After 34 years, Becky Zrimsek ’89 retired from Carleton last Friday, April. 3rd. She worked as the Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, but, as the announcement of her farewell gathering described, she is also “hailed as the ‘backbone’ of Carleton and a walking encyclopedia of its history.”
Zrimsek’s life at Carleton began not as an employee, but as a student.
“I first visited with a friend during the fall visit days. We were unofficial, and we ended up sleeping on somebody’s floor in Nourse. And I just remember feeling like it was home, like I found my people,” said Zrimsek.
Zrimsek recalled her years as a student as a time of transition. “[Most of the] people in our class started with typewriters. We graduated doing our comps on Macs,” said Zrimsek. “I was a news editor for the Carletonian when we were switching from physical page layout to actual desktop publishing.”
After graduating in 1989 as a History major, Zrimsek worked for a year after graduation in Carleton’s Admissions office. She then applied the skills she developed during The Carletonian’s publishing system’s transition from layout to desktop publishing to her next job as an editor at the Illinois State Museum.
In 1992, she decided to move back to Minnesota and took a job as Assistant Director of Alumni Relations. Since then, she has filled many roles, including Director of Alumni Relations from 2003 to 2012.
Zrimsek worked on the recent “Every Carl for Carleton” campaign, which raised nearly $492 million for the college. According to her campus directory biography, she “led the planning for annual fund leadership giving growth, led the on- and off-campus public launch events and served on the campaign leadership team.”
She described planning the celebration for the campaign’s conclusion as one of the highlights of her career. “We had [astronaut] Mae Jemison speak at Convocation. We had a Celebration of Science Weekend because we were building Anderson Hall. It was just a really great gathering of the campus community, of alumni and donors,” said Zrimsek.
Anderson Hall represents just one of many physical changes that Zrimsek had witnessed during her time at Carleton. “We used to have temporary shacks all over campus for things like the computing lab and the psych lab and the language lab. All of those things have morphed into buildings,” said Zrimsek. “The Center for Math and Computing (CMC) didn’t used to exist. The new residential spots for students, the geothermal project, the wind turbines, the Rec Center. None of that was here when I was a student, so seeing how the physical plan has made the education and experience stronger has been really, really fun.”
Zrimsek had also watched the culture of Carleton evolve over time.
“The Bald Spot is still flooded in the winter. I used to go skating in my lunch hour,” reminisced Zrimsek. “Schiller is still kind of a thing. Rotblatt used to be an actual softball league, not just a one game a year thing. Frisbee was not as big when I was here and now, of course, it’s pretty big. The faculty keep reinventing the curriculum and learning how to teach in better ways… because what you need out of your education is different from what I needed in 1989.”
In fact, this sense of constant reinvention is exactly what Zrimsek says had stayed the same at Carleton.
“I’d say Carleton is just always in motion to improve, and that hasn’t changed,” said Zrimsek. “One of the reasons I’ve stayed at Carleton is because of the community here. The students, faculty and staff are just so generous,kind, hard-working, funny and creative. And alumni and students are very similar–you know, we’re just former students. Being surrounded by people like that has made my job just really rewarding.”
Zrimsek connected with a variety of people in often profound ways through her working experience with alumni.
“The oldest alumni I ever met were three women from the Class of 1923 who were back for their 70th reunion, in 1993. I’ve gotten to know people over a hundred year span, from the World War II era to the 60s era and on. Every generation of Carleton alumni are different, they feel differently about the place, they connect differently just because of the time they were here,” said Zrimsek.
She particularly remembered working with the Class of 1946 for their 50th reunion, who were at Carleton during World War II. “I think they had 11 men graduate, the women ran the campus. [The men and the women] didn’t know each other very well, so part of the reunion process was actually creating community, trying to bring them together and develop those relationships,” said Zrimsek.
Zrimsek had also developed long-term relationships with alumni as they had returned multiple times during her 34 years at Carleton.
“We kind of become like family. You see people over the course of their lifetime. You see how people grow and change, become adults, have families, change careers. It’s been very educational for me to see how people navigate their lives,” said Zrimsek. “Even for me now, on my last day, I’ve benefited from all sorts of older alumni who’ve gone through retirement and figured it out, and are resources and counsels.”
The abundance of genuine relationships Zrimsek had built over her time at Carleton is clear when looking at her Kudosboard, a digital recognition page. Over 65 friends, colleagues and alumni left messages congratulating her on her retirement.
“Hiring you as my Assistant Director those many years ago turned out to be one of the wisest decisions of my life, and certainly one of the best benefits I left in my wake at Carleton! Your three plus decades of service to the College have proved to be exceptional,” said former Director of Alumni Affairs Jane Moore.
“It’s hard to imagine Carleton without you. Thank you for being such a constant presence in my life for all these years,” said Anita Fisher Egge ’94, Director of Annual Giving. “You have spent so many years pouring your heart into this place. It’s finally time for you to trade in the business of Carleton for the beauty of the rest of the world.”
Zrimsek plans to take a year off from commitments as she begins retirement. After decades of intensive work during summer reunions, she is looking forward to her first free June in years and plans to visit Europe for a month with her husband.
“It’s a little overwhelming to think of not being here after so long, but because I live in Northfield and I’m an alum, I am still part of the community. It’s not a farewell,” said Zrimsek.