[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.66″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”22″ border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Skinner Memorial Chapel<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.66″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”18″ border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Ben Weiss<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.66″ background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Ten years before he was elected president of the United States, Barack Obama spoke at Carleton’s Skinner Memorial Chapel on \u201cPolitics, Race, and the Common Good.\u201d His address on February 5, 1999, was part of the college’s series of weekly convocations, a tradition that has presented such luminaries as poet Maya Angelou, writer Sherman Alexie, the a cappella singing ensemble Chanticleer, and the improv comedy group the Upright Citizens Brigade.<\/p>\n But the chapel is not simply the location of fascinating speeches and performances. It also serves as a physical link between the town of Northfield and the Carleton community. Built in 1916 out of gray Bedford limestone, with a tower rising 118 feet, the chapel was dedicated to Miron W. Skinner, a former trustee of the college and an active member in Northfield public affairs. Skinner embodied the intertwined relationship between college and community. At the chapel\u2019s dedication, the student newspaper, the Carletonian, celebrated it as a \u201ccommon meeting place for the townspeople and college folk\u201d that will \u201cstrengthen and preserve the happy relationship which has always existed between them.\u201d Appropriately, the chapel\u2019s main entrance faces the town rather than the college.<\/p>\n From the start, the chapel has served as the religious, intellectual, and artistic hub for the campus and community. Currently, eighteen different religious groups hold services there weekly. At the start of fall term, Carleton\u2019s new students gather for a talent show that showcases acts ranging from freestyle raps to virtuosic electric violin performances. Each term, the Carleton choir performs a concert on the chapel’s spacious stage and in the spring, student honors and awards are presented in a special ceremony.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery _builder_version=”3.0.66″ show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” gallery_ids=”659,657,658,655,656″ fullwidth=”off” orientation=”landscape” zoom_icon_color=”#1eaa98″ hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid” auto=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_audio _builder_version=”3.0.66″ title=”Barack Obama’s Convocation Speech.” audio=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1052\/2017\/08\/Barrack_Obamas_Convocation.mp3″ background_layout=”dark” border_style=”solid” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"