Fall 2006

Center for Norbertine Studies established at St. Norbert

Julie Friedman, Mission and Heritage

St. Norbert College is pleased to announce the establishment of a new Center for Norbertine Studies, with William Hyland (Humanities) appointed as its first director.

Designed to bring together a rich collection of documents and artifacts related to the life of St. Norbert and the Norbertine Order, the center will serve as a resource for the campus community, as well as for scholars throughout the world.

The inaugural event was a rare book exhibit in the Bush Art Center’s Godschalx Gallery Oct. 9-20. The opening coincided with the start of this year's Heritage Days, when the campus celebrates the history and birthday of St. Norbert College.

On display were several different editions of “The Confessions of St. Augustine,” including some in the original Latin, as well as translations in other languages.

“St. Norbert used the rule of St. Augustine as a foundation for the order, and ‘The Confessions’ is considered one of the classics of Western literature,” said Hyland.

The books were donated by William M. Klimon, a good friend of Hyland’s from graduate school at Cornell University, where they both studied history.

Although Klimon went on to earn a J.D. from the University of Maryland and now practices law in Washington, D.C., he continues to pursue his passion for collecting rare books on history and religion.

His entire collection of books on St. Augustine, which numbers more than 75 volumes, will eventually become part of the holdings of the center.

A wine and cheese reception celebrating the opening of the center and thanking Klimon was held on Oct. 9 in the Bush Art Center.

On Oct. 10, a symposium, entitled "Augustine, the Canonical Tradition and the Liberal Arts," was presented by Carol Neel, professor of history at Colorado College.

Neel is internationally recognized as one of the foremost scholars on the early Premonstratensians, and has done much to illuminate the early history and spirituality of the Norbertines and their place in the world of 12th-century Europe.