Like thousands of Northfield alums, I wrestled with the closing of the campus and the accompanying anger, then great sadness and sense of loss that filled me. For a long time I felt like my school was gone, but then I started coming back to campus on a regular basis. I worked on the history book about the schools and spent countless weekends in the archives at Northfield. I began to understand that there was a great spirit, purpose, and resiliency about the schools. And I came to feel that Northfield would always exist as long as alumni share their experience with others and as long as people continue to study D. L. Moody’s life and vision.
I also started walking the campus at different times of year. During those walks I recalled my time on campus, the people who filled my days, and the academic and life lessons I learned. The physical place will always be important to me, but during my walks I came to understand another great sadness—that of emptiness.
I wish that Northfield were still our campus, but I am grateful that the new owners appear to respect the school’s history, its buildings, and its landscape, and I appreciate that they will soon bring students back to those amazing spaces. I look forward to the time when I can walk across campus and hear students once again and know that they are making their own life-altering memories in a place I hold dear. Through those future students —and those of us who remember the campus past —Northfield will always live.
Sally Atwood Hamilton ‘65
We mourn the loss, we are glad the campus will come alive again, we are grateful that the buildings will be renovated, we keep our fingers crossed (and pray?) that the college will be worthy of its location.