SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College Athletics Department has announced it will not select a 2020 class for induction into its Athletics Hall of Fame due to current restrictions on welcoming visitors to campus and the inability to host large on-campus gatherings.
“The opportunity to welcome friends and family to celebrate with our inductees is what makes our Hall of Fame induction ceremony so special and we simply cannot make that happen during the pandemic,” said Athletics Director and Chair of the Gustavus Hall of Fame Board Tom Brown. “We look forward to honoring the next great class of Hall Fame inductees in the fall of 2021,” added Brown.
Hall of Fame Day, which takes place every fall in conjunction with a Gustavus home football game, is a longstanding Golden Gustie tradition and a signature athletic department event. The day begins with a welcome luncheon in the Lund Center, followed by a reception in the President’s Suite during the Golden Gustie football game, and wraps up with a special banquet in Cec Eckhoff Alumni Hall that evening.
The Gustavus Athletics Hall of Fame was established in 1978, at which time 19 charter members were inducted either as athletes or as coaches. As of today, 330 individuals (305 athletes, 15 coaches, and 10 benefactors) have been inducted into the Hall.
In lieu of inducting eight new individuals into its Hall of Fame in 2020, the athletic department will pay tribute to the great history of Gustavus Athletics with a year-long series of feature stories on the outstanding athletes and individuals who have been inducted in the Hall over the past 43 years. The stories will be posted regularly on the Gustavus Athletics website and on its social media channels starting in early November.