Facilities Management when they were cleaning the house and we're just drinking more coffee, chit-chatting. Yeah, it was a lot of, kind of what we’re doing now. Like, sitting on couches just talking. It was just like a cup of coffee with us. It was very relaxed, very...
James W. Dunn::  It was, y’know when I first started here the email system shut down on Fridays. So it really forced you to have that interaction. Nobody had cell phones. Nobody had TVs. We were talking about it at our dinner. It’s like, only one person in our graduating class had a cell phone when we graduated. So that, ten years? It’s amazing how much has changed technology-wise. I remember going, Friday night and Saturday night to Harris parties and everybody from ca – it felt like everybody from campus was on the dance floor, on the platforms dancing or going to the movie.
James W. Dunn::  It felt like- I always describe the school to friends when they're like, “Oh what’s Grinnell like?” and I said, “Five days a week we studied, nonstop, constantly. Kind of like small study groups, socially, and then weekends it was, everybody let their hair down and we enjoyed each other’s company and we partied.” There was always a, I think like- There was a social divide between North and South Campus. But even like at Harris parties we all were there together.
James W. Dunn::  I don’t know if you went to the Harris party last night. It was like, 80s music, 90s music. A little bit of everything and everybody screaming their lungs off to their favorite songs. It was always, even walking across campus it was, “Hey, how are you?” ‘cause you saw someone you have in class, it was very- You always said hello to people. Now living in New York, I sort of miss aspects of that. I was really nostalgic for that this weekend, of walking across Main like, “Hey! Goodness, great to see you!” It’s, yeah, that is what it was like for me, then.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  What was the more like, political climate like?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Oh, politics on campus were always... in a way it was almost one-sided, I would have to say. Very liberal, very democratic, ‘cause when I was here it was right when George Bush was elected. He was running against Al Gore in 2000 and I remember sitting up in Cleveland Lounge, watching poll returns with people and seeing the popular vote versus how the Electoral College was going and it was almost like a mini riot on campus when it was announced.
James W. Dunn::  People were running out of the dorms into Central Campus at midnight or two o’clock in the morning, whenever it was, and... it was like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe how this happened. What’s going on?” A lot of complaining, I don’t know if we ever did anything about it. It was just...It's sort of like, for politics it didn’t seem very diverse but we didn’t mind ‘cause we were all kind of on the same page it seemed.
James W. Dunn::  I remember hearing, at one point there was a rumor that was like, “Oh, so-and-so is a Republican!” I don’t even remember who. And we're like, “You’re a Republican and you’re at Grinnell? This is so weird!” You're now looking back and I’m like, "Well of course everybody has their own viewpoints." But at the time it was just, almost scandalous of someone not being a bleeding heart liberal. Yeah. It was just... Politically, it was very, yeah, I would have to say- like it was all on side of the fence.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  So, knowing what you know now, would you have done anything differently?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  While I was here... There’s a few small changes I would make, nothing major. Instead of living for a year and a half in German House I would probably- would’ve just done, the semester before I studied abroad, get like another year in the dorms. It’s the one thing I probably would go back and change for sure. The classes I took, the people I hung out with, the parties I went to, the people I met: I would definitely do it all again.
James W. Dunn::  The one thing- A lot of my class, after they graduated, they went on to Chicago for work. Some people were there for a year. Some people went another couple years. Looking back, nine, ten years, and realizing, it was almost like that formative year or two right off of campus, 'cause I moved- basically moved from Grinnell right to New York City. I would change that. I would go back and move to Chicago or Minneapolis where other classmates had kind of flocked to, just for the extra year, I think. Just to gain some of that additional closeness, ‘cause over time people start drifting a little bit. I guess to solidify the connections I had. Yeah, but as far as like, what I did on campus, I don’t think I would change much at all.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  All right, well kind of as a general wrap-up question, if you were writing a history of Grinnell College, what of your stories from your experience would you want included?
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Well, obviously everything. You know, in a way I’d almost say, y'know, include what I just said as far as move with your friends for a year. Yeah, or just even, y’know talking about professors that you do independent studies with, and to have that sort of relationship. I’m trying to think what all I would include. Yeah, that’s all I can think of.
Brenna Ross::  All right. Well, is there anything else you’d like to add?
James W. Dunn::  The main thing is, it’s just fantastic to be back on campus. It’s a.. an odd combination of nostalgia and feeling like I just came back from fall break or spring break. It’s still very fresh in my mind. It’s... trying to describe to people what Grinnell is in words, it’s almost a- I wish I could bring everybody I knew here during reunion or during classes or just even like for, y'know, kind of like a little camera-effect, "This is what it’s like." Because I do feel like it’s part of me, and just kind of to express it, it’s kind of... it’s difficult at times.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  Alright. Well, thank you very much.
Brenna Ross & James W. Dunn::  You're welcome.
