The Grinnellian
The Grinnellian is a monthly e-newsletter launched July 2019 to broadly share Grinnell College stories, events, and activities. Besides being informational, a key goal of the newsletter is to demonstrate the differences donors and volunteers are making in the lives of current and future Grinnell students.
The Archive
Please note, the archived issues of The Grinnellian are exact versions of the e-newsletter sent out. As such, some of the events, contests, and links may have expired. If you have any questions, please contact us at alumni@grinnell.edu.
The Grinnellian Trivia
In each issue of The Grinnellian, we include a Grinnell trivia question. The first five who reply each month with the correct answer wins a prize. Please see the archived questions, answers, and a list of winners.
June 2025
Students work closely with faculty on summer MAP research? What does MAP stand for?
Answer: Mentored Advanced Project
Winners: Yafa Napadensky ’81, Rebecca Miller ’05, Mark Duncan ’19, Anshul Tambay ’20, and Claire Davis ’22.
May 2025
Commencement speaker Isabel Wilkerson was the first Black women to win what journalistic award?
Answer: Pulitzer Prize
Winner: Jon Gray ’73
April 2025
Sarah Garcia ’25 was the latest student to win what international travel fellowship?
Answer: Thomas J. Watson Fellowship
Winners: Gina Difino ’01, Katie Lee ’09, Eric Mistry ’14, Sara Booher ’25, and Irene Powell.
March 2025
During last year’s Scarlet & Give Back Day, gifts arrived from how many U.S. states?
Answer: 50
Winners: Sam Perlman ’90 and Kayla Estes ’18
February 2025
What civil rights political activist spoke at Grinnell in 1978 and 2007?
Answer: Angela Davis
Winners: Kathy Willhoite ’81, Mary Powell ’07, Cole Thompson ’21, Xonzy Gaddis ’22, and Deborah Dodge.
January 2025
Name a professor who taught in the first Grinnell-in-London program?
Answer: Vic Verrette and Doug Caulkins
Winners: Carolyn Quosig ’67, Jeanne Myerson ’75, Kathleen Ely ’93, Rachel Fritzell ’20, and Arnold Adelberg.
December 2024
What campus building was originally women residences when it opened in 1888?
Answer: Mears Cottage
Winners: Alan Cubbage ’75, Bruce Hoffman ’80, Donnie Sendelbach ’85, Dave Cameron ’86, and Rylee Dolezal ’22.
November 2024
What building is the home to Friday night Nerf guns games?
Answer: Noyce Science Center
Winners: Tom Nuzum ’94, Laura Labedz ’06, Saiham Sharif ’20, Adriane Thompson ’24, and Brenda Nardone.
October 2024
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Grinnell’s program in what city?
Answer: London
Winners: Sam Perlman ’90, Doug Hodum ’93, Geneva Guadalupe ’17, Lilya Woodburn ’20, and Yesenia Mozo ’22.
September 2024
What indoor sport did Harry Hopkins 1912 play at Grinnell?
Answer: Basketball
Winners: Bomi Mistry ’84, Katie Tremper ’85, Merel Timmermans ’22, Ashley Phipps, and Emili Stoll.
August 2024
The largest geothermal system on campus lies under what campus landmark?
Answer: Mac Field
Winners: Julie Luner ’82, Alison Hayes ’87, Nadia Ries ’90, Janet Mathews-Flynn ’95, and Emily Creery.
July 2024
Now 110, Edith Renfrow Smith ’37 worked at what profession from 1954 to 1976?
Answer: Teacher
Winners: Nina Homel ’65, Flaire Mills ’77, Heather Metz ’99, Andrea Amour ’11, and Susan Ferguson.
June 2024
What year was Grinnell College’s first Pride Week?
Answer: 1987
Winners: Cindy Maier ’70, Claudia Bogard ’77, and Tony Pham ’03.
May 2024
What future U.S. president gave Grinnell’s Commencement address in 1944?
Answer: Harry S. Truman
Winners: Don Cassiday ’56, Ron Cogswell ’68, Katie Dodge ’68, Mitch Erickson ’72, and Esther Hwang ’19.
April 2024
What tech inventor was a Grinnell College trustee from 1980-1988?
Answer: Steve Jobs
Winners: Nathaniel Borenstein ’80, Scott Porter ’80, Randy Gleason ’82, Tammy McKanan ’86, and Jackie Stockdale-DeLay ’89.
March 2024
Read Hall is named after what former Grinnell dean of women?
Answer: Luella Jane Read
Winners: Mimi Trangsrud ’62, Cindy Maier ’70, Cornell Rudov ’79, Dana Johnson ’88, and Jen Jacobsen ’95.
February 2024
In 1991, the Black Cultural Center was renamed for what former dean of student affairs?
Answer: Conney M. Kimbo
Winners: Don Kraitsik ’69, Robert Etzkorn ’73, Jared Gottlieb ’73, Deb McKnight ’73, and Miranda Thomas ’17.
January 2024
The Grinnellephants and Grinneleanor Roosevelts compete in what sport?
Answer: Ultimate Frisbee
Winners: Meredith Ing ’97, Benjamin Cantor-Stone ’07, John Bruns ’10, Annie Pigott ’12, and Rita McCall ’16.