Below is the text of an essay I originally wrote for Tyler Roberts in my senior year at Grinnell. Tyler challenged us to consider what it means to be a "Grinnellian" and asked us to put this idea in conversation with the College's mission statement. Seven years on, I feel more a Grinnellian than ever—and I find myself at odds with my school's recent push on House identity. In my commentary, I explore where my thinking in 2019 fell short and consider an alternative basis for House and School identity with shared experiences and stories at its core. ## Grinnellians *Religion, Philosophy, and the Good Life; February 1st 2019* According to Grinnell College, to live a good life is to be a Grinnellian—there is, however, no consensus about what a "Grinnellian" is. A little over three and a half years ago, the Grinnell College class of 2019 stood in the Bear Athletic Centre and shouted, "I am a Grinnellian!" The class of 2020 did the same thing a year later and, I presume, the classes of 2021 and 2022 also shouted the same phrase, identifying themselves with this mysterious word: "Grinnellian." Grinnell College uses this word in its marketing materials, in campus memos, and on its merchandise. More importantly, Grinnell College students and faculty say "Grinnellian" in their everyday conversations: professors say things like, "as Good Grinnellians you will all" do something or believe something; I recall reading a fellow student's Facebook post describing a watershed moment in her time at Grinnell—the moment she felt she could honestly say that she is a Grinnellian. Students shout that they are Grinnellians the minute they arrive on campus yet may truly never claim this label: there seems to be more to being a Grinnellian than simply enrolling in Grinnell College. Attending classes is not enough, the Grinnellian label—lifestyle—is something bigger and much harder to pin down. A recent video posted on the Grinnell College YouTube channel entitled *Grinnellians* presents one view of what makes a Grinnellian. This video shows us what Grinnell College wants prospective students to think a Grinnellian is. It paints a relatively uncontroversial picture because of its vagueness. According to the video, Grinnellians ask hard questions and question easy answers, pursue their passions with purpose, learn how to make the world a better place, and find strength in their differences[^1]. One can imagine the same claims being made about any other liberal arts student body in the United States, suggesting that perhaps one does not need to attend or be affiliated with Grinnell College to be a Grinnellian. This is unsatisfying. First years at Carleton do not shout "I am a Grinnellian" when they step on campus, nor do students at Reed or Middlebury. There must be something more to this Grinnellian label—this Grinnellian way of life—or it is simply a synonym for "Reedie" and "Middkid." *Grinnellians* gives us a useful starting point: to be a Grinnellian necessitates critical thinking, passion, concern for the world around you, and engagement in diversity. The Grinnell College Mission Statement and Core Values expand on these points though also do not say anything especially compelling. The Mission Statement hints at a Grinnellian morality when it mentions "the common good," though tells us nothing about what this "common good" is[^2]. We cannot presume to describe an objective common good as we are not omniscient, nor are we perfect judges of good and bad. The Mission Statement has some version of a common good in mind—or this reference is just a meaningless platitude. We might infer this common good involves social justice, though the College's view on social justice is similarly undefined. Grinnell students disagree on the matter of the common good—if you ask Grinnell students what a perfect world looks like, you will hear responses ranging from socialist utopia to free market heaven. Most Grinnell students likely lie closer to the former: if we go only by numbers, we must question whether members of the campus Republican Club are real Grinnellians. This situation is deeply unsatisfying. While most Grinnell students lean left, there is a huge diversity of views among this majority. Furthermore, it is dangerous to assume that the majority are correct. Most importantly, dividing the campus on an issue like the common good contradicts a critical facet of the Grinnellian identity described in the mission statement and *Grinnellians*: finding strength in difference and diversity. My sense is that Grinnell students also disagree about what makes a Grinnellian, if they accept it as a valid category at all. Most, I am sure, would agree with the College's marketing materials that a Grinnellian thinks critically, has some sense of social responsibility and is engaged in diversity. Beyond these foundational points, however, I do not see Grinnell students reaching any consensus. If we look to common activities among the student body, we see some huge divides: some students go out partying every weekend, others stay in and play Dungeons and Dragons; some students are active in every single on-campus protest, others find protesting students annoying. Beyond the core facets previously discussed, Grinnell students do not have much in common with each other. Who is to say which, if any, of these subsets of students are Grinnellians? None of the College's materials help answer this question. There is no clearly defined model for Grinnellians. "Grinnellian" might as well be a synonym for Middkid or Reedie. The tenets of critical thinking, social responsibility, and engagement in diversity seem foundational yet are each poorly defined by the College. These tenets are also not unique to Grinnell. The label "Grinnellian" is artificial and mostly devoid of meaning, it is a convenient label that suggests a group identity that is weak at best. As Grinnell College does a poor job of defining "Grinnellian," it does a poor job presenting a vision for the good life. This is not entirely unexpected: there are so many voices on campus, each coming from a different background with different assumptions. Perhaps the unspoken principle guiding the core tenets is respect for basic human dignity? Though we do not always see this lived out on campus, nor is this a complete vision for the good life. ## Commentary *July 7th, 2026* I have been thinking a lot about group identities recently. Within the last couple of years, my school has decided to have a real push on "belonging," in particular through the promotion of "House identity." Each House has its own ethos and motto, which are all just paraphrases of each other—in much the same way that the essay above discusses commonalities between Grinnellian, Reedie, and Middkid identities. The prescription of an identity from the same template means the identity loses all credibility because identities cannot be prescribed. It is synthetic—contrived—preaching an ideal that reflects the ideas of those in leadership rather than the reality on the ground. There is not, from where I am standing, anything special about being in the Blue House or the Green House—certainly nothing that can be captured with a catchphrase. There can be nothing special found in House identity when the prescribed identity across all Houses is the same but for a different lick of paint. However, there is something real to be said about School identity and pride in this larger collective identity. When I was writing about being a Grinnellian in my senior year, I think I rather missed the point. The substance of School identity is shared experience and shared stories. These experiences and stories will be known and recognised by everyone who claims the Grinnellian identity—but they are more a stew of shared experiences and stories, rather than a list owned or dictated by any one individual. My contribution to this stew includes my memories of being late to class because of The Train; smuggling food out of the DHall; being greeted by Connie in the JRC each day; exchanging smiles with Cindy in the DHall; and disdain for RayK and the college's leadership. None of these shared experiences require agreement—in fact, vocal disagreement is another ingredient I would add to the stew. This stew of shared experience is brought to life by the stories and myths we tell about it. These are the stories we told as events happened and they are the stories we tell ourselves now. This stew is what it means to be a Grinnellian. It is hilarious that it took me seven years after graduating to realise. I have, writing this, never felt more a Grinnellian in my life—though I am so distant in time and place from Grinnell. The stories I tell myself again and again revive a longing for a mythical past, viewed through the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia. The real problem with House identity is that there aren't enough differences in the shared experiences between the Blue House and the Green House. While the Blue House has its assemblies on Thursdays with Mr E. and the Green House has its assemblies on another day with someone else, these assemblies pale in significance to Connie and The Train. We do not tell ourselves stories about these assemblies. We do not tell ourselves stories about being in the Blue House and we reject the stories prescribed to us by leadership because they are not our own. Another factor worth considering when comparing House and School identity is permanence. The Train was always there; Connie was constant. Over the last few years, the staff within my school's house system have changed so much that there has been no time for the seeds of stories and myths to bed-in. Perhaps, in time, we will know what it means to be Blue—but not yet. Meanwhile, the structures and figures of the wider School are much steadier, providing stable ground from which stories can grow. If I weren't so distant from Grinnell, I would probably now say something about Eliade and sacred myths, or Durkheim and ritual and collective effervescence. But it's been a while. Despite this distance, I feel more affinity towards and longing for my time at Grinnell than I have at any point in the past. Maybe one day, I will feel similarly about the Blue House—maybe one day, with more stability, and a dash (perhaps) of ritual. For now, I am more Scarlet and Black than Blue. ## Notes [^1]: Grinnell College, *Grinnellians*, YouTube video, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crKN_u_lcHA. [^2]: Grinnell College, "Mission Statement and Core Values," Grinnell College, 2019, https://www.grinnell.edu/about/at-a-glance/mission.