June, 23, 1998
Bob Oleson bids 'Berg farewell after 35 years
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
When he arrived at Heidelberg College, Bob Oleson was not much older than the students in his care.
Thirty-five years later, he's retiring, but he still has the many friendships he has made with students through the years.
After graduating in 1963 from the State University of Iowa with his graduate degree in counseling, he traveled to several schools. He found that Heidelberg seemed to be a good fit for him.
''It was like what I had graduated from. And it seemed that the town and the college were such a good fit for each other. And it seemed like a good place to raise a family,'' he said.
He remembers the times when there were student demonstrations and activist groups at the college, such as Peace and Freedom, the Black Union, Ecology and Zero Population groups. He estimated that a third of the campus population took part in the groups.
He recalled when the students walked through town for candlelight marches of protest.
''We had a town meeting at West Junior High to explain to the people of the town what the students were doing,'' he said. ''I remember once when one of our students stood on the courthouse steps and read the names of those from Seneca County who had died in Vietnam, and the veterans suddenly realized that men were dying, and what these rabble rousers were doing.''
He said those socially conscious young people grew up to continue their involvement in causes, such as establishing a Habitat for Humanity in Zaire, and working with runaways.
Of all of the programs he started for the students, the one of which he is proudest is TSD, or Total Student Development. Oleson said it was the first of its kind in the nation.
It's a student orientation system that groups two students with one professor to acclimate them to the college environment.
''There are five goals that are the cornerstone of TSD: social, personal, academic, professional and career. Each session began with what was happening to them today. It's knowng the little things that are going on with that person that lead to a retention of students,'' he said.
Although he always encouraged students to take risks, Oleson's own career focused on Heidelberg. He said the atmosphere at the college changes every year with 300 new freshmen and new faculty and staff. ''And my family enjoyed Tiffin, so why move on,'' he exclaimed.
He still keeps in contact with countless students from the past, and it was those contacts that made him the appropriate choice to move to dean of alumni relations in 1995.
He now is seeing second generations of students come through Heidelberg, promising both generations not to tell of the other's antics on campus.
He recalled a mother who introduced him to her son, who was to be a freshmen, saying, ''I am sending you my very best.''
Oleson said, ''That student is the very best that they can be at that moment. You have to find someone to do that job who really likes students, and knows they are going to fail, but that they are also going to succeed.''
''They are opening doors all over the place,'' he said proudly of his past students. ''One is in charge of the Hubble space program, and there is a judge in Cleveland who was here, (and) he had his day in my court.''
''And their devotion to Heidelberg is so unique. You don't find that as much atother schools. It's just not there. Bob Briggs, a Heidelberg graduate who played for the Buffalo Bills, said that there wasn't a game where he finished and there was not someone from Tiffin or Heidelberg there,'' he said.