CENTENNIAL AND VOLLMER MEMORIES

Barbara Gamez ’98
“Residential life is a cornerstone of the Wartburg experience. My first year at Wartburg was spent on Vollmer Three, and I could not have asked for a better first-year experience. I met lifelong friends while navigating being away from home; it was truly a living and learning environment.

“Our Wartburg students deserve an updated living and learning environment with modern amenities that provides a home away from home. I am proud to support the Complex renovation project to ensure that our students have a home environment to help them claim their callings.”

Marcia Cornwell Ihnen ’75
“My enthusiasm for the renovation project for Centennial Hall is a response to my personal experience of dorm life. Centennial Two was my home at Wartburg for three years. It was here, as a freshman, I met an amazing group of women, all from the Midwest, who befriended me as I adjusted to life away from the family and friends I left behind in Delaware.

“The renovation project will provide new and comfortable spaces for similar friendships to be nurtured and grown. The project also includes study spaces, which will provide a pleasant alternative to the dorm room or library. Back in the day, it would have spared some of us that midnight walk home from the library!”

Judy Slade McCaskey ’65
“When you live with the same young women, you became good friends. There were maybe eight of us on the first floor in Vollmer who were pretty close and about six of us had the same major. In that day and age, in 1964 and 1965, the thing that was most common was to graduate from college and then get married that summer. So there were probably eight of us on our floor who were going to be married that summer. We did have a group bridal shower in the spring of our senior year. So the other girls on the floor collected money, asked for donations and went on and bought eight gifts so each of us got a gift from our fellow floor mates. I remember I got four bamboo placemats and four red napkins—a set.

“And it was interesting… many of us were bridesmaids or groomsmen in somebody else’s wedding. We were actually married about two weeks after we graduated. I was just 22. That was common practice at that time. We still have an occasional email from all of those people, but three of them we’ve kept in fairly close contact with. That was 56 years ago.”

Kerry Hertel Boysen ’95
“Centennial One is where my college life began, and the people I met on my floor that first semester are who shaped my Wartburg experience. Thirty years after graduation, my closest friends are those I made in the dorms.

“College life is of course about academics, but it is also about who you share your experiences with. My floormates and I would set out from Centennial for early morning classes, meet for meals in the cafeteria, attend chapel together, and return for late-night talks in Centennial.

“Because of how that residential life influenced my experience, I am very excited to support this project, knowing other students will benefit from life in a new and improved Centennial.”

Mila Iushkova ’23
“My Wartburg journey began when I was accepted to Wartburg in 2019. I love Wartburg, and I was very excited to begin studying here. During my first year, I was living in Vollmer Hall where I had both good and bad experiences. Our door was always open, and I made lots of my friends in the Complex, but there weren’t a lot of common spaces for us to hang out.

“During the summer of 2020, I couldn’t go home to Russia because of COVID, and I had the chance to stay in Clinton Hall. It was extremely obvious that Clinton was a very nice building and had many things that the Complex does not. These include study rooms where I can do my homework in silence, an elevator for people with varying abilities, and reliable heating and cooling — all things that are going to be added to the Complex, which is exciting.

“Living in Vollmer played a big role in my first-year experience: It helped me to find friends and to become more independent. I think renovating Centennial and Vollmer halls will help promote those positive parts of the residential experience and provide everyone that sense of home in the Complex.”

Jack Salzwedel
“Sarah and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the educational experience our three sons enjoyed at Wartburg, and the residential environment was an important element in their student success.

“This renovation will enable all first-year students to experience a safe, accessible and comfortable place to call home, and we encourage our fellow alumni to join us in making this project a reality.”

Margie Mowry Ketterer ’67
“Although Wartburg seems a long time ago, in other ways it seems like yesterday because it was such an important time in my life. The dorm was really important because that was my security. That’s where all my closest relationships were formed. I really needed Wartburg to be that kind of homey place, like it is. It was totally perfect for me.

“It’s a different world than when I was there. Today’s kids may need the residential experience to help them stay grounded. I would think it’s still immensely important. We want to have a level playing field for everyone. As a social worker, I would definitely promote that everything should be accessible to everyone.”

Dr. Shannon Neale ’87
“I spent three wonderful years on Vollmer Ground. I particularly remember the great group of women on the floor, the study group parties in the Centennial living room, and the annual all-campus Halloween party that Vollmer Ground was traditionally in charge of hosting on our floor. Imagine a majority of the campus stuffed into the Vollmer Ground hallway and lounge with a keg and bowl of very strong punch!

“My oldest daughter also went to Wartburg, and when she got her floor assignment of Vollmer Ground, I was really excited for her. On move-in day, we discovered her dorm room was the same one I lived in as a freshman. What are the chances of that? Of course we need to sponsor that room!”

Sally Johnson Vogel ’57
“In fall 1954, there were some very excited and a bit apprehensive girls moving into the new dorm, Centennial! My roommate and I, previous residents of the fourth floor of Wartburg Hall, were accustomed to very small closets, rather cramped quarters, and banging radiators. Still, as freshmen, we had made a home base and formed lasting friendships there.

“The new dorm had been rushed to completion, and although we loved the space and newness, some areas appeared to need a little more attention. One night a group of us on third floor decided to scrub the hall floor, on our hands and knees and in our pajamas. We had found our new home, and old and new friendships flourished.

“We support this project knowing that after many years and changing needs of students, the planned updates and renovations will create a great home for new students to study and form their forever friendships.”

Lynda Huntley Jobman ’65
“From 1961 to 1963, I lived in Centennial Hall. Since we had to be in the dorm by 8 p.m. every evening, my boyfriend Darrell Jobman (now my husband) and I would spend many hours in the Passion Pit — ‘studying,’ of course.

“And I’ll never forget the time that my roommate Joey got caught by Sheriff Chin sneaking out of our room on a snowy night to visit with her boyfriend. Or the time that someone set off the fire alarm and Waverly’s volunteer fire department arrived on campus. Not sure anyone knows who did it, but I have my suspicions.”