On the recordJuly 21, 2011
Madam Speaker, it is my honor to rise today to congratulate Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, on 150 years of academic excellence. For a century and a half, Gustavus Adolphus College has thrived as a prestigious and nationally recognized liberal arts college and cultivated the values of faith, service, justice, and community in its students. I have had the opportunity to see firsthand the many Gustavus students and graduates who live by the motto of the college: Make your life count. Gustavus students are bright, engaged, and my interaction with them leaves me feeling optimistic about the future. I am also lucky enough to be married to one of their alums. Every year, Gustavus hosts a unique and world-renowned science conference named after Alfred Nobel. The conference is dedicated to the ideals of Alfred Nobel as he professed in the final years of his life: international collaboration and science for the sake of improving our lives and progressing the human condition. This conference embodies what Gustavus is all about: pursuing academic excellence with the purpose of making it count. Gustavus can be proud of its 150 years, and I am confident that its tradition of excellence will continue to leave a profound mark on Minnesota and the world. ____________________
