"We hope it will be known and loved by many as a favorite landmark during their college years and a place to meet and think and laugh as much as we all did."
—Veronika Jurisch Grace ’96, in reference to the new Happy Bench
Friends remember Krista Leraas ’96 as someone who loved to laugh, and few things got her going quite like the Happy Bench. There she and friends like Veronika Jurisch Grace ’96 would while away their afternoons. Whether making up stories as people passed or crooning Blood, Sweat & Tears’ "You've Made Me So Very Happy," these "silly girls belting out a tune" were always happier getting up than when they sat down, Grace says. That's why she and others have honored Leraas, who passed away in 2015, with a memorial bench—a new Happy Bench—located outside the Student Center. "We hope it will be known and loved by many as a favorite landmark during their college years and a place to meet and think and laugh as much as we all did."