Part Nine of a Series: Björklunden Seminars 1980-2005
Completion of the 2005 summer schedule marked the 25th anniversary of the
Björklunden
Seminars program. Today, Björklunden’s signature program, which
began in 1980 with a modest goal of 14 participants per week, regularly fills
the lodge’s 14 sleeping rooms, while welcoming up to 70 commuters for
a week-long seminar. For 25 years, Björklunden Seminars have engaged minds
and lifted spirits in the idyllic setting that is Lawrence University’s
northern campus.
By 1980, Joe Hopfensperger ’52, who served as the first director of the
estate, had been on the job three years, bringing buildings up to date with regard
to comfort, safety, and building codes. He had studied other, comparable, facilities
and considered the realities presented by the estate when, looking back on his
own undergraduate education, he decided to incorporate education, the strength
of Lawrence, with the unique opportunities presented at Björklunden. Thus
began Björklunden Seminars.
Early seminar participants would be pleased and surprised to see the program’s
evolution today, just as those who fill
every corner of the Great Room to experience a week with opera star Dale Duesing
C’67 may be surprised
to learn that attendance during the early years was quite limited.
Björklunden
Seminars initially targeted Lawrence alumni, with a reasonable goal of one half
of one percent of alumni in attendance per week throughout the season, a turnout
that would make the program a financial success. Unfortunately, it did not happen.
Not only was attendance less than hoped for, non-alumni friends of the estate
accounted for over 60 percent of the attendees, a trend that has continued over
the years.
Friends of Björklunden, as individuals and through the organization by
that name, were quick to embrace the seminar program, finding it attractive to
a much
broader audience than originally conceived. In fact, the “limitations” posed
by a lodge yet to be winterized or technologically connected were a perfect fit
for the early seminars. With only the variety of topics and the spectacular estate
competing for attention, the seminars provided a setting to which participants
were eager to return.
From such modest beginnings, the program has grown steadily, while facing some
major challenges along the way. The initial challenge, from an administrative
standpoint, was generating enough revenue to break even, as well as coping with
the elements in a lodge not designed to satisfy the expectations of the modern
age. Björklunden Seminars broke even after ten years, but the estate continued
to lose money for another nine years until seminar fees and gifts to The
Boynton
Society equaled expenses. Throughout this time, however, Lawrence continued
to support the budding program, recognizing its promising future and the dedication
of its small but growing constituency.
By 1993, a schedule was in place that offered 12 seminars from June through August.
However, the seminar season in 1993 was never completed. Far worse than missing
out on the chance to study with two of the
program’s most popular presenters, Norma Hammerberg and Dan Taylor ’63,
was the loss that resulted from the irreparable damage caused by a fire that
destroyed the original lodge. In addition to raising questions concerning the
future of the Björklunden estate, this event posed a serious threat to the
future of the Björklunden Seminars.
Ultimately, the demonstrated success and importance of the Björklunden Seminars
was key to the decision to rebuild the lodge. The maturing model of the summer
seminars, rooted in intellectual pursuits and spiritual rejuvenation on the shores
of Lake
Michigan, provided a model for a new program
for Lawrence undergraduates. The
weekend student program began with the completion
of a new lodge in 1996 and now runs throughout the academic year, bringing to
the estate each year hundreds of Lawrence students, the vast majority of whom
were not yet born when the seminars began 25 years ago. They represent the next
generation of Björklunden’s partisans and stewards — individuals
who, like the dedicated summer seminar participants, value nature and the exploration
of the mind.
The completion of the lodge also marked a change in the Björklunden Seminar
program. Having a year-around facility meant that seminars could begin earlier
and extend later into the season. It also meant that more space was available,
leading to seminar attendance figures today that far exceed those of the early
years. In fact, the lodge has proven so accommodating that many seminars share
it with other small groups, allowing for intimate discussion and the exploration
of nature and ideas. Extending the Björklunden Seminar tradition, increased
capacity at the lodge makes it highly unlikely that any two seminar experiences
will be the same.
After 25 years, presenters and attendees of Björklunden Seminars attest
that each program is unique. In 1985, following his first seminar as presenter,
the late Bob Berner told Joe Hopfensperger that he would not come back for another
seminar, because the unforgettable week
he had experienced could not be replicated. He had experienced what many before
and since have learned — a Björklunden Seminar is a living event that
is generated by the amazing people who take part in it. Joe’s response, “Hell,
Bob, they’re all like that,” rings as true today as it did 20 years
ago. Like many talented presenters, Bob returned. He went on to lead 20 seminars
and, like others who have returned, came back each time to rekindle old memories
and create new ones.
People attend Björklunden Seminars for a vacation, they come to discuss
ideas with talented presenters, and they come to renew friendships. They have
turned out for 25 years, and their dedication holds the promise of a bright future
that will continue to shape the mind and spirit.
Rik Warch (standing, center) and participants in his 1981 seminar,
"The
Aims of Education." Björklunden Director
Joe Hopfensperger ’52, is at left in the front row.
