NOTE: The following stories were gathered during the 2001-02 Wartburg Sesquicentennial Celebration. The quotes have not been altered from their original submission.

When I returned to Clinton Hall after registering for classes my first semester the question was, "Whom do you have for Western Civ?" I was excited to respond that I got Ottersburg, since sitting in on one of his classes as a prospective student was a major reason I chose Wartburg. One of my classmates was quickly alarmed, saying, "Didn't you know that the last person to get an 'A' from Ottersburg is Ron Matthias, and he teaches in the history department? That warning didn't diminish my sense of anticipation, but I was amazed that even on that first day my fellow students were already plugged into some of the lore of Wartburg. As far as I was concerned that fellow freshman turned out to be correct -- I never got an "A" from Ottersburg except on some individual exams, but he did me the honor of sending me a Christmas card every year until he died. (I guess that also explains why Ronald Matthias is still writing history, and I'm a manager.)

--- William E. Hamm '66

My years at Wartburg are very memorable. I especially enjoyed traveling to Australia with the Castle Singers in May of 1994. I also cherish my friends that I made during my junior and senior years at Wartburg.

--- Emily Korsmo Dawes '95

In 1954 freshmen who achieved a certain score on the entrance English test were exempt from the basic English grammar course and were enrolled in Mrs. Haefner's "English" Course. Mrs. Haefner made her philosophy of writing very clear. The daily newspaper was the cause of the downfall of the English language because no one could write proper English under such pressure. Each Friday her special class students did speed reading exercises. Lloyd Graven would always finish the reading assignment well ahead of the rest of us. Every Friday Mrs. Haefner would ask the same question, "Lloyd, how did you learn to read so fast?" Lloyd's answer was always the same, "By reading comic books." She could never reconcile how one could achieve an acceptable goal by reading unacceptable material.

--- Leonard Flachman '58

One of my favorite memories of being a Knight was being the "#1 Fan" for four years. It all started my freshman year, when I was in pep band. I decided to put on some orange and black makeup after watching some crazies at a Big Ten basketball game, donned a Wartburg ball cap, coat, shorts, and even had black Converse Chuck Taylors with orange shoelaces! I became a mainstay at all football and men's and women's basketball games. Even got a lifetime pass to all future athletic events at the college. I remember playing the UNI mascot at halftime of the UNI-Wartburg men's basketball game at UNI. He won 4-3, but I did put up a massive 3-three pointer that brought the Wartburg faithful to their feet! It was fun being a part of the Wartburg tradition in that way, and I'm proud to be a Knight! GO KNIGHTS! BEAT LUTHER!

--- Erik Russell '90

One of the most touching moments at Wartburg was on the 1987 European Choir tour. We sang in a church in East Germany before the wall came down. We somehow were able to meet with the people after the concert in the basement. One group of people drove three hours to hear us. We sang a few well-known songs with them there in the basement. It reminded me a lot of the early Christians and how they had to hide to worship.

--- Collette Wall '91

My favorite time at Wartburg was my 1995 choir tour in Europe. I will never forget the memories we made and the lives we touched around the world with our singing.

--- Jennifer Cole '95

There were so many wonderful times that created so many wonderful memories. Perkins runs at 3 a.m., CLM (Christians active in Luthern Ministry), 24 hour MD dance marathons, Outflies that weren't "scheduled" (we had an idea of what week they would be, but the rest was "spontaneous"), seeing the end of the Chrysalis program and tearing down its building to make room for the Bridge between the Student Union and Luther Hall. More memories: no locks on the dorms except on the individual rooms.... two telephones per floor (one on each end of the hall), May term classes like Dynamics of Thermochemistry and finding all my chemicals. (Dr. Zemke was my favorite professor even though I changed majors.), running around campus at midnight in the middle of a thunderstorm and not worrying about anyone bothering us or making comments about our soaking wet shorts and tee-shirts. The best thing for me on top of all that was the hugs that a bunch of us gave each other each day. We felt that 12 hugs a day helped keep us happy and balanced and joyful individuals. It was a ritual. The first time we saw each person for the day, we gave each other hugs. Going to Wartburg started me on the path to becoming the person I am today.

--- Cheryl Brust Cranmer '83

One of my favorite memories of Wartburg was working for the Learning Resource Center and Global and Multicultural Department as a Swahili tutor. Kimberly Folkers and Dr. Janice Yee are the two characters I remember the most as the co-directors of GMCS. Being a peer tutor gave me the opportunity to learn leadership, communications, problem-solving, and creativity skills. My first group of tutees who went for Venture Education to Tanzania reported having a great experience, and some even mentioned the desire to return to Tanzania to be missionaries. Homecoming this fall would be a great opportunity for me as an alumnus to get to meet the people I had a chance to know either in the classroom area, residential living, or other student activities. My great, great love on the Wartburg campus involved the Manors, especially Engelbrecht House, where I lived during my senior year. I look forward to meeting all returning alumni this coming fall at Homecoming Weekend.

--- Johnmark Msemembo '95

There was a scavenger hunt for which each team had to have three students and one faculty/staff member. My team decided to ask President Vogel to be on our team. He agreed. We ended up winning the grand prize of a dinner at the Red Fox. I remember going through the kitchen at Greenwood, looking for items on the scavenger hunt list.

--- Nathan Tomlinson '94

One of my favorite memories is when we got "Jane, the ticket lady" to come up to our suite for a suite photo. The eight of us dressed up as people from the Brady Bunch, and we got Jane to dress up as Alice!

--- Jaime Spratt Davis '99

I think my favorite Wartburg memories (and the things I miss the most this year) were singing the loyalty song, all hooked together with people you may or may not have known, standing outside freezing on Outfly my junior year (i think), and then racing to the cafe only to be told that they were not serving breakfast for another hour, chapel times, Eucharist, and just hanging out with all the great people on Clinton 2 south, Vollmer 2, Grossman 2 and in Knights Village....Go Knights!

--- Jessica Braithwaite '01