With reporting by Moraya Patsy ’28.
It was Ben Hilding’s first week at Gustavus when he first laid eyes on Alicia Blomquist ’08, there at the top of the stairs in Alumni Hall, welcoming him to the student-run worship group Proclaim. He pretended to need more help than necessary, because, as Ben ’09 says, “this girl was pretty cute.”
By Christmas in Christ Chapel, they were officially dating.
Nineteen years later, they are presiding over CinCC.
The two were named Dean of Christ Chapel and Chaplain (a joint role) in April, the surprising yet natural culmination of a Gustavus-centered path. Multiple family members on both sides are Gustie grads, going back generations. As students, Ben and Alicia were active in Proclaim and the Center for Vocational Reflection. They shared shifts in the dish room, and sometimes classes. (She majored in Psychology, he in Religion with a minor in Studio Art.)
They married while Ben was still a student. A month after, their mentor, now-retired religion professor Darrell Jodock, called them into Old Main for a ‘conversation.’ He thought they should go to seminary together. The two prayed on it, and felt a calling. “We really care about faith and being educated,” Alicia says. As it had been since their first semester together, “It just felt natural for us to link arms,” Ben says.
Luther Seminary. Churches in Alexandria, New Prague, and Hudson, WI. Alicia served on the Gustavus Association of Congregations. They’ve been surrounded by family and Gusties throughout. “We’ve never had the opportunity to be anyone other than ourselves, nor would we want to,” says Alicia.
When it comes to the “rooted and open” mission of ELCA colleges and universities, it is, they say, their vocation. “The idea that you can be rooted in a particular faith position and simultaneously offer sincere hospitality to people of all different traditions and backgrounds, that is truly the sweet spot,” Ben says.
It’s a walk they’ve been walking together since they met in Alumni Hall, circular and widening. And as they preside over their first Christmas in Christ Chapel as Gustavus chaplains, Alicia says, “I have such an appreciation for everyone that is and was a part of CinCC.
“Just look at what people can do when they come together for good.”
