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Developing a voice at Grinnell
Last summer after her first year at Grinnell, Kelsey Roebuck ’14 interned at the Midwest Writing Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping new writers, in her hometown of Davenport, Iowa. “I received a crash course there in publishing, creative writing, freelancing, editing, and finding agents,” she says. Since then, Kelsey, a French and English major, has become editor of Reflections, a Grinnell magazine geared to prospective students and written by current students. She also serves as a copy editor for Scarlet and Black, the campus newsletter.
And she sings. “One of my favorite Grinnell moments so far is when a friend convinced me last year to go to a rehearsal of the Young, Gifted, and Black (YGB) Gospel Choir. I had a blast. It was such a different cultural experience. I was completely welcomed by a group of spiritual people who supported each other regardless of race or socioeconomic backgrounds. It’s such a good example of how easy it is to fit in at Grinnell.”
Six black first-year students formed YGB in 1967 in the basement of Younker Hall, borrowing the name of the group from a play by Lorraine Hansberry. The group is now open to anyone in the Grinnell community; and students, faculty, staff, and townspeople of many generations are now enthusiastic participants.
As Kelsey relates the history of the group, she shows her pride in the student initiative-oriented ethos of Grinnell. “When I visited campus as a sophomore in high school, I noticed that there was so much involvement on the students’ parts in constructing the ideal campus. With every other school I visited, the message was a top-down, ‘This is what your college experience will be like.’ But Grinnell makes it your experience.”
As we come up on the end of the year please consider supporting students like Kelsey with a gift to the Pioneer Fund.
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations will be open through the end of the calendar year, with staff in the office from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Dec. 26–31. If you are having difficulty with the online giving form or would like to make your gift over the phone, please call 866-850-1846 or email pioneerfund@grinnell.edu.
Credit card gifts need to be processed by 11:59 p.m. CST on Dec. 31 to count for this calendar year. Checks sent by mail need to be postmarked by Dec. 31.
A big thank you to all of our donors!
