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Returning to the ‘nest of learning’ 50 years later

“It was the best times. It was the worst times,” Gordy Tvedt said.

“You were going to school. You were getting an education. At the same time we felt the world just wasn’t right.”

His words could easily have been said by a Southwest Minnesota State University student today. I mean even President Donald Trump said some parts of the world “are going to hell” while addressing the United Nations last week. And our political divide has never been wider. Well, that’s what I thought until I met Gordy Tvedt inside Fuzzy’s on Main Street Marshall Thursday night.

I was watching the Thursday night football game when the conversation a few bar stools down from me caught my attention. Some of the regulars were questioning the gray-haired gentleman who was sipping on a glass of wine.

“And we had no heat,” he told them.

I was able to listen in on the conversation enough to discover Tvedt was among those in the first graduating class at Southwest Minnesota State University. It was pretty obvious he just arrived in town for the homecoming and 50th anniversary activities at SMSU.

He was describing the situation in 1967 when several buildings on campus were still being built. And some of the dorms had issues with working heat and running water.

Lightning put the NFL game on delay, so I quickly made my introduction to Tvedt.

“What was it like back in 1967 when the campus opened up to the students for the first time?” I asked.

“It was swell. You are 18 years old. You are leaving home for the first time. It was the ’60s, man,” he said.

But then he described the challenges.

“We didn’t care — 18 years old and no heat. You had intermittent running water. It didn’t matter. No cafeteria. We had a quick serve.”

Tvedt said the decision to enroll in college at Marshall was easy. Back then, Marshall was “six buildings and a cornfield.” But it was a big city compared to Pipestone, he said.

“Two things. It was close to home. I could always go home to mom’s home cooking. The Vietnam War, quite frankly, was an issue as well. So if you got into college, you didn’t have to worry about getting your butt shot off. I graduated (from high school) in ’67. That was the first year of the draft. You could go to college and stay in college and maintain your exemption,” he said.

Tvedt said he fit right in at the new college.

“It seemed like there were two classes of mind,” he said. “There were those of us who were turning into hippies. Then there was the non-hippies. So if I walked into the Corner Bar in those days I would have gotten my a.. kicked.

“I grew up in a fairly liberal household. And I really wanted a liberal arts education.”

Tvedt said he majored in theater and he found Southwest Minnesota State had a lot of great teachers. He said it was good place to learn theater, which surprised me.

“Absolutely. We were really lucky because the majority of the theater was from Wayne State. The teachers were most excellent,” he said.

Tvedt went on to graduate in 1971 and started his theater career that took him to the Twin Cities and New York. He would pass through Marshall every so often on his way to see his family in Pipestone.

Fifty years later, Tvedt returned to Marshall to get reacquainted with Marshall and its now flourishing university.

“It was swell. I went around the campus today. There is a lot of stuff that is new, but a lot of the buildings haven’t changed. It’s fun to come back. Obviously, Marshall is all modernized from when I was here in those days.”

Fifty years can seem like a lifetime ago. But to Tvedt it was the best time of his life.

“I made a lot of good friends. In fact, two of the friends I met here at Southwest — 50 years later I’m still friends with.”

So good memories?” I asked.

“Absolutely — nothing but the best. That’s why I hung around as long as I did. I didn’t want to leave this little nest of learning.”

With that, Tvedt returned to his wine, and I returned to watching my game.

And 50 years later, it’s still the best of times, and the worst of times.

You can follow Mike Lamb at Twitter@indymlamb

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