One of our little discussion tangents on Friday was when St. Olaf saw its first "diverse" (I put this in quotation marks because this is such a convoluted use of the word.) students. However, I think the precedent question is not when St. Olaf saw its first extra-Caucasian student, but when St. Olaf saw its first "normal" student, i.e. a Yankee. Obviously Olaf was an ideal school for Norwegians, and other extra-Anglo Europeans easily could have found more in common with the Oles than the Carls across the river, but it must have really been a turning point for the college when a Yankee first moved in. Because that signifies that it has achieved objective value as an American learning institution institution and become more than just a school for immigrants.
I might get to explore this issue further as my own Ole (and perhaps this Ole too!) wrestles with the concepts of Anglo, American, and (non-Anglo) immigrant.
