Before September 2002, if you wanted to swing by Hamline and visit the alumni office, you needed to hike up two flights of stairs in Old Main and wind your way down a long hallway filled with busy University Relations staff members.
Since then, however, alumni and friends visiting Hamline can stop at 749 Simpson Street - across from the apartment-style residence hall - and enjoy traditional Hamline hospitality in a decidedly more comfortable setting. The beautifully refurbished two-story home, graced with large rooms and handsome furnishings, is the Hamline alumni house.
Besides the physical amenities - the home of the Associations of Hamline Alumni has office space for AHA and CLA Alumni Relations staff members, a full kitchen, conference room, living room and library - the house is also a symbolic presence on campus. "It's how the university welcomes alumni visitors," says Betsy Brenden Radtke '89, Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations. "Alumni can stop by to learn about what's new on campus, have a cup of coffee, or learn how to get in touch with old friends. Before this house, they didn't have anywhere to go."
Hamline bought the house in the early 1990s from Hamline United Methodist Church, who had used it as the parsonage. Until 2002, the house had been used as the Crossroads Center.
In 2002 the Crossroads Center moved and this facility was chosen to be the new alumni house. It required some renovations and updates, yet the university's own carpenters, electricians, and other skilled workers handled most of the work themselves. The renovations began during the summer and were finished by early September.
Besides the visibility on campus, it's been a goal of the CLA Alumni Board to have a house for Hamline alumni on campus. An alumni house is one way Hamline celebrates its alumni and the role alumni play in the vitality of the university.
