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Title: Augsburg Now Fall 2007
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:19 PM Page 1 Augsburg Now SUMMER ACTIVITIES P. 12 IMMERSED IN BOLCOM P. 18 SOCIAL WORK FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE P. 24 A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS FA L L 2 0 0 7 VOL. 70, NO. 1 Making orchids more affordable page...
Show more 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:19 PM Page 1 Augsburg Now SUMMER ACTIVITIES P. 12 IMMERSED IN BOLCOM P. 18 SOCIAL WORK FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE P. 24 A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS FA L L 2 0 0 7 VOL. 70, NO. 1 Making orchids more affordable page 14 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:19 PM Page 2 Editor Notes from President Pribbenow on… Collaborating with our sister colleges and universities Y ou’ll read in this issue about a special program organized last spring to celebrate the musical legacy of the American composer, William Bolcom. The program, called “Illuminating Bolcom,” is a fine example of the sorts of remarkable opportunities our students enjoy as a result of our collaborative relationship with sister colleges and universities in the Twin Cities. Organized with our partners in the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC)— Augsburg, the College of St. Catherine, Hamline University, Macalester College, and the University of St. Thomas—this special program gave our students and faculty unprecedented access to performances, master classes, and informal experiences with a world-class musical talent. What a privilege it has been for me to experience the many collegial and genuinely collaborative relationships that exist between Augsburg and its sister colleges and universities. Surely it is a sign of abundance that we can partner with higher education institutions that perhaps once were seen primarily as competition for students. Today, I believe these same institutions are modeling the sort of collaborative efforts that lead to innovation, a careful use of important resources, and a perspective on life in the world that eschews the sort of scarcity thinking and living that our culture promotes. We care deeply at Augsburg about living with a sense of abundance, and here are several collaborations I would like to lift up. We participate with the other 27 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in regular gatherings for administration and faculty members. In addition, many of the ELCA institutions participate together in insurance partnerships, tuition savings programs for parents, and tuition exchange programs for faculty and staff. Our partnerships also are sources of good ideas and best practices for our institutions, even as we celebrate our common links to the Lutheran church and its abiding commitment to vocation and education. We are proud charter members of the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC), which serves as an advocacy, fundraising, and public affairs partnership for 17 private colleges and universities in Minnesota. Together we have a significant impact on creating awareness of, and access to, higher education in our state. ACTC is an innovative partnership begun more than 35 years ago that allows our students to register for courses on all five campuses; that organizes joint programs like the “Illuminating Bolcom” series; and that has created administrative partnerships that save our schools more than $2 million annually on supplies and services. Our athletic conference, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), is one of the premier small college conferences in the country and includes 13 of Minnesota’s private colleges and universities. There are several other national organizations in which we proudly participate: Campus Compact, which brings together colleges and universities dedicated to the public and civic role of our institutions; the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), to which we turn for best practices in teaching, learning, and administration, and tuition exchange opportunities for our faculty and staff; the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), our lobbying consortium in Washington, DC; and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), working with us to promote the continuing relevance of liberal arts education in the 21st century. Surely these various partnerships and collaborative relationships point to the remarkable opportunities we have to enhance the Augsburg experience for all of our students and to model a way of working together, across institutional boundaries, to serve the public good. Betsey Norgard norgard@augsburg.edu Staff Writer Bethany Bierman bierman@augsburg.edu Creative Director Kathy Rumpza rumpza@augsburg.edu Class Notes Designer Signe Peterson petersos@augsburg.edu Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Media Relations Manager Judy Petree petree@augsburg.edu Sports Information Director Don Stoner stoner@augsburg.edu Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communication David Warch warch@augsburg.edu Director of Alumni Relations Heidi Breen breen@augsburg.edu www.augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 Send address corrections to: Advancement Services, CB 142 Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 Paul C. Pribbenow, president 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:19 PM Page 3 10 Fall 2007 Contents Features 12 Summer activities Faculty and students take advantage of their summer time to pursue diverse activities on and off campus. 18 Immersed in Bolcom by Betsey Norgard A two-week festival gave Augsburg musicians extraordinary access to a renowned American composer. 22 Faith, vision, and a call to Guyana by Betsey Norgard Ruth Singh responded to a call 13 years ago to help the people in her homeland. 24 Social work for social justice by Holley Locher, with Michele Braley and Nils Dybvig 18 A couple gives up their Twin Cities jobs to become peacemakers amidst violence. © 2006 Katryn Conlin for VocalEssence Departments On the Cover: Chemistry major Caryn Quist experiments with chemical compounds, seeking less-expensive ways to grow orchids. 2 Around the Quad 8 Sports 11 Supporting Augsburg 27 Alumni News 29 Class Notes 32 Views All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:19 PM Page 4 AROUND THE QUAD Teaching and learning awards The Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning Awards honor significant contributions to teaching and learning at Augsburg by faculty and staff in the areas of teaching, mentoring and advising, and services to students. The 2007 awards went to: Doug Green, professor of English, for teaching; to Susan O’Connor (center), associate professor of education, for mentoring and advising; and to Lois Olson (left), director of the Center for Service, Work, and Learning, for service to students. Congratulations, faculty! Tenure granted Keith Gilsdorf, economics Tenure granted and promotion to associate professor Phillip Adamo, history Lori Brandt Hale, religion Stella Hofrenning, economics Barbara Lehmann, social work David Matz, psychology Scholarships awarded for 2007-08 by the ELCA Foundation. Junior Reid Larson was named a first alternate and received $3,000 for academic expenses. The Rossing Physics Scholarships were established by gifts from Dr. Thomas D. Rossing, who taught at Northern Illinois University and St. Olaf College. They seek to encourage top physics students to attend ELCA colleges and universities, to help ELCA schools recruit top physics students, and to encourage students at ELCA schools to consider majoring in physics. This is the third year they have been awarded by the ELCA Foundation. Two students participate in international music program Meghan Sherer, who graduated in May, and senior Krista Costin were accepted to the Festivalensemble Stuttgart, a choir that is part of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, founded and directed by conductor and artistic director Helmuth Rilling. They spent a month in Germany from Aug. 17-Sept. 13, with all expenses paid, together with a worldwide group of about 100 selected musicians. The performances included Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.The first two weeks, the choir rehearsed in southern Germany and then traveled for two weeks, performing in various festivals. In addition to the European Music Festival Stuttgart, they sang in the Rheingau Music Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, and in Dresden, Halle, and Berlin. For several years, Augsburg has been one of the 24 audition sites around the world, and this is the first time that any Augsburg students have been accepted. Sherer performed with Augsburg’s Gospel Praise, and was a soloist with the group at the June Commencement. She graduated cum laude in May with a Bachelor of Music degree in music performance. Costin toured with the Augsburg Choir last year to Germany and the Czech Republic, and was a soloist at their Leipzig concert. 2 AUGSBURG NOW Darcey Engen leads “The Mother Project” A collaborative theatre project, staged at the Open Eye Figure Theatre in August, told the stories of six mothers from different ethnic backgrounds and traditions, across generations, who all tried to juggle their identities as care-giver, teacher, parent, worker, and leader. Darcey Engen ’88, assistant professor of theatre arts, led the collaboration of mothers—Jeany Parks, Nanci Olesen, Maria Asp, Sonny Case, Erin Carlson Sutton ’03, and herself—who created the work through writing exercises, recounting their individual journeys through motherhood. According to Engen, the women were drawn to “The Mother Project’ because each had grown restless seeking a place where their experiences could be told, and not finding it in literature, television, drama, or cinema. Kent Bodurtha receives Rossing Physics Scholarship Senior physics major Kent Bodurtha was awarded one of the two new $10,000 Rossing Physics Theatre arts professor Darcey Engen ‘88 worked with five colleagues to stage a presentation about their journeys and experiences of being mothers. Meghan Sherer ’07 Krista Costin ’08 ELCA News Service NOTEWORTHY 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:19 PM Page 5 Physician assistants celebrate 10 years Augsburg’s Physician Assistant Studies program celebrated the 10th anniversary of its first graduating class at a reception and dinner on Sept. 15. Members of the graduating Class of 1997 attended, along with other graduates and faculty. “It was truly special to have so many classmates and original faculty join us to celebrate,” said David Barlow, a graduate of the Class of 1997 and current assistant professor in the program. “We’re fortunate to be part of a fabulous profession that makes a difference in so many lives.” One of the program’s early faculty members who couldn’t attend wrote, “In general terms, [the 1997] class most likely recently passed the one million mark in patients seen.” The 1997 physician assistant class, shown here as they graduated from Augsburg’s new program, reunited for a 10th-anniversary celebration in September, after treating probably more than one million patients during the decade. ELCA News Service Mark Hanson re-elected presiding bishop Rev. Mark Hanson ’68 was solidly re-elected presiding bishop of the ELCA for a second six-year term on Aug. 7, at the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Chicago. He is the third presiding bishop of the ELCA, is the second to be reelected, and is the second Augsburg graduate to serve in the ELCA’s highest elected office. “Six years ago I said that I do not view this as an election won but a call received,” Hanson told the assembly. “I view what you have done today [as] the affirming of that call to which I continue to hold with great humility and deep gratitude.” Prior to his election as presiding bishop in 2001, he and his wife, Ione (Agrimson) ’68, lived in the Twin Cities where he was bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod. Several of their children have attended Augsburg. tration. She also served on the Institutional Review Board and was its chair for over a number of years. Sharon Patten, social work, is mourned The Augsburg community mourns the death of Sharon Patten, associate professor of social work at Augsburg for 16 years, who died from cancer in hospice care on Aug. 25. She was instrumental in the development of the Master of Social Work program, particularly in creating the Program Development, Policy, and Administration concen- Sharon Patten Bishop Mark Hanson ‘68 FALL 2007 3 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:19 PM Page 6 AROUND THE QUAD Star Tribune/Minneapolis-St. Paul 2007 Dan Schueller ’83 Coping with the bridge collapse Dan Schueller ’83 was on his normal bike commute from work along West River Parkway on August 1, when fate placed him as one of the first persons on the scene of the monumental collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River, just a mile from Augsburg’s campus. Tragically, Sherry Engebretsen, who worked for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and is the mother of Augsburg first-year student Jessica Engebretsen, was one of the 13 people killed in the bridge collapse. Several Augsburg staff were near the bridge when it fell, and at least one of them helped rescuers with victims on the wreckage. In the week that followed, Augsburg provided space on campus for the American Red Cross to set up a Family Courtesy photo After hearing a crack and seeing a cloud of dust in front of him, from the rubble he began to hear crying and moaning. “That’s what kicked me into gear,” he told the Star Tribune in an audio slide show. “I knew I had to climb up there and see if I could help somebody.” He left his bike, and was able to assist a number of people out of their cars and onto safe ground. One of the first persons on the scene of the bridge collapse, Dan Schueller ’83 helped people out of their cars to safe ground. Assistance Center, in partnership with the City of Minneapolis, for families and friends waiting for news about their loved ones. During that same week, a public meeting of area and neighborhood business owners, with state, local, and federal officials was held at Augsburg to discuss how to help the local businesses cope with the effects of restricted traffic and detours. Retirees gave more than a century of teaching years Three long-time Augsburg faculty members, whose combined years of service amount to more than a century and a decade, retired in June. All of them have served under four Augsburg presidents, and two of them spent virtually their entire classroom careers at Augsburg. Robert S. Herforth, biology professor, set a high example for his students of the importance and quality of research. 4 AUGSBURG NOW Robert S. Herforth, professor of biology, came to Augsburg in 1967, from graduate work at the University of Nebraska. His research there focused on hereditary disease in fruit flies. Discoveries that he made The effects of the bridge collapse will endure long beyond the clearing of the wreckage spanning the river. Schueller said that when he attended a meeting of the weekly support group of bridge survivors, he was “very saddened to see so many people with bad backs and still having a hard time dealing with what happened.” — Betsey Norgard pointed out errors by leading scientists in existing scholarship, for which he received university honors. Over the years, Herforth taught animal physiology, developmental biology, genetics, and molecular biology; and he always stressed research. As a freshman at Augsburg, associate biology professor Dale Pederson ’70 was in Herforth’s classes. At Herforth’s retirement celebration, Pederson recalled Herforth’s fly lab, especially noting the quality of the technical drawings done by art professor Phil Thompson. Pederson called Herforth’s scholarship “exemplary.” Courtesy photo 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 Retired colleague Esther McLaughlin spoke about teamteaching general biology with Herforth and remarked about his patience. For enjoyment in his retirement, Herforth’s colleagues and friends presented him with an iPod filled with recordings of bird songs. 7:19 PM Page 7 how one should be in the world.” Griffin ascribed an “epic quality” to Kingsley’s career, and noted that Augsburg presidents have sometimes recognized her as quite an “adversary.” Colleague Don Steinmetz mentioned that Al Kloppen, health and physical education, connected with students both in the classroom and on the playing field as a football coach. Mary A. Kingsley retired after 43 years of teaching Spanish and sharing her passion for social justice issues. Mary A. Kingsley, associate professor of modern languages, came to Augsburg in 1964 and has taught Spanish here since. She served many terms as department chair, taking occasional breaks when it was held by a colleague. Former English faculty professor Joan Griffin commented on Kingsley's “passion for justice, especially if it’s an underdog that has been wronged.” She said that Kingsley “has engaged generations of students about department faculty have always preferred to have Kingsley on their side. In the early days of the Center for Global Education, Kingsley and her husband donated a house in Cuernavaca, Mexico, to Augsburg, which was used as the center’s base of operation for some time. Kingsley is enjoying her time in retirement at their cabin in the Apostle Islands. Alvin L. Kloppen, assistant professor of health and physical education, came to Augsburg in 1976 from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., where he had been defensive football coordinator. He served both as Augsburg’s head football coach and HPE faculty member for 10 seasons. He later served as an assistant football coach while still teaching. Assistant athletic director Paul Grauer commented on Kloppen’s tenure at Augsburg. “Al Kloppen had a ready smile and a funny story for everyone he encountered during his days at Augsburg. As a coach, Al was a tireless worker who always looked for innovative strategies and techniques which would give his team the greatest chance for success. In 1977, he was named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) “Co-Coach of the Year” when the Auggies finished the season with an upset win over powerful Concordia College (Moorhead). “In the classroom, Al had an engaging approach which enabled him to connect with his students. He was there to give support and encouragement to all his students and especially to those who may have taken ‘the road less traveled’.” FALL 2007 5 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:20 PM Page 8 Medieval Minnesota: Summer camp at Augsburg College This summer, from August 5 to 11, 10 students from across the country flocked to Augsburg to learn about and, above all, experience the Middle Ages. They came for Medieval Minnesota, the weeklong summer camp for students ages 14 to 17 that encourages them to reimagine medieval life. For seven days, students worked and played together, learning everything from swordsmanship to Renaissance dancing, from calligraphy to bookbinding, from period music to storytelling. By the end of the week, they had researched and created medieval characters and built period costumes that they wore to a graduation performance at the famed Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Edward Peterson, 14, a student from Wilmington, Del., performed the rousing “Saint Crispin’s Day” soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Henry V. Other students, coached by music professor Merilee Klemp, performed a French love song about Robin Hood and Maid Marian, written by the 13th century troubadour Adam de la Halle. With the help of theatre professor Darcey Engen, the entire group wrote and performed in its own version of a Robin Hood play. The students also got a taste of college life. In addition to many of the classes being taught by Augsburg professors, they stayed in Urness Hall, were guided in research by Lindell reference librarian Bill Wittenbreer, and ate all their meals in the cafeteria. 6 AUGSBURG NOW Photos courtesy of Phil Adamo AROUND THE QUAD Every day they went to classes and workshops, from eight in the morning until eight at night. Just before bed they would unwind playing medieval board games— not Dungeons and Dragons, but Hnefatafl, a strategy game played by the Vikings! They also watched Augsburg’s first-ever Robin Hood Film Festival. Medieval Minnesota was recently featured in Renaissance magazine (vol.12 #2, issue 54), a national publication that features articles on history, as well as news from Renaissance festivals across the country. The story brought students to the camp from a number of states, including Delaware, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Two of the students who attended the 2006 camp are now enrolled as first-year students at Augsburg. Even the youngest students at this year’s camp have Augsburg on their list of possible colleges for the future. “The camp is meant to be educational and fun, in and of itself. But it’s also part of our recruitment plan for the major here at Augsburg,” said Phil Adamo, associate professor of history and director of the College’s Medieval Studies program. “We hope to have more students at the camp next year. Some of these will be returning students, and others will be their friends,” Adamo said. Medieval Minnesota held a soldout benefit on October 5 to From around the country, 10 high school students spent a week at Augsburg immersed in the history, culture, and customs of the Middle Ages—all part of Augsburg’s Medieval Studies program. (Back row, L to R) Joe Piper, Jack Randleman, Edward Peterson. (Middle row, L to R) Alyssa Perra, Kelly Ryan, Ben Davidson, Liz Ryan, Cambria Rosales. (Seated, L to R) Kayla Fratt, Jessica Larson. provide scholarships for the camp. That’s when former Monty Python member Terry Jones, who is also a well-respected medieval scholar, presented “Medieval Lives.” His presentation attempts to combat the image of the Middle Ages as a time of ignorance, misery, and superstition. Jones’ talk surprises and provokes, and makes you think, and leaves you smiling. At the end of the “medieval camp,” e-mail addresses were exchanged, as well as hugs. The students had only one question for each other: “Are you coming back next year?” There may be new students next year, and different students, but Medieval Minnesota will still inspire them in their love of history. For information on Medieval Minnesota, go to www.augsburg. edu/medievalstudies — Bethany Locke ’11 Bethany Locke is a Medieval Minnesota alumna, assistant counselor, and now is a first-year Medieval Studies major. 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 7:20 PM Page 9 Photos courtesy of Phil Adamo Second-year physician assistant . a 11/20/07 studies student Kate McKenzie spent time with a couple at Augustana Apartments as part of a graduate course that trains physician assistants, social workers, and nurses to become better skilled in meeting the various needs of older adults. Preparing for the ‘age wave’ In a new five-week summer course, Augsburg physician assistant (PA) students explored issues of aging in preparation for the anticipated needs of the nation’s baby boomers as they become senior citizens. The new course, Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Aging, focuses on building geriatric skills for professional social workers, nurses, and physician assistants. The goal is for older adults to be cared for by teams of healthcare providers working collaboratively to address needs comprehensively and holistically. Meeting one-on-one with older adults to learn about their needs has been part of the PA study curriculum for several years, but this course is the first to consider aging from an interdisciplinary approach. In the future the course will also include graduate social work and nursing students, and upper division psychology students. To shape the program, physician assistant studies professor Beth Alexander and social work professor Christina Erickson partnered with Augustana Apartments and Health Care Center, a nearby community of senior apartments, assisted living, and long-term care. Together with Augsburg alumna Patty Crawford, director of resident services at Augustana, Alexander and Erickson set up three sessions at Augustana where students could learn by directly interacting with residents. At a preliminary session, an interdisciplinary panel broadly looked at issues to offer an appreciation of the diversity of older adults’ lives. At the second session, the PA students spent the morning oneon-one with Augustana residents who are living independently. The students developed interviewing, listening, and relationship-building skills by asking open-ended questions to assess the residents’ social, psychological, spiritual, and medical needs. Second-year PA student Kate McKenzie met with a couple begining to deal with health issues. “This has been very challenging … for the couple,” says McKenzie. “Fortunately [they} have wonderful and supportive children who visit often and help out a lot.” In their final visit to Augustana, students examined specific cases of long-term care residents, reviewing their medical charts and discussing their needs. For McKenzie the class made an impact. “Combining social work, nursing, and physician assistant perspectives on older adult care has helped create a balanced picture of what geriatric care is truly all about,” she says. “There is so much more than meets the eye!” The course began as part of a three-year, $50 million project on gerontology funded by the Hartford Foundation with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Augsburg is one of 72 social work programs across the country selected to prepare social workers to improve the care and well-being of older adults and their families. adults and the growing need for more specialized skills. Augsburg added the interdisciplinary collaboration as part of the College’s initiative to build bridges across programs. The opportunity to partner with Augustana, within a mile of campus, also engages these programs with its neighbors in the community. “The course has changed my opinion of geriatric care altogether,“ McKenzie says. And, meeting the residents of Augustana was something that will remain dear to her. — Betsey Norgard Alexander also recognized the need to better train physician assistant students in this area. She also recognized how often PAs, social workers, and nurses work together in caring for older Elizabeth Baker interviewed a resident to help understand how the role of a physician assistant fits into a multidisciplinary team of health providers caring for older adults. FALL 2007 7 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:20 PM Page 10 AROUND THE QUAD 2 A SPORTS Augsburg College names 2006-07 Senior Honor Athletes, athletic award winners Seven Auggies earned Senior Honor Athlete designation, the highest honor the College gives its senior student-athletes for accomplishment, leadership, and character on the playing field and in the classroom. Three Auggie student-athletes were named Senior Athletes of the Year. The awards were voted on by coaches in Augsburg’s men’s and women’s athletic departments. 2006-07 Senior Honor Athletes Emily Anderson, a biology major and chemistry minor with a 3.39 grade-point average, finished her career as one of the top forwards in Augsburg women’s soccer history. She earned All-MIAC first-team honors in her sophomore and junior seasons. Anderson earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District third-team honors in 2005 and was an Academic All-MIAC honoree in 2004. She has been a Dean’s List honoree and was a member of the Tri-Beta national biology honor society. 8 AUGSBURG NOW Jared Evans, a health and physical education major with a 3.27 grade-point average, earned All-American honors three times as a 149-pound wrestler at Augsburg, finishing seventh his sophomore season, fourth his junior season, and fourth in his senior season. He was a part of Augsburg teams that won national titles in 2004-05 and 2006-07. He earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-America honors in his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. Erik Helgerson, an accounting and finance major with a 3.51 grade-point average, was a key member of an Augsburg men’s golf program that showed tremendous growth during his four seasons. Helgerson cut his stroke average nearly five points from his freshman to his senior campaigns and earned All-MIAC honors with top-10 finishes in the league meet three times. Andrew Johnson, a business administration and economics major with a 3.72 grade-point average, was another key member of the Augsburg men’s golf program. He cut his stroke average almost four points from his freshman to his senior campaigns. He earned All-MIAC honors this season, finishing fourth at the 2006 conference meet. He was also a Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar last season. Christopher (Critter) Nagurski, a business management major with a 3.30 grade-point average, was one of the top scoring hockey forwards in the MIAC throughout his career, Nagurski earned AllMIAC first-team honors his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. In 2006-07, Nagurski finished second on the team in scoring with 40 points, as the Auggies returned to the conference’s postseason playoffs after a three-year absence. He also earned Preseason All-USCHO honors from U.S. College Hockey Online twice. Andrew Neumann, an elementary education major with a 3.46 grade-point average, shined in both football and wrestling. In football, he was named to the AllMIAC first team in both 2005 and 2006 and was an all-region selection by D3Football.com and Football Gazette. In wrestling, he competed twice at the NCAA Division III national tournament as a heavyweight, earning AllAmerican honors, among others. He received National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar AllAmerican honors in both 2006 and 2007. Shannon Olson, a marketing and communications major (public relations/advertising emphasis) with a 3.66 grade-point average, was a defender of an Augsburg women’s soccer team that qualified for the MIAC postseason playoffs three straight seasons. Olson earned All-MIAC first-team honors her senior season and Academic All-MIAC honors in 2005 and 2006. She was a multiple Dean’s List honoree. A p o A H t j s t t s N C h n D t H M p o h H 11/20/07 2006-07 Senior Athletes of the Year 7:20 PM Page 11 wrestler to win four individual national championships and the second college wrestler (with Cael Sanderson at Iowa State) to finish his career unbeaten and untied, with a 155-0 career record. He also played parts of two seasons of football at Augsburg as a quarterback, and in 2004 he set all of the school’s single-season rushing records. Betsey Norgard 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG y d Aaron Johnson, a health and physical education major, was one of the top forwards in Augsburg men’s hockey history. He earned All-American honors twice, as a first-team selection his junior and senior campaigns. This season, he earned MIAC Player of the Year honors and was one of two NCAA Division III players selected to compete in the 2007 NCAA Pontiac Frozen Four Skills Challenge at the Division I men’s hockey Frozen Four. He was also named a Preseason All-USCHO Division III West Region honoree this season by U.S. College Hockey Online. On Sept. 8, the football jersey of Scott Hvistendahl ’98 was formally retired. He is pictured here with the Gagliardi Trophy as outstanding NCAA Division III player in 1998, and shown with Jostens representative John Abel [left] and coach Mike Matson was one of the top linebackers in the MIAC during his football career, earning AllMIAC second-team honors in 2005 and first-team honors in 2006, while also earning AllMIAC Sportsmanship Team honors his senior campaign. In 2006 he was named to the Preseason All-Division III first team by Lindy’s National College Football Preview magazine, and in both 2006 and 2007 he earned D3Football.com and Football Gazette honors. For more about Auggie athletics go to www.augsburg.edu/ athletics. Scott Hvistendahl’s jersey is retired Jack Osberg [right]. At a halftime ceremony on Sept. 8 during the game against Northwestern College (Roseville, Minn.), the No. 30 football jersey of Scott Hvistendahl ’98 was formally retired. Hvistendahl is one of the top Division III receivers in history, having won, among many honors, the Gagliardi Trophy in 1998 as the division’s outstanding player. In the last game of his career, he broke NFL legend Jerry Rice’s record for receiving yardage with 285 passes for 4,696 yards received. The ceremony marks the 10th anniversary of the 1997-98 football season in which the Auggies captured the conference championship and reached the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. Hvistendahl’s honor was held during this Northwestern game because he serves as an assistant coach at the school. The Auggies went on to win the game, 31-26. — Don Stoner n Marcus LeVesseur, a health and physical education major, was one of the top competitors in the history of small-college wrestling. He became the first Division III FALL 2007 9 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:20 PM Page 12 AROUND THE QUAD Augsburg men’s soccer team has the trip of a lifetime in Argentina The soccer players trained at the CEFAR Academy (Centro Entrenamiento Futbol Alto Rendimiento/Center for High Performance Football Training), a private training facility. In addition, the Augsburg group toured the city of Buenos Aires, The Augsburg and CEFAR teams pose for a photo after the teamʼs first game in Argentina. experience gained from the trip was invaluable for the squad. “This experience will be one that will last a lifetime,” said Augsburg head coach Greg Holker. “Our guys played some of the best The team also attended two professional soccer matches in Buenos Aires and experienced the passion that Argentines hold for the sport. They were lucky to have the unique opportunity to tour the training facilities of Boca Juniors, one of the top teams in Argentine professional soccer. “Every day in Argentina is about soccer—it is not just a way of life, but a way to make a life,” Holker said. “Generally speaking, if a young boy growing up in Buenos Aires does not make it in a club, he is likely to fall victim to a life of delinquency. When they play, they are not only playing for passion, but for their lives.” To view daily stories from the trip, along with student-athlete diaries and more than 1,200 photos from the trip, go to www.augsburg.edu/athletics/msoc cer/2007argentina/index.html. Former Argentine professional soccer player and coach Jorge “Coqui” Rafflo coaches the Auggie players. Rafflo is the director of the CEFAR Academy, where the Auggies stayed during their trip to Argentina. often termed as the “Paris of South America.” The Auggies played four games against strong club competition, and though the team only scored one goal in the four contests, the 10 AUGSBURG NOW soccer they have ever played, and faced opponents with qualities they are unlikely to see again. On top of this, they experienced a culture that is not all that different from our own in the United States, with the exception of its incredibly strong sporting passion.” James See (9) brings the ball forward during Augsburg’s game against a River Plate reserve team. David Long (6) trails the play. — Don Stoner Photos by Don Stoner Andrew Seidel plays the ball during an Augsburg scrimmage against a CEFAR squad. Judy Petree The Augsburg College men’s soccer team had the experience of a lifetime in August, traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for an 11-day training and competition trip. Twenty-seven players, along with five Augsburg staff members and several parents and family members, made the trip to Argentina. 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:20 PM Page 13 Making a gift to Augsburg It’s easy to make a donation to Augsburg College. All donations are tax-deductible. SUPPORTING AUGSBURG Putting your IRA to work for Augsburg Vera (Thorson) Benzel ’45 had decided to establish a family scholarship through her estate— until she learned of the advantage of gifting a portion of her IRA now. She and her late husband, Jerold ’51, met at Augsburg. After she graduated with a major in English, Augsburg offered her a job teaching secretarial studies in its business department. After raising her family, she also taught at the Minnesota School of Business. At Augsburg she graduated with a minor in music, and for many years enjoyed her time directing church choirs. Bob and their son, Loren, were both photographers who chronicled the life and culture of Nordic cultures, both in the five nations and among their descendents in Minnesota. In business together for many years, they were the official photographers for at least two Norwegian royal visits. They were also known for the colorful calendar they produced annually in Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish versions. Gifts online Go to www.augsburg.edu/giving to make a secure credit card donation. You can use the form to make a one-time donation or to set up recurring gifts. Gifts by phone To make a donation by phone, call Kevin Healy, director of advancement services, at 612-330-1619 or 1-800-273-0617. Gifts by mail You can mail your gift to: Development Office, CB 142 Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55454 Matching Gifts Many employers and organizations have matching gift programs, and if you are a Thrivent Financial for Lutherans member, you are eligible for additional matching opportunities through the GivingPlus program. For complete information about making a gift, including the types of giving and giving programs, go to www.augsburg.edu/giving. After Loren’s death in November 2006, they established a fund in loving memory of him for students who are art majors studying graphic arts and design. In addition, they established a second endowed scholarship in Bob’s name to assist art students interested in photography. end of this calendar year. The law allows individuals aged 70 1⁄2 or older to make immediate gifts to qualified charitable organizations, including Augsburg, from funds they transferred directly from an IRA. Making a gift using your IRA The Pension Protection Act of 2006 presents a special giving opportunity—but only until the If you are interested in making a gift like this, you will not have to pay taxes on the amounts transferred. You can transfer any amount up to $100,000 on or before Dec. 31, 2007. The transfer counts toward your minimum required distribution as long as you have not yet received your 2007 distribution. The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you will receive the benefit even if you do not itemize your tax deductions. The best part of a gift from an IRA transfer is that you can witness the difference your philanthropic dollars make now for students at Augsburg College. Judy Petree The recently established Benzel Family Scholarship honors Jerold and Vera and their children, David ’71 and Ann (Benzel) ’78 Rieck, who both attended Augsburg. Since all of their careers have included business, their new scholarship will assist students who are studying business. Robert ’50 and Ruth Ann Paulson decided to use an IRA to fund a new endowed scholarship, which will provide encouragement and financial assistance to students in graphic design and photography. For information, call the Development Office at 612-330-1613 or 1-800-273-0617. — Betsey Norgard David Benzel ‘71 and Ann (Benzel) ‘78 Rieck (pictured here when they visited campus in September) together with their mother, Vera (Thorson) ‘45 Benzel, have established an endowed scholarship honoring their family from the transfer of funds from an IRA. President Pribbenow enjoyed talking with Robert ‘50 and Ruth Ann Paulson, as they established two endowed scholarships, one that is in memory of their son, Loren. FALL 2007 11 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 14 Courtesy photo SUMMER activities During the summer, students and faculty can be found in interesting and varied activities—research, internships, travel, summer jobs, and more... . Here are just a few examples of where Auggies spent their summer days this year. 12 AUGSBURG NOW 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 15 Courtesy photo COOKING UP an internship Senior Emily Johnson used her summer job at camp as an internship to learn about the business side of running a camp and understanding the importance of leadership skills. This year she returned as head cook, and everything just fell into place. For a number of summers, Grand Rapids, Minn., native Emily Johnson and her friends spent time at Camp Hiawatha, a Voyageurs Lutheran Ministry (VLM) camp in northern Minnesota. After high school, she found a way to keep returning to camp while earning money for college—working as an assistant in the camp kitchen. Last year, when spring came around, she received a call asking if she would consider taking over as head cook at Camp Vermilion, VLM’s other camp, following the retirement of the longtime cook. She accepted … with trepidation. Johnson is a business management and economics major, set to graduate next May. She plans to use her management experience, combined with a love for the outdoors, to own and manage her own resort some day. After “ “I made all the mistakes there were,” Johnson says, as she talks about what she encountered in figuring out what to serve, how to make it, and how much food to order each week. It was good for me to take what I’ve learned in my classes and apply that knowledge… ” graduation she intends to seek a job at a resort in the Pacific Northwest. She'll bring added expertise in scheduling events from her student work on campus in the Event Services office. Johnson decided to shape this summer’s camp experience into formal learning to fulfill her required internship. She learned and wrote about aspects of business management in her work—how the camp runs as a business; how she could avoid unnecessary costs in ordering food; and how the kitchen staff manage and communicate important camper issues, like food allergies. “It was good for me to take what I’ve learned in my classes and apply that knowledge … away from school,” Johnson says. “It’s amazing how much of it comes into view when you’re in the midst of it. … I also learned how difficult being a good manager is.” Her work involved long hours and a lot of planning to feed campers who vary in age from kindergarten to ninth grade at nearly a dozen different sessions all summer. She was usually in the kitchen by 6:30 each morning, enjoying a brief calm before the day’s routine began. Figuring out what foods the campers would relish, and how much to make were among Johnson’s greatest challenges. Once she figured out some of the tricks to adapt and multiply recipes, she enjoyed borrowing some of her mother’s recipes to try out on the campers. Most of the time they worked well. What she learned included leadership training—values such as patience, compassion, and standing up for yourself— as well as business savvy. “I even felt I was able to contribute to conversations about business matters,” Johnson concludes. “That was a good feeling.” –— Betsey Norgard FALL 2007 13 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 16 OBSERVING Orchids Chemistry major Caryn Quist partnered with a local supplier to obtain the orchid stems needed to study chemical reactions that would help her understand how the costs of growing orchids might be reduced. With a national wholesale value of $100 million, potted orchids are second in popularity only to poinsettias, and the wholesale value is much greater. Thus, discovering how to best propagate low-cost orchids is big business. of phenols (a class of chemical compounds) produced in vitro under varying light and temperature conditions by phalaenopsis, a genus of approximately 60 species of “ The orchid breeder of Orchids Unlimited in Apple Valley thought so as well, so when junior chemistry major Caryn Quist approached him about sponsoring her summer research project, he jumped on board. In the initial stages of her project, beginning in January, Orchids Unlimited was the sole provider of orchid stems for research. Quist’s research focused on determining the total content It’s really exciting, taking this risk and knowing I could make a contribution. ” orchids. Other student researchers included Steve Eichten, studying adjustments with light quality in orchid propagation, and Nick Nelson, researching ways to manipulate the germination process of Ladyslippers. Mark Strefeler, associate professor and department chair of biology, led the research team. “Research is about going into the unknown,” Quist says. “It’s really exciting, taking this risk and knowing I could make a contribution. … It has certainly begun to change the way I observe and formulate questions about the natural world around me, and has given me a chance to see a slightly different side of academia. I feel really fortunate to have had this research opportunity.” While the summer research didn’t uncover any great discoveries, Quist considers it time well spent. “I learned how to do tissue cultures, and learning the process itself took a lot of time. We also ran into contamination issues, which slowed things down. … This fall, I expect more results.” Quist will continue her research through the coming year and eventually pass it on to a younger student. Through its Summer Research Program, Augsburg’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) students are given opportunities to explore theoretical and practical questions in depth under the mentorship of Augsburg faculty. For more information on summer research projects and URGO, go to www.augsburg.edu/urgo/. — Bethany Bierman 14 AUGSBURG NOW 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 17 MUSIC to help the brain heal Senior music therapy major Holly Tapani studied the importance of multidisciplinary support for students with brain injuries to give them the best college experience. inadequate to treat the increasing numbers of survivors in rehab centers. And not many colleges are prepared to support brain injury survivors who want to pursue higher education. Last semester, in one of Holly Tapani’s music therapy courses, music and movement were incorporated into the learning of two Augsburg students who are survivors of traumatic brain injury. She immediately saw the benefits of music therapy to their learning, and she began imagining ways to also improve their overall college experience. “ Tapani understands the urgency of this work. More and more young people are recovering from brain injury, which is coming to be known as the “signature” injury of the Iraq War. The holistic therapies designed to go beyond the medical needs and address the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical aspects of brain injury are totally This is just the small beginnings of the program ” Tapani sought funding through Augsburg’s Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) program to formally study the activities of the music and movement class—an opportunity to carry out needed research that can help future students. She interviewed the two braininjured students who participated in the class—both of whom have been successful academically despite their impairments from brain injury. Tapani asked them about the various types and levels of support they’ve received from campus resources, as well as from families and friends. The students reported general satisfaction in addressing their physical and cognitive needs, but they felt they lacked many of the social and emotional experiences typical of college students. Tapani proposed a program that pairs student survivors oneon-one with a student mentor who can manage the multiple aspects of support, beyond classroom tutors, for the survivors and help to make their college experience more normal. “This is just the small beginnings of the program,” Tapani says, but it will help colleges understand a need to develop the staff and knowledge to offer broader support to this growing population of students. In order to launch the mentor program, a benefit concert in September featured the trendy pop-rock band, The Abdomen. Next year, Tapani will complete a six-month internship, hopefully at a rehabilitation center, and graduate. Her long-term goal is to specialize in neurologic music therapy, further pursuing her interest and research in working with brain injury survivors. — Betsey Norgard FALL 2007 15 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 18 AUGGIES at AMNICON Courtesy photo 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG (L to R) 2007 grads Erik Hinderlie, Ted Fabel, Brett Cease, and senior David DeBlock spent the summer as canoe and backpacking guides at Camp Amnicon. Three recent Augsburg graduates and one senior spent their summer working as guides for canoe and backpacking trips around the heartland of Northern Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. “ adventure trips—kayaking, backpacking, Voyageurcanoeing—and retreat programs for youth and adults. “What makes Amnicon so foster agency programs,” says Cease. “Many of these kids have never had the opportunity to spend a week of their lives outside before. … I have never seen such profound change and positive growth come out of a week of a young person’s life than the work I get to take part in at Amnicon,” Cease continued. Many of these kids have never had the opportunity to spend a week of their lives outside before … Erik Hinderlie ’07, Ted Fabel ’07, Brett Cease ’07, and David DeBlock ’08 were guides at Camp Amnicon, an outreach of Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis. For 40 years, Amnicon has offered both ” unique is its strong commitment to getting the majority of its campers from at-risk groups throughout the state, whether from inner-city, reservation, or The groups visit areas including Lake Superior, the Brule and Namekagon Rivers, the Sylvania Wilderness, and the Apostle Islands. On some trips, campers paddle as a team in 34-foot Voyageur canoes on Lake Superior or in Voyageurs National Park. “Being canoe guides is undoubtedly one of the most inspirational havens in our lives,” says Cease of the experience he and the others have had. “It is because of places like Amnicon that I am continually reminded of the importance of building an intentional and caring, supportive community, like that which was modeled at Augsburg.” To read more about Camp Amnicon, go to www.amnicon.org. — Bethany Bierman 16 AUGSBURG NOW 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 19 ADVENTURES IN HAITIAN MUSIC After teaching for years about work songs in various cultures, Stacke traveled into the Haitian hills and recorded sugar Bob Stacke cane workers playing a This was Bob Stacke’s fifth summer trip to Haiti as a volunteer band director and music teacher, but this year’s adventure he calls one of the most spectacular things he’s ever done. For Stacke, Augsburg’s band director, associate professor, and music department chair, one big difference in this year’s sojourn was the chance to spend the first two weeks there with his photographer daughter, Sarah Stacke, who is a staff photographer for the Minnesota House of Representatives. Another was that being with her also made it easier for him to pursue his own hobby, which also happens to be photography. Their first adventure, and Sarah’s assignment, was a week in Port Salut, where she shot photos for a non- governmental organization providing health care in southwestern Haiti. Bob’s highlight was traveling into the hills there and listening to the call-and-response work “ I think I learned more than they did. ” songs of the sugar cane workers. He says for years he’s been teaching about the cultural role of work songs in marking rhythm and giving structure to tedious work, but this was the first time he’s heard it live in the field. He documented the workers, their instruments, and songs in both photos and recordings. variety of homemade instruments. Sarah’s second assignment was photographing projects of Yéle Haiti, an organization started several years ago by GrammyAward winning Haitian recording artist Wyclef Jean. His foundation provides resources and inspiration targeted at Haitian youth, with music infused throughout. Yéle Haiti’s programs include food distribution, health care, education scholarships, films, sports, and music programs, which involve thousands of people and reach far into the poorest and most violent Haitian neighborhoods. But Bob’s primary reason for being in Haiti was to teach band and percussion at the Holy Trinity Episcopal School summer music program in Portau-Prince. Professional musicians and music students keep returning as volunteers to teach in this summer program, working with Haitians ranging in age from elementary kids to young people well into their twenties. “This experience was so much fun,” Bob says. “I teach them Western music all day, and all night they teach me how to play their music. I think I learned more than they did.” He describes their music as incredibly complex and driving, with meters that defy barlines, and with countermelodies and melodies laid on top. Next year he’ll likely return to Haiti. But before that, he’ll lead a two-week study trip for Augsburg students to Jamaica to reconnect with the second of his three favorite Caribbean music traditions—Haitian, Jamaican, and Cuban. ■ — Betsey Norgard FALL 2007 17 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 20 © 2006 lEssence for Voca Conlin Kathryn Immersed in Bolcom by Betsey Norgard Augsburg students Kristen Lueck and Bri’Ann Wright struggled for weeks to feel comfortable with the four-hand piano piece they would play in concert, with the composer in the audience. Little did they know it would be a world premiere. For several weeks in the spring, music students and faculty in the five Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC)—Augsburg, Hamline, Macalester, St. Catherine, and St. Thomas—enjoyed a rare experience to explore and absorb the musical genius of a single composer, William Bolcom, winner of a Pulitzer Prize and four Grammy awards. Through master classes, concerts, and coaching, they interacted collectively and one-on-one with this most interesting and eclectic composer. It was all part of the “Illuminating Bolcom” festival, organized by 18 AUGSBURG NOW Brian 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 21 n tt Holma Brian Sco The centerpiece of the Bolcom festival was a huge, multimedia concert, including video images of William Blake’s illustrations for his poems, showing here “The Tyger.” Bolcom’s popularity is often attributed to the accessibility and variety of his music, often an eclectic borrowing across musical genres. Songs of Innocence and of Experience, for example, includes a country western rendition of “The Shepherd,” and ends with a raucous, Bob Marley-reggae interpretation of “A Divine Image.” Beyond composing, Bolcom keeps a busy performance schedule accompanying his wife, Joan Morris, a versatile mezzo-soprano cabaret singer. (Minnesotans may be surprised to discover that Bolcom wrote “Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise,” a cabaret tune made popular by Morris and often played in the context of Minnesota local culture.) Ragtime music is another of Bolcom’s musical passions, and the recordings he made in the 1970s of Scott Joplin’s music are often considered the force behind the revival of ragtime music and the inspiration for the rags that Bolcom himself composed. Exploringgenius It was all part of the “Illuminataing Bolcom” festival, organized by Philip Brunelle and his Twin Cities ensemble, VocalEssence, and involving many of the area’s top performing arts organizations. Star Tribune music critic Michael Anthony predicted that this festival might prove to be the Twin Cities’ ACTC faculty and music students enjoyed more than a dozen opportunities to connect with William Bolcom in lectures, coaching sessions, and performances. For his consideration, they prepared selections of his works for voice or instrument, for solo performance or in ensembles, as in the following highlights: “classical event of the year.” Courtesy photo s 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG Versatilecreativity William Bolcom is a down-to-earth pianist, teacher, and composer—and clearly was grateful and completely engaged in the two-week attention to his work. A child prodigy pianist by age 5, he began studying music at the University of Washington at age 11, and went on to study with composers Darius Milhaud and Olivier Messiaen. Since 1973, he has taught at the University of Michigan. “Illuminating Bolcom” presented a diversity of his gospel, chamber, classical, and stage music. The festival centerpiece was a multimedia concert at Orchestra Hall, “Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” presenting the 46 poems of William Blake’s collection of the same name, set to music by Bolcom. The 2005 recording of this work won four Grammy awards. May music graduate Bri’Ann Wright (right) and music therapy major Kristen Lueck (left) played a 30-year-old piano piece by Bolcom (center) that turned out to be a historic performance. FALL 2007 19 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 22 Lecture/Recital—At the University of St. Thomas, Bolcom The music has been called “monumental”—46 numbers, with lectured about his own process for composing the music in sound ranging from classical to ballad to gospel to country Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience. The evening western. Stacke, associate professor and chair of the music recital, which he attended, focused on performances of the department, called it “about the hardest music he had ever same Blake poems set to music by a variety of other composers, played, but just amazing.” and included performances by Augsburg students—sopranos Meghan Sherer, Kaila Frymire, and Evelyn Tsen; and tenors Surprisepremiere Andrew Kane and Brian Halaas; accompanied by Kirsten Bar Schubert Club Courtroom Concert—Wright and classmate (oboe), Melody Buhl (clarinet), and Jerusha Sunde (piano). The Kristen Lueck had an even more amazing personal Bolcom program also included faculty soprano Janet Gottshall Fried, experience when they played in the concert sponsored by the and Sonja Thompson, who provided accompaniments. Schubert Club, featuring ACTC students. Student Composer Master Class/Band Rehearsal—Senior music For that concert, they had been given a four-hand Bolcom performance pianist Bri’Ann Wright was a student in Carol piece, called “Abendmusik,” which he had written for his piano Barnett’s music composition class that Bolcom visited. She and teacher, married to an astronomer. classmate Adrian Moravec were writing and preparing a piano film score accompaniment to the 1920s German silent film, “It’s a cosmic, ethereal piece; very slow, with chords appearing Pandora’s Box, being shown on campus. The task was all over the piano, out of the air,” says Wright. It’s also “very daunting—to compose, play, and improvise music to fit the film. difficult, obscure, and abstract,” she continues, “and you can't Playing their score for Bolcom proved invaluable, as he gave wrap your ears around it easily.” them tips for how to use the piano more effectively with film. Lueck says that in practicing it, they counted for months just to Faculty Chamber Music Concert—At Hamline University, in a get the rhythm and timing in their brains. Only a few weeks concert titled “A Little Night (Chamber) Music,” faculty from all before the coaching session with Bolcom preceding the five ACTC colleges, including Augsburg faculty Merilee Klemp concert, she says, the piece had “just begun to gel in our (oboe), Jill Dawe (piano), and Angela Wyatt (saxophone), minds and fingers.” performed a series of Bolcom’s chamber works all containing night themes. Rebroadcasts of portions of this concert on At the coaching session, Lueck says, Bolcom was very laid Minnesota Public Radio extended its listening audience. back. He made some random remarks and confirmed their dynamics for portions of the piece. He also made a passing Lecture in Music History Class—Just as Klemp’s music history comment that in 30 years he hadn’t seen that piece again nor class was completing a study of 20th-century music, they had a heard it played. visit from Bolcom, one of the composers they had been studying. Roberta Kagin, associate professor of music and Wright and Lueck opened the concert with “Abendmusik.” director of the music therapy program, attended the class and When Bolcom was asked to explain the piece to the audience, observed that “Students opened their music history textbooks he mentioned that it had never been performed. and were reading about him, as he stood in front of them.” “So,” declared emcee Randall Davidson, Augsburg’s fine arts “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”—Three Augsburg manager, “this is a world premiere!” Wright and Lueck were faculty members—Klemp (oboe), Bob Stacke (percussion), and then brought back on stage for accolades and hugs. Matt Barber (percussion)—played for “Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” the centerpiece concert at Orchestra Hall. “It was an huge, overwhelming honor,” Lueck said of the Faculty member Steve Lund was the orchestra contractor. It was performance, “and a privilege to work with Bri and [Bolcom]. a gigantic performance, illuminating in vivid sight and sound the … Playing for him was an affirmation of our work.” And a very poetry of William Blake, with 13 soloists and three choirs, lucky day for two unsuspecting college music students. supported by an orchestra of 95 players. All through the concert, striking video images based on Blake’s own illustrations Students Tammy Smith (flute) and Nikki Lemire (harp) also for his poems were projected on a huge screen. played in that concert, performing two selections from Bolcom’s “Celestial Dinner Music.” 20 AUGSBURG NOW 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 23 Kathryn Conlin for VocalEssence Courtesy photo Senior Tammy Smith received coaching from Bolcom, along with recent grad Nikki Lemire on harp, for his piece they would play in concert. May music graduate Bri’Ann Wright (left) and music therapy major Kristen Lueck (right) walked off stage to applause, not yet realizing they had just performed a world premiere by one of the country's leading composers. Learnerstogether A collaborative grant from ACTC, conceived by Davidson, Bolcom’s settings to the Blake poetry. At Augsburg, this included funded the various activities that aimed to involve faculty and students in the Honors Program and British literature course who students from at least three ACTC schools at each event. explored the poetry from the perspectives of the music. Klemp says that the ACTC collaboration afforded valuable Davidson was thrilled with the impact of the Bolcom festival. opportunities for everyone involved. Students and faculty were “Rarely has an American composer been celebrated like this,” learners together as they worked with a master teacher. he says. “The festival has given our students extraordinary access Students became music professionals as they worked side-by- to Bill Bolcom, and will remain an important point of reference in side with their own teachers to prepare Bolcom’s music for their lives for years to come; there is no substitute for first-person master classes and performance. And, student and faculty experiences. Augsburg’s participation helped build deep and from the five colleges collaborated to sample a wide variety of lasting partnerships within the Twin Cities’ world-class arts the musical genres that make up this composer’s life work. community and a premier fine arts program at the College.” ■ The Bolcom festival and the ACTC grant also encouraged To read more about the Bolcom festival, go to students and faculty in disciplines outside of music to examine www.illuminatingbolcom.org. FALL 2007 21 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 24 Courtesy of Guyanese Outreach 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG substitute taught at vocational and technical schools, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial technical education at the University of Minnesota and securing a full-time teaching position in apparel arts at Minneapolis Technical College. During this time, she began to dream of going back home to help the Guyanese people living in poverty, a vision she planned to follow in her retirement. Singh’s life changed, however, with auto accidents that left her with long-term disabilities, unable to continue teaching. In 1993 she felt compelled to address the vision and answer the call. She made plans to return to Guyana, together with two of her sons—John, who graduated from Augsburg in 1983, and Earl. “As long as this is what I am called to do, they would support me,” she says. Guyanese Outreach Singh tells of feeling fearful that she had nothing to offer the Guyanese officials, whose help she needed to secure resources and locations for her work. founder Ruth Singh helps a child learn to read. Faith, vision, and a call to Guyana by Betsey Norgard Ruth Singh’s story is about paying attention to a vision. It’s about answering a call. And it’s about how life can bring this about unexpectedly. For the past 13 years, Singh has been responding to a call she received from the Lord to return to her native Guyana to help her home country meet its basic needs in poverty. As she has traveled back and forth in these years, the vision has been transformed from strictly 22 AUGSBURG NOW providing humanitarian relief to creating programs that help people escape systemic poverty through education. Singh first came to the U.S. from Guyana in 1957 with her husband, who was studying on a scholarship. She studied home economics at Augsburg, and has fond memories of Dean Gerda Mortensen’s days on campus. The Singhs returned to Guyana in 1960, but stayed only three years. When they came back to the Twin Cities in 1963, Singh concentrated on raising her four sons. In 1979, the Singhs divorced, and Ruth decided to return to school. With good skills in sewing and embroidery, she studied and “Lord,” she recalls praying, “address my fears … you could let me help You [in Guyana] by helping me walk boldly into those [government] offices.” Three months later, she had plans to teach women to sew. It was clear that she would not move to Guyana but keep her house in the Twin Cities and travel back and forth, so that she could collect shipments of materials to help meet basic needs in her home country. In 1995, her fledgling organization, Guyanese Outreach (GO), sent its first container of relief items—clothing, toys, medical and dental supplies, and other basic necessities. She recruited women for her sewing classes, with the initial meetings taking place in Hindu temples, and began teaching and sharing the gospel with them —without electricity, on pedal sewing machines, and with many women who couldn’t read or understand to sew with patterns. h d r s n m 11/20/07 7:21 PM Back home, GO found a home base at Brooklyn Park Lutheran Church, and partnered with several other congregations, including Hope Lutheran Church, to collect the materials and money to begin expanding their work. In 1997, GO secured an old building in Guyana, without roof, windows, or doors. Several spaghetti dinners later in Minnesota, they had raised funds to help repair and rehabilitate it as a vocational center. In the past decade, the work of Guyanese Outreach has exceeded all expectations. Beginning with sewing and computer classes in the two rooms at this building, they have added after-school reading programs, additional sewing and crafts classes for all ages, Internet access for the community, and a library of more than 6,000 books. In addition to teaching out of their Vo-Tech building, they arrange for a number of after-school satellite locations, mostly in churches. Page 25 warm milk and some snacks when they arrive. The program also gives monthly basic food staples to the families of participating children. A second primary-level program, TOPS, targets children who were not able to pass the Grade 6 exam. GO teaches them sewing and crafts to build their vocational skills and self confidence for making a good living. A future plan for GO is to address the special needs of these TOPS students and return them back to the normal track to receive their school diplomas. Teams of GO volunteers travel to Guyana for short terms, and recently more mission trips are being arranged, mostly through STEM (Short Term Evangelical Missions). GO also partners in-country with NGOs, and is working with both VSO and Peace Corps volunteers to set up classes, train teachers, and provide some management. Ruth Singh’s vision doesn't end here. GO's space and resources are now stretched to the limits, and for several years they have been negotiating with the government and searching for a new location. GO’s ongoing Gateway Project proposes a new 17,000 sq. ft. architectdesigned center that offers space for classes as well as for mission groups, and is just waiting for sufficient physical and fiscal resources. Guyanese Outreach 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG In the Twin Cities, Guyanese Outreach has a volunteer board, currently headed by Teacher Olivia Phillips’ after-school reading class at the Streams of Power Church John Olson. His first involvement always begins with a warm cup of milk. with GO was packing crates of supplies to send to Guyana. In the shift from humanitarian Computer classes teach the basics of Two years later, he joined the board, and relief to job training classes and teaching, now heads plans for the Gateway it is Singh's firm belief that “the way to help computer literacy to all ages, and Singh says there are few government offices there Project. On Oct. 7, a benefit concert this generation and future generations is that don't have workers who were past featuring Christian music group to help them through education.” students in GO’s computer classes. “downhere” was held. In 2005, after-school classes were One of GO’s newest programs teaches sex Singh continues to travel back and forth launched for primary students ages 6-11 education to teenagers, using the to Guyana, more and more frequently to build functional literacy through abstinence curriculum developed by Dr. dealing with various government offices reading, writing, and spelling. They focus James Dobson, in order to confront the high as their program expands—something on phonics, in cooperation with the local rates of HIV/AIDS, the highest in the Western that may now be easier than those first school system. The goal is to help students Hemisphere except for Haiti. offices she tried to boldly enter 13 succeed on the Grade 6 examination, years ago. thus enabling more children to enter the All of GO’s classes are offered at no cost to secondary level track rather than the participants, except for the higher level “We’re small,” she asserts, “but the fruits vocational education. So far the program computer classes, which have a very we yield are phenomenal.” ■ has served around 500 children, and modest fee. The only paid employees at continues to expand to other villages as GO are the local staff in Guyana. The funding becomes available. teachers, for the most part, are untrained in teaching. GO provides training in phonics, Since the children come at the end of reading, or their subject material, plus a their school day, often hungry, Singh small stipend. forged a partnership with Food for the Poor to provide the children a cup of FALL 2007 23 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 26 SOCIAL WORK for by Holley Locher, together with Michele Braley ’96 MSW and Nils Dybvig ’96 MSW SOCIAL justice a uthor Thomas Friedman coined the phrase, “the world is flat,” to describe the process by which society has become global and interdependent. In this context, social workers are obligated to address social injustices at every level and be culturally competent and responsive to people from all corners of the world. Two Minneapolis social workers have traveled many miles to do this. In 1996, after graduating from Augsburgs Master of Social Work program, husband and wife Nils Dybvig and Michele Braley quit their jobs, moved to the State of Washington, and decided they would quit their jobs again in 10 years. So, in September 2006 they took a year’s leave from their jobs and left for Barrancabermeja, Colombia, in the Magdalena Medio region of oil production, mining, and agriculture. 24 AUGSBURG NOW y r 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 27 They are volunteers with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an the role of U.S. tax dollars in Colombia and works through Congress organization that devotes the same amount of discipline and to convert this funding into social and economic development self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking as armies devote to funding. In June the U.S. House of Representatives passed a war. CPT places violence-reduction teams in crisis situations and revision to Plan Colombia that reduces military aid and increases militarized areas around the world. To date, Braley and Dybvig development aid; similar actions occurred in the Senate. have been working primarily in rural areas with Colombians who have been threatened with violence and feel more comfortable Braley and Dybvig spend their days attending meetings and with an international presence. And violence is definitely visiting with people in rural areas. For instance, Braley tells of one something that Colombians have lived with every day—for at weekend that she and her husband spent in a small community least 40 years. on the Opón River. In the early 1960s, amidst a climate of great social and economic “This is a community that was violently forced off their land several inequality, two left-wing guerrilla groups (the FARC and the ELN) years ago,” she says. “CPT was invited to Colombia to assist this formed, partly in response to the struggle for access to land rights community in returning. Currently, a team from CPT takes the two- on behalf of poor farmers. In the 1980s, large landowners and hour canoe ride to the community every week to spend time with drug traffickers privately funded paramilitary groups (still in the people. Most of the time is spent in people’s homes, but we existence) that oppose the guerrilla groups. While these also stop to talk to any armed groups in the area to let them know paramilitary groups often work in concert with the Colombian who we are, and to ask them to respect the rights of the local military, they are not officially affiliated with the government and people.” are, therefore, able to use aggressive—often horrifically cruel and violent—tactics. The paramilitaries are responsible for 70% of the The goal for a visit Dybvig made to an indigenous community was human rights violations against civilians. “to make them [the people] more visible by publicizing their struggles in an area that has a strong presence of both the FARC It is sad to note that many of the casualties in Colombia's war are and the paramilitaries.” not members of any armed group, but civilians. Guerrilla groups accuse civilians of collaborating with the Colombian military and On an 11-day trip in April, Braley and Dybvig traveled to Mina paramilitaries and vice versa. It is a vicious cycle that claims the Caribe, a rural mining village to bring an international presence to lives of nearly 3,000 Colombians each year. In the last 20 years, a five-day leadership training school, followed by a general over 3.6 million people have been forcibly displaced by violence assembly of more than 100 miners and farmers. Dybvig wrote, “we or the threat of it-more than in any other country of the world took a bus for three hours, then a taxi, then traveled an hour by except Sudan. boat, then another taxi, then two hours by four-wheel-drive truck, and finally three more hours by mule.” , The United Nations now calls the situation in Colombia the worst humanitarian catastrophe in our hemisphere. Through Plan When Army soldiers showed up as the assembly was to start, Colombia the U.S. has sent $4.7 billion to Colombia since 2000, tension increased. The local residents had already been victims to 80% of that as military aid. CPT works to educate others about harassment and detentions; and a mining federation leader had FALL 2007 25 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 28 Courtesy photos 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG Much of Braley's time is spent getting to know community members and attending their meetings, which often focus on health and economic issues. Michele Braley and Nils Dybvig apply their social work and peacemaking skills to support rural communities in Colombia threatened by the military presence and illegal armed groups. been killed earlier by the same battalion. Several hours of many death threats that the government was forced to drive discussions that CPT and other organizations had with the Army her around in an armored vehicle for her protection, as a human sergeant, plus calls from the government’s human rights rights issue. ombudswoman to the battalion’s commanding officer, finally resulted in orders for the Army to leave town. Braley believes they are immersed in “what I think is some valuable social justice work where we are definitely challenged Braley and Dybvig have noted many similarities between the to use our social work skills. … We are lucky to partner with great work they do in Colombia and social work in the U.S. They assert Colombian organizations, and it is interesting to learn how they that while the violence in Colombia is motivated by different provide social services to a rural population plagued by violence reasons and while community organizers risk their lives nearly and the legacy of 40 years of an armed conflict in this country.” every day to bring about change in their communities, some of the outcomes and struggles are analogous to those in “The work of CPT is very much in line with our social work values; Minneapolis. In one instance, after speaking with several young we work in communities where we are invited, and our presence men engaged in illegal fishing, Braley says “… these men allows others to make changes in their lives.” Braley says. “We reminded me so much of the men dealing drugs in Minneapolis. don’t come in with answers. And, we work to change policies in [They have] limited education, attraction to easy money, and our own country that are impacting the situation here.” the idea that their life could end by violence at any time. So why bother to play by the rules?” Dybvig and Braley were back in Minnesota for two months during the summer, but decided to spend one more year with They also see similar practices among women’s organizations in CPT and returned to Colombia in early September. both Colombia and the U.S. that move people from poverty to self-sufficiency. According to Braley, “To walk into their offices or To follow their work, go to www.nilsandmichele.blogspot.com. talk with their staff, you could not tell the difference from one of our programs in the U.S., if it weren’t for the language.” That is, Holley Locher is program coordinator in the Master of Social until she says that the director of the organization received so Work program. Michele Braley has served as an adjunct professor in the Social Work Department. 26 AUGSBURG NOW 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:21 PM Page 29 ALUMNI NEWS From the Alumni Board president … Greetings fellow Auggies, There is something special about fall. While during summer we typically take time away from school and work, fall is when we return to our routines and reconnect with friends and colleagues. And so it is with the Augsburg Alumni Board. We enter fall with high aspirations for achieving our strategic goals, which are primarily centered on making connections with various campus and affinity alumni groups, participating in campus events, and ensuring that we tell the stories of our alumni. In order to achieve these goals, we need your help! • Become an Alumni Board volunteer for special projects or participate in alumni-sponsored events • Talk to your Augsburg friends and classmates about getting involved in the greater alumni association • Nominate special alumni or friends of the College for Distinguished Alumni, First Decade, or Spirit of Augsburg awards • Participate in the Career Networking event with current students • Sign up for Augsburg’s online community at www.augsburg.edu/alumni • Become a member of the alumni association The alumni association is not just a group of people who sit on the board. It is about providing an avenue for expression of our gifts and talents. It is about making a difference and conducting “real work.” And, finally, it is about you! So, are you interested in reconnecting with old friends and making new ones? Do you need more information about what we are doing and where we are going? If so, contact Heidi Breen, at breen@augsburg.edu. Welcome! New members join Alumni Board At the June meeting of the Augsburg Alumni Board, Buffie Blesi ’90, ’97 MAL, began her term as president. The other officers are: Joyce Miller ’02, vice president; Carolyn Spargo ’80, secretary; Chad Darr ’04, treasurer; and Barry Vornbrock ’96 MAL, past president. Three new members joined the Alumni Board at this meeting: Daniel Hickle ’95 graduated with a major in journalism and a minor in economics. At Augsburg, he wrote for the Echo and interned with the Career Services Office, where he worked on a monthly newsletter for graduating seniors. He also worked off campus with autistic adults and children to help them develop socialization skills. Hickle owns and operates Fortis Agency, a full service insurance brokerage, in Brooklyn Park. On the Alumni Board, he would like to help further Augsburg’s mission in the community. Jim Kline ’01 MAL, served as a student representative on the Graduate School Committee. He received his bachelor’s degree from Southwest College in Winfield, Kan.; he is a retired Marine Corps colonel, and has 35 years of leadership and management experience. Kline is vice president of operations at SICO America Inc. in Minneapolis, and is responsible for the operations of three factories and product development. He is serving on the Alumni Board to show his support for liberal arts education. Lee Anne (Hanson) Lack ’67 had double majors in German and English. While attending Augsburg, she wrote for the Echo, sang in the Women’s Choir, was involved in theatre, and helped plan many events, including the Honors Day Assembly, Religious Emphasis Week, and the Spring arts event. Known as having a knack for making people laugh, she values diversity, justice, and kindness. Lack is an assistant financial associate in charge of financial products and service sales at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Golden Valley. On the Alumni Board, she wants to remain connected in a meaningful way and make a significant contribution to the school she loves. The mission of the Alumni Board is to support and serve Augsburg College in its stated mission and to actively promote involvement of alumni and their giving of time and resources to the College and the Alumni Association. Buffie Blesi ’90, ’97 MAL President, Augsburg Alumni Board FALL 2007 27 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:22 PM Page 30 ALUMNI NEWS Experience Spain and Portugal—March 2008 Visit Greece and Turkey—October 2008 You are invited to join an Augsburg alumni group to visit Portugal, Morocco, and Spain, from March 27–April 6, 2008. Alumni and friends are invited to join religion professors Phil Quanbeck II, accompanied by his wife, Augsburg regent Dr. Ruth Johnson, and Mark Tranvik for educational travel in October to the cradle of western civilization and early Christianity, Greece and Turkey. The 11-day tour begins and ends in Lisbon, Portugal, and includes two nights in Lisbon, two nights in Madrid, two nights in Tangier, two nights in Seville, and one night in Granada. All along the way stops will be made for site visits. The land portion of this trip is $1499 each based on double occupancy. A few single supplements are available for an additional $319. Airfare is additional, and can be booked by you or arranged for you. Current airfare with Trafalgar Air is approximately $995. For further information and a brochure, contact the alumni office with your name and address at alumni@augsburg.edu. To reserve a place on the tour, a $200 deposit is required; if you choose Trafalgar Air for your round-trip airfare, an additional $100 is needed. Reservations must be made by December 10 and space is limited. This tour is sponsored by Augsburg A-Club, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Augsburg. The tour begins in Istanbul, the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires and travels along the Aegean coastline to the port of Kusadasi. From there, a two-night cruise through the Greek islands of Patmos, Rhodes, and Santorini arrives in Athens. This study tour explores the history, culture, and legacy of the Greco-Roman world and cities associated with the Apostle Paul and the rise of early Christianity in the Greek and Roman context. The tour looks at the legacy of the Byzantine Empire and considers the rise of the Islamic empire of the Ottoman Turks, with some attention to modern Turkey. The tour concludes with Athens and Corinth, with a visit to the Parthenon on the Acropolis and Mars Hill. Granada, Spain Athens, Greece The tour includes visits to museums, open air archaeological sites, and modern cities, with expert local guides. The tour leaders provide lectures and insight from their previous travel in this region and their fields of study and expertise. For further information contact Phil Quanbeck II at 612-3301006 or quanbeck@augsburg.edu. Santorini, Greece 28 AUGSBURG NOW 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:22 PM Page 31 CLASS NOTES 1951 1981 1989 1994 Rev. Leonard E. Dalberg, Buellton, Calif., is a retired pastor and was named California’s Volunteer of the Year by the California Association of Homes and Services for the Aged. His wife, Annabelle (Hanson) ’52 continues to serve as church organist. She began playing the piano for Sunday School as a teenager 65 years ago. The photo shows them at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis in August 2006. Karla (Morken) Thompson, Pine Island, Minn., is a physical therapist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. In June 2007 she was certified as a clinical specialist in orthopaedic physical therapy and celebrated 26 years at Mayo Clinic. Her son, Danny, is an Augsburg sophomore. Jody K. Johnson earned a master’s degree in community counseling at University of Wisconsin-River Falls and works as a child protection social worker. She and her husband, Mike, have four children, ages 7 to 14. The two youngest are adopted from India and Korea and have special needs. Carley (Miller) Stuber, and her husband, William, Shakopee, Minn., welcomed the birth of their daughter, Carolyn Sophie, on March 30, pictured here with big sister Kirsten, 23 months. 1968 Gretchen (Strom) Schmidt, Ventura, Calif., has retired and began an 18-month road trip in July with her husband in their “fifth wheel.” At the end of the trip, they’ll settle in South Carolina. 1978 Julie Anne (Johnson) Westlund, Duluth, Minn., has been director of career services at the University of MinnesotaDuluth since 1988. This year she received the John Tate Award for Excellence in Advising from the University of Minnesota. jwestlund@umm.edu 1982 Laura (Lam) Redding, Samois-sur-Seine, France, has published Late Blossom, a chronicle of wartime Viet Nam, and a memoir of life, loss, and love. She is a refugee from Viet Nam, who graduated with a degree in business administration. Princeton University has identified Late Blossom as required reading for a new graduate course on the Viet Nam war era, and a university in Japan is also interested in using the book in their Southeast Asian Studies Department. In Paris, several book clubs have selected it for reading, and a French translation is expected soon. 1992 Heather (Wagner) Rand, Duluth, Minn., was a candidate for the District 3 Duluth City Council seat. She works as Duluth planning commissioner and chair of the citizen committee that developed the Duluth Comprehensive Land Use Plan. She is also a Duluth heritage preservation commissioner and a higher education commissioner. 1997 Paul Cicmil, Minneapolis, began in July as one of two undergraduate representatives (recruiters) for DeVry University in the Twin Cities at its Edina Center. Read more about Laura and Late Blossom at her blog, http://lauraonvietnam.blogspot.com Join the Augsburg Online Community • Keep in touch with classmates • Find out what’s happening on campus • Change/update your address and e-mail www.augsburg.edu/alumni FALL 2007 29 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:22 PM Page 32 CLASS NOTES Carolyn Herman ’05 and Tessa Flynn ’05 1998 2004 Jamie Larkin married Kelli Leick on Jan. 27, 2006; they live in White Bear Lake, Minn. On April 18, they welcomed the birth of their son, Jack Thomas. Kerry Lynn (Keller) married Cole Patrick Bryan ’03 on Aug. 25, 2006; and they live in St. Michael, Minn. Cole is in purchasing and sales with RoadRite Truck Sales. klkeller82@yahoo.com Carolyn Herman and Tessa Flynn, were honored June 22 by Admission Possible as the AmeriCorps Members of the Year at Admission Possible. AmeriCorps volunteers work with this program to help economically disadvantaged students gain college admission. Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak proclaimed June 22 as Carolyn Herman Day in Minneapolis, and June 24 as Tessa Flynn Day, for serving the citizens of Minneapolis admirably, with passion, pride, and unending commitment to [their high schools] and to [their] students. Herman worked at Patrick Henry High School and helped 34 seniors gain admission to college, and helped them raise nearly $175,000 in scholarships. Currently she is at the University of Hyderabad in India as a Rotary Ambassador Scholar studying literature. Flynn, worked at North High School and also helped 34 seniors gain admission to college, with nearly $250,000 in scholarships awarded. 1999 Rebecca Welle ‘04 and Laura Olson ‘89 Trudy Marie (Kueker) married Michael Howard on May 26, 2006; they live in Woodbury, Minn. She is an RN, CCRN for Healthways and Healtheast. tmhoward@mm.com 2000 Rev. Melissa (Moyle) Pohlman, Minneapolis, was one of the presiding ministers at the daily worship on Aug. 7 at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Chicago. She is the presiding minister at Christ English Church in Minneapolis. Rebecca Welle ’04 (left) and Laura (Henning) Olson ’89 (right) took a break from volunteering around the city with Meals-onWheels to visit the Auggieasaurus in Murphy Square. They both work at ING in downtown Minneapolis. Becky is also the women’s assistant cross country coach at Augsburg. 30 AUGSBURG NOW Harry Ford, Brooklyn Center, Minn., is director of Emerge Villages. Its program, Fathers and Children Together (FACT), which provides transitional housing for custodial fathers and their families, received a Family Strengthening Award from the United Neighborhood Centers of America/Annie E. Casey Foundation. A 2005 Y Sara Baufield ’05 married Justin Sorby on May 5 at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Wayzata, Minn. Sara is currently pursuing another bachelor’s degree in early childhood development at Minnesota State University-Mankato. Justin graduated in 2004 from North Dakota State University and works as a grain merchandiser for Archer Daniels Midland. They live in Mankato, Minn. 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:22 PM Page 33 2006 In Memoriam Emily Soeder, Washington, D.C., has been appointed an associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Speechwriting. For eight months, she worked for the assistant secretary in the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Education. During the summer she traveled to Haiti with a group working at an orphanage. Tungseth, Rev. Erling M. ’40, Cambridge, Minn., age 89, on July 21. Correction: In the summer issue’s note about Lauren Falk ’06 and her new business, Lauren B. Photography, her e-mail contact was omitted. You can reach her at laurenbfalk@aol.com. Waggoner, Sylvia (Haukeness) ’47, Seattle, Wash., on Oct. 3, 2006. Johnson, Wilgard “Will” ’57, Lexington, Ky., age 75, on July 25. Calderwood, David ’50, Birchwood, Minn., age 81, on Sept. 18, of cancer. SEND US YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to alumni@augsburg.edu. You can also submit news to the Augsburg Online Community at www.augsburg.edu/alumni. Full name Maiden name Schmidt, David Has ’85, Phoenix, Ariz, age 47, on Sept. 27. Class year or last year attended Street address City, State, Zip Is this a new address? ❑ Yes ❑ No Home telephone E-mail Okay to publish your e-mail address? ❑ Yes ❑ No Employer Position Work telephone Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? ❑ Yes ❑ No If yes, class year Spouse’s name Maiden name Your news: “Auggie is an action verb” t-shirts were worn by all first-year students on City Service Day. FALL 2007 31 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:22 PM Page 34 VIEWS Auggie women who participated in sports prior to 1988, when athletic letters were first awarded to women, were honored with framed “A” letters at an event in September that celebrated 35 years of varsity women’s athletics at Augsburg. A maroon-letter day for Auggie women athletes by Augsburg News Service and Betsey Norgard September 28 was a special day for 78 Auggie women who competed in sports at Augsburg prior to 1988, the year in which the first athletic letters were awarded to women. They finally received their letters as well. The dinner that evening celebrated 35 years of varsity women’s athletics at Augsburg, as well as the rich history of women’s athletics prior to the Title IX era. In 1972 Augsburg’s varsity women’s basketball and volleyball teams were started, along with gymnastics and tennis. The celebration event started in the LaVonne Johnson Peterson Health and Physical Education Center, named for “Mrs. Pete,” the longtime instructor, women’s athletic director, and coach of the famed “Auggiettes” basketball team of the mid-1950s. Following dinner, current female student-athletes led a Parade of Champions from Kennedy Center to Hoversten Chapel, accompanied by a brass band. In a ceremony there, the alumnae received framed maroon A’s and a place in Augsburg’s sports history. Though the varsity era of Auggie women’s athletics began in 1972, there have been women’s College dating to the mid-1920s. From the 1940s to the 1970s, there were numerous intramural sports sponsored for women, including the Auggiettes basketball team. They competed in the Minneapolis Park Board league and compiled a 125-5 record in 15 seasons from 1950 to 1965. At Homecoming in October, the unbeaten Auggiettes team of 1956-57, celebrating its 50th anniversary, was honored with induction as a group into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. In an article printed in the Star Tribune following the celebration event, assistant athletic director Marilyn Florian ’76 recounted how, on her first day of classes at Augsburg, she asked then-athletic director Joyce Pfaff ’65 when volleyball practice would begin, assuming there was a team. Florian said Pfaff then started and coached a team, learning the sport as she went. “She knew we had talent and desire,” Florian said. “We just needed the opportunity and we’re all grateful we got it.” This was a sentiment echoed throughout the evening’s athletic festivities. For more about women’s athletics, go to www.augsburg.edu/athletics. Current female student-athletes led a Parade of Champions from Kennedy Center to Hoversten Chapel, where the alumnae athletes were honored and awarded athletic letters. 32 AUGSBURG NOW 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:22 PM Page 35 CALENDAR For music information, call 612-330-1265 For theatre ticket information, call 612-330-1257 For art gallery information, call 612-330-1524 February 22–April 4 Augsburg Art Department Faculty Exhibition NOVEMBER Gage Family Art Gallery, Oren Gateway Center Reception: Friday, Feb. 22, 5– 7 p.m.  Artist talk: March, TBA November 30 Velkommen Jul Celebration 10:15 a.m.—Chapel Service, Hoversten Chapel 11 a.m.—Scandinavian treats and gifts, Christensen Center January 20 2008 Convocation Series 20th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, “Visions of a Just Society: Dr. King’s Legacy” 1 p.m., Hoversten Chapel November 30–December 1 That All May Have Light 28th Annual Advent Vespers: A service of music and liturgy 5 and 8 p.m. each night Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis For seating envelopes, 612-330-1265 JANUARY February 28-29 2008 Convocation Series FEBRUARY February 1-10 The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt; transl. by Maurice Valency Guest directed by Luverne Seifert ‘83 Feb. 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. Feb. 3 and 10 at 2 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater January 11–February 22 Contemporary Native American Art Christensen Center Art Gallery Artist reception: Friday, Jan. 18 Artist presentation: TBA January 16–February 1   Augsburg Art Club Exhibition Student Art Gallery, Christensen Center February 29–April 4 Kelly Connole, Where the Sky Meets the Earth Ceramic installation  Artist Reception: Friday, Feb. 29, 5:30–7:30 p.m.  Artist Presentation: TBA (group show) Gage Family Art Gallery, Oren Gateway Center Reception: Friday, Jan. 18 Artist talk: TBA Barbara Harman: Prints, MixedMedia Drawings, and Artist Books Batalden Seminar in Applied Ethics “Reinhold Niebuhr for the 21st Century” Rev. Robin Lovin, Cary McGuire University Professor of Ethics, Southern Methodist University Feb. 28—7:30 p.m., Hoversten Chapel Feb. 29—10 a.m., Hoversten Chapel February 15-16 2008 Convocation Series Dr. Ned Hallowell Feb. 15, “Worry” 3:30 p.m., Hoversten Chapel Feb. 16, “CrazyBusy” Noon, Hoversten Chapel MARCH March 11-14 The Exception and the Rule by Bertolt Brecht, transl. by Eric Bentley Guest directed by Warren C. Bowles March 11, 12, 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. Foss Studio Theater FALL 2007 705384_CATALOG:705384_CATALOG 11/20/07 7:22 PM Page 36 Our college in the city Augsburg has gone through dramatic changes over the past three years, including new turf on the football field and the addition of the Kennedy and Oren Gateway Center buildings, which have given the College a new look from the air. Photograph by Stephen Geffre. 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Minneapolis, MN Permit No. 2031
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Title: Augsburg Now Summer 2007
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:00 PM Page 1 Augsburg Now COMMENCEMENT 2007 INTERNATIONAL PHOTO CONTEST A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS SUMMER 2007 VOL. 69, NO. 4 Diggin’ Dinos in Murphy Square page 6 P. 4 P. 7 703724-Pages 1-12, 17...
Show more 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:00 PM Page 1 Augsburg Now COMMENCEMENT 2007 INTERNATIONAL PHOTO CONTEST A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS SUMMER 2007 VOL. 69, NO. 4 Diggin’ Dinos in Murphy Square page 6 P. 4 P. 7 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:00 PM Page 2 Editor Betsey Norgard norgard@augsburg.edu Notes from President Pribbenow on… Staff Writer Bethany Bierman bierman@augsburg.edu Design Manager Kathy Rumpza rumpza@augsburg.edu Class Notes Designer Students at the center of our lives I t is the end of July as I pen these Notes for the summer 2007 issue of Augsburg Now, and we have just concluded our summer orientation for more than 400 incoming first-year students, the Class of 2011. I am as energized as always by the sense of wonder and hope that comes with an incoming class of college students! At the other end of the continuum, you will find in the following pages the stories and images of our two 2007 Commencement ceremonies—the first early in May for our day undergraduates and our physician assistant graduate students; the second late in June for our weekend undergraduates and the other five graduate programs (nursing, social work, education, leadership, and business administration). All combined, we graduated more than 900 new Auggie alums this spring—what grand celebrations we enjoyed! I have been thinking a lot about this continuum of student experiences—and have enjoyed some rich and important conversations the past several months with the Augsburg community about how we might better honor the centrality of students to our life as a college. It is, above all, about the promise we make to our students. Let’s call it the Augsburg Promise. As students come to us, no matter their prior experience or background, we regard them as: Photographer As they enter the College—as undergraduates or graduate students—we engage them in missionbased academic and social experiences that prepare them for meaningful work and service in the world. In the classroom, on the playing fields, in the residence halls, on stage, and in the neighborhood, students enter a teaching and learning community that prepares them to make a living and to make a life in the world. And as they leave us, our students remain at the center of our lives as graduates whose lives and work are emblems of this college’s aspirations and commitments. We expect them to have gained an informed vision of the world, focused on discovery and appreciating difference. We prepare them for intelligent understanding, full of curiosity and a commitment to dialogue. And we offer them remarkable opportunities for relevant experience, learning to apply what they have learned and lead others. Students are at the center of our lives. There is no more energizing and engaging work. And there are few places that do it as well as Augsburg College. It is the Augsburg Promise, a promise we strive to keep each and every day. Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Faithfully yours, Send address corrections to: Advancement Services, CB 142, Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu • Gifted—a gift to us and the world, to be cared for, educated, and nurtured, • Called—on a vocational path that we will help them discern and navigate, • Accountable—persons of responsibility and integrity. Signe Peterson petersos@augsburg.edu Media Relations Manager Judy Petree petree@augsburg.edu Sports Information Director Don Stoner stoner@augsburg.edu Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communication David Warch warch@augsburg.edu Director of Alumni Relations Heidi Breen breen@augsburg.edu www.augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 Paul C. Pribbenow, president E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:01 PM Page 3 Summer 2007 4 Contents Features 4 2007 International Programs Photo Contest Selected winners of the seventh annual student photo contest for international study programs showcase the experiences of students abroad. 6 An “Auggieasaurus” in Murphy Square by Betsey Norgard 7 Senior Jen Janda created the “Auggieasaurus” as Augsburg’s entry in the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Diggin’ Dinos project. 7 Commencement 2007—May Nearly 400 students in undergraduate semester programs and the Physician Assistant program received their diplomas in May. 10 Commencement 2007—June In the College’s first Commencement focused on programs in the trimester schedule, undergraduate and graduate students who studied on weekends and evenings received their degrees. Departments 10 On the Cover: “Auggieasaurus” is one of about 50 dinosaur statues decorated and displayed by local businesses and organizations as part of the Science Museum’s 100th-year anniversary project, Diggin’ Dinos. Studio art major Jen Janda created Augsburg’s entry. 2 3 13 inside back cover Around the Quad Supporting Augsburg Alumni News Calendar All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:01 PM Page 4 AROUND THE QUAD NOTEWORTHY Social Work Student of the Year Lisa Luinenburg ’07 was named Social Work Student of the Year by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for her “outstanding scholarship and service to the community.” She graduated in May with double majors in social work and international relations. Physician Assistant program earns national award Augsburg’s Physician Assistant program was recently awarded the 2007 American Academy of Physician Assistants’ Constituent Organization Award of Achievement for a high school curriculum project developed in 2005. With the help of the Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants (MAPA), the PA faculty developed a program to educate high school students about the role of a PA, increase the diversity among PA providers, and provide health education and hands-on learning. In May 2006 and 2007, Augsburg hosted high school groups on campus who participated in interactive educational activities on how diseases, specifically HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, can spread, as well as how to administer a neurological exam and take blood pressures. Current PA students and recent graduates helped with the teaching. 2 AUGSBURG NOW Nou Chang ’09 joins Minnesota’s Future Doctors Junior Nou Chang participated this summer in Minnesota’s Future Doctors, a program to explore the medical profession that is sponsored by the University of Minnesota and Mayo Medical School. Over three summers, it aims to increase the number of Minnesota minority, immigrant, and rural physicians by helping these students develop academic skills, an understanding of medicine, and an appreciation for serving in an underserved community. Chang, a biology and English major with a religion minor, immigrated with her family to Rochester, Minn., from Thailand in 1988. She also is the recipient of a Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation Scholarship that awards potential student leaders who intend to dedicate a portion of their lives to community service. She works with homeless Hmong refugee children, ages 612, in partnership with the Southeast Asian Community Council, and hopes to create a center where the homeless children can participate in culturally-based programs. Rick Thoni retires as WEC celebrates 25 years As Weekend College celebrated 25 years in May, the program’s founder, Rick Thoni, prepared to retire from the College in June, after 35 years of service. Mia Bothun, WEC student body president, spoke at the 25th anniversary celebration on behalf of WEC students, urging them to become more involved in building greater community. Rick Thoni, with his wife, Linda, listened as President Pribbenow announced the creation of the Richard J. Thoni Award for a graduating WEC student that Thoni joined Augsburg in 1972 as a part-time psychology professor and counselor in the Student Affairs Office and went on to fill such roles as associate dean of students, acting vice president of student affairs, vice president for research and development, director of Weekend College, and vice president for enrollment management. On May 17, students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Weekend College gathered to look back on a quarter century. President Pribbenow commented that the number of stories from faculty and staff of being asked to help students get an education clearly demonstrates the organic nature of how WEC grew, beginning with the student at the center. He also commented on the commitment of Rick Thoni and others in WEC who didn’t merely launch the program, but threw themselves into the work of meeting students’ needs. would honor him “in an abiding way.” Don Gustafson, professor of history, applauded WEC students and described the rewards of teaching in WEC—meeting students who bring different experiences, perspectives, and commitment to class. In Thoni’s honor, President Pribbenow announced the creation of the Richard J. Thoni Award, which will be given annually to a graduating WEC student whose actions, commitments, and future aspirations most profoundly demonstrate a commitment to Augsburg’s motto, “Education for Service.” 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:01 PM Page 5 SUPPORTING AUGSBURG The Kennedy Center— filled with Auggie spirit On May 4, the dedication of the Kennedy Center, the three-story addition to Melby Hall, brought together Augsburg alumni, donors, regents, faculty, staff, and students in celebration of Augsburg athletics, fitness, and health and physical education. Greco-wrestling champion Alan Rice President Pribbenow expressed gratitude to was greeted by President Pribbenow the family of former regent James Haglund in front of the Alan and Gloria Rice and his wife, Kathleen, whose gifts provided Wrestling Center, a state-of-the-art the spacious, new fitness center bearing their training facility for Augsburg’s family name. championship team and GrecoRoman wrestling. President Pribbenow (second from left), together with President Emeritus William Frame (left) and lead donors Dean ‘75 and Terry Kennedy, cut the ribbon to showcase the new training, fitness, locker, classroom, and hospitality facilities. The Lute Olson Hall of Champions highlights and celebrates the accomplishments of The open entryway provided a great gathering place for the many Auggie student-athletes across 18 men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports. the Augsburg community to celebrate the dedication. SUMMER 2007 3 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:01 PM Page 6 2007 International Programs Photo Contest FIRST PLACE “Mysterious Ireland” Anthony Porter ‘07, Wicklow, Ireland SECOND PLACE “Cliffside: Bonsai Overlooking Tea Hills” Ryan Treptow ‘07, Munnar, Kerala, India THIRD PLACE “Beneath African Skies” Krista Costin ‘08, Ada-Foah, Ghana LANDSCAPE 4 AUGSBURG NOW HONORABLE MENTION “Eiffel Tower“ Laura Henry ‘07, Paris, France 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:01 PM Page 7 PHOTOJOURNALISM SECOND PLACE “Untitled” Jennifer Oliver ‘07, Chiang Mai, Thailand FIRST PLACE AND BEST IN SHOW “Pilgrims and Three Oceans Converge at Sunrise” Ryan Treptow ‘07, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India THIRD PLACE PORTRAITS “The Boat Keeper” Allison Hutterer ‘07, Rabat, Morocco SECOND PLACE “Lumbini Woman” Ryan Treptow ‘07, Bijapur, Northern Karnataka, India FIRST PLACE “Las Hermanitas” (“The Little Sisters”) Megan Schiller ‘07, San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala SUMMER 2007 5 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 A 8/22/07 11:02 PM ugsburg senior Jen Janda has been “Diggin’ Dinos” this summer—not on an archeological dig in Egypt, but in downtown St. Paul. It’s part of the “Diggin’ Dinos” summer celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of the Science Museum of Minnesota. Beginning Memorial Day weekend, 53 dinosaurs were placed around the streets of St. Paul, mostly downtown, and seven in the parks of Minneapolis as part of their 150th anniversary celebration. Much like the Snoopy statues a few years ago, these dinosaurs have been painted by local artists. Until Labor Day, Janda’s 4.5 feet tall by 8 feet long, 80 lb. dinosaur will live in Murphy Square, Minneapolis’s oldest park, located in the heart of Augsburg’s campus. When the College joined the project, Janda was selected as Augsburg’s designer by the art faculty. In keeping with the overall theme, she named the dinosaur “Auggieasaurus.” All the statues were painted during the Diggin’ Dinos Paint-Off at RiverCentre in St. Paul, just before Memorial Day weekend. “My idea for the Auggieasaurus was to incorporate Murphy Square’s history into a ‘map’ of the various activities that go on in the Page 8 park each spring and fall because of its location in Augsburg College’s campus,” Janda says. Around the base of the statue, she inscribed: Murphy Square Celebrating 150 Years, 1857-2007 “From cow pasture to community center” The Dinosaur of Minneapolis Parks The activities she depicts on the Auggieasaurus are: • Runners—The Auggie cross-country team runs around Murphy Square every fall. • A biker—Minneapolis has many biking commuters who travel through the park area every day. • A picnic scene • A student reading Murphy Square, the College’s literary and arts journal • Kayaks, representing Minnesotans’ love of the outdoors The four legs of the Auggieasaurus are designed to represent the Minneapolis skyline, Augsburg campus, Seward neighborhood, and the University of Minnesota. On Sept. 9, all the statues will be auctioned off to benefit the work of the Science Museum of Minnesota in its next century. Janda is a senior in the Honors Program, with an art studio major. During the summer she is working on a project to illustrate a book for children in hospitals to help them understand medical treatments and surgery. She also works as a graphic designer in the Marketing and Communication Office. • A Somali family, representing the rich cultural diversity of our neighborhood • Frisbee players • The Campus Kitchen van that delivers meals in the neighborhood A S U R A U E I S an G G AU lives in murphy square by Betsey Norgard and Judy Petree page design by Jen Janda ’08 A Paint-Off took place in downtown St. Paul as local artists created dinosaurs to be placed around the city, all in honor of the Science 6 AUGSBURG NOW Museum of Minnesota. 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:02 PM Page 9 traditional day undergraduates and master’s program in physician assistant studies commencement Jeanette Clark receives Marina Christensen Justice Award Jeanette Clark, a senior graduating with a double major in metrourban studies and youth and family ministry, was selected as the 2007 recipient of the Marina Christensen Justice Award. Each year, this honor is presented to the graduating senior who best exemplifies Augsburg’s motto, “Education for Service.” Clark, a President’s Scholar, participated in the Honors Program as well as Concert Band. At Augsburg, she held numerous leadership roles, including serving as a campus ministry commissioner, resident adviser, and leadership team member for the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College. As a Spanish minor, Clark spent a semester in Cuernavaca, Mexico, through Augsburg’s Center for Global Education, where she worked for a pre-school and after-school program. This past year, Clark created a spring break opportunity for students staying in Minneapolis, called “Go Away Here.” In order to show students opportunities in the city, it included service projects, visits to neighborhood organizations such as the Sierra Club and East African Women’s Center, and social outings. The award recipient must have demonstrated a dedication to community involvement as characterized by the personal and professional life of Marina Christensen Justice, who reached out to disadvantaged people and communities. — Jen Winter ’07 Senior Jeanette Clark was honored with the Marina Christensen Justice award from President Pribbenow for her work in the community and on campus. May 2007 SUMMER 2007 7 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:04 PM Page 10 Eboo Patel, founder of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, in his Commencement speech, described the “faith line” that separates religious pluralists, who seek tolerance and cooperation, from the religious totalitarians. excerpts from the commencement address “The Faith Line: On Building the Cathedrals of Pluralism” Eboo Patel … In his new book, Peace Be upon You, Zachary Karabell writes: “If we emphasize hate, scorn, war, and conquest, we are unlikely to perceive that any other path is viable … ”. Hate, scorn, war, and conquest sounds like a pretty good summary of our newscasts; it certainly seems like the dominant narrative of our times. And the soundtrack of violence these days appears to be prayer—in Arabic, in Hebrew, in Hindi, in various inflections of English. There are many who are eager to divide humanity along a faith line: Sunnis vs. Shias, Catholics vs. Protestants, Hindus vs. Buddhists. I believe there is something else going on. I believe that the faith line is indeed the challenge of our century, but it does not divide people of different religious backgrounds. The faith line does not separate Muslims and Christians or Hindus and Jews. The faith line separates religious totalitarians and religious pluralists. A religious totalitarian is someone who seeks to suffocate those who are different. Their weapons range from suicide bombs to media empires. There are Christian totalitarians and Hindu totalitarians and Jewish totalitarians and Muslim totalitarians. They are on the same side of the faith line: arm in arm against the dream of a common life together. A pluralist is someone who seeks to live with people who are different, be enriched by them, help them thrive. Pluralists resonate with the Qur’annic line, “God made us different nations and tribes that we may come to know one another.” Pluralists are moved by the image of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. marching together with the Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in Selma. Pluralists love the words of the poet Gwendolyn Brooks: We are each other’s business We are each other’s harvest We are each other’s magnitude and bond… We pluralists far outnumber the totalitarians. What if we let ourselves imagine? What if we began building? What if every city block were a cathedral of pluralism; every university campus; every summer camp and day care. There would not be enough bombs in the world to destroy all of our cathedrals. Read the full Commencement Address at www.augsburg.edu/commencement/ patel.pdf President Emeritus Charles S. Anderson (right), who led the College from 1980-1997 during a period of significant growth, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Maria Belen Power is the third in her family to graduate from Augsburg. She poses here with sister and brother Ana Gabriela ’05 and Camilo Jose ’02, and their uncle, Dennis Power, from White Plains, N.Y. The three grads are from Managua, Nicaragua, where their mother, Kathleen McBride, is the Center for Global Education regional co-director for Central America and adjunct professor. 8 AUGSBURG NOW 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:05 PM Page 11 As the graduates process down the street lined with faculty, hands are shaken, hugs exchanged, and high-fives given. m” Theatre arts professors Darcey Engen ’88 Physician Assistant program director Dawn (second from left) and Martha Johnson (second Ludwig places the master’s hood on Huong from right) pose with grads James Lekatz (left) Timp, one of the 31 newly-graduated PA and Justin Hooper (right). students. President Emeritus William V. Frame, who retired last year from Augsburg, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and was lauded for his work in sharpening the mission of the College. SUMMER 2007 9 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:05 PM Page 12 The flags of the Commencement procession represent the countries of Augsburg’s graduating students. A I t e t w s h i w f t t w e p T r b a 2007 weekend, evening, and graduate programs commencement Faculty line both sides of the street as graduates march through them on their way to the ceremony. June Nursing Department chair Cheryl Leuning takes a photo of instructor Pauline Utesch ’05 MAN (right) with graduates in the Bachelor of Science nursing completion degree program. Roberta Kagin, associate professor and director of the music therapy program, shares a graduation moment with her daughter, Julia (Metzler) Mensing ‘00, who serves on Augsburg’s Alumni Board and received her 10 AUGSBURG NOW MBA degree. a d i a w s e e 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:05 PM Page 13 Angela Brand receives first Richard J. Thoni Award In honor of his retirement from Augsburg, the Richard J. Thoni Award was established earlier this year. It was awarded for the first time on June 24 to Angela Brand, a social work major. Beyond the required 240 hours of public service volunteer work Brand completed for her major, she also provided parenting instruction and visitation supervision to a working mother in Chisago County. She facilitated and organized meetings to ensure that the transportation needs of clients at the Chisago County Social Services office were met. Additionally, Brand developed an evaluation of the youth-oriented services provided by Chisago County Social Services. The county is currently following up on her recommendations to ensure that youth are better prepared for their transition into adulthood. During his or her time at Augsburg, the award recipient must have demonstrated a dedication to the kind of community involvement characterized by the personal and professional life of Richard J. Thoni, who until his retirement in June 2007, served as a tireless advocate for higher education at Augsburg. — Jen Winter ’07 Social work major Angela Brand is the first recipient of the Richard J. Thoni Award, established in honor of the retiring Weekend College founder and given to a weekend student committed to service in the community. Dean Barbara Edwards Farley places a doctoral hood on Srividya Raman, who received her master’s Martin Marty, retired University of Chicago professor and degree in social work, spoke on behalf of the historian of religion, who was awarded an honorary Doctor Class of 2007 and told how, after receiving a of Humane Letters degree. In his Commencement speech, business degree in India, she realized her he gave suggestions about learning to live life as a process, passion was in “doing something different that not a product, continually questioning and testing. was closer to [her] heart.” A future college coed straightens the tassel of her mom’s mortar board following Commencement. More than 50 graduating students and their families from Rochester were able to leave the driving to Augsburg and relax on their way to and from the Commencement ceremony. SUMMER 2007 11 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:05 PM Page 14 Going to college with your mom With more classes than ever offered in Weekend College, more students are finding out what it’s like to attend college with their parents. The Clark and the Spargo families are two who have had more than one generation attend Augsburg simultaneously. Jeanette Clark and her mother, Mary Simonson Clark, both graduated in the spring. The Spargos have three family members graduating from Augsburg this year and next. According to Clark, “Augsburg’s graduate programs and Weekend College facilitate adult learning and, therefore, increase the prevalence of multi-generational students in families.” The Clark family went through four commencements this past spring. There were so many that Mary referred to their graduation schedule as: “It’s a weekend, who needs a robe?” Jeanette graduated from Augsburg with a Bachelor of Arts degree in youth and family ministry and metro-urban studies on May 5. Mary graduated from Luther Seminary with a Master of Arts in theology on May 27. Mary’s other daughter, Marie, graduated from the New School of Architecture and Design in San Diego, Calif., with a Master of Architecture on June 16, and Mary received the other half of her dual degree, a Master of Social Work, from Augsburg, on June 24. Concerning being coeds together, Mary said, “I needed to learn how to be on the same campus with my daughter without either of us interfering with each other’s schedules.” Jeanette added, “To be honest, I had some small anxieties when my mother started college at Augsburg. It just doesn’t fit the norm to go to college with your mother.” But both assert that not only did it work, but that the family grew closer because of it. Jeanette claimed, “I think it was really good for both of us to have others in our family who were going through the stress of homework, tests, etc. at the same time. I think this really promoted understanding.” Jeanette Clark (left) who graduated in May, shares graduation joy with her mother, Mary Simonson Clark, who completed dual master’s degrees at Luther Seminary and Augsburg College. For more on Jeanette, see page 7. The Spargos had three members attending Augsburg last year, and all three participated in Advent Vespers. Antonio graduated in May with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and secondary education. Carolyn, mother to Annika and Antonio, graduated from Augsburg in 1980 and will complete the Master of Arts in Leadership program next year. She says, “It’s been fun to have some of the same professors my kids have.” Annika, who will graduate next year also, with a Bachelor of Arts in music and education, adds, “Although there are several of us on campus, we all have our separate programs which allow us to maintain some individuality.” Continuing, she says, “I think the neatest thing about being a family of Auggies is that I have seen and met so many different people from different departments at the school whom I normally would not know.” — Jen Winter ’07 the class of 2007—956 graduates May 5, 2007—semester programs 31 Master of Science, Physician Assistant Studies students 409 Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science 440 Total graduating June 24, 2007—trimester programs 234 Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science 172 Weekend College 52 Rochester 10 United/Unity/Mercy Hospitals 20 Master of Arts, Education 26 Master of Arts, Leadership 15 Master of Arts, Nursing 178 Master of Business Administration 43 Master of Social Work 516 Total graduating An MBA degree was also awarded posthumously to Shika Addo, a student in the program, who died in April 2006. 12 AUGSBURG NOW ALUMNI NEWS From the Alumni Board president … Greetings fellow Auggies, Well, a year has come and gone. My time as president of the Alumni Association is at an end. My hat is off to all the wonderful folks on the Alumni Board and to the faculty and staff at Augsburg. They’re a great group dedicated to Augsburg and her mission. As I handed off the president’s role to Buffie Blesi, we had a great strategic planning retreat in June to define our new objectives. I’m excited to report to you that our focus areas for 2007 include: • Augsburg Stewards—Connect with the Augsburg Stewards and build our Auggie Pride! • Career Development Program—support Augsburg’s efforts around Career Development for (soon to be) alumni; • Gateway—participate in the opening of the Oren Gateway Center and ongoing activities there • Vespers—support the annual Advent Vespers programming • Awards Committee—honor Auggies each year who have done amazing things in service to the world and Augsburg’s mission • Augsburg Now Advisory Committee—provide input and advice to the great group of folks producing the Augsburg Now • Affinity Groups—build connections with other groups at Augsburg • Fundraising—help build Augsburg’s strength through support of the Annual Fund Centennial Singers perform in the Twin Cities The Centennial Singers, a male chorus of Augsburg alumni and friends, will present a series of concerts this fall in the greater Twin Cities area. The chorus was formed in the early 1990s of former Augsburg Quartet members to revive and continue singing the gospel quartet tradition. Since then, they have toured both to Norway and the Southwest U.S. twice. Fall Concerts/Appearances: Fri., Sept. 28, 7 p.m. Faith Lutheran Church, Staples, Minn. Sat., Sept. 29, 7 p.m. Salem Lutheran Church, Deerwood, Minn. Sun., Sept. 30, 4 p.m. Cambridge Lutheran Church, Cambridge, Minn. Sat., Oct. 6, 7 p.m. Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1900 7th St., New Brighton, Minn. Sat., Oct. 20, 7 p.m. Calvary Lutheran Church of Golden Valley,\ 7520 Golden Valley Rd., Golden Valley, Minn. Benefit—Wilderness Canoe Base Sun., Oct. 21, 4 p.m. Colonial Church of Edina, 6200 Colonial Way, Edina, Minn. Sat., Oct. 27, 7 p.m. Community of the Cross Lutheran Church, 10701 Bloomington Ferry Rd., Bloomington, Minn. Sun., Oct. 28, 4 p.m. King of Kings Lutheran Church, 1583 Radio Dr., Woodbury, Minn. Sat., Nov. 3, 7 p.m. Minnetonka Lutheran Church, 16023 Minnetonka Blvd., Minnetonka, Minn. Sun, Nov. 4, 4 p.m. St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, 9201 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington, Minn. You are invited and encouraged to participate. Please contact the Alumni Relations office. All my best to you and your family as the cycle turns and we start another year. Barry M. Vornbrock ’96 MAL President, Alumni Board, 2006-07 SUMMER 2007 13 CLASS NOTES 1950 1969 Frank Ario, Minneapolis, was featured on the Minnesota Public Radio show, Midday on May 18, in a program, “Two Minnesotans Touched by WWII; Two Strikingly Different Stories.” Royce Helmbrecht, Austin, Minn., is principal at Lyle Community School in Lyle, Minn., a small school of 240 students recently named by Newsweek in the top five percent of high schools in the nation. 1952 Robert R. Hage Sr., Hector, Minn., was entered into the Minnesota High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame on April 21. He is the former football coach at Hector High School. Rev. Orville Olson and his wife, Yvonne (Bagley), Excelsior, Minn., celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination. He is currently a pastor at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Excelsior. Gifts will be given to the Timothy Olson Memorial Scholarship, honoring their son. John R. Hubbling, St. Paul, Minn., received the Max Hecht Award from ASTM International Committee D19 on Water. The committee cited Hubbling for his outstanding service and advancing the study of water. He is laboratory manager for Metropolitan Council/ Environmental Services in St. Paul, and also serves on ASTM International’s international committees on waste management, and quality and standards. 1970 1967 Gerrie Wall (Neff), Rapid City, S. Dak., retired in May, after a five-decade teaching career, from Western Dakota Technical Institute (WDTI) in Rapid City, where she has taught in the general education department for the last 18 years. At this year’s commencement ceremony, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the school, and is the first faculty member to be honored with its highest award. Mary (Tweeten) Gladwin, Pocatello, Idaho, has retired after 21 years in education. She taught in Cottage Grove, Minn., and was the media specialist at Grace Lutheran and Hawthorne Middle School in Pocatello, Idaho. physical education and aquatics in the Glynn County (Ga.) schools. She was also principal horn with the Coastal Symphony of Georgia and played in other bands and small brass groups. At Augsburg, she played in a brass group named Neophonic Brass with Mike Savold, Bob Stacke, Johnny English, and others, and would love to continue playing brass music. 1982 Les Heen, Maynard, Minn., was recently appointed president and general manager of Pioneer Public Television in Appleton. He and his wife, Barbara (Westerlund) ’89, have two children, Chris, 9, and Erik, 6. Barbara (Mattison) Lagrue, Lamberton, Minn., has recently moved back to the Midwest, with her husband, Paul. For many years, she taught adaptive 14 AUGSBURG NOW John Sheehan, Lakeville, Minn., has been named boys varsity basketball head coach in Lakeville South High School. For seven years he was an assistant coach with the Lakeville North girls team. 1997 Jasmina Besirevic-Regan, Hamden, Conn., and her husband, Matt, welcomed their second daughter, Lejla, on June 14, 2006. Rev. Scott M. Ludford, Hayward, Wis., was installed as senior pastor of First Lutheran Church on January 21, after serving at Concordia Lutheran Church in Superior, Wis., for eight-and-ahalf years. 1987 Jody Abbott was recently named senior vice president and chief operating officer at North Kansas City (Mo.) Hospital to provide direction for upper management in the areas of nursing services, support services, and facilities. Previously, she worked at Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla., in a similar position. 1992 1975 1993 Rev. Judith Bangsund, San Jose, Calif., is pastor, along with her husband, Rev. James Bangsund, at Timothy’s Lutheran Church. She graduated in nursing, served with her husband in Tanzania for several years, and became ordained. Join the Augsburg Online Community • Keep in touch with classmates • Find out what’s happening on campus • Change/update your address and e-mail www.augsburg.edu/alumni CLASS NOTES 1999 Cheri Johnson, Minneapolis, received a $25,000 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers, through the Loft Literary Center, in creative prose. She has graduate degrees in English from Hollins College and the University of Minnesota and is a regular participant in the English Department Homecoming Reading and Career Night. 2000 Sara M. Quigley, St. Paul, Minn., graduated on May 27 from Luther Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree. She is the youth director at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake, Minn., and hopes to become ordained in the ELCA. Jennifer Rensenbrink, and her husband, Adam Miller, Minneapolis, welcomed twins, a boy and a girl, at Fairview Riverside Hospital on June 9. Rowan Charles weighed 5 lbs., 2 oz.; and Anneke Rensenbrink weighed 4 lbs., 14 oz. certified nursing assistant/ environmental aide at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina, Minn. 2003 Natalia Pretelt, Roseville, Minn., was mentioned in the Money and Business section of the Star Tribune on April 15 for her role as a loan specialist with the Minneapolis Consortium of Community Developers. She is involved in microlending and small loans to help immigrants and others start businesses. Jonathan Fahler, has studied since 2004 in the Master of Arts in Medical Sciences program at Loyola University Chicago and was recently admitted to medical school at Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. John Tieben, St. Louis Park, Minn., received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota on May 4. Tieben and his wife, Danielle (Slack) ’04, will live in Duluth, where he will serve a three-year family practice residency in the St. Mary’s/Duluth Clinic Health System, St. Luke’s Hospital, and the Duluth Family Practice Center. Options, a volunteer mentoring program that connects with atrisk kids, ages 10-14, in the Twin Cities through biking and running. See blog photos at bolderoptions.org. 2005 Brooke Dornbusch received a Master of Arts in counseling degree in May from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Mo. Mark Simmonds, placed fourth in the 120-kilogram GrecoRoman class at the 2007 USA Wrestling Senior World Team Trials. He is a damage controlman third class (DC3) in the U.S. Navy, operating out of the Mayport, Fla., Naval Station and is a member of the Navy’s wrestling team. 2006 Lauren Falk, Eden Prairie, Minn., has started her own portrait/wedding photography business, Lauren B. Photography, with on-location photography of weddings, portraits, and events in the Twin Cities metro area. Graduate Programs Jeff Falkingham ’95 MAL, Eden Prairie, Minn., donated his services to author a 2007 commemorative edition of his earlier book, The County Courthouse Caper, recounting the history of his native Browns Valley, Minn. The publisher, Beaver’s Pond Press, has donated 1000 copies for the city to sell as a fundraiser for its Long-Term Flood Recovery Fund. Dietrich-Swanson Wedding 2004 2001 Emily Waldon, Salem, Mass., recently joined the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates at its Cambridge internal medicine practice as a physician assistant. She received a master’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston. Formerly she was a Max Langaard, Oakland, Calif., was recently featured in an article titled, “Teaching Leadership through Coaching.” The article is focused on the Sports-4-Kids program centered in the Bay area inner city schools. The program attempts to help children become not only healthier but also to learn what it takes to lead. Laura Simones, St. Paul, has biked from Boulder, Colo., to Minneapolis with Bolder Hannah Dietrich and Nathan Swanson ’05,, Lincoln, Neb., were married on June 8, in Luverne, Minn. The wedding included several Auggie students and staff, including Sadie Dietrich ’09, Lynde Kuipers ’08, cross-country and track coach Dennis Barker, Marcia Gunz ’05, Anna (Ferguson) Rendell ’05, Kyla Rice ’05, Tim Stowe, and Janeece (Adams) Oatmann ’05. Jeremiah Knabe ’05 also served as an officiant at the wedding. Hannah is a doctoral student at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and Nathan is pursuing a job with Lincoln Public Schools. SUMMER 2007 15 CLASS NOTES SEND US YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to alumni@augsburg.edu. You can also submit news to the Augsburg Online Community at www.augsburg.edu/alumni. Full name Maiden name Class year or last year attended Street address City, State, Zip In Memoriam Larsen, Norman ’34, Morristown, Minn., age 97, on June 12. He was a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame. Woolson, Gladys (Oudal) ’34, Minneapolis, age 92, on May 9. Knudsen, Rev. Richard I. ’37 Sem, Minneapolis, age 95, on July 10. Gilseth, Margaret (Chrislock) ’40, St. Charles, Minn., age 88, on June 10. She was a Distinguished Alumna. Framstad, Rev. Waldemar ’41, Marinette, Wis., age 87, on June 14, after a lengthy illness. Ahlberg, Rev. G. Harold ’42, Valparaiso, Ind., age 86, on June 4. Is this a new address? ❑ Yes ❑ No Home telephone Stolee, Magdalene (Gronseth) ’42, Kenyon, Minn., age 87, on June 11. E-mail Okay to publish your e-mail address? ❑ Yes ❑ No Employer Position Work telephone Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? ❑ Yes ❑ No If yes, class year Spouse’s name Maiden name Your news: 16 AUGSBURG NOW Estness, Borghild ’43, Minneapolis, age 92, on July 8. She served as a recorder in Augsburg’s Office of the Registrar. Gronseth, Luther C., Sr., ’43, Apple Valley, Minn., age 86, on June 23. Lindahl, Burton J. ’50, Wayzata, Minn., age 82, on May 22. Bakken, Rev. Hardis C. ’52, San Pablo, Calif., age 97, on May 5. Thompson, Robert D. ’52, Bloomington, Minn., age 81, on June 29. Pundy, Eileen “Dolly” ’59, Minneapolis, age 69, on May 4. Peterson, Rolf ’61, University Place, Wash., on April 24. Heimbigner, Marlene (Hanggi) ’65, Olympia, Wash., on Jan. 15. Timmons, Peter ’74, St. Paul, age 63, on June 16, from pancreatic cancer. Ness, Sheela Jo ’86, Plymouth, Minn., on July 4, of injuries from an auto accident. Galland, John H. ’93, Durango, Colo., age 56, on May 18, in an auto accident. Hope, Jared ’00, West Concord, Minn., age 28, on May 8 of injuries from an auto accident. Neitzel, Daniel Kurt ’06, Eden Prairie, Minn., age 27, on June 11. Ward, Sister Agnes, CSJ, on April 10. She taught classical languages at Augsburg in the 1960s. 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:05 PM Page 15 CALENDAR For music information, call 612-330-1265 For theatre ticket information, call 612-330-1257 For art gallery information, call 612-330-1524 SEPTEMBER September 10 Seventh Annual Scholastic Connections Gala and Dinner Celebrating the scholarship/ mentorship program and the four ethnic services programs Free and open to the public 6:30–8:30 p.m.—East Commons, Christensen Center Info and reservations: 612-359-6480 or scholar@augsburg.edu September 24-25 2007 Christensen Symposium Everyday Life in the Light of the Gospel Rolf A. Jacobson, associate professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary. Free and open to the public. September 24, “Why Do You Weep? Sadness, Grief, and the Gospel” 7 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel September 25, “How Can I Keep from Singing? Laughter, Joy, and the Gospel” 11 a.m.—Hoversten Chapel September 27 Theatre Artist Series From Augsburg to the Guthrie Theater Katie Koch ’06, stage manager and executive assistant to Joe Dowling, Guthrie Theater 9:40–11:10 a.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater September 14–October 26 Glass from the American-Swedish Institute and Its Local Influence Gage Family Art Gallery, Oren Gateway Center Opening reception: Friday, Sept. 14, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Artist Presentation: To be announced September 14–October 26 Reweaving a Life Prints by Alejandro González Aranda and baskets by women weavers of Tlamacazapa, Guerrero, Mexico Christensen Center Art Gallery Artist Printmaking Demonstration: Friday, Oct. 12, 8:30–10:10 a.m. Artist Presentation and Reception: Friday, Oct. 12, 3:30–5:30 p.m. September 18 Theatre Artist Series Technical Direction at the Guthrie Theater Craig Pettigrew, assistant technical director 9:40–11:10 a.m.— Tjornhom-Nelson Theater September 20 Featured Artist Presentation A Life in the Theatre Peter C. Brocius, artistic director, Children’s Theatre Company 7 p.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater October 17 Many Voices: Bold Visions Convocation Series Peter Bisanz, film director, documentary One 10 a.m.—Hoversten Chapel NOVEMBER November 2–11 Life is a Dream (La vida es sueño) by Pedro Calderon de la Barca Directed by Martha Johnson Nov. 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10 at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 and 11 at 2 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater OCTOBER October 8 Theatre Artist Series Working in the Theatre Buffy Sedlacheck, literary manager, Jungle Theatre 12:10–1:10 p.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater October 8–13 Homecoming 2007 See www.augsburg.edu/alumni for information October 11 Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet November 14 2007 Koryne Horbal Lecture Anne Pedersen Women’s Resource Center Jane Fonda “My Life’s Lessons about Sex and Gender” 10 a.m.—Hoversten Chapel November 30 Velkommen Jul Celebration 10:15 a.m.—Chapel Service, Hoversten Chapel 11 a.m.—Scandinavian treats and gifts, Christensen Center October 12 1957 50th Anniversary Celebration Homecoming Convocation Homecoming Luncheon Campaign Completion Celebration and Oren Gateway Center Dedication Dept. of Sociology 60th Anniversary Celebration November 30–December 1 That All May Have Light 28th Annual Advent Vespers: A service of music and liturgy 5 and 8 p.m. each night Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis For seating envelopes, 612-330-1265 English Alumni/ae Reunion and Reading October 13 1967 40-Year Reunion Picnic in the Park Football game vs. University of St. Thomas Auggie Block Party SUMMER 2007 703724-Pages 1-12, 17-20:Layout 1 8/22/07 11:05 PM Page 16 An Augsburg Mural Augsburg’s history is celebrated in the mural across the Barnes and Noble Augsburg Bookstore windows at the new Oren Gateway Center. Artwork by photographer Stephen Geffre. 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Minneapolis, MN Permit No. 2031
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Title: Augsburg Now Spring 2007
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: Augsburg Now KEYSTONE CONNECTIONS URBAN LEGENDS AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS SPRING 2007 VOL. 69, NO. 3 Martin Sabo retires The ending of an era page 16 P. 21 A PLACE OF THEIR OWN A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R P. 12 P. 26 Editor Notes from President Pribbenow on… Being a ...
Show more Augsburg Now KEYSTONE CONNECTIONS URBAN LEGENDS AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS SPRING 2007 VOL. 69, NO. 3 Martin Sabo retires The ending of an era page 16 P. 21 A PLACE OF THEIR OWN A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R P. 12 P. 26 Editor Notes from President Pribbenow on… Being a college in the city B ut seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare will you find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29:7, RSV) One particular afternoon last fall, I was shepherded through the nearby Cedar-Riverside neighborhood by our legendary community ambassador Mary Laurel True. She introduced me to good people whose lives and work intersect with the College. We sat in one of the four mosques in the neighborhood and spoke with the elders about peace and the God of Abraham, about our lives here together, about our children, and about the world and how frightening it can be to live with strangers. In other words, we spoke as fellow humans living together in the city. I love the city (despite my rural upbringing) and my recent experiences in our neighborhood lead me to revisit some of the historical themes that fascinate me about city life. My first thoughts go to the role that neighborhoods play in a strong urban life. Though we are a city, we live our lives in neighborhoods. It is in the neighborhood where I come face to face with the challenges and joys of negotiating my life with others. I think of Jane Addams, who made the west side Chicago neighborhood near Hull-House the sphere of action for her efforts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to build a stronger democracy. There are many of us who still believe her settlement house idea has relevance for the 21st century. It is not a philosophical exercise—it is the daily living with, abiding with, meeting the needs and sharing the aspirations of neighbors that defined the work of Miss Addams and her colleagues, and that needs to define our lives in cities as well. A second theme about cities is the ways in which they reflect our abiding pursuit of civilization. Sir Peter Hall in Cities in Civilization suggests that great cities have been at the center of artistic growth, technological progress, the marriage of culture and technology, and solutions to evolving social problems. Cities are places “for people who can stand the Betsey Norgard norgard@augsburg.edu Staff Writer Bethany Bierman bierman@augsburg.edu Design Manager Kathy Rumpza rumpza@augsburg.edu Class Notes Designer heat of the kitchen: places where the adrenaline pumps through the bodies of the people and through the streets on which they walk; messy places, sordid places sometimes, but places nevertheless superbly worth living in, long to be remembered and long to be celebrated.” Finally, I think of the late Jane Jacobs, the legendary urban theorist, whose The Death and Life of Great American Cities was a clarion call to arms for all those who loved the diversity and energy of cities that was being ravaged by trends in architecture and city planning. One of Jacobs’ main points was that the well-being of cities is defined primarily by common, ordinary things, like sidewalks, parks, defined neighborhoods, and a diversity of architecture styles and buildings of different ages. These common, ordinary things, when thought about with the needs and aspirations of citizens in mind, will create healthy, sustainable, and vital urban centers. It is not about spending a huge amount of money, but rather about a reflective practice of city life—the genuine work of urban planning. During my short time here at Augsburg, I have been challenged to think again about the role of colleges and universities in an urban setting. I am committed to the mutual dependency of colleges and the city. The paradigm for the relationships between cities and higher education must be less about extracting benefits from each other, less dependent on incidental impact, and more focused on the various resources that can be shared in the pursuit of a more robust, healthy, and meaningful urban life. I look forward to our efforts at Augsburg to give substance to this new (but not really so new!) paradigm of urban citizenship. Yours, Signe Peterson petersos@augsburg.edu Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Media Relations Manager Judy Petree petree@augsburg.edu Sports Information Director Don Stoner stoner@augsburg.edu Interim Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Communications David Warch warch@augsburg.edu Director of Alumni Relations Heidi Breen breen@augsburg.edu www.augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 Send address corrections to: Advancement Services, CB 142, Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 Paul C. Pribbenow, president Spring 2007 21 Contents Features 11 The Kitchen Connection by Betsey Norgard Weekend College student Tom Gouras uses his food service experience to feel more connected on campus and provide service in the community. 12 Fitting the Pieces Together by Betsey Norgard In their keystone courses seniors synthesize all their Augsburg experiences in preparing for the next step. 16 The Ending of an Era Photos and text by Stephen Geffre The boxes are packed and farewells said as Martin Olav Sabo retires from a 28-year career in the U.S. House of Representatives. 21 Urban Legends by Bethany Bierman Augsburg’s metro-urban studies alumni are making their marks as leaders in public service and city planning. 16 26 A Place of Their Own by Betsey Norgard The East African Women’s Center bustles with activity as mothers, children, grandmothers, and girls learn skills for living in a new community. On the Cover: Congressman Martin Olav Sabo, Class of 1959, retires from a lifelong career serving his constituents in Minneapolis and earning high respect from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Departments 2 Around the Quad 6 Supporting Augsburg 8 Sports 29 Alumni News 36 Views All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. AROUND THE QUAD Brian Krohn awarded a Goldwater Scholarship NOTEWORTHY A team of Augsburg and University of St. Thomas students received honorable men- Junior Brian Krohn, who is majoring in chemistry with a biology minor, was awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2007-08 academic year. A total of 317 schol- arships were awarded from the more than 1,000 nominations made by college faculty in the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Krohn will join a research group this summer at the Graz Technical Institute in Austria, funded by the National Science Foundation. Two other Augsburg students received honorable mentions— Kent Bodurtha and Reid Larson, both in physics. tion at the National Model United Nations Conference in New York in March. Model UN team wins award A team of Augsburg and University of St. Thomas students received honorable mention at the National Model United Nations Conference in New York in March—Augsburg’s first award in nine years of competition. More than 4,000 students from the U.S. and 31 countries participated, with opening and closing ceremonies held in the UN General Assembly Great Hall. The student team represented the interests of India in the conference and met with the Indian Mission to the UN during the week in New York. Matt Broughton named a Fulbright Scholar Matt Broughton’06, who graduated summa cum laude with dual degrees in English and 2 AUGSBURG NOW physics, has been named a Fulbright Scholar to Germany during 2007-08. He will spend the year at the Technical University of Braunschweig, working in space physics research. It was during an internship with the National Academies’ Space Studies Board that Broughton began to see how research he had been doing fits into the larger context of national and international physics research, studying the relationship between the sun and earth. At the Technical University, he will study ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves in the magnetosphere, using data gathered from four satellites in the Cluster mission. He will be able to analyze the data with use of a wave telescope, a multi-spacecraft analysis tool, using techniques that scientists there developed. He already has a working relationship with the scientists and has received some training on the wave telescope. This summer Broughton will spend 10 weeks in Washington, D.C., in an intensive German language program. Coach and athletic director Ernie Anderson dies Ernie Anderson ’37, who served Augsburg College as its men’s basketball coach for 23 seasons and as its athletic director for 34 years, died on March 18 at the age of 90. Anderson was a part of the Augsburg community for more than 40 years. He attended the Augsburg Academy as a prep student in the early 1930s. He played basketball and baseball at Augsburg, graduating from the College with a hisErnie Anderson ’37 tory degree in 1937. Anderson served as men’s basketball coach for the Auggies from 1947-70, and as the school’s athletic director from 1947-80. He was inducted into the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1975. In 1984, Augsburg named its outdoor athletic field Anderson-Nelson Field, in honor of Anderson and fellow longtime coach Edor Nelson ’38. In 2001, the center competition court at Melby Hall was named Ernie Anderson Court in his honor, while the outdoor athletic field was rechristened as Edor Nelson Field. Men’s basketball coach Ernie Anderson is lifted in the air as the team celebrates its conference championship in 1963. PA students excel on certifying exam Physics students receive award All 28 of Augsburg physician assistant 2006 graduates passed the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) exam, required for physician assistants to practice in most states. While the mean score for all new grads nationally was 506, Augsburg’s mean score was 581, which put the program in the 91st percentile in comparison to other programs. Augsburg’s chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) was selected as an Outstanding Chapter for 2005-06. This is the fourth time in the last five years the chapter has been recognized among the top 10 percent of chapters nationally. Recognition is given for the breadth of SPS activities in research, public science outreach, physics tutoring programs, and interaction among its members. Brian Wood ’08 serves Students and money—dollar/sense Sophomore Cody Warren (left) and financial aid counselor Carly Eichhorst (right) teamed to teach students about financial literacy. Studies show that more than half of all college students acquire their first credit card during their first year in college. Nearly half of all college students have credit card debt, with the average debt over $3,000. Combine that with the fact that most parents feel they are neither prepared to talk to their kids about personal finances, nor do they feel they are good role models concerning financial planning and decisions. And few high schools offer courses on financial matters. Last year, Augsburg’s Financial Aid Office decided to do something about this and provide resources for students to as chapter president and Professor Mark Engebretson is faculty adviser. Best Workplace for Commuters The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation become more fiscally literate and learn to make responsible money choices. “Does Your Money Matter?” was offered as a series of formal presentations. This year, financial aid counselor Carly Eichhorst and sophomore student worker Cody Warren teamed up to revamp the program and ratchet up the level of conversation and participation. “I knew my peers didn’t have the [financial] information,” Warren said, as they planned a new program they called “dollar/sense.” Five sessions (three of which were repeated) were offered on weekday evenings: • Embark: Begin the Financial Journey • Build: Establish Credit. Maintain Credit • Plan: Chart Your Course • Renew: Financial Aid Springs Anew • Share: Time. Talent. Gifts included Augsburg among the Best Workplaces for Commuters in Minneapolis. It was recognized as an employer offering good benefits to employees for alternatives to driving alone to work every day. Augsburg faculty, staff, and students can buy discounted travel on buses and light rail, can make teleworking arrangements, and use carpools. Augsburg also hosts an HOURCAR hub in the CedarRiverside community, making a hybrid-fuel vehicle available for hourly rent by qualified drivers on campus and in the community. Lots of audience response and visuals in a relaxed atmosphere, plus some food, brought home the message to 20 to 40 students who came to each session of “dollar/sense.” Eichhorst was delighted at the response. “[A student who] attended last night’s event on credit scores … came to me this morning and told me he pulled his credit report right away last night and wanted to talk about a discrepancy,” she said. “[Another attendee] was a student who experienced financial problems last year … and he attended every single session of ‘dollar/sense’.” The word reached parents as well. One mother e-mailed, “It is really a shame that you don’t get more students attending those sessions since they are truly REAL LIFE and kids so often complain about learning things they think they will never use. Thanks to everyone in the Enrollment Center who put them on.” —Betsey Norgard SPRING 2007 3 AROUND THE QUAD Japanese artists visit Augsburg For two days in late February, Ayomi Yoshida and Bidou Yamaguchi engaged the Augsburg community with their talents and art. Yoshida is a printmaker, installation artist, and designer, whose work ranges from a colorful gift wrap line designed for Target to multi-story installation art. She is a fourth generation member of the illustrious Yoshida family of printmakers, which also included Toshi Yoshida, who taught at Augsburg during two summers in the early 1970s. For an exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) in 2002 featuring her family, she created a large installation of wood grain panels. The installation was purchased by Target Corporation and re-installed in their corporate executive suites in downtown Minneapolis. “Reverberation Ad Infinitum” is made up of four columns and a wall, each running three stories high, flanking a stairway. Out of each red column, Yoshida carved repeated lines of oval chips with a scoop chisel. The red chips were then glued to the white wall, creating positive and negative polka dots. Over 60,000 chips were carved, with three people working on it for three months. MIA curator Matthew Welch led a group of Augsburg students to Target Corporation to view Yoshida’s installation—an opportunity for the students to see the artwork in this restricted, nonpublic area. They appreciated the centuries-old, handcrafted nature of the installation, says Kerry Morgan, Augsburg’s coordinator of galleries, and were captured by “the physical process, the amount of work, and the time and dedication needed for it.” Morgan recounts that as people walk through the installation, “fascinating things happen to the eye, the grid becomes diagonal and casts shadows.” Bidou Yamaguchi demonstrates his master skills in carving masks from cypress wood for Japanese Noh drama. 4 AUGSBURG NOW Students explore the panels of a multi-story art installation created by Ayomi Yoshida at Target Corporation headquarters. Bob Ulrich, chairman and CEO of Target Corporation, greeted the group and told them that Target employees prefer walking the stairs through the installation to taking the elevator. Yoshida also is a designer for Target. Her gift wrap line, with polka-dot-and-lined patterns, has been described as making packages “too pretty to open.” Yoshida’s husband, Bidou Yamaguchi, is a master carver of masks for Noh drama. He is trained as a graphic designer, but became enchanted with the ancient craft of carving masks and their long history as part of an ancient art form. Carved and smoothed from a block of cypress wood by knives and chisels with three layers of steel, the masks are lacquer coated many times and then stressed to show age and wear. Yamaguchi tried his own hand at carving, and sought out a master carver with whom he could apprentice. After five years of study—only half the normal time—he was awarded the master carver status. He was also given his artist’s name, Bidou, a combination of words meaning the “god of war” and “a stack of wood.” Yamaguchi has lectured and demonstrated his craft at numerous institutions in Japan and other countries. His masks are part of the permanent collections of Target Corporation (which the students also were able to view on the tour) and the MIA. Bringing Yoshida and Yamaguchi to campus was a collaborative effort among the art galleries, Art Department, Theatre Arts Department, Art Club, Pan-Asian Student Services, and professor emeritus Eugene Skibbe, a friend of the Yoshida family. The presentations made by the artists were open to the public, and scheduled to involve classes in AsianAmerican theatre, sculpture, art history, and design. — Betsey Norgard Augsburg Stewards: Preserving history, keeping traditions alive The Augsburg Stewards have been involved in nearly every recent Augsburg event, and they are not much more than a year old. The 14-member group has already participated in Homecoming, orientation, an event honoring the Augsburg Associates, the annual Scholarship Brunch, and other events with alumni. Augsburg students can’t help but notice the Stewards, but many wonder, “Who are they?” If you refer to the group’s official statement, the Augsburg Stewards’ mission is “to engage students in the mission of Augsburg College in order to cultivate pride in place and purpose.” Lead Steward Solveig Mebust says, “We combine three important aspects of the College: we look at the history, the present traditions, and the future of the College and then try to make it all something to which students can relate. We basically provide the link between the students and the alumni. “We make connections with people whom you might not otherwise have met, and these are powerful people,” she says. “They make the difference between having an Oren Gateway Center or not, having a scholarship to go to college or not.” The Stewards don’t just make connections with alumni, but also focus on students. In an interview in spring 2006, Augsburg Stewards’ founder, Paul Cumings ’06, said, “Students are trying to find ways to connect with Augsburg, to The Augsburg Stewards seek ways to engage students in the history and traditions of the College and create links with alumni. (L to R) Rikki Starich ’07, Marie Sager ’09, lead Steward Solveig Mebust ’08, Sarah Valasek ’09, Cody Warren ’09. create meaning behind the school.” “That’s exactly what we try to do,” Mebust confirms. “We want students to be invested in this school, to take pride in our rich history, be involved in present traditions, and to help sculpt the future of the College.” The Stewards have already started working toward that goal. Each Steward receives a copy of the late professor emeritus Carl Chrislock’s Fjord to Freeway, a centennial history of Augsburg College. They then share the College’s history with the student body. For example, during Auggie Days, an orientation program for first-year Augsburg students, Steward Chris Kuhn presented a brief history from Chrislock’s book. The Stewards began in December 2005 when Cumings, the student body president, came up with the idea. “It’s important to learn the history of the College, to open up our past. That helps us learn why deci- sions have been made,” he said. Cumings asked a few students to join, wrote a constitution, and submitted the constitution to student government. In January 2006 the Augsburg Stewards became an official student organization. Currently the organization is structured into three main committees: the History Committee, the Present Committee, and the Future Committee, each led by a Steward member and focusing on one of the three main components. However, Mebust plans changes to the structure to make it easier for students to participate more fully. Formal recruiting for new Stewards has taken place during spring semester. In December the Stewards hosted an event called “What is an Auggie, anyway?” With information tables in Christensen Center, the group focused on what it means to identify as an Auggie and provided students with information, food, presentations, and a documentary about the College’s history. “There’s something unique about Augsburg. It’s always been the odd child out of the Lutheran colleges because we’ve never felt the need to compete,” says Mebust. “We produce amazing alumni who are leaders of both the political and religious realms, and their children are now attending Augsburg.” Mebust hopes to learn more about why Augsburg is so unique. She assigned the Stewards a long-term goal of discovering the personal history of the College. “Fjord [to Freeway] is a great history based on institutional life, but not [its] personal life.” Even while still evolving, the Augsburg Stewards are working hard to reach their goals. Mebust says, “We do our best to be involved … and to be the best representation of the College.” —Kari Aanestad ’08 Kari Aanestad is a junior, with double majors in English/writing and political science. SPRING 2007 5 AROUND THE QUAD SUPPORTING AUGSBURG Sabo Scholars … ‘Walking the talk’ One year after he graduated from Augsburg, 22-year-old Martin Olav Sabo was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1960 as its youngest member. In 1978 he was elected to the first of 14 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as one of its most liberal members. Throughout his entire career, he has exemplified Augsburg’s motto, “Education for Service,” and he leaves a legacy as one of the most fair-minded and principled legislators. In 1990, his friends, family, and alumni established the Martin Olav and Sylvia A. Sabo Scholarship in recognition of Sabo’s distinguished record. The scholarship is awarded to students who study political science and/or have engaged in public service, and aspire to careers in public policy. In 1994, fundraising began to build the Sabo Endowment for Leadership in Public and Community Service. In addition to the Sabo Scholarships, a summer leadership program for high school students, a lecture series, and academic support to public service are envisioned. Since 1995, nearly 50 students have been named Sabo Scholars, and some served internships in Sabo’s Washington office. A number have since chosen careers in public service. Garry Hesser, professor of sociology and director of the metro-urban studies program, says, “What we’re trying to lift up with the Sabo initiative is that graduates in urban studies walk the talk … . They stand for elected office and grapple with the complexities of public issues and The Sabo Scholarship The Martin Olav and Sylvia A. Sabo Scholarship, established in 1990 by friends, alumni, and family is awarded to students with demonstrated financial need and academic achievement who study political science and/or have engaged in public service or have interest in public policy. “I hope your college experience has taught you to listen, and that you will continue to listen. … I hope you will develop your convictions and your beliefs. I hope that you will pursue your passions. And I hope you do get involved and choose your causes. But always remember to listen. And remember—you may not be absolutely right.” — Martin Olav Sabo ’59 Augsburg Commencement address, 1983 6 AUGSBURG NOW public policies.” Here are four Sabo Scholars whose lives are centered around walking the talk of public service. For Minneapolis native Breanne Dalnes ’03, it took a year at another Lutheran college to realize she was an urbanite at heart. Once at Augsburg, a metrourban studies major became an instant fit. “I knew as soon as I discovered there was such a thing as neighborhood organizations that I wanted to get involved on such a grassroots level,” she says. While at Augsburg, Dalnes spent one semester with HECUA’s Metro-Urban Studies Term (MUST), which she says opened her eyes to a new way of thinking. She also served as a planning Junior Kari Aanestad’s internship teaching a recent immigrant to write has brought to life issues around community needs that her classes in political science have introduced. intern for the City of St. Paul. Her last semester, she spent a week in Washington D.C., where her group visited various nonprofits and Sabo’s office. “It was the perfect send-off to graduate school.” She received a Master of Urban/Regional Planning degree at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute in 2005 and currently serves as an associate planner for the City of Ramsey. “I’m putting my passions to good work and watching out for people who are too busy making ends meet to get involved in their communities or politics.” Erica Champer ‘04 chose Augsburg “for its integration into a world-class city.” She also chose metro-urban studies because, in Making a gift to Augsburg It’s easy to make a donation to Augsburg College. All donations are tax-deductible. her words, “it intertwined all of the areas I was interested in— history, economics, sociology, and politics, all with a focus on making the city a better place.” She now serves as an associate director of quality and compliance at Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights in Chicago. Champer climbed the ladder in a short period of time, becoming the youngest director in a company of 800. “At Augsburg I learned about public housing in Chicago and what a disaster it was, and now I’m here two years later working on a real solution!” says Champer. “I am working on issues that are meaningful to me—affordable housing, human rights, and more.” Kari Aanestad graduates next year with double majors in political science and English with a writing concentration. During her time at Augsburg, she has taken advantage of many opportunities to reflect on vocation, community service, and building democracy. “I love helping people and being a servant of the people,” Aanestad says. Her Honors Junior Colloquium, taught by President Pribbenow, focused on humanitarian Jane Addams, and what Aanestad took away was a deep appreciation of Addams’ belief that in serving people she did not expect to teach them, but to learn from them. Aanestad says her four classes during spring semester all seemed to synthesize around public serv- Ana Chilingarishvili’s international interest in children’s rights stem from her own experience growing up in the post-Soviet Union Republic of Georgia. Gifts online Go to www.augsburg.edu/giving to make a secure credit card donation. You can use the form to make a one-time donation or to set up recurring gifts. Gifts by phone To make a donation by phone, call Kevin Healy, director of advancement services, at 612-338-6537 or 800-273-0617. Gifts by mail You can mail your gift to: Development Office, CB 142 Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55454 For complete information about making a gift, including the types of giving and giving programs, go to www.augsburg.edu/giving. ice. In political science theory, she studied what it means to be a civil leader and servant of the people. A statistics course taught her how knowledge is used and how public policy is translated for the general public. An internship gave her the chance to work oneon-one with a 46-year-old East African man, teaching him to write. She learned how education is empowerment, and how leaders have a responsibility to empower their people. Lastly, in American literature, she studied what it means to have a voice, and how in poverty people do not have any voice. Her thoughts after graduation include work with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps or AmeriCorps, giving her chances to offer community service and better understand the role of civic associations in a democracy. Ana Chilingarishvili graduates this year with a major in international relations and will begin law school in the fall. Her sights are set worldwide, beyond local and national boundaries. A native of the Republic of Georgia, she was 6 years old when the Soviet Union came to an end and independence was declared. Her family endured the civil war that followed and were fortunate to receive help from a number of international organizations. Chilingarishvili’s interest is in human rights law, especially children’s rights, so that she can help others in the same way. She doesn’t yet know exactly what that will be, but feels that Augsburg’s focus on vocation has helped her prepare for whatever may develop. When the Sabo Scholars had the opportunity to meet Martin Sabo on campus this spring, Chilingarishvili was amazed to hear about the roots of this legislator who has traveled the world—a tiny North Dakota community and a high school graduating class of three. — Bethany Bierman and Betsey Norgard SPRING 2007 7 AROUND THE QUAD SPORTS Auggies win 10th national title, claim nine All-Americans Claiming three individual national titles and making collegiate wrestling history for one of its wrestlers in the process, the Augsburg wrestling team won its record-10th NCAA Division III national championship in the last 17 seasons with a dominating performance in the tournament, held in March in Dubuque, Iowa. With nine All-Americans, including three titlists and two runners-up, Augsburg finished with 135.5 points, 36 points ahead of second-place Wartburg (Iowa), the defending national champion, with 99.5 points. Wisconsin-La Crosse finished in third with 92.5 points, Luther (Iowa) finished fourth with 86.0 points and the College of New Jersey finished fifth with 46.5 points. Augsburg head coach Jeff Swenson ’79 was named National Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, the sixth time he has earned the honor in his 25-season career. After the championships, Swenson announced his resignation from his coaching position, in order to focus on his responsibilities as the school’s assistant dean for athletics and recreation. Sam Barber, who has served as an assistant on the Auggie staff for six seasons, was named the team’s new head coach. “We had a lot of ups, mostly, and a few downs,” said Swenson. “It’s hard for me when the year comes to an end because of the great seniors, but the bottom line is I’m proud of them as a group. They really came together in the last month of the season.” Augsburg has finished among the top two teams in national competition 19 times since 1975, has finished among the top four Wrestling head coach Jeff Swenson steps down after 25 seasons. Auggie coaches Jeff Swenson (lower) and Sam Barber (upper) watch their team With a commanding win, Auggie wrestlers captured their 10th national championship in March, with nine All-Americans. nationally the last 19 seasons in a row (the only NCAA school in any division that can make that claim), and has finished in the top 20 nationally every season since 1971 (NCAA from 1983 to present, NAIA pre-1983). Augsburg’s Marcus LeVesseur, a senior from Minneapolis, became the first Division III wrestler ever to win four national titles, and the second college wrestler ever to finish his career unbeaten and untied. LeVesseur, who won Division III national titles at 157 pounds three times (2003, 2004, 2005), finished his senior season at 31-0, and his collegiate career at 155-0, the second-longest winning streak in college wrestling history. Cael Sanderson went 159-0 during his career at Iowa State from 19982002, winning four Division I national titles. “It’s unbelievable,” Swenson said of LeVesseur’s accomplishment, “… no one had ever won four titles (at the Division III level), and only two guys have ever gone through their careers undefeated. He’s in great company with Cael [Sanderson].” Junior Quincy Osborn claimed his first national championship at 141 pounds. Osborn finished his first season as an Auggie with a 44-3 record, completing his third national tournament appearance. As a Division I wrestler at the University of Minnesota, he competed in national tournaments in both 2004 and 2005. Osborn is now 104-35 in his college career. Junior Jeremy Anderson also earned his first national championship, completing his second All-American season with a win in the 157-pound class. Anderson, who was a national runner-up last season, finished his junior campaign at 39-2 overall and his 83-5 in his two seasons as an Auggie. At 133, junior Jafari Vanier repeated his second-place finish from a year ago, and sophomore Seth Flodeen claimed national runner-up honors in his first national finals appearance at 125 pounds. Senior Jared Evans, a threetime All-American, closed out his career with his second straight fourth-place finish, and junior Robbie Gotreau finished his campaign at 41-6 overall. Heavyweight senior Andrew Neumann, in his second national tournament, finished fifth overall. At 197, junior Wally O’Connor finished eighth. Augsburg finished with an 11-1 dual-meet record this season. For the third time in the sixyear history of the event, Augsburg claimed the championship at the National Wrestling Coaches Association/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals in January. Academically, Augsburg finished 11th among Division III programs in the NWCA’s academic national rankings, with a 3.283 team gradepoint average. Five Auggies earned NWCA Scholar All-American honors—Evans, Neumann, Paul Bjorkstrand, Josh Hansen, and Brandon Klukow. wrestle to a national title. 8 AUGSBURG NOW —Don Stoner Jeff Swenson resigns as wrestling coach Augsburg wrestling head coach Jeff Swenson announced in March that he is resigning his coaching post in order to focus on his responsibilities as the school’s assistant dean for athletics and recreation. Swenson, a 1979 Augsburg graduate, served as head coach of the Auggies for 25 seasons (198084, 1986-2007), building the squad into a national small-college wrestling powerhouse. Under Swenson’s leadership, Augsburg won a record-10 NCAA Division III national championships and produced a career dual-meet record of 321-44. Associate head coach Sam Barber takes over as head coach. Sam Barber, who served as an assistant coach on Swenson’s staff for six seasons, is taking over head coaching duties for the Auggies. Barber has served as associate head coach for the last two seasons. A 1995 Upper Iowa University graduate, he served as head coach for the Peacocks in the 1999-2000 season. During his Augsburg tenure, Barber has been a part of three national championship squads and two national runner-up squads, and has coached 46 AllAmericans and 13 individual Jeff Swenson ’79 retires after 25 seasons, with a national title and Division III Coach of the Year honors. He shares the moment with his nearly-two-year-old son, Brady. national champions. He was named Division III Co-National Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 2006. In his role as assistant dean for athletics and recreation as a member of President Pribbenow’s staff, Swenson supervises the 18-sport intercollegiate athletics program, the athletic facilities department, and the College’s intramural athletic program. Swenson was named to the position on an interim basis in 2001, and his posting was made permanent in 2004. “I look forward to working with Coach Swenson in the years ahead,” Pribbenow said, as “we partner to make Augsburg one of the finest examples of NCAA Division III athletics in the country—a college that honors the connections between academics and athletics, that celebrates both sportsmanship and competition, and that helps our students to grow as individuals and teammates … I can think of no one better than Jeff Swenson to lead us in this vision for intercollegiate athletics at Augsburg College. His track record speaks for itself. His love for the College is unparalleled. And he has the passion, commitment, and skills to guide our athletics programs into a bright future.” Swenson has been a member of the Augsburg community for more than 30 years—as a student, coach, and administrator. A national champion wrestler at Augsburg in his senior year of 1979 with a career record of 10217, Swenson began his coaching career in his first year out of college, as an assistant coach on John Grygelko’s Auggie staff. Grygelko retired in 1980, and Swenson was named head coach. Swenson said that two years ago, he made the decision that he would step down from his coaching post this year. He said that focusing on his role in athletic administration will help him in his goals to improve every aspect of Augsburg’s athletic program among schools in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III. “For me, this is a cause for celebration. It’s not a sad day. It’s a great day. I’m able to listen to my vocational calling and lead the entire athletic department without having the coaching demands,” Swenson said. As an administrator, Swenson has led the Augsburg program through a period of unprecedented growth and improvement. This year, construction was completed on the new Kennedy Center addition to Melby Hall, which includes expanded classroom, meeting, and locker room space, along with a new fitness facility and a new wrestling training facility. Two years ago, a new SprinTurf surface was installed at Edor Nelson Field, and a new seasonal air-supported dome was installed for the first time this year over the field. “I’ve been around Augsburg since the fall of 1975, over 30 years,” Swenson said. “Augsburg has shaped me. Augsburg has made me who I am, and it’s allowed me to pursue my passion to be a coach. Now, I have a greater passion to lead the entire athletic department as a full-time administrator. I’ve learned a lot about leading and coaching by being the head wrestling coach here for 25 years. That’s going to help me as I lead Augsburg athletics into the future.” “I am proud to know Jeff Swenson and to be able to honor his remarkable career as our head wrestling coach at Augsburg,” Pribbenow said. “He has accomplished great things with his wrestling teams—10 national championships, countless individual titles, team academic achievements, and so on. But perhaps more than anything, I am proud of Jeff’s commitment and passion for that individual student who needs the guidance, support, and challenge to be the best he or she can be—as an athlete, as a student, as a person. Jeff exemplifies what makes Augsburg the special and rare place that it is—putting students first and helping them to grow to be successful, responsible, and good people. “Jeff Swenson leaves a remarkable legacy as the Augsburg wrestling coach. He has built a program that will endure as a shining example of quality and achievement. Now he has made the remarkable decision to bring his skills and passion to bear on moving Augsburg’s intercollegiate athletics programs to the next level of excellence. Surely there is no one better than Jeff to lead our athletics programs—both to the benefit of our student-athletes and the reputation of the College.” —Don Stoner SPRING 2007 9 Augsburg men’s hockey head coach Chris Brown was named Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Chris Brown Coach of the Year. In his first year as the Auggies head coach, Brown led the Auggies to a 12-10-4 record and third-place conference finish (9-3-4), as the Auggies clinched a berth in the MIAC playoffs for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Brown returned to Augsburg last season as an assistant coach under Mike Schwartz, a position in which he also served during the 1996-97 season. After leaving Augsburg in 1997, he was an assistant coach at Division I Alaska-Anchorage for three years, then served as head coach at Marian (Wis.) for four seasons (2000-04) and at Hamline for one season (2004-05). Brown was also named as one of 12 finalists for the Edward Jeremiah Award as the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association. Aaron Johnson named MIAC Player of the Year Senior forward Aaron Johnson was selected by MIAC as the conference Player of the Year in men’s hockey. A three-time AllMIAC honoree, he also was 10 AUGSBURG NOW named for the second year in a row as a first-team selection on the AHCA/ RBK Hockey Division III All-American Aaron Johnson ’07 squad. In April, he was selected as one of two Division III players to compete in the NCAA Pontiac Frozen Four Skills Challenge during Division I men’s hockey Frozen Four in St. Louis, Mo. He was also one of eight finalists for the Sid Watson Award, given by the AHCA to the Division III National Player of the Year. Ed Saugestad receives Hobey Baker Legends of Hockey Award Former Augsburg men’s hockey coach Ed Saugestad ’59 was recognized for his lengthy and outstanding service to college hockey with the 2007 Hobey Baker Legends of Hockey Award. The award was presented by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation on May 3 in St. Paul. Saugestad coached Augsburg to a 503-354-21 record in a career that spanned 37 seasons. Only two other Division III coaches have amassed more than 500 career victories. In his 37 years of coaching, Saugestad took teams to national postseason play on 10 occasions (nine NAIA and one NCAA), winning NAIA national championships in 1978, 1981, and 1982. He was named NAIA National Coach of the Year after each of the national championships. He coached 22 AllAmericans at Augsburg. Saugestad and his Auggies won Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular-season titles six years in a row (1976-77 to 1981-82), and Saugestad was MlAC Coach of the Year six times. In 1998, the MIAC’s playoff championship trophy was christened as the Ed Saugestad Trophy. Saugestad began his Auggie coaching career while still a student at Augsburg, in 1958. He graduated with a double major in physical education and biology in 1959 and went on to earn his master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 1964. In addition to coaching hockey for parts of five decades, he also served on the Augsburg football coaching staff from 1959-84 (head coach in the 1970-71 seasons); men’s athletic director from 1981-87; and during his entire Augsburg career served as an instructor in the Health and Physical Education Department. Saugestad was named the 2002 recipient of the John MacInnes Award from the American Hockey Coaches Association for his contributions to the growth of amateur hockey in the United States. In 1996, the state of Minnesota declared Feb. 17 as Ed Saugestad Day, in recognition of his career accomplishments. Archive photo Chris Brown named MIAC Men’s Hockey Coach of the Year Sophomore Ed Saugestad (back row, second from left) played on the 1956-57 Auggie hockey team. Coach Saugestad studies a hockey pro- Saugestad’s hockey team captured a gram during the 1961-62 season. national championship in 1981. Weekend College student Tom Gouras uses his food service background as a volunteer in Augsburg’s Campus Kitchen, a great way for him to meet other students and feel more connected to Augsburg. The kitchen connection by Betsey Norgard “I can begin to see it take shape.” Tom Gouras, the Monday night shift leader at Augsburg’s Campus Kitchen, is looking at several pans of fried rice and vegetables, surplus food donated by a local restaurant through the Emergency Foodshelf Network. Alongside them sit other pans of pork riblets, wax beans and carrots, potatoes, and some melons. From the donations they receive, the Campus Kitchen volunteer crew transforms the various components into healthy meals to be heated, delivered, and served the next day—to the Brian Coyle Community Center and Trinity Lutheran’s Safe Place tutoring program in the CedarRiverside neighborhood, and at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center. “I call this Chinese medley,” Gouras says, as he combines several pans of rice and vegetables. It can be a challenge, as the crew never knows exactly what foods they’ll find when they arrive for the cooking shift. Sometimes, he says, “what goes into the soup is interesting.” Since Augsburg students are on break, Gouras’ crew tonight is a group of four students from Fridley High School with their teacher, a father with his middle school son who is doing community service, and Augsburg alum Bill Ogren ’73. All of them have become regular Monday night volunteers. Tonight, they cook the potatoes, chop the melons, and check out all the boxes of food to make sure everything is still fresh. Finally, pans are labeled—protein, starch, vegetable, and fruit—and everything is cleaned up to finish the evening shift. Gouras is a Weekend College student who has been volunteering at the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg since January. His 15 years of experience as a cook and chef are valuable in the kitchen to lead the crews of students and community volunteers. He entered Weekend College last spring after two years at Rasmussen College studying criminal justice. A native of St. Paul’s East Side, Gouras recites a litany of blue-collar jobs he’s held—furniture delivery, food service cook/chef, garbage truck driver, loading dock worker, chemical dependency technician, greenhouse hand, and, currently, delivery truck driver for the New French Bakery. While at Rasmussen, Gouras realized that in order to advance much higher than where he is and has been, he needs a four-year degree. He hopes his courses in psychology and sociology will prepare him for probation work with the county or state. He’s also open to possibilities that may develop during his studies. “I’ve been asked if I know my calling,” he says, “and I hope I find it. I’m open to it.” After two trimesters in WEC, Gouras began to understand how much of the college experience involves social interaction, and he wasn’t feeling very connected to Augsburg. Campus Kitchen appealed to him because he could use his food service experience, and he liked the program’s mission of reaching out to others less fortunate, making sure they have hot meals. Gouras is old enough to be father to most of the student volunteers, but he enjoys their enthusiasm, as well as sharing with them some of his “street smart” wisdom and common sense. Rachel Vallens, Campus Kitchen coordinator, recognizes what this does for the program. “Tom’s cooking experience and maturity really bring an added dimension to his cooking shifts,” she says. “The students look up to him as someone who knows what he’s doing and has done a lot in life.” Recently, Gouras took on an additional task. Three days a week, sandwiches and deli items are donated from the University of Minnesota, and when no one else could pick them up on Thursdays, he volunteered. It’s all part of giving back, which is why Gouras says he’s in the kitchen every week. Ⅵ For more information about Augsburg’s Campus Kitchen, go to www.campuskitchens.org. SPRING 2007 11 keystone courses Fitting the pieces together by Betsey Norgard In architecture, a keystone sits at the top of the arch and provides the shape and support to the curved pieces rising to it. In the Augsburg Core Curriculum, the keystone is the final piece that integrates what students have learned in their required general education courses and their chosen major with everything else they have done at Augsburg—co-curricular experiences, leadership development, service-learning, study abroad, and other areas of their Augsburg experience. 12 AUGSBURG NOW First-year day students begin their Augsburg education with Augsburg Seminar, a semester that includes orientation to residence life; development of skills and strategies they need for success in college; introduction to the themes of an Augsburg education, including vocation, service, community; and learning about Augsburg’s neighborhood and the city. It’s all about transition to college, integration into Augsburg’s learning community, and reflection on how they become responsible learners. Students learn that a hallmark of an Augsburg education is intentional reflection on vocation, or what they call the “v” word. All students study two semesters of “Search for Meaning,” which includes critical conversations on understanding and discovering one’s own gifts. The senior-year keystone course becomes the other bookend. Students synthesize all their in-classroom and out-of-classroom experiences as they focus on transition from college to the community, integration of what they’ve learned, and reflection on how they will use their gifts and knowledge—again, transition, integration, reflection. What does it mean to be a professional in their major? What does it mean to be a biologist, accountant, social worker, English teacher, actor, or whatever? Because conversations about vocation are revisited during the keystone, faculty need to feel comfortable and confident in discussing issues of faith and vocation in this context. A grant from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, “Common Vocation, Distinctive Callings,” provides funding for keystone faculty to partner with religion faculty members. Together they strategize on content and methods for these crucial conversations. The vocation focus and other signature elements of the Core Curriculum—diversity, the city, service and service-learning— distinguish Augsburg’s keystone from other senior “capstone” courses. Russell Kleckley, associate professor of religion and coordinator of keystone seminars, explains that Augsburg’s keystones are “more intentional about the educational experience as a whole, to see how the general education experience has informed the [major] discipline and vice versa.” Diane Pike, sociology professor and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, says that keystones “take the time, with guidance, to help students figure out how the pieces fit together for them.” She says, “We’re equally serious about the transition from college outward as we are about the transition to college from high school.” From the College’s point of view, the keystones measure how well Augsburg fulfills its promise to students. Are they satisfied with their experience, and do they feel well prepared and confident in what they know and will take away with them? keystone Psychology majors (clockwise from bottom) Rebecca Lewis, Tiah Colacci, Nghi Ngan, and Peter Chea played a version of the Game of Life in which the cards required players to discuss some of the bigger questions in life. the keystone variations Most students take the keystone in their senior year, and most often in connection with their major. This past academic year was the first time all students have had access to a keystone course. With a fair amount of flexibility, departments have created or modified existing courses, or collaborated across departments or divisions to create classes. psychology: the game of life The psychology keystone is a good example of a department capstone course that evolved into a keystone. All psychology majors have completed capstone internship semesters that includ- ed time on the internship site, plus time in class, plus papers, portfolios, etc. This year, the course changed to be one-half internship and one-half keystone, with about one-third of the total time devoted to issues around vocation. As part of the Wabash grant, Bridget Robinson-Reigler, associate professor of psychology, was paired with Mary Lowe, assistant professor of religion. RobinsonReigler says that she and Lowe had five or six conversations about vocation, and that Lowe helped her plan new activities to engage her students. “I was pleasantly surprised how unbelievably well the students have gotten into [the discussion of vocation],” says Robinson-Reigler. Early in the seminar, she offered her own model of vocation, and by opening herself to them, she set a comfortable tone for class discussion. In what became a popular activity, Robinson-Reigler introduced an adapted version of the Game of Life, in which a number of the play cards were rewritten with questions relating to vocation. Given this context, students felt comfortable first answering the questions themselves, then opening the conversation to everyone. In another session, students were asked to evaluate the effectiveness of their required liberal arts courses. Did they work? Why did Augsburg want them to study those courses? Some students responded by saying that without the keystone they never would have thought about these SPRING 2007 13 business and vocation John Knight, Center for Faith and Learning, encourages business majors to consider how their skills, beliefs, and values will influence decisions they make every day in the business world. questions, and this assignment helped them figure out what they had learned. Robinson-Reigler’s psychology keystone is a mix of day and weekend students, giving the class a combination of ages and experiences. While all students were in the same situation of finishing college and figuring out what was next to come, some interesting conversations were launched in the multigenerational class. One WEC student said that these discussions helped her understand her own daughter better. Some said it helped them understand and appreciate the younger day school population. Robinson-Reigler confirms that students are not getting any less psychology in the new capstone-keystone with the addition of the vocation conversation; 14 AUGSBURG NOW they’re just getting it differently. “I’ve taught this class before, but I love teaching it now,” she says. “I enjoy grading the papers!” keystone-capable english courses In their new curriculum, the English Department doesn’t have a separate keystone course, but rather several advanced courses designed as “keystone-capable.” Students are required to take one of these courses as a keystone, for which extra work is indicated. Much of that work is selfreflection, and requires students to consider, for example, their function as readers and to think about what is happening when they read. The nature and depth of their commitment to reading, and what, if any, responsibilities their reading entails. This reflection is more seamless in some courses than others. When Professor Doug Green teaches Advanced Studies in Language, Theory, and Method, he integrates reflection and vocation throughout the course, even for the non-keystone students. Last year he taught Criticism and Theory as a pilot keystone course. Students read Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran and wrote about how they viewed the place of literature in their own lives and cultures. They had to respond to questions like, “How has my understanding of ‘self’ (who I am as a reader, writer, student, English major, woman or man, and human being) evolved as a result of my experiences at Augsburg?” John Knight, associate director of the Center for Faith and Learning, has taught several sections of the keystone course for the Business Administration Department, the College’s largest department. The course is a collaboration between the business and religion departments, and he co-taught the day section with religion professor Hans Wiersma. Titled Vocation and the Meaning of Success, the keystone objectives include reflecting upon the ways students have been transformed by their college experiences, especially in their business major; reflecting critically on beliefs and values they use in a diverse world; and reflecting on Augsburg’s understanding of vocation and a comparison to their own vocation. Knight finds that the feel of the class depends significantly on the class makeup—the day or weekend student mix, the mix of males and females, etc. Weekend College students, he says, who bring wider job skills and life experience to class, showed a “deep willingness to engage in the material … and really wrapped themselves around the [vocation] issues by the second class.” Some students are suspicious of the keystone as being a religion class and question its relevance to their future. Knight asks them to consider the bigger picture of meaning and purpose in their lives. What does it mean to be a business professional? How does he or she behave? He believes that somewhere down the road students will understand why they had to take this course and see the benefits from it. creating a life in the fine arts Students in music, visual art, and theatre share a cross-disciplinary keystone course, Creating a Life in the Fine Arts. The syllabus states that the course will “synthesize recurring powerful concepts of vocation with practical tools and realities.” Students will balance the “development of entrepreneurial skills with ‘intrapreneurial’ knowledge and awareness” while preparing for professional life in the community. The idea of shared courses across the arts is not new—several short-term courses have taken place over the past few years. What’s new is the infusion of the larger issues integrating liberal arts and vocation. Merilee Klemp ’75, associate professor of music, led the conversations among arts faculty around the new Core Curriculum. Anticipating the need to create a keystone course, she sought a Lilly Endowment grant for the music faculty to explore topics in music and vocation with a consultant, Janis Weller. Extending this conversation to art and theatre faculty formed the nucleus for the new keystone. It also promoted the building of a fine arts community among both faculty and students on campus. Weller taught the course, along with Klemp (music), Darcey Engen (theatre), and Tara Sweeney (art). Critical conversations about vocation began and ended the course. These included visiting guest artists, who spoke about their roles in the community and world. In conjunction with the Wabash grant, Sweeney was paired with Lori Brandt Hale, assistant professor of religion. They met frequently, and Sweeney describes the experience, “What I am discussing in the service of teaching the keystone is inseparable from what I am learning about my own vocation and practice as an artist at the same time.” Their discussions included how their religious upbringing or belief systems affected what and how they teach, and how they could challenge and support students to discover their own authentic voices. The keystone seniors across art, music, and theatre were encouraged to find common ground. In one exercise, teams of students were given ordinary objects, like a chair, and together asked to consider it from a number of perspectives—how the object could move or be used with their bodies, what the visual elements of the object were, what kinds of sounds the object could make. Practical sessions about being an artist were also included. Students practiced networking with introductions and business cards, and they had to prepare artist’s statements and professional résumés. Several break-out sessions separated the students into their respective departments for discussions specific to their fields. For the most, students resonated with the cross-disciplinary focus of the keystone. “I think working alongside artists in another genre is a rare gift in the college setting,” said music performance major Nikki Lemire. Still, she enjoyed working with her music classmates, however, and would have enjoyed more break-out time within her own department and less full-group time. Theatre major James Lekatz appreciated the practical elements of the course. Hearing from guest speakers—practicing artists, teachers, grants administrators— made him aware of their involvement in the community and the different styles they use. He said the course helped students deal with removal of the “safety net of Augsburg,” and taught them how to use specific skills, e.g., to get gallery space, to plan a show, etc. Over the next couple of years, the keystone courses will all be evaluated and revisions made where needed. But no matter what the form or content the senior keystone courses take, they will all continue to help students complete an Augsburg education as effective, informed, and ethical citizens. And to become adaptable and resilient— elements needed for success on whatever path they choose. Studio art major Rachel Nelson (top), theatre arts major James Lekatz (middle), and music performance major Catherine DeVoe (right) explore the properties and possibilities of a stool. SPRING 2007 15 Above: Martin Sabo smiles to greet a judge as he stands in the imposing Capitol Rotunda, 96 feet in diameter. Left (top): In their suburban Virginia home, Sylvia Sabo, Martin’s wife and college sweetheart, works on a crossword puzzle; her husband usually tackles Sudoku. According to Sylvia, playing the puzzles is part of their morning ritual. Left (below): Leaving Congress means many farewells, in this case to Pennsylvania’s 12th District congressman John Murtha, as the doors close in the Rayburn Building elevator. Right: The transition in leadership begins to seem more real as Sabo sits in a nearly barren office watching Rep. Nancy Pelosi read the results for the new Democratic leadership in the House. 16 AUGSBURG NOW The ending of an era CONGRESSMAN MARTIN OLAV SABO, Augsburg College Class of 1959, represented Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 28 years and became a fixture in the Democratic party. In 2006 he made the decision to retire from Congress and return to life as a private citizen. Augsburg staff photographer Stephen Geffre tagged along on the day Sabo and his staff vacated the corner office in the Rayburn House Office Building he had earned through seniority. Sabo actually spent the last month of his term in a basement cubicle in Rayburn HOB, with room enough for him and only one staff member. SPRING 2007 17 18 AUGSBURG NOW Olav Martin Sabo THE ENDING OF AN ERA Above: Martin Sabo takes a moment to read through the mail delivered to his desk. Left (top): After a rainy day, the sun finally breaks through to illuminate the dome of the United States Capitol, a stately presence in the nation’s capital city. Far left: Bonnie Gottwald, Sabo’s scheduler, packs up her small portion of the D.C. office. She is one of only two schedulers Sabo has had throughout his 28-year tenure in Washington, and she echoes the entire staff in saying that Sabo was always a joy to have as a boss. Middle left: Each departing representative receives a lengthy final checklist, to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. Left: Martin Sabo’s staff poses on the Capitol steps for their last official photo. SPRING 2007 19 THE ENDING OF AN ERA Above (top): Sabo chats with Kevin Bonderud, who served as his first communications director, during the office-closing party. Scattered across Sabo’s desk are mementos of more than two decades in the House of Representatives, including mock baseball cards with Sabo’s stats on them, photos, ashtrays, and T-shirts. Above: Back in his Minneapolis office, Sabo takes a few minutes to go through the mail. The plaques, hanging outside the door, are just a small sample of the honors and awards that mark the achievements of a long legislative career. Right: Each successive file drawer marked “empty” means that staffers are getting closer to having all files reviewed and sorted. 20 AUGSBURG NOW Auggies at the forefront General civil unrest swelled across the nation. Detroit was rioting, and downtown Minneapolis was starting to empty. College students demanded social change, and colleges responded with programs centering on the urban crisis. And, Augsburg College was at the forefront. Thirty-five years later, thanks to a visionary professor, an enterprising faculty, and a supportive administration, Augsburg’s metro-urban studies program graduates leaders who are making decisions about current issues and future needs, and planning for livable and sustainable neighborhoods and cities. Urban legends by Bethany Bierman in city planning It was the late sixties, and American cities were in crisis. Joel Torstenson’s vision laid the foundation for an urban studies program. His wife, Garry Hesser is professor of sociology and chairs the metro-urban studies program. Fran, joins him here. A program is born Joel Torstenson came to Augsburg as a history major from west central Minnesota. After graduating in 1938, he worked in education for Farmer’s Co-ops, earned a master’s degree in history and sociology, and began teaching part time at Augsburg. During the war years he joined the peace movement and community organizing. In 1947, he returned to Augsburg to develop its social work and sociology programs while completing his PhD in sociology. These programs provided a natural foundation for urban studies 20 years later. Torstenson writes in his memoirs, “The more [Augsburg] became involved in urban affairs, the more we began to ask the question— what is the appropriate role of a liberal arts college located at the center of an exploding metropolis?” In 1966, Torstenson used his sabbatical to explore this question. He visited urban studies programs at East Coast schools. Upon returning, he wrote a position paper with the rationale and proposal for a metro-urban studies program at Augsburg. In order to set this in motion, courses centering on the city were needed. Torstenson, Miles Stenshoel of the political science department, Orloue Gisselquist in history, Ed Sabella in economics, Ron Palosaari in English, and other faculty embraced this concept. In 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, the director of youth programs for the American Lutheran Church, Rev Ewald Bash, wanted to address the cultural challenges head on. Colleagues encouraged him to contact Torstenson, who had a reputation for his pursuit of racial justice and human rights. “The Crisis Colony” was born from their conversation. Students lived on the north side of Minneapolis, first in public housing and later in an abandoned synagogue, while learning from people who lived and worked in the community. Led by Torstenson, Bash, and Stenshoel, it grew from an intense summer program, to a semester program, to the Metro Urban Studies Term, or “MUST,” the first academic program of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA). Today, MUST is a key element for all urban studies majors and is one of the premier interdisciplinary experiential education programs in the nation. Torstenson took his second sabbatical in Scandinavia in order to explore how to build cities without crisis. Out of this came the Scandinavian Urban Studies Term, or “SUST,” the second program of 22 AUGSBURG NOW HECUA. Based at the University of Oslo, students attend seminars, go on field excursions, and volunteer with various community and governmental organizations. “Two unique ingredients contributed to the success of the [metrourban studies] program: commitments from faculty … and the programs offered through HECUA, which became catalysts and capstones for the major,” says Garry Hesser, professor of sociology and chair of the metro-urban studies program, who was hired in 1977 to succeed Torstenson. While the University of Minnesota and other private colleges established urban studies programs in response to the mid-’60s urban crisis, most have not survived. “Augsburg’s is one of the few that has retained faculty and administrative commitment,” Hesser says. “Over the past 35 years there has been a steady stream of graduates who have become professional planners, city administrators, elected officials, and citizens serving on planning commissions, hearkening to the call to public service.” With monies from the Lilly [Endowment] grant, a spring break trip to Washington, D.C., has run the past five years, exposing students to vocations in community development and public service. Up until this year, the group visited Martin Sabo at his office. This year they met with newly-elected congressman Keith Ellison and his staff. Many students decide on metro-urban studies majors after the trip. Here are several stories of careers that have been shaped by the metro-urban studies program. Allan Torstenson ’75 Transforming neighborhoods One of the first graduates of the metro-urban studies program was Allan Torstenson. In his first semester at Augsburg, the Dawson, Minn., native took his Uncle Joel Torstenson’s “Man in Modern Metropolis” course (now called “Community and the Modern Metropolis”) because it fulfilled a graduation requirement. “I tried my best not to disappoint him, and found it to be a fascinating subject,” says Allan. As a sophomore, he took an Interim course on new towns, which included meeting with architects and city planners and visiting HUD officials in Washington, D.C., and Columbia, Maryland. He loved the trip, but was still unsure of a major. He considered taking a break Allan Torstenson ’75 speaks to a metro-urban studies class about community Paula Pentel’s life experiences have informed her work in urban studies at the development. University of Minnesota and with her City Council seat. from school, but when he shared this with his uncle, Joel suggested the new SUST program, which was being offered for the first time in 1973. That cross-cultural experience was the eye opener he needed to decide on metro-urban studies. Today, Allan is a senior planner for the City of St. Paul, where he has worked since 1980. One of his most challenging and gratifying projects has been the Phalen Village Plan and redevelopment project. Through strategic vision, neighborhood involvement, and hard work, a run-down, auto-oriented area surrounding a failed shopping center was transformed into a more pedestrian- and neighborhood-oriented “urban village” with new housing, new jobs, a restructured neighborhood commercial area, a restored wetland, and a new sense of community. More than just “the guy who wrote the plan,” Allan researched solutions and wrote grants addressing the larger issues. In 1993 he authored the Phalen Corridor Redevelopment Proposal, leading to the Phalen Corridor Initiative and affecting much of St. Paul’s East Side. “The transformation in only a few years has been amazing,” Torstenson shared with one of Hesser’s classes recently. “A lot of what I did in this effort was influenced by the urban studies program at Augsburg. It’s not just about design, but addresses the real problems neighborhoods deal with to build and sustain socially and economically viable communities.” He also credits the SUST program as a foundation for many of the project concepts he considered. Washington Avenue down through the scrap yards … up through Cedar-Riverside, which in the early ’70s was very vibrant—it was a fascinating trip through time that I took every day.” A course she took from Joel Torstensen really resonated with her, and she abandoned the biology major. While at Augsburg, Pentel got involved in collective decisionmaking as one of the volunteer coordinators of North Country Co-op. Pentel also participated in SUST the fall of her junior year. “What I took back was planning for versus planning with the public.” Between Augsburg and graduate school in geography at the University of Minnesota, Pentel interned for the City of Richfield and became involved in her neighborhood organization. In 1985 she and her husband moved to Golden Valley, where she continued volunteering in the community, serving 12 years on the Planning Commission, seven years as chair. In 2004 there was a vacant seat on the Golden Valley City Council. Pentel was appointed to fill out the term and was reelected in 2005. During her tenure, she’s seen considerable improvements in regard to environmental stewardship, construction of the Luce Line bike trail, and creation of a vibrant downtown area. Pentel stays connected to her North Minneapolis roots by serving as a board member on the West Broadway Area Coalition and being active at the Hollywood Studio of Dance, a non-profit, parent-managed endeavor. “To be effective in what I do in my public life, I have to be articulate, informed, accepting, and open. A lot of that I developed at Augsburg,” she says. In her professional work, Pentel serves as undergraduate advisor for the urban studies program at the university. “I help students find their calling and what interests them.” She is particularly proud of mentoring Patricia Torres Rey, who became the first Latina woman elected to the Senate in the State of Minnesota. Pentel developed and now teaches a course on the urban environment, which examines the urban effects on air, water, and soil. “All environmental issues have a local component,” Pentel says. “I tell my students to look at Augsburg’s new low-impact parking lot [on the east edge of campus]. It’s a great example of a very innovative way to mitigate pollution from storm water runoff.” Pentel also continues the Torstenson legacy of hosting an annual open house for her advisees—about 80 of them. “I tell them, ‘This is your private college experience.’” Paula (Brookins) Pentel ’78 Teaching the next generation It was at Minneapolis North High School that Paula (Brookins) Pentel ’78 began her life-long interest in civic engagement. She witnessed the unequal distribution of resources while visiting various Minneapolis high schools with the debate and cheerleading teams, and also watched “white flight” from her north-side neighborhood. “I became interested in social justice and wanted to understand and affect change in how the city works.” Pentel chose Augsburg because it offered a biology major and allowed her to commute. “I rode the bus to and from campus for four years,” she recalls. “That’s how I really became interested in urban studies—riding down SPRING 2007 23 Tammera (Ericson) Diehm ’93 Giving citizens a voice Growing up in Coon Rapids, Minn., Tami Diehm was fascinated by the “inner city.” Her plan to be a social studies teacher changed when she took a metro-urban studies class from Andy Aoki her freshman year. “For me, the program was the perfect way to combine my interests in people, government, and the urban environment.” In the spring of her junior and senior years, Diehm interned with Anoka County, and during her senior year, she examined multicultural education in Minneapolis public schools for her senior honors project. Following graduation from Augsburg in 1993, Diehm spent several years raising three children but kept in touch with her interests through her appointments to the Columbia Heights Charter and Planning Commissions. She also kept in touch with Aoki, her adviser. While discussing her graduate school plans with him over lunch one day, he asked her if she could do anything, what it would be. Her answer? Law school, although she thought her three young children prevented her from pursuing it. Aoki said she owed it to herself to check it out. Three years later, in 2003, Diehm graduated summa cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law, which she attended on full scholarship. She clerked for Justice Russell Anderson of the Minnesota Supreme Court for one year and currently is an attorney at Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. Her practice focuses primarily on land use and real estate, assisting clients as they seek development approvals from local government. She also serves as the city attorney for Mendota Heights. In addition to her legal work, Diehm is serving her second term on the Columbia Heights City Council, and was elected as council president in 2006. She is also a member of the Economic Development Authority and the chair of the city’s Housing Redevelopment Authority. “There was a strong sense that Augsburg students should not only be an active part of the College community, but also an active part of the larger community in which the College is located,” says Diehm. “This desire to ‘give back’ has stayed with me and directly impacted my decision to run for my position on the City Council. I saw a need in our community—the need for young families to have a voice in the decision-making process of the city.” The desire to give back that Tami Diehm ’93 learned at Augsburg has influenced her decisions to serve in public office. 24 AUGSBURG NOW “Through my experiences at Augsburg, I realized that I could use my gifts to serve a need in the world, and thus follow the Christian concept of vocation,” says Diehm. “I have incorporated my ‘call to serve’ into my work—not only by adhering to the highest ethical standard in the way in which I practice law—but also through a commitment to providing pro bono legal services to those who would otherwise have only limited access to legal representation, and by serving my community on the city council.” These pro bono projects include representing women and children in domestic abuse cases, volunteering at a legal clinic where she advises people who are starting new businesses, and assisting with the formation of new non-profit organizations as they work to obtain tax exempt status from the IRS. “In both my legal work and my public service I feel I am using my gifts to serve a need in the world.” Diehm was named a “Rising Star” by Minnesota Law and Politics in 2007 and one of 15 “Up and Coming Attorneys” in 2006 by Minnesota Lawyer. Susan (Horning) Arntz ’94 Managing suburban growth Susan (Horning) Arntz decided in ninth grade civics that she would run for president in 2020, with her slogan being “A Clearer Vision.” Her love of government grew, and she came to Augsburg to major in political science. She learned of the metro-urban studies program in her second year and focused her electives around metro-urban studies courses. At a rally on campus her sophomore year, Arntz introduced herself to Hennepin County commissioner Peter McLaughlin, hoping to secure a summer job. His aide, fellow Auggie Mike Matson ’79, insisted she begin earlier, and she spent one-and-a-half years working for him. After graduation, she interned for the City of Shoreview and then began her professional career in assistant city administrator positions in Chaska and New Brighton, before becoming the youngest person ever hired as city administrator in the City of Waconia, where she has worked since 2001. “It’s a growing community, so much of what we do requires look- Susan Arntz ’94 leads the City of Waconia through its growth spurt. Today’s Students ing to the future on a daily basis,” says Arntz. “The people having these conversations may never be here to see these things happen, just as those before us made decisions that affect us today.” Arntz says the biggest challenge she deals with is how to manage the growth of the city, which has increased 25% in six years and shows no sign of slowing. This requires communication and cooperation with developers, the school board, property owners, and elected officials. “I think one of the best things that Augsburg taught me, both from a faith perspective and also from an educational perspective, was how to be receptive to all of those ideas and to have a guide for what I believe to be right.” As far as running for president, Arntz says, “The longer I serve in the capacity I am in, the less I’m intrigued by elected office. I can make an immediate impact on 10,000 people. We can make huge, positive improvements or small incremental improvements that will have a greater outcome down the road.” Arntz earned a master’s degree in public administration from Hamline University in 1999. In 2004, Augsburg awarded her the First Decade Award, and she has served on the Alumni Board. Rebecca Brown ’00 Promoting community development While her mother, Barbara (Anderson) ’66, is an alumna, it was the call of the city that lured Rebecca Brown of Appleton, Minn., to Augsburg. While at Augsburg, Brown completed five different internships and off-campus work-study opportunities, from working with a summer youth peace garden for the Seward Neighborhood Group, to teaching English for the South American arm of the YMCA in Quito, Ecuador. After her sophomore year, Brown took a year off to serve with AmeriCorps in order to truly live in the city. She took the bus every day from South Minneapolis to her work at an alternative high school in North Minneapolis. Brown also participated in HECUA her senior year, teaching Tomorrow’s Leaders Sarah Pesola ’07 of Wadena, Minn., chose metro-urban studies because, “It meant that I could study history, sociology, economics, political science, and other disciplines as well.” Pesola participated in SUST and recalls, “My semester in Norway was amazing. It had a huge impact on me, ultimately changing the way I view the world.” Pesola will begin to volunteer at a youth homeless shelter in Berkeley, Calif., through Lutheran Volunteer Corps. Since a mission trip to Detroit in junior high, Greg Hildebrandt ’08 has felt the pull to work with people living in the inner city. He went on the D.C. trip with Hesser last year and will participate in the MUST semester in the fall. “Students who are in [metro-urban studies] are very passionate about what they are doing,” Hildebrandt says. “They’ll carry this passion with them the rest of their lives, whether professionally or through volunteering.” Plans for the future include using his second major in mathematics to help with statistics and budgeting within a non-profit as well as tutoring students. Jeanette Clark ’07 felt a calling into urban ministry even as a student at Hopkins High School. She chose Augsburg for its metro-urban studies and youth and family ministry programs. At Augsburg, Clark served as a campus ministry commissioner and leadership team member for the Campus Kitchen. In March Clark created a spring-break opportunity, “Go Away Here,” which included service projects in the local community, visits to neighborhood organizations, and social outings. She will begin work at City South Cluster Ministries in South Minneapolis through Lutheran Volunteer Corps, then plans to begin Seminary with the hope of serving in an urban congregation. English and learning about community organizing, agriculture, and the economy in Ecuador and South America. She spent an additional seven months in Ecuador on her own, working with rural youth in agriculture. “Traveling abroad definitely makes me a better city planner,” Brown says. “It has opened my mind to varied ways of thinking and behaving in community. As a city planner, understanding and validating different points of view, opinions, and experiences is critical.” After graduating from Augsburg, Brown served over three years as code enforcement and neighborhood coordinator for the City of Crystal. She earned a master’s degree in city and regional planning with a specialization in economic development from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2006. She now serves as project coordinator for the City of Minneapolis’ Department of Community Planning and Economic Development. She works in neighborhoods to coordinate commercial redevelopment projects that incorporate public assistance. As for her future, Brown says, “I see myself in a life of public service, involved in state-level economic and tax policy in 15-20 years and perhaps an elected office.” Ⅵ For more information about programs mentioned, go to: www.augsburg.edu/sociology and www.hecua.org Travel abroad and internships prepared Rebecca Brown ’00 for city planning. SPRING 2007 25 T place A of their own Doroth Mayer by Betsey Norgard East African women spend time at the East African Women’s Center, established two he East African Women’s Center in Riverside Plaza near Augsburg’s campus is a busy place on a weekday morning. In this two-year-old program of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota (CSCM), several East African women sit at sewing machines, practicing sewing seams in bright fabrics. Others are pressing their fabrics or talking with a center volunteer. In the next room, behind a glass window, six or seven small children play actively under the watchful eyes of mothers and the center’s caregiver in the family childcare room. In the middle of the activity is center coordinator Doroth Mayer, often juggling a baby on her hip as she goes about her work. Rarely are there quiet moments for her in this center she co-created with CSCM’s executive director, Saeed Fahia. Since 1994 CSCM has served more than 18,000 Somali immigrants who have settled in Minnesota—the largest concentration in the country. CSCM provides resources and services to assist Somalis in navigating American systems and making the transition to living life in a new culture, while still preserving their traditions. CSCM is funded by county, state, and federal agencies, as well as a number of Minnesota foundations. The Women’s Center’s funding has come from the Office of Refugee Resettlement and local foundations including the Bush Foundation, the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation, Sheltering Arms Foundation, and Wells Fargo. Within the East African refugee community, young mothers with children and elderly women who have arrived in the last few years remain especially isolated, some rarely leaving their apartments to take English classes, to meet American women, or to learn how to cook and prepare American food. When CSCM was offered a 2,000-square-foot location right in the middle of the Riverside Plaza housing complex, it secured grant money and opened the Women’s Center in February 2005. From the beginning, a family childcare center was an integral part of CSCM’s plan so mothers would have a safe place to leave their children and take English language classes, learn to sew, or simply to do their laundry and daily tasks. The Women’s Center currently serves 85-100 women and children every week. Different levels of sewing classes meet three days, morning and afternoon, with two teachers and six or seven women in each class. Fabric is provided, and the women learn the basics of how to sew and how to use sewing machines to make simple items, like aprons and bags. Some women’s skills are now advanced enough to make clothing for themselves and their children. years ago in Cedar-Riverside, for sewing classes, the family childcare center, and other activities. A partnership grows Augsburg’s partnership with the East African Women’s Center is relatively new. During President Pribbenow’s inauguration week last fall, a service group from Augsburg spent a morning painting at the center. One person in the group that day was Augsburg junior Kristen Hoyles, a youth and family ministry major. After hearing Mayer talk about renovation of the center and how much painting was still needed, Hoyles made a commitment not only to paint, but to teach two or three of the 26 AUGSBURG NOW Doroth Mayer adolescent girls in Girls’ Group how to paint, so together they could get the job done. She’s there on Friday afternoons and feels she is living out her theology by using her painting experience to help where it’s needed. “I’m in awe of how grateful the center has been for something I feel is no big deal,” Hoyles says. Mayer adds, “Kristen has no clue how much she means to us. She has finished the painting, and we’ve negotiated a new job for her—she is becoming our ‘handy person.’ She is starting by taking on the task of repairing the center’s tricycles so the little kids have trikes to use.” The group that visited the center also took great interest in the textile weavings hanging on the walls, made by Somali women from yarn donated to the center. The weavings represent the thousand-year-old tradition of East African “twine weaving,” originally using grasses and vines to make wall coverings, horse blankets, and bags used in their nomadic cultures. When President Pribbenow furnished his new office at Augsburg, he sought out Somali art, and now has samples of these weavings hanging both in his office and in his home. The Somali weavings will Kristen Hoyles, an Augsburg junior majoring in youth and family ministry, volunteers at the Women’s Center, teaching adolescent Somali girls to paint with her. also be featured on campus as the inaugural exhibit in the new Gage Family Gallery, scheduled to open in August in the Oren Gateway Center. A kitchen shower Mayer, who has worked for many years in community-based activities, would love to see more opportunities for the East African women to spend time with American women—she knows how much the women want to develop friendships with American women, learn from them how to live within American culture, and share East African culture with their new friends. Mayer sometimes takes women from the center with her when she buys groceries for center activities. The women ask about things they don’t know or understand and foods they’ve never seen before. “Last week at the supermarket, we saw some asparagus,” Mayer says. “We brought back several bunches and steamed it. It was a big hit. Even some of the little kids in the family child- care center tried it—cautiously, but they tried it!” When the Women’s Center space was renovated (with the support of the Bush and Phillips Foundations and the apartment complex managers, Sherman and Associates) a full kitchen was added at Mayer’s suggestion— and it has proven to be popular and very well used. She learned that giving the women recipes to try at home was not useful, since many of them don’t read or know how to follow recipes. But learning by observing and then trying it themselves was the way to go. “Once in a while we make quick bread to give the kids for snacks,” Mayer says. “We learned that women wanted to watch us make it. Then, after we make it together they tell us they feel comfortable trying it themselves at home.” The popularity of cooking led to another project initiated by Augsburg community services director Mary Laurel True. For Professor Bev Stratton’s religion class, in which students carry out projects that benefit the community, True suggested the idea of a kitchen shower for the Women’s Center. With a wish list provided by the Women’s Center to adequately equip their kitchen, the class sought donations from faculty, SPRING 2007 27 Doroth Mayer The Somali yarn weaving hanging in President Pribbenow’s office East African women enjoyed opening gifts for their kitchen from Augsburg faculty, students, symbolizes the partnership between Augsburg and the East African and staff at a “kitchen shower” initiated by Professor Bev Stratton’s religion class. staff, students, and friends. Fifteen women from Augsburg met nearly 20 East African women at the center, shared desserts and Somali tea, and gave them “presents” to open. In addition, cash gifts and Target and IKEA gift cards were given, to involve the East African women in shopping for their kitchen. Mayer was delighted and called it a great event. “Mary Laurel came up with the most creative way to bring women together that I’ve seen yet. She is giving women an opportunity to share their cultures in a respectful and joyous way.” Learning to lead Mayer recognizes that new leadership must grow from the women at the center. She is encouraging them to actively engage in whatever learning 28 AUGSBURG NOW opportunities are appropriate to their personal situations and to develop their leadership skills so that some day they have the capacity to run the center that they call their “home away from home. “In addition,” she says, “we need partners in the community who try to understand what we’re doing … partners who really get to know the women and plan together with them.” For Augsburg’s part, this kind of partnership wouldn’t be possible without its Center for Service, Work, and Learning, which establishes and nurtures a myriad of connections between the College and its surrounding neighbors—for tutoring, health education and fitness, sports clinics, music lessons, science teaching in the school, meals programs, use of campus facili- Doroth Mayer Women’s Center. ties, college preparation sessions, and so on. Augsburg partners with CSCM for two tutoring programs, one of which brings Somali high school students directly to campus twice a week for homework help from students in Augsburg’s Honors Program. The other program targets elementary and middle school students for tutoring and receives snacks from the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College Monday through Thursday. Already True has ideas for new projects, especially between the Women’s Center and Augsburg’s Women’s Resource Center. “We are so fortunate to have this new center in our neighborhood,” True says. “There is so much we can learn from each other, and so many ways we can work together to enhance the lives of women in this community.” Hoyles confirms this, saying that during her time at the center she is gaining a stronger sense of community, and “understanding that our world isn’t so big. “I think students who do not learn about our community are really missing out,” she says. Ⅵ ALUMNI NEWS From the Alumni Board president … Greetings fellow Auggies, As I’m sure you’re experiencing, the circle and cycle of life continues unabated this year. It is particularly noticeable to me this year because of the differences which reinforce the sameness (apologies and thanks to Dr. Palosaari—you helped me improve my writing skills tremendously and ensured that the poet in me remains untrammeled, too!). Let me explain … I’m both a student of and practitioner in the field of human systems dynamics. One way we model the world is through containers, differences, and exchanges. A container, like Augsburg College, is described by its differences which make a difference in the world. Then, as critical friends, we can exchange thoughts about those differences in our mutual container. One difference at Augsburg I want to bring to your attention relates to Commencement: • The school year is ending with graduation again—a common experience we alumni share and a tremendously important difference, that makes a difference in the lives of our alumni-to-be. Please join me in welcoming them into new stages of life as Auggie alumni by taking a moment to think warm, welcoming thoughts or remember them in your prayers. • Augsburg has two Commencement ceremonies for the first time in its history—one on May 5 aligns the cycle of life of traditional day students and physician assistant students on semesters, and one on June 24 aligns with WEC and graduate program students on trimesters. Please join me in saluting Augsburg’s leadership for recognizing the differences in the cycle of life for different parts of the student body and responding to provide a better graduation experience. Another difference I want to encourage you to check out is our Online Community. Go to www.augsburg.edu and click on the Alumni and Friends link: • To see up-to-date information on Alumni Relations • To check out the benefits available to you as alumni (did you know that as alumni you can use Lindell Library? Check out the Alumni Benefits link!). Read about it on the next page. • Log in to the Augsburg Online Community where you can search for fellow Auggies, keep the College up to date on contacting you, make a donation to support Augsburg, or read about fellow alumni. You can even read the minutes of the Alumni Association and its committees (log in to the Online Community, then select the Alumni Leadership>Alumni Board path). And finally, as you make a difference in the world, remember to stay in touch. We want to hear from you and we want to be able to contact you. • Let us know how you are and what you are doing through the Alumni Relations Office (alumni@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1181). • Register and visit our Online Community (www.augsburg.edu, click on Alumni and Friends, then Augsburg Online Community). Then update your profile and search for your fellow classmates. Go Auggies! Barry Vornbrock, ’96 MAL President, Augsburg Alumni Association We’re off to the races! Auggie Night at the Races Canterbury Park, Shakopee Thursday, August 2 5:30 p.m., picnic • 7 p.m., first race Complimentary entrance fee; fun for all ages. Space is limited. RSVP to rsvp@augsburg.edu by July 26. Alumni Board meetings Aug. 21, 5:30 p.m.—location to be confirmed SPRING 2007 29 ALUMNI NEWS Take advantage of Auggie alumni benefits Augsburg Legacy Award The Augsburg Legacy Award is available to full-time day students working toward their first bachelor’s degree, who are children or spouses of Augsburg graduates; siblings of current Augsburg students; or children or spouses of current ELCA pastors. No scholarship application is required. Students who qualify for both the Legacy Award and Regents’ Scholarship or Transfer Regents’ Scholarship will receive only one award, whichever is higher. Renewal is based on maintaining a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0, measured at the end of spring term. Amount: Minimum $4,000 per year Deadline: Accepted for admission by May 1 for fall enrollment; or Dec. 1 for spring enrollment www.augsburg.edu/day/finaid/ scholarships.html Discount on tuition for classes Alumni are offered up to four courses—one course per term—at 50% off the current part-time tuition rate (day or weekend programs). This benefit does not apply to alumni whose enrollment qualifies them for full-time comprehensive tuition. Tuition discount must be applied for in the same academic year as the course is taken. The following courses do not count for the benefits noted: directed study, independent study, internships, Summer School, graduate programs, study abroad, continuing education. The following do meet the requirements for the benefits noted: fall, winter, or spring term courses; student teaching; and partial courses (.50 and .25 education courses use one of the four benefits). NOTE: The tuition discount cannot be applied until after the 10th day of classes in the specified term. Book privileges in Lindell Library Free Augsburg library cards with limited services are available to alumni. Check with the circulation or reference desks for further information on how to obtain a library card. Augsburg License Plate Join the Augsburg Online Community It’s designed just for you— • Keep in touch with classmates • Find out what’s happening on campus • Send class notes about what you’re doing • Change/update your address and e-mail • Update your profile so others can find you • Make an online gift to Augsburg It’s fast and easy. Already, more than 500 alumni have registered. Simply go to www.augsburg.edu/alumni—have you signed up? If you have questions, e-mail healyk@augsburg.edu. 30 AUGSBURG NOW Display your Augsburg connection! Available through the Minnesota Department of Transportation www.dps.state.mn.us/dvs/ PlBrochure/CollegiatePlates.htm Athletic facilities Augsburg’s athletic facilities are available to alumni when they are not in use for special events, classes, or other activities. If you plan to come, it’s best to check first with the athletic facilities office at 612-330-1504, especially during the summer. Schedules are posted outside of ice rinks A and B (neither rink is available during the summer), the gym, and the fitness centers. Note: Use of the fitness centers is available only to graduates of the College. Alumni may use the racquetball court by signing up on the posted sheets at the court. Reservations must be made in person—no phone reservations are accepted. Alumni will be asked for identification when using the facilities. An Augsburg ID card (available in the Enrollment Center) or an A-Club pass will expedite your admission. Alumni using the facilities are allowed one guest each. CLASS NOTES 1950 1968 Roger “Bud” Leak, Excelsior, Minn., was named the 2007 recipient of the Cliff Thompson Award by the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association, at its banquet in March. The award is given annually for “long-term outstanding contributions to the sport of hockey in Minnesota.” He helped start the Minnetonka boys’ hockey program in 1952. Lois (Hallcock) and Bruce Johnson, Plymouth, Minn., were featured in a Minneapolis Star Tribune article in March about how families finance education. All three of their children—Leah, Thomas, and current senior Aaron—have attended Augsburg. 1964 Dennis J. Erickson, Los Alamos, N.M., was awarded the Distinguished Service to Safety Award, the highest honor bestowed by the National Safety Council, in recognition of outstanding service in the field of safety. He has worked for 35 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory and is scientific advisor in the New Mexico governor’s office. 1967 Loren Dunham, Fairmont, Minn., is retiring from public school teaching in Fairmont after 39 years in the classroom. He taught economics, psychology, American history, and International Baccalaureate courses, as well as coaching tennis and Economics Challenge and Knowledge Bowl. A former editor of Augsburg Echo, he says he feels he was “well-prepared academically for the many and various teaching assignments” he received. dunfritz@charter.net 1969 Matty (Janis) Mathison, Shawano, Wis., was honored with the Women’s Sports Advocates of Wisconsin Lifetime Achievement Award for 2007. In 1998 she retired from 35 years of teaching and 25 years of coaching volleyball at Shawano High School. 1970 Susan Pursch, Philadelphia, Pa., received the 2007 Tom Hunstad Award (known as the “Tommy”) at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza. She has served as a youth minister and has coordinated and run programs for at-risk youth. Currently she is vice president for church and community partnerships at Liberty Lutheran Services in Philadelphia. Donald Q. Smith, Portland, Ore., retired as the publisher and editor of the weekly Monticello Times. In October he was honored with the James O. Amos Award by the National Newspaper Association, one of the highest tributes in community journalism. 1976 James Moen, Carrollton, Texas, retired last year from 27 years of serving as band director in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district. To honor his legacy the district named the new fine arts wing at R.L. Turner High School after him. In addition to spending retirement time with his family, he works with computers, is a substitute teacher, and accompanies students in music competitions. JLJAMS@msn.com 1977 Rev. Dr. Mark Braaten, Bullard, Texas, is senior pastor of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Tyler, Texas. His first book Come, Lord Jesus: A Study of Revelation, was published by Liturgical Press in January. His second book, on prayer, is scheduled for publication in fall 2008. James M. Strommen, Minnetonka, Minn., was recently re-elected president of the Minneapolis law firm of Kennedy & Graven, a firm of 36 lawyers located in downtown Minneapolis and St. Cloud. He practices in the area of municipal franchise, construction, and utility law. 1978 Rev. Guy Redfield was installed in November as senior pastor at Chetek Lutheran Church in Chetek, Wis. 1980 Carol (Kenyon) Dekker, Sheboygan, Wis., began as an administrative and operations assistant in marketing and public relations roles at BurkartHeisdorf Insurance in Sheboygan. Gary Tangwall, Lake Elmo, Minn., a senior financial consultant for the Landmark Group of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Lake Elmo, has been honored as the second highest performer in 2006 among the organization’s 2,500 financial representatives. He is one of 25 Thrivent representatives invited to attend the Pinnacle Leadership Retreat in September in New York. 1985 Jean Taylor, Eagan, Minn., is president of Taylor Corporation in North Mankato, Minn., and has recently assumed additional responsibilities as chief executive officer. Denise (Rolloff) Tewes, Lincoln, Neb., announces the release of her first original CD, Apple of Your Eye, contemporary Christian music drawing from the psalms and reflecting on some of life’s experiences. She is choral director at Messiah Lutheran Church. denise@denisetewes.com James Rongstad, Pine Island, Minn., was appointed in January to a three-year term on the Van Horn Library Board. This is the public library serving Pine Island. In February he was appointed treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Girl Scout Council of River Trails, serving southeast Minnesota. SPRING 2007 31 CLASS NOTES Responsibility as an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law. 1987 Scott L. Anderson married Susie Wilkey of Coon Rapids on April 8, 2006. He joined Farmers Insurance Group and Farmers Financial Solutions in March. They live in Minneapolis. ScottLAnderson38@msn.com. 1998 Brandon Reichel and Shannon Geiger were married Aug. 28, 2004. They welcomed a baby girl, Finley Vada, on Jan. 17, who was 8 lbs., 5 oz., and 21.5 inches long. 1992 Stacy (Shiltz) Abraham and her husband, Chris, in Milwaukee, Wis., announce the birth of Elijah James, on Jan. 26. Stacy is a teacher in the Milwaukee Public Schools. mrs.abraham@earthlink.net 1989 Thomas Stutsman, St. Louis Park, Minn., founded Stutsman Realty, Inc. in 1992 and is celebrating 15 years of business this year. 1991 Mark Keating and his wife, Amy, of Edina, Minn., announce the birth of their third son, Aidan Howard, on March 14, 2006. He joins brothers Owen, 5, and Carson, 3. Mark is an account executive at Symantec. Sharol Tyra, of Life Illuminations Presentations & Coaching has qualified for professional membership and joined the National Speakers Association. 1993 Kim (Swanson) Meslow and her husband, Jeff ’92, in White Bear Township, Minn., announce the birth of their third daughter, Hanna Rose, born on July 7. She joins big sisters Ally (5) and Kayla (3). kmeslow@swansonyoungdale.com Michelle Kay (Wincell) Nielsen and her husband, William, welcome the arrival of a daughter, Lena Kay, on Dec. 10. They were married in September 2005 and live in St. Paul. 32 AUGSBURG NOW 1996 Scott Magelssen, Rock Island, Ill., saw publication of his book Living History Museums: Undoing History through Performance, by Scarecrow Press in February. It treats performance practices and historiography at living museums in the U.S. and Europe. He and his wife, Theresa (Hoar) ’95, and two-year-old son, Trygg, will move to Ohio where Scott will teach theatre history at Bowling Green State University, starting in August. Heidi (Geyer) Ostrander is a physical education teacher at Valley View Elementary School in Columbia Heights, Minn., where she teaches the Dance, Dance, Revolution curriculum. She was featured on the Fox Morning Show in February. Brooke (Manisto) and her husband, Erik Reseland ’98, in St. Anthony, Minn., welcomed a daughter, Adeline, born on Feb. 3. She joins big sister Elsa, 3. 1994 1997 Will Stute has joined the Minneapolis law firm office of Faegre & Benson as a partner in the Business Litigation Group, focusing on litigation matters, particularly commercial fraud. He also teaches Professional Astrid Larssen, of Oslo, Norway, is currently living in Sydney, Australia, where she is in the process of finishing up a PhD in computer science. She has also lived and worked in Norway and Ghana since leaving the U.S. Wendy (Shields) and her husband, Bradley Reiners ’99 PA, in Prairie Farm, Wis., welcomed a son, Jackson Patrick, their first child, on Aug. 10. Brad works as a physician assistant at Luther MidelfortPrairie Farm Clinic. 1999 Aaron Smith and Jill (Pintens) are proud to announce the birth of Wyatt Douglas, born May 20, 2006. They currently live in Tucson, Ariz., where Aaron is a surgery resident and Jill is a physician assistant. With an internship at the White House, Emily Soeder carried out a dream and has stayed in Washington to gain the experince it has to offer for her future career choices. Inside the White House Emily Soeder didn’t realize how many statements she would be researching and fact checking, or how many definitions of ordinary words she would be looking up. But she did know that she had always wanted to work at the White House, and that is exactly where she landed during her last semester, before graduating summa cum laude from Augsburg in December. She had known for some time about internships available at the White House, and during her senior year worked with Lois Olson in the Center for Service, Work, and Learning to complete and submit the online application. Several months later, she was living what was for her an “amazing experience” as one of about 70 interns selected for fall 2006, and one of three in the Office of Presidential Speechwriting. “One of the most memorable projects I worked on was annotating a version of the speech the president was going to deliver to the UN,” Soeder says. It meant going through it line by line, ensuring the factuality of every word and statement. When asked how the real West Wing compared to that of the TV show of the same name, Soeder notes that in reality the West Wing is very small—not the huge area it seems to be on TV. In fact, nearly all of the administration’s staff offices are not located there, but next door in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Beyond her specific duties, Soeder has learned a great deal from the contacts with executive branch staff, as the interns listened to speakers such as Karl Rove, assistant to the president, deputy chief of staff and senior adviser, and Harriet Miers, counsel to the president. Her most exciting “Washington moment,” she says, came in November when she met President Bush the day after election results came in. Once her internship ended in December, Soeder was fortunate to be appointed as a confidential assistant to the assistant secretary in the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Education. Here, she works on projects, scheduling, and briefing materials. Outside of work, Soeder volunteers as a tutor with Horton’s Kids, a non-profit agency that provides services to children from nearby, lowincome Ward 8 in D.C. The kids are bused to the Department of Education once a week for oneon-one tutoring by the employees. While at Augsburg, Soeder was involved with College Republicans, and has now become active with Young Republicans in D.C. To be hired for political or legislative jobs, she says, candidates generally need to show loyalty to a party or candidate. Campaigning at the grass roots is a great way to start building that experience, and she got a taste of it last fall by traveling to Ohio and Tennessee to work on local campaigns. At this point, Soeder doesn’t see herself staying in Washington, D.C., for a long time. She believes her career decisions will keep coming back to a basic question students at Augsburg are asked to consider—how am I going to impact the world in what I do? She appreciates the grounding she received in her communications courses, such as Persuasion, and the analytical skills and experience from participating on the Forensics Team. For now, she’s enjoying all Washington has to offer— politics, history, culture, and the excitement of being at the center of it all. SPRING 2007 33 CLASS NOTES Wendy (Hoekstra) Vogelgesang and her husband, David, in Litchfield, Minn., welcomed twin boys, August and Ewan, born three months early on Aug. 1. They spent three months growing at St. Cloud Hospital and Fairview Riverside Hospital neo-natal intensive care units. Read their journey at www.caringbridge.com/visit/wen dyandboys. They are doing well now, but everyone has gone through a lot. Wendy went back to work as a kindergarten teacher at Litchfield Public Schools in January, while David is a stay-at-home dad. and 21 inches long. Holly graduates in June with an MBA from Augsburg. hknutson04@yahoo.com 2003 2000 Julia Mensing works at Event Lab, an event-planning company, which was recognized for the second year in a row by the International Special Events Society (ISES) with a 2007 Minnesota Star Award in the “Best Event Design and Décor” category. 2006 2002 Brendan Anderson, Phoenix, Ariz., was commissioned by the Concordia Wind Orchestra in Irvine, Calif., to write a large concert piece, The Gift and the Wise Men, around the theme of Epiphany, for their orchestra and guest organist. It premiered in Phoenix while the orchestra was on tour in January. Matthew Chappuis and Jennifer (Lemke), Apple Valley, Minn., welcomed their first child, a daughter, Hattie Romae, on Aug. 18, weighing 8 lbs., 3 oz., and 21 inches long. He is a middle school physical education and health teacher in the Burnsville School District, and she is an eighth-grade science teacher in the Inver Grove Heights School District. 2004 Rick Dzurik was featured in March on KARE-11 TV news as a music therapist working with hospice patients. With his guitar, he makes house calls or visits hospice units to sing music requested by the patients and families—one of only a few certified music therapists in the Twin Cities who do this. Anna Warnes and Nathan Erickson ’03 were married in August and live in Eugene, Ore. Both are students at the University of Oregon; Nathan is pursuing a doctorate in sociology, and Anna is studying for a post-baccalaureate degree in nursing. 2001 Amy (Stier) Eppen and her husband, Jeff, in Belle Plaine, Minn., are proud to announce the birth of their son, Caleb Todd, born on Nov. 28. He was welcomed home by big sister Courtney, 22 mos. Amy is a therapeutic recreation coordinator at The Lutheran Home: Hope Residence. 34 AUGSBURG NOW Holly (Ebnet) Knutson and her husband, Jeremy, in Hugo, Minn., are the proud parents of a baby girl, Adelei Marie, born Nov. 28, weighing 8 lbs., 0 oz., India, beginning in the fall. She is currently employed at Admission Possible, through AmeriCorps, where she works with 34 low-income, first generation students, encouraging them to stay in school and helping them apply to college. Her work with Admission Possible was featured in a Star Tribune article. 2005 Carolyn Herman is a Rotary Ambassador Scholar and will continue study of literature at the University of Hyderabad, Katie Koch began a new position in April as the executive assistant to Joe Dowling, artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Graduate Programs Doris Rubenstein ’93 MAL is the new director for membership and development at the Resource Center of the Americas and draws on her background in Spanish, Peace Corps experience, and living in Puerto Rico and Ecuador. Her thesis focused on nonprofit organizations serving Minnesota’s Latin population. Jill Boike ’03 MSW joined Family Innovations in 2005. She has developed a new employee/intern training program and is also working as an outpatient therapist and clinical supervisor. jsalome@comcast.net Nick Thomley ’06 MBA was featured in the business section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune with a profile of the company, Pinnacle Services, that he founded while a sophomore in college. His high school job of working with disabled residents in assisted living led him to start a company that provides vocational, residential, and financial management services to the elderly and people with disabilities. In seven years, the company has reached $7.2 million in revenue. In Memoriam Ernest (“Ernie”) W. Anderson ’37, Edina, Minn., age 90, on March 18, unexpectedly. See story on page 2. Henry Erickson Chapman ’40, Coon Rapids, Minn., age 91, in Dec. 2006. He was a retired coach and athletic director from Proctor (Minn.) Public Schools and a member of Augsburg’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Delbert Rhodes ’41, Renville, Minn., age 89, in Nov. 2006. Chester L. Brooks ’42, Duluth, Minn., age 89, on March 5. He was a Distinguished Alumnus and husband of Ebba (Johnson) Brooks ’42. The Rev. Robert Erickson Warren ’46, Edina, Minn., age 82, on Feb. 27. Fabian C. Carlson ’49, Detroit Lakes, Minn., age 82, on July 21, 2006. SEND US YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS The Rev. Oliver S. Solberg ’49, Appleton, Wis., age 87, on Jan. 10. Husband of Viola (Nelson) Solberg ’50. Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to alumni@augsburg.edu. You can also submit news to the Augsburg Online Community at www.augsburg.edu/alumni. Rachel M. Stennes ’49, Minneapolis, age 86, on Feb. 10. Full name Arlene Larsen ’49, Tacoma, Wash., age 75, on Dec. 13. Wife of Harold Larsen. Robert Hofflander ’51, Clitherall, Minn., age 79, on Jan. 29, of myelodysplastic syndrome. Husband of Dorothy (Gramling) Hofflander ’50. Maiden name John E. Seaver, Sr. ’54, Edgerton, Wis., age 74, on Feb. 2, after a long illness. City, State, Zip The Rev. James Glasoe Sr. ’57, Statesboro, Ga., on March 17, of lung cancer. Husband of Nicole (Jacobson) Glasoe ’62. Home telephone Class year or last year attended Street address Is this a new address? ❑ Yes ❑ No E-mail Okay to publish your e-mail address? ❑ Yes ❑ No Regie S. Huber ’74, Maple Grove, Minn., on Nov. 1. Employer Marlin (“Mike”) Kloster ’53, of Willmar, Minn., age 77, on Jan. 20. Position Timothy W. Hanson ’88, Ogilvie, Minn., age 40, on March 18, of injuries from a car accident. Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? ❑ Yes ❑ No Work telephone If yes, class year Spouse’s name Maiden name Your news: SPRING 2007 35 VIEWS Celebrating 20 years of leadership by Kathy Rumpza, ’05 MAL On the evening of Sat., January 27, approximately 110 alumni, students, and guests gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Master of Arts in Leadership program at Augsburg College. The keynote address was given by Ryan LaHurd, president and executive director of the James S. Kemper Foundation, and former vice president of academic affairs at Augsburg. His presence was appropriate because of the significant role he played in the MAL Program’s inception. More than 20 years ago, LaHurd was key in launching a task force to explore graduate options at the College. After much research and discussion with business leaders it became apparent that there was a need in the market for a different type of program than was currently being offered—the kind of program that would provide students with the crucial broad-based knowledge and skills needed for success. Enter the era of an exciting program, differentiated from others by a liberal arts focus specifically on leadership. It offers solid content with academic rigor as opposed to a workshop format. The Master of Arts in Leadership program, started in January 1987, marked an important turning point for Augsburg and its entrance into the graduate market. During its 20-year history, the program has gone through transformation. While content, schedules, and support staff have changed, the signature “leadership model” that forms the basis for the program remains steadfast. Feedback from students and faculty has helped to hone and refine course offerings, and relevant courses such as Women and Leadership have been introduced. Another constant is the faculty. Norma Noonan, professor and director of the MAL program since 1993, notes that although the program has grown, she and instructors Diane Pike, Tom Morgan, and Garry Hesser have been teaching in the program since its inception. She says such loyalty comes from a simple idea—“faculty just love teaching in the program.” Noonan credits much of the recent program growth to the addition of professional graduate recruiters, and the fact that the program caters to “students who seek personal development and challenge.” The classes are “exiting and very stimulating,” she says. “We’ve had pinnacle 36 AUGSBURG NOW Norma Noonan is professor of political science and director of the MAL program. experiences in class … students are almost electrified by some of the discussions.” As far as alumni and students go, many have had life-changing experiences. Students often say that the program has changed their career paths, and many experience a personal metamorphosis as well. “People use it to define a turning point in their lives,” says Noonan. Individuals have been inspired to start their own businesses, and have been promoted to vice president or CEO positions. While it is true that completing the program has changed personal and professional lives, Noonan says that “completion is not the greatest indicator of success.” She quickly adds, “it emboldens you to take more risks, and brings a maturity in judgment.” And that seems to be the more important point. Although some aspects of the program have changed over time, it will remain a quality program that “tries to live the leadership model,” under the passionate direction of Norma Noonan. Her only regret: “That I didn’t have the knowledge—what we read, what we study—earlier in life.” For information on the MAL Program, go to www.augsburg.edu/mal MAL… by the numbers 203 21 22 56 MAL degrees conferred since 1989 MAL graduating class in 2006—the largest yet! Current MAL faculty and adjuncts Number of new MAL students in 2006-07 The Oren Gateway Center is coming Construction on the Oren Gateway Center is proceeding extremely well. The building should be ready for occupancy in the beginning of August, with departments and programs starting to move in during the middle of August. Watch for more updates—and mark your calendars for a grand celebration on October 12! SPRING 2007 John 14: 1-3 A group of Augsburg students traveled by train to New Orleans to spend their spring break working for Lutheran Disaster Relief. Students spent five days gutting and rebuilding houses affected by Hurricane Katrina. Here, workers find a plaque from the Gospel of John that fell from the attic of the house in which they were working. The verse offered a great source for reflection by the students. — Photo by Rachel Olson ’08 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Minneapolis, MN Permit No. 2031
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Title: Augsburg Now Winter 2006-07
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: Augsburg Now MAKING CONNECTIONS P. 18 DOG ROBOTS IN CLASS P. 22 GLOBAL BUSINESS P. 24 A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS WINTER 2006-07 VOL. 69, NO. 2 A president is inaugurated page 12 Editor Notes from President Pribbenow on… The richness and wond...
Show more Augsburg Now MAKING CONNECTIONS P. 18 DOG ROBOTS IN CLASS P. 22 GLOBAL BUSINESS P. 24 A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS WINTER 2006-07 VOL. 69, NO. 2 A president is inaugurated page 12 Editor Notes from President Pribbenow on… The richness and wonder of human diversity S o God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them … God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Genesis 1: 27, 31a, NRSV) I once heard a presentation from a nursing student who was part of a community health practicum course in a homeless shelter, who commented that before she went to her assignment at the shelter, her general feeling was that homeless people had done something to “deserve” their fate—she had no sense of how she could interact with these “people.” She was frightened. Once she had begun her assignment, however, she recounted how the residents of the shelter became her fellow citizens, her friends even. She learned their stories, grieved with them about bad decisions, unfair circumstances, sad and distressing experiences. She stood side by side with them in their struggles to find a home and set a new course for their lives. And she rejoiced in the role she could play in listening, empathizing, offering a word or hand or whatever might help. In her experience in that service-learning course, she learned about otherness and difference in ways that would make her a better nurse, a better citizen and neighbor, a better friend. This story is why I will never give up in our efforts to make diversity a core value of our academic and common work and why I am so pleased that this issue of Augsburg Now illustrates some of our efforts to promote diversity on campus and beyond. Creating, sustaining, celebrating, and supporting diversity is an abiding challenge for our college. Whether it is diversity of perspective, religion, ethnicity, race, social class, and so forth, there are critical voices from all sides pressing us to make the case for our philosophy, commitment, experience, policies, and practices related to diversity on campus and beyond. Here at Augsburg, we have the distinct gift of at least three compelling mission-based reasons for intentionally engaging the diversity of our world. Betsey Norgard norgard@augsburg.edu Staff Writer Bethany Bierman bierman@augsburg.edu Design Manager Kathy Rumpza rumpza@augsburg.edu Class Notes Designer Signe Peterson petersos@augsburg.edu • Theologically, we believe that God has created humankind in all its diversity in God’s own image. • Educationally, we believe that a liberal arts approach to learning and teaching is fundamentally committed to engaging otherness and difference so that we might genuinely understand and embrace the richness of human experience and creativity throughout the ages. • Civically, we are persuaded that educating for democracy is at least in part about preparing our students for lives in society that will require them to have the knowledge, skills, and values needed to negotiate their ways with people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. This past summer, I had the privilege of visiting Augsburg’s study site in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where I, too, learned to face my fears and stereotypes of other cultures and life experiences. We all are still learning to admit our privilege, to embrace the wonder of difference and other experiences, to live as neighbors here on campus and in our community, where the world is becoming our neighbor in very concrete and real ways. Our work to educate students for democracy cannot be uncoupled from this commitment to diversity. This is why diversity on campus, in the neighborhood and city, in the church, and in the world is important—it is the heart of a healthy democracy. Yours, Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Augsburg Now Intern Erin Kennedy kennedy1@augsburg.edu Media Relations Manager Judy Petree petree@augsburg.edu Sports Information Director Don Stoner stoner@augsburg.edu Director of Alumni Relations Heidi Breen breen@augsburg.edu www.augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 Send address corrections to: Advancement Services, CB 142, Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 Paul C. Pribbenow, president 22 Winter 2006-07 Contents Features 11 A Change in Reference—Librarian to Volunteer by Betsey Norgard For nearly 15 years in retirement, Margaret Anderson has continued to volunteer in the library she once headed. 12 Ages of Imagination: The Inauguration of Paul C. Pribbenow Around themes of abundance, generosity, engagement, and service, Augsburg inaugurates its 11th president. 18 Making Connections by Betsey Norgard After five years, the Scholastic Connections program has proven a winner for both mentors and mentees. 22 See AIBO Walk … and Sit … and Wiggle Its Ears by Betsey Norgard Sophomore Jesse Docken finds both fun and challenge in “training” dog robots. 24 12 On the Cover: At his investiture as Augsburg’s 11th president, the seal of the College is placed around the neck of Paul C. Pribbenow by Board of Regents chair Ted Grindal ’76. Global Business by Bethany Bierman Augsburg business classes have built-in global experience from a very international faculty. Departments 2 Around the Quad 5 2006 Alumni Awards 6 Supporting Augsburg 8 Sports 28 Alumni News 40 Views Inside back cover Calendar All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. AROUND THE QUAD NOTEWORTHY Three new regents elected to board Three new members were elected to four-year terms on the Augsburg College Board of Regents at the annual meeting of the Augsburg Corporation in October. In addition, Michael O. Freeman and Philip Styrland ’79 were re-elected to second six-year terms. Freeman is a partner at Lindquist & Vennum, P.L.L.P., and Styrlund is president of The Summit Group, an international education and development firm. Richard C. Hartnack Since the beginning of his banking career in 1971, Hartnack has held positions in corporate banking at First Interstate Bank of Oregon, and in community banking at First Chicago and Union Bank of California. He currently is vice chairman and head of consumer banking at U.S. Bancorp. Hartnack has a bachelor’s degree in economics from UCLA and a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University. He is a graduate of the Strategic Marketing Management program at the Harvard Business School. Congratulations to Jacki Brickman ’97 Augsburg alumna Jacki Brickman ’97 was one of two teachers in the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts who were awarded a Milken National Educator Award in October. This award, from the Milken Family Foundation, recognizes teachers and principals across the country for their effectiveness in the classroom, accomplishments outside the classroom, leadership, and ability to inspire students, teachers, and the community. It carries a cash award of $25,000. Brickman, a 10-year teacher, is a teacher mentor at Hall International Elementary School in Minneapolis, working with other teachers at the school to test new techniques. Brickman, who also is an adjunct instructor in Weekend College, is the second Augsburg graduate to receive a Milken Educator Award. Margaret Knutson ’91, fifth-grade teacher at Orono Intermediate School, received the same award in 2004. Read about both teachers in the Augsburg Now spring 2006 article, “Teachers who Lead, Leaders who Teach,” at www.augsburg.edu/now. André Lewis ‘73 Since 2002, Lewis has served as director of marketing and community affairs and president of the RBC Dain Rauscher Foundation. Previously he held a similar position at Honeywell. His background in education includes serving as principal at both Washburn and South high schools. Lewis graduated from Augsburg and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He has been active in Augsburg’s Corporate Connections program. Rev. Norman Wahl ‘75 Since 1996, Wahl has been executive pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church, the site of Augsburg’s programs in Rochester, Minn., and served on the task force that led to the formation of the Rochester campus. He has also been part of the alumni board, campaign cabinet, and on staff at the College. After Augsburg, Wahl graduated from Luther Seminary and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from the seminary in 1997. 2 AUGSBURG NOW MBA consulting firm to start Small businesses and non-profits in Rochester can qualify for probono consulting services from Augsburg’s Rochester MBA students and graduates. This new service, Augsburg Alumni Consulting Team (AACT), extends the MBA field service program, in which all students work with a client in the community on business issues and applications. A “full-team” consultation by AACT on critical strategic or management issues will be staffed by four to eight volunteers. A “fast track” for focused issues will involve one to three volunteers in two or three client meetings. And, a “board match” program will help nonprofits build their board leadership. Additional support services—database design, Web design, research, etc.—may be added by Augsburg undergraduate business and computer science students. This College-sponsored consulting service will offer both experience and exposure to the students and alumni, and include a review process to build case studies. While beginning in Rochester, AACT hopes to also expand the program to the Twin Cities. For information, contact William Aguero at aguero@augsburg.edu. The “greening” of Augsburg Augsburg imagines environmental stewardship as central to its mission as a Lutheran college in the city. President Paul Pribbenow says, “The Augsburg College community is deeply committed to what it means to build a sustainable urban environment. … Our relationships with our diverse neighbors, with the Mississippi River, and with other neighborhoods in our vibrant city are opportunities for learning, for civic engagement, and for faithful service.” The institutional committee that grew out of a learning community seven years ago is now named the Environmental Stewardship Committee and provides leadership for the College in areas addressing sustainability. The committee’s growing website offers information and resources in the following initiatives: • Recycling/waste reduction—Recycling bins have risen to nearly 75% capacity in the last year and new equipment across campus reduces water consumption and energy usage. The College recycles household items to community organizations and established a re-use table. A number of measures adopted reduce storm water run-off from campus, which, perhaps more than anything else, has had an impact on water quality in the Mississippi River. • Transportation—Two light rail stations within walking distance and reduced fare bus-rail passes help the Augsburg com- munity increase its use of public transit, freeing up parking spaces. Accessible bike trails provide alternatives to driving. • HOURCAR—Augsburg is the newest neighborhood hub for HOURCAR—a hybrid vehicle that can be rented. • Curriculum—Across the curriculum, courses address sustainability issues, and study abroad is available in metrourban studies. A new environmental studies program is scheduled to launch in fall 2007. • River stewardship—Augsburg is an official “steward” of a portion of the Mississippi River near campus and regularly hosts “clean-ups” to prevent pollution. The Environmental and River Politics course explores issues related to restoration of the river ecosystem and ways in which our relationship to the river reflects the health of our community. • Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College—In its three years, Campus Kitchen has kept more than 35,000 pounds of food out of landfill and turned it into over 37,000 meals for the community. In the next year, Augsburg plans to launch a community garden to bring neighbors together and provide food for community organizations. • Building a green campus—The Environmental Stewardship Committee has a voice in the ongoing planning for the new Science Center, which includes a “green” roof and maximal use of sustainable architecture and products. Michael Lansing, assistant professor of history, wrote in the Augsburg Echo about Christensen Symposium speaker Douglas John Hall’s comments on “stewardly vocations.” Hall argued that everyone must make stewardship of the environment both a personal and collective priority. Lansing wrote that stewardly vocations “push us all toward recognizing and caring for the many other forms of life that we depend on for sustenance and comfort.” To learn more about sustainability at Augsburg, go to www.augsburg.edu/green or contact Tom Ruffaner, chair of the Environmental Stewardship Committee, at ruffaner@augsburg.edu. —Betsey Norgard Fond farewell to ‘Mr. Augsburg’ On Sept. 30 Jeroy Carlson ’48 officially retired from the campus and community he first came to more than 60 years ago. During that time, he served Augsburg as a student, volunteer, alumni director, and development officer. At a packed reception in his honor, Carlson was presented with a baseball jersey bearing his No. 10 and a “Jeroy Carlson” baseball card. He was also presented with framed photos of the Augsburg campus, as he knew it and as it is today. Known as “Mr. Augsburg” by his classmates and colleagues, Carlson excelled as a student-athlete in baseball, basketball, and football, and was part of four MIAC championship teams. He continued to work with the A-Club and helped establish the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1991, after serving on the alumni board and as director of alumni relations, the alumni office was dedicated as the Jeroy C. Carlson Alumni Center. See the winter 2005-06 Augsburg Now for a feature story on “Mr. Augsburg.” Vice President Tracy Elftmann ‘81 presents Jeroy Carlson with a baseball jersey bearing his no. 10. WINTER 2006-07 3 AROUND THE QUAD COMMENCEMENT Two commencements at Augsburg Beginning this year, Augsburg will offer two commencement ceremonies, in order to recognize the different academic calendars followed. A May 5 ceremony will be held for day students and physician assistant students who are on semesters; a June 24 ceremony will honor Weekend College, Rochester, United Hospital, and the other five graduate program students who follow trimesters. This year’s Commencement speakers are Eboo Patel on May 5, and Rev. Martin E. Marty on June 24. With a national fellowship in microbiology and an interest in infectious diseases, senior Richard Birkett is studying the genes encoding streptococcal bacteria. Senior Richard Birkett wins research fellowship Biology senior Richard Birkett is one of 43 students across the country to receive a 2006 Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology. Its stipend funded his summer research with biology professor Beverly Smith-Keiling. The project, applied for jointly by Birkett and Smith-Keiling, looks at the characteristics of streptococcal bacteria and the genes that encode them. They study a particular streptococcal protein, discovered by SmithKeiling, that binds a human immune system protein, and its role in causing infections, especially in immuno-weak people 4 AUGSBURG NOW (neo-natal babies, elderly, and others who are immuno-compromised). The research involves manipulating the protein’s DNA in the laboratory to create mutants for further study. “We were thrilled to receive this ASM Fellowship,” says Smith-Keiling. “It is a prestigious award and played a significant role as a feather in our cap as one of several steps that Augsburg is taking to secure external funding, build our undergraduate research program, and move toward more scientific research at our institution.” Birkett’s interest in infectious diseases began in summer 2005 when he traveled to Tanzania with a microbiology study abroad course through Hamline University. He visited labs and small villages, and found the experience “eye-opening” in terms of lifestyle and conditions he encountered. To gain background in research, Birkett took a pilot course at Augsburg, Introduction to Research, designed to prepare second-year students for facultyled research. He credits that course for teaching him the discipline, motivation, and critical thinking needed for scientific study. The course was repeated this past fall, and Birkett served as a peer mentor. Birkett has thrived in the microbiology laboratory, and is interested in pursuing work in the health field with infectious disease, possibly attending medical school. He, along with Smith-Keiling and other students, will present their research at the American Society for Microbiology general meeting in the spring. “Richard has been the model for what we hope to continue, as students progress from their early years without research skills to excelling as independent researchers, and the fellowship played a key role,” says SmithKeiling. “It has been a privilege and joy to work with him.” Birkett came to Augsburg from Boston as a student in the StepUP Program, which supports students in chemical recovery. He says that Augsburg has been great for him. “I came to Augsburg for StepUP; I’m staying for science and the people.” —Betsey Norgard HOMECOMING 2006 Two honored as Distinguished Alumni Augsburg’s Distinguished Alumni are recognized for their significant achievement in vocation, for outstanding contribution to church and community, and for lives that exemplify the ideals and mission of Augsburg College. Glen Person ’47 A native of Minneapolis, Glen Person grew up in Augsburg’s neighborhood. He graduated with degrees in mathematics and business, and was one of the first students in Augsburg’s new business administration department. His college studies were interrupted by World War II, where he served in the U.S. Navy. Person’s vocational career involved two 20-year employments in the insurance industry. In 1948 he started as a bookkeeper at Fidelity and Casualty Co., and left in 1968 as its bond manager. From 1969 until his retirement in 1989, he was an accounting manager and bond vice president at W.A. Lang Company. From 1993 to 2005, Person served on Augsburg’s Board of Regents, as a member of the Finance Committee and as board treasurer. Over the years, he has been one of the most active members of Augsburg’s A-Club, and a frequent spectator and loyal Auggie athletic booster. He serves on the Claire Strommen Golf Tournament Committee. Person has also contributed financial expertise to numerous boards of directors, and as treasurer of Prairie Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, Minn. Lois (Peterson) Bollman ’69 Lois Bollman graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in English education from Augsburg, and went on to earn a master’s degree in reading. In 2001 she earned a doctorate in educational policy and administration of higher education. For the past 30 years, she has worked in a number of areas within the Minnesota community college system and is a recognized leader and administrator in areas of student assessment, college readiness, and developmental education. Her strengths lie in strategic planning, institutional research, and evaluation of academic programs. Currently she is vice president of strategy, planning, and accountability at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. Here, she developed the Urban Teacher Education Program, in collaboration with secondary and postsecondary institutions, that aims to inspire and educate students from urban schools to become teachers in their own communities. In 2003, Bollman led the faculty development work that received one of five national Theodore Hesburgh Awards from TIAA-CREF. Bollman has served as a class agent and is active at Edina Community Lutheran Church. First Decade Award The First Decade Award is presented to Augsburg graduates of the past 10 years who have made significant progress in their professional achievements and contributions to the community, and in so doing, exemplify the mission of the College. Spirit of Augsburg Award The Spirit of Augsburg Award honors alumni or friends of the College who have given exceptional service that contributes substantially to the well being of Augsburg by furthering its purposes and programs. Herald Johnson ‘68 Milana (Gorshkova) Pirogova ’96 Milana Pirogova graduated magna cum laude from Augsburg with a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations, and went on to earn a master’s degree in international economics from George Washington University. In 1998 she began working for the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, in Washington, D.C. She is now an investment officer in the Global Financial Markets Department and posted in Russia, her homeland. Two of her significant projects have included working with privatization projects in Bosnia and drafting the Mortgage Securities Law with the Russian national parliament. In her current work she is able to promote awareness and resources for the much-needed economic and educational development in Russia. She also has been an eager promoter of Augsburg College to prospective students in Murmansk, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. After graduating, Herald Johnson first became an admissions officer, then Augsburg’s first financial aid officer when new federal programs required administrative oversight. Over the nearly 40 years since, he became a pioneer, leader, and mentor among all of Minnesota’s financial aid officers. He is respected both for helping students understand and access financial resources to make college possible and for mentoring young professionals in the field. He is the only person to have been twice elected president of the Minnesota Association of Financial Aid Administrators (MAFAA). Johnson collaborated with Julie Olson ’90, ’04 MAL, now vice president of enrollment management, to create and implement the Enrollment Center, which brings together several student service offices into a one-stop shop for students. Johnson retired last summer, but continues to serve as a consultant on scholarship programs and with Augsburg’s government relations office concerning financial aid issues. —Betsey Norgard WINTER 2006-07 5 Photo courtesy of Martha Gisselquist AROUND THE QUAD SUPPORTING AUGSBURG The Clement A. Gisselquist Endowed Scholarship— an Augsburg family’s music legacy 6 AUGSBURG NOW All six of Clement and Borghild Gisselquist’s children graduated from Augsburg, and most of them were choir and band members during their college years. (L to R): James ’68, Joel ’77, Rebecca ’67, Borghild, Martha ’87, John ’72, and Miriam ’83. Gisselquist extended family includes 17 relatives with Augsburg connections. Clement’s brother, professor emeritus Orloue Gisselquist, attended Augsburg, as well as two sons, Richard and David. His wife, Marilyn, came to Augsburg and completed her bachelor’s degree in 1973. Clement and Orloue’s sister Grace E. Gisselquist ’49 married the Rev. Oliver Johnson ’50. Another sister, Marilyn, attended science classes at Augsburg as part of her nurses’ training and married Vardon Quanbeck ’44. While at Augsburg, Orloue, like Clement, sang in the choir and Grace belonged to the Music Club, both sharing their brother’s love for music. Another brother, John Irving, did not attend Augsburg, but his son, John E. Gisselquist, graduated in 1984. Even more telling is the musical legacy Clement left his six children, all of whom graduated from Augsburg. The youngest, Miriam (Gisselquist) Jensen ’83 was a music major and is now an organist and piano teacher— something her mother knows would have pleased her father. John, Class of 1972, sang in the Augsburg Choir and for many years has been a member of the National Lutheran Choir, performing in concerts throughout the U.S. Judy Petree The Rev. Clement A. Gisselquist enjoyed a lifelong love of music. He graduated from Augsburg College in 1941, and during his college years he sang both in the Augsburg Choir under Henry P. Opseth and in the Augsburg Quartet as its second bass when they toured in 1940. Following Augsburg, Gisselquist graduated from Luther Seminary, and he and his wife, Borghild, served churches in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. Throughout his life, he always actively promoted his churches’ music programs. Borghild recounts how especially pleased he was when his church in Sioux City, Iowa, purchased a new organ. After Clement died in 1979, the family decided to establish a scholarship endowment in his memory and designed it to benefit students “of organ and/or choral music who desire to serve, professionally or otherwise, in the ministry of music of the Lutheran Church.” “Augsburg was close to his heart and we knew that music was something he was always interested in,” comments Borghild, recalling the family discussions. The scholarship just seemed a fitting way in which they could honor their brother, husband, father, and uncle. The remarkable fact is that the Nicole (Warner) Simml ’01 (left), who performs and teaches music in Germany, joined Krista Costin ’07 (right) as soloist with the Augsburg Choir’s concert in Leipzig, Germany last May. Both Simml and Costin are recipients of the Clement A. Gisselquist Church Music Scholarship. Rachel Olson ’08 Photo courtesy of Orloue Gisselquist The Rev. Clement A. Gisselquist (far right) sang second bass in the 1940 Augsburg Quartet. His love of music is passed on to students through an endowed scholarship Five of the Gisselquist women enjoyed meeting the current student scholars at the in his name. Photo taken from The Augsburg Quartets: A Mission-Driven Tradition, by annual Scholarship Brunch in November. (L to R): Martha Gisselquist, Becky Lien, Merton P. Strommen and David M. Larson. Borghild Gisselquist, Marilyn Gisselquist, and Miriam Jensen. Joel, Class of 1977, played tuba in the Concert Band for two years and sang in the Augsburg Choir during his senior year. The two oldest children, Rebecca (Gisselquist) Lien ’67 and James ’68, also sang in the choir. James is married to fellow Auggie Jane (Eidsvoog) ’73. Martha, a nurse, came to Augsburg to complete her bachelor’s degree in 1987. The Clement Gisselquist Scholarship keeps the extended family connected to Augsburg. A number of the relatives continue to grow the endowment by making gifts to the scholarship a part of their regular giving—in lieu of exchanging gifts within the family on special occasions. In the fall, Borghild said of her immediate family, “We’ve already talked about this Christmas, that we’ll make gifts to the scholarship instead of to each other.” The Gisselquists enjoy meeting the Augsburg students who receive the scholarship each year. The 2006-07 recipient, junior music major Krista Costin was studying abroad in Ghana during the fall and regrets missing the Scholarship Brunch. She fondly remembers meeting members of the Gisselquist family at last spring’s Music Scholarship High Tea. Costin sings in the Augsburg Choir and toured with the choir last May to the Czech Republic and Germany. Last year’s scholarship recipient, senior Nikki Lemire, is a harpist and a section leader in the choir at Central Lutheran Church. The 1998-99 scholarship holder, Nicole (Warner) Simml ’01, now lives in Germany and is enjoying a career performing and teaching voice. Last May she joined the Augsburg Choir in Leipzig on their tour in Germany, and joined Costin as a soloist. An earlier Gisselquist recipient, Melissa (Wieland) Bergstrom ’97 has been organist and choir director at Edina Community Lutheran Church, in addition to teaching and serving as director of choral activities at AnokaRamsey Community College. Several of the Gisselquist scholarship recipients have sub- sequently been chosen as Orville and Gertrude Hognander Music Scholars. With many of the Gisselquist Auggies making regular gifts to grow the scholarship endowment, future students—and per- haps additional Gisselquists— join Rev. Clement A. Gisselquist’s legacy to Augsburg’s music program—something that surely would please him. —Betsey Norgard Making a gift to Augsburg It’s easy to make a donation to Augsburg College. All donations are tax-deductible. Gifts online Go to www.augsburg.edu/giving to make a secure credit card donation. You can use the form to make a one-time donation or to set up recurring gifts. Gifts by phone To make a donation by phone, call Kevin Healy, director of advancement services, at 612-338-6537 or 800-273-0617. Gifts by mail You can mail your gift to: Developement Office, Campus Box 142 Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55454 For complete information about making a gift, including the types of giving and giving programs, go to www.augsburg.edu/giving. WINTER 2006-07 7 AROUND THE QUAD SPORTS Brothers in soccer Vinnie Brooks and Ryan Kitzman are like brothers. Brothers united by soccer. For all but one year of the last dozen, the two have played on the same soccer teams—the same club teams, elementary school team, junior high team, high school team, and the same college team. Ever since they were each eight years old, growing up in Maple Grove, Minn., and attending schools in Osseo, the duo could be found on the same fields—Brooks on defense, Kitzman in the midfield. Best friends and players with similar competitive personalities, the two split for just one year— their freshman years in college, when Kitzman attended Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minn., and Brooks enrolled at Augsburg. But the pair reunited their sophomore years, became roommates, and helped to lead a renaissance in the Augsburg men’s soccer program. “I wanted to be back in the city,” Kitzman said. “I talked to Vinnie pretty much all my freshman year. I came to visit Augsburg a couple of times, and he said they were getting a new coach and a new field, so I came for another visit. Once I met [coach] Greg [Holker], it was a done deal.” So Kitzman transferred, and the pair was reunited. “We have the same style of play. We practice against each other and just go at it. It’s like we 8 AUGSBURG NOW hate each other when we’re practicing. It gets pretty intense,” Brooks said. “He’s pretty much like my replica on the field. We have some minor differences, but overall, the competitiveness and our work ethic, we just relate to each other. It just clicks. We both respect each other.” Both were starters throughout their Auggie careers and were key elements of the dramatic growth of the men’s soccer program. In Brooks’ freshman year, 2003, the Auggies finished 5-11-2 overall, 09-1 in league play. In the 2006 season under third-year head coach Greg Holker, the Auggies finished 13-3-3 overall and 5-2-3 in conference play, winning a place in the conference’s postseason playoffs. In four seasons at Augsburg, Brooks played in 67 games, starting 57, with eight assists from his defensive position. As a midfielder during his three years at Augsburg, Kitzman started 49 of 54 contests, with five goals and six assists for 16 career points. As two of only three seniors on this year’s Auggie squad, the pair acknowledges that they have been a part of a new beginning for the men’s soccer program, which they hope continues to succeed. “It’s just awesome to have this kind of success in our last year playing here,” Brooks says. “It’s like leaving a legacy behind. It’s one of the things we wanted to do. We had the first winning season here in 20 years and made the [conference] playoffs.” But the end of their senior seasons will not mean the end of soccer, or friendship, for Brooks and Kitzman. The two play on the same adult-league team and coach a youth team together in Plymouth, Minn. Brooks, a health and physical education major Auggie teammates Vinnie Brooks (left) and Ryan Kitzman (right) have played soccer together since elementary school. and business management minor, and Kitzman, a marketing major, have talked about starting a business together. “It’s almost natural for us,” Brooks said. “Some people hear about it and think it’s pretty weird. But we had the same group of friends growing up, from elementary school to junior high and high school. We were always in the same group.” “We don’t think of it as being weird,” Kitzman added. “It’s just normal for us.” —Don Stoner An amazing soccer year For the Augsburg College men’s and women’s soccer teams, the 2006 season was a history-making one. The Auggie women captured a third straight berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs and finished 106-2 overall, 7-3-1 in league play—the team’s fourth double-digit victory season in the past five years. Augsburg’s 15 points in conference Greg Holker, named MIAC play this season were the most for an Auggie Coach of the Year squad in the 21-season history of the program. Meanwhile, the Auggie men reached the league’s four-team postseason playoffs for the first time, finishing the season 13-3-3 overall, 5-2-3 in conference play. Augsburg finished with its most victories (13) since its MIAC championship season of 1975 (15-2-1), and claimed its most points in league play (13) since its last MIAC title season of 1980 (11-1-3 overall, 9-0-3 MIAC, 21 points). Head coach Greg Holker was named MIAC Coach of the Year this season. Augsburg was the lone school to have both its men’s and women’s soccer teams qualified for the MIAC postseason playoffs this year. Both teams set school records along the way. Both teams were unbeaten and did not give up a goal until the women were scored upon on Sept. 20—Augsburg went the farthest among all NCAA Division III soccer teams in having both its men’s and women’s teams unbeaten and unscored upon. For both the Auggie men’s and women’s teams, the future looks bright. The men lose just three senior regulars to graduation, while the women lose only five. —Don Stoner Marathoner extraordinaire Mary Croft ’79 didn’t catch the running “bug” until she was in her late thirties, a relatively late start for a serious athletic career. But that bug has taken the Augsburg alumna around the world and earned her numerous unique distinctions in the world of distance running. Croft is one of only 67 people—including just eight women—to have run in every Twin Cities Marathon over the 25 years of its existence. She has run a marathon in each of the 50 states—a feat that only 285 individuals have accomplished. And over the past quartercentury, she has run in about 140 marathons and 30 ultramarathons—races ranging from 30 to more than 100 miles in length. She credits her running career to her return to Augsburg as an adult learner to complete her bachelor’s degree in the late 1970s. She was an Augsburg student in the mid-’60s before starting her career in nursing. “One of my friends was a runner, and she was running five miles a day for her mental health. I was impressed with that, but I didn’t start running until I graduated in 1979,” Croft said. That year, she went to Duluth to watch a friend compete in Grandma’s Marathon, and was encouraged by her husband, David, to try a marathon herself. Later that year, the first Twin Cities Marathon appeared on the running calendar, and her running career kicked into high gear. “I trained for my first marathon in just 12 weeks,” said Croft, who noted that she had As a Charter Club member, Mary Croft ran her 25th Twin Cities Marathon in October, with a track record of 170 marathons in 50 states and several countries. only run a 10-kilometer race competitively before trying a 26mile, 385-yard marathon. Since then, she has run in each Twin Cities Marathon over the past 25 years, a race considered the most scenic urban marathon in the country. According to Twin Cities Marathon officials, Croft, at age 60, is the third-oldest woman of the eight to have run in each of the 25 races. She has also completed Grandma’s Marathon, a race along the Lake Superior shoreline from Two Harbors to Duluth, eight times. She has also run in two of the most famous marathons in the country, the Boston and New York races. She has competed in the Boston Marathon— a race in which runners have to achieve a qualifying time in another marathon to compete—three times, including the 100th running of the race in 1996. “It was just such a historic event,” Croft said. “Boston is the epitome of marathoning in the country.” In 2004, she accomplished the feat of running a marathon in each of the 50 states (and the District of Columbia)—becoming the 162nd person at the time to be able to make that claim. Since then, the list has grown to nearly 300 members nationwide. She has also run in marathons in Russia and Spain. In addition to her marathoning, she has also competed in long-distance ultramarathons, which brought her the most meaningful moment in her sport. In 2000, she ran in the 75th Comrades Marathon, a 56-mile race in South Africa, considered one of the top ultra-distance events in the world. “It’s the biggest sporting event in South Africa. It was the most amazing thing,” she said. “They were so wonderful. They greeted us and welcomed us to their country.” She even incorporated running into her work. As a nurse at the Minnesota state prison in Stillwater, she organized inmates and members of a local running club to run a marathon inside the prison walls each year for a decade. “We ran 112 laps around the prison yard, about 15 to 20 runners,” she said. “It was pretty well received by the prison administration.” Her best time ever was a 3hour, 18-minute effort in 1985 at the Grandma’s Marathon. Now, she runs in the 4:20 to 4:30 range; her time in the 2006 Twin Cities Marathon was 4:28.34, good enough for third place in her age group. “I just run for the health benefits and I enjoy it. If I place in my age group, it’s an added benefit,” she said. “It’s the adventure, the travel, seeing other parts of the country, which is fun.” She noted that she has been fortunate not to have suffered significant injuries during her career, which she credits to leading a lifestyle of fitness and training in moderation. She now runs about seven or eight marathons a year—“I’m always in training,” she notes— and has been involved in organizing volunteers for the marathon in Tucson, Ariz., where she and David spend their winters. The Crofts live in Bayport, Minn., during the summers. —Don Stoner WINTER 2006-07 9 AROUND THE QUAD MOVING FORWARD Kennedy Center now open The Kennedy Center for Sports and Recreation has opened for classes, with health and physical education staff and coaches moving into their new offices. It will be formally dedicated on May 4. The three-story addition to Melby Hall features a new wrestling training facility, increased classroom space, expanded locker-room facilities and expanded fitness facilities, as well as hospitality, meetingroom, and office space. The new Alan and Gloria Rice Wrestling Room provides a spacious training area for the champion Auggie wrestlers. It also provides a training facility for Greco-Roman wrestling. The Kennedy Center, the new three-story south wing added to Melby Hall, is open for classes, athletic teams, intramural teams, and fitness. In the left back corner of the photo, the roof of Lindell Library provides context to the construction of the Oren Gateway Center, scheduled for completion in the fall. Oren Gateway Center Scheduled to open in fall 2007, the four-story Oren Gateway Center will be the home of the StepUP program and other residential students in substance-free housing. The administrative section of the center will house the Institutional Advancement staff and an alumni relations conference center. On the street level, a Barnes & Noble bookstore will serve as a welcoming place in the neighborhood for books, readings, and coffee. The Gateway Center will anchor a new circular entrance to the College, flanked by Lindell Library and Foss Center. The illustration on the sign in the photo shows the orientation of the new center, facing the circular entrance to the College. 10 AUGSBURG NOW After 23 years at Augsburg, Margaret Anderson retired as head librarian in 1990. She had just spent several years studying and documenting the need for a new library building, and then convincing the College to build it. Now, 16 years later, she continues to work in Lindell Library one day a week as a volunteer— in the new building she labored to justify. In the first two years following her retirement, she took time off. But then, she couldn’t turn down a phone call asking her to help troubleshoot problems the librarians were facing in creating barcodes for all materials. There were lots of problems—“books without barcodes, and barcodes not connected to books,” Anderson says. Once that process was straightened out, she began working on a series of long-term special projects that, without additional staff and a meticulous eye, probably never would have seen the light of day. For one project, Anderson classified videotapes from many years of College events that had been turned over to the library— which meant that she first had to view each tape for content and date, and then write a short description. Another similar project involved classifying a collection of sound recordings, for which her music minor in college proved extremely helpful. With history and knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System, Anderson has also aided in classifying and cataloging fiction, the only books in the library to use the Dewey system. Her current project tops all others. In 1994, writer and activist Meridel LeSueur donated her personal library of more than 4,500 items to Augsburg College. A change in REFERENCE— from LIBRARIAN to volunteer BY BETSEY NORGARD It’s housed in the library’s Special Collections Room, but has not been easily searchable. After working for more than two years, literally from book to book, Anderson hopes next year to complete an extensive spreadsheet index that will enable the collection to be searched by title, author, and subject. In reflecting on her 40 years of library work, Anderson says that the heart of the work has not changed. “It still means connecting readers and scholars with sources,” she says, “but now, both in print and online.” What has changed dramatically is the way librarians fulfill that role, and the different tools they use. One of the tools that made a huge difference in students’ (and librarians’) lives was the development of the CLIC (Cooperating Libraries in Consortium) system, making materials from more than a dozen college libraries available on loan. In the 1960s, Anderson was a cataloguer, and she tells of how librarians phoned each other to check on availability by looking at catalog cards for all the books. She recalls that Karlis Ozolins, her predecessor as head librarian, often would track down students with cars to pick up the materials from other locations. Two decades later, catalog cards became relics and library collections became housed on a database, introducing new physical requirements for technology in libraries. Already Anderson had fought for improvements to the aging Sverdrup Library, including carpeting to replace the loose asbestos tiles she continually removed. Upstairs, it was so cold that the case for a new building became obvious when students were seen studying in mittens. In 1982 the new Weekend College increased the College’s enrollment and brought new demands on the librarians. At the time, Anderson recalls, the library staff was 4.75 full-time equivalents. Over the next few years, Anderson detailed and documented what would be required to meet College needs and help it remain competitive. In the process, she studied and visited many libraries. She made her case before retiring, and then— as a volunteer—helped supervise the move into the new building. While it’s rewarding to work in the new library, it’s really the people, she says, who keep her coming back each week. “The people I worked with have been among my best friends and they were a big reason why I wanted to stay in touch.” Since her retirement 16 years ago, Margaret Anderson has continued to volunteer in the library to stay connected with the staff she enjoyed during her career. “We just think of her as one of us,” current library director Jane Ann Nelson says about Anderson. Current cataloging coordinator Betty Joyce talks about what a wonderful mentor Anderson has been to her. Anderson’s career at Augsburg has been part of an Augsburg family affair, dating back to 1949, when her husband, Ray, was appointed to teach speech and theatre. He retired in 1990, the same year as his wife. All three of the Andersons’ sons graduated from Augsburg— Dean ’77, Stuart ’78, and Brian ’82. Stuart teaches in the Department of Physics, but also worked in the new library for several years in information technology. He still spends some time there as assistant director for instructional course design in the Center for Teaching and Learning. Ⅵ WINTER 2006-07 11 The Inauguration of Paul C. Pribbenow October 18-21, 2006 Ages of Imagination Over four days in October, Augsburg College inaugurated its 11th president, Paul C. Pribbenow. The days were filled with activities connecting its own community of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and parents with city neighbors, church leaders, and colleagues from across higher education. Events included discussions on civic engagement, roundtables on public education, service projects, and celebrations filled with music, art, and good conversation. Each day at the “Abundance” lunches, those who attended donated food and money to fill the food shelves at the nearby Brian Coyle Community Center. Inauguration Day, October 20, began with a Festival Service and Holy Communion, officiated by Mark Hanson ’68, ELCA presiding bishop, with the sermon presented by Rev. Dr. Robin W. Lovin, Southern Methodist University. The investiture ceremony was held in the afternoon. Completing the inauguration was a morning of service in the community, preceding outdoor family activities and an Auggie football game against Carleton College. For additional information and photos from the inauguration, go to www.augsburg.edu/inauguration. In a lighter moment, Paul and Abigail Pribbenow, with daughter Maya, enjoy festivities in the tent during inauguration week. Ages of Imagination The theme of the inauguration, “Ages of Imagination,” was drawn from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, one of the most influential works of British poet and artist William Blake (1757–1827). From The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them how they dared so roundly to assert, that God spoke to them; and whether they did not think at the time, that they would be misunderstood, and so be the cause of imposition. Isaiah answer’d, “I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organical perception; but my senses discover’d the infinite in every thing, and as I was then perswaded, & remain confirm’d; that the voice of honest indignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences but wrote.” Then I asked: “does a firm perswasion that a thing is so, make it so?” He replied, “All poets say that it does, and in ages of imagination this firm perswasion removed mountains; but many are not capable of a firm perswasion of any thing.” (Top) The newly-invested President Paul C. Pribbenow greets his colleagues in higher education following the ceremony. From right to left, he greets Kathryn Jeffrey, president of Hennepin Technical College; Linda N. Hanson, president of Hamline University; Lois (Peterson) Bollman ’69, vice president of strategy, planning, and accountability at Minneapolis Community and Technical College; James L. Peterson, As Augsburg College celebrated the inauguration of its 11th president, it also celebrated its calling as a college, and imagined itself in future ages, using “AGES” to remind it of the four themes of this new era: Abundance, Generosity, Engagement, and Service. In moving these four “mountains,” Augsburg College, under the leadership of Paul Pribbenow, will continue to demonstrate how the power of imagination can transform the lives of its students and its community. 14 AUGSBURG NOW president of Gustavus Adolphus College; and (tallest, with mortar board) the president’s brother, Dean Pribbenow, dean of the School of Integrative Studies at Edgewood College. (Above) Student Government president Maria Mitchell led the responsive prayer during the Inauguration Ceremony. Excerpts from the sermon for the inauguration of Paul C. Pribbenow The Rev. Dr. Robin W. Lovin Cary Maguire University Professor of Ethics Southern Methodist University (Left) Rev. Robin Lovin, from Southern Methodist University, preached about moving mountains at the Festival Service on Inauguration Day. (Right) ELCA presiding bishop … I greet you on behalf of all of us who have known and worked with Paul Pribbenow over the years and benefited from his leadership in many different places. … I am also welcoming you to your own future, because those of us who have worked with Paul Pribbenow in the past know what you can expect in this new phase of the history of Augsburg College that we inaugurate today. … as I looked at the [Inauguration] program with its multiple events and its common themes, I spotted the Pribbenow imprint of energy and organization. … And I suppose that what you want to know about the future from my knowledge of the past is whether it is really true that this guy can move mountains. I’m here to tell you that he can, and I’m also going to tell you how he does it. … The way [he] moves mountains is to figure out what everybody else is already doing and tie those activities together into a single mission with a unified message, so that when the mountain moves, it’s because you moved it. … Education is supposed to be about expanding our vision of the world and changing the way we see our own place in it. It is about asking new questions, and questioning familiar answers. It should change us in fundamental ways, not just fill our heads with facts. Education is inseparable from change, personal and social, change in ideas, goals, and priorities. … and Augsburg parent Mark Hanson ’68 presided at the service. The word of greeting I bring you from the past is that great things are possible for Augsburg College, beginning today, because you have a leader who will listen to you, who can see the possibilities that you see, and who can bring them together in new ways that will empower you and energize all these people who want a future of abundance, generosity, engagement, and service for this institution. But the word I bring from the Lord, the word that cuts across past, present, and future, comes to you today in the form of a question. It is addressed equally to students, faculty, and staff, addressed to alumni, supporters, and to the church. And it is addressed to the president. The question is, “Do you really want to move the mountains?” I think you recognize the opportunity, and I pray that you will enjoy the blessings that come with accepting the vocation: That through humility and even sorrow, your hunger for truth and justice will be satisfied; that through integrity and generosity in judgment, you will see God; and that through the knowledge you create and share, the world will find peace, and you will be called the children of God. (Left) President Pribbenow gets a hug from his father, Rev. Jerome Pribbenow, who read from the gospel during the service. (Right) Associate Dean Frankie Shackelford stands amid a sea of academic vestments as the faculty line up for the inauguration processional. WINTER 2006-07 15 Excerpts from “Thanksgiving” Inaugural address by Paul C. Pribbenow October 20, 2006 Thank you for being here today for this celebration of Augsburg College. I am inspired by your faithful lives, and I accept the call to be your partner in service to Augsburg with gratitude, resolve, and humility. … Authentic life—especially a life of faith—begins and ends in gratitude and in thanksgiving. We come together with the humility of thanksgiving, the recognition that life is a gift and a privilege not to be misused or misled, and, I might add, not to be missed. The late Henri Nouwen once wrote that “Gratitude … goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift.” All of life is a pure gift. Let these words of mine, then, become my thanksgiving to God and to all of you, my psalm of gratitude for this college, for its mission and values, and for the cloud of witnesses gathered here today and scattered across time and space that hold Augsburg College in their hearts and minds. … “In ages of imagination,” [the poet William] Blake tells us, the power of the imagination, the power of belief, the power of a ‘firm persuasion’ can move mountains. We must decide, today, to live in one of those ages of imagination, in fact, to use our imaginations to create a new era for the College. … (Above) Augsburg Board of Regents chair Ted Grindal ’76 places the seal of the College around the neck of Paul C. Pribbenow, who is invested as the 11th president of Augsburg College. (Below) To conclude inauguration week, the College gathers in community service to clean up along the Mississippi riverbank. (Right) Paul and Abigail Pribbenow lead the recessional out of Hoversten Chapel after the Festival Service. 16 AUGSBURG NOW For the complete texts of Rev. Robin Lovin’s sermon and President Pribbenow’s inaugural address, go to www.augsburg.edu/president (Left) Sounds of the big band organized and led by music professor Robert Stacke ’71 fill the tent during inaugural week festivities. (Below) Student Government public relations officers Rachel Forsberg (left) and Kati Welt (right) present a giant card with inauguration congratulations from students to President Pribbenow. There are four themes to my presidency. … These four themes are Abundance, Generosity, Engagement, and Service. Think of them as the “AGES” in Ages of Imagination. … Augsburg is already blessed to have all of these things, though we sometimes don’t recognize these great gifts—gifts that God has given us, and gifts that we were meant to care for and pass on. … During my short time here at Augsburg, I have been challenged to think again about the role of colleges and universities in an urban setting. I am committed to the mutual dependency of colleges and the city. The paradigm for the relationships between cities and higher education must be less about extracting benefits from each other, less dependent on incidental impact, and more focused on the various resources that can be shared in the pursuit of a more robust, healthy, and meaningful urban life. … I know that you share with me this deep sense of thanksgiving for this college and its remarkable commitments. What we do here matters—to our students, our neighborhood, our city, the church, and the world. What we do here is significant—because our work is grounded in a deep and confident faith, because it enjoys a history of love in a community of memory and tradition, because it believes deeply in intellectual curiosity and personal courage, and because it is full of hope. What we need now is imagination—and faith, and fearlessness—to hear and follow the call to be a college committed to the liberal arts in all that we learn and teach; a college grounded in faith and values that are the source of our firm persuasion; a college located in a place full of life and urgency that draws us out of our insular selves; a college engaged with a creation rich in difference that constantly surprises us. What fun we’re going to have! Ⅵ WINTER 2006-07 17 Many of the mentors and mentees in Scholastic Connections, including both day and weekend students, gathered in November to celebrate the program’s five-year anniversary. (L to R) Jim Genia ’87, Chris Adams ’07, Natalia Pretelt ’03, Nhia Lee ’02, Luis Lopez Monterrubio ’09, Purity Ouma ’08, Mary Murzyn ’08, Killa Martinez-Aleman ’08, Eloisa Echavez ’94, ’96 MEL, Georgette Christensen ’96 MSW, Bernice Arias-Sather ’97, Julianne Lynum Leerssen ’00, Ami Nafzger ’94, Sama Sandy ’08, Ashley Stoffers ’08, Miguel Sotamba ’08, Derek Francis ’08, Alex Gonzalez ’90. MAKING connections BY BETSEY NORGARD SCHOLASTIC CONNECTIONS—THE NAME SAYS IT ALL. It’s about making connections. In November, this scholarship-mentorship program marked the beginning of its sixth year. At the annual dinner, senior Chris Adams spoke on behalf of the students. “Through this program, I’ve learned to connect with many different kinds of people,” said Adams. “This program has helped me understand the fundamentals. And these fundamentals have helped me understand the connections between hard work, talent, commitment, and their relationship to good grades, lifelong friends, engaging teachers, and a lot about life in general.” Each year, five Day College students of color—African-American, American Indian, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino—are selected by Augsburg’s four ethnic services directors for a $5,000 scholarship. They are also paired with a mentor who is an Augsburg alumnus/a of color, with the idea being to connect leaders of today with leaders of tomorrow. Most students are paired with mentors of their own ethnic group. The scholarships are renewable annually, so students can remain connected with their mentors as long as they are at Augsburg. Thirty students have participated in the program since its inception in fall 2001. 18 AUGSBURG NOW Having a mentor like Noro Andriamanalina (right), who is also an African woman and has achieved a successful career, inspired Melat Woldegebriel (left) to set higher goals for herself. Scholastic Connections was the creation of columnist, playwright, and consultant Syl Jones ’73 and was designed to assist students of color to succeed at Augsburg, while engaging our alumni of color in the College’s commitment to an intentionally diverse community. This concept of combining financial aid and mentoring garnered national notice for the program when it began. Vivian Jenkins Nelsen, president and CEO of the INTER-RACE Institute, a diversity think tank based at Augsburg, has been instrumental in implementing and sustaining Scholastic Connections. She says that while mentoring is common within community organizations and in the corporate world, she is convinced that it is vastly underrated at the college level. With Scholastic Connections, students can pursue their careers already connected with mentors, who are able to network within their own communities on behalf of their mentees. The pairs of alumni and students create their own styles of relationships. Some are largely career-driven with specific goals planned out, while others focus around personal issues, self-confidence, and life decisions. Mathew Shannon says about his mentor, Chad Jackson, “I was looking for a friend who could be supportive enough to keep me encouraged and real enough to hold me accountable to the high expectations I set for myself and the company I keep.” Attorney Jim Genia’s career has been a big factor in his mentorship with Chris Adams. Adams says that in addition to learning how Genia has been a successful lawyer, Genia has been helping him network to find an internship in a local law firm before entering law school. Xia Xiong also worked on career planning. “I definitely feel that my mentor had an impact on what I am doing with my life today,” says Xiong. “She guided me in figuring out what I wanted to do upon graduation and helped me find resources in order to get where I wanted to go. I think having someone who has gone through the same path makes it so much easier.” In some cases, cross-mentoring occurs to also connect mentees with other mentors who match their interests. Culture was an important factor in the partnership of Melat Woldegebriel, from Ethiopia, and Noro Andriamanalina, from Madagascar. Woldegebriel says, “Knowing that my mentor is from Africa and seeing her as a successful person makes me realize that I can be like her if I work hard like her. On top of her responsibility at her work, [she] takes part in church and community activities. I learned a lot from that and increased my extracurricular activities.” Andriamanalina adds, “You don’t have to be in the same discipline or line of work to have a positive and rewarding mentoring relationship. Melat and I were able to connect on many levels. We are both African women balancing different roles and expectations within and outside of our communities.” “It’s clear that although the match did not seem perfect at first, as I am in education and she is in accounting,” Andriamanalina continues, “we had so much more in common than we ever imagined and learned from one another in the process.” The value of the program to students is obvious: needed financial assistance, plus the experience of having role models who have already been through the challenges and pitfalls of college and career who can serve as guides. For the mentors, their learning often includes the satisfaction of helping others maneuver these challenges. For mentor Eloisa Echavez it is “to be energized and contribute to the development of a young professional who has many dreams and plans for the future.” Mentor Chad Jackson says, “For me it was a way to connect with an African-American student … who had gone through the same things I did. It showed me the importance of investing in youth.” The four ethnic services directors recommend alumni of Augsburg to be invited as mentors, and Jenkins Nelsen serves as the guiding force in making the mentorship connections. She provides training to both mentors and mentees on how to work together to get the most from their relationships. WINTER 2006-07 19 In addition to the individual mentoring activities, Jenkins Nelsen brings the entire group of mentors and mentees together at various times during the year for cultural celebrations and other social and community activities. Both Genia and Adams have found these gatherings to be times when the group can learn about each others’ cultures and appreciate the differences and similarities. The creation of Scholastic Connections came about in response to a difficult situation in Augsburg’s history. In 1986, alumnus Elroy Stock ’49 gave a $500,000 campaign naming gift to Augsburg. When it was discovered that he was the author of thousands of letters sent to interracial couples and adoptive parents urging “racial purity,” the College decided it would not put Stock’s name on the building. Charitable gift regulations prevented the return of the money, which led to a lawsuit by Stock that was later dismissed. In 2001, Syl Jones (himself a victim of Stock’s mail campaign) proposed an endowment in the same amount of Stock’s gift to offer scholarships for students of color and mixed race. The program supports them in achieving academic success and developing leadership skills. President Paul Pribbenow, in remarks at the annual dinner, commented that Scholastic Connections is “an example of the College at its best,” supporting its mission and commitment to provide access to college for all students. Overall, there is little doubt that the program is successful. So far, more than half of the former students have gone on to complete higher degrees. Echavez says the program enables Augsburg “to make a greater impact on the lives of the students of color going beyond the academics, extracurricular activities, and financial aid.” Woldegebriel believes that more international students of color will be attracted to Augsburg, knowing that through Scholastic Connections they can be paired with a mentor of similar cultural background. At the annual dinner, Genia, an attorney and lobbyist, spoke of the fact that among Minnesota’s 201 state legislators, there are only five or six senators Although Xia Xiong (left) comes from a different cultural background than her mentor, she appreciates the guidance that Eloisa Echavez (above) was able to give her to plan for the next steps in her studies and career. Since Echavez had never mentored anyone outside of Latino culture, she enjoys learning from Xiong and helping her pursue her dreams. 20 AUGSBURG NOW and representatives of color, with no American Indians. “The legislature is making decisions every day that affect all Minnesotans’ lives,” Genia said. “If some groups are under-represented, … then life-changing decisions are potentially being made without taking into account the unique perspectives and cultural beliefs of these groups. “Until all races are represented in the halls of government, in the business world, or in the academic world at the same rate at which they’re represented in the general population,” he concluded, “we’ll need programs like Scholastic Connections.” Ⅵ (Left) Through Scholastic Connections, Chris Adams learned to connect with different kinds of people—something that helps him in his current real estate work, and as he prepares for a law career. Jim Genia’s (far left) work as an attorney and lobbyist provides the networking to assist Adams with internships and law school in planning for that career. SCHOLASTIC CONNECTIONS Mentees and Mentors interviewed for this story: CHRIS ADAMS ‘07 (sociology) Real estate broker Vilana Realty MELATEWORK WOLDEGEBRIEL ’05 (accounting) Moving back to Addis Ababa JIM GENIA ’87 (sociology) Lobbyist/Attorney Animiki LLC NORO ANDRIAMANALINA ’91 (English, religion) Program Adminstrator in The Graduate School and Faculty Fellow at the Center for Teaching and Learning, both at University of Minnesota XIA XIONG ’05 (sociology) Graduate program: Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology, University of Minnesota Intern—Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence, University of Minnesota ELOISA ECHAVEZ ’94 (computer science), ’98 M.A. Educational Leadership Executive Director La Oportunidad, Inc. MATHEW SHANNON ’04 (business, communication arts) Administrative Assistant Soft Computer Consultants CHAD JACKSON ’97 (elementary education) Account Executive Bluewater Direct WINTER 2006-07 21 Jesse Docken has enjoyed the companionship of four AIBO dog robots that he has used to help beginning students learn basic programming as well as to provide him challenges for more complex programming. F See AIBO walk … and sit … and wigg le its ears BY BETSEY NORGARD 22 AUGSBURG NOW our black-and-white dogs have taken up residence in Augsburg’s computer science lab, and sophomore Jesse Docken has become their keeper, trainer, and researcher. The dogs are called AIBO, for Artifical Intelligence roBOt, and were created by Sony Corporation in 1999. Designed as futuristic pet robots, thousands of them with price tags of $1,500-2,000 have been purchased and taught to play games, shake their legs, wiggle their ears, say their names, and let their owners know when they’re happy, angry, and bored. There is even a “four-legged league” of AIBOs that compete around the world in RoboCup, an international robotics competition. Last fall, computer science professor Karen Sutherland took the AIBOs to her Introduction to Computer Science, a course required for all computer science, mathematics, and management information systems (MIS) students. As far as robots go, the AIBOs are quite complicated crea- tures, capable of highly-advanced programming. Their best feature, however, is that their basic programming is relatively easy—much of it is self-contained and doesn’t require proficiency in a programming language. The task in the AIBO lab is for student teams of mostly freshmen and sophomores to write an easy program, transfer it to a memory card, plug it into the AIBO dog robot, and see if it goes through its routine correctly. “The code is easy to read because it uses commands that you would use for a real dog,” says sophomore Brietta Schluender. “When working with the code you are able to change the commands and numbers to see how the dog reacts; then you can easily conclude how the changes in the code make the dog’s actions differ.” The students turn on the switch and watch cautiously as their dog slowly comes to life. First a stretch, and then one, two, three, and four shakes of a paw—so far so good! After making several turns, AIBO ends with “an amazing amount of ear wiggles,” as one student describes it. Sutherland introduced the AIBOs into her class as part of a collaborative grant—with Berea College and the University of Minnesota—from the National Science Foundation. Her goal is to engage and attract more students, especially women and minority students, to computer science study. The AIBOs offer an easy way to teach the basics of programming and robotics while having fun. “It’s easy for the students to see how the AIBO reacts to their program, and it does cute things,” Sutherland says. “If they can see the program physically happen, they understand it better.” Docken, a computer science major, works with Sutherland in the class, lending a hand when students run into programming glitches or when the AIBO’s routine doesn’t work. In his own research, in addition to making the AIBOs perform various tasks, he has studied different means of programming to ascertain which methods are easier and harder. These results will inform how robots might be used in future class projects. He has enjoyed working with his new robotic pets. “I’ve been fascinated with learning how to make them do certain things, for instance, how to change which lights come on [to show emotional responses], how to make them walk, or how to make them play sounds to music.” Working with the AIBOs will help him move into more complex robotics. Docken’s primary interest is artificial intelligence (AI). “I’ve had a few ideas I’ve played around with,” he says, “and I hope to begin AI research to make algorithms that Sophomore Jesse Docken (second from left) helps junior David Yanagisawa and sophomore Alex Garver with their programming to make the AIBO dog robot perform its routine, while computer science professor Karen Sutherland looks on. Freshman Melissa Moberg (left) and sophomore Brietta Schluender joke with Docken about the tricks they can make the AIBO dogs perform. could provide a more sophisticated means of handling emotions and simulate primitive emotional responses to external stimuli.” This could be applied, he says, in many ways—to robotics for entertainment, e.g. AIBOs that can react in more real ways, to games where characters can respond to events, and to simulation. Docken has written a paper on his research that he will present at a regional conference in the spring. Sutherland is using his work plus student feedback from class labs at all three institutions involved in the NSF grant to develop a course curriculum that will appeal to a broad spectrum of students with varied career goals. And, yes, Docken says their AIBOs have been given names—Sirius, Snoopy, Scooby-Doo, and Spike. Ⅵ WINTER 2006-07 23 Polish-born Magdalena Paleczny-Zapp, associate professor in marketing, brings her experience as an international business consultant to her students in class. global MEET THE INTERNATIONAL FACULTY Associate professor Magdalena Paleczny-Zapp (management coordinator) was born and raised in Krakow, Poland, and taught in several European institutions before coming to Augsburg. Associate professor Amin Kader (international business coordinator) is from Egypt. A past president of the Islamic Center of Minnesota, he teaches Islamic Studies in addition to business. Before coming to the United States in 1970, associate professor and finance coordinator Ashok Kapoor worked at the American Embassy in his home country of India. He has brought this international experience into his Augsburg classroom since 1998. Master of Business Administration (MBA) director Bob Kramarczuk was born in western Ukraine. At the age of five, his family escaped and hid in the forest for five months keeping ahead of the front during World War II. His business Experience is a powerful teacher. In addition to study abroad programs, Augsburg’s business students have opportunities to experience global perspectives in their classrooms every day. BY BETHANY BIERMAN family was later shipped to a work camp in Bavaria before immigrating to the U.S. Associate professor Fekri Meziou, Tunisian by birth, has taught at Augsburg since 1987. “Having faculty of diverse backgrounds is important to the richness of the academic programming offered in our department,” says Meziou. “For instance, I am teaching an international marketing course that is approached from a globally diverse background. We analyze the challenges of marketing products and services in different regions around the world. This course can only be taught by someone who has traveled extensively and has immersed himself/herself during an extended stay in the life of the foreign countries.” “I grew up on a farm outside a small town,” says Jamie Schiller ’05, who currently serves as MBA program coordinator. “Most of my experience with diversity was through the business department.” Reflecting back on her undergraduate experience, Schiller remembers, “[Zapp] helped us understand global differences as well as learn to make culturally sensitive business decisions. … [Meziou] changed my life and drove me to seek out opportunities to broaden my perspective of marketing and business on a global level. He continuously brought cases to his courses that had global business challenges. … With the help of the business faculty, I was able to customize a study abroad program in England. … I have Associate professor Fekri Meziou brings case studies from his own cultural experience From his years of working at the American Embassy in India, associate professor to his international marketing course. Ashok Kapoor can teach finance, drawing on extensive knowledge of both cultural contexts. 24 AUGSBURG NOW Trading Places grown to appreciate international differences in other country’s beliefs, norms, and value sets.” “Students leave the place more openminded than the day they came,” Zapp asserts. John Cerrito, assistant professor and department chair, says, “The course descriptions are broad enough so faculty members can bring in their own flavor and expertise.” “In the current context of globalization,” says Kapoor, “my international experience comes in handy in all my classes, but especially in the international finance classes. My work experience overseas provides many examples to my students and helps them keep an open perspective leading to better decisions both professionally and in their personal lives.” Senior Dulce Monterrubio is a perfect example of this. She came to Augsburg from her hometown of Mexico City. She says, “It was Magda’s own experience as an international business consultant that made me understand that being an international student here at Augsburg was just the first step, but that successfully adapting to a second, third, or fourth culture would be what truly would make me the international educator/professional I wanted to become.” Monterrubio is using her cultural experiences, which include studying abroad in Spain, in her current role as a program assistant in Augsburg’s Center for Global Education. Along with representing differences in ethnic backgrounds, there is significant religious diversity represented in the department. “The department really does have an interesting diversity of faith expressions,” comments assistant professor Lee Clarke, who also happens to be a former ELCA minister. “For some, it’s very clear to students because of culture and nationalities. Ashok [Kapoor] is very upfront talking about his Hindu faith, and Amin [Kader] and others are Islamic. For others, it’s not as intentional… Because religion is so close to culture, it gives students a taste of some of the challenges in global business.” Cerrito agrees. “The College goes out of its way to be diverse. In 1983 when I came, I did not represent the faith, culture, or ethnic background the culture [of Augsburg] represents, and I’ve never been anywhere where I’ve felt more accepted.” (Cerrito is Roman Catholic and of Italian descent.) Kapoor says, “Both my cultural and religious background allows me to bring a very different perspective to issues of the day that we discuss both among colleagues and with our students.” Consider two college students in 1980—one, a student at the University of Minnesota; the other, studying at the University of Tunis. Both had the desire to see the world through a new culture. The two are allowed to exchange places through the International Reciprocal Exchange Program. After her time in Tunisia, the American returns to Minnesota; the Tunisian young man decides to stay in America to pursue his academic objectives. The two meet while serving as cochairs for a selection committee to choose and orient another student exchange. Years later, the two cross paths again, this time at Augsburg College, where they both now work. Their names? Regina McGoff, associate director of the Center for Global Education, and Fekri Meziou, associate professor of business. Meziou says the exchange “was a wonderful opportunity to share experiences and academic ideas with international students from a number of countries around the world… International exchanges enable students to immerse LAYER IN CORPORATE EXPERIENCE A different kind of culture—corporate culture—is also something faculty add to the international mix. Prior to coming to Augsburg in 1995, David Schwain, assistant professor, served on Assistant professor Lee Clarke combines both his cor- themselves in the cultural, social, political, and economic life of another country. The learning outcomes are tremendous and the personal growth opportunities are immeasurable.” It’s a small world, after all. porate perspectives from software design and programming with his background as a Lutheran minister in Augsburg’s MIS classes. WINTER 2006-07 25 ALUMNI NEWS From the Alumni Board president … Greetings fellow Auggies, As I write this, fall is settling in and the transition to winter is in the air. Homecoming week was a great set of events—I hope you could attend some of them. I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about our Distinguished Alumni and Spirit of Augsburg and First Decade awardees. Their recollections of what life was like at Augsburg 30-40-50 years ago reminded me of how much has changed and is changing around us all the time. Homecoming also set a great stage for President Pribbenow’s inauguration. I was honored to represent the alumni in the Inauguration Ceremony and the four days of events surrounding it. The theme of AGES—Abundance, Generosity, Engagement, and Service—is one we can all be proud of and take part in as we live our lives in service to the broader world. If you want to learn a little more about Augsburg’s year of transition I highly recommend the inauguration webpage, www.augsburg.edu/inauguration, and the President’s office page, www.augsburg.edu/president. By the time you read this, Advent Vespers, Christmas, and the new year have come and gone, and before too long, Easter will arrive. Then, in May, another commencement arrives. I’m starting to deeply appreciate my grandmother’s insight when, at 90, she told me that the years never seem to go by more slowly. It’s always faster and faster. As your new year unfolds, I wish you all the best in your transitions. Barry M. Vornbrock ’96 MAL Alumni Board President 28 AUGSBURG NOW Auggies at the State Capitol Alumni calendar Congratulations to the following Auggies who were elected to the Minnesota Legislature in November: February 20 Alumni Board meeting— 5:30 p.m., Minneapolis Room, Christensen Center Sandy Wollschlager ’94 (DFL), elected to her first term in House District 28A, representing Cannon Falls and Red Wing March 14 Join members of the Alumni Board Events Committee to volunteer at Augsburg’s Campus Kitchen from 7-9 p.m. For more information or to sign up as a volunteer, contact Liz Pushing at lpushing@provplace.com. Learn more about Campus Kitchen in the GET INVOLVED section at www.augsburg.edu/alumni. Diane Loeffler ’75 (DFL), elected to her second term in House District 59A, representing Northeast Minneapolis Rod Skoe ’77 (DFL), elected to his second term in Senate District 2, representing Northwest Minnesota. He had previously served two terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Sport an Auggie license plate Auggie license plates are available from the Minnesota Department of Transportation for a $10 plate fee and a minimum annual contribution of $25 when renewing registration. The plates can go on passenger class vehicles carrying not more than 15 persons; this includes pickup trucks and vans with a three-quarter-ton or less gross weight and one-ton passenger vans. For information, go to www.dps.state.mn. us/dvs/PlBrochure/CollegiatePla tes.htm. April 17 Alumni Board meeting— 5:30 p.m., Minneapolis Room, Christensen Center Check the online calendar at www.augsburg.edu for a complete schedule of campus events. Send in your nominations Is there someone you believe is deserving of a Distinguished Alumnus/a, Spirit of Augsburg, or First Decade award? Nominations are being received by the Alumni Relations Office from now until March 1. For instructions about nominating and the nomination form, contact Becky Taute at 612-330-1085 or tauter@augsburg.edu. The forms are also available on the alumni webpage at www.augsburg.edu/alumni. Please consider making a nomination! Centennial Singers head to the Southwest Following a successful series of concerts in Florida in 2006 and their annual fall concert season in Minnesota, the Augsburg Centennial Singers will reprise their 2005 tour in Arizona in February 2007, with additional concerts in Nevada and Utah. Directed by Alfred (Al) Reesnes ’58, the Singers reflect the gospel quartet tradition at Augsburg. Formed in 1993 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Augsburg gospel quartet that traveled to Norway, the Singers have toured Norway twice, most recently in 2001. “Seeing alumni and other friends of Augsburg is a wonderful part of the touring,” says Reesnes. “Our guys love to sing songs of praise and we are looking forward to returning to the Southwest.” Also featured in the concert are songs by a quartet, led by Paul Christensen ’59, and including Norm Anderson ’60, Paul Mikelson ’70, and Jon Lueth, husband of alumna Marilyn (Buschbom) ’71. This group recalls Augsburg’s strong gospel quartet tradition over many years. In addition, a second quartet now presents songs from a more Southern gospel tradition. February concerts/appearances February 6, 7 p.m. Eccles Concert Hall, Dixie College, St. George, Utah February 7, 7 p.m. Community Lutheran Church, 3720 Tropicana Ave., Las Vegas, Nev. February 8, 7 p.m. Spirit of Grace Lutheran Church, 15820 Clearview Blvd., Surprise, Ariz. February 9, 7 p.m. Vista de la Montana United Methodist Church, 3001 E. Miravista Lane, Tucson, Ariz. Alumni reception, 6–6:45 p.m. February 10, 4 p.m. Chaparral Christian Church, 6451 Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, Ariz. February 11, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Worship Services at American Lutheran Church, 172 Del Webb Blvd., Sun City, Ariz. Alumni reception between services. February 13, 7 p.m. Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, El Lago Blvd. and Fountain Hills Blvd, Fountain Hills, Ariz. Alumni reception, 6–6:45 p.m. February 14, 7 p.m. King of Glory Lutheran Church, 2085 E. Southern Ave., Tempe, Ariz. Alumni reception, 6–6:45 p.m. A special highlight in the concerts of the Centennial Singers, who number more than 50, is a smaller group of four who keep alive Augsburg’s longstanding gospel quartet tradition. (L to R): Jon Lueth, Paul Christensen ’59, Paul MIkelson ’70, and Norm Anderson ’60. February 15, 7 p.m. Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, 25150 N. Pima Rd., Scottsdale, Ariz. NOTE: Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow will be the guest preacher at services on Feb. 17 and 18 at the American Lutheran Church in Sun City, Ariz. (see address above): Sat., Feb. 17—4 p.m. Sun., Feb. 18—8:30 and 10:30 a.m., with a coffee reception between services. For information, contact the alumni relations office at 612-330-1085. Join the Augsburg Online Community It’s designed just for you— • Keep in touch with classmates • Find out what’s happening on campus • Send class notes about what you’re doing • Change/update your address and e-mail • Update your profile so others can find you • Make an online gift to Augsburg It’s fast and easy. Already, more than 500 alumni have registered. Simply go to www.augsburg.edu/alumni—have you signed up? If you have questions, e-mail healyk@augsburg.edu. WINTER 2006-07 29 HOMECOMING 2006 Homecoming 2006 brought students and alumni together in record numbers. Fireworks at the pep rally pumped up the crowd, and seniors Grant Hemmingsen and Sari Gallagher were crowned Homecoming King and Queen. While the football game against Concordia-Moorhead went into overtime, the Cobbers edged out the Auggies, 34-28, for the win. 30 AUGSBURG NOW WINTER 2006-07 31 HOMECOMING REUNIONS Class of 1956 (L to R) ROW 1 (front): Dorothy (Floistad) Benson, Carolyn (Lower) Bliss, Elizabeth (Mortensen) Swanson, Chris (Munson) Main, Ron Main. ROW 2: Augsburg president Paul Pribbenow, Louise Jones, Laurayne (Helgerson) Solberg, James Nordling, Bonnie (Bieri) Vaagenes, Marilyne Dahl, Wanda (Warnes) Olson, Farolyn (Johnson) Gehring, Ruth (Borchardt) Ysteboe Engelstad, Hans Dumpys, John Haynes. ROW 3: Ted Berkas, Harvey Lundin, Roger Ose, Chuck Evavold, Glen Thorpe, Jim Pederson, Harold Stoa, Rodney Erickson, Tom Hofflander, Tom Benson, Chuck Howard, Tom Hoversten. ROW 4: Bob D. Larson, Bob Gjengdahl, John Thompson, Bill Anderson, Ardell Moen, Richard Thorud, Gary Fitch Class of 1966 (L to R) ROW 1 (front): Sylvia (Steinbeck) Torstenson, Lila (Lee) Salls, Mary Lynn (Larson) Leff, Rhoda (Lindekugel) Vandervoort, Grace (Estenson) Fladeboe, Judith (Erickson) Coppersmith, Jeanne (Wanner) Morreim. ROW 2: Karen (Torkelson) Leverentz, Douglas Johnson, John Andreasen, Beth Torstenson, Karen Johnson, Kathleen (Davis) Jacobsen, Kay (Swensson) Cerkvenik. ROW 3: Kathryn (Wall) Johnson, Sharen (Muehlenthaler) Schornstein, Vernice (Ring) Bishop, Karen (Langseth) Oelschlager, Marcia (Thimsen) Noble, Susan (Joesting) Propst, Joan (Alden) Blomlie. ROW 4: Jerry Maas, Maggi (Ahlson) Tjaden, Judith (Erickson) Pittelkow, Kathleen (Kalpin) Franson, Heidi (Degen) Shurtleff, Ed Huseby, Richard Mork, Allan Kristenson. ROW 5: Kathleen (Popp) Boggess, Joy Klemp, Smokey (Wyckoff) Nielsen, Gracia (Nydahl) Luoma. 32 AUGSBURG NOW Class of 1981 (L to R) ROW 1 (front): Ruth Muschinski, Karla (Morken) Thompson, Janna (Wallin) Haug, Mary Beamish, Molly Olson-Blomgren. ROW 2: Susan (Dahlgren) Sackrison, Kirsten Schwappach, Maureen Webster, Kristine Johnson, Gaynelle (Webb) Buckland, Leann Rock, Barbara Gilbert, Janis (Blomgren) Aune, Naomi (Christensen) Staruch. 35th Anniversary of Metro-Urban Studies Alumni enjoyed reuniting with former faculty and classmates at the 35th anniversary of Augsburg’s Metro-Urban Studies program. Paula (Brookins) Pentel ’78, warmly greets Fran Torstenson, with professor emeritus Joel Torstenson ’38 looking on. In the background, professor emeritus Myles Stenshoel talks with Bruce Shoemaker ’81. WINTER 2006-07 33 CLASS NOTES 1942 Chester and Ebba (Johnson) Brooks, Duluth, Minn., celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in June at Gloria Dei Church in Duluth, surrounded by family and friends. After more than 32 years with the National Park Service, they moved to Duluth in 1983. campuses, when the church grew from 525 to 7300 members. He and his wife, Bonnie (Bieri) ’67, have four children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. 1957 Jeanette (Olson) Locke, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., has been awarded a grandfather clock after 35 years of service as an H&R Block employee. She and her husband, Peter ’60, have lived in both St. Paul and Scottsdale, Ariz. children, reading, and golfing. Lois is director of nursing at the Burnett Medical Center. Lowell “Zeke” Ziemann, Phoenix, Ariz., met up with fellow Auggie Hall-of-Famer Lute Olson ’56 at the booksigning for Olson’s new autobiography, Lute! The Seasons of My Life. Olson is head basketball coach at the University of Arizona. 1968 Janet Letnes Martin and Suzanne (Johnson) Nelson were awarded the Gold Pen Award by Metro Lutheran newspaper at their annual dinner in October, recognizing distinguished service to Christ and the church through significant contribution to public communication. Their book, Growing Up Lutheran, is the basis for the currently-running play Church Basement Ladies. In August, Janet suffered the loss of her husband, Neil, who died following a four-year battle with cancer. 1959 1943 The Rev. LuVerne “Red” Nelson, ’46 Sem, New Hope, Minn., celebrated the 60th anniversary of his ordination as a Lutheran pastor on August 4. He served parishes in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Red was married to Grace (Carlsen) ’45 and established a scholarship for voice students in her memory. He also set up a scholarship for tuba players. Gail Castor, Redwood Falls, Minn., played one season of Auggie football while a student. In the Homecoming alumni football game this year, as the oldest player on the field at age 75, he made two plays towards the end of the game, one of which ended in a touchdown. His efforts were showcased on several local television stations as well as in ESPN’s Top Ten Plays of the Day. He has every intention to play again next year. 1948 Jeroy Carlson, Burnsville, Minn., celebrated his retirement on September 30 after 44 years of service and was honored at a reception in October. (See page 3.) 1951 1960 The Rev. Morris Vaagenes, Shoreview, Minn., recently published Baptism: God’s Activity of Grace at Kirk House Publishers. For 38 years, he served as the senior pastor at North Heights Lutheran Church and played an active role in the development of the Roseville and Arden Hills The Rev. Myron Carlson, Grantsburg, Wis., celebrated his retirement after 37 years as the pastor of Grantsburg Faith Lutheran Church. He also served congregations in Clayton, Wis., and rural Clear Lake. Myron is looking forward to traveling with his wife, Lois, visiting their three 34 AUGSBURG NOW 1976 Jane Stritesky, Georgetown, Ky., has taken a new position at Northern Elementary School as elementary music specialist for grades K through 5. She also coordinates after school courses in choir, piano, and guitar. 1963 Carol Ann (Erickson) Zwernik, Minnetonka, Minn., was named the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s 2006-07 Director of the Year, an award based on professional achievements and work in implementing programs for students, their families, the congregation, and community. She is the pre-kindergarten director at Calvary Lutheran Church. 1979 Linda Sue Anderson, Minneapolis, received rave reviews in the Star Tribune for her performance as Big Mama in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. The show sold out in July and was extended into September. 1982 Diane (Peterson) Kachel, Woodbury, Minn., has become assistant director for the newlyestablished Center for Lung Science and Health at the University of Minnesota. For nearly 25 years she has been actively engaged in lung-related research and administration across the academic industry and government sectors. In her new role she will focus on lung research, education, and public service for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer. 1985 1991 Tom Terpening, Minneapolis, appeared on TV’s Deal or No Deal. Unfortunatly, he didn’t win the big money, but says he and his family enjoyed a wonderful four days in Hollywood for the taping. Betty Christiansen, La Crosse, Wis., became a published author this fall. Her book, Knitting for Peace, contains stories about charity knitting organizations around the United States, selfhelp knitting groups in countries recovering from war, and other folks who are using knitting to help others around the world. She hopes the book will inspire others to pick up their needles and knit one of the 15 projects in the book for someone in need. 1986 Debra Balzer-Plagemann, Roanoke, Va., and her husband, Rob, welcomed a new daughter, Sophia, in August. Lisa Baumgartner, Sycamore, Ill., recently received tenure and promotion at Northern Illinois University to associate professor in the counseling, adult, and higher education department. 1987 Barbara Blomberg, Princeton, Minn., is one of four people inducted into the Princeton High School Activities Hall of Fame this year. She teaches in the Princeton district and served several years as the head volleyball coach. Patricia (Noren) Enderson, Elk River, Minn., recently joined Deloitte Services LP, a division of the Deloitte & Touche LLP firms, as a marketing manager. She can be reached at pjend@aol.com. 1994 Michelle (Eaker) Steever, Cranston, R.I., and her husband, Frank, welcomed a son, Gavin, on July 27. He joins big sister Genevieve, 2. “PSI House Girls,” graduates of 1982 and 1983, celebrate a girls’ getaway weekend in June at Izatys Resort. (L to R) Lisa (Salmonson) Weatherhead, Marlene (Sorensen) Carr, Cindy (Winberg) Sisson, Janice (Haselhorst) Hostager, Linda (Dibos) Graslewicz, Terry Swanson (U of M graduate), Kris (Alexander) Korby, Jean (Lucas) Horton, Terese (Borgstrom) Almquist. Auggies at Jellystone 1989 Mark Limburg, St. Paul, has been published by Concordia Publishing House of St. Louis, Mo., for his piano arrangements, which have appeared in many collections. Carols for Piano is his 12th published piece. Mark has been named of one “Today’s Top Writers” and “Today’s Top Arrangers.” In 1999, he toured England with David Soul and Hugh Burns, the guitarist for Paul McCartney and George Michael. Mark is currently completing a CD of original contemporary compositions. You can email Mark at rachoven63@aol.com. This group of Auggies (Classes of 1995, ’96, and ’97) and their families celebrated their ninth annual summer outing at Jellystone Park in Warrens, Wis. All living in the Twin Cites, they are able to get together often and continue to add “future Auggies” to the clan. Their shirts read, “First Annual Auggie 5K Walk, Run, & Crawl.” (L to R) Jodi Monson ’96, Gene Louie ’95, Dave and Natasha (Solberg) ’96 Sheeley and daughter Kaia, Brian ’95 and Jennifer (Cummings) ’96 Ackland and children Ellie and Lucas, Brittany (Lynch) ’96 and Mike Jakubiec, Brooke (Manisto) ’96 and Erik ‘97 Reseland and daughter Elsa, Tom Shaw ’95 and Stephanie Harms ’96 and daughter Madeline, Nate Markell (fiancé of Jodi Monson), Dylan Nau ’97 and Wendy Laine ’96 and daughter Lydia, Andy and Connie (Arndt) ’96 Clausen and children Adam and Aaron. WINTER 2006-07 35 CLASS NOTES Kari (Schroeder) Prescott, Minneapolis, and her husband, Scott, welcomed their second child—a son, Soren Theophilus. He was born on June 28 and joins big brother Simon, 6. Kari is a physician with a private practice downtown and Scott is a middle school music teacher in Chaska, Minn. 1995 Tiffany Lynn (Peterson) Garzone, Rocky Mount, N.C., and her husband, Steven, have adopted their first daughter, Natalie, from China in May 2005. Tiffany and Steven are both chiropractors and business partners at Rocky Mount Chiropractic. 1999 Devean George, Dallas, Tex., signed a two-year contract worth $4.2 million with the Dallas Mavericks. In his first three years in the league, he became the seventh player in the NBA to win three championships. He leaves the Los Angeles Lakers to join the Mavericks. Victoria Sadek, New Brighton, Minn., teaches Honors Humanities, 20th-Century American Literature, and Creative Writing in the English Department at Mounds View High School. She also directs the fall and spring plays and just finished a production of It’s a Wonderful Life, presented as a radio broadcast, complete with sound effects. For it, marketing students created real “commercials” for local businesses that benefited the theatre program. Torma-Agrimson Wedding Jenell Torma ’00 married Erick Agrimson ’98, on May 20 at Hoversten Chapel. Jenell is currently a training facilitator at East Suburban Resources in Stillwater and Erick is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Sonography at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. The couple lives in Roseville, Minn. (Front row, L to R) Prof. Mark Engebretson, Prof. Ken Erickson ’62, Drew Monteith ’99, Kevin Wipf ’98, and Larye Pohlman ’98. (Middle row, L to R) Matt Klatt ’01, Justin Walker ’98, Jenell Torma ’00, Erick Agrimson ’98, and Eric Klatt ’98. (Back row, L to R) Kaydee Kirk ’98, Jessica Rivera ’01, Rachel Oldfather ’02, Conie Borchardt ’98, Jennifer Warner ’98, Katie Bodurtha ’99, Lois Bordurtha ’73, Lois Agrimson ’60, and Melissa Pohlman ’00. 2001 Leah Carlson, Minneapolis, has recently moved to Chicago, Ill., to become operations specialist for Dominium Inc. Because the company has properties in 14 different states, she will be traveling most of the time. Bonner-Pavelka Wedding Jessica (Norman) Hafemyer, Northfield, Minn, and her husband, Eric, welcomed a daughter, Lauren Ann, on October 15. Lauren weighed in at 9 lb., 4 oz. and is 22 in. long. 1996 Anna (Lalla) Johnson, Shoreview, Minn., and her husband, Todd, welcomed a daughter, Kate Morgan, on July 28. She joins big brother Evan, 4. 36 AUGSBURG NOW Rachel L. Oldfather, Fargo, N. Dak., graduated from Luther Seminary in May with a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained June 10. She is now serving at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minn., as part of the Transition into Ministry Program. She can be reached at: Rachel@trinitymhd.org. Lindsay Bonner ’02 married Matthew Pavelka ’02 on August 27, 2005, at First United Methodist Church in Dallas, Tex. Matron of honor was Solveig (Grafstrom) Harren ’02, and best man was Jacob Pavelka. Beth Scott and Sara Seekins ’02 were bridesmaids, and groomsmen were Jason Pavelka and Devin Fitzsimons. Flower girl was Madison Pavelka. Ushers were Ryan Bonner ’08, Matthew Brutsche ’00, and Andrew Gordon ’02. Matthew is a first-year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Tex., and Lindsay is a voice teacher on faculty with the Galveston Island Arts Academy, and is currently performing in the East-End Theatre Company’s production of The Full Monty. Emily Maeder (left) Beatrice and Benedick Deanne McDonald ’04 played the feuding Beatrice to Andrew Kraft’s Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing, a production of the Traveling Players, a troupe formed by McDonald. (far left) Monster of Phantom Lake (L to R) Josh Craig (as Professor Jackson) and Deanne McDonald (as Elizabeth), in a scene from The Monster of Phantom Lake (2005). Actor, director, costume designer Deanne McDonald graduated in 2004 with a degree in theatre arts. In the not-quite-three years since then, she has appeared in a surprise hit indie b-movie; started her own acting company, starring in its premiere production; and directed her high school alma mater’s theatre productions—in between other theatre projects and working a full-time job. A year ago, after enjoying several summer stints with Shakespeare & Company, an outdoor repertory theatre in White Bear Lake, McDonald decided to form her own theatre company. She loved doing Shakespeare outdoors, where she says if feels “larger than life,” and, along with her sister and a group of fellow Shakespearean actors, she put together a company. Its name, the Traveling Players, comes from the description for Shakespeare’s own actors who took their productions on the road when the theater closed to stop the spread of the London plague. For their premiere production McDonald and the Traveling Players chose Much Ado about Nothing, which translates well for a small cast and is quite portable. McDonald served as producer and costumer, and acted the role of Beatrice. The play was performed last August and September in Como Park, Eagan, and Burnsville, with some of their rehearsing done at Augsburg in Murphy Square. The Traveling Players’ interpretation of Much Ado about Nothing included pop music and contemporary costumes, like camouflage fatigues for Benedick, returning from war. The production was limited to an hour, with minimal sets and an informal, intimate outdoor setting—all trying to more closely approximate the experiences of Shakespeare’s own audiences. The turnouts were big, and even without charging admission, the costs for the production were covered through donations. McDonald’s most unexpected recent acting success, however, has come in a low-budget, ’50sstyle fake horror movie, The Monster of Phantom Lake, created by writer/director/producer Christopher Mihm in homage to his father’s love for the genre. McDonald plays one of five high school seniors enjoying a camping trip together in celebration of their graduation. They fall victim to a horrific, slimy monster—in reality, a deranged war veteran hermit who mutated into a monster from the nuclear waste that had been dumped into the lake. The movie was the realization of Mihm and co-producer and star Josh Craig’s lifelong dream to produce a movie. With a digital camera, at a cost of $1,500, they brought back the experience—in black-and-white—of movie-goers during the 1950s who watched an array of cheesy horror b-movies. McDonald joined the cast after responding to Mihm’s online notice seeking actors for the fake horror movie, and filming began in the woods around the Twin Cities. The film debuted in March 2006. Since then, The Monster at Phantom Lake has been accepted to numerous film festivals across the country, won a number of independent film awards, and continues to grow a cult status and play to sold-out audiences. Last fall the film traveled with care packages to Iraq and was shown on Halloween to soldiers at the air base. Already Mihm has a sequel in production, in which McDonald has a cameo role. McDonald’s most recent project, as a part-time gig, was direction of Look Homeward, Angel at Henry Sibley High School, her alma mater, in Mendota Heights, Minn. On the production team also was a fellow Auggie, set designer Justin Johnson ’06. In the spring, McDonald returns to Sibley to direct The Boyfriend. Last year McDonald’s work also included another stage appearance in Wind in the Willows, with New Breath Productions, a musical theatre learning collaborative. Even with a busy theatre schedule, McDonald works full time at TMP Directional Marketing, an ad agency. She says the acting experience enhances her work there, especially in role-playing techniques she uses for sales training. For information on upcoming screenings of The Monster of Phantom Lake featuring Deanne McDonald, go to www.monsterofphantomlake.com. —Betsey Norgard WINTER 2006-07 37 CLASS NOTES Laura Waldon and Emily Brinkman were married on Sept. 2 at the Inn at Castle Hill in Ipswich, Mass. Emily graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in August with a Master of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies. Laura is currently obtaining her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction writing from the University of New Hampshire, where she teaches First-Year Writing and is the director of the Online Writing Lab. The couple lives in Salem, Mass. Linnea Mohn, Minneapolis, and her team, including David Gillette and Rich Kronfeld from the Comedy Central TV show, Let’s Bowl, won this year’s 48Hour Film Festival. Their seven minute short film Dangerous Proximity was completed from inception to delivery in 48 hours. The film can be viewed at www.youtube.com. Fellow Auggies in the wedding party included Andi Slack ’07, Becky Welle ’05, Amy Mackner ’04, Sarah Schultz ’04, Angela Van Binsbergen ’05, Jon Fahler ’03, T.J. Bramwell ’03, Sam Gross ’03, Paul Amundson, Nick Slack ’02, and Joe Holman ’04. 2004 2003 Cherie Christ, Minneapolis, has been promoted to director of electronic communications at Augsburg and is working over the next six months on a major study and redesign of the Augsburg website. Danielle Slack ’04 married John Tieben ’03 on July 9, 2005, at St. John Lutheran Church in Belle Plaine, Minn., and spent their honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii. Pastors Dave Wold and Mark Johnson officiated at the wedding. Danielle is a third-grade teacher in the Edina Public School District, and John will graduate in May from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. They live in St. Louis Park, Minn. 38 AUGSBURG NOW Kelly Chapman, Willernie, Minn., received the Fashion Design Award for Outstanding Fashion Design Student. As one of only 10 designers to participate in the Advanced Fashion Design Program for the 2006-07 school year, her first collection will debut at “FIDM’s Fashion Gala” in February 2007. Chad Darr, and his wife, Krista, welcomed their first child, a daughter, Addison Lynn, on Sept. 8. Addison weighed in at 6 lb., 6 oz. and was 19 3/4 in. long. Sara Kamholz, Maple Grove, Minn., and her husband, Chad, welcomed their first child, Sophia Lyn, on Oct. 19, weighing in at 8 lb., 7 oz. and 20 1/2 in. Katie Scheevel, Las Vegas, Nev., recently began teaching third grade at Stanford Elementary School. She can be contacted at spicerisnicer24@yahoo.com. 2006 Justin Johnson, was set designer for the fall play, Look Homeward Angel, at Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights, sponsored by the Henry Sibley Drama Club. He has recently completed other sets, including productions for Irondale High School and In the Basement Productions. He’s pictured here with fellow Auggie Deanne McDonald, who directed the play. See page 37 for more on Deanne. 2005 Katarzyna (Pruchnik) Niles, Isanti, Minn., and her husband, Joe, welcomed their first child, daughter Helena Violet on July 14. She weighed in at 7 lb., 12 oz. and is 22 in. long. Graduate Programs Barry Vornbrock ’96 MAL, and his husband, Ernest Lewis, recently relocated to Palo Alto, Calif. Barry accepted a position with Stanford Univeristy Medical Center as the director of IT Systems Planning-Ambulatory Care. Besides leading the technology efforts to implement a new electronic health record, he will also help Stanford Hospital and Clinics develop a future vision of their technology needs as they grow their ambulatory (walk in and walk out the same day) services. In Memoriam Stella (Pederson) Eiermann ’30, Pacific Palisades, Calif., age 98, on May 31. The Rev. Clifford M. Johnson ’34 (’30 Acad, ’39 Sem), Bloomington, Minn., age 95, on Oct. 12. He was a Distinguished Alumnus and served Augsburg as a fundraising leader, regent and board chair, and director of development. Abner B. Batalden ’35, Hanover, N.H., age 98, on Jan. 18. He traveled and worked many years for the Lutheran Church and Lutheran World Relief, in social service agencies and with refugee affairs. At Augsburg he served as director of alumni relations and as a fundraiser; he was a Distinguished Alumnus. Wilhelm (“Bill”) Helland ’35, Spicer, Minn., age 91, on Feb. 16. Harold E. Mork ’38, Whittier, Calif., on Nov. 24, 2005. The Rev. Ormande Gordon Tang ’41, Arden Hills, Minn., age 86, on July 14. The Rev. Carl J. Carlsen ’43 (’46 Sem), Gig Harbor, Wash., age 85, on Sept. 3. The Rev. Gerhard (“Giggs”) Bretheim ’46 (’51 Sem), Edina, Minn., age 78, on July 21 from cancer. Roald Nokleberg ’47, Duluth, Minn., age 84, unexpectedly on Oct. 12. Mae Luhn ’50, Crossville, Tenn., age 82, on July 22 after a long illness. Aileen Okerstrom ’50, Shoreview, Minn., age 78, on Sept. 16. Morris G. Jespersen ’57, Little Canada, Minn., age 76, on Feb. 8 after a long battle with cancer. Jack R. Norman ’59, Pennock, Minn., ate 73, unexpectedly on Aug. 6. Gerald L. Peterson ’61, Owatonna, Minn., age 66, on Sept. 1. SEND US YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to alumni@augsburg.edu. You can also submit news to the Augsburg Online Community at www.augsburg.edu/alumni. Full name Philip M. Dyrud ’64, Newfolden, Minn., age 67, on Sept. 18. Maiden name Carolyn (Hove) Dyrud ’65, Maple Grove, Minn., age 62, on Sept. 24, 2005, from cancer. Street address John A. Bruntjen ’68, Wayzata, Minn., age 63, on Nov. 3 from cancer. Is this a new address? ❑ Yes ❑ No Michael Manz ’70, Spokane, Wash., age 58, on Nov. 1 of a heart attack. E-mail Mark J. Zachary ’83, Savage, Minn., age 45, unexpectedly on July 22. Employer Kathrynn Mae Powell ’01, student in the Master of Arts in Nursing program, Rochester, Minn., age 47, on Oct. 22 following an accident. Work telephone Jason B. Mulligan ’02, St. Paul, age 28, on Aug. 18 of ALS. Spouse’s name Class year or last year attended City, State, Zip Home telephone Okay to publish your e-mail address? ❑ Yes ❑ No Position Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? ❑ Yes ❑ No If yes, class year Maiden name Luverne (“Vern”) Carlson, Edina, Minn., age 86, in July. Your news: Robert Clyde, Crystal, Minn., age 79, on Jan. 9. He was associate professor and institutional research analyst at Augsburg for 31 years until he retired in 1998. WINTER 2006-07 39 Stu Stoller, professor of accounting, maintains active ties with universities in Poland and the Czech Republic, where has collaborated to develop curriculum, teach seminars, and establish a small-business incubation center. a national promotion board that oversaw the “Got Milk” advertising and promotion program. His industry experience amplifies business theory in the classroom. Professor Stu Stoller owned his own CPA practice before going through what he calls “a mid-life change in careers.” Prior to joining Augsburg, Assistant Professor Marc Isaacson worked at Innovex Inc. in Maple Plain in various quality/engineering roles, including the launch of Flex Suspension Assemblies into high volume manufacturing. This took him to Asia frequently as he dealt with issues in global engineering, development, and customer service. Nora Braun joined the department in 1997 with 20 years of information technology industry experience, most recently with Electronic Data Systems and National Car Rental. Clarke was introduced to Augsburg when Braun, a colleague, informed him of an opening in Management Information Systems (MIS). Clarke had worked for the EDS 26 AUGSBURG NOW Corporation and National Car Rental System, Inc., where he served as a software development manager, senior programmer/analyst, and project leader. “I brought with me a corporate culture, but it was not long before it became obvious that it was very different here.” All of this gives students a better idea of what to expect in the “real” world. Ana Chilingarishvili, a senior international relations major from the country of Georgia, says, “Professor Zapp shared with us all kinds of experiences she has had in her professional career which enhanced my understanding of the concepts covered in the textbook and showed how they can be applied to real-life situations.” “It’s paramount that you do what you teach,” says Stoller. “It’s one thing to be an academic and understand the philosophy and the theory, but people become practitioners when they graduate from here, so they need to understand the rules of practice. One of the things that experience does is to give you that practical experience… [What] I think I give to students that they enjoy are my stories of what is out there in the trenches of the world.” GIVE CREDIT WHERE DUE Cerrito credits the character of the business department to Amin Kader, who founded it (formerly it was combined with economics) and served as department chair for 16 years. “Faculty are here because of Amin’s leadership and drive. He was very successful at establishing a culture where all members of the department are treated with dignity and respect.” “When I interviewed here, Amin Kader was the chair at the time,” recalls Stoller, who grew up in a Jewish New York City family. He remembers his family telling him, “‘You mean you’re teaching in a Lutheran school, and your boss is Egyptian?’ They said, ‘Boy, you’re in trouble.’” “When I got here [in 1990] and saw the amount of diversity in the department, I wondered if we would all work well together,” remembers associate professor Lori Lohman, who is a self-described Midwestern Protestant. “In a short period of time it became apparent to me that this would be the best place I would ever work. My coworkers are exceptional. We support each other. We respect and value our differences.” “For me, it would be hard to work in a department where only one culture was represented,” says Zapp. CREATE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES The business faculty have actively crossed borders for their teaching and research— especially in Central and Eastern Europe. In 1991, following a trade exhibition in Pozan, Poland, Cerrito went to Warsaw and met the vice-mayor of the city of Lublin, who was also a professor at Catholic University. “He invited me to visit the campus and meet with professors. That really started [Augsburg’s] relationship with Catholic University and working with Solidarity, the free trade movement, and privatization issues. I then brought in Amin [Kader] and Stu [Stoller].” Cerrito and Kader were invited by Catholic University’s dean to develop management degree programs and work with the university’s faculty to assist them in privatizing state industries. Cerrito and Kader were also asked to serve as guest lecturers. In 1996, Stoller was invited to Catholic University to set up curriculum and to teach a seminar for financial auditing. “My grandfather came from Poland, from Krakow, and so I figured I could visit on the way… I knew nothing about Poland. The only thing I knew were the black and white newsreels from World War II… I thought Poland was black and white.” Stoller later returned to Catholic University to set up curriculum and teach sem- inars in Audit, and Mergers and Acquisitions. “I learned a lot about different perspectives, different point of view. It took me out of my comfort zone and really gave me an education,” Stoller recalls. “But I figured, this cannot end here, so I asked my colleagues here [at Augsburg], if they had any connections in central Eastern Europe.” It turned out that business/MIS professor Milo Schield’s son was teaching in the Czech Republic. He connected Stoller with the associate director of intercultural studies at Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Stoller’s offer to help resulted in his “thumbprint” on the Czech professor’s financial project over the Internet. This led to a sabbatical, during which time Stoller created an incubation center for small business in the community. Stoller then created a course for Augsburg students, “The Czech Republic: Social and Cultural Impact of the Emerging Free Market Economy,” which integrated history, culture, and economics. In January 2001, he took 17 students to the Czech Republic for the first time. Students met with business leaders, workers, and citizens to discuss the impact of the privatization process and the development of capitalist enterprises in the ex-communist country. The course has evolved since 2001, but Stoller continues to lead student groups to the Czech Republic. Stoller was later invited to set up a similar program in Prague. Stoller has taken students there in 2003 and 2005 and will return this year. “Nothing can change you in three weeks as fast as an experiential education,” Stoller asserts. “Four years of college don’t change you as much as three weeks in Prague.” MAKE WIDER CONNECTIONS In the mid-’90s, a connection with Russia was established when Cerrito joined with political science professor Norma Noonan to present lectures at and facilitate an exchange of professors with the State Academy of Management in Moscow. In May 2004, President William Frame and Zapp visited the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, to rekindle an exchange program with Augsburg. Several other business faculty, including Clarke and Kader, have also visited Slovenia. The department has hosted four professors and the country’s prime minister, Dr. Janez Drnovsek. On that same trip, Frame and Zapp also visited Krakow University of Economics, Zapp’s alma mater. A year later, an exchange agreement was signed between Augsburg and Krakow University. Last summer, through another faculty connection, Stoller and associate professor Kathy Schwalbe taught a course in Karlsruhe, Germany, including four Augsburg students and 14 students from the Berufsakademie. More recently, Stoller has developed curriculum, discussed business cooperations, and has given lectures in Shanghai, China. An exchange of business programs is being considered as part of ongoing College discussions. IN SUM Stoller says his colleagues “tell about their lives, they bring in their food—it’s wonderful. They talk about their experiences … you can call up somebody like my friend Ashok and talk about Indian culture, or Muslim culture, or whatever. It just adds a breath and depth and experience to the department. We all work with each other on a professional basis and rejoice in each other’s differences.” “It’s outstanding that we have this diversity,” says Kramarczuk. “We’re all God’s children. I’ve seen people die because of their nationality. When I came into New Orleans in the early ’50s, I couldn’t understand when I would get on a bus, why an older black woman would have to get up and give me her seat.” In the words of Lohman, “My colleagues have expanded my world. It’s been fabulous.” “We bring to the class very different worlds,” says Zapp of her colleagues. “We represent different cultures, different countries, different religious beliefs… The benefits are immeasurable.” Ⅵ The Department of Business Administration has 24 full-time faculty, more than 35 part-time faculty, teaching over 700 undergraduate and 300 graduate students. MBA director Bob Kramarczuk, whose family immigrated to the U.S. after fleeing Ukraine, has enjoyed a career as an international consultant and is an academician in the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. WINTER 2006-07 27 VIEWS Icons of an Inauguration THE SCHOLARLY SYMBOLS College seals are common inauguration icons and appear on the many official congratulations and certificates President Pribbenow received from his colleagues across the country. Nearly 50 of these colleagues attended the inauguration. THE BOW TIE STYLE Paul Pribbenow adopted the bow tie on a daily A giant red bow tie anchored the “President Bush” Bow ties, again, on the buttons that Student Senate basis after learning to tie many of them for black outside of Christensen Center, designed by a team of distributed across campus during inauguration week. tie events in his work at the Art Institute of students led by junior Ben Katz. Chicago. He believes he currently has more than 50 bow ties in his wardrobe. THE STUFF From printed programs to food and coffee, lots of visuals recall this festive week. The Event Services Office reports that approximately 800 Augsburg “A” cookies were served at the inauguration reception. 40 AUGSBURG NOW CALENDAR For music information, call 612-330-1265 For theatre ticket information, call 612-330-1257 For art gallery information, call 612-330-1524 Note: The Gage Family Art Gallery will close in Lindell Library on Feb. 16. A new Gage Family Art Gallery will open in the Oren Gateway Center in August. March 7 faith@work! breakfast series FEBRUARY Tim Geoffrion, executive director, Family Hope/TreeHouse 7 a.m.—St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Minn. www. spdlc.org Through February 16 “In the Secret Place,” by Arlene Burke-Morgan Gage Family Art Gallery, Lindell Library Artist talk, Feb. 8, noon, Minneapolis Room, Christensen Center Through February 16 Photographs by Aviel Goodman Christensen Center Art Gallery February 2–11 Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare Guest directed by Barbra Berlovitz Feb. 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 at 7 p.m. Feb. 4 and 11 at 2 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater February 8 Theatre Artist Series March 13–16 Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls, by Naomi Iizuka February 26-27 Visiting Artists from Japan Guest directed by Steve Bussa 7 p.m.—Foss Studio Theater Bidou Yamaguchi (Master Noh Mask Carver) and Ayomi Yoshida (Designer, Printmaker, Installation Artist) March 25 Augsburg Choir home concert Feb. 26, Bidou Yamaguchi carving demonstration 9:10–10:10 a.m., with guest Matthew Welch, curator of Asian art, Minneapolis Institute of Arts 11 a.m.–noon, with Martha Johnson, professor of theatre arts Marshall Room, Christensen Center “Technical Direction at the Guthrie Theater,” Craig Pettigrew, technical director, Guthrie Theater 1:30–3 p.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater Feb. 27, Ayomi Yoshida presentation 9:40-10:40 a.m. Marshall Room, Christensen Center February 9 Theatre Artist Series MARCH “South Indian Dance: Bharatanatyam,” Ranee Ramaswamy, artistic director, Ragamala Music and Dance Theater 11 a.m.–noon—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater February 21 Reading by ACTC visiting writers Ingrid Wendt and Ralph Salisbury 7:30 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel March 2 2007 Batalden Seminar in Applied Ethics and 25th anniversary of the Center for Global Education Jorge Bustamante, president and founder of El Colegio de la Frontera Norte 10 a.m.—Hoversten Chapel 612-330-1180 March 6 Theatre Artist Series “Stage Movement Using Viewpoints as Developed by Anne Dogart,” Randy Reyes, actor/director 9:40–11:10 a.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater February 23–March 30 “Listen: A Pilgrimage in Watercolor and Ink,” by Tara Sweeney Christensen Center Art Gallery Opening reception, Feb. 23, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Artist talk, March 9, 4 p.m. March 6 Theatre Artist Series “The Scenic Artist,” Mary Novodvorsky, scenic artist 1:30–3 p.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater 7 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel March 28 Theatre Artist Series “Issues of Race and Ethnicity in Asian American Theatre,” Josephine Lee, director, Asian American Studies Program, University of Minnesota 11 a.m.–noon—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater April 9-May 6 All-Student Juried Art Exhibition All-Student Juried Art Exhibition Award Winners Christensen Center Art Gallery Opening reception, April 13, 5-7 p.m. Awards presentation, April 13, 5:30 p.m. April 11 Theatre Artist Series “A History of Mu Performing Arts in Regard to Contemporary American Theatre,” Rick Shiomi, artistic director, Mu Performing Arts 11 a.m.–noon—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater March 29 Theatre Artist Series April 12 Theatre Artist Series Bain Boelke, Jungle Theatre 11:50 a.m.–1:20 p.m.—TjornhomNelson Theater “Creating Original Work,” Shawn McConnologue, artistic director of Shawn McConnologue and her Orchestra 11:50 a.m.–1:20 p.m.—TjornhomNelson Theater APRIL April 1 Masterworks Chorale concert 4 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel April 3 Theatre Artist Series “The Production Notebook: Directing Pericles from Start to Finish,” Joel Sass, freelance director/designer 9:40–11:10 a.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater April 13-22 The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht; music by Kurt Weill Faculty directed by Darcey Engen Music direction by Sonja Thompson April 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21 at 7 p.m. April 15 and 22 at 2 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater April 15 Augsburg Orchestra concert 7 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel April 4 faith@work breakfast series April 16 Sverdrup Visiting Scientist Lecture “Grace at Work” panel 7 a.m.—St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church www.spdlc.org “The Exploration of Planetary Systems,” Fran Bagenal, professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado 8 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel 612-330-1180 WINTER 2006-07 Advent Vespers 2006 The 27th Advent Vespers filled the majestic Central Lutheran Church for four services of music and liturgy to begin the Advent season. For the first time this year, Central Lutheran’s new carillon bells were an added dimension to the music of the three Augsburg choirs and Vespers Orchestra. — Stephen Geffre, photographer 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Minneapolis, MN Permit No. 2031
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Title: Murphy Square 2007
Collection: Literary Journals

Title: Paul Pribbenow Inauguration Program
Collection: Augsburg Histories

Title: Augsburg Now Fall 2006
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 12:25 PM Page 1 Augsburg Now FRESH FOOD FOR CITY FOLKS A BETTER POLICE LINEUP HANDS-ON HEALING A PUBLICATION FOR AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS FALL 2006 VOL. 69, NO. 1 Welcome to the Pribbenows page 12 P. 30 P. 18 P. 24 6121_Augs...
Show more 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 12:25 PM Page 1 Augsburg Now FRESH FOOD FOR CITY FOLKS A BETTER POLICE LINEUP HANDS-ON HEALING A PUBLICATION FOR AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS FALL 2006 VOL. 69, NO. 1 Welcome to the Pribbenows page 12 P. 30 P. 18 P. 24 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 10:55 AM Page 2 Editor Betsey Norgard norgard@augsburg.edu Staff Writer Bethany Bierman bierman@augsburg.edu Letter from the President W Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu hat we have loved, others will love, and we will teach them how.” William Wordsworth’s remarkable words from “The Prelude” offer me the simplest way to introduce myself to the Augsburg community. I am an educator and college president because I have been blessed in my life with passionate teachers who have taught me to love great ideas, imaginative skills, faithful acts, and vibrant communities. I teach and lead so that others also might love what I have learned to love. A wise alumna of Rockford College—from which I have arrived to take up my new post here at Augsburg—asked me during the interview process there in 2001 what I was reading and why. What a great question and what an intriguing way to know someone. Allow me therefore to offer a few texts that are always near at hand for me, and that offer you a glimpse into the issues and ideas that inspire my work. The Bible is the source of my worldview. It teaches me of faithful and abundant lives, of generous love surpassing all understanding, and of a gracious story that still unfolds around all of us in our lives in this world and beyond. The Constitution of the United States sits on my desk as a reminder of the truths and aspirations of our democracy. In those truths is the stuff of patriotism, properly understood. Michael Ignatieff’s The Needs of Strangers is an elegant essay that draws together some of the best of human thought to help all of us better understand what it means to care for each other. Jane Addams’ Twenty Years at Hull-House is the story of a life led in a neighborhood, serving others and strengthening democracy. Parker Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak is my roadmap to vocational journeys. And Wendell Berry’s What Are People For? challenges us to remember the proper scale of human work and life—and to fight for sustainability in the world bent on destroying itself. Shall we read together? Shall we find the time to talk together about great ideas and actions? Shall we work together to make the world a more faithful, just, and humane place for all God’s people? I believe that is what Augsburg stands for and I could not be more pleased—or have a deeper sense of gratitude—for the privilege to lead this remarkable college. I look forward to our work together on behalf of Augsburg College. Yours, Paul C. Pribbenow, president Media Relations Manager Judy Petree petree@augsburg.edu Sports Information Director Don Stoner stoner@augsburg.edu Director of Marketing and Communications Christopher Moquist moquist@augsburg.edu Director of Alumni Relations Heidi Breen breen@augsburg.edu www.augsburg.edu On the cover: On July 1, the Augsburg community welcomed Augsburg’s 11th first family—Paul and Abigail Pribbenow, and their children, Thomas and Maya. Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minn., 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 Send address corrections to: Advancement Services Augsburg College, CB 142 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 3 18 Fall 2006 Contents Features Departments 12 Experience grounded in 2 Around the Quad mission and vision: Paul 4 Sports Pribbenow’s call to Augsburg 10 Supporting Augsburg— by Bethany Bierman Access to Excellence: The Campaign for 18 Country Fresh Urban Augsburg College Renewal by Tim Dougherty 32 Alumni News 22 Making art and history in France by Tara Sweeney 34 Class Notes 24 Making their mark in the 40 Views lineup by Betsey Norgard and Calendar 28 Photographer’s pick— some of the year’s favorites by Stephen Geffre 22 30 A hands-on approach to better health by Betsey Norgard 28 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 4 AROUND THE QUAD NEWSNOTES Also elected as board officers are: Dean Kopperud, vice chair; Dan Anderson ’65, treasurer; and Jackie Cherryhomes ’76, secretary. In addition, Pribbenow has announced the formation of a Branding Committee, which will work with materials as they are developed to strengthen the College’s position and image. Promotion to professor Andrew Aoki, political science Vicki Olson, education The president’s leadership teams Congratulations, faculty! Ted Grindal is elected board chair At its spring meeting on May 5, the Augsburg Board of Regents elected H. Theodore Grindal ’76 the new chair for a six-year term. “My goal is to help the board keep true to our vision and mission,” said Grindal, which includes supporting the president and serving as ambassadors to the community on behalf of Augsburg. “If we do these things, the College will continue to move forward positively.” President Paul Pribbenow has formed two teams to help him lead the College: The President’s Cabinet will be the primary administrative decision-making body for the College and includes the two special assistants, five vice presidents, and chief information officer. (see photo on p. 14) The President’s Advisory Group comprises a representative group of Augsburg College faculty, staff, and students whose primary role is to convene regularly on a one-year appointment to advise the president on key institutional issues, to receive reports on institution-wide projects and initiatives, and to engage in an ongoing conversation about future opportunities and challenges related to institutional planning and activity. Editor’s note After its first six years, Augsburg Now has received a makeover— not extreme, but aiming to read more easily, look fresher, and appear more contemporary with Augsburg’s other communications. We’ve listened to your comments and hope that you enjoy the new format for Around the Quad campus news and the Alumni News/Class Notes. Our features aim to engage you in their remarkable stories and vibrant photography. Please … write to us with your thoughts. Does Augsburg Now read well? What changes or improvement should we still consider? We’d love to hear from you. 2 AUGSBURG NOW Tenure granted Matthew Haines, mathematics Augsburg advances in college ranking Mark Strefeler, biology Tenure granted and promotion to associate professor Beth Alexander, physician assistant studies Eric Buffalohead, sociology and American Indian studies Lars Christiansen, sociology Nancy Rodenborg, social work In U.S.News & World Report’s 2007 listings of America’s Best Colleges, Augsburg is ranked 23rd in the category of “Master’s Universities—Top Midwestern,” an improvement of three places from last year. For the full listings, go to www.usnews.com. Augsburg is also named an “Academic Program to Watch For” in two categories—ServiceLearning and First-Year Experience—and is the only Minnesota private college in either group. Hoping for “I do” on the Today show WEC student Josh Linde and his fiancé, Carrie Hortsch, are among the seven finalists for a wedding with all the trimmings, courtesy of NBC’s Today. As they tackle weekly competitions, their fate is determined by viewer votes, with one couple eliminated each week up to Sept. 20, when the winner is announced. Go to www.msnbc.msn.com/id/130830 94/. 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 Three learn foodservice skills In its third summer Culinary Job Training program for the unemployed or underemployed, the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College graduated three people with newly-earned skills for the foodservice industry. This year’s eight-week program focused on local food production in partnership with Ploughshare Farm (see the story on p. 18). Jessica Gaulke is Aquatennial queen On July 21, sociology major Jessica Gaulke was crowned the 2007 Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes. As ambassador, she will travel throughout the region representing the City of Minneapolis and receive an educational scholarship. RECENT GRANTS $9,000 from the C. Charles Jackson Foundation for a oneyear project to analyze and develop leadership activities in the co-curricular program. $2,000 matching grant from the Consulate General of Canada in Minneapolis to purchase library materials to support Canadian Studies on campus. $238,080 renewal of two-year grant for Academic Fellows from the U.S. Department of Education to support summer research of students who are first-generation or low-income college students working with faculty mentors in preparation for post-baccalaureate education. 10:57 AM Page 5 $538,300 in grants from National Science Foundation to the Department of Physics to support the collection of data and study of Earth’s magnetosphere, or “space weather.” $26,514 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to support the research of two physics students who will carry out data validation and scientific analysis of magnetometer data from NASA’s recently launched ST5 satellites. $198,000 federal appropriation to the StepUP Program to refine academic support services, to hire a chemical dependency counselor for student caseload relief, to complete an outside program evaluation, to develop standards of practice, and a mentorship program, and to write a history of the program in book form. Kids creating art on Riverside Avenue Augsburg art faculty member Robert K. Tom, students from the Cedar Riverside Community School, and volunteers from the Augsburg community have begun work on a project that will turn dour concrete walls at Augsburg’s 21st Avenue entrance into a ceramic bas-relief mural. The mural is an outgrowth of the Cedar Riverside–Augsburg Pottery Cooperative, an ongoing partnership that Tom began with the Cedar Riverside Community School. Each week fifth- through eighth-grade students from the largely Somali, Asian, and Hispanic neighborhood participate in hands-on pottery and art workshops. Starting in the fall, Augsburg volunteers and the students will create clay press moulds to be replicated over and over—moulds of icons and symbols that Tom says “represent their thoughts, values, concerns, and/or inner beliefs.” They will be fired and placed in a radiant mandala pattern along the 220 square foot walls. In July, students in the CREATION summer arts program, sponsored by Trinity Lutheran Congregation, enjoyed a four-day head start on the project. This project recently won Tom a seed grant from Forecast Public Art, a Twin Cities-based organization nationally recognized as a public art resource, to carry out the project through November. Tom is currently seeking additional funds for further continuation. Tom said that he found regular walks in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood to be the impetus for a project to chisel away at the “invisible barrier between the Augsburg campus and the community of Cedar Avenue.” To him it seemed that despite the lively energy of the dense multiethnic neighborhood, “there were two worlds existing sideby-side with little interaction.” — Darcy Trunzo ’06 FA L L 2 0 0 6 3 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 12:44 PM Page 6 AROUND THE QUAD SPORTS Campus mourns longtime English professor Seven students receive athletic honors John Mitchell, who taught English at Augsburg for 36 years, died on Aug. 17 at the age of 66. A memorial service was held for him on Sept. 8 in Hoversten Chapel. Mitchell taught courses in poetry, writing, and film. Repeatedly, former students remark that John Mitchell’s classes were among the most difficult and the most memorable they took. They describe his teaching as challenging, engaging, enraging, inspiring, and influential. He always found time for students and took great effort to correct and edit their papers. His passion for film led to a two-year sabbatical to study film at San Francisco State University. English department colleague Robert Cowgill remembers that when the Oak Street Cinema opened, Mitchell often attracted groups of people around him after the shows who stood and listened to hear his thoughts about the films. On campus, Mitchell was often seen with clusters of students and colleagues, enjoying a conversation. In 1996, Mitchell was devastated by the death of John Engman, an Augsburg student whom Mitchell had met in 1968, during his first year of teaching at the College. Following Engman’s premature death, Mitchell became the executor of his literary estate and worked to find a publisher for a manuscript Engman left. This poetry collection, Temporary Help, was published by Holy Cow! Press and was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award in 1998. 4 AUGSBURG NOW Augsburg College has awarded seven seniors with its athletic awards for accomplishment, leadership, and character on the playing field and in the classroom. Athletic awards are voted on by coaches in Augsburg’s men’s and women’s athletic departments. Augsburg mourns the death of English professor John Mitchell, who died in August. Mitchell was born in Decatur, Ala., and earned degrees from Maryville College and the University of Tennessee. He met his wife, Jean, while they both served in the Peace Corps in Liberia. For a number of years, Mitchell was faculty adviser to Murphy Square, Augsburg’s literary arts journal. Last year, in the foreword to its 30th anniversary edition, he wrote, “I get more pleasure from being published in Murphy Square than from a nationally distributed magazine. Why? Well, more people are likely to read my work, people I know and care about, and readers who will be more able to construe it in terms of my known local identity. To put it in literary jargon, I have the chance to be a public poet rather than merely a private one.” — Betsey Norgard 2005–06 Augsburg Honor Athletes Mitchell was also a frequent contributor to Murphy Square. This poem appears in the 1998 edition: The Sound of Two Pie Pans The brief little period when you Are alive is more than enough To make up for all the years When you were giving yourself Advice. How wonderful to perspire, To examine the back side of a leaf, To admire the angel worms Gorged on their silk. You could Walk for days sucking an orange. You could write letters home Without stopping to compose Your face. Living is like banging Two pie pans together at midnight For the brief silence that precedes The noise. No, living is not anything You can say. It’s an attitude Of swanky delight, and the absence Of attitude, simple sleep at night. Darren Ginther—Ginther, a baseball third baseman and pitcher became one of the top hitters in the region, earning All-MIAC and All-Midwest Region honors as well as ESPN The Magazine academic honors. He was an economics and education studies major and Dean’s List honoree. Millie Suk—Suk was the only women’s soccer player in MIAC to earn All-MIAC first-team honors in all four years, and she set 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 7 Augsburg career records for total points and goals. A political science major, she graduated magna cum laude. tournament, earning his second straight fourth-place national finish to earn All-American honors for the second time. Seven named to Athletic Hall of Fame Ryan Valek—A three-time AllAmerican wrestler, Valek was an individual national runner-up twice at 165 pounds. He earned ESPN The Magazine academic honors and National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Scholar All-America honors. Troy Deden—Deden transferred to Augsburg from St. Mary’s and, as a catcher, helped lead the Auggie baseball team to the MIAC playoffs in 2005. He also played two years of football as a quarterback and defensive back, and was a special education major at Augsburg. Named to the 2006 class of the Athletic Hall of Fame: 2005–06 Augsburg Athletes of the Year Tonnisha Bell—Bell became one of the most decorated track and field athletes in school history. A sprinter, she finished her career with five All-American honors and qualified for every indoor and outdoor NCAA championship meet during her Auggie career—eight in total. Bell won 11 conference championships and earned numerous conference honors while setting six individual and two relay school records. Seven alumni will be inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame during Homecoming week at a dinner on Thurs., Sept. 28, in Christensen Center. For information, contact the athletic office at 612-330-1249 or bjorklus@augsburg.edu. Chike Ochiagha—Ochiagha was a defensive tackle on Augsburg’s football team, earning conference and Football Gazette honors. A business and marketing major, he earned Academic All-MIAC honors, as well as football academic club honors twice. Brad Tupa—An upper-weight wrestler, Tupa battled injuries during his career. He recovered in his senior season to qualify for the NCAA Division III national Tom Hall ’85—Hall earned AllAmerica honors in wrestling four times, including twice in the 1983 season in two different national meets. In NCAA competition, he placed seventh in 1983, sixth in 1984, and fifth in 1985 at 142 pounds. Steve Nelson ’78—Nelson earned All-MIAC and NCAA AllAmerican honors as a leader and center of the 1977-78 Augsburg men’s hockey squad that captured the NAIA national title—the school’s first team national title. John Nelson ’86—A two-time AllMIAC pitcher in baseball, Nelson set an NCAA Division III singleseason record, which still stands, with 15 complete games in 1986, as the Auggies reached the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional. Wayne “Mick” Scholl ’86— Scholl earned All-MIAC honors in baseball in 1984 and 1986. Peggy Meissner ’80—An Augsburg Honor Athlete in 1980, Meissner competed in both volleyball and softball, and was part of an Auggie volleyball squad that finished second at the MAIAW state tournament in 1979, finishing 27-15-3. — Don Stoner Julie Stepan Flaskamp ’92—A track and field athlete, Stepan Flaskamp qualified for the NCAA Division III national championships twice in the heptathlon, earning All-American honors in 1992 with an eighth-place finish. She earned Academic All-MIAC honors and was named an Augsburg Honor Athlete in 1992. Kristi Ockuly ’95—Ockuly, an outfielder and pitcher, earned All-MIAC and All-Region honors three times each in softball and was named a Division III AllAmerican in 1995. She was an Augsburg Honor Athlete in 1995. For complete schedules, scores, and information about Augsburg athletics, go to www.augsburg.edu/athletics. FA L L 2 0 0 6 5 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 11:03 AM Page 8 AROUND THE QUAD Ages of Imagination Augsburg College celebrates a new season of leadership October 18–21, 2006 Over four days in October, Augsburg College will celebrate the new leadership of President Paul Pribbenow, as he is inaugurated into office around the themes of AGES—abundance, generosity, engagement, and service. Each day will focus on one of these themes in a variety of activities and events that involve the entire Augsburg community on campus, in our neighborhood and city, and around the world. The Inauguration Ceremony, open to the public, will take place on Fri., Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. in Melby Hall, followed by a community celebration. For major events, see the calendar on the inside back cover. For further information and the complete calendar of events, go to www.augsburg.edu/inauguration. Lutheran college choirs celebrate F. Melius Christiansen The Augsburg Choir and four other Minnesota Lutheran college choirs will perform together in two concerts on Sunday, Nov. 19, to celebrate the living legacy of F. Melius Christiansen, the “father” of American a cappella singing. Christiansen’s birth 135 years ago will be commemorated by Augsburg, Concordia-Moorhead, Concordia University-St. Paul, Gustavus Adolphus, and St. Olaf in the first joint appearance by these five ensembles representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). Each choir will perform individually with their own conductor and as a combined choir under the direction of guest conductor Kenneth Jennings, professor emeritus and former director of the St. Olaf Choir. Two identical anniversary concerts will be performed at Slovakian baseball, Auggie style For the seventh year, StepUP program director Patrice Salmeri coached in a baseball camp for youth in Slovakia. Here, Jano and Lucia sport Auggie baseball t-shirts sent from the baseball team. 6 AUGSBURG NOW 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 12:13 PM Page 9 F. Melius Christiansen Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The concerts are sponsored by the F. Melius Christiansen Star of the North Festival Concert Series affiliated with the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) of Minnesota, and will highlight the organization’s twoday annual fall convention program and benefit the F. Melius Christiansen Endowed Scholarship Fund that supports continuing education and graduate studies of young and aspiring choral directors in Minnesota. Music to be performed at the concerts will feature works of F. Melius Christiansen, including choral favorites of thousands of choral concertgoers, such as Beautiful Savior, Wake Awake, O Day Full of Grace, Psalm 50, Praise to the Lord The Almighty, and Lost In The Night, among others. Born in Norway in 1871, Christiansen came to the United States at age 17. In 1892, he attended a concert by the Augsburg Quartet in Wisconsin and was attracted to Augsburg College, where he became a quartet member. In 1903 he accepted an appointment as director of the St. Olaf College music program. He founded the St. Olaf Choir in 1911 and directed it until 1941, becoming internationally known for his Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, Minn. Featuring the choirs of Augsburg College Concordia College–Moorhead Concordia University–St. Paul Gustavus Adolphus College St. Olaf College Ticket sales available May 1, 2006 Orchestra Hall Ticket Office: 612-371-5656 1871–1955 Proudly sponsored by the F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Committee and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) of Minnesota 135th Anniversary Festival Concerts development of perfect intonation, blend, diction, and phrasing. He was succeeded by his son Olaf; another son, Paul, taught for nearly 50 years at Concordia CollegeMoorhead. F. Melius Christiansen died in 1955. Welcome, GEMS and GISE About 100 girls and—for the first time—35 boys from Minneapolis Public Schools in grades 4–12 spent several weeks on campus studying monarch butterflies, building the Mars terrain, programming robots, and learning the chemistry of cosmetics. The GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Mathematics, and Science) and new GISE (Guys in Science and Engineering) programs involve Augsburg students and former GEMS students as mentors. For additional concert information go to www.fmcendowment.org. All seats are reserved; tickets are available through the Orchestra Hall box office (1-800292-4141 or 612-371-5656). The Frame years in print Published by Lutheran University Press, with a preface by ELCA presiding bishop Mark Hanson ’68 $24.95 Available at the Augsburg College Bookstore 612-330-1521 FA L L 2 0 0 6 7 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 12:14 PM Page 10 AROUND THE QUAD Dan Jorgensen retires to teaching—for now Retirement for Dan Jorgensen, Augsburg’s public relations director since 2000 and special assistant to President Frame for the past year, is all relative. During this fall semester, he’ll still be commuting from Northfield, but to a classroom instead of an office. He has taught a journalism course in Weekend College for the past five years, and in September he’ll teach it both in the day and weekend programs—plus, teach a public relations course in both programs. Much of Jorgensen’s tenure as public relations director focused on raising the visibility of Augsburg in both the local and national media. “I feel like we became more of a ‘player’ in terms of which institutions should be contacted when media sources were searching for across-the-board responses to different educational questions,” Jorgensen says. He recalls an editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education telling him that Augsburg and President Frame were the first who came to mind from small liberal arts colleges when planning a national forum on college presidencies. Jorgensen also enjoyed seeing more faculty included as key resources in the media—faculty who “took on a willingness to be called upon,” he says. “That sort of cooperative spirit exemplifies the overall ‘can do’ spirit of the institution. I loved that.” For his retirement outside of teaching, he has several writing projects waiting, especially a novel about the Black Hills of South Dakota. He and his wife, Susan, have first-hand experience living there and have been collecting information for many years. He has also been asked by his publisher for additional youth sports novels. 8 AUGSBURG NOW Herald Johnson—Augsburg’s first financial aid officer—retires after 37 years When he came as a freshman in 1961, Herald Johnson ’68 probably had no clue he would still be at Augsburg in 2006. He stayed on to become an admissions counselor, but moved into financial aid when new federal programs required administrative oversight. In the 37 years since, he has served as a pioneer, leader, and mentor among Minnesota financial aid officers. One of Johnson’s legacies at Augsburg is the Enrollment Center. He and Julie Olson, vice president for enrollment management, played important roles in the concept development and implementation of bringing several financial aid and enrollment offices together in a one-stop shop for students. He is the only person to have been twice elected president of the Minnesota Association of Financial Aid Administrators (MAFAA). He is proud of the Futures Task Force he created with his charge to past presidents: “I want you to look at our association with critical eyes and see if we’re poised for what you see coming down the road.” His retirement plans include a fair amount of work, but his four children and seven grandchildren are top priority. “The kids are my friends,” Johnson says—“it’s really cool.” Their gift to him is a trip to Norway to meet relatives and explore his heritage—a longtime dream. He’ll continue as a consultant at Augsburg with the Scholastic Connections program, the Scholarship Brunch, and with government relations concerning financial aid issues in 2007. He mentions that among his pleasures at Augsburg was hiring student workers and following their careers as they assume leadership positions both at Augsburg and around the state. At the end of his notice of thanks following a retirement celebration, Johnson wrote, “As we Norwegians say, ‘Mange tusen tak.’” — Betsey Norgard 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 11 American Indian Studies— a cultural commitment Augsburg’s newest department makes a bold statement for the College—about commitment, about culture, and about heritage. After being offered as a minor and major for a number of years, the faculty approved the creation of an American Indian Studies Department, headed by Associate Professor Eric Buffalohead. The new department models Augsburg’s mission to serve diverse populations, says Buffalohead, and it signals to students, parents, and the community that it’s permanent and a great choice for a major— and not just a selection of courses that may change. The number of students in the program has been growing, and they are beginning to shift from Native to non-Native students. American Indian Studies is a valuable major, second major, or minor for students who are preparing for work with human services—in business, health care, education, youth and family ministry, etc. “AIS courses and skills are transferable,” Buffalohead says, “to law, politics, service—it’s about cultural understanding.” Since the program is small, students often take several courses with the same professor. For native students, the program also serves as a safety net where they can relate to faculty and staff. The department works closely with Augsburg’s American Indian Student Services program. This multidisciplinary department includes courses in history, literature, religion, film, women’s studies, and special topics. The faculty seek opportunities to build in experiential opportunities, such as learning in the community, internships, and study abroad. Next winter, Assistant Professor Elise Marubbio will M. Elise Marubbio and Eric Buffalohead are two of the faculty in Augsburg’s new American Indian Studies Department. lead a travel program to Guatemala, focusing on indigenous issues of the Mayan people. Film has become a focus in the AIS program. For three years, the College has sponsored the Augsburg Native American Film Series, which screens documentary films, often with the filmmaker present to lead discussion. It also provides a venue for selections from other film festivals, and links to Augsburg’s Indigenous Filmmakers course. Buffalohead says that Augsburg’s American Indian Studies Department seeks to excel as a regional center for the study of Indians in the Upper Midwest. Students can study one year of Ojibwe language on campus, with the possibility of a second year of study. Buffalohead’s experience in American Indian Studies dates back to age five, when his father became the first chair of the American Indian Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, and Eric would visit his office. After earning academic degrees in anthropology, he also taught at the university, which he considers to have been good training for Augsburg’s new department. For information on American Indian Studies, contact Eric Buffalohead at buffaloe@augsburg.edu or go to www.augsburg.edu/ais. — Betsey Norgard Killing the Indian Maiden: Images of Native American Women in Film by M. Elise Marubbio Native American women have been characterized as various figures in film for over 100 years. None, however, has intrigued Elise Marubbio more than the young Native woman who falls in love or is connected with a white hero and dies for this choice. Marubbio’s book, Killing the Indian Maiden: Images of Native American Women in Film, will be published in December by the University Press of Kentucky. The book analyzes 34 A-list Hollywood films, from the silent era to the present, to analyze the depictions of women and the themes and myths that are played out. The book stems from her dissertation and unites her various areas of interest—she has degrees in fine arts/photography, American Indian Studies, and cultural studies. It is the first in-depth study in this area and is important for film studies, women’s studies, cultural studies, and American Indian studies. Marubbio researched film archives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, and the Cecil B. DeMille Archives at Brigham Young University. A dissertation fellowship from the American Association of University Women gave her time to write. What she found, she says, is that “over a 90-year period this figure emerged in premier films in various forms as either the Princess or Sexualized Maiden, figures through whose body national themes of colonialism, violence toward women of color, and feats of interracial mixing are played out. “All the films reinforce American myths of the frontier, Manifest Destiny, and the ideal of Anglo-European America’s pre-modernization innocence through this image,” Marubbio says. FA L L 2 0 0 6 9 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 10:54 AM Page 12 AROUND THE QUAD Renewing Old Main— heritage of place, spirit of space SUPPORTING AUGSBURG Over the top at $55 million A 500-ton crane has begun to set the precast concrete walls on the poured footings for On June 27, a celebration was held in Christensen Center as the star was moved across the $55 million figure and the goal was reached in Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College. “We are here to celebrate achievements in the capital campaign that started six years ago with a $55 million goal,” said Tracy Elftmann, vice president for institutional advancement. She reported an exact total of $55,009,761 received to date. Retiring president William Frame commented that this could not have been achieved without everyone’s participation. He described vocation as “living so that you create community,” and this accomplishment could not have happened unless Augsburg is becoming “something called ‘community.’” President Paul Pribbenow wrote in a memo to the Augsburg community in July, “As called for in our original campaign plan, we are continuing to raise funds for all Access to Excellence campaign projects (Kennedy, Gateway, and science facilities, along with our endowment) through the end of the 2006 calendar year. And we are preparing to celebrate this 10 AUGSBURG NOW the new Oren Gateway Center. The completion date is set for fall 2007. Watch the progress on the webcam at www.augsburg.edu/campaign/gateway/construction.html. Construction is moving quickly on the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Complex in Melby Hall. The structure is up, new bleachers have been installed, and anticipated completion is January 2007. remarkable achievement during the upcoming academic year.” He further explained that although the total goal was reached, funding for the science building was not completed, in part due to dramatically higher construction and transportation costs. Pribbenow has identified the science building as one of his top priorities, and says that “with anticipation and momentum we will now redouble and refocus our efforts to raise funds to see the completion of the science project.” Construction began on the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Complex in Melby Hall in May, and on the Oren Gateway Center in July. — Betsey Norgard A gift of $1 million has been given by Norman and Evangeline (Vangie) Hagfors for the renovation of Old Main and a potential home for the Center for Faith and Learning. Both Norman and Vangie enjoy longtime connections to Augsburg through the Lutheran Free Church. With this gift they honor both the physical and theological heart of the Lutheran Free Church as well as the renewed spiritual vitality of the College, guided by its Center for Faith and Learning. The renovated chapel in Old Main will be named for Vangie’s father, Rev. Elnar Gundale, who graduated from Augsburg College in 1933 and Augsburg Seminary in 1937. For more than 50 years, across four states, he served LFC churches and was the oldest living LFC pastor at the time of his death. From her childhood memories, Vangie recalls visits to their homes during the summers from the Augsburg Men’s Quartets. “Their proclamation of the Gospel as Augsburg ambassadors,” says Vangie, “made a very positive impression on the youth of the churches they visited, as well as their parents, who supported the school.” Three of Vangie’s siblings followed their father’s footsteps to Augsburg. Vangie also attended the College as part of her nurse’s training at Lutheran Deaconess Hospital. She remembers her class of 32 nurses walking across Franklin Avenue to Augsburg where they studied mostly science. Among other activities on campus, she attended chapel in Old Main. Norman Hagfors has been a member of Augsburg’s Board of Regents for more than twelve years, including serving as vice chairman 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 12:15 PM Page 13 Above: The chapel in Old Mail will be restored and named for alumnus Rev. Elnar Gundale, ’33, ’37 Sem. Left: Vangie and Norman Hagfors and chairing committees. “I have enjoyed watching the College grow in stature both as an educational institution and in spiritual vitality,” he says. He gives much credit to President Emeritus William Frame who, he says, “really pushed the spiritual aspects of developing one’s life—not only at Augsburg, but as a spokesman to other colleges.” Norman graduated from the University of Minnesota in electrical engineering when biomedical engineering was in its infancy, and worked in medical research, authored many papers, and received a number of patents for his inventions. He also played a part in several “start up” medical device companies that brought implantable cardiac pacemakers and neurological devices for the treatment of chronic pain to the medical community. Norman and Vangie Hagfors have chosen to support the renovation of Old Main not only because of its physical significance in the history of the school, but because it embodies the spiri- tual foundation and concepts on which Augsburg was founded. Their hope is that the renovation will give support, emphasis, and inspiration to the spiritual life of the school and its students. Norman and Vangie have two married children and seven grandchildren. — Betsey Norgard The Center for Faith and Learning As the Old Main Chapel stands in the center of the campus, Augsburg’s new Center for Faith and Learning lies at the heart of Augsburg’s educational mission. Four years ago, Augsburg received its first grant from the Lilly Endowment for “Exploring Our Gifts,” helping students, faculty, and staff attend to their called lives of service. When the Lilly grants conclude in 2010, Augsburg’s Center for Faith and Learning will continue to embed and extend Augsburg’s leadership in vocation. A focal point in the Center for Faith and Learning is Augsburg’s first endowed chair, named for former Augsburg president and scholar Bernhard M. Christensen. In September 2005, retired Luther Seminary president and theologian David Tiede was inaugurated as the Bernhard M. Christensen Professor in Religion and Vocation. In his inauguration speech, Tiede explained the Center for Faith and Learning: “The purpose of the center is to guide the College in the theological exploration of vocation as understood within the Lutheran tradition. It will provide resources to faculty, staff, and students that enable them to organize faith and learning within a vocational framework.” The center is also building external partnerships to study faith and learning in the community. One example is faith@work!, a partnership with St. Philip the Deacon Church in Plymouth, Minn. This speaker series presents community leaders who provide examples and tools for living faith-based lives. (See information on the speakers and dates in the calendar on the inside back cover.) A $1 million gift from Norman and Vangie Hagfors will help renovate Augsburg’s oldest building. FA L L 2 0 0 6 1 1 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 11:06 AM Page 14 Experience grounded in mission and vision: Paul Pribbenow’s call to Augsburg BY BETHANY BIERMAN 12 AUGSBURG NOW 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 15 “Hip, hip, hooray!” Thomas exclaimed, his right arm pumping in triumph. He had just been told his family’s picture would be on the cover of a magazine. “Wow, how about that!” replied his mother, as she brushed sand off his little sister Maya’s knees. I ndeed, it is a time for celebrating at Augsburg, as the Pribbenow family settles into Minneapolis and the Augsburg House. Not since Bernhard Christensen’s presidency, which began in 1938, has Augsburg’s first family included young children. Paul Pribbenow and his wife, Abigail, and their children, Thomas (5) and Maya (2), quickly have acclimated to the Augsburg community. On July 1, 2006, Pribbenow became the 11th president of Augsburg College, a position that colleagues close to him have known was his dream—to become the president of a Lutheran college. To that dream he brought a proven track record of success— from fundraising to developing mission and vision and from teaching to handling senior management issues. In announcing his Augsburg appointment to the Rockford College community, which he had served as president since 2002, Pribbenow stated, “The leadership opportunity at Augsburg College is a once-ina-lifetime chance to take the best of what I have learned at Rockford College, with its commitments to liberal arts and civic engagement in the city, and link that experience with a connection to the Lutheran Church, which is my personal faith tradition.” Over the months since his appointment, Pribbenow’s entry into the Augsburg community, through an unusual shared transition with retiring president William Frame, has seemed quite natural—as if it had been in the making for a long time. Son of a pastor Paul Pribbenow was born in Decorah, Iowa, during his father’s senior year at Luther College. The young family moved to St. Paul where his father attended seminary, then moved to a small town near Tomah, Wis., where his father’s ministry began. The eldest of six children, Pribbenow spent most of his youth in small towns around Madison. His family moved to Iowa during his ninth-grade year, and he graduated from high school in Denver, Iowa, near Waverly. Pribbenow graduated magna cum laude from Luther College in three years, with a B.A. in sociology and political science. “My first couple of years at Luther, I thought I would go to seminary,” Pribbenow recalls. Halfway through his third year, however, he admitted to one of his religion professors, “I love the study of religion, but I don’t feel called to be a minister.” The professor suggested looking into the Divinity School at the University of Chicago where he could engage the questions that interested him without specifically preparing for the ministry. Pribbenow entered the Divinity School in 1978 and spent the next 18 years in the Chicago area. “I went from never living in a big city to living on the south side of Chicago. If I have a place that I call home, it’s probably Chicago.” FA L L 2 0 0 6 1 3 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 12:16 PM Page 16 The call begins Starting graduate school, Pribbenow felt his primary interest would be in teaching religion and ethics. Along the way, however, he began to focus his interests on the ethics and management of not-for-profit organizations. “I learned that in American society, non-profits are one of the important ways we live out our social ethic,” Pribbenow says. “I became intrigued by how organizations are managed and what link that has to how effective they are in helping society live out its social ethic. If there’s a problem in the way a college or museum is run, that’s going to have an impact on how well the institution will live out its mission and values.” Pribbenow began to understand these issues as examples of the need for reflective practice—linking learning with action. In order to practice what he preached, he took a job in fundraising at the university after receiving his M.A. in divinity. “I started up the administrative ladder, along the way I taught and had chances to write, but I never left the practice of administration. I started practicing what I studied and what I cared about. That was my calling.” The lines connect The President’s Cabinet (L to R) Leif Anderson, chief information officer; Barbara Edwards Farley, vice president of academic affairs and dean of the College; Ann Garvey, vice president of student affairs and dean of students; Tom Morgan, senior vice president and special assistant; President Pribbenow; Tracy Elftmann, vice president for institutional advancement; Julie Olson, vice president of enrollment management; Dick Adamson, vice president for finance and adminstration; and Gaye Lindfors, senior vice president and special assistant. 14 AUGSBURG NOW It was in these early years working at the University of Chicago that Pribbenow started to realize even more clearly the connection between his various interests—higher education, management, and ethics—and that he might have both the skills and commitment to be a college president. In 1993, Pribbenow was named vice president for institutional advancement at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—an assignment that helped him gain valuable experience in leading a complex (and sometimes unpredictable!) organization. At the Art Institute he also met his future wife, Abigail, then a graduate student in the school’s arts administration program, when she interviewed with him for a job in event planning for the school. Paul and Abigail were on their honeymoon when the call from Wabash College came. After many years of living in the Windy City, the two packed up and headed to Crawfordsville, Ind., for a six-year 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 12:17 PM Page 17 Abigail at a glance adventure where Paul served as dean for college advancement, secretary of the Board of Trustees, and research fellow in the liberal arts. A taste of the ministry While working at Wabash, Pribbenow got a call from the ELCA Indiana-Kentucky Synod bishop, saying, “‘There is a little SwedishLutheran church down the road from you in Attica, Ind., that has lost its pastor and can’t afford a full-time pastor. I was wondering if you’d take an interim assignment to serve them for six months, just to help?’” “I actually think he mistook me for my father,” Pribbenow chuckles. When he told the bishop he wasn’t ordained, the bishop responded that he would license him for the roles that would require ordination. “What was originally a short-term assignment turned into a three-year stint as interim pastor,” says Pribbenow. The Pribbenows moved to Rockford, Ill., on Easter Weekend 2002 for the start of Pribbenow’s presidency at Rockford College. After the couple and their son, Thomas, whom they adopted in Vietnam in 2001, made the Saturday trip from Central Indiana to Illinois with two heavily packed vehicles, Pribbenow turned around to make the five-hour trip back to Indiana so that he could preside at his last service the next morning—on Easter Sunday. “My work as interim pastor in Attica was a valuable experience for a new college president. It taught me some very important lessons about loving a congregation, preaching the lectionary, and presiding over congregational meetings—all activities that closely parallel the work of leading a college.” The Rockford years Pribbenow became the 16th president of Rockford College at an extremely important point. Critics at the time of his arrival described the four-year, independent college founded in 1847 as lacking in focus, and there were financial challenges that required immediate attention. In his four years at Rockford, Pribbenow led the campus community in a strategic long-range planning process that refocused on the liberal arts, launched new degree programs, renewed its commitment Abigail Crampton Pribbenow grew up in Flossmoor, Ill., outside of Chicago. She spent her junior year of high school as an exchange student in France and two subsequent years at the United World College–USA in New Mexico. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago and a Master of Arts in arts administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Dance has always been a keen interest for Abigail. While growing up, she studied classical ballet and in college learned modern dance and choreography. Combining her experience as a dancer and her administrative skills, Abigail’s professional work includes working in not-for-profit management at the Chicago Dance Coalition, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Wabash College, and the International School of Indiana. While preparing to adopt Thomas, she returned to teaching dance to children in Crawfordsville, Ind. Abigail has fully immersed herself in the life of each college and community in which she and Paul have lived, including serving as president of the Rockford Area Arts Council, church council member, board member for the Easter Seals Children’s Development Center, and host of the biannual women in the arts festival at Rockford College. Among her many accomplishments, she co-founded the Jelly Bean Ball, a family-friendly fundraiser for Easter Seals. She looks forward to finding her niche in the Augsburg community. Abigail anticipates much entertaining and relationship building in the next several months and expects her largest challenge to be figuring out when to integrate the children into these activities. For now, she’s glad to have figured out routes to the farmer’s markets and local parks. Thomas and Maya seem glad about this, too. to civic engagement, and engineered a provocative and attentiongrabbing branding campaign that played off of the image of the institution’s most famous alumna, Jane Addams, social reformer and the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The Pribbenow family also received the blessing of a daughter while in Rockford when they adopted Maya in Chongqing, China, in 2004. The call to Augsburg When approached by the search consultant in 2005 about applying for the vacancy at Augsburg, Pribbenow was intrigued. He and Abigail knew Bill and Anne Frame through their work on a vocation project with the Council of Independent Colleges. “It was a call to a place that clearly is working to be faithful to its church tradition while also seeking to be faithful to its educational and civic engagement traditions,” says Pribbenow. “I’ve spent my entire career in non-sectarian places. … I’ve learned some valuable lessons about what it means to be faithful in the world, and I know those are lessons that will inform my work at Augsburg.” FA L L 2 0 0 6 1 5 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 18 Augsburg College— the first-year initiatives One College Based on the College’s mission that embraces the liberal arts, faith and values, life in the city, and diversity, the Augsburg community will engage in conversations that explore how all the curricular, co-curricular, administrative, and public work at Augsburg is grounded in the College’s singular mission and vision. Wherever it is found—in Minneapolis, Rochester, or around the world at its Center for Global Education sites—and whomever it teaches—traditional undergraduates or adult learners—and whatever it teaches—the traditional liberal arts or professional studies—how is Augsburg known as one college, dedicated to the same abiding values and aspirations? The Augsburg Promise—Experience and Image Based on the one college conversations, the Augsburg community will examine the promises it makes to students, faculty, staff, alumni, its neighborhood, and the wider world. We will consider how well we keep our promises in the daily work of the College. We then will explore how the Augsburg community can do an even better job of keeping its promises, talking to each other about those promises, and then illustrating to the world what the Augsburg brand is all about. Common Work at Augsburg The Augsburg community also will examine its organizational life—how it’s governed, who’s involved in leadership and decisionmaking, and what voices are heard (or not) in its daily life. Based on this examination, the College will develop an organizational structure that deploys resources responsibly and is accountable. Based on our common work of educating students, we also will seek to offer all members of the Augsburg community the opportunities to nurture and sustain their callings. Science at Augsburg As a college community, we will explore what it means to educate students in the sciences at Augsburg, within the context of the College’s mission—dedicated to our rich tradition of excellence in teaching and research, as well as to our commitments to scientific literacy and responsibility. Based on our findings, we will plan curricular and co-curricular programs, public outreach, and facilities appropriate to our highest aspirations for science education at Augsburg. A central feature of this project will be the re-launching of fundraising efforts for new science facilities at Augsburg. — Paul Pribbenow 16 AUGSBURG NOW Pribbenow did have hesitations about leaving Rockford. “I didn’t feel as though I’d been there long enough, and there were many issues still to be addressed.” He was encouraged to speak with Jean Taylor, chair of the Augsburg Board of Regents. “She listened carefully, and at the end of our conversation she said, ‘I think you’ve got to do what Augsburg has taught me—you’ve just got to listen.’ That was very insightful and critical to my decision to seek the Augsburg presidency.” It was a call to which he and Abigail couldn’t say “no.” A remarkable fit In his letter to the Augsburg search committee, Pribbenow spelled out why this opportunity seemed such a remarkable fit for his leadership and experience. To him leadership must also be understood as stewardship. He is committed to the role of a collaborative leader who has a “responsibility to help the college community ‘pay attention’ to its most deeply held values and priorities so that all gifts are well used.” This includes a uniting of the campus community in shared vision, as well as in varying forms of hospitality that engage the campus with its urban neighbors. Pribbenow wrote that his own deeply held sense of personal vocation builds on Martin Luther’s view of education that creates people of “wondrous ability, subsequently fit for everything.” A college that helps students discover this ability must in itself be a mission-driven and integrated institution, so that all students in all programs “are chal- 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 19 lenged and shaped by [a] vision to link education with engagement.” Pribbenow went on to write that he is “committed to the idea that colleges—and especially church-related colleges—are uniquely situated to help students of all ages to listen for and hear their own calls, to find their vocations for life and service in the world.” As an ethicist he has examined professional work in society and understands how significantly reflective thinking (linking learning and experience) and personal faith affect public well-being. As he begins his Augsburg presidency, Pribbenow finds Augsburg and Rockford colleges very similar in their commitments to civic engagement. “I am here because of that commitment to educating students for democracy, and I intend to make it an even more important focal point. Augsburg should be known for what it does in civic engagement. … We need to say to the world, ‘Look at what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. There are important lessons about faithful life in the world that are being taught and practiced at Augsburg.’” The key difference between the colleges, he says, is of course the connection to the church. “The role at Augsburg of Lutheran faith and human religious experience shapes the education of students and defines a central aspect of our identity as a college,” Pribbenow states. “I need to have a different lens to the way I look at issues that I didn’t in a non-sectarian institution. That’s an energizing and meaningful aspect of the work ahead of us.” The plan Pribbenow’s initiatives for his first year at Augsburg all point to action (see the sidebar on the opposite page). “We need to take the good vision work that’s been done during the Frame presidency and translate it into organizational activity and image so that people will look at Augsburg and say, ‘I see what this college cares about.’” When asked what he hopes the headlines will read when he retires, Pribbenow answers, “I do hope we’ll be here until I retire, and when I’m ready to step down that the community will have the same affection and love that people had for Bill and Anne, because we were faithful to what this college is called to do. … I hope the headlines will read that I helped Augsburg to be even more faithful to its calling, and that as a result, this little college stands as a 21st-century model for faithful and responsible liberal arts education in a city.” As far as Thomas and Maya’s plans, they seem content to be getting to know their new hometown. When asked his favorite thing about Minneapolis, Thomas answered, “The Mall of America! On the log ride, there’s this big guy with an axe. He’s GI-NORMOUS!” Without a doubt, Augsburg seems to be on the cusp of some pretty “gi-normous” opportunities as well. Ⅵ 5 things you may not know about Paul Pribbenow: 1. He writes his own version of a “blog,” known as Notes for the Reflective Practitioner. 2. He sang professionally for 13 years in Chicago. (His father and he both sang for Weston Noble at Luther.) 3. He doesn’t eat red meat or lutefisk. (Perhaps the latter has to do with his first job cleaning out the lutefisk tub in the Stoughton, Wis., grocery store cooler.) 4. While it’s true that his mentor and dissertation adviser Martin Marty wears a bow tie, it wasn’t until years after learning to tie them for the many black tie affairs he attended at the Art Institute of Chicago that he decided to adopt the look on a daily basis. 5. In his car stereo you’ll find National Public Radio, the Mars Hill tapes (conversations on Christianity and modern culture), choral music, or Raffi (children’s musician and entertainer). To learn more about Augsburg’s mission and vision and to read President Pribbenow’s speeches, go to www.augsburg.edu/president. FA L L 2 0 0 6 1 7 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 20 Country Fresh U BY TIM DOUGHERTY very Thursday during the growing season, Campus Kitchen student intern Melanie Opay returns to campus around 5:30 p.m., her head barely visible above the white produce boxes stuffing her car. Teeming with delicacies from rutabagas to radishes and kale to kohlrabi, these bountiful boxes are courtesy of Gary Brever’s Ploughshare Farm, a family-owned organic farm in Parker’s Prairie, Minn. Brever’s parents, Jeanie and DeWayne, deliver the veggies each week to drop-off sites in Alexandria, St. Cloud, and the Twin Cities, delighting urban dwellers who have increasingly searched for more freshness in their summer diets. Brever is a small-business owner and entrepreneur just as much as an organic farmer, and has carved a niche for his farm in the growing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement. In the CSA model, individuals and families purchase a “share” of the harvest at the beginning of the growing season in exchange for a weekly box of vegetables from mid-June to early October. Typically, paying customers receive the produce themselves, but Brever has augmented his market by allowing people or congregations to purchase shares and donate them to hunger organizations like the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College (CKAC). For the past three summers, these white produce boxes have formed the food foundation for Augsburg’s Campus Kitchen—a student-driven food recycling organization. Volunteers use this produce along with surplus food from Sodexho’s campus dining services and local food banks to prepare nutritious, free meals for residents in neighboring community programs. The premise has always been simple: there is far too much good food going to landfills and far too many agencies that can’t afford to buy food for their hungry clients. By recycling food and empowering students to prepare meals and share them with immigrant youth, the homeless, and homebound elders, CKAC uses food as a tool to engage students in the community, to reduce the amount of discarded campus food, and to forge bonds in Augsburg’s neighborhood through the universal language of a shared meal. E Ploughshare Farm’s Gary Brever spreads hay to mulch the tomato beds for weed control and moisture. 18 AUGSBURG NOW 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 12:17 PM Page 21 Urban Renewal With the addition of Brever’s organic, locally-grown produce, CKAC has begun to build programs that can better nourish clients with an array of ingredients infinitely fresher than grocery store fare. At the same time, the programs redefine stewardship by supporting local farmers and they educate youth about dietary choices that can simultaneously heal both the earth and their bodies. Above: Campus Kitchen culinary job Taste the difference trainee Kenny Peterson chops lettuce fresh For the Campus Kitchen, the quality of freshness is staggering. Each week, the menu for clients is set according to the contents in those boxes, an adventurous undertaking in and of itself. “Working with local produce has been an exciting challenge,” says Opay. “I get to work with food I’ve never used before, which has been a great learn- from Ploughshare Farm. Below: Campus Kitchen volunteer Trish Hannah leads the youth in the Jump Start program through cooking techniques. FA L L 2 0 0 6 1 9 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 22 ing experience and a lot of fun. Plus, our clients love the results!” That’s because the results are often worthy of an epicurean’s table: dishes such as arugula salad with shaved fennel and marinated chioggia beets or southern-style collards and cabbage. These meals are then delivered, served, and shared with the community by Augsburg students, staff, and alumni. In addition, each week’s harvest is so bountiful that CKAC can share full boxes of fresh produce with the Brian Coyle Center food shelf. In the heart of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, this community food shelf primarily serves East-African immigrants, a population that prefers to prepare meals from scratch and spurns the canned goods and highly processed foods that usually fill food shelves. Brever, like the Campus Kitchen, believes that true community health can begin with what people have on their dinner plates. Having spent a few years on a Catholic Worker farm in Washington state, he was well accustomed to the corn-syrup-laden, preservativerich foods typical of food shelves. While these foods may fill bellies, they do little to build health. Brever also saw the preponderance of these products as a good indicator of the shortcomings embodied by our industrial food system, where—according to Francis Moore Lappé and Anna Lappé in their book Hope’s Edge—about half of a typical grocery store’s more than 30,000 items are produced by 10 multinational food and beverage companies. A rural Minnesotan by birth, Brever knew the effect this homogenized system has on the fabric of rural farming communities and the 20 AUGSBURG NOW relative lack of nutritive value provided by these preserved foods. Longing for an alternative, he envisioned a system where small, family farmers could thrive while even the urban poor could gain access to fresh, responsibly grown produce. In short, everyone deserves food grown with care, harvested at peak ripeness, and made into meals that nourish the body and sustain the mind. Redefining stewardship Brever saw the CSA model as the answer. By offering people the opportunity to donate locally-grown produce, he felt he could help farms like his to earn a living wage while getting more healthy food options to urban populations who lack access to such luxury. “At its core, it’s about relationship,” says Brever. “How are we supporting the farmers and the communities that grow our food?” In an increasingly complicated world, it’s no longer enough to merely feed people. We must also take into account how that food is grown and prepared while weighing the environmental and economic realities we’re supporting with our food decisions. The model has been hugely successful, as church congregations and individual donors love the idea of enriching the urban community while helping small farms succeed. In Brever’s words, feeding the hungry is “no longer just about charity. Now, it’s also about change.” At Augsburg, the Campus Kitchen has been helping to usher in those changes. Thanks to a generous donation from St. Martin’s Table, the local restaurant and social-justice bookstore, CKAC is embarking on its third summer of vegetables from Ploughshare Farm. 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 23 In addition to preparing meals for clients, the produce is now being leveraged to educate youth about the health benefits of a diverse diet, and the power we have to effect change with something as simple as our eating habits. Project C.H.O.I.C.E.S Few tactics succeed when it comes to getting kids to taste new vegetables. Unless, of course, you involve them in the cooking process. Each week, CKAC volunteer Trish Hannah leads a cooking class with 11- to 14-year-old participants in the Brian Coyle Center’s Jump Start program. Seasonal dishes such as a strawberry, spinach, and grilled asparagus salad that would have originally garnered a cacophonous chorus of “eew” and “boo” are suddenly finding a receptive audience in these young culinarians. Project C.H.O.I.C.E.S (Community Health Originates in Creating Environmental Sustainability) is a curriculum devised by Hannah in conjunction with CKAC and Jennifer Tacheny, coordinator of Celeste’s Dream Community Garden Project. Its goal is to awaken the power in students to choose health for their bodies and the earth. Through cooking classes using local produce, it seeks to teach youth the full cycle of food—from the field to the table to the compost bin—while empowering them to choose respect. It means the choice to respect their bodies with healthy, tasty food that was grown in a responsible manner and as close to home as possible. And the choice to respect their neighborhoods and backyards by picking up litter and composting food waste. Using the common denominator of food, the curriculum hopes to teach self-sufficiency and empower these youth to cultivate healthy, responsible lifestyles. Honoring the full cycle Brever can’t think of a better outlet for his produce. “So many nonprofits are forced to measure their impact in pounds of food. Just as it’s hard to measure the intangible nutritional and environmental values of buying local and organic produce, you can’t measure the intangible value of sharing a meal with someone,” he says. “Not only does the Campus Kitchen share my food with people in Minneapolis, it also uses it as a teaching tool for empowerment.” And the Campus Kitchen can’t think of a better direction to be heading, helping to better their urban backyard while supporting the work of organic farmers in Minnesota. With the success of the Ploughshare Farm partnership and the positive impact of programs like Project C.H.O.I.C.E.S., the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College hopes to expand its programs to involve more local growers and to take clients on field trips to the farms that make the meals possible. It could also lead to the creation of a local community garden where clients get their own chance to participate first-hand in the full cycle of food. Through the Campus Kitchen, Augsburg is redefining what it means to be a good urban neighbor and, simultaneously, support rural communities. With such tasty food arriving by the boxful, it’s becoming easy to build bridges to the heart through the belly. Ⅵ Former Campus Kitchen coordinator Tim Dougherty pounds in the staking lines for organic heirloom tomatoes. Tim Dougherty is the community and civic engagement student coordinator in the Center for Service, Work, and Learning. He formerly was the coordinator of the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College. Augsburg Campus Kitchen volunteer Melanie Opay heaves boxes of produce from Ploughshare Farm into her car. FA L L 2 0 0 6 2 1 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 24 S Making art and history in France BY TARA SWEENEY Above: From left, Augburg students John Leibfried, Patrick Wendel, and Joe Trenary greet the locals in Espeyrac, France. Right: Augsburg pilgrims cross the old bridge into Estaing, France. 22 AUGSBURG NOW o, how was France?” is the usual question. “Good. Great,” is the typical answer that satisfies a polite inquiry. The real answer takes a little longer. “What’s the first word of the rule?” my colleague, [Professor] Phil Adamo, asks, and not for the first time. “Listen,” the students chime in unison, just as the old man in the beret hobbles up the tiny cobblestone passageway that Espeyrac, this hamlet in southern France, calls a street. It’s not easy to upstage Phil Adamo, but this Frenchman’s hound dog doesn’t know any better. The students have forgotten about The Rule of St. Benedict. The traditional French greeting— kiss-kiss-kiss—seems more the order of the day as they hand out eager caresses to this tail-wagging, sweet-talking, show stealer of a dog. They have come here with us to learn plein air drawing and to study the religious experience of medieval France as a paired shortterm study abroad experience, May 14–June 4. Before they return to Minnesota they will make a four-day pilgrimage, visit monasteries, cathedrals, walled towns, museums, and a papal palace to earn two credits and satisfy the critical thinking (CT) and liberal arts foundation (LAF) graduation requirements. Class begins wherever 15 students can listen to the history professor read a passage from a 1500-year-old text on monastic practice, and the art professor read from John Ruskin’s Elements of Drawing in Three Letters to Beginners. Yesterday it was below Le Pont Vieux in Espalion, one of three communities on this pilgrimage with the muchdeserved designation of “les plus beaux villages de France.” The day before it was beside the River Lot in equally picturesque Estaing. My colleague reminds me daily that this collaboration in experiential teaching and learning is work. Each day’s sweat, constant thirst, and aching body parts are real enough. So are the pain of blisters, the weight of packs, and our labored breath as we follow our capable local guide, Laurent Riou, up another steep ascent of mud and rock. Each night we sleep in a new family-run hotel after dining on traditional local fare at long communal tables. We hear little English other than our own as we walk village to village on the centuries-old pilgrimage road, le Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostelle, with pilgrims from around the world. Some will continue the entire summer, across the Pyrenees into northern Spain, 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 25 Class in France begins wherever history professor Phil Adamo finds enough room to gather students and read the day’s passage from The Rule of St. Benedict. and all the way to Santiago in the west, to receive the official pilgrim’s passport and a chance to have their sins forgiven. Some, like us, are walking just a few days. We have many things to teach; what students learn depends on the site visit and their willingness to try. Each keeps a daily sketchbook/journal that integrates personal reflection with history and art assignments. Reading from The Rule of St. Benedict is Phil’s structure for teaching the principles of monastic community, an important aspect of medieval religious practice. Students don’t simply hear about how silence helped monks to listen deeply. They are expected to practice it. They do so, awkwardly at first, for a short time as they enter Église de Perse, the Romanesque chapel of Saint Hilarian, built on the site where the Muslims supposedly beheaded him in the eighth century. Eventually, they practice silence for what seems like an eternity, from sundown to sunup, in preparation for a visit to the monastery, St. Martin du Canigou, perched a half-day’s hike up the foothills of the snow-capped Pyrenees. In the end, they are willingly silent beside the rushing alpine waters of Vernet-les-Bains, embracing experiential learning at its best. My structure for teaching plein air drawing is demonstration and practice, and practice, and practice—the medieval master/apprentice model. Students are expected to draw at least two hours per day. For some this is daunting at first. We stop and draw together wherever the inspiration and pauses of travel make it possible. They learn that this kind of drawing can happen all day, any day. This means that a rest from the midday hiking heat finds these vibrant young people sketching in the shade along the trail. Curious fellow pilgrims pause to enjoy the view and cheer them on. Augsburg’s students are natural goodwill ambassadors. Our pilgrimage ends in Conques, where we receive the pilgrim’s blessing at Abbaye de St. Foye, the patron saint of the blind and the imprisoned, and hear Phil read the gospel of John. We pick up our pace and continue to the restored, walled city of Carcassonne and hear about heretics; take a dip in the Mediterranean Sea at Collioure; and visit the papal palace at Avignon. The last full week of the course is spent in the “city of lights” where we are surprised and thrilled to Art professor Tara Sweeney sketches plein air with student Cassandra Roschen on the outskirts of Sénergues, France. hear students wishing for more pilgrimage and less Paris. So what was France really like? The syllabi promised we’d unravel the mysteries of critical thinking and blind contours, learn how to read history, and make plein air drawings. We walked a very long way together to do all that. But if we can’t tell you the best thing that happened in France it’s probably because it’s still happening. In studying to understand the past, in sketching what remains of it, we have learned to listen, to see deeply, and most importantly, to be fully present. Transformation is like that. Go ahead, ask. Ⅵ Tara Sweeney is assistant professor of art. Phil Adamo is assistant professor of history. FA L L 2 0 0 6 2 3 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 26 MAKING THEIR MARK BY BETSEY NORGARD Nancy Steblay and her student researchers in the lineup have partnered with Hennepin County police officers to research, apply, and test changes in police lineups to reduce the chances of convicting innocent people. 24 AUGSBURG NOW 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 27 n the past 14 years, 183 people have been exonerated from crimes they did not commit, but for which they were convicted and for which they may have spent a decade or more in prison. In 75% of these DNA-exoneration cases, the primary evidence leading to their conviction was a witness who identified them as the perpetrator of a crime. Only after development of DNA technology that could positively match evidence to a person—or exonerate that person—did the law enforcement community realize the depth of the eyewitness problem in the legal system. The social impact of a witness identifying the wrong person in a lineup is significant. Not only can it send an innocent person to prison, but it also allows the real criminal to remain uncaught. In the late 1980s, when psychology professor Nancy Steblay began reading the early research describing simple changes in lineup procedures that could reduce the rate of false identifications, she became intrigued. Trained as a behavioral scientist, she saw in this an ideal application of laboratory research and theory. “There’s so much we could add, we could say, about how to understand human memory in the legal process,” says Steblay. What the early psychology research offered, she says, is only probabilistic—laboratory research I Psychology students have created research projects to examine procedures used by law officers in police lineups and to test them in field projects. Student researchers include Psychology professor Nancy Steblay has studied police lineups for more than 15 years and helps students develop research that addresses problems with eyewitness identifications. helps to estimate the likelihood that certain events, like eyewitness fallibility, will occur. What the legal system needs at trial, however, is certainty about a specific case. Did something affect this particular witness’ memory in this particular case? The goal of recent lineup research, says Steblay, is to fix the eyewitness problem before it reaches the courts. “We need to develop the procedures that make certain that memory, like all trace evidence, is not contaminated,” she says. In other words, when a person is on trial for a crime for which he/she has been identified by a witness, the legal system needs to know that this identification is accurate, that the eyewitness evidence is sound. (L to R) Brenna Johnson ’07, Amanda Brey ’08, and Robert Tix ’07. FA L L 2 0 0 6 2 5 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 Tackling the problem By the late 1990s, the Department of Justice could no longer ignore the fact that increasing numbers of people were being proven innocent after wrongful convictions, even by well-meaning law enforcement officials and eyewitnesses who thought they were doing everything by the book. In 1999, Attorney General Janet Reno brought together early researchers who had been focusing on lineup procedures and produced an in-depth study of their research with recommendations for improving the system. It gave visibility and awareness to the problem and options for improving the protocol. Augsburg’s psychology department did not have a laboratory at that time, so Steblay was unable to carry out any lab research. However, what she 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 28 could do was to produce metaanalyses, or comprehensive reviews and syntheses of all existing research around a particular issue or question that provide a “grand picture.” These studies prove extremely useful for researchers and policy makers studying the questions. In 2001, Steblay’s meta-analysis on sequential vs. simultaneous lineups caught the attention of Gary Wells, an Iowa State psychology professor and pioneer in lineup research, who was trying to encourage lineup reform across the country. What Wells advocated, and Steblay’s meta-analysis confirmed, is that the rate of false identification is lowered when the lineup subjects, usually shown in photos, are presented to the witness one at a time, rather than all at once. There is less tendency for wit- nesses to compare one to the other instead of to their memory of the perpetrator. A further procedural change that Wells recommended was a “double-blind” lineup, where the law officer or person administering the lineup does not know which person, if any, in the lineup is the suspect. When the psychology department gained a small lab, Steblay was able to involve students in her research. As part of the advanced research seminar she taught, students could create spin-offs of her research and could run subjects in the lab. To develop better research capabilities, Steblay needed some tools—a laptop simulation of a crime and a lineup to show lab subjects. The technical concept came from IT staff person Bill Jones, and the material came from film professor Deb Redmond’s video production class. “It became the students’ assignment—to shoot a crime, and then to help me construct the lineup,” says Steblay. “And they did a beautiful job.” Hennepin County attorney Amy Klobuchar (left) and psychology professor Nancy Steblay (right) recently co-authored an article that reports on the success of the Hennepin County lineup project. 26 AUGSBURG NOW Joining with law officers In 2003 Hennepin County in Minnesota initiated a year-long pilot project to test new sequential, double-blind lineup procedures. County attorney Amy Klobuchar spearheaded the study, involving four police jurisdictions—two urban (Minneapolis and Bloomington) and two suburban (Minnetonka and New Hope)—after hearing Wells speak about the need for lineup reform. Steblay joined the pilot project as the data analyst, supported by a two-year grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The grant paid for her time to pull and run data from the 280 lineups in the pilot project, and to run several analog laboratory projects testing questions that arose. One such question was “Does it make a difference if a witness goes through the sequential lineup photos more than once?” “Questions came up in the field and we tested them in the laboratory,” Steblay says. “Now I can bring the two together and say, ‘This is how we should run lineups in the field based on what we know now.’” NIJ found Steblay’s project compelling because it united police practice and laboratory research, Steblay says. It was a field study on the cutting edge of national discussions, and no field data had been collected previously. Steblay and Klobuchar were two of the three co-authors for a recent article in the Cardozo Public Law, Policy and Ethics Journal that reported on the success of the Hennepin County project. The authors wrote that “analysis of the data and anecdotal responses from the participating police agencies led to the conclusion that the new protocol is both efficient to implement and effective in reducing the potential for misidentifications.” In a press release issued by the Innocence Project, co-director Barry Scheck called the study 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 “the first to use scientifically valid research techniques to evaluate the eyewitness identification reform in the field—in a ‘real world’ application, rather than an academic setting.” Getting students involved The lineup research has been a great opportunity for students to learn about the research process. Even before a psychology lab existed, students co-authored the meta-analyses with Steblay. With the lab, dozens of students over the years have developed their own research questions as well as aided Steblay with her studies. The NIJ grant added more opportunity. Students helped to produce a more professional laptop video “crime scene,” to run pilots to clarify the instructions, and to make sure the procedures ran accurately. “The benefit of this kind of research is that students can grasp it readily and contribute enormously. Even though the eyewitness research is complex and sometimes confusing in its entirety, at its surface it’s easy to understand what we’re trying to do,” says Steblay. “Students seem to enjoy the connection to the national lineup reform effort, as when I say, ‘Well, we’re doing this in Hennepin County,’ or ‘I went to Chicago and talked about that,’ or ‘the Los Angeles Police Department called me yesterday with this question,’” she says. “They realize this is not just some practice exercise—this really counts.” With the current popularity of television crime shows attracting more students to forensics, Augsburg launched a concentration in psychology and law. Steblay’s psychology and law class has always been popular, and she says that while students start out with forensic clinical interests from TV, the class helps them see the broader range of opportunities. Augsburg is one of the few schools that offers psychology 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 29 and law at the undergraduate level. Steblay feels that the research helps prepare students who may be intimidated by the prospects of graduate school research. “I think they get a sense of, ‘Yes, I can do this,” says Steblay. “Once you get on top of the research, there’s no end to the number of research questions and directions to go.” A good example is 2005 psychology graduate Hannah Dietrich. She was awarded the 2006 Best Undergraduate Paper award from the Psychology-Law Society for her senior honors research project on sex offenders, which began with an internship at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. She’s currently studying for a master’s degree at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Senior psychology major Shannon Ryan, one of 60 students selected to present their Presenting the findings Since the completion of Hennepin County’s pilot project, Steblay has presented the findings at a number of conferences across the country. Her phone has also been ringing more with questions and contacts about the research since publication of the study. She is now completing the final data analysis and report for the NIJ grant, and preparing to train in a new batch of students to start the next generation of research in Augsburg’s “crime” lab. “The people I work with—the homicide investigators, the attorneys—help keep me in touch with how this plays out in the real world, and the kinds of adjustments I need to make in the lab to try to capture that in a better and more authentic way,” Steblay says. “And the students help keep me very much in touch with what a real witness would experience.” Ⅵ research on Capitol Hill, has been part of Nancy Steblay’s research that is supported by a National Institute of Justice grant. Shannon Ryan takes lineups to Washington Shannon Ryan ’07 was among 60 students selected nationally to present their research at the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Posters on the Hill session in Washington, D.C. in April. Ryan’s research examines procedural guidelines for gathering eyewitness evidence in police lineups and how witness memory is affected by lineup structure and format. Her poster, “BlindSequential Police Lineups: A Test of Revised Procedure” compared the number of eyewitness false identifications in two different formats, and was the only poster representing the social sciences. While in Washington, Ryan and Professor Nancy Steblay, her research adviser, visited with U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo and Rep. Betty McCollum to explain the research. Ryan will carry on the lineup research for her senior honors project, and then continue in either a psychology and law or criminal justice graduate program. During the summer, she worked in the McNair program at the University of Minnesota on a project about the over-reporting of voting behavior, with Christopher Uggen, Distinguished McKnight Professor and chair of the sociology department. FA L L 2 0 0 6 2 7 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 11:08 AM Page 30 Left: Very Special Arts (VSA) day brings children with mental and physical disabilities to the Augsburg campus where they are treated to dancing, music-making, music performances, and more by the Music Therapy department. Right: Members of The Remnant Gospel Choir sing at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. convocation, sponsored by the PanAfrikan Center. The 2006 speaker was Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., SNCC co-founder and director of nonviolent and peace studies at the University of Rhode Island. Below: The tables on the balcony of Christensen Center are distorted by raindrops clinging to the windows during a Photographer’s pick— September rain storm. some of the year’s favorites PHOTOS AND TEXT BY STEPHEN GEFFRE From the thousands of photos staff photographer Stephen Geffre took during 2005–06, he selected these photos that give beauty and meaning to life at Augsburg. 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 31 Left: Trevor Tweeten ’06 sits in front of a video installation piece that was part of his senior filmmaking show. Tweeten is the first graduate of Augsburg’s new film major. Above: Helping to clean up the Soap Factory art gallery was one of the many AugSem projects first-year students undertook on the first day of class in September. The gallery is housed in a former soapmaking factory in the St. Anthony Main area of Minneapolis, and “is dedicated to the production, presentation, and promotion of emerging contemporary practice across the visual arts.” (Soap Factory website) FA L L 2 0 0 6 2 9 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 32 A hands-on approach to better health BY BETSEY NORGARD r. Bruce Cunningham ’77 talks about having one additional trick in the bag of medical tricks he offers patients in his practice. Cunningham is a doctor of osteopathic medicine, or DO, and has been practicing in Woodbury, Minn., for 21 years. For the last 12 years he has been a family practice physician at the MinnHealth Clinic. The “trick” he calls on is manipulation, the core of osteopathic medicine. Osteopaths examine the interrelationship and functioning of the body’s musculoskeletal system—nerves, muscles, and bones—to understand disease and its causes. It’s literally a hands-on approach with patients as he physically manipulates or adjusts their D With his left hand, Dr. Bruce Cunningham searches for a lesion in the patient’s back where manipulation will help his condition. 30 AUGSBURG NOW joints, muscles, tendons, etc. that may be injured or impaired. “It’s not for everybody or every problem,” Cunningham says, “but it can be effective in a number of common disorders—backaches, headaches, sleep disorder. It’s a nice tool to be able to pull out.” In his practice, he shares some of his patients with his MD partners—the patients come to him specifically for certain things because he’s an osteopath. “It’s a very good holistic approach to care; many MDs have a similar approach, but very few have the training where they can actually do the manipulations that help people immediately.” “So there are reasons why we’re a bit different,” Cunningham says. “But if someone comes in with appendicitis, I’m going to treat it in exactly the same way as my very capable MD partners.” He says that 80–90% of what he does is “very mainline.” The medical training is essentially the same for both the “allopathic,” or traditional physicians, and osteopathic physicians—four years of medical school, at least three years of residency, and certifying exams administered by different bodies. Osteopathic students have extra study in the musculoskeletal system, including two years of lab work. “You’re learning on other students, and then you’re picking on your family and friends to do some of the manipulation,” he says. “So there’s a better understanding of how the body works and how to interact with it.” Cunningham is a faculty member at the University of Minnesota and two osteopathic colleges— Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine and LECOM-Bradenton College—and enjoys working with third-year osteopathic students, who must spend eight weeks in rotation to learn primary care. “I teach both allopathic and osteopathic students, and there’s a big difference. … The osteopathic student is always more comfortable touching the patient and getting close, and doing a number of the musculoskeletal exams we have to do.” Cunningham explains that osteopathic physicians are different than chiropractors, who also treat patients with physical manipulation, but are not medical doctors. Chiropractic focus is on the nervous system, while osteopathy trains doctors to look at the body’s functioning in more depth. Osteopathic physicians have not always been accepted as equals in the medical profession. Minnesota did not offer full practice rights to DOs until 1963; the last state to do so was Louisiana, just two years ago. Currently there are about 56,000 osteopaths in the U.S. who make up about six percent of all physicians. In Minnesota that figure is about 300, and they practice across the state, traditionally serving in smaller communities, but now increasingly in large healthcare systems and at Mayo Clinic. Cunningham says that osteopathic medicine is “growing by leaps and bounds,” and that within two or three years, approximately 20% of all medical students will be pursuing osteopathy. Currently they study at 23 osteopathic medical schools, most of which are private institutions. Because they’re not affiliated with large hospitals, osteopathic students tend to travel and spread out more for their rotations. Four additional colleges of osteopathic medicine are actively on the drawing board, says Cunningham, who has served on the national committee that approves new training schools. In Minnesota Cunningham has enjoyed being part of a team of DOs who visit every college in the state once a year to talk to students about osteopathic medicine. “It’s really fun,” he says, because “the idea that you can learn to touch your patients and to take a more natural approach to some of their ailments is very exciting to pre-med students.” 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 Osteopaths can pursue any specialty, although most are in family practice. Cunningham says that research is becoming an important new endeavor in osteopathy. “I’ve just had a student who finished his PhD while he was on rotation with me and he’s doing oncology research, some really exciting work in it.” The choice between traditional medical programs and osteopathy must be a personal one for the student, Cunningham says. First they have to know they have a choice, and then some will go the osteopathic route as they become excited by the approach osteopathy offers to concentrate on treating the person and not just the disease. Cunningham’s own vocational route was not so direct. When he was not accepted at first into medical school, he took graduate 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 33 courses at the University of Minnesota and worked in a hospital. After trying a year at law school, it was a fellow classmate, John Ronning ’77, now a physician in St. Cloud, who suggested osteopathy. When Cunningham learned more about it, he applied, and went on to Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He says he owes a lot to the profession, since it was while on his internship in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he met his wife. He has served twice as president of the Minnesota Osteopathic Medical Society, and has been active on committees within the profession, including the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners. Cunningham credits Augsburg with a good preparation for leadership and service. He attended col- lege as a commuter student to save money, but was welcomed by the residents and even kept a sleeping bag in the corner. He served as student body vice president, and remains best friends with Ron Robinson, who was president. “The student leadership and the opportunities Augsburg gave me to be in that role were really great testing grounds for what I’ve gone on to accomplish in medicine,” Cunningham says. He encourages all students to take advantage of leadership opportunities during their college years. Cunningham says he loves being involved in the politics of medicine. This should keep him active as osteopathic medicine keeps growing and offers additional tricks in the doctor’s bag for health and wellness. Ⅵ For over 20 years Dr. Bruce Cunningham ’77 has brought the additional perspectives from osteopathic medicine to his clinical practice. FA L L 2 0 0 6 3 1 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 34 ALUMNI NEWS From the Alumni Board president … When I attended Augsburg in the MAL program from 1993-1996, I often thought of Augsburg as a diamond—many facets, one beautiful gem of a college. Serving on the board of directors of the Augsburg Alumni Association over the last few years has offered me many different and wonder-filled views of Augsburg, yet I come back to the same thought—many facets, one beautiful gem of a college. As another school year begins, the cycle it brings is also the same and different. Augsburg is about its same calling—offering a transformative education rooted in vocation and service—while embracing new presidential leadership. Healthy expressions of excitement, concern, joy, and challenge are evident every day I visit or speak with someone on campus. Augsburg is very alive! And well! I encourage you to participate in this cycle of life at Augsburg through your Alumni Association. The association remains committed to its purpose: “…to support and serve Augsburg College in its stated mission and to promote interest and involvement of the membership in Augsburg College and in the association.” And there is something new, too: the Alumni Association has restruc- 32 AUGSBURG NOW tured itself and its activities, and has prepared itself to be a stronger partner with the College. I invite you to (re)connect with Augsburg and your Alumni Association: • Attend events. Take advantage of the many interesting and meaningful activities available to alumni. These include the inauguration of our new president, music and theatre, athletics, Velkommen Jul and Advent Vespers, Homecoming, alumni gatherings, and conferences. This year’s alumni events also will include volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and the Campus Kitchen, as well as the Master of Arts in Leadership’s 20th anniversary celebration. • Visit the campuses. Yes, that’s plural! Augsburg now has at least five campuses: ‘traditional’ day school, weekend, graduate, Rochester, and overseas. Look up former professors and mentors, shop at the bookstore, and see the dramatic changes that are occurring at Si Melby and Gateway and planned for the Science building. You could even come back to Augsburg for another degree! • Stay in touch. We want to hear from you and we want to be able to contact you! Register for the Augsburg Online Community (www.augsburg.edu/alumni, then click on Augsburg Online Community) and let us know what you are doing. Remember to update your profile, and look for your friends and classmates. You can also use the form on page 39 to submit information, or e-mail it to alumni@augsburg.edu. • Contact us. Let us know how you would like to be involved with the College and fellow alumni. You can reach me by e-mail at bvornbrock@gmail.com or through the Online Community. You can also contact us through Alumni Relations by phone at 612330-1085 or 1-800-260-6590, by e-mail at alumni@augsburg.edu or in writing (Campus Box 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55454). I look forward to seeing you at Homecoming. Barry Vornbrock, ’96 MAL President, Augsburg Alumni Association Homecoming 2006—September 25–30 “Watch Us Soar” Highlights of Homecoming Week Please note that not all activities are on campus. For a complete listing and information, go to www.augsburg.edu or call 612-330-1085. September 25 4:30-6 p.m. Intl. Student Organization reception September 26 11 a.m.–2 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Counseling and Health Promotion Annual Fair Alumni Baseball Game Powder Puff Football September 27 10:30 a.m. Augsburg Associates Annual Fall Luncheon— speaker, Abigail Pribbenow September 28 5:30–8:30 p.m. 5:30–8:30 p.m. Education Dept. Open House Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet September 29 9 a.m. 10–11 a.m. 12:30–2 p.m. 2:15 p.m. 4–5:30 p.m. 5–7 p.m. 5:30–7:30 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 1956 Reunion Celebration Homecoming Chapel Homecoming Luncheon Campus Tour English Alumni/ae Reunion and Reading Pan-Afrikan Alumni Reception Metro-Urban Studies 35th Anniversary Homecoming Variety Show Men’s soccer game vs. Macalester College September 30 10 a.m. 10–11:30 a.m. 11 a.m. 11 a.m. 11 a.m.–noon 11 a.m.–1 p.m. 1–3 p.m. 3–7 p.m. 1966 Class Reunion Political Science Dept. 40th Anniversary 1981 Class Reunion Young Alumni Reunion (1990–2006) Campus Tour Picnic in the Park Football Game vs. Concordia College-Moorhead Auggie Block Party 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 35 (Front row, L to R) Karen Oelschlager ’66, Donna Amidon, Linda Holt, Karen Johnson ’66, Cathy Holmberg ’64, Joyce Pfaff ’65, Nancy Roemer, Janet Roemer ’79, Andy Song. (Row two, L to R) Larry Turner ’69, Lynn Kielas, Colleen Johnson ’60, Margaret Fogelberg, Doug Pfaff, Connie Bagenstos, Marie Sandbo ’65. (Row three, L to R) Florence Borman ’54, Joyce Young ’64, Donna Pederson, Sue McQuire ’70, Sue Turner, Lana Donald, Mike Holmberg ’64, Lee Johnson, Donna Torgeson, Joan Dehn, Matt Young. (Back row, L to R) Dennes Borman ’57, Louis Dehn, David Pederson ’70, Tom McQuire, Jim Donald ’63, Brad Holt ’63, Hans Sandbo ’63 Centennial Singers perform in the Twin Cities The Centennial Singers, a male chorus of Augsburg alumni and friends, will present a series of concerts this fall in the greater Twin Cities area. The chorus was formed in the early 1990s of former Augsburg Quartet members to revive and continue singing the gospel quartet tradition. Since then, they have toured to Norway twice and to the Southwest U.S. Fall Concerts/Appearances: Sat., Sep. 30, 7 p.m. Vinji Lutheran Church, Willmar China: A visit to the Great Hall Thirty alumni and friends of the College, hosted by assistant alumni director Donna Torgeson and faculty members Brad (’63) and Linda Holt, toured China for two weeks in May. The tour featured the history, culture, and scenic beauty of China, and included a visit to the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City; a boat cruise down the Yangtze River past the Three Rivers Dam project; an evening at the opera; and many other historical stops. The experience took travelers from Beijing to the international city of Shanghai. In addition to visiting the famous sites of China, the group enjoyed an educational opportunity to explore the religions of China with visits to several temples and churches. Sun., Oct. 1, 4 p.m. Central Lutheran Church, Elk River Sat., Oct. 7, 7 p.m. Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, Bloomington Sun., Oct. 8, 4 p.m. Crystal Free Church, New Hope Sat., Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m. Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Hopkins Sun., Oct. 15, 4 p.m. Faith Lutheran Church, Coon Rapids Sat., Oct. 28, 7 p.m. Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, Prior Lake Join the Augsburg Online Community It’s designed just for you— • Keep in touch with classmates • Find out what’s happening on campus • Send class notes about what you’re doing • Change/update your address and e-mail • Update your profile so others can find you • Make an online gift to Augsburg It’s fast and easy. Already, more than 500 alumni have registered. Simply go to www.augsburg.edu/alumni—have you signed up? If you have questions, e-mail healyk@augsburg.edu. Sun., Oct. 29, 2 p.m. House of Prayer Lutheran Church, Richfield FA L L 2 0 0 6 3 3 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 36 CLASS NOTES 1950 1951 1957 Rev. Raynard Huglen ’53 Sem, Rev. Herbert C. Hanson, Forest Stan Baker, Raleigh, N.C., pro- Newfolden, Minn., has published a book, The Race Before Us, a collection of writings from his 27-year tenure as editor of The Lutheran Ambassador, the publication of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations. His book is available through Ambassador Publications of the AFLC, in Minneapolis. City, Iowa, was presented the Golden Hammer award by Habitat for Humanity in North Iowa and the Volunteer of the Year award for 2005 by the Forest City Chamber of Commerce for his volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity. In April, he celebrated his 80th birthday. fessor of counselor education at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, was recognized as one of the 100 Distinguished Alumni during the centennial celebration in May of the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development. He received a Master of Arts degree in personnel and guidance work from there in 1963. Auggie Reunion Marshall Johnson, Brooklyn Center, Minn., has completed 60 articles for The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, forthcoming from Abingdon Press. Virgil Vagle, Paynesville, Minn., was inducted into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame in May. He has coached football and wrestling at Paynesville Area High School for 70 seasons combined and held the state record for most career coaching victories in wrestling from 1997–2004. 1963 1970 Carolyn E. Johnson, Placentia, Bonnie (Christopherson) Feig, Starkville, Miss., has been teaching social studies at Starkville High School for 16 years. During that time, she has been named the state’s outstanding social studies teacher by the Mississippi Historical Society, the district’s Star Teacher (chosen by the high school’s Star Student), the Starkville Teacher of the Year for 2005–06, and the American History Teacher of the Year by the Mississippi Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her husband, Douglas ’68, teaches political science at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Calif., received a grant from Rotary International to teach for one semester at the University of Belize in Belize City, starting in February 2007. She will also work with the Women’s Issues Network in Belize. Contact her at cjohnson@fullerton.edu. 1965 Peter Jacobson, Paynesville, Six roommates/housemates who graduated in 1967 celebrated their 25th consecutive annual reunion in August 2005. They all have been teachers at some point in their careers. (Back row, L to R) Gloria Lamprecht, Sue (Overholt) Hampe, Pat (Rupp) Rossing, Phyllis (Stradtman) Krieg; (Front row, L to R) Ruth Ann (Gjerde) Fitzke, Ardell (Arends) Lommen. 34 AUGSBURG NOW John K. Luoma, Stow, Ohio, recently saw the re-publication of his case study on the Anglican divine Richard Hooker in the Journal for Case Teaching (2004–05). It was recognized as one of the outstanding cases in the Association for Case Teaching archives. Minn., and his wife, Lynne, were honored as Distinguished Alumni of the Paynesville Area High School. They have been the publishers of the Paynesville Press since 1973, when they took it over from her father, who had succeeded his father as well. In June they became semi-retired when their son, Michael, took over as publisher/editor. 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 37 Rev. Kathryn Schreitmueller, Green Bay, Wis., has been named pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church, after serving for 20 months as interim pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Oshkosh. She teaches liturgy and worship at the Eastern Lay School of Ministry and has led students to work for Habitat for Humanity. 1991 Jennie (Clark) Anderson, Park Lisa Dietz, Golden Valley, Minn., was selected as one of the artists for the Minnesota State Arts Board’s second annual Art of Recovery exhibit, April through June. Her work included a poem, an essay, and textile art. Rapids, Minn., is the new owner and innkeeper of the Red Bridge Inn in Park Rapids. www.redbridgeinn.com Christine Halvorson, Hancock, 1977 Sharon (Johnson) Sullivan, San Ron Housley, Santa Maria, Jose, Calif., was honored by the Junior League of San Jose as one of the City of San Jose’s Outstanding Volunteers for 2006. She received her honor at the 37th Volunteer Recognition Luncheon on April 28. She was nominated by The Tech Museum of Innovation for her dedication, compassion, and action. Calif., is in rehearsal with The Kingsmen Alumni Corps, a group of musicians who formerly were members of The Anaheim Kingsmen Jr. Drum and Bugle Corps, for the 2007 Summer Music Games. Recently, his arrangement of “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” was chosen for inclusion in the book of The Kingsmen Alumni Corps. 1975 Craig Olsen (deceased) was inducted posthumously in April into the Oregon Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. During his career he coached high school teams in Minnesota and Oregon, and at Pacific University and University of MinnesotaMorris. He died of cancer in 2004. 1981 N.H., has entered the business of corporate blogging as a consultant to companies wishing to join the blogosphere. www.halvorsonnewmedia.com 1989 Carolyn (Ross) Isaak, Rochester, Minn., was named to the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association’s Silver Anniversary Team, as one of the outstanding performers in women’s outdoor track and field of the last 25 years. She was named for her performance in the 400-meter hurdles, for which she still holds the NCAA Division III national meet record. 1990 1978 Debra Axness, Charleston, S.C., has been living with her boyfriend, Larry Struck, aboard Debonair, their cutter-rigged sailboat, for four years after sailing from Duluth, through the Great Lakes, down the Erie Canal and Hudson River, and down the East Coast. They are ready to set sail again towards Bermuda and south to the Caribbean Basin. Ora Hokes, Minneapolis, was one of two winners of the 2006 University of Minnesota Josie Johnson Human Rights and Social Justice awards, named for the first African American to serve on the university’s Board of Regents. The award recognizes individuals who have devoted their time and talents to making substantial and enduring contributions to the University of Minnesota community. 1992 Steven Benson, Owatonna, Minn., was one of 100 teachers nationwide to be awarded a 2005 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. He and his wife, Nancy, spent a week in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Science Foundation, in a combination of professional development activities and festivities, which included a White House breakfast meeting. He is an advanced mathematics teacher at Owatonna High School. Sven Erlandson, Minneapolis, published his third book, The 7 Evangelical Myths: Untwisting the Theology behind the Politics, that addresses the intersection of religion and politics in America, specifically the role of evangelical Christianity in the current political culture. During the spring he served as Augsburg’s strength and conditioning coach for all sports. FA L L 2 0 0 6 3 5 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 38 CLASS NOTES 1993 1999 Anne JulianVan Abel, Minnetonka, Minn., started a new business, The A-List, a human resource firm that provides sourcing and staffing services for local and national firms in all industries. She had been an independent consultant for 12 years. 1996 Ryan Carlson, St. Paul, was appointed an alternate member by the Highland District Council’s board of directors. The council is an organization that provides a neighborhood voice to decisions made by the city and the state. 1997 Sarah (Gilbert) Holtan, Milwaukee, Wis., was promoted to assistant professor of communications at Concordia University Wisconsin. She can be reached at sarah.holtan@cuw.edu. 1998 Angie Ahlgren, Minneapolis, will begin a doctoral program this fall in theatre history/criticism/theory/text with an emphasis in performance as public practice at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds an MA in English literature from the University of Minnesota. 36 AUGSBURG NOW Erik C.B. Johnson, Chicago, Ill., received a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Chicago on June 9. He is currently a third year medical student at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. 2003 Kristen Opalinski, White Bear Lake, Minn., was named Coach of the Year by the Northcentral Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association (NSLA) after coaching the North Suburban Lady Spartans lacrosse team to an undefeated record and state championship. She was also head coach for the Minnesota All-Stars team, made up of the state’s best girls in lacrosse, who achieved a 2-1-2 record at the US Lacrosse Women’s Division National High School Tournament at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, after six years of winless appearances. Kristen works as a graphic artist. Lindsay Plocher, Megan Feider, and Miya Kunin—the Des Cordes String Trio 2004 2006 Kelly Chapman, Willernie, Lindsay Plocher, Megan Feider, and Miya Kunin ’04 have joined Minn., graduated magna cum laude from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She was one of 10 students accepted into the third year design program and awarded a full Nolan Miller Scholarship for the 2006–07 school year. 2005 Yi Chen, New Brighton, Minn., works with her husband, Chen ‘04, at Akingco, Inc., a company that sells gift pens. together as the Des Cordes String Trio, playing for weddings, parties, and corporate events. The trio has performed prior to Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra concerts as part of their community series, and in the Linden Hills Live Music Festival. They are currently on the preferred musicians list of the Twin City Bridal Association. www.descordes.com Graduate programs Doris Rubenstein ’93 MAL, Richfield, Minn., has been named a contributing editor to CPA Wealth Provider magazine. She is the principal of PDP Services, a philanthropy management and planning consulting firm in Minneapolis. 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 39 Sports and Scores in Saginaw Darryl Sellers, a Weekend College grad of 2002, is the most recent addition to the WNEMTV5 news team in Saginaw, Mich. The station’s no. 65 ranking is an impressive advance for Sellers, coming from no. 153, KAAL-TV, in Austin, Minn. It’s one more stepping stone on the journey that began at Augsburg. While earning a major in mass communications and a minor in English through the weekend program from 1997 to 2002, Sellers spent three years as a McNair Scholar, which helped him to prepare for graduate school through workshops, weekly meetings, conferences, and outside assignments involving cultural awareness. Sellers credits Augsburg for “[laying] the groundwork for my path… The school helped me open many doors that were closed to me before.” For his McNair mini-thesis, which he presented at the State Capitol, Sellers chose to research the Western Appeal, a St. Paul African-American newspaper published from the late 1800s to the 1920s. He was able to see how the newspaper began and how it handled issues facing blacks of that era such as racism, discrimination, disenfranchisement, voting rights, and equal education. Sellers concluded that the black community was divided in a number of issues. “Although the people had many of the same goals in mind,” he said, “the pathways to get there varied.” The project helped Sellers learn crucial lessons in balanced reporting. “It helped me explore both sides of issues. I learned that objectivity itself can be subjective. Balance can’t always be achieved, and this was something very valuable for an aspiring broadcast journalist.” After Augsburg, Sellers and his wife moved to Los Angeles where he entered the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. Although he chose the school because of its excellent program, staff, and campus, he also admits, “I fell in love with Los Angeles during my honeymoon; I had fantasized about living in California. I also wanted to see what it was like to escape the tundra country and cold temperatures for two years.” Part of his study there included a six-week internship in 2003 in Cape Town, South Africa, working for SABC-TV, which he found to be a great, eye-opening experience. He received a Master of Arts in broadcast journalism in May 2004, and by August, KAAL-TV in Austin, Minn. offered him a weekend sports anchor position. “I started working there in September 2004. It was a whirlwind summer—our son was born August 13, so we drove more than 2,000 miles to Minnesota with a three-week-old baby.” In addition to the weekend anchor spot, Sellers did sports reporting and put together feature stories. He was in charge of all his own camera work, producing, writing, and editing. After a year and eight months at KAAL-TV, Sellers stumbled into a great opportunity through the persistence of his father-in-law— whom he calls his “unofficial agent”—to connect with a Phoenix TV-station president so he could tell him about Sellers. The president sent notification to sister stations with a wonderful recommendation. A week or so later Sellers received e-mail from the news director of WNEM-TV, requesting a tape and an interview in Saginaw. Sellers was then hired as an 11 p.m. Fox sports anchor. This new position offers both a wider geographical area and a bigger budget. It also offers greater challenge and opportunity to report on events such as the PGA Buick Open and to cover college sports teams, like Michigan State, and professional teams. Darryl Sellers ’02 Sellers does miss Minnesota and the people back home, and he hopes to eventually make it back to Minneapolis. “I would like to work for WCCO-TV— save a place for me, Mark Rosen, as a sport anchor,” he says, and adds with a smile, “Of course, I wouldn’t say no to KARE, KSTP, or KMSP.” His goals also include starting his own production company and mentoring aspiring, young journalists and other youth. “I want to give back and help pave the pathway for their future.” Right now, though, Sellers is staying very active with his new job and helping to raise a very energetic little boy. — Sara Holman ’06 FA L L 2 0 0 6 3 7 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 40 CLASS NOTES WEDDINGS BIRTHS/ADOPTIONS Dale Martin Christopherson ’85, Grand Forks, N.Dak., and his wife, Debra, announce the birth of Alyssa Mae, in March. Dale is a chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center. Mark Keating ’91 and his wife, Amy, of Edina, Minn., announce the birth of their third son, Aidan Howard on March 14. He joins brothers Owen, 4, and Carson, 2. Mark is an account executive at Symantec. Nicole (Smith) Sendar ’93, Edina, Minn., and her husband, Jordan, announce the birth of twin boys, Cameron and Gavin, in September 2005. Nicole is a teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools and can be reached at nsendar@mn.rr.com. Sarah (Ginkel) Spilman ’99, Ames, Iowa, and her husband, Damion, announce the birth of their son, Alexander (Zane) Nicholas, on Jan. 3. Sarah earned her Master of Arts degree in sociology at the University of Iowa in 2004. She is a research scientist for the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research at Iowa State University. Jennifer Johs-Artisensi ’94, Eau Ami Nafzger ’94 married Aron Spiess in July. They wed in a tradition- al Korean wedding that took place as part of the 10th annual Dragon Festival, an event in St. Paul at Lake Phalen, where they were introduced to each other three years ago. Both Ami and Aron are adoptees from South Korea. Ami says, “The chair of Dragon Festival asked if Aron and I would be willing to share our culture with the public at the festival. We agreed and thought it made sense. Since we met at the Dragon Festival, we should wed at the festival.” She serves on the festival board as treasurer, as well as on Augsburg’s Alumni Board. Ami is the founder in 1998 of GOAL, the Global Overseas Adoptees Link in Korea, that helps to inform Koreans about the existence of adoptees and helps adoptees to connect with their Korean families and culture. She is beginning a three-year project to start a GOAL in Minnesota for Asian adoptees and others. Ami and Aron live in Minneapolis. 38 AUGSBURG NOW Claire, Wis., and John Artisensi became the parents of Alexis Polina in May 2005. She was born in Novosibirsk, Russia, and is now two-and-a half years old. Jennifer is an assistant professor in the University of WisconsinEau Claire healthcare administration program and John is an elementary music teacher. She can be reached at johsarjl@uwec.edu Erica (Johnson) and Jared Trost ’00, East Bethel, Minn., welcome to the world Josiah Jeffrey, their first child, on March 19. Coming in at 8 lbs., 13 oz. and 21 1/2 inches, Josiah is definitely a keeper. Erica is a science teacher at St. Francis High School, and Jared is employed by Cedar Creek Natural History Area. 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 IN MEMORIAM The Rev. Robert D. Weeden ’51, Newington, Conn., age 82, on June 22. He served churches in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Connecticut, as well as serving in the chaplaincy during WWII and at hospitals until his retirement in 1990. Phillip Gronseth ’55, Bella Vista, Ark., age 72, on April 7. He was an entrepreneur who retired to Arkansas, where he enjoyed being an avid golfer. While at Augsburg he sang in the Augsburg Quartet and continued singing throughout his life. He remained close to Augsburg, with a special fondness for the baseball program, and has supported athletics and the sciences. 9/12/06 12:47 PM Page 41 Betty (Hanson) Rossing ’64, Grand Rapids, Minn., on July 3. With a special love for children, she mentored teenagers, taught Sunday School and Vacation Church School, taught elementary grades in public schools, and encouraged young people to become involved in ELCA missions. Bessie Mae Hughes ’71, Minneapolis, age 94, on June 8. A native of Alabama, she came to Augsburg to complete her college degree at age 59, after raising four children, and then taught in Minneapolis Public Schools. In 1992 she was named an Augsburg Distinguished Alumna for her contributions to community and her church, St. Peter’s A.M.E. Church. SEND US YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to alumni@augsburg.edu. Full name Maiden name Class year or last year attended Street address City, State, Zip Joseph Boyer ’90, Greenwood, Minn., age 38, died unexpectedly at home on June 11. The Rev. Harry H. Fullilove ’59, Coral Gables, Fla., age 81, on Dec. 25, 2004, after a lifetime of service as Lutheran pastor and missionary in Pakistan, Ghana, and India. Is this a new address? □ Yes □ No Home telephone E-mail Okay to publish your e-mail address? □ Yes □ No Employer Position Work telephone Go, Auggies! Lots of spirit at Homecoming ’55 Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? □ Yes □ No If yes, class year Spouse name Maiden name Your news: Auggie spirit resounded around the Quad as the cheerleaders led the Pepfest for this year’s 50-year anniversary class at Homecoming 1955. FA L L 2 0 0 6 3 9 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 42 VIEWS Reflections on Red Lake by Janna Caywood ’04 Janna Caywood, former program coordinator for the Master of Social Work program, interviewed Matthew Thornhill ’04, ’06 MSW about his reflections, as a social worker, following the Red Lake school shootings. Following is a summary of her longer article. 40 AUGSBURG NOW n March 21, 2005, 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise shot and killed three adults and five classmates, wounded seven other students, and then killed himself. It’s a day in history that the Red Lake Band of Chippewa will never forget. This one-hour violent act tore a gaping hole in the collective spirit of the entire Red Lake Nation. The shock and pain were unimaginable. People simply could not believe something so heinous could happen in their community. Worst of all, it was children who were most deeply affected. Social work graduate Matthew Thornhill, a foster care social worker for American Indian Family and Children Services in St. Paul, is an enrolled member of the Red Lake reservation and a relative of one of the kids who died. When he heard the news that day, his first instinct was to go to the reservation to be with his family and friends. “To be present is very important in Native culture,” he explains. He immediately coordinated a fund drive with his social service colleagues to help many other Red Lake members in the Twin Cities also make the trip back home. When Matt reached Red Lake, what he found was both rewarding and disheartening. It was rewarding to see the close-knit Red Lake community pull together and support one another. Rewarding also was the support that came from outside the reservation—from Native peoples across the U.S. and Canada, in particular, who called and e-mailed to express sorrow and to offer help. “It’s a cultural value,” says Matt. “We look out for each other.” O Matthew Thornhill ’04, ’06 MSW was named the “2006 Social Work Student of the Year” by the National Association of Social Workers–Minnesota Chapter. His wife, Angelina, accepted the award with him. Non-native responses, too, came from around the globe, including from some who had suffered their own school shootings. Many non-Native emergency responders in Red Lake learned how to be culturally sensitive while helping in the community. The collaboration between emergency responders and tribal elders was quite remarkable. Medicine men, spiritual leaders and other Band members acted much like social workers to help individual families cope and pull the community together toward stability and healing. They organized healing ceremonies and prayer circles for spiritual strength, both on and off the reservation. The collaboration between emergency responders and tribal leadership was also impressive. Each morning tribal leaders met at the local hospital to brief one another on recent arrivals, so the newcomers could be dispatched where need was greatest. Given the sovereign status of the Red Lake Nation, there was no ambi- guity as to who was in charge and responsible for emergency efforts—unlike the post-Katrina confusion. What Matt found disheartening was the media frenzy around the shootings and the allegations about the involvement of the tribal chairman’s son. Insensitive behavior by a number of journalists made many in Red Lake feel exploited. Matt and his family were most disturbed by news stories that focused on Red Lake’s social and economic struggles, implying that they were the result of failed Native values and an indifferent, incompetent community. The truth is, Matt says, Red Lake does have its difficulties. But the root causes are complex and can only properly be understood through the lens of history and an understanding of the long-term effects of colonialism. What didn’t always come through were the embedded cultural values in the Red Lake community and Native way of life that give strength and endurance in times of crisis. In the end, Matt says, Red Lake did not succumb to the media barrage, because people drew on their cultural traditions to rally each other. “We are a proud, strong Nation” he says. “We hold onto our traditional values, yet we adapt with the times. Red Lake is gonna make it.” 6121_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/14/06 11:09 AM Page 43 For music information, call 612-330-1265 CALENDAR For theatre ticket information, call 612-330-1257 For art gallery information, call 612-330-1524 SEPTEMBER October 18 Concert by the Habbestad Trio, tone poem and chamber ensemble September 15–October 27 Reliquiae Sculpture by Sam Spiczka “Terje Vigen” song cycle, by Kjell Habbestad 7 p.m.—Sateren Auditorium Free and open to the public. Gage Family Art Gallery, Lindell Library Artist reception, Oct. 7, 4–8 p.m. Artist gallery talk, Oct. 25, 12:30 p.m. Egg Basket Full of Hollyhock Dolls Paintings by Amy Rice ’93 Christensen Center Art Gallery Artist reception, Oct. 7, 4–8 p.m. Artist slide presentation, Sept. 29, 3:30 p.m., Marshall Room, Christensen Center September 21 Many Voices: Bold Visions Convocation Series The Rose Ensemble “Common Threads: Exloring Shared Texts among Early Christians and Jews” 11 a.m.—Hoversten Chapel Free and open to the public. September 25–30 “Watch Us Soar”—Homecoming 2006 October 18–21 Ages of Imagination: A New Season of Leadership The inauguration of Paul Pribbenow Free and open to the public. October 20 Festival Service Bishop Mark Hanson ’68, presiding Rev. Dr. Robin Lovin, preaching 10:30 a.m.—Hoversten Chapel Inauguration Ceremony 2 p.m.—Melby Hall Community Celebration 3:30 p.m.—Murphy Square October 21 Auggie Spirit Zone 11:00 a.m.—Murphy Square Football game vs. Carleton College 1 p.m.—Anderson-Nelson Field For information: www.augsburg.edu/inauguration See page 32 for schedule. NOVEMBER OCTOBER November 1 faith@work! breakfast speaker series October 2–3 2006 Christensen Symposium Douglas John Hall, professor emeritus of Christian theology, McGill University Free and open to the public. October 2, “Where in the World Are We? Being Christians after Christendom” 7:30 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel October 3, “What Are People For? Caring for Life in a Violent World” 11 a.m.—Hoversten Chapel October 4 faith@work! breakfast speaker series Paul Pribbenow, Augsburg president 7:30 a.m.—St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Minn. Free and open to the public. Contact: John Knight, 330-1351 or faith@augsburg.edu. Go to www.spdlc.org. Barbara Helmsley, founder, Hope Chest for Breast Cancer 7:30 a.m.—St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Minn. Free and open to the public. Contact: John Knight, 330-1351 or faith@augsburg.edu. Go to www.spdlc.org. November 3–11 Hedda Gabler By Henrik Ibsen Faculty directed by Martha Johnson November 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11 at 7 p.m. November 5 and 12 at 2 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater November 3–December 17 Signs of Life Sculpture by Kim Matthews Gage Family Art Gallery Artist reception, Nov. 3, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Artist gallery talk, TBA November 5 November Nativity Concert by Masterworks Chorale of Augsburg 4 p.m.—TBA November 17–19 Exceptionally Ordinary Guest directed by David DeBlieck ’88 November 17, 18, and 19 at 8 p.m. performed together with No Exit November 5–19 Henrik Ibsen Film Festival Lindell Library 301 Free and open to the public. November 5, 4:30 p.m. Immortal Ibsen!—a documentary by Erling Borgen (Norway, 1999) Terje Vigen–Victor Sjöström (Sweden, 1917) November 10, 7 p.m. The Wild Duck (Vildanden)— Tancred Ibsen (Norway, 1963) November 12, 4:30 pm. A Doll’s House—Patrick Garland (England, 1973) By Jean Sartre Student directed by Justin Hooper ’07 November 17, 18, and 19 at 9 p.m. Foss Studio Theater November 18 Augsburg Concert Band concert 4 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel November 19 F. Melius Christiansen Festival concert 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.—Orchestra Hall See page 6–7. November 17, 7 p.m. Lady Inger (Fru Inger til Østråt)— Sverre Undnæs (Norway, 1975) November 19, 4:30 p.m. An Enemy of the People (En folkefiende)—Erik Skjoldbjærg (Norway, 2004) November 5–30 Exhibit–“To Be a Poet Is to See: Ibsen in Our Time” Lindell Library, third floor November 6 Scholastic Connections Gala Reception and Dinner Celebrating the scholarship/mentorship program and the four ethnic services programs Free and open to the public. 6 p.m.—Christensen Center Info and reservations: 612-330-1104 November 10 Anita Gay Hawthorne Jazz & Poetry Bash 6:30 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel and Arnold Atrium November 12 Augsburg Symphony Orchestra Concert 4:30 p.m.—Sateren Auditorium Augsburg Jazz Ensemble concert 7 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel Subjective Mapping: An Exploration of Spirit and Place Paintings by Teresa Cox Christensen Center Art Gallery Artist reception, Nov. 3, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Artist gallery talk, TBA DECEMBER December 1 Velkommen Jul Celebration 10:15 a.m.–Chapel service, Hoversten Chapel 11 a.m.–2 p.m.–Scandinavian treats and gifts, Christensen Center December 1–2 27th Annual Advent Vespers A service of music and liturgy 5 and 8 p.m. each night Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis For seating envelopes, 612-330-1265 December 6 faith@work! breakfast speaker series Norah Long, Canto, St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church 7:30 a.m.–St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Minn. Free and open to the public. Contact: John Knight, 330-1351 or faith@augsburg.edu. Go to www.spdlc.org. FA L L 2 0 0 6 6121_Augsburg_AugsburgNow-Fall 06 9/12/06 10:25 AM Page 44 “Hostas and Water Drops” was the first photo in a series called “Photo of the Week” on the AugNet page of the Augsburg College website. This feature was created to keep AugNet readers up to date on College happenings, to help them notice beauty they may have overlooked, and to add variety to the page. — Stephen Geffre, photographer 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Minneapolis, MN Permit No. 2031
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Title: Augsburg Now Summer 2006
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I Summer 2006 & F R I E N D S Vol. 68, No. 4 A SMOOTH TRANSITION page 2 FEATURES 17 The Frame years— a journey toward vision by Betsey Norgard 22 Augsburg’s original MBAs: The Class of 2006 by Bethany Bierma...
Show more A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I Summer 2006 & F R I E N D S Vol. 68, No. 4 A SMOOTH TRANSITION page 2 FEATURES 17 The Frame years— a journey toward vision by Betsey Norgard 22 Augsburg’s original MBAs: The Class of 2006 by Bethany Bierman 27 On tour with the Augsburg Choir by Judy Petree 30 Those Lutheran Ladies by Betsey Norgard DEPARTMENTS 2 Around the Quad 7 Sports 8 Commencement 2006 12 Sixth Annual International Programs Photo Contest 14 Supporting Augsburg Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College 35 Alumni news 37 Class notes TABLE OF CONTENTS 40 Auggie Thoughts Summer 2006 Vol 68, No. 4 A college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Augsburg College is an equal education/employment institution. Editor Betsey Norgard norgard@augsburg.edu Graphic Designer Kathy Rumpza rumpza@augsburg edu Staff Writer Bethany Bierman bierman@augsburg.edu Staff Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Media Relations Manager Judy Petree petree@augsburg.edu Sports Information Director Don Stoner stoner@augsburg.edu Director of Marketing and Communications Christopher Moquist moquist@augsburg.edu Director of Alumni Relations Heidi Breen breen@augsburg.edu www.augsburg.edu On the cover: Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg Augsburg President William Frame (right) and President-elect Paul Pribbenow (left) have enthusiastically worked together for a smooth administrative transition. College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058–1545 Send address corrections to: Advancement Services Augsburg College, CB 142 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 50 percent recycled paper (10 percent post-consumer waste) AROUND QUAD Around THE the Quad From one president to the next— in smooth transition I n what President William Frame calls a rather remarkable and unusual occurrence in higher education, both he and President-elect Paul Pribbenow jointly spoke to the spring gathering of faculty and staff in March. Frame explained what he understands as a complex relationship between continuity and change, as both he and the incoming president individually and jointly continue to increase the “clarity of the College’s self-definition” as well as “the speed at which it is being realized” during the transition period. (In a gesture to ease at least the visual transition, Frame turned just before introducing Pribbenow and donned a bow tie, calling reference to the incoming president’s signature accessory.) Pribbenow lauded and affirmed the defining work that has been carried out by the Augsburg community in articulating its vision. “I would not be here,” he commented, “if I did not find your aspirations inspiring and compelling.” Pribbenow takes office on July 1, and his inauguration has been set for Oct. 20. The next issue of Augsburg Now will outline his administration’s priorities and introduce his leadership team. William Frame donned a bow tie to signal his “profound regard” for his successor. Both retiring president William Frame (left) and incoming president Paul Pribbenow (right) spoke to faculty and staff in March. Chris Kimball will be chief academic officer at California Lutheran University C hristopher Kimball, provost and vice president for academic affairs, left Augsburg May 31 to assume the same position at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., beginning in July. Kimball, a member of the history faculty since 1991, was appointed dean in 2000 and provost in 2004 when that position was created. His impact at Augsburg is seen in the areas of curricular reform, calendar changes, teaching loads, several new programs, and the “internationalization” of the campus. “I have been blessed to work at Augsburg during a time of great change, 2 especially in the articulation of our mission and vision,” said Kimball. “California Lutheran University, located in an economically vibrant and culturally diverse region, offers a wonderful opportunity to continue that work.” President William Frame stated, “… Chris’ gifts, some of which were shaped in the process of giving our College new vitality and sharp direction, have been acknowledged by a fine institution in current need of them.” In May, the Department of Business Administration presented Kimball with a plaque recognizing his support of business studies and his “entrepreneurial spirit.” Summer 2006 Farewell to the Frames—a ‘gentle roast’ and a proper tribute 1 2 3 O n April 21, more than 300 faculty and staff gathered to honor and show appreciation to Bill and Anne Frame, and to entertain them with some ‘gentle’ roasting. Augsburg’s Gospel Praise provided music, with returning special guest artist Jennifer Grimm ’99. Gift presentations were made and the Frames offered an Augsburg rendition of Woody Guthrie’s song, “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You.” Frame reflected on his time at Augsburg. “These years have been a great gift to us … because they’ve given us the possibility for growth … And new understanding about this great business of education—where it comes from, what it changes, why it’s crucial for the salvation of humankind. … “This place gave us a chance to think through [a great calling] more deeply and better than ever we would have had a chance to do otherwise. So, we’re grateful. We’re grateful to you and we’re grateful to Summer 2006 this place and its great lineage in history.” When asked by Augsburg Echo about his plans for retirement, he mentioned one specific project—an old boat with “at least a year’s worth of work before it’s ready for the water.” On April 30, a more proper “Celebration of Music and Worship for the Presidency of Bill and Anne Frame at Augsburg College” was held at Central Lutheran Church. ELCA presiding bishop Mark Hanson ’68 presented the keynote address. Three music groups—Augsburg’s Gospel Praise, Masterworks Chorale, and the Augsburg Centennial Singers—each sang several pieces. Campus pastor David Wold read a series of tributes received honoring the Frames, including an ode written by Wartburg College president Jack Ohle and his wife, Kristy, and a proclamation from the City of Minneapolis declaring this day to be “Bill and Anne Frame Day.” 4 1 Bill and Anne Frame enjoy some of the lighter minutes of the “roast” in their honor. 2 Campus pastor David Wold reads the proclamation from Mayor R.T. Rybak declaring April 30 “Bill and Anne Frame Day” in the City of Minneapolis. 3 President Frame picked up his guitar to join Gospel Praise in “I Saw the Light” at Central Lutheran Church. 4 Assistant director of alumni relations and former football coach Jack Osberg ’62 leans in close to extend his greetings above the jazz and gospel music. 3 Campus News Honors for distinguished teaching and learning Association, and the American Association of School Administrators. Selection to the network, part of ECS’ National Center for Learning and Citizenship (NCLC), commits its members to further service to promote civic engagement for all students. Erickson serves as chair of the Minneapolis School Board. Hannah Dietrich’s research paper wins national award Dietrich visited the sex offender treatment program at the Lino Lakes Correctional Facility and learned about the pre-release transition program. She became interested in finding out if offenders really understood the registration process and if they became more compliant and submitted better verification after completing the program. Together with Steblay, she crafted a research plan that became her senior honors project. Dietrich is now in the master’s program in experimental psychology at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Orientation leaders receive awards Congratulations to the faculty and staff who received awards for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning from the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Provost and Dean of the College: Teaching—Phil Adamo (standing, left), history Mentoring—Dixie Shafer (seated, center), Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) Service to Students—Heather Feehan (standing, right), Chris Pegg (seated, right), Scott Krajewski (seated, left), Robert Bill (standing, center)—all from Information Technology. Joe Erickson selected for national network Joseph Erickson, education, has been named to the “100 District Leaders for Citizenship and Service-Learning Network.” The network includes school board members and district superintendents across the country selected by a panel representing the Education Commission of the States (ECS), the National School Boards 4 Hannah Dietrich’s honor project research with Professor Nancy Steblay was named Best Undergraduate Paper. Hannah Dietrich, a 2005 psychology graduate, has received the American Psychology-Law Society’s 2006 Award for Best Undergraduate Paper. She presented her research and received the award at the AP-LS meeting in March in St. Petersburg, Fla. Her paper, “Predatory Sexual Offenders: Post-Treatment Registration Compliance and Recidivism” is the result of research she did in collaboration with psychology professor Nancy Steblay. Dietrich became interested in studying disorders after taking an abnormal psychology class. She landed an internship at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, working in the Predatory Offender Registration Unit, and connected with a supervisor who included her in many areas of the work. Augsburg’s student orientation leaders participated in the National Orientation Directors Association Regional Conference in Minneapolis. In the Undergraduate Case Study competition, Greg Hildebrandt ’08 won the Best Problem Solving Award, and Sarah Black ’09 received the Best Communication Award. Student Activities director Marc Skjervem presented on the changing culture of college students using online communities and the consequences students face with the misuse of websites. Wrestlers are second in nation in academics For the ninth year in a row, Augsburg finished in the top 10 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Scholar All-America team program, finishing second among more than 100 NCAA Division III wrestling institutions, with a 3.42 team grade point average. The top team, Messiah College (Pa.), had a team GPA of 3.47. Augsburg is the only school in NCAA Division III wrestling to finish in the top 10 both in competition on the mat and in the academic team competition in each of the nine years that the NWCA has awarded an academic team national championship. ■ Summer 2006 ‘Zyzzogeton’— the last word A ugsburg launched a new tradition this year with “Zyzzogeton,” a four-day celebration of student and faculty work—from artistic performances to student research posters. Taking its name from the last entry in Webster’s Third New International dictionary, the celebration is meant to wrap up and highlight the breadth and depth of scholarship at Augsburg. Art exhibits, faculty and student recitals, faculty research roundtables, student research posters, film projects, theatre productions, museum installations, and more filled the calendar of events. (In the dictionary, “zyzzogeton” is defined as a genus of South American leaf hoppers.) Visitors to campus during this time included high school students who came on Drama Day to learn more about the theatre arts program, and middle school students with developmental disabilities and peers taking part in the annual Metro Arts Festival with Augsburg’s music therapy students. A lighter highlight of the celebration was a vigorous debate, Lefse vs. Lutefisk, in which four scholars—President Frame (political science), Lori Brandt Hale (religion), Joan Griffin (English), and Ken Kaminsky (mathematics)—took sides to argue and defend the Norwegian delicacies from the viewpoints of their academic disciplines. The judges were Norwegian bunad-clad members of the Augsburg Associates, and guests were treated to the delicacies of each, including their aromas. (And, yes, the lutefisk side was declared the winner.) Top left: The spring theatre production, Metamorphoses, by Mary Zimmerman, uses contemporary language and imagery to explore ancient myths. Center: Biology major Ben Sonquist explains his research to physics professor Ben Stottrup. Bottom left: Physics professor Mark Engebretson shared his research on geomagnetic pulsations in Earth’s space environment. Summer 2006 5 Larry Ragland retires after 21 years P rofessor Larry Ragland was one of the founding members of the Computer Science Department and retired in May after 21 years teaching in both that department and mathematics. He has stayed at Augsburg, he says, for the same reason he tells prospective students they should come—to be in a supportive environment where students and faculty work closely together. While computing has changed greatly over two Professor Larry Ragland served as one of the founding decades, he says, the discipline faculty of the computer science department and retired of computer science has not. after 21 years at Augsburg. “When I started, we showed students the ‘on’ switch and unmanned flights. how to use a mouse … We operated in Ragland recalls his first assignment at an entirely different way then,” Ragland Augsburg as chair of the Academic says. Now, with a comprehensive campus Computing Committee, with a goal to network and the global Internet, “we hire a full-time academic computing have changed how we relate to the director. That finally happened in 1990. world.” At Ragland’ s retirement celebration, Ragland reflects on the fact that he Professor Karen Sutherland said the has spent his entire career working in a department will miss his “advice, cool discipline that didn’t exist when he went ideas, ability to keep them calm, and to college. His first degrees were in sense of humor.” Junior Cory Nathan mathematics, and he started out teaching spoke for students, thanking Ragland for in public schools. “putting up with us and teaching us a His interest in computer science thing or two along the way.” developed while he worked in the Apollo Ragland has no definite plans yet for Space Program in Houston. During the retirement. He says he has room for one period in which the manned program big “yes” for a project, but has no idea recovered from its tragic fire, Ragland yet of what that project will be. worked on computer displays for Joy Bartlett leaves Education Department E ducation professor Joy Bartlett retired from Augsburg in December 2005 and moved to Las Vegas. Since 2001 she has taught orientation to education, reading methods, and technology in the classroom. 6 She fondly recalls the warmth of the Augsburg community and the enthusiasm of her students. Also, she enjoyed helping students in the McNair program and the Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity office with their research. Sandi Lallak leaves Augsburg for Arizona A fter 23 years at Augsburg working with students in the CLASS program, Sandi Lallak retired in May and moved with her husband to Mesa, Ariz. When Lallak began working in the Center for Learning and Adaptive Student Services (CLASS), she recalls, CLASS had one computer, little technology, and mostly provided advocacy for students with disabilities—about 10 of them. An endowment from the Groves Family in 1988 enabled the program to grow and make the commitment to become a premier program. Lallak researched the field to learn about available adaptive technology, traveled to visit programs, and helped create a small lab on campus. She and colleague Sadie Curtis began to tape textbooks. Within three years, the program grew to provide services and accommodations to over 100 students. Lallak and Curtis spent nearly a decade developing the systems, databases, and procedures for CLASS as it is today, including its student workers. “I’m so honored to have been able to make this happen,” she says. With new technology, Lallak says, “students are reading better, retaining, and comprehending better.” Lallak became the first accommodations specialist she knows about; Curtis is now a physical disabilities specialist in the ACCESS program. While CLASS currently serves about 190 students, past students remain an important part of Lallak’s life. A double bulletin board jammed with photos of past students—weddings, babies, vacations— covered a corner of her office. Lallak has no definite plans in retirement, but many ideas for volunteer opportunities in Arizona. Summer 2006 Sports For current sports information, scores, and schedules go to <www.augsburg.edu/athletics>. Carol Enke retires from coaching by Don Stoner I “ ’ve never looked at any part of my job as a ‘job’,” said Carol Enke, who has coached Augsburg’s softball team for 21 seasons and taught in the Health and Physical Education Department for 19 years. “I always say that I’m going to ‘school.’ I never say that I’m going to ‘work.’ “I’ve looked at this as fun. I get paid to come in here and do this—interact with students and interact with studentathletes.” Enke left her coaching position at the end of the 2006 season, while continuing to work in the HPE department. In 21 seasons at Augsburg, Enke has compiled 302 career victories, while coaching six players who have earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-American honors and 28 players who have earned all-region honors (entering the 2006 season). Along the way, Enke has touched the lives of hundreds of softball players, along with hundreds of HPE majors who are continuing her legacy in classrooms all over the region. In 2001, the senior class selected her as one of three Honored Faculty. “I’ve enjoyed watching the students grow,” Enke said. “I have them in a 200level class in their first or second years, and I ask myself, ‘Are they really going to make it in the teaching profession?’ Then when they are in the 300-level classes their junior and senior years, you see that these kids have made a lot of progress and they’ll be OK.” Enke was a standout athlete in multiple sports in her hometown of Janesville, Wis.—she was inducted into her hometown’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995—and played collegiate softball at the University of Minnesota. She coached for three seasons, two as head coach, at Minneapolis Roosevelt High School before coaching her first season at Augsburg in 1986. Enke initially worked part time at Augsburg, while completing her master’s degree at Minnesota. And in her early Summer 2006 Softball coach Carol Enke, flanked by players (left to right) Sarah Mueller ’09, Sarah Green ’09, and Katie Johnson ’08, cheers on the team in her last game as coach after 21 seasons. Enke will continue teaching in the health and physical education department. years, she felt that Division III Augsburg would be just a step in her career to bigger goals. “Way back when, I thought that someday I’d move up to coach Division II or Division I softball. Then, it happened that I started to teach more courses in the [HPE] major and I really enjoyed that along with coaching. After that, I never thought about moving up to Division II or Division I.” Do I remember very many games? Heck, no. Do I remember the fun we had? Absolutely. —Carol Enke, softball coach Enke has developed a close-knit, family atmosphere with her softball teams, encouraging the players’ families to be active in the program during the short spring season. In the past, she has taken the players on off-season adventures and team-building activities, such as crosscountry skiing, winter camping, snow tubing, and rock climbing. She has also encouraged her studentathletes to be active in multiple activities on campus. Several of her players compete in multiple sports at Augsburg, while also serving as members of clubs and organizations on campus. “With the softball teams, our athletes aren’t one-dimensional,” Enke said. “We’ve got them going in all directions, more than ever before. That’s just how well-rounded they are, and we encourage that. We tell them that they have four years here, and they should ‘bite off as much as they can chew.’ If you want to play two or three sports, do it. If you want to be active in campus activities, do it. Take advantage of what you’re getting for your tuition.” There have been many changes in college softball during the 21 years of Enke’s tenure, including in bat technology. “When I started here, a bat was $29.95. Now bats can cost over $200,” she said. But what hasn’t changed with Enke’s Auggie teams is the fun atmosphere she encourages, along with the life skills she teaches, both in the classroom and on the softball diamond. “It keeps me young,” she said. “Just the relationships with the students and student-athletes, getting involved in their lives. Letting them know that you are someone they can come to. I really like that, and I like to watch them grow in all areas of their lives—not just as student, not just as an athlete, but as the person as a whole. “I’ve loved the people, the teammates and the coaches, all the relationships we’ve had. Do I remember very many games? Heck, no. Do I remember the fun we had? Absolutely.” ■ 7 COMMENCEMENT 2006 The 137TH YEAR of Augsburg College PAUL CUMINGS RECEIVES MARINA CHRISTENSEN JUSTICE AWARD Faculty and students grab one more farewell in Augsburg’s longtime tradition of faculty cheering on their students as they process to the ceremony. Libby Henslin, admissions and operations coordinator for Augsburg’s Rochester program, graduated with a major in religion and shared the day’s excitement with her daughter, Rebecca, who earned a degree in social work. Paul Cumings, an international relations major and student body president, was selected as the 2006 recipient of the Marina Christensen Justice Award. Each year, this honor is presented to the graduating senior who best exemplifies Augsburg’s motto, “Education for Service.” Cumings came to Augsburg from AmeriCorps, serving at the Brian Coyle Center on the West Bank in Minneapolis. He worked two years in the college readiness program, helping junior high and high school students first consider going to college and then helping them prepare the skills to gain acceptance. On campus he served in numerous service and leadership roles—as resident adviser, as director of food and clothing drives, as a co-sponsor of the “get out the vote” efforts, and as a leader in neighborhood Somali programs. As a Sabo Scholar, Cumings helped Augsburg make connections between public policy and service, laying groundwork for future Sabo Scholars. The award recipient must have demonstrated a dedication to community involvement as characterized by the personal and professional life of Marina Christensen Justice, who reached out to disadvantaged people and communities. President William Frame congratulates student body president and Sabo Scholar Paul Cumings, who was awarded the 2006 Marina Christensen Justice Award. 8 Summer 2006 EXCERPTS FROM THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS “An Augsburg Education: Vocation and the Social Good” —Peter Agre ’70, M.D. I would like to use this occasion to reflect on my life and share some of the lessons I have learned. While an Augsburg student I became a die-hard advocate for the liberal arts tradition … Proud chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg (left) straightens the hood of his former student, Dr. Peter Agre ’70, who was the Commencement speaker and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. The accolade was read by Dr. Paul Mueller ’84, a student of Agre’s at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The Honorable Walter F. Mondale reads the accolade for the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree awarded to James A. Johnson, former executive assistant to Mondale and CEO of Fannie Mae. Lisa Prytula ’04, ’06 MAN, who completed a bachelor’s degree in nursing and finished a master’s degree, spoke on behalf of the graduate students. I was a student here in the 1960s—an era notable for extreme turmoil in our country. During my years in high school and as an undergraduate, I lived through the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy. My years here coincided with unprecedented social disturbances resulting from conflicts between white supremacists and civil rights workers, between supporters of the war in Vietnam and antiwar protesters. Despite the consternation experienced elsewhere, those of us at Augsburg enjoyed an island of tranquility where issues and events such as these could be discussed with respect and civility. Augsburg College has never been a school for privileged members of the establishment. Augsburg recognized the importance of inclusion at a very early time and has long been a leader in providing educational opportunities for the Native Americans and other ethnic minorities. Augsburg’s commitment to students with physical disabilities had just begun in the 1960s. Similar to previous generations of Augsburg students, many of my classmates were from the working class, often the first members of their families to attend college. … But this is not the tradition prevailing at the so-called “prestige” colleges and universities in the United States where it is rare to have first generation students or students with parents holding blue-collar jobs. Clearly the working class of America is being excluded from many institutions of higher education. This makes me even prouder of the modest roots of Augsburg students, for as the late Kirby Puckett reflected, “It doesn’t matter where you come from. It only matters how you play the game.” And I always felt that my classmates at Augsburg learned to play the game extremely well. This was due in part to the splendid Augsburg faculty—perhaps most outspoken among them was my father, Courtland Agre, whose unbridled enthusiasm and exuberant encouragement directed many of us into professional and graduate schools. … While my generation, the “Baby Boomers,” has achieved unprecedented prosperity, I sincerely feel that we have failed to improve the world to a state better than it was when we received it from our parents. In fact, I fear that the world is in worse shape now. If this continues, we will be the first generation in memory to fail in such an important endeavor. We all know what the problems are: damage to the environment, continued war, prevalence of famine and untreated disease in the developing world, violent crime and poverty in our inner cities, the epidemic of drug abuse, failure to provide adequate health care to all Americans, and the staggering $9 trillion national debt which will fall on your generation. Education has never been more important than in the current time of growing antiintellectualism in America. It is really shocking when you think that less than half of all Americans read a single book last year. As Mark Twain informed us, “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” I fear the emphasis in our country has now become one of fixing the blame rather than fixing the problem. The polarized special interests have caused gridlock in our national government where the two major parties can seemingly agree on nothing. Let me suggest that the hour is late and we must stop the face-slapping and join hands and concentrate all of our attention on fixing the problems. It is often said that “the genius of this immigrant nation is that we have always found our center,” and I believe that we need to do so urgently. … Thank you and congratulations. The full Commencement Address is at <www.augsburg.edu/president/commencement06.html>. Summer 2006 9 COMMENCEMENT 2006 BACCALAUREATE HOMILY (EXCERPTS) WILLIAM V. FRAME, PRESIDENT Physician assistant graduate Tara Rick is the center of attention as she receives her master's hood from PA director Dawn Ludwig. “Separating Together” [I]n John’s Gospel and the Book of Acts, Jesus is preparing the disciples for their new assignment—dispersal, one by one, each on his own, into the world for the sake of the great commission. He suggests that they can sustain themselves in the midst of their independence only if they remember before leaving that they were transformed from a motley crew of fishermen, tax collectors, and other workaday professionals into a “community.” But this recollection will strengthen them for the independent journeys just ahead only if they repair the terrible rip in the fabric of their collegium caused by Judas’ betrayal. Hence, before the reprise of community can be undertaken, Judas’ empty position must be filled. And it is, by one Mattias, who is called up from the apostolic bench (which appears to have been deeper than that of the Timberwolves) by a drawing of lots. … You and I are separating—together—and the good news is that we’re separating from a place that gave each of us something to be separated from. … [from] a community of learning, in which ideas of the transforming kind, experiences (sometimes of the embarrassing kind—some, entailing success, and some, failure and frustration), gave us new life and, therefore, identity. … Like us, in the hands of the College, the disciples had been molded into something new by their particular course of study, faculty, and classmates. Their capstone course culminated in the resurrection. Yours came to a more conventional conclusion a week ago. But neither we now, nor the disciples then, are yet prepared for separation. Until we recognize that we were transformed by our time together; until we confess that each of us is now becoming someone—not the realization of some persona prescribed at or even before birth—but a self created by a million incidents of concourse, a thousand recollections of experience, a hundred moments of revelation. Until we begin becoming ourselves, we shall lack the independence of the world that vocation requires. To stand in the midst of the life each of us is about to undertake—either of a job search, employment, or retirement—and to render service to our neighbor, we must know who we are and how we got that way. That knowledge is of identity; it constitutes the protective suit, even though not fully woven, that allows us to live in and serve the world without being wholly fused with it. … But what we have learned here—about ourselves, the world, and God; what the disciples learned about themselves—remains beyond our grasp and theirs without the great final examination known as saying goodbye! Until we address our separation—seriously; until we face the fact that we are leaving people who have meant the world to us—teachers, friends, 10 Sunny Olise receives his master’s hood from director Robert Kramarczuk in Augsburg’s first MBA class. parents (that you now realize you didn’t leave four years ago but are now, finally going to leave—today!)—we are not tempered for the new immersion in the world. Until we know who and what we have become, we cannot maintain our independence in the world when we are out there in it, on our own. Goodbyes force us each to meet ourselves face to face, as Achilles did in The Iliad. That means that we have put our affairs in order—so that they may be abandoned; we have to repair the rents in the fabric we knit in the College cocoon in order that we might be released from it—a beautiful butterfly capable of flying into the maelstrom of life without danger to bring a glimpse of beauty to a dour and broken world. … And so—let us, to each other, both now and this afternoon, say, “Goodbye!” And in so doing, we shall each bear the College with us, out into the world—a shield and a buckler of the vocational life that fulfills the requirements of the great commission in the kingdom on the left. That last great goodbye gives us the capacity and even the need for reunion. If done right, it allows us to soon again say—here, at the intersection of Riverside and 22nd—“Hello! It’s good to see you. I’ve missed you!” To read the full Baccalaureate Homily, go to <www.augsburg.edu/president/baccalaureate06.html>. Summer 2006 THE AUGSBURG COLLEGE CLASS OF 2006 3,420 Attended the ceremony 3,600 Cookies and petit fours served at the reception 752 Class of 2006—346 traditional day students, 162 weekend students, 39 students in the Rochester program, 13 from United Hospital, 1 from 3M; and 191 graduate students in six programs 580 Graduates marching 490 Enjoyed Commencement Brunch 350 Attended Commencement Dinner 125 Faculty marching in the procession 58 Age of the oldest graduate 20 Age of the youngest graduates 14 Flags representing countries of international graduates 2 Honorary degrees conferred 1 Retiring presidential couple—many thanks to Bill and Anne! countless Smiles and tears of happiness, gratitude, and appreciation Audra Johnson, a studio art graduate, has a jubilant smile on graduation day. The sociology department faculty take a moment to get photos of their graduates. Summer 2006 11 SIXTH ANNUAL International Programs Photo Contest 1 2 3 7 1 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT AUGSBURG, second place. “Melting Pot.” Kamilla T. Fossem, Norway. 2 PEOPLE PORTRAITS, first place. “Yo confío.” Kathryn Jones ’08. San Salvador, El Salvador. 3 PEOPLE PORTRAITS, third place. “Begging Musicians.” Richard Garnett ’08. Cuernavaca, Mexico. 4 5 LOCAL PEOPLE, second place. “Video Games vs. the Acropolis.” Katharine Mahon ’06. Athens, Greece. LOCAL PEOPLE, third place. “A Journey through an African Desert.” Therese DeMay ’06. Swakopmund, Namibia. 12 8 6 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT AUGSBURG, first place. “The Old and the New Minneapolis.” Martin Garnes, Norway. 7 CITYSCAPES, third place. “Untitled.” Britta Boyum ’06. Lofoten Islands, Norway. 9 8 LOCAL PEOPLE, first place. “Bearing the Load.” Kelsey Nolan ’06. Sontule, Nicaragua. 9 PEOPLE PORTRAITS, second place. “Familia.” Megan L. Schiller ’06. Nicaragua. 10 CITYSCAPES, second place. “Cusco by Night.” Joelle Bickel ’07. Cusco, Peru. 11 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT AUGSBURG, third place. “A Frozen Falls.” Martin Garnes, Norway. 12 CITYSCAPES, first place. “Fishing Industry.” Britta Boyum ’06. Harstad, Norway. 13 BEST OF SHOW. “Waca Wasi Wardrobe.” Joelle Bickel ’07. Waca Wasi, Peru. Summer 2006 4 5 6 10 11 12 Summer 2006 13 13 Supporting Augsburg Gift of $4 million gives green light to Gateway by Betsey Norgard A $4 million naming gift from Donald ’53 and Beverly (Halling) Oren ’55 has provided the funding needed for Augsburg to proceed with the $18.5 million Gateway Building. On May 5 the Augsburg Board of Regents granted approval for the College to pursue the financing needed to begin construction this summer. A ceremonial groundbreaking is scheduled for Sept. 8, with building completion in fall 2007. Donald Oren ’53, an Augsburg regent emeritus, is chairman of the board of Dart Transit Company, founded by his father in 1934. The trucking and logistics company ranks 53rd of the Top 100 Carriers nationwide. Beverly (Halling) Oren ’55 has taught school and worked as vice president of human resources at Dart Transit. She remains a principal and adviser to the company, and currently serves on Augsburg’s Board of Regents. Three of their children are involved with Dart Transit—David, president; Daniel, vice president; and Bradley, general manager. Daughter Angela Anderson is mother to one-year-old Samuel. “We are pleased and honored to participate in Augsburg’s growth by being part of the Gateway project,” says Beverly Oren. “The business school is of special interest as it offers an opportunity for students to experience the entrepreneurial Donald ’53 and Beverly (Halling) Oren ’55 spirit. Also, Augsburg’s commitment to promoting vocation provides a very worthy goal.” The Gateway Building will be Augsburg’s link to its surrounding community and city, and a distinctive “front door” on Riverside Ave. It will easily connect the College with the CedarRiverside area, the University of Minnesota’s West Bank, and the FairviewUniversity Medical Center across the street. The building is a four-story combined administrative, commercial, and residential center. It will provide new homes for the Alumni Conference Center, the StepUP Program, the Master of Business Administration program, the Gage Family Art Gallery, and offices for Institutional Advancement. Community residents and organizations will be encouraged to use meeting space in the new Gateway. On the first floor, retail stores such as Barnes and Noble will serve not only the campus community, but staff and patients of the hospital across the street and the West Bank and Cedar-Riverside communities as well. The top three floors will provide student housing—upperclass students on the second floor and StepUP students on floors three and four. From Riverside Ave., a central Gateway plaza welcomes visitors to campus. Circling the plaza are Hoversten Chapel, Lindell Library, and the Gateway Building, representing the College's commitments to faith, reason, and service. For Augsburg’s StepUP program, which provides students in addiction recovery the support and skills they need to succeed in college, the Gateway Building will centralize their office, counseling, and residential space. It’s about “having a home where we’re all together,” says StepUP director Patrice Salmeri, and will give students who complete the program the “ability to stay longer and mentor younger students.” In eight years, StepUP has grown to over 50 students, and they have maintained an 83% abstinence rate while in the program and a grade point average of 3.0. Augsburg is a national leader in the recovery school movement; Salmeri currently serves as president of the national organization. The Augsburg MBA program, which after only two years is now the state’s third largest, will gain much needed and more suitable classroom, technology, and study space in Gateway for its small-class learning. Save the date! GATEWAY BUILDING CEREMONIAL GROUNDBREAKING Friday, September 8 Noon 14 Summer 2006 Gateway’s ground floor will welcome alumni and visitors, and provide a gathering space to meet over coffee and enjoy exhibits in the Gage Family Art Gallery, which will move from Lindell Library to a more accessible location in the new building. “[T]he connection to the wider community will be greater than ever before,” says Kerry Morgan, coordinator of galleries and exhibits. “The easy access from Riverside will be welcoming to off-campus visitors; and Augsburg students, staff, and faculty will continue to find inspiring and thought-provoking art where they work, live, and study.” Planning for the Gateway Building has been carried out in conjunction with the Riverside Corridor Project development, funded partially with an early campaign gift from James A. Johnson, former banking administrator and public servant. The project brings together West Bank partners—the Cedar-Riverside Business Association, the West Bank Community Development Corporation, the University of Minnesota, Augsburg, Fairview-University Medical Center, and others—to envision a thriving urban village that links to the light rail system. The City of Minneapolis has begun to develop a small area plan for the entire Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. “One issue the plan will consider is how to make Riverside more comfortable for pedestrians and bicyclists,” says Beth Elliott, principal city planner. “More retail stores and outdoor seating opportunities will also help in adding vibrancy to that section of the corridor.” She says the Gateway Building can be “an example that others can follow if they are thinking about redevelopment.” Honoring a graduate by honoring the College A s a nontraditional student past the usual graduation age, Matt Van Zant seemed just a bit too old for the traditional card with a money pocket. So Frank McKinney, a close family friend, Matt Van Zant ’06 called Augsburg and asked how he could make a gift to the College instead, in honor of Van Zant. Van Zant came to know McKinney, a corporate lawyer, in Ohio where Van Zant grew up. “He encouraged me and stressed the importance of ethics,” Summer 2006 Van Zant says. “[He] is a believer in education and encouraged me to remain in school and do well.” McKinney said he was proud of Van Zant, that after many years he would return to school for his degree. Van Zant works as an operations analyst in the healthcare field. He enrolled in Weekend College in fall 2001 to begin a major in management information systems (MIS). One of the common themes he found in his classes fits right in with what he remembers learning from McKinney. “People who work with data, who manage sensitive and confidential information,” says Van Zant, “are and should be held to higher standards of performance and integrity.” Juggling full-time employment with full-time study was difficult, and Van Zant says he tried to take it just one term at a time. “It helped to work on coursework almost every day and try to remain current with the material.” His strategy worked, so much so that he will begin an MBA degree in the fall, looking forward to “the opportunity to develop strategic decision-making skills.” McKinney says he enjoyed making the gift to Augsburg in Van Zant’s name and that Van Zant also enjoyed it. To McKinney, “it just seemed the appropriate thing to do.” He says now he’ll just wait for Van Zant’s master’s degree. 15 Construction begins on Melby Hall addition by Betsey Norgard n a chilly, cloudy May 5, a crowd gathered on the south side of Melby O Hall to ceremonially mark the groundbreaking for the $6.1 million new south wing, named the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Complex. Augsburg regent and emcee Mike Freeman, in describing the expansion, called it “lots of much-needed space to show our Auggie pride.” He drew attention to the efforts that had made the project possible, especially noting that every coach had put together a plan to reach former students and athletes. He read a statement from lead naming donors Dean ’75 and Terry Kennedy, who Kennedys. “Your gift is exciting, and we so appreciate it.” The Kennedy Sports and Recreation Complex includes the Alan and Gloria Rice Wrestling Center and the James and Katherine Haglund Fitness and Recreation Center, as well as other named spaces: the Lavonne (Johnson) Peterson ’50 Conference Suite; Lute Olson ’56 Hall of Champions; “Doc” Johnson ’52 A-Club Office; and the Gamma House Hospitality/Classroom. Work has already begun on the new south wing; construction is expected to be completed in spring 2007, with the official opening in fall 2007. weren’t able to be in attendance, saying that their “family is proud and excited to be part of this [project].” Kennedy was an All-American wrestler and, as co-captain of the team, led Augsburg to a runner-up spot at the NAIA national finals, marking the beginning of Augsburg’s longtime dominance in small-college wrestling. President William Frame drew attention to Augsburg student-athletes and the leadership they bring to the life of the campus. Football linebacker Michael Matson ’06, speaking on behalf of studentathletes, directed his remarks to lead donors Alan Rice, Jim Haglund, and the Front row (L to R): Major gifts director Donna McLean; regent and lead donor Jim Haglund; Board of Regents chair Jean Taylor '85; assistant dean and head wrestling coach Jeff Swenson ’79; lead donor Alan Rice; regent Mike Freeman; and President William Frame. Melby groundbreaking—twice! When Rev. Clifford M. Johnson, ’34 (’30 Acad, ’39 Sem) received his invitation to attend the May 5 ceremonial groundbreaking for the expansion of Melby Hall, he remembered that he still 16 had a 46-year-old photo from the day he held a shovel to break ground for the new Melby Hall. Johnson, age 95, has been part of the Augsburg community since 1926 when he entered the Augsburg Academy. He has been a fundraising leader, a regent and board chair, and a director of development over the years. In 1993 he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus. He recalls the excitement in 1960 of constructing the first athletic facility for Augsburg. Until then, he says, the basketball team played on the court in the basement of Old Main. He also remembers that the invocation that day was given by Lutheran Free Church president Rev. T. O. Burntvedt ’12. Johnson was thrilled to be part of this new excitement this year and to see that earlier photo at the ceremony, enlarged to poster size and sitting on an easel. Just announced … $1 million gift has been received A from Norman and Vangie Hagfors for the renovation of the chapel in Old Main and the creation of a home for Augsburg’s Center for Faith and Learning. Read more in the next issue. Summer 2006 The FRAME years a journey toward vision BY BETSEY NORGARD W William Frame, the 10th president of Augsburg, is not typical of his nine predecessors. He is not a Midwesterner, nor is he of Norwegian background or an ordained Lutheran minister. From his nine-year tenure, he leaves a long litany of new programs, partnerships, and much-needed capital improvements. But, much more significant is that he leaves an Augsburg that has renewed its self-identity, and that has crafted and refined a vision representing the deepest thinking any college could undertake about its own mission or “institutional vocation.” In the foreword to Augsburg’s revised vision document, The Augsburg Vocation: Access and Excellence, Frame describes this vision not as his, but as “drawn from the soul of the College.” It is an idea—vocation—that “has been calling Augsburg to its work since the founding.” Frame points to his time at Augsburg as the continuation of a vocational journey that began as a young instructor at Kenyon College, that immersed him in the urban life of corporate banking and finance, and then took him back into academia. All along, the work he did served to shape, nurture, and refine a strong, personal sense of vocation. At Pacific Lutheran University, he came to understand Martin Luther’s two-dimensional world of faith and reason, one in which students explored vocation as both learning through faith to understand themselves and learning through reason to prepare for careers and service in the world. Top, left: President Frame (right) and ELCA presiding bishop Mark Hanson ’68 (left) find a moment for conversation at Commencement. Staff photo Middle, left: Bill and Anne Frame enjoy talking with passersby at Augsburg’s State Fair booth. Staff photo Bottom, left: President Frame occasionally joins the Augsburg Jazz Ensemble with his guitar. Summer 2006 17 At Augsburg Frame discovered the theology of Luther’s close colleague, Philip Melancthon, who authored the Augsburg Confession and advocated the participation of Christians in civic affairs. This German theological duo became the basis for Frame’s model of education and the hallmarks of Augsburg’s vision: vocation, service, civility, diversity, and community. Remarkably, in retrospect, the agenda for the Frame years seemed set even before he became president. In summer 1997, shortly before taking office, he was interviewed for Augsburg Now, and was asked to identify the three most important agenda items for Augsburg College as it prepared for the 21st century. Nine years later, his responses at that time seemed predestined: 1. finding “communal clarity about our purpose”—who we are and what we do; 2. determining “how we adapt what we’re up to, to what properly serves the world” … i.e., what we must do to carry out our mission; 3. figuring out “how we do all that” … finding “a form of life on campus that allows us to do all this thinking in a fully civil, candid, ingenious, participative way.” Clarifying the vision In the first two years of Frame’s presidency the entire campus engaged itself in a highly collaborative process, which included commissions charged with producing working papers around issues that would form the groundwork for a vision document. English professor Joan Griffin, describes that period: “When Bill Frame became president of Augsburg, the College suddenly became Lutheran. I’m exaggerating, of course, but despite the required religion courses and daily chapel, our Lutheran identity was something that we took for granted: we did not always connect it with how we go about doing our work. 18 “But then Bill arrived, and even the least theologically sophisticated among us became familiar with the kingdom on the right and the kingdom on the left, freedom, paradox, and of course, most of all, vocation. Bill changed the Augsburg lexicon.” Griffin and physics professor Mark Engebretson were charged with shaping the 250 pages of discussion into the College’s first vision document, Augsburg 2004: Extending the Vision, approved by the Board of Regents in 1999. Five years later, as 2004 approached, Frame again called the campus community into discussion about updates to the vision. Again, Griffin and Engebretson compiled a revised vision document, The Augsburg Vocation: Access and Excellence, that succeeds in bringing vision and practice closer together. Tracy Elftmann ’81, vice president for institutional advancement and former regent, commented, “The leadership Bill brought to our visioning work is nothing short of extraordinary. The clarity of purpose in Augsburg’s vision provides balance, meaning, and motivation to our daily work. We know who we are and what we are here to do. “Let’s be clear,” she continued, “this is not Bill’s vision for Augsburg—it’s our vision. We wrote it, we work it, we live it. The collaborative effort to bring this work to full fruition was laborious but well worth the effort.” Tom Morgan, vice president for planning and market development, added additional context. “Through Bill’s leadership we have rediscovered who we are and clarified where we need to go. More than simply words on a page, we have been inspired to rededicate ourselves to a course that was charted at the time of the College’s founding.” Carrying out the vision The most significant result of the revisioning process was the launching of a new general education curriculum to imprint the core values of the vision. Griffin led a faculty team that crafted a new Core Curriculum. Combined with the depth of study in a major, this would prepare students for careers and service in the world. Ideas of vocation, citizenship, and engagement are reflected in the signature elements of the Core Curriculum— Search for Meaning courses to explore vocation; the first-year program that Summer 2006 Staff photo The LEGACY of WILLIAM FRAME’S YEARS at AUGSBURG (1997-2006) New programs • New general education—Core Curriculum • Scholastic/Corporate Connections • New master’s degrees—education, nursing, physician assistant, and business administration • Youth and family ministry major • Finalizing and naming first endowed chair—Christensen Chair in Religion • Growth of StepUP program • Degree programs in Rochester Community partnerships/collaborations: • Nursing degree programs at United Hospital and Rochester • Augsburg-Capella innovative“brick-click” courses • Faith in the City—plus the spin-off Augsburg Academy for Health Careers • Clinical Lab Science program with Fairview Capital buildings/improvements: • New Hall—apartment-style residence hall • Groundbreaking for Melby Hall expansion includes learning about and connecting with the city; experience gained through internships, research, community service, and global study; and a keystone summative seminar. Combined with a liberal arts foundation and skills development, students prepare to become effective, informed, and ethical citizens. Important to Augsburg’s vision are a number of new programs that provide access to education for students who lack it for various reasons: Scholastic Connections, a scholarship program that matches students of color with alumni of color in mentoring relationships; StepUP, a nationally-recognized program that provides support to students in addiction recovery to help them succeed academically; and graduate programs to help students understand the world through a lens of vocation. Augsburg’s vision has taken the College into many new and innovative partnerships. A program in Rochester now serves 300 students, mostly from Mayo Clinic and IBM, who wish to complete baccalaureate and some graduate degrees. An unusual partnership with Capella University involves Augsburg faculty developing and teaching online courses. One of Frame’s key leadership roles was helping to found Faith in the City, a collaboration of seven urban Lutheran institutions in Minneapolis that together seek to improve the quality of life in the community. Included is the year-old Augsburg Academy for Health • Link between Library and Sverdrup/Memorial— Sverdrup renovation, new atrium • Christensen Center renovation—welcome and gathering area, coffee shop, gallery space • Purchase and renovation of Augsburg House • New signage on Mortensen Hall and on I-94 • Upgrading of residence halls • Replacement of Edor Nelson Field turf • Overall beautification of grounds • Sale of Ice Arena to gain lease-back arrangement and capital • Added two new parking lots and upgraded security • Purchased additional perimeter properties around campus Administrative • Creation of Enrollment Center as one-stop shop • Creation/consolidation of Center for Service, Work, and Learning • Creation of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) from McNair program Awards/Recognition • 2006—Augsburg Medal Left: President Frame poses for a moment with the directors of the ethnic programs at the annual Scholastic Connections dinner in October 2005. (L to R) Bao Thao, Cindy Peterson, Frame, Emiliano Chagil, and Trena Bolden Fields. • 2006—award from Lutheran Educational Council of North America Top: First-year students hear from the president on City Service Projects day during their Augsburg Seminar. • 2004-05 chair of Minnesota Private College Council Summer 2006 • Project director for Council of Independent Colleges’ 19 Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission seminars • 2006—Toby LaBelle award from StepUP to Anne and Bill Frame • 2003-04 president of the ELCA Council of College Presidents Careers, a joint charter school with Fairview Health Services that prepares high school students for careers and vocations in health care. Augsburg, under Frame’s leadership, has gained considerable recognition for its visioning work. Elftmann stated, “College presidents across the country consistently ask Bill how Augsburg was able to capture its essence, its purpose, its wholeness so well. Bill’s contributions have established Augsburg as a national leader in terms of strategic direction and future focus. “ The College was recognized by The Princeton Review and Campus Compact as a “college with a conscience.” It consistently ranks high for service-learning programs and is one of 12 colleges selected for excellence in first-year programs. Frame has served as president of the ELCA Council of College Presidents, as chair of the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC), and as project director for the Council on Independent Colleges (CIC) seminars reflecting on vocation and institutional mission. He also has received awards from the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America (LECNA) and Augsburg’s StepUP program, who selected Anne and Bill Frame for the 2006 Toby LaBelle Award for support of its ideals. Changing the culture Frame’s third agenda item from his 1997 interview was the creation of a campus culture that would support and model the mission and vision. His first task was confronting what he called “militant modesty,” the difficulty of the College to “toot its own horn.” He immediately put a great deal of attention on both tangible improvements—fixing up and painting residence halls, landscaping, new facilities—and more deep-seated changes, such as making Augsburg salaries more competitive. Griffin says that Frame has been able to get Augsburg to “think big about ourselves”—in both small ways, like the campus improvements, as well as bigger ways, with new programs and initiatives. “I think we’re becoming more willing to 20 embrace our complexity—and also our promise,” she said. The Frame presidency has been one very much shared by both Bill and Anne Frame. Anne has been active in a number of Augsburg programs, contributing her business expertise, hospitality, and much volunteer time. She told faculty and staff that after long consideration of how to describe her role at Augsburg, she had recently been introduced in a way that seemed very comfortable to her—“this is Anne Frame, she’s a member of the Augsburg community and happens to be married to our president.” Hospitality, from the theological sense to a simple friendly welcome, has become a hallmark of the vision—and one in which Anne has played a significant role. Their sharing of Augsburg House as a center for college hospitality has opened new dimensions in how community members relate to each other. In March Bill Frame articulated Augsburg’s vision of hospitality: “[Our college] welcomes the stranger as a gift to a learning community composed of students, many in the guise of faculty and staff colleagues, who cannot proceed in their own quests for vitality and hope without constant contact with a diverse array of learning styles and even learning capacities, each one at least beginning to feel that deep and absorbing hunger to know.” In an interview with Augsburg Echo, Frame recently reflected on what he considers his proudest moment—“having our envisioning work recognized as distinctive by candidates and their sponsors for the 11th presidency of the College.” And, indeed, President-elect Paul Pribbenow told faculty and staff in March, “I would not be here if I did not find your aspirations inspiring and compelling.” Griffin offered an Augsburg community perspective: “I think at least part of the excitement of the approaching Pribbenow era is that Bill brought us to a point where we can imagine how much farther we can go.” Since February, when Pribbenow was chosen by Augsburg regents, an unusual The Frame years in print William Frame has published a collection of writings and speeches from his years as president at Augsburg College. He says it intends to both “provide a record of the principal stops on the faith and reason journey on which I was sent when elected as Augsburg’s 10th president,” and to share his connection with Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. The book’s preface was written by the Rev. Mark Hanson ’68, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Published by Lutheran University Press in Minneapolis, the book is available in bookstores, online, and at <www. lutheranUpress.org>. Proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to Augsburg’s annual fund. collaboration has developed. Frame invited Pribbenow to share the podium with him in March at the College’s all-faculty and all-staff meeting. Mark Hanson ’68, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), summarizes the impact of the Frame years, “… Bill draws upon the great themes of the Lutheran Reformation and weaves them into the mission of a Lutheran urban college in the 21st century. When Bill Frame speaks, I want to ask him to stop after each sentence so that we can ponder the depth of his wisdom.” In every way, the Frame presidency has been one of introspection and distinction, even to his legendary eloquence and penchant to speak long. Quipped student body president Paul Cumings, “He will be missed. Even his dry humor and lengthy lectures.” ■ Summer 2006 At Augsburg House—since 1998 Frequency of events: about twice a week Events held: 430 In 1998, the Augsburg Board of Regents authorized the purchase of a house for the home of the president and a gathering place for campus events. In January 2006 Anne Frame talked to the Board of Regents about hospitality at Augsburg House. Following are excerpts of her talk. People who have attended: 8,600 Catering by Augsburg-Sodexho staff (as of January 2006) Staff photo HOSPITALITY and the House BY ANNE FRAME I I’ve been asked to think about some of the ways my work with Augsburg is applied to implementing the idea of hospitality. The Augsburg Vocation, our vision document, talks about community and intentional diversity– language that conceived of this College as a welcoming place, where persons are accepted, perhaps because of their differences, and where a community is developed that contributes to the learning for all of us. Much of my work takes place away from this Riverside campus. From the beginning, Bill and I—ironically, as the newcomers—took as our job helping the various constituents of the campus feel at home here. We have visited alumni and friends of the College in many locations to let them know what is going on now at Augsburg, and specifically to emphasize that they are welcome here. That they, as a part of Augsburg’s history, therefore have a place in its present. And, as we have learned much from their stories and memories, we hope they have strengthened or rekindled their bonds to this place. We have been privileged both to live at Augsburg House and to use it frequently for College events. A plaque in the entry hall—carved by a Norwegian in Iowa—states our purpose: In this place we extend to our guests the friendship and hospitality of the Augsburg Community in loving memory of Adeline Marie Rasmussen Johnson ’31 and through the Summer 2006 generosity of James and Kathleen Haglund and Milton and Dorothy Kleven. So we are acting for the community and have practiced that hospitality to student groups, to faculty and staff, to the regents, the parents and alumni and friends of the College, to neighborhood and community groups who may not know Augsburg well. We have done this in as many different forms as we can think of: with receptions, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, conversations. We bring these groups together for food and fellowship, for study and discussions. We feel that getting to know each other better, spending time together, and talking about the College together helps us to be a stronger community. Frequent remarks I hear as people learn how many groups and events are at Augsburg House each year come in one of two forms, the first being, “You must get really tired of having so many people at your house.” (The answer is a very clear “no.”) The other comment is, “You must really be a party person!” I don't think that’s quite the case, either. But these two questions have caused me to try to express what it is that I do like about using Augsburg House in this way. What do I get out of it? The answer is … getting to know the wide and diverse constituency that is Augsburg—learning histories and connections, hearing staff and faculty speak across their areas of expertise, and listening and discussing ideas with each other. Bill and Anne Frame welcome the community to Augsburg House. What a rare privilege this is. It has given me an appreciation of this place that is deeper than I could have discovered elsewhere. It has widened my horizons, expanded my understandings, and has made this College house truly “home” to me. What we do at the house is intentional, and I believe it’s consistent with trying to build our community, as stated in The Augsburg Vocation, “the development of a sense of connectedness that leads to lasting relationships.” The author of the Book of Hebrews exhorts his readers: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” And I’m convinced there are at least a few angels hanging around Augsburg. 21 Augsburg’s original MBAs The Class of 2006 BY BETHANY BIERMAN 22 Summer 2006 The AUGSBURG MBA Nathan Appel joined the army right out of high school in Colorado and spent several years in the service. He eventually came to Minnesota to attend the university but “became tired of rollerblading from Timbuktu to a class where another student taught us.” So he transferred to another college, taking evening classes to finish his undergraduate degree in management. His campus? A hotel conference room in the suburbs. His cohort? Number 327. Later, with his career at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage well underway, Appel decided to return to school for his Master of Business Administration degree. He was about to choose another program when he received an MBA postcard from Augsburg. He came to an information session and was sold. His new campus? A small, fully functioning campus in the heart of Minneapolis. His cohort? Number 1. “It’s kind of cool … We are the original,” Appel says. A JUMP-START LAUNCH This May, Augsburg graduated the first four sections, or cohorts, of its new Master of Business Administration program—a total of 84 students. The 20-month program evolved from eight years of discussion, research, and planning by members of the business department, with Professor David Schwain serving as the chief designer. “In the feasibility study, our researcher found that our business program ranked third best business program in the state by those students taking the GMAT,” says John Cerrito, chair of the Department of Business Administration. “Of course, we did not have a grad program at that time, which the two programs that ranked higher did, so we felt we’d have good acceptance in the market. When we introduced the MBA, we met with instant success.” In fact, recruiting one group to start the program doubled into two, as 44 students responded by the time the MBA began in fall 2004. The initial goal of four cohorts by the end of three years was met within four months of launching the program. It was these students who became Augsburg’s first MBAs in May. THE CAPTAIN Since its launch 20 months ago, under the direction of Robert Kramarczuk, the MBA program has grown to over 300 students. Kramarczuk’s international career had included teaching at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, running several successful businesses, and starting up six other graduate educational programs. He was already enjoying retirement, but the Augsburg call was too good to pass up. He was attracted to Augsburg’s commitment to service-learning, Top: MBA director Robert Kramarczuk places a hood on Kristen Schell, one of 84 in the first class of MBA graduates. Bottom: Sarah Anton offers a comment to her classmates in Cohort 3. Summer 2006 23 “In the real world, you don’t function on your own. You rely upon other people.” —CHRISTINE WAGGONER ’97, ’06 MBA which became an integral component in the MBA. “The program reflects very well Augsburg’s mission—service to others,” Kramarczuk says. “It’s a hallmark of our program.” One group of MBA students spends time in the Somali community. All are involved in field projects where, as a team, students work with an organization for 10 to 11 months. Kramarczuk says that these sorts of experiences put Augsburg’s MBA students “ten levels above” those in other programs. “The other key factor is that we consider really good leaders to differ from others by being able to think critically … That’s woven into the entire program.” Even with six other successful program starts, Kramarczuk considers Augsburg’s unique. “We look at it from a different perspective. We look at it as your life’s purpose or vocation, with the MBA being a critical leg in this life’s journey… We tell our students, ‘After you get this MBA, you’ll say this is probably one of the most important decisions you’ve made in your life.’” Jamie Schiller, MBA coordinator, and graduate As a requirement for Christine Waggoner pause from the action of an MBA admission to the program, each softball game. applicant must personally interview with Kramarczuk. “It’s humbling to hear them share and discuss THE CURRICULUM their goals and aspirations and how the The intense curriculum includes finance MBA fits into this process. … I consider and economics, local and global issues, myself almost like a peer. I love my organizational management, and students, and I think they kind of like leadership ethics. Through application me.” and research, students learn to Like him they do, and at a recent implement ideas and communicate vital event they presented Kramarczuk with an statistical, financial, and other critical award. Accolades include these words business-related data in an evolving work from Babette Blumenauer of Cohort 4: environment. “He has started this program that will The required field project, which change my life course. … I am not just a serves as the thesis for the MBA, often number or an obscure student here. Dr. responds to real-world requests that Kramarczuk … gives me time, shows he come to the program from business and cares, and he knows my name. And that industry. has meant a lot to me.” “Book learning is very different from Announcing • • • • • • NEW MBA GRADUATE CERTIFICATES Finance Financial planning Human resource management International business Marketing management Music business management Graduate certificates provide applied, practical, graduate-level training to enhance skills and advance careers. In addition, they can later be applied toward a master’s degree. Certificates can be earned in as few as six months with courses meeting one evening per week for seven weeks. Cohorts will form beginning this fall. For information, call 612-330-1390. 24 real-life experience,” says Christine Waggoner of Cohort 2. “It’s that real-life experience that is discussed and studied in this program.” Waggoner earned her bachelor’s degree from Augsburg in 1997. “Given my positive experience as an undergraduate, I cannot tell you how excited I was when I received the postcard announcing that Augsburg was starting an MBA program,” she says. “At Augsburg, the professors know you. They tailor their teaching methods to the students in their class. They share their personal stories … [and] successes and failures they’ve gone through.” “When you finish, you will be at a higher level of leadership and decisionmaking,” Kramarczuk says. Additionally, because of the liberal arts background, an Summer 2006 Augsburg MBA graduate will be more of a “cosmopolitan” thinker. Waggoner confirms this. “I have a new outlook on the way I view myself and my career. I have a lot more confidence in my ability to lead, manage, and make strategic business decisions.” A significant number of students have been offered new jobs and promotions as a result of what they have taken away from the MBA program. LIFE IN THE COHORT The cohort model has been critical to the success of the program. It allows students to build relationships and become almost like family to each other as they travel together through the sequence of courses. “Taking classes as a member of a cohort has really enriched my learning experience,” says Waggoner. “Classes are sequentially ordered so that students build upon learned skills, and those skills are continually reinforced throughout the program. The program is organized so students can focus on learning.” This even includes providing a warm meal before each evening class. “[Students] have an opportunity to sit together,” says Kramarczuk. “They are from different professions, different parts of the Twin Cities. They sit down to really communicate about class work, personal life, professional life.” “In the real world, you don’t function on your own,” Waggoner says. “You rely upon other people.” “You learn a lot from the students, too,” adds Appel. “There are people of diverse backgrounds—professional backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, age groups…” This group atmosphere extends beyond the classroom to social events and celebrations. Appel formed and managed a softball team with players representing multiple cohorts. They ordered Augsburg caps and jerseys and even won a game. “We were beyond awful, but we had a lot of spirit!” Waggoner says. “When Cohorts 3 and 4 came on board, we had a little party at Kramarczuk’s Deli,” reminisces Appel. “Bob [Kramarczuk] wrote a ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ song and made them sing it.” The parody was titled “Auggie, the Adult Professional.” These kick-off dinners have become a tradition, with older cohorts welcoming new ones. Other social events have included the students’ families, giving them a chance to meet classmates and professors. Already, a graduation celebration is in the planning, where awards will be handed out and, in line with tradition, Kramarczuk’s musical parodies will probably be sung. THE CAMPUS MBA director Bob Kramarczuk (left) and Auggie Eagle (right) lead Cohorts 3 and 4 in their “initiation” song. The opportunity to study on a “real” campus also attracts students to the program. “Here, you come to school,” Appel says. “There’s people with laptops, people studying, there’s the bookstore… When I meet my cohort outside of class to study, we meet at the library. You feel like you “[My classmates are] people I respect… very smart people. Just like family.” —SUNNY OLISE ’06 MBA MBA graduate Nathan Appel, originator of the MBA softball team, strikes a pose. Summer 2006 Nigerian-born Sunny Olise came to the U.S. to study business and appreciates the small-group atmosphere in Augsburg's MBA program. 25 are in school… Now, actually coming to campus just feels more like I’m at an institution of higher learning and all that goes along with that.” Nigerian-born Sunny Olise began studying in Lindell Library while he was an undergraduate business student at another school because he found it to be a more calming and productive place for him to work. So when he heard the ad for Augsburg’s new MBA program on the radio, he said to himself, “Yeah, it’s a good school.” Olise called Kramarczuk and told him the story of how he woke up one day after working for the Nigerian government for 21 years wanting to “try something new.” The two later met in the coffee center of Christensen Center. At the end of their visit, Kramarczuk said, “Congratulations, Sunny. You’re in!” “I didn’t even know he was interviewing me,” Olise says, laughing. From there, Kramarczuk took Olise to the bookstore to purchase his books. Less than two years later, Olise is one of the Cohort 4 graduates. He describes his group as “people I respect… very smart people. Just like family.” “In addition to the knowledge you get from the MBA program, there’s a lot of prestige attached to it,” says Olise. “I work full time, I have a full-time family, I attended school, and I’m a chess addict… I have no regrets whatsoever. None.” COMING OF AGE Kramarczuk considers the number of students pretty close to the maximum the College can currently support, although he sees a huge potential for growth. In response to a particular need, Augsburg now offers the full MBA program at Thrivent Financial’s corporate center in downtown Minneapolis. Several students have transferred in from nearby programs, and Kramarczuk anticipates an eventual 100 students at the Thrivent location alone. Augsburg also launched its first MBA cohort in Rochester in fall 2005, its second last winter, and will add its third this fall. 26 “Augsburg is a very traditional institution, while the MBA is a very entrepreneurial effort. There’s continual adjustment that’s had to happen on both ends,” Kramarczuk says. “It’s seems to be progressing well.” “We want to continue to develop graduate business programs geared toward executives. We are also developing MBA programs in specific concentration areas such as international business,” says Cerrito. Putting their MBA “It’s kind of scary being the first class of MBAs, but Augsburg’s reputation in the metro and in the region is solid,” Appel says. “The undergraduate business program has a really good reputation. Hopefully we’ll piggyback off of that. … I’m banking on Augsburg’s reputation carrying weight. I think it will.” ■ For more information about the MBA program, go to <www.augsburg.edu/mba>. (L to R): Derek Zielin, Max Boller, David Sandvig, Matthew Barrett, Sarah Anton, Scott Kretzschmar TO WORK Many MBA students seek out the program to help them advance in their current positions. For some students in Cohort 3, however, the program provided the foundation for a new business venture. One particular group of students began talking during breaks, after class, and, of course, over the pre-class dinners. At these dinners, student Sarah Anton says, “We learn about our families, our goals, our plans for the future.” These discussions led to the creation of Minnesota Business Consultants, LLP (MBC), a group of five men and Anton. “Each member brings a different expertise to the group that comes out of our diverse career paths,” she says. MBC specializes in strategic planning and profit maximization for small- to medium-size businesses. “Guiding businesses that might wish to re-evaluate their current financial picture” is the mission, according to Anton. “We see using the contacts we’ve gained from Augsburg to develop a client base and to develop a niche in an industry where small businesses are struggling. We believe small businesses are an important part of our Minnesota culture.” MBC is starting out in rental office space, and each consultant will maintain his or her current job until MBC is able to support them fully. “It’s a natural progression of the excellent talent pool that Kramarczuk puts together,” says Anton. “It would surprise me if there aren’t more businesses formed out of the MBA cohorts.” Summer 2006 on tour with the AUGSBURG Choir STORY AND PHOTOS BY JUDY PETREE HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW WROTE, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” As the Augsburg Choir set out on its European concert tour they would come to understand the meaning of Longfellow’s words. From May 8-21, under the direction of Peter Hendrickson ’76, the choir toured Budapest, Hungary; Prague and Kutna Hora, Czech Republic; and Dresden and Leipzig, Germany, where the tour ended at the American Choral Festival. The 66-voice choir sang in basilicas that took their breaths away, in churches that dated back to the 1300s, and in one of the finest concert halls in Europe. Their audiences included U. S. citizens living in Europe as well as people who could speak little or no English. The choir learned that it wasn’t the words they sang, but rather the music they made that touched hearts and brought smiles—and sometimes even tears—to the people who came to hear them. They also learned how music is indeed a universal language, and that experiences like these also create bonds among themselves that last across continents and time. On the return trip home, tenor Hayes Kaufman ’09 said when he joined the choir his dad expressed his hope that someday he, Hayes, would come to appreciate the opportunity he was being given. “I think I already have,” Kaufman told his fellow choir members. “Thanks to everyone for this great trip, the memories, and opportunity.” H U N G A R Y, Summer 2006 C Z E C H R E P U B L I C , A N D G E R M A N Y 27 B U D A P E S T , K U T N A H O R A , P R A G U E , D R E S D E N , L E I P Z I G (1) The concert tour began at St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, Hungary, the city’s largest church. Not only its beauty and magnificence awed the choir, but also the sound of their voices. Tenor Tony Wallin ’08 said he couldn’t believe that “we, the Augsburg Choir, would ever have the opportunity to sing in such a place.” (2) In the small Czech town of Kutna Hora, once famous for its silver mines, the choir sang at St. Barbara’s Cathedral. Here, a few choir members take a break at intermission to catch a view of the town at night. (Front row, L to R) Aleah Tebben, Mike Schmit, Colin Callander, Kathryn Goerges (Back row, L to R) Stacey Zeutenhorst, Miranda Nelson, Eric Anderson, Adam Krumwiede, Tom Robinson and Kent Bodurtha. 1 In Prague, the choir sang at St. Ignatius, an active church run by Jesuit monks that was begun in 1665 and completed in 1671. 2 3 4 28 (3) At a stop in Krabcice, another small Czech town, the choir performed for an audience of senior citizens, most of whom knew no English. A highlight of the tour for many of the students was a song they sang in the Czech language, for which they received a standing ovation and compliments on their pronunciation. “This by far has been the best part of the tour for me,” said soprano Molly Shortall ’07, who enjoyed talking with one of the senior citizens after the concert. “It was better than the larger concerts because you could just feel that it meant so much to these people. These are people who had their culture taken away from them for so many years, and now you can see how much it must mean to them to get it back.” (4) The audience was sparse but very appreciative at Annen Kirche in Dresden, Germany, one of the only churches there to escape bombing during World War II. A woman in the front row was so clearly moved by the choir’s singing, she would direct along with Peter and, at times, smile broadly and cry quietly. Summer 2006 B U D A P E S T , K U T N A H O R A , K R A B C I C E , D R E S D E N , L E I P Z I G “It doesn’t always matter how many people are in the audience, said bass Dave Czepa ’06. He spoke for many of the choir members as he said, “that one lady and what this obviously meant to her made the whole concert worth it.” (5) In Leipzig, Germany—home to such famous composers as Bach and Handel—the choir visited St. Thomaskirche, where Johann Sebastian Bach was a cantor and where he is buried. They also toured St. Nicholaskirche, founded in 1165. 6 (6) The choir teamed up with the Northwestern College Choir of St. Paul to perform at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig for the American Choral Festival. They sang several songs as a massed choir, plus each choir performed on its own. Joining the choir was Augsburg alumna Nicole (Warner) Simml ’01. Simml now lives in Germany teaching voice and performing frequently. Performing solos are (L to R) Nicole (Warner) Simml; Krista Costin, Augsburg; Nathan Bird, Northwestern; and Dave Czepa, Augsburg. Directing is Northwestern choir director Timothy Sawyer, with Augsburg director Peter Hendrickson on piano. What was the most memorable part of the trip— the beautiful churches; the scenery; experiencing different cultures, food, and languages? Not according to many of the students. What they will remember most are the bonds and friendships they made with each other. Although the choir has been singing together all year, they found that sometimes it takes an experience such as this to get to know each other really well. Alto Kellin Pray ’08 said she really enjoyed being with others who enjoy the same thing. The sad part, she added, is now saying goodbye to the seniors whom they were just starting to really know. 7 5 8 (7) (L to R) Kellin Pray, Bri’Ann Wright, and Micah Erickson. (8) (L to R) Emily Denstad, Emma Stensvaag, and Adena Berg. (9) Mother’s Day greetings from Prague were sent home by Brian Halaas and Kari Aanestad. 9 Summer 2006 29 E very week more than 2,000 people fill the Plymouth Playhouse in the Twin Cities’ suburb for an afternoon or evening of laughter, sharing the lives of four women and their pastor in the church basement of the East Cornucopia Lutheran Church. The play, Church Basement Ladies, pays homage to the stalwart women who cooked for and served every church congregation. And it strikes a chord with anyone who grew up in the 1950s and ’60s across the Midwest, whether they be Lutheran, Methodist, or Presbyterian—it was all part of their own experience. Church Basement Ladies is based on the Scandinavian humor books of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann (Johnson) Nelson, both 1968 Augsburg graduates. On stage the role of the church’s matriarch, Mrs. Lars Snustad, is played by Janet Paone ’83. For all three of them, their Augsburg experiences play big. Martin and Nelson came to Augsburg in 1964 as freshmen, each attracted to the big city and driven by the desire to escape a future as a farm wife. When they arrived, Augsburg was in the midst of great change, reflecting new college direction and leadership—the College had just merged into the American Lutheran Church after the demise of the Lutheran Free Church, and Oscar Anderson had just become president. Students were pushed to explore and understand the social and racial issues of the city around them, forever changing their worldviews. Nelson aspired to be a home economics teacher, but by the end of her “God knew that if there were going to be growing, self-sustaining, active Lutheran Churches in America, he would have to create a special species of people, so He created the Lutheran Church Basement Women.” —Growing Up Lutheran, Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann (Johnson) Nelson, 1997 first semester had switched to political science, and then in her sophomore year to Scandinavian studies when the new major was announced. She studied Norwegian and was active in the Norwegian Club, which led to many opportunities, such as meeting the visiting King Olav V of Norway. Both Martin and Nelson felt comfortable at Augsburg. They loved the big city around them, but appreciated the small-town comfort of the campus. What they discovered was that smalltown Scandinavian Lutheran life was the same everywhere. Nelson recalls the many nights she and classmates from small towns across the Upper Midwest sat around in Gerda Mortensen Hall and talked about their common backgrounds. “We all grew up the same way,” Martin confirms. Students not from rural small towns were commuter students, and Nelson remembers stunning her city roommates by talking about eating cream on bread. So much so that she and others went shopping and demonstrated how it was made and eaten. Paone arrived at Augsburg 15 years later. By then Augsburg was less THOSE Lutheran ladies BY BETSEY NORGARD 30 Summer 2006 Top: Janet Letnes Martin ’68 began writing down her experiences growing up in rural North Dakota and calls herself a “NorwegianLutheran farm girl humorist.” Suzann (Johnson) Nelson ’68 used her Scandinavian studies to inspire the characters of rural Norwegian Minnesota in her books. Janet Paone ’83 has made a career in acting and voiceover work, and brings her Augsburg experience to the stage in Church Basement Ladies Bottom: From The Augsburgian, 1968. Bottom: From The Augsburgian, 1968. Bottom: From The Augsburgian, 1981. obviously Norwegian Lutheran and far more diverse, but it was because of the Lutheran church that Paone chose it. Her mother was Lutheran and her father was Catholic. She was raised in Abiding Savior Lutheran Church, but within her family she felt the stigma of being the child of a parent who “turned,” i.e., married outside the Lutheran faith. She feels her father’s family never really accepted her Lutheran mother. After applying to music schools in New York, she decided to stay home for college and chose Augsburg because she had always respected and enjoyed the Augsburg students who were counselors at Lake Wapogassett Lutheran Bible Camp. She had also considered the ministry, but she ended up in the theatre program. “There was definitely a Norwegian Lutheran influence at Augsburg,” Paone says. “There was a Scandinavian studies major, and most people’s names ended in –son, -sen, -gard, or –dal.” She also remembers the aesthetic influence of the “good” dinnerware with Scandinavian design used for special dinners. Martin and Nelson graduated in 1968, but neither returned to her small town. On a Norwegian Club trip to Decorah, Iowa, Nelson had met Ronald E. Nelson ’67; in March 1967 they were married in Mindekirken, the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church in Minneapolis. She studied Scandinavian literature in graduate school and for 10 summers directed Skogfjorden, the Norwegian Language Village. Martin married shortly after college and began raising a family. More than a decade later, in 1983, while helping her mother-in-law research family history, she became frustrated at not finding much information about life in rural communities and decided to begin writing down what it was like growing up. Together with Allen Todnem ’64, also an Augsburg graduate, she co-authored Cream and Bread, and then Second Helpings of Cream and Bread. Martin and Nelson remained close friends. In 1994, on a whim, Martin suggested that Nelson should write a book with her, and Nelson quit her job the same day. Sitting around the kitchen table in their flannel nightgowns enjoying Summer 2006 31 REMEMBERING those Lutheran ladies BY DAVE WOOD IT WAS THE MID-1980S. I had recently been appointed book review editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune after a lengthy stint as English teacher at Augsburg and feature writer for the old Tribune. “Dave,” said the receptionist, “There’s an author out here in the lobby who wants to see you.” Wow. My first author. Who would it be? I trotted down to the lobby to discover a woman who looked like a pert middle-aged housewife from Hastings, Minn., which, in fact, she was. “Hi,” she said, thrusting an enormous layer cake into my paws. “I’m Janet Martin. I went to Augsburg back in the ’60s. I’ve written a book and if you’ll review it the cake is yours.” Looking back, I sincerely hope I wasn’t too condescending when I explained to Janet Letnes Martin that Star Tribune policy prohibited my taking gifts, blah blah blah. “OK,” she said, unflappable. “I’ll take back the cake. You take the book.” So there I was with Janet Letnes Martin’s first literary effort, Cream on Bread. I gave it a whirl. It was wonderful. As a minor ethnician of the times, I had read lots of this stuff, like Howard Mohr’s work, and I think I knew what was good. Janet Martin’s was excellent. No cheap shots. There were no big yuks in Cream on Bread, just lots of little ones. That’s because Janet Martin was smart enough to know that there aren’t a lot of big yuks in Lutherandom, but lots and lots of little ones. That’s why she became one of Lutheran humor’s most honest purveyors. Was I surprised? Yes. But I shouldn’t have been. I had taught for 10 years at Augsburg, not too many years after she had graduated. I had taught at four other schools before my arrival there and was continually surprised at the little college’s vitality and intellectuality. Sure, there was a streak of inferiority feeling running through the student body. The University of Minnesota students across Riverside Ave. called Augsburg “God’s Little Acre.” We had great music, science, art, and poetry, but the steam heat system in Old Main on a cold day sounded like the last 15 minutes before the H.M.S. Titanic went down. Nevertheless we had great 32 Dave Wood is a past vice-president of the National Book Critics Circle and former book review editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He taught English and journalism at Augsburg from 1969 to 1981. poetry readings, students went off to good graduate schools. Best, we all had lots of fun, parked right in the middle of a seedy old section of Minneapolis. But back to Janet Letnes Martin. Her first book was a success followed by many more, including one of my favorites, which involved Hastings housewife/detective Shirley Holmquist, a direct steal from Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1994, her Auggie classmate, Suzann Nelson of Grand Rapids, Minn., joined her and their books tumbled out, books like their monumental theological tract about Lutherans and Roman Catholics entitled They Glorified Mary … We Glorified Rice. They also performed two-woman shows, filling church basements across the Midwest. Ever since the Martin/Nelson success, I’ve been a bit jealous. I’ve tried my hand with ethnic humor. Like Martin and Nelson I grew up in a little Norwegian Lutheran town. But my stuff never lit any fires. Why did theirs? I’ve come to think that Augsburg College had a lot to do with it. Augsburg was traditionally on the outer fringe of the Lutheran establishment. Its supporting synod, the Lutheran Free Church, was always suspicious of clericalism, authority, big shots. An immigrant church, it had to survive by its wits. (Janet Letnes Martin, you see, didn’t actually think her layer cake would persuade me to review her book. It was just a way of tweaking my self-satisfaction, cutting me and the Star Tribune down to size.) And so the two pious girls from small farm towns came to God’s Little Acre in the heart of the Sinful City and found out one could love one’s church and have some fun with it, too. I look back more than a quarter century at the students like Martin and Nelson and wonder at their successes, many of which have just a bit of orneriness in common. It’s a wonderful tradition and the women who made church basements famous are definitely part of it. And so now the girls are moving out onto the national scene. Martin and Nelson are no longer girls, but I can’t help thinking of them in that way, for their girlish glee and for poking a little fun at the basements where they both spent hundreds of hours learning that certain concepts were “most certainly true.” I have only one bit of advice and that’s for Janet Letnes Martin. If and when you get to New York City, don’t bring a layer cake to the offices of the New York Times Book Review. The editor won’t get it. Summer 2006 copious amounts of both coffee and laughter, the two women began to capture recollections and memories as they spilled out. Nelson has said that it’s her job to jog people’s memories and their job to laugh. Their intention is never to make fun of anyone or anything. “There’s a fine line between making fun of something and having fun with it,” Martin told an interviewer. “Hopefully we’ll never cross it.” Three books came within the first six months. So far, they’ve written nine books together, the most popular being Growing Up Lutheran: What Does This Mean?, which won a Minnesota Book Award for humor. Requests for speaking engagements also started coming, and for several years Martin and Nelson crisscrossed each others’ paths as they spoke to church groups, women’s groups, and local organizations. Then they devised a comedy routine and began appearing together as “Those Lutheran Ladies”— nothing more than sharing their own backgrounds. An idea for a play came about when TroupeAmerica’s president and executive producer-director, Curt Wollan, hired Those Lutheran Ladies to perform for three weeks at the Medora Musical in North Dakota. Wollan invited a playwright-couple, Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke, to pen the script. Wollan, who had grown up as “Lutherans attending a Lutheran college in the ’50s and ’60s did not have to prepare themselves for any big culture shock. Some of them even shared the same last name— but were not related.” —Growing Up Lutheran, Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann (Johnson) Nelson, 1997 president of his Luther League and the son of a dedicated church basement lady, encouraged Paone to take the part of matronly Vivian Snustad, the unequivocal and uncompromising queen of the church basement ladies in his fictional East Cornucopia Lutheran Church. Paone, a veteran character actress seen in Tony ’n Tina’s Wedding, pushed for revisions to the script through a workshop process in order to engage Mrs. Snustad more with the audience. This character is a curmudgeon, but works through her issues and begins to understand why things must eventually change—beginning with her consternation over the hymnals changing from black to red. Church Basement Ladies previewed at several locations before settling into its long run at the Plymouth Playhouse. Paone recalls opening in Fargo, where the cast was extremely nervous about how it would go over. Once the audience started laughing and didn’t stop, Paone remembers the “neat moment” between acts when the cast suddenly realized that “this thing is going to be huge.” Audiences react differently to the play, Paone says, and she can tell by what they laugh at whether the crowd (often comprised of large church groups) is Lutheran or Catholic. And, if they react most vividly to the physical comedy aspect, they probably aren’t churchconnected at all. Even if someone is not well versed in the ways of Martin Luther, she says, the play is still very accessible. “It’s about a [small] country church … it’s the social center, with many different layers.” Paone would love to pull more material from Martin and Nelson’s books for the stage, and Martin and Nelson would love to have the current actors stay involved with the East Cornucopia Lutheran Church. What’s next for Those Lutheran Ladies? When asked about it, Martin quickly replies, “Oh, ya, there’s lots more in it.” When they get together and start laughing, she says, “We just run with it … and sometimes we just blurt out the same thing.” And, to quote Martin Luther and the church basement ladies, “This is most certainly true.” ■ “If Scandinavian Lutherans could add one more feast day to the church calendar, it would be the feast of fish and flatbread … Unlike the Catholics who had to eat fish every Friday, Scandinavian Lutherans were only morally obligated to eat it once a year, and that was at the annual Lutefisk supper.” —Growing Up Lutheran, Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann (Johnson) Nelson, 1997 Summer 2006 33 CHURCH Basement Troupe America, Inc. Ladies —you bet it’s a big hit! The cast of Church Basement Ladies (L to R): Janet Paone ’83 (Mrs. Lars Snustad—Vivian), Greta Grosch (Mrs. Gilmer Gilmerson—Mavis), Tim Drake (Pastor E. L. Gunderson), Dorian Chalmers (Mrs. Elroy Engelson-Karin) and Ruthie Baker (Signe Engelson—Karin’s daughter). BY ANY MEASURE, Church Basement Ladies is a monster hit. It has been running for more than 35 weeks at Plymouth Playhouse (scheduled through the end of 2006) at 101% occupancy. It now has a double cast and offers 10 or 11 shows per week. Curt Wollan, producer and director, found inspiration for the play in his own mother. After she died, Wollan was asked if the gift she left the church could be used for their greatest need, a new stove for the kitchen. He agreed, and it was named Lorraine in her honor, a seemingly fitting legacy. “We’re honoring people who are never honored … and who are under-appreciated,” says Wollan. “The play has been hugely popular with women who have worked in church basements, and with their daughters and granddaughters, who are remembering mom and grandmother.” He remembers being a Luther Leaguer in his own church when they’d sing, “Come out, dear ladies, come out, come out” so the women could be recognized, and they were always bashful about it. “They were the unsung heroes of the church—they kept it clean and fed, and the coffee going.” He says the play is universal—it doesn’t matter where or what church you’re in—every church has its basement ladies. The show just happens to be Norwegian Lutheran because it’s based on Nelson and Martin’s book, Growing Up Lutheran. The play is important, he says, because this part of church life is dying. “As women have started to work, there are fewer basement ladies and there is more catering,” says Wollan. “This 34 celebrates the past and its heritage.” Church Basement Ladies is preparing to embark on a ninestate, 50-city tour from January-March 2007, in mostly small towns throughout the Upper Midwest, but reaching as far as New Mexico, Colorado, and Montana. Then, they’ll wait a year and tour bigger cities. Already underway are plans for a second cast to begin production in Chicago. New York is pending, and there has been interest in an off-Broadway venue where it would play in a real Lutheran church basement. Norwegian Lutheran food is central to the play. One of Wollan’s favorite lines is “Lutefisk and lefse are directly descended from the five loaves and two fishes at the Sea of Galilee, and have since lost their color.” The music and lyrics were written by Drew Jansen; here are two samples: From “Closer to Heaven”—“You’re closer to heaven in the church basement, Where we do the Good Lord’s work. Everywhere you look you see spectacular sights; 40 kinds of food to feed some fierce appetites; Nearly new linoleum and fluorescent lights, managed by a stalwart squad. Here below the house of God.” From “Dead Spread”[term for the spreads served on sandwiches following a funeral]—“Dead spread, a splendid affair, to celebrate someone who’s no longer there; dead spread, a wonderful thing, what sweet consolation a hotdish can bring.” For more information, go to <www.plymouthplayhouse.com>. Summer 2006 AAlumni LUMNINews NEWS From the Alumni Board president’s desk… S erving as president of the Augsburg Alumni Board the past year has in many ways been one of the most rewarding and enriching things I have done. I am continually inspired by the many outstanding and diverse accomplishments of our alumni, and I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve the Augsburg Alumni Association and Augsburg Alumni Board over the past seven years. My goal this year was to continue the transformation and forward momentum of the Alumni Board in its journey from the role of an advisory board to a working board. Under discussion has been our advisory member initiative, in which we invite representatives of various campus constituencies to attend our committee meetings in order to foster greater dialogue, e.g. parents, international students, A-Club, the Augsburg Associates, Faculty and Staff Senates. Our Connections Committee, led by Buffie Blesi, undertook an effort to explore possibilities for offering alumni benefits. Stay tuned to hear more about this effort in the coming months. I’m proud to report that Alumni Board members are well on the way to a fourth consecutive year of 100% contribution to the annual fund. Our intention is to continue to build on this tradition of giving, and I am pleased to say that the Alumni Board has also committed to a 100% contribution rate among board members to the Access to Excellence campaign. We are certainly blessed by these commitments and by these gifts. President Frame’s leadership of Augsburg is finishing with tremendous energy, solid growth for the College, and renewal of its vision for the future. The strength and constancy of his leadership has helped draw Augsburg to new levels of recognition. In his own words, “Augsburg plays a unique role in the world of Lutheran education. Its service to the city, to the provision of accessibility to first-class educational opportunities, and its regard for faith and reason as interactive and mutually reinforcing modes of understanding … gives us a special mission.” Augsburg has been truly blessed by President Frame’s incredible leadership the past nine years. I had the privilege of speaking at Augsburg’s 137th Commencement on May 6 and welcoming 752 graduates as the newest members of the Augsburg Alumni Association. Our Alumni Association has grown considerably since my Commencement ceremony a little over 20 years ago, when the Weekend College had just been launched and when graduate programs, the Rochester program, and many others did not yet exist. The Alumni Association in those days numbered around 10-11,000 members and now includes around 18,000. Congratulations and welcome to the Class of 2006! I am excited about Augsburg’s future, the future of the Alumni Association, and the Alumni Board. I hope you will join me in welcoming President-elect Paul Pribbenow and incoming Alumni Board president Barry Vornbrock—the next chapter in our history! Stay close and stay connected. Karina Karlén ’83 President, Alumni Board LSAT prep for a bargain Don’t take out a loan to pay those expensive test prep companies. Augsburg’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) is hosting LSAT Prep on campus this fall. The instructor is Brian Farrell ’95, an attorney and Augsburg alumnus, who scored in the 99th percentile on the exam and taught LSAT prep for Princeton Review. Four sessions are offered: TUES., OCT. 10, 6 TO 9 P.M.-—Homework review, reading comprehension strategy and practice TUES., OCT. 17, 6 TO 9 P.M.—Homework review, continued practice in all sections, overall test-taking strategies, test-day preparation, class questions TUES., SEPT. 26, 6 TO 9 P.M.—General introduction to the LSAT, analytical reasoning strategy and practice The cost for the four sessions is $150 for Augsburg alumni, compared to $580 at the University of Minnesota and over $1300 at Kaplan or Princeton Review. TUES., OCT. 3, 6 TO 9 P.M.—Homework review, logical reasoning strategy and practice To register (limited spaces are available), contact Dixie Shafer, <shafer@augsburg.edu>. Summer 2006 35 Alumni Events Please join us for these upcoming alumni events; unless otherwise noted, call 612-330-1085 or 1-800-260-6590 or e-mail <alumni@augburg.edu> for more information. June August 20 8 Auggie Hours, 5:30-7 p.m. Campiello, 1320 West Lake St., Uptown Minneapolis, 612-825-2222 15 Alumni Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m. Minneapolis Room, Christensen Center 10 Auggie Evening at the Races Canterbury Park, Shakopee, MN Gather your friends and family and join us for free admission and complimentary hors d’oeuvres. RSVP is required and space is limited. 16 Auggies attend Lutheran Night at the Dome Minnesota Twins v. Cleveland Indians, with first pitch at 7:10. Lower level seating—$18 per ticket(group rate). Tickets are limited-contact the Alumni Relations Office, 612-330-1613 or send check to: Alumni Relations Office, 2211 Riverside Ave S., CB 146, Minneapolis, MN 55454 Once your payment has been received, the tickets will be mailed to you in August. Alumni Board Meeting, 5:30 p.m. Minneapolis Room, Christensen Center July 11 Auggie Hours, 5:30-7 p.m. Maynard’s Restaurant, 685 Excelsior Blvd., Excelsior, MN (located in the southeast corner of Excelsior Bay on Lake Minnetonka), 952-470-1800 Please e-mail the following information to <ecs@augsburg.edu> or call 612-330-1104: Total number in your group, names of you and your guests, your graduation year(s), and your contact number. The deadline to register is Friday, August 4. Homecoming 2006—Watch us Soar September 25-30 Mon., Sept. 25 Wed., Sept. 27 4:30-6 p.m. 10:30 a.m. 7:30-9 p.m. International Student Organization reception Student Kick-Off Event, Coronation and Pep Rally Augsburg Associates annual fall luncheon (off campus) Noon-1 p.m. Auggie Cup Knowledge Bowl (East Commons) 9:30-10:30 p.m. Homecoming communion Tues., Sept. 26 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Counseling and Health Promotion Annual Fair 6:30 p.m. Alumni Baseball game, Parade Stadium 7 p.m. Powder puff football 9 p.m. FCA campfire, Murphy Park Thurs., Sept. 28 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Student activity—Old Auggie photos 5:30-8:30 p.m. Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet Fri., Sept. 29 9-10 a.m. 10-11 a.m. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 12:30-2 p.m. 36 2:15- 3:15 p.m. Campus tour 3:30-6 p.m. Hall Crawl 3 p.m. Artist Amy Rice ’93, slide presentation, Marshall Room, Christensen Center 7 p.m. ASAC Variety Show 7:30 p.m. Men’s soccer game v. Macalester Reunion breakfast Homecoming chapel Student activity Alumni luncheon Sat., Sept. 30 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Picnic in the Park noon Auggie Cup Desk Hurling 1-3 p.m. Football Game v. ConcordiaMoorhead 3:30-7 p.m. Auggie Block Party Summer 2006 CLASS NOTES Class Notes 1956 Evelyn (Chanco) Steenberg, Missoula, Mont., and her husband, Tom ’58, ’61 Sem, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on June 2, and hope to be at their 50-year reunion at Homecoming. They’ve spent 45 years in the ministry, including 35 years as missionaries in Japan. The Steenbergs can be reached at <tasteenberg@aol.com>. 1957 Gloria (Grant) Knoblauch, Lake Elmo, Minn., was recently recognized for her service and leadership in forming the Friends of Lake Elmo Library, which succeeded in bringing a branch of the Washington County Library back to their city. 1958 Rev. Gary Turner, San Jacinto, Calif., is an Anglican priest and V.A. Hospital chaplain. Last summer, while at the Hollywood Bowl to see Garrison Keillor, he ending up sitting two rows ahead of Philip Knox ’57. 1965 Dwight Olson, San Diego, Calif., was elected president of the Licensing Executives Society (LES) of USA & Canada, a professional society of over 6,000 members engaged in the use, development, manufacture, and marketing of intellectual property. LES is part of an international organization, with 30 national societies representing 12,000 members in 80 countries. He can be reached at <dwight.olson@ironmountain.com>. 1969 James Roste, Roseville, Minn., retired on Dec. 31 after 36 years in corrections work. He has joined his wife, Lorene (Peterson) ’70, in her business, “Senior Moves,” helping seniors Summer 2006 sort, pack, move, unpack, and settle in at new locations. 1971 Thomas Haas, West St. Paul, Minn., retired last August after working 32 years at the State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, helping people find employment by providing basic skills and resources. He says that retirement is “almost all I have heard it can be—WONDERFUL.” He also wonders how he had time to work and get other things done before. His wife is a genetics researcher at the University of Minnesota. Jean Holbrook, San Mateo, Calif., has been named San Mateo County superintendent of schools through January 2007, to complete a vacated term. She brings 30 years of experience with the San Mateo County Office of Education to the position. Charles Maland, Knoxville, Tenn., was awarded the Alexander Prize for his superior classroom teaching and distinguished scholarship at the University of Tennessee. His teaching and research focuses on American literature and cinema, and he has been named editor of a volume of James Agee’s film criticism. NewsCenter in Duluth, Minn., which provides weather news to several TV channels and newspapers in northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. 1988 Kiel Christianson, Champaign, Ill., writes a golf equipment column for travelgolf.com as a hobby, and was recently quoted in an article in CNNMoney.com about a new Nike golf club. 1989 Nnamdi A. Okoronkwo and his wife, Sabrina K., Minneapolis, announce the birth of their son, Grayson Nnamdi, very unexpectedly and quickly, with the help of the Minneapolis Fire Department. He was born on his parents’ fifth wedding anniversary and joins older brother, Spencer, 18 months. Nnamdi and Sabrina work for Best Buy and Target. Steven Torgerud and his wife, in St. Paul, welcomed a daughter, Abigail Mae, on March 1. 1992 Susan E. (Gehrke) Erdman and her husband, Shane, Marinette, Wis., announce the birth of their daughter, Wynn Leslie, on Sept. 9. She joins her brother, Carson. 1993 Dana (Ryding) Martin, and her husband, Jeff, Andover, Minn., welcomed a son, Caden Joshua, on Dec. 2. He joins brother Noah, age 2. She can be reached at<dana.martin@ moundsviewschools.org>. 1975 Daniel Swalm, Minneapolis, is an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the Graduate College of Education and Professional Studies and teaches career counseling through the Department of Counseling and School of Psychology. He is the executive director of Career Solutions Inc., a nonprofit career development agency in St. Paul. 1986 Karl Spring was named chief meteorologist at the Northland’s Joyce (Nelson) Schrader ’64, Friendswood, Texas, is a retired elementary school teacher who taught second, third, fourth, and fifth grades. Her husband is a retired human resources manager. In the photo are Joyce and her husband, Steve (middle and top rows, right); their daughter Mandy and her husband, Scott (top row, left and middle), with their children, Haley (3) and Cason (1); and their daughter Julie (bottom row, left) with her dog, Elvis. 37 Class Notes Courtesy photo ALUMNI PROFILE Targeting cancer as both physician and scientist by Sara Holman ’06 Nine years have past since Arlo Miller roamed Augsburg’s campus as a biology and chemistry student. However, this recent M.D./Ph.D. Harvard graduate has not forgotten his Minneapolis alma mater. “One of the biggest challenges in medical school is just trying to figure out what is important and what actually matters. It’s essentially very easy to lose the forest for the trees. I think Augsburg science did very well to emphasize the forest, which provided a good starting point,” Miller comments. He also credits the Honors Program for its emphasis on critical thinking and communication skills. After his junior year, Miller worked for the summer with a leading cancer researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, who helped convince him to seek the dual medical/research degrees. Entering Harvard after his 1997 graduation was the first step in Miller’s pursuit to study oncology, and his lab work in graduate school led him to study melanoma. “I’d always been thinking I would do hematology-oncology,” says Miller, “but I found that dermatology is a better fit for me. Dermatologists actually deal with the most prevalent forms of cancer, but the work primarily occurs in the clinic rather than in the hospital. This will better enable me to spend a fraction of my time doing research.” Arlo Miller '97 received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2004 on the same day as his fiancée, Ileana Howard, graduated from Harvard Medical School. In June, he completed the M.D./Ph.D. program and also received his medical degree. Whether to become a regular doctor or a regular researcher or to split his time doing both has been something Miller has grappled with since becoming part of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). MSTP was founded to bridge the gap between physicians and scientists. “Sometime in the 1970s,” Miller says, “there was a concern that the divide was widening to the point that effective translation of basic science research to the realm of medicine was in jeopardy. The MSTP program sends people to medical school and graduate school with the hope of creating a pool of people who could serve as bridges between these two communities.” Miller entered the MSTP program with a National Institutes of Health (NIH) training grant, given to about 300 students across the country. The grant pays all medical school costs and provides an annual stipend to compensate for the economic consequences of choosing the lengthy M.D./Ph.D. path. In this joint medical-research program, Miller’s first two years included the medical school core scientific curriculum—anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, pathophysiology, etc. Then he shifted to graduate work and did research for five years in three different laboratories, including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Finally he returned to the last two years of medical school and worked in hospital and clinic settings. In early June, Miller graduated from the M.D./Ph.D. program and will marry Ileana Howard, also a physcian. For the next year, he has a transition-year internship in Seattle, where Howard is currently a resident in physical medicine and rehabilitation. In July 2007, Miller will begin a three-year residency in dermatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., a department known for its excellence in the research and treatment of unusual problems. He imagines himself ending up at a research university and says he feels drawn to the area of cancer biology. When dealing with the very sensitive subject of cancer, Miller says his Augsburg experience continues to impact his role as a doctor. “You often find yourself taking care of people that the rest of society has pretty much given up on and for whom all social support systems have failed,” he says. “This is a community service aspect of medicine that I hadn’t anticipated or appreciated when I started, but I feel that Augsburg helped prepare me through informal means, including the Link program and its urban setting.” Sara Holman graduated in 2006 with majors in communication studies and English. 38 Summer 2006 operas in repertory during its eight-week season, attracting 40,000 people from around the world. Courtesy photo TOASTMASTERS AWARD Graduate programs Doris Rubenstein ’93 MAL was elected to the Board of Directors of Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union. She is principal of PDP Services, a consulting firm specializing in corporate and personal philanthropy. In Memoriam The Honorable Pamela Alexander ’74, Minneapolis, received the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership award for 2006. She was lauded for her community service as a youth motivational speaker, basketball coach, and teacher, and for the more than 50 community service awards she has received. She is a judge of the Fourth Judicial District Court, Juvenile Division, of Hennepin County. Jessica (Ferrell) and Brad Zenner ’92, Minneapolis, adopted a daughter, Jasmine Shan, in November. Jasmine was born in Hunan, China, in February 2005. She joins a happy sister, Lily Jinxiong, 3. Jessica can be reached at <jessicazenner@ hotmail.com>. 1994 Carrie Kennedy and her husband, Eric Peterson, Hopkins, Minn., announce the birth of a son, Kieran Philip, in January. Carrie is an adjunct professor of English at Concordia University in St. Paul and teaches fiction writing at the Loft Literary Center. 1996 Anne Lalla married Todd Johnson in March; they live in Summer 2006 Shoreview, Minn. They have one son, Evan, born in September 2002. Leslie Lucas ’00 married Matthew Weide in July 2005. She is currently a student in the Master of Social Work program, and he is an account executive for Donaldson in Bloomington. They live in Minneapolis. 1998 Brittani (Gross) Filek ’00 PA, Corona, Calif., and her husband, Matt, welcomed their first child, Van Owen, in June 2005. They were married in July 2004; Brittani is a surgical physician assistant at Kaiser Permanente General and Plastic Surgery Department. 1999 Bobby Scala, Eden Prarie, Minn., along with his brother-inlaw, has opened Scala’s Beef Stands in Maple Grove, a restaurant selling products from his family’s Chicago-based wholesale meat company. Sarah (Ginkel) Spilman, Iowa City, Iowa, and her husband, Matt, announce the birth of their son, Alexander Nicholas, on Jan. 3. Sarah earned a Master of Arts degree in sociology at the University of Iowa in 2004. 2000 Kai Gudmestad ’06 MBA, Minneapolis, Minn., and his wife, Amy, welcomed their son, Elijah Douglas, on Jan. 29. Kai graduated in the first Augsburg MBA class. 2001 Kathryn Koch has been named production stage manager for the Glimmerglass Opera 2006 festival season in Cooperstown, N.Y. She will lead the stage management staff and be part of a world premiere opera, The Greater Good. The company produces four Irvin Nerdahl ’40, age 87, Jan. 27 in Crystal, Minn. He is survived by his children, Marsha, Laura, John, and David. Kelly Roth ’47, age 85, in Wheaton, Minn. He is survived by his wife, Beverly, and three children, John “Champ”, Richard, and Janice, who also attended Augsburg. Kelly, nicknamed “Smiley,” was a manager at the Smiley’s Point confectionary. He retired from Lutheran Brotherhood and Central Life Insurance. He was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. Rev. Philip A. Nelson ’55, ’58 Sem, age 72, Dec. 1 in New London, Minn. He is survived by his wife, Beverly (Omdahl) ’55, and three sons, Bruce, Peter, and Blair. Phil had callings to Colombia Heights, Morris, New London, and Osakis before retiring in 1994 due to health concerns. Edward M. Sabella, professor emeritus of economics, May 5 in Minneapolis. He taught at Augsburg from 1967 until his retirement in August 2000 and was chair of the Departments of Business Administration and Economics from 1968-81. 39 AUGGIE THOUGHTS Auggie Thoughts Over spring break, 35 Augsburg students joined with students from Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa, for a trip to Biloxi, Miss., to help with hurricane relief sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Students posted daily journal entries on Augsburg’s website; the following is a portion of Jeanette Clark’s journal from the last day of the trip. Guarding people’s stories by Jeanette Clark ’07 Some look at the journey home as a necessary part of a trip—something logically following going away somewhere. On some level, this is true. On the other hand, the opportunity to travel home is one that should not be ignored. One does not have an experience, really, until he/she reflects on it, and this is part of going home. So rather than being a burden, this 30hour bus ride has been a blessing—a chance to continue to get to know people and to process, or try to process, all we have seen and heard. It seems that more than the work we did during our time in Biloxi, our greater service was guarding people’s stories. We heard the great trials and agony of those who worked in the morgue after Katrina. By going home, caring for those around us, and sharing these stories, we will guard the stories of those who suffered through this disaster. More than clearing brush, painting, or scrubbing, it was crucial that we took the time to value the experiences of those who suffered so much. It was a service to hear AJ talk about the importance of his camp. It was a service to hear Jack tell of the struggles of those living in FEMA trailers. We heard the stories of spelling tests and possible “reward movies” by the elementary students we visited. There is no way we can begin to understand their pain or their experiences, but we can listen, and in doing so, we show them they matter just as they showed us that we mattered by cooking and caring for us with the utmost hospitality. On some level, our trip home is when the journey starts. Who around us is also suffering, and how do we get to the root of this pain? Who around us has a story to tell that no one has listened to? How can we be in solidarity with those on the coast who are trying to rebuild their lives? There is still work to do. We’ve only just begun. Jeanette Clark ’07 is pursuing a degree in metro-urban studies, and youth and family ministry. She is a student leader in Campus Ministry and the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg. 40 Summer 2006 The Golden Fisherman According to the volunteer coordinators at Lutheran Episcopal Disaster Relief in Biloxi, Miss., Mondays start slow. So, to quell their nervous energy, some students got on the bus for a quick tour of the damage that Hurricane Katrina caused. Even after nine months the destruction is awe-inspiring. The U.S. Highway 90 bridge, which once spanned the 1.5 miles between Biloxi and Ocean Springs, looks like a set of dominos. “The Golden Fisherman,” a sculpture by Harry Reeks, has only its feet connected to the cement base, with the rest of the eight-foot brass-and-copper figure thrown 20 feet from its home. —Stephen Geffre, Staff Photographer Send us your news and photos! Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to <alumni@augsburg.edu>. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Full name Maiden name Class year or last year attended __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Street address __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City State Zip Is this a new address? ■ Yes ■ No ________________________________________________________________________________ Home telephone E-mail ■ Okay to publish your e-mail address? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Employer Position Work telephone Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? ■ Yes ■ No If yes, class year_______________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Spouse name Maiden name Your news: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non—Profit Org. 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Title: Augsburg Now Spring 2006
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I Spring 2006 & F R I E N D S Vol. 68, No. 3 OUR CITY … OUR CLASSROOM page 10 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Spring 2006 Vol 68, No. 3 FEATURES 10 17 DEPARTMENTS Our city ... our classroom 2 Around the...
Show more A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I Spring 2006 & F R I E N D S Vol. 68, No. 3 OUR CITY … OUR CLASSROOM page 10 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Spring 2006 Vol 68, No. 3 FEATURES 10 17 DEPARTMENTS Our city ... our classroom 2 Around the Quad by Betsey Norgard 5 Sports Teachers who lead, leaders who teach 6 Faculty-Staff notes 22 compiled by Betsey Norgard Supporting Augsburg— Access to Excellence: (The Campaign for Augsburg College) 25 32 inside back cover Alumni News Auggie Thoughts Calendar A college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Augsburg College is an equal education/employment institution. Editor Betsey Norgard Assistant Editor Lynn Mena Graphic Designer Kathy Rumpza Photographer Stephen Geffre Media Relations Manager Judy Petree Sports Information Coordinator Don Stoner www.augsburg.edu On the cover: Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, From the beginning of her classes, first-year student Beckie Jackson begins to explore the opportunities around campus as an extended classroom. 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058–1545 On this page: Augsburg’s Enrollment Center is the one-stop shop for all the “business” of the College— registration, financial aid, transcripts, accounts, and more. Send address corrections to: Advancement Services Augsburg College, CB 142 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 50 percent recycled paper (10 percent post-consumer waste) AROUND QUAD Around THE the Quad Paul Pribbenow is chosen as Augsburg’s next president Augsburg News Service P aul C. Pribbenow, president of Rockford College in Rockford, Ill., has been elected as the 11th president of Augsburg College by its board of regents. “We are confident that Dr. Pribbenow has all the qualities of leadership and passion needed to continue Dr. [William] Frame’s work at Augsburg College,” said Jean Taylor ’85, chair of the Board of Regents. “He has already demonstrated that he is an accomplished communicator, a person who can demonstrate his own sense of Christian vocation, a skilled administrator, and a visible leader, actively participating in the life of the campus and surrounding community.” Presidential search committee chair and regent Ted Grindal ’76 expressed his thanks and gratitude to the entire Augsburg community for their participation in the search process. “After a very thorough and successful search, we are pleased to welcome Dr. Pribbenow as Augsburg’s next president,” Grindal said. “In Paul Pribbenow, we feel we have found a successor who will not only carry on Augsburg’s commitment to being a college committed to a Christian understanding of vocation, but will maximize its exciting potential for the future.” “This is the work I believe I was called to do, and I look forward to serving as Augsburg’s next president,” Pribbenow said. “I firmly believe that my experiences and commitments are a remarkable fit for the mission and needs of the College.” Paul C. Pribbenow was born in Decorah, Iowa, in 1957. He received his bachelor’s degree in sociology/political science from Luther College, and his master’s degree in divinity and his doctorate in social ethics from the University of Chicago. He has served as president of Rockford College since 2002. Since his arrival there, Pribbenow has launched several new educational initiatives, including working with faculty and staff to develop the Jane Addams Center for Civic Engagement. This program’s primary responsibility, according to Pribbenow, “is to find ways to work with students to integrate their education, co-curricular activities, spiritual experiences, and service to the community as part of an intentional vocational formation initiative.” He has also been an integral part of expanding Paul C. Pribbenow opportunities for the campus and its community to join together in a variety of collaborative efforts. He and his wife, Abigail, an arts administrator, have two young children. Pribbenow succeeds retiring president William V. Frame, and will take office on July 1. To read more, go to <www.augsburg.edu/news>. NEWSNOTES Agre to speak at commencement—two honorary degrees to be awarded Peter Agre ’70, Nobel Prize laureate for chemistry in 2003, will speak at the College’s 137th commencement on May 6. Agre is vice chancellor of science and technology at the Duke University School of Medicine. He will receive one of two honorary degrees approved by the Board of Regents to be conferred on that date. James A. Johnson will receive the second honorary degree. He has enjoyed a distinguished career in finance and lending, formerly with Fannie Mae and now as vice chairman of Perseus L.L.C. Johnson has been active in supporting the Gateway Building and development of the urban village concept along Riverside Ave. Johnson was Augsburg’s commencement speaker in 2002. 2 Outstanding physics students For the third time in six years, the Society of Physics Students (SPS) has named Augsburg’s chapter as an Outstanding SPS Chapter, this time for 2004-05. Fewer than 10% of the chapters nationwide receive this honor; Augsburg’s chapter was also named in 19992000 and 2002-03. Professor Mark Engebretson is chapter adviser. Jim Haglund honored Regent Jim Haglund was honored with the Hall of Fame award by the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters (AICC), a 1,000-member international organization. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty lauded Haglund as characterizing the “best of Minnesota.” Pawlenty also drew attention to Haglund’s leadership on the Augsburg Board of Regents. Spring 2006 Mexico social work consortium receives award Courtesy photo by Betsey Norgard A Spring 2006 Students in the 2004 spring semester program in Mexico visited the pyramids of Xochicalco to learn how pre-Hispanic cultures regulated the solar calendar. is noteworthy in several regards beyond the challenges of satisfying the needs and criteria of nine different institutions. Foremost, it makes possible a study abroad experience for social work students at colleges that can’t sustain their own individual programs. Also, because the program is ongoing, issues of social work in developing countries are constantly part of department discussions and curriculum. Returning students readily talk about the program as life transforming. “Students who return from Mexico have a window into the lives of Hispanic and Latino communities impossible to gain domestically,” commented social work professor Nancy Rodenborg. She said the department hopes to take advantage of this experience in working with Twin Cities’ Spanish-speaking populations. Also cited in the award is the program’s shared ownership and governance among the partner institutions in Minnesota and South Dakota—both public and private— allowing social work students equal access to study abroad. Rodenborg stated that a large part of the success of the program is due to the Center for Global Education’s expertise in offering international education and the resources available at its Mexico center. Courtesy photo ugsburg is part of a social work consortium that has been honored for its semester study program in Mexico. The consortium was awarded the 2006 Global Commission Partners in Education Award by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) in recognition of “the contributions of individuals, organizations, and others as partners in advancing education for international social work.” The development of the BSW Mexico Consortium of the Minnesota/South Dakota Area, which includes both private and public institutions, was more than two years in the making and is remarkable for the complexity of issues it negotiates. The study courses meet all the schools’ curricular needs and allow social work students to participate without delaying their graduation date. Financial costs were worked out so that students pay only their home-school tuition (plus airfare), regardless of which partner institution they attend. The program, “Social Work in a Latin American Context,” is based at the Center for Global Education (CGE) study center in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and includes study of Mexican culture, intensive Spanish language instruction, a social work course, and either a field practicum or comparative social policy course. A several-week homestay gives students a chance to experience living with a Mexican family. There is also a two-week exchange with students in the School of Social Work at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City. Cultural content courses are taught by CGE staff, and the social work content is taught by a rotating visiting faculty member from one of the partner schools. Augsburg social work professor Barbara Lehmann is currently in Cuernavaca, teaching for the second year. The BSW Mexico Consortium model Social work students visited Tlamacazapa, a rural village where Claudia (in red, above) helped them learn to weave. Schools belonging to the BSW Mexico Consortium are Augsburg College, Bemidji State University, Bethel University, College of St. Catherine/University of St. Thomas, Metropolitan State University, St. Cloud State University, St. Olaf College, University of Sioux Falls, and Winona State University. For more information on the Mexico study semester, go to <www.augsburg. edu/global/swksem.html>. 3 Business students seek stronger connections through ABO by Betsey Norgard international presence and do a thorough analysis of its marketing department. It meant making the contacts, meeting with corporate officials, and following up on the research. Sometimes it’s even possible to tie ABO activities into coursework for some extra credit. A ugsburg business students realize the importance of stepping out of the classroom to gain “real-world” experience, and the Twin Cities offers them plenty of opportunities. The Augsburg Business Organization (ABO) aims to provide them a platform to do this. Students join ABO to learn more about the business world, to meet corporate leaders, and to network in search of opportunities for projects, internships, and future employment. Since ABO is student-run, they gain leadership and professional skills as they brainstorm, contact, and arrange for speakers and trips. Founded five years ago by business major Rod Gonzalez ’04, ABO currently has about 15 active students, with a number of others who participate in various events. In January, 12 ABO students traveled to Chicago for an activities-packed three days of visits to CEOs and businesses, following up on contacts from Augsburg’s Development Office. While there they visited three businesses—Chase Bank, Hydrotech Manufacturing Co., and the H&K law firm; plus, they met with executives and toured the Mercantile Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank. “The Chicago trip was a unique opportunity,” said senior business major and ABO member Nii Mensah, “in that it gave us an opportunity to see many different aspects of the city in both a business and urban sense.” Building a portfolio of experience Anthony Haupt, a senior from Red Wing, Minn., and the current president of ABO, has taken good advantage of opportunities in ABO for his own leadership growth. Last year after arranging for Greg Smith ’72 to be a guest speaker at ABO, he kept in contact with Smith, who is chief operating officer of Walden Automotive. It led to a summer internship at the Denny Hecker 4 Anthony Haupt, senior international business management major and president of the Augsburg Business Organization, hopes to involve more business professionals and Augsburg business alumni in the student organization. Automotive Group where Haupt did financial analysis and project management work. He and Smith still keep in touch, and Smith continues to suggest other contacts from whom Haupt can learn. “ABO has opened many doors for me, like the summer internship,” Haupt says, “and has put me in leadership roles with responsibility.” Haupt also strengthened his major in international business management with a semester study program in Barcelona, Spain, that included courses in international business and Spanish. He hopes his minor in Spanish will support future work with a company that has an international presence. He also completed an internship in a healthcare organization, and will seek opportunities to gain training in project management and/or account management after he graduates in May. Even as a part of their coursework, the business administration faculty push students to connect with the business community. Haupt cites his international marketing class in which students had to choose a Minnesota company with ABO seeks business contacts Haupt’s vision for ABO is for the organization to build a network of Twin Cities business professionals, especially Augsburg business alumni. What students hope to gain, he says, are relationships with the business community and access to business expertise, experience, and information. Business professionals should be assured, Haupt says, that Augsburg students are well-educated and eager to get their feet wet in the business world. He cites several examples of past student leaders, like the ABO presidents, who have transformed internships into job opportunities, and used their experiences as springboards into a career. How to connect with ABO ABO offers these ideas for connecting Augsburg business alumni and other business professionals with students: • Volunteer as a guest speaker at an ABO event • Participate in a resource network for business students • Host Augsburg business students at your company or workplace • Join the Take an Auggie to Lunch program • Help ABO with fundraising to support trips and other activities To learn more or participate in ABO activities, contact Anthony Haupt at <abo@augsburg.edu> with your name, class year (if you are an alumnus/a), title and place of work, and e-mail and/or telephone number. Spring 2006 Sports For current sports information, scores, and schedules go to <www.augsburg.edu/athletics>. Auggies inspire hoop dreams in neighborhood kids by Don Stoner H elping young members of the CedarRiverside neighborhood learn about the game of basketball was a “slamdunk” proposition for the Augsburg College men’s basketball team. In January, the Auggies invited 50 boys and girls from the Cedar-Riverside Community School, which primarily teaches immigrant children, to attend a morning basketball clinic at Si Melby Hall. Head coach Aaron Griess and members of the Augsburg squad showed children the basics of the game, then broke up into smaller groups to work individually with them. Each group took part in fun games with the Auggie players, where they were able to put their newly-learned skills into practice. The clinic ended with an impromptu dunking exhibition from members of the Augsburg squad, to the cheers of the youngsters watching. “We’re proud to be able to make a difference in the lives of young people who haven’t had the same opportunities that other children have, and we’re committed to helping build the community we live in,” said Griess, in his first season as Augsburg’s head coach. The clinic was organized by Griess and Mary Laurel True, associate director of Augsburg’s Center for Service, Work, and Learning. “Spending time with the kids, watching them laugh, and teaching them some basketball skills was a tremendous joy,” Griess said. “Each and every one of our students put their hearts into the short period of time they spent with the kids, and we’re all looking forward to the next opportunity.” ade h gr a, 4t Laur Fadum o, 4th grade Thank you, Auggies! “I had fun learning with you guys. It was important to me because when I grow up I will be a good basketball player.” —Abdullahi, 3rd grade “I learned basketball is not easy; it's hard, but it just looks easy.” —Sagal, 6th grade “Thank you for giving me inspiration to play basketball.” —Karina, 6th grade “In the summer I will love to show all of my friends what you have taught me. It really meant a lot to me when you taught me a lot of tricks.” —Muna, 4th grade The Cedar-Riverside kids yell “41, 41, 41…” to pull no. 41 Auggie junior Tait Thomsen to the floor. “I’ve learned new tricks and so much more. I felt like a professional basketball player. This is one of the best days of my life.” —Nasra, 4th grade Fifty-plus students from the Cedar-Riverside Community School watch in awe as Auggie senior Aaron Benesh dunks the ball. Spring 2006 5 Faculty and Staff PRESENTATIONS Tony Bibus, social work, presented a poster, “Working with Involuntary Clients in Slovenia,” about a study with Ljubljana University, at the Council on Social Work Education meeting in February. Bill Capman, biology, co-presented “Reef Aquaria in the Classroom and Teaching Laboratory: Learning Activities, Organisms, and Logistics” at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA) in Washington, D.C. Emiliano Chagil, Hispanic/Latino Student Services, presented “Higher Education and Acculturation: The Contradictions Involved in Improving Your Life through Education while Sustaining Your Cultural Self,” at the annual Breaking Barriers Conference at the University of St. Thomas. Su Dorée, mathematics, led a paper session, “Countering ‘I Can’t Do Math’: Strategies for Teaching Underprepared, Math-Anxious Students,” at the annual joint meetings of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. At the same conference, Rebekah Dupont, mathematics, co-organized a panel discussion, “Firefighting, Paper Trailing, and Cat Herding: Everything You Wanted to Know to Be an Administrator but Were Afraid to Ask.” Teachers meeting teachers in Namibia by Gretchen Kranz Irvine F or over five years, my life has been exponentially enriched, professionally and personally, from my experiences in Namibia, Africa. I have been the trip leader for three summer study trips in 2000, 2003, and most recently last summer, July 1-22, 2005. I gathered a group of educators—classroom teachers, a preservice teacher, and teacher educators—to travel to Namibia to learn about the country and her people, focusing on the education system. In collaboration with the Center for Global Education, my goals for the trip were to introduce Namibia by visiting various locations; by hearing from Namibians working in a variety of sectors, especially teachers, principals, and faculty from the University of Namibia and teachers’ colleges; by accessing local media; and by being immersed in a culture so different from ours, and yet the same. I was pleased that our group bonded easily as a community and blended like a fine-tuned melody. We benefited from the two University of Namibia students preparing to be teachers who joined us and added depth to our understanding of schools and the influence of culture. A highlight for this trip was a oneday conference for teachers in the Windhoek area hosted by our group, with the help and facilitation of many others. We gathered at the Rossing Conference Center in Khomasdal, a suburb of the capital city, Windhoek— 50 people interested in schools, teachers, learners, and all areas related to education—for sessions titled “The Important Role of Teachers in NationBuilding.” The speakers, facilitators, and organizers were both Namibians and the members of our group. The results far exceeded what could be stated here. We explored large issues impacting all teachers. We built professional links—both individual and group—that would sustain relationships after we returned to the U.S. And we Courtesy photo Garry Hesser, sociology and metrourban studies, co-presented “Toward the Public Good: Maps, Lenses, and Models of Civic Engagement,” at the Association of American Colleges and Universities conference in November. Hesser also presented, with Ann Lutterman-Aguilar and Merrie Benasutti, “Crossing Borders: Exploring Vocation in a Multicultural/Global Context,” at the Nov. meeting of the National Society for Experiential Education. Marc Isaacson, MIS, presented “Statistical Literacy—Online at Capella University” at the American Statistical Association meeting. Cheryl Leuning, nursing, and Pandu Hailonga, CGE Namibia, co-authored and presented, “Transforming What is Known about HIV, AIDS, and Tuberculosis into Culturally Appropriate Protective Practices in Namibia and Tanzania,” at the July Tumaini conference in Tanzania. 6 A group of educators from Minnesota spent three weeks with teachers and educators in Namibia, based at Augsburg’s Center for Global Education. Augsburg participants are: Melinda Stockmann (front row, left), CGE-Namibia intern; Pandu Hailonga (back row, fourth from left), CGE-Namibia trip leader; Carol Knicker (back row, fifth from left), assistant professor of education; and Gretchen Irvine (back row, second from right), assistant professor of education and Augsburg trip leader. Spring 2006 Courtesy photo On a visit to the Haganeni Primary School in Walvis Bay, Namibia, the educators enjoyed meeting the students, or “learners.” Courtesy photo helped to respond to the need of all teachers to discuss important issues, realizing how vital it is for people involved in the process of educating our children and youth to have opportunities for dialogue and reflection. Because of the cultural differences unfamiliar to me, I appreciated working with the Namibians who helped to make the conference relevant and meaningful for everyone. It will be months and years before we can realize what this trip has meant to us as individuals. We have tried to spread the word about Namibia, a very silent country on the world stage. Our worldviews have been forever changed by images of Namibian teachers, of the children and youth, and of the life we witnessed in the coastal cities as different from the villages in the north. We heard the voices of Namibians telling of their past, and we learned about the current struggles toward the constitutional goals of their 16-year-old nation. We witnessed the joy of people together, and enjoyed being in the company of a youth group building their lives. And we read about the hopes and dreams of people looking toward the future. Our global vision has expanded as a result of this experience. I am grateful to the Center for Global Education staff—both here and in Namibia—whose expertise helped us create the best learning environment for our experience. In our own group, individuals acted beyond any expectations in caring for each other, challenging thinking, and with kindness to all. I have been a teacher for 38 years. The experiences I’ve enjoyed are true gifts to me as a teacher, and, also, to my students at Augsburg. Gretchen Irvine is assistant professor of education. Professor Gretchen Kranz Irvine presents an Augsburg folder to Augsburg alumna Fredericka Uahengo ’90, rector of the Ongwediva Teachers College in northern Namibia. Spring 2006 Read more about this travel seminar and conference on the participants’ blog at <web.augsburg.edu/~irvine/Namibia>. PRESENTATIONS Dallas Liddle, English, presented “Bakhtinian ‘Journalization’ and the MidVictorian Literary Marketplace,” at Oxford University’s First Annual Conference on the History of the Book, sponsored by their English faculty, in Nov. Ann Lutterman-Aguilar, Center for Global Education-Mexico, presented a theological perspective on the rights of women at the International Women’s Day conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in March 2005. She and Judy Shevelev, also with CGE-Mexico, along with five former students, co-presented two papers at the National Women’s Association conference in June. Diane Pike, sociology, presented the keynote, “Not Rocket Science: Teaching, Learning, and Engagement,” at the Oct. joint meeting of the Wisconsin and Illinois Sociological Associations and the Wisconsin Political Science Association. Marc Skjervem, student affairs, and Keith McCoy, residence life, presented a session, “Developing a Seamless FirstYear Experience on a Small Campus,” at the National Orientation Directors Association regional conference in April. NOTEWORTHY Markus Fuehrer, philosophy, is preparing a translation and commentary of Albertus Magnus’ Liber de homine (Treatise on Man). He is currently preparing an entry on Albertus Magnus at the invitation of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Brad Holt, religion, was elected to the national board of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality (SSCS), an international organization of people who teach Christian spirituality in colleges, universities, and seminaries. Patrice Salmeri, StepUP® program, was elected chairperson of the executive board of the Association of Recovery Schools (ARS). Milo Schield, business administration and the W.M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project, completed a textbook on statistical literacy, which is being used in Augsburg classes this spring. 7 Lynn Bollman, art, participated in the Third Biennial Printmaking Exhibition, in November, showcasing the work of 40 professors of printmaking at 22 Minnesota colleges and universities. History professor Jacqui DeVries’ article, “Rediscovering Religion after the Postmodern Turn,” was published in the spring 2005 issue of Feminist Studies and will also appear in the fall 2005 issue of the online History Compass. Pandu Hailonga, Center for Global Education-Namibia, published an article, “Violence, Rape, and Murder: Symptoms of Societal Disease,” in The Namibian in March 2005. Garry Hesser, sociology and metrourban studies, co-authored a chapter, “Liberal Learning and Internships in Sociology, in The Internship Handbook, edited by Richard Salem and published in 2005. Ann Lutterman-Aguilar, Center for Global Education-Mexico, published a chapter, “La reconstrucción de la iglesia,” in Los derechos humanos al interior de nuestra iglesia, edited by Guadalupe Cruz Cárdenas, published by Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (CDD) in 2005. Phil Quanbeck II, religion, contributed to a collection, Teaching the Bible, published in October by the Society of Biblical Literature. An article by Quanbeck “Preaching Apocalyptic Texts” was published in the summer issue of Word and World. Department of Public Safety— Augsburg’s 411 by Betsey Norgard L ocked out? … Too hot in your room? … Need a jump for a dead battery? … Want to know when the hockey game starts? … Need a ride from the lightrail station? These are just samples of the questions fielded by the Department of Public Safety. Headed by John Pack, who came to Augsburg nearly three years ago after 13 years at the University of Minnesota, this office operates 24/7 and oversees the College’s switchboard communications, facilities management requests, campus security, and communications and emergency management. Pack tries to get the word out about their services, especially about campus safety. Each summer at orientation, he enjoys talking with new students and their parents. “The message is that Augsburg is in the heart of the city,” Pack says, “which brings tremendous opportunities, but also some challenges, mostly parking and security.” Public Safety strives to ensure that everyone in the Augsburg community feels safe. Escort services are available to any of the parking lots and for students who go back and forth from internships or service projects in the neighborhood. Security officers also provide rides to and from the nearby lightrail stops. A phone call from two stops away gets students a quick ride back to campus. Pack has initiated regular meetings of security personnel from Augsburg, the University of Minnesota, FairviewRiverside, College of St. Catherine, and the Minneapolis police to share information and coordinate prevention efforts in order to decrease incidents overall. A recent incident illustrates this cooperative relationship. At a building near the edge of campus, an intoxicated person, not part of the Augsburg community, slipped, fell, wedged his head between two pipes, and went into respiratory distress. Augsburg security officers on routine patrol noticed him and called 911. Officer Annie DeYoung stayed with the injured man, monitoring his medical condition, until rescue personnel arrived. Firefighters needed the Jaws of Life to free the man and rush him to the emergency room. The firefighters credited DeYoung with saving the man’s life—for assessing the situation quickly and applying the medical treatment that kept his airway and breathing clear until they arrived. Staff photo PUBLICATIONS/EXHIBITIONS/ PERFORMANCES HONORS/AWARDS/GRANTS Mark Strefeler, biology, received a $57,500 grant from Beckman Coulter’s matching grant program for a genetic analysis system to aid research in plant genetics and microbiology. It allows for gene sequencing, DNA fingerprinting, and molecular genetics. In his research with students, he carries out DNA barcoding for species identification and identification and isolation of genes for disease resistance in plants. John Pack, director of public safety, accepts a Certificate of Appreciation from Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak (left) and police chief William McManus for the College’s cooperation and for support to the Minneapolis Police Department. 8 Spring 2006 Photo illustration by Stephen Geffre Office space: or how I spent 18 years in the closet at Augsburg by Doug Green W hy I didn’t move out of my little hole in the wall of an office when I had the chance, I’ll never know. It’s one of the smallest spaces in the maze that is Memorial Hall, a former dormitory and the second oldest surviving building on campus. The room can’t be more than 6 x 6 and would be more suitable as a walk-in closet—or perhaps a very large coffin. My office desk, an old metal one of modest size and a rosy beige hue, faces the wall beneath an enormous Saul Steinberg print of America as viewed from Manhattan. Before I got my laptop, Manhattan was unfortunately hidden behind my computer, just as Minnesota has blotted out most of my New York past over the last 20 years. On the wall behind me as I sit at my desk, the floor-to-ceiling shelves are overflowing with books, papers, knickknacks (mostly mementoes from past students and pictures of my wife and son), and last year’s posters for campus events. The filing cabinet next to Spring 2006 the door obscures some of the shelves and is buried under debris. Confidential student records are now filed on top of the cabinet for easy access—even to passers-by in the hallway: It’s my version of the Freedom of Information Act. Behind the door and next to the desk is another freestanding bookcase, also overflowing and surmounted by stacks of texts and paper—for creative writing, I think. The walls and the hallway side of the door are plastered with notices, reminders, pictures drawn by my son, and posters of events I had a hand in— like the first GLBT alumni reunion and art show: “Out and About.” The window, however, I love best. When I sit at my desk and look out, it’s like Rear Window; I can spy on a whole set of neighboring offices. But if I push back just a little and face the outside, I see Augsburg’s little quad, an Edenic version of my little closet. Maybe that’s why I can’t leave: because this little cubby across the floor from an old dormitory bathroom that sports mold from the era of Warren G. Harding and College President George Sverdrup is the quintessential professorial space. Like the brain in Dickinson’s poem, my office “is wider than the sky.” My little cabinet contains a world of thoughts—from the books behind and beside me to the computer on my desk to the many visiting colleagues and students who come to share their inner lives with me. I need their stifling and stimulating proximity. My office is certainly no “proud, ambitious heap” nor “built to envious show,” but a place in which, like the Sidneys at Penshurst in Jonson’s famous poem, I can “dwell.” Doug Green is professor of English. This story first appeared in Augsburg Echo in September. 9 10 1 THE NEW GUTHRIE Only a mile away, the Guthrie Theater’s new home makes it even easier for actors and technicians to visit Augsburg seminars and teach as adjunct faculty. 1 3 2 Downtown Minneapolis 4 8 5 9 Augsburg College 6 7 2 CORPORATE DOWNTOWN Internships downtown with non-profits, Fortune 500, and other companies are but a quick lightrail or bus ride away for students and often lead to future career opportunities. Saint Paul 3 MEETING HIS CONSTITUENTS City Hall is his home base, but Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak enjoys getting out to meet the new students on campus. 4 PLAY BALL! The Twins, Vikings, Gophers—and the Auggies, for one game per season—compete several blocks away at the Metrodome. OUR CITY … OUR CLASSROOM 10 BY BETSEY NORGARD ➶ WHAT EXACTLY DOES BEING A COLLEGE OF THE CITY MEAN FOR AUGSBURG? WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DOES IT BRING TO THE AUGSBURG LEARNING COMMUNITY—TO STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF? If one were to look at just a TWO-MILE RADIUS AROUND AUGSBURG, what would be found? 5 HIGH-RISE MELTING POT Riverside Plaza is the hub of the most diverse neighborhood in Minneapolis—and a partner with Augsburg in its community programs and school. The answer is A LOT … the most diverse neighborhood in Minneapolis … the downtown business district … a Super Bowl pro-sports dome … a brand-new home for a world-class theater … a Big 10 university and teaching/research medical center… a quick train ride to the largest shopping mall in the country… miles of running, walking, and biking trails along the Mississippi River. Staff photo 6 A JUMP ON THE LIGHTRAIL Just a few blocks away, the lightrail train is a quick ride to downtown, the airport, and the Mall of America. 7 LEARNING FROM LIVE CORALS Biology professor Bill Capman lends expertise and some live corals to help teachers at Seward Montessori School set up and maintain a coral reef aquarium for their science classes. 8 WORSHIP IN THE CITY Central Lutheran Church is the majestic setting for Augsburg’s Advent Vespers, an annual celebration of word and music that begins the holiday season. Spring 2006 Here, we highlight some of the myriad opportunities our location offers to learn, serve, volunteer, intern, experience, shop, compete, perform, keep fit, have fun, and so much more! Teach. Reach. Feed. Lead. That’s the motto of the Campus Kitchens Project, based in Washington, D.C., that combines preparing and delivering meals, partnering in the community, training for employment opportunities, and providing service learning for students. Since opening on campus in 2003, the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg has served more than 25,000 meals to community organizations. The program, which is student organized and run, is based in the College’s food service facilities, and works with surplus food from the food service and local food banks. Two shifts of student volunteers each week prepare meals and deliver them to six locations the next day. The students spend time in each location, getting to know and talking with the people being served. Above, at Peace House in the Phillips neighborhood, junior Jeanette Clark talks with a visitor. She and other students deliver meals on Thursdays to the 30-50 people who drop in to Peace House for conversation, fellowship, and nourishment. During the summers, Augsburg’s Campus Kitchen operates a job training program to train and certify unemployed people in food management culinary skills to help them find jobs. 11 Trick or treat—dorm style Targeting a career Each Halloween, ghosts, goblins, and other costumed characters wander the halls of Urness and Mortensen Halls, going from door to door trick-or-treating. They’re neighborhood children invited to campus by LINK, the student service organization, for fun, games, treats, and, sometimes, a haunted house. LINK provides the candy, and students provide the fun for the kids. Tim Benson ’00, graduated with a business administration/marketing major and a minor in management information systems. Benson picked up his first downtown corporate experience at a summer internship with Accenture (then Andersen Consulting). He found it to be great preparation for the business world that he couldn’t have learned in a classroom— “protocols, unwritten rules, and business speak”—that helped him get a foot in the door at Target Corporation. He started as a business analyst and was eventually promoted to a supply chain expert. Now he is manager of an eight-person team in the kitchenware department, which is responsible for about 1,000 items and hundreds of millions of dollars in sales annually in all 1400+ Target stores. A day at the Soap Factory (map #10) As part of AugSem, their first-year seminar, students in ART 102 Design spent an afternoon at the Soap Factory. This turn-ofthe-century wood and brick warehouse, which formerly housed the National Purity Soap Factory, has been turned into an art gallery featuring work by emerging artists, and offering available studio space. The afternoon was part of City Service Projects Day, which started with a 20-minute walk to the gallery through the historic flour mill district. At the gallery, the students helped take down one show and prepare to install another. They cleaned floors, scrubbed and squeegeed walls, and moved furniture. The students got first-hand experience in what a gallery is—or not, i.e. it’s not just clean floors and bright lighting. Since a number of these students intend to major in art-related fields, this gave them an opportunity for a service project in something that really interested them. Plus, the gallery director told them that what they were able to do for the gallery in three hours would have taken the staff all week to complete. 12 (map #2) Staying connected with kids (map #9) Kristy Bleichner graduated from Augsburg in 2002 with a major in social work. While a student, she began to volunteer for Wednesday Night Out, a program sponsored by Trinity Lutheran Church. For this, Trinity partners with community organizations, including Augsburg, to provide suppers for neighborhood families, giving them a place to gather and talk. After supper, Bleichner and other student volunteers take the children to a nearby gym for games, making it more convenient for their parents to talk with each other about family and community issues. Even after graduating nearly four years ago, Bleichner has wanted to stay connected with these families and continues to devote time to the Wednesday Night Out program. Spring 2006 A school of many cultures (map #5) Around-the-world food Five blocks from Augsburg lies the only school in the country located in a high-rise apartment building. The Cedar-Riverside Community School, a K-8 charter school sponsored by Minneapolis Public Schools, is in the midst of Minneapolis’ most diverse neighborhood, largely Somali and East African. The school serves mostly immigrant children, from nearly a dozen different countries, some of whom never had any formal education before arriving in the U.S. Each week nearly 30-40 Augsburg students tutor and mentor at the school, and provide instruction or support during the year in music, art, piano lessons, physical education, science, and health. Augsburg elementary education students in Professor Jeanine Gregoire’s science methods class teach hand-on science units at the school. In the photo, Pa Kou Yang ’05 is working with two second-graders. When Augsburg moved to the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in 1872, it was home to a thriving community of Scandinavian immigrants. Again, it is a center for many people recently arriving in the U.S., primarily from Somalia and East Africa. The neighborhood has more than 20 restaurants, most of which serve ethnic foods; as well as ethnic clothing stores, grocers, and art galleries; and a Lutheran church and a mosque. As part of the first-year AugSem group, students visited area businesses and tried out some of the nearby restaurants. In this photo, a group sits around the table at Addis Ababa, an Ethiopian restaurant down the block from campus. Helping women stay fit at FOLC Caring for the mighty Mississippi (map #5) Eilidh Reyelts ’06 (facing front at right in photo), a senior biology and premedical major, began volunteering last year with Rachel Domier ’05 (left) at Family Opportunities for Living Collaboration (FOLC) at Riverside Plaza. This center encourages community members to work together at meeting the needs of neighborhood residents, many of whom are immigrants or refugees with little understanding of English or of American customs and health practices. Reyelts and Domier were both Lilly Interns and designed internships to explore areas within their vocational interests. Twice a week at FOLC they taught exercise to immigrant and refugee women, and helped them monitor their weight and blood pressure. Reyelts also is a Citizen Scholar through the Campus Compact program. As an AugSem leader, she took new students on a tour of the neighborhood and to FOLC. Reyelts’ vocational goals include a career in medicine or public health. Spring 2006 With the Mississippi River within a stone’s throw, Augsburg has joined the network of “river stewards” and has “adopted” a section of the river just downstream from campus. Planned activities involve students in litter clean-up, trail monitoring, placing stenciled warnings on storm drains to prevent pollution into the river, monitoring invasive species, and trail monitoring. In the summer, political science professor Joe Underhill-Cady teaches Environmental and River Politics, a course that looks at the challenges of balancing economic development, social justice, and environmental stewardship. Students spend time on the river and meet with people involved in river-related issues. 13 Courtesy photo H U R R I C A N E K AT R I N A : R E S P O N D I N G F R O M T H E H E A RT Medicine for both patient and doctor The days were long, the work was physically exhausting. What Augsburg alumni Paul Mueller ’84, M.D., and Rick Seime ’70, Ph.D., encountered in the hurricane-devastated areas of southern Louisiana was far worse than news reports could show. But, Mueller describes returning to Minnesota rejuvenated and thankful for the opportunity to help. Seime says he would do it again in a heartbeat. Mueller, an internist with a public health background, and Seime, a psychologist, both at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., served on different medical relief teams. They were a part of Operation Minnesota Lifeline, a collaboration of healthcare volunteers from Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota, College of St. Catherine, and the American Refugee Committee. Sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Health, their work helped to 14 by Betsey Norgard bridge the crisis period by treating immediate medical needs and connecting people to resources until more permanent public health clinics were set up. For two weeks each, Mueller’s and Seime’s teams operated from a base in Lafayette, La., and were housed at a Baptist church. Each day they set out in vans supplied with medicines, supplies, and vaccines, to treat people in the field, most of whom were either Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans or residents of the areas ravaged by Hurricane Rita. The medical teams were multidisciplinary, including physicians, nurses, social workers, and others. But, everyone served as a mental health counselor because the need was so great. Many people had lost everything they owned, had lost contact with family members, and had lost their medications and medical providers. Many simply just needed to talk. Despite their adversities, Seime was “impressed with their resiliency, in the faith they had, and in the way they came together to help each other out.” Both Mueller and Seime remark about the gratitude expressed by hurricane victims for the care they received from the medical teams. In Johnson’s Bayou, La., a coastal town almost totally destroyed by Hurricane Rita, Mueller met Rhonda, “a salt-of-the-earth person” and one of a very few who had returned to her home. Above: Mayo Clinic internist Dr. Paul Mueller ’84 (left) and Sr. Romana Klaubaus (right), a nurse from the College of St. Catherine, posed with residents of Johnson’s Bayou (La.). There they met Rhonda (second from right), a local emergency medical technician, who helped them find and treat the residents who had moved back. Spring 2006 Courtesy photo left Lafayette at 4:45 a.m. and worked until 10 p.m. that night. The team consulted all day, but still could not meet with everyone seeking help. His most vivid memory is of Miss Cindy, who came to be vaccinated in Eunice, La. He listened to her story of riding out the storm in her apartment building in New Orleans. When the levees broke, she told of trying to get help to rescue the other tenants in her building, and of wading in the water to get to boats. Not all survived, and she told of an elderly man who had to turn back. They saw him drown without being able to offer assistance. Miss Cindy was so grateful for the medical team’s help that she baked a Cajun meal to thank them and drove it 35 miles to the church where Seime and his colleagues were staying. Drawing on his background in both internal medicine and public health, Mueller felt “called” to respond to the medical needs in Louisiana. Seime considered it a privilege to serve and was glad for the opportunity, even taking into account the 21 hours each way on the bus. Paul Mueller ’84, M.D., is a member of the Augsburg Board of Regents and serves on the Science Center Task Force. Rick Seime ’70 is a Distinguished Alumnus and member of Augsburg’s Science Advisory Board. Mueller’s medical team set up shop in a FEMA trailer park, where many evacuees were living in tents. Courtesy photo Donald Mattison ’66, M.D., a senior adviser at the National Institutes of Health and a U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) medical officer, led a team to Louisiana on Aug. 31, just after Hurricane Katrina struck, for a two-week deployment. Emergency medicine in a field hospital by Donald Mattison ’66, M.D. Mayo psychologist Rick Seime ’70 (right) and internist Dr. Daniel Hartigan (left) from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., pack the van with medical supplies and vaccines for the day’s assignment in the field. Even though the local gas station her husband owned had been destroyed, Mueller says she was “amazingly happy and optimistic, and determined to re-build.” He tells of how Rhonda knew everybody—those who had returned to town, their ages, what medicines they took, etc. She was a volunteer emergency medical technician and rode with the team in their van, taking them to each of the homes where returning residents could be vaccinated and treated. Seime spent one day on a team sent to New Orleans, where they treated people in a FEMA resource center. They Spring 2006 I was part of the second team of Public Health Service (PHS) officers deployed into Baton Rouge, La. Our initial assignment was staffing and coordination of a temporary hospital established in two buildings on the Louisiana State University campus—an acute care “emergency room” with intensive care unit (ICU) containing about 150 beds, and a lower acuity hospital containing 200-500 beds (depending on need). While both were operating as hospitals over about a 15-day period, approximately 15,000 individuals were “triaged” and about 3,000 admitted, cared for, and discharged. When the demand for acute care diminished, the smaller facility was closed and the lower acuity facility converted to a special needs shelter. At that point additional PHS officers were available to participate in needs assessment and establishment of surveillance systems with the state health department. Teams were also assigned to manage medical and mental health needs of first responders from New Orleans. Missions Donald Mattison ’66, M.D., was honored on campus last fall as a Distinguished Alumnus. during the “public health” period of the deployment included assessment and surveillance of hospitals, clinics, schools, public wells, food processing facilities, and shelters. The PHS officers I worked with during the deployment were dedicated, highly professional, and went far beyond what would be expected to meet the needs of Louisiana. I was honored to lead these officers and extremely proud of all of them. 15 Hurricane Katrina, a personal perspective by Shira Hussain I was recruiting in Wisconsin when Hurricane Katrina was set to hit the Gulf Coast. My dad was determined not to leave and actually held my family back from evacuating as soon as they wanted to. I even called home and was crying because I just didn’t have a good gut I just didn’t have a good gut feeling about this hurricane. feeling about this hurricane. Frequently people in New Orleans do not evacuate for hurricanes because they are so common, and people fear their houses will be looted if they leave. My parents, sister, and brother evacuated to Lake Charles, La., the day before the storm hit. I watched the news and was happy to see that the storm came and went. Then disaster struck on a whole new level. The minute the levees were declared breached, I knew things were going to get a lot worse. I saw the city under water and couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t hear from my family and friends and cried even more. I was finally able to reach my mom two days after the ordeal and cried for more positive reasons. Eventually, I got in touch with the rest of my family and also my hometown friends. Although I couldn’t explain why all of this happened, I did have the choice to find something positive out of all of it. Although I couldn’t explain why all of this happened, I did have the choice to find something positive out of all of it. The fact that my family and friends were alive is what kept me going. A few weeks later, my parents returned to the 16 Shira Hussain was on the road attending college fairs when she heard the news that her New Orleans neighborhood was under water. house, which was completely destroyed. Fortunately, my mom was able to get our family Bible and photos. They plan to rebuild in the same area. I, too, took a hard hit with all of this. I lost the house I grew up in and the schools I went to. Most of my hang-out of things as we think we are. (My parents, like so many others, are still waiting for their insurance checks and their trailer from FEMA). This whole experience gives us all so many reasons to be thankful. And it emphasizes that minor problems, petty grudges, and bad Helping my fellow “N’awlins” neighbors in any way I could was in turn helping me deal with everything. spots were gone, and the worst part was being so far away from my family during all of this. So I did what I could. I got advances on my checks and sent money home. I headed up fundraising efforts at Augsburg for hurricane evacuees. I even passed out my number as a resource to Minnesota locals who were hosting, donating to, and/or aiding evacuees. Helping my fellow “N’awlins” neighbors in any way I could was in turn helping me deal with everything. From all of this, I’ve truly accepted that nothing material lasts forever. I’ve also learned that we are not as in control intentions are really things we shouldn’t hold on to, because major things beyond our control will happen—both good and bad, easy and challenging. A family friend of ours did drown in her house while waiting for her nephew, who never came to get her. My mom took it particularly hard because she had wanted Miss Gerdy to evacuate with them. I just trust that she died peacefully in the house as I believe many people did who were stuck behind. Shira Hussain is senior admissions counselor in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Spring 2006 Teachers who lead, leaders who teach EDITED BY BETSEY NORGARD Vicki Olson describes how teachers as leaders must be willing to take risks and to become positive influences in schools. O OVER THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS I’ve been reading about a topic dear to my heart—teacher leadership. At Augsburg, this concept undergirds our teacher licensure programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. What teacher leadership means to Augsburg’s Education Department is that the teachers we prepare have both the right and the responsibility to exercise leadership within their classrooms, schools, districts, and communities. Recognizing that teachers lead within the classroom is not difficult; it is accepted enough to seem like common sense. But once you get beyond the classroom walls, the concept of teacher leadership is less well established. Some would say “teacher leadership” is an oxymoron. Principals lead, not teachers. They would go on to say that teachers carry out the will of the school district by teaching the designated curriculum, following the standards determined by the state, and upholding the expectations of the community. Teachers, in other words, follow the Spring 2006 direction of others who make the decisions, creating classrooms, in turn, where students learn what they are required to learn. This philosophy exists, but it isn’t the one we believe in or work from. Certainly our vision incorporates the idea that teachers have a responsibility to the school district, the state, and the community to educate students in the best ways possible. That’s a given. But rather than simply doing what they are told, we believe teachers must— truly must—see themselves as active participants in deciding what should be taught and how to teach it. In our vision, teachers come to the table with administrators, parents, other community members, and sometimes students to define what it means to be an educated person and then to map out how that education will happen within a given setting. Teachers count themselves among the grown-ups and accept the responsibility and risks from making the decisions they make. This conceptualization of “teacher” that includes an element of leadership frightens some. Responsibility and risk bring with them accountability, but along with that they also can bring a fine sense of exhilaration, energy, and eminent satisfaction in a job well done. Roland Barth, in Learning by Heart, says, “I think of a teacher leader as one who has a positive influence on the school as well as in the classroom … all teachers have the capacity to lead the enterprise down a more positive path, to bring their abundant experience and wisdom to schools.” Like Barth, at Augsburg we believe all teachers can be teacher leaders and share in leading the collective “enterprise” of making schools positive places with learning at the heart. Teachers who understand their role in this way—risks and all—are more likely to define teaching as their vocation rather than simply their job. Vicki Olson is associate professor of education. 17 Teachers who lead, leaders who teach M MARGARET KNUTSON ’91 Fifth-grade teacher at Orono (Minn.) Intermediate School Education is the second largest major at Augsburg, with approximately 500 students across undergraduate and graduate programs. How do Augsburg students carry the qualities of teacher leadership into their classrooms? Augsburg Now invited a number of alumni and faculty who have been recognized as leaders to reflect about their careers and how they have seen themselves both as teachers who lead and as leaders who teach. Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award in 2004 My goal is to inspire students to find the learner in themselves, to challenge themselves and to find meaning in their education. To that end I have always yearned to try new things in order to find ways to more effectively connect students to learning on a real and personal level. When I discover or create methods I find successful, I share these with colleagues at my school as well as lead workshops for schools around the state. So, being a teacher leader involves keeping your mind and eyes open for new methods, being a risk taker and pioneer in applying new methods, and then not being shy about sharing your successes with others ... and to humbly educate other teachers. Above: Maggie Knutson tries to keep her students engaged in ways that challenge and inspire them to find learning meaningful. 18 Spring 2006 J JOSEPH ERICKSON Professor in Augsburg’s Education Department, and chair of the Minneapolis Board of Education My personal philosophy of teaching is based on the assumption that my primary role is to motivate learners to gather information and develop themselves—I don’t make them learn. I think that’s a kind of leadership; sparking curiosity and motivating learners. I think that is central to good teaching. In my role on the school board, I’m constantly meeting people who have opinions about what should and should not be done in Minneapolis Public Schools. It’s hard to underestimate how much rumor and gossip is out there. My role is to help educate the public when I meet people who hold information that is wrong or misleading. More importantly, I try to make sure that I take every opportunity I can to inspire optimism and confidence in MPS’s future. Sometimes inspiring confidence is even more important than competent administration. Joe Erickson brings his school board leadership experience into his classrooms at Augsburg to help future teachers understand the issues affecting school districts. J JACKI BRICKMAN ’97 Mentor at Elizabeth Hall International Elementary School, Minneapolis From my second year of teaching, my classroom has been a public place— to current and new teachers, to district officials, politicians, and parents. Teachers are at their best in their classrooms facilitating learning, and when teachers open their doors to one another and make their classrooms a public place, we are able lead and teach at the same Teachers in Jacki Brickman’s school meet regularly in study groups to share their practices and strategies in order to help each other grow. J time. Both the teacher observing and the teacher being observed can grow in their practices if they engage in reflective conversation after this shared experience. JUDY SCHAUBACH ’68 President of Education Minnesota Being a teacher and a leader are for me inseparable. In my early years as a teacher I was a strong voice for ensuring a positive work environment that included advocating for professional development opportunities, insisting on compliance with state and federal laws, and working together with the administration to insure a safe and respectful learning environment. The more I took responsibility for these issues the more I grew as a professional. Being involved at the local level and gaining a sense of empowerment was what prompted me to get Spring 2006 involved at the state and national level. As a union leader I rely on my teaching experience to help policy-makers understand what needs to be done … I believe that teachers should not be passive bystanders to what is occurring in their classrooms, schools, or communities, nor should they be silent about policies and laws that have a direct impact on their profession and the students they teach. This philosophy has been the impetus for my leadership, even when it is sometimes difficult and may be controversial. 19 Teachers who lead, leaders who teach A ADAM THRONSON ’99 Social studies teacher at Coon Rapids (Minn.) High School 2005 Anoka-Hennepin School District Teacher Outstanding Performance (TOP) award Teachers are leaders by researching and implementing new strategies into their classroom. It means you take a risk. Teachers usually try methods that other teachers have found success with, but leadership comes when you blaze a new trail by trying something new. B BRUCE PALMQUIST ’84 Professor of physics and science education at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Wash. Washington State Professor of the Year, named by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). I started teaching while I was a student at Augsburg. I tutored first-year physics students. This taught me that it takes more than good grades in a subject to be a good teacher. I learned that I needed to understand what the students knew and didn’t know before I could help them. … In general, a good teacher is one who leads by example. I try to make my science teaching methods courses relevant by developing interesting opportunities for my students to interact with children. My teaching methods students have been among the first at my university to teach science lessons in the local schools, to develop after-school science clubs, and to provide children with practice items for the Washington state science assessment. (To become better acquainted with Bruce Palmquist, see Auggie Thoughts on p. 32) 20 I have been a leader who teaches when I’ve accepted and encouraged the work of other teachers. This could be new programs like Link Crew or just cooperation dealing with the same student. I have been a teacher who leads by staying positive, supporting administration, and trying new things in my classroom. A ALLEN TRIPP ’69 English teacher at Rush City (Minn.) High School 2005 Leadership in Educational Excellence Award, selected by peers After 35 years of teaching English, I can look back and see many times where I have been both a teacher and a leader. The teacher role is six classes a day September through May. However, the leader role has grown on me over the years as I became more experienced in my profession and familiar with the people in the community. … Teaching ability and leadership skills are a necessary combination for any successful teacher. When I look back at my first year of teaching, I see I had the knowledge to teach effectively, but at times lacked the confidence to lead. By talking to experienced teachers and gaining experience in the classroom, the leadership skills evolved. When you demonstrate confidence in yourself as a teacher, you will clearly communicate goals to the students; and they gain confidence in themselves as learners. It’s a win/win situation. Spring 2006 A ALYSSA SNYDER ’98 President, Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, Minn. It is in the classroom where we have the most direct impact on our students; however, it cannot end there. As educators we must challenge one another’s ideas and philosophies through professional dialogue in order to gain insight into how to better meet the needs of our learners. My top priority is having high standards for all my students. This is why I feel fortunate to be an instructor in the Weekend College program. I want to influence potential educators to advocate for all of their students, not just the smart and well behaved. A true teacher leader is willing to do this by going against the status quo knowing the student must come first. When I can influence future teachers, I can impact more students positively. D DAN BRUSS ’75 Adjunct instructor in Augsburg’s Education Department J I have been connected to the teaching enterprise of higher education nearly 25 years. As a professor I saw myself not just as a champion of my area of expertise, but primarily as a role model, an individual concerned with the wide variety of struggles students have during their college experience. For me life in the classroom was seamlessly interwoven to the life outside of it. As a college president I still see my chief function as a role model, although now my teaching crosses constituency boundaries. As an administrator I look for the professor who can have the biggest impact on students’ lives. They generally have more lasting influence than programs or buildings. JOHN-MARK STENSVAAG ’69 Charlotte and Frederick Hubbell Professor of Environmental and Natural Resources Law at the University of Iowa College of Law University of Iowa 2005 President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence All of my great teachers led by example. Every day, I try imperfectly to emulate what my greatest teachers showed me; every day, I expect my students to outshine me in their future endeavors. The enterprise is driven by love: love of learning, love of the subject matter, and love of the students. My greatest teachers led by illustrating such love. For me, “leading” is nothing more than striving to reflect their love to a new generation of students. A POSTSCRIPT: After this story was completed, announcement came of the appointment of Augsburg history professor Bill Green as interim superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools. As he steps from the classroom into a leadership role in a difficult situation, Green has been quoted as saying that he is “first and foremost a teacher.” Spring 2006 21 Paulson family makes major gift to the Science Center Courtesy photo In December, John Paulson, together with Norma Paulson, pledged a $1 million gift on behalf of his family to name the front entrance and atrium of the new Science Center. This is the Paulson family’s second major capital gift to Augsburg. In 2001, the family provided major funding to complete the enclosed skyway link from Lindell Library to the two-story atrium between Memorial and Sverdrup Halls. “One does not have to be on campus long to see what an important need was met by the Paulson Link,” said Stephen Preus, director of development. “This new, special gift by the Paulsons will provide for an equally important and highly attractive space.” While Paulson is not an Augsburg alumnus, three of his children and a sonin-law graduated from the College—Mary Jo (Paulson) Peterson ’80, Laurie (Paulson) Dahl ’76 and David Dahl ’75, and Lisa Paulson ’80. The motivation behind the Science Center gift, however, may date back much farther than his family’s education. Paulson served in the Second Infantry Division during World War II and was part of the Allied invasion landing on D+1 at Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, in June by Betsey Norgard Cory Ryan $1 million gift will name the new atrium John and Norma Paulson pledge $1 million for the Science Center atrium. (L to R) Dick Adamson, vice president for finance and administration; Jeroy Carlson, senior development officer; and Norma and John Paulson. 1944. He was a frontline soldier until July 28, 1944, when he was wounded during the St.-Lo breakthrough. Among the awards Paulson received were the Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. In June 2004, Paulson and his wife, Norma, traveled to France to take part in the 60th anniversary commemoration of the event that proved to be the turning point of the war. The festivities brought together thousands of people—war veterans, military officials, local people and tourists, as well as Hollywood celebrities whose acting roles had recreated the battles on movie screens. Standing in his Army uniform, wearing medals depicting D-Day service, Paulson enjoyed the commemoration. Following the ceremony, however, he noticed lines of French citizens forming to At the 60th anniversary commemoration of D-Day, Norma and shake hands and request John Paulson met and talked with actor Tom Hanks. 22 autographs from the U.S. veterans. Puzzled, Paulson finally asked someone why he wanted a soldier’s autograph. “Don’t you understand,” the Frenchman told him, “you saved our country.” Paulson recounted how vivid an impression these words made. When he thought about the statistics—the staggering numbers of soldiers who were killed or wounded during the invasion— he realized that he was, in fact, a survivor. And with that realization also came the insight that he had been blessed with many gifts in his life that should be shared with others. “I believe it is important to leave this world in better condition than it was when we arrived,” Paulson said, “so contributing to Augsburg and other worthwhile organizations is part of this process.” The Science Center atrium girft is provided in memory of Lois V. Paulson, Rose E. Paulson, and Johnny E. Paulson, by the Paulson family—John R., Sr., and Norma Paulson, John Reid Paulson, Mary Jo Peterson ’80, Deborah Stansbury, Laurie Dahl ’76, and Lisa Paulson ’80. Spring 2006 Naming the ‘Doc’ Johnson A-Club Office Office in Doc’s memory. Their gifts, with additional gifts from Louie Morseth ’51, Roger Stockmo ’54, Leroy Nyhus ’52, and Virg Gehring ’57 have made it possible. In his senior year at Augsburg, Doc Johnson was elected president of AClub. Now, it is the A-Club vice president from that year, Ron Main, helping to perpetuate Johnson’s legacy as an Auggie. Archive photo Donnis “Doc” Johnson ’52, an Auggie who died at the age of 23, well before his time, will not be forgotten by his friends. Five of his classmates and friends have joined together to name the A-Club office in the new Si Melby South Wing in his memory. Raised in the small town of Newman Grove, Nebraska—the only Lutheran Free Church congregation in that state— Johnson followed his sister, LaRhea, and several relatives to Augsburg College, 400 miles away. He enrolled in 1948, majored in physical education, and became center on the football team. After graduation in 1952 and two years in the U.S. Army at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Johnson returned home to a teaching and football coaching position at the Elgin (Neb.) High School. This was to be his only year of teaching, as he died of bulbar polio in November 1954. Members of his high school football team served as pallbearers. Early last year, Doc’s cousin, Mark Johnson ’54, together with Augsburg development officer Ron Main ’56, proposed a plan to name the new A-Club by Betsey Norgard “Doc” Johnson (top row, no. 28) played on the 1951 football team, along with teammate, and now development officer and donor, Ron Main ’56 (middle row, no. 38). Connections Augsburg meets Thrivent challenge Augsburg received bonus funding of $5,415 from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for successfully meeting the GivingPlus program challenge. About 450 Lutheran schools and social service agencies were awarded portions of an $800,000 grant from Thrivent for significantly improving participation in Thrivent’s GivingPlus program, which matches contributions to Lutheran institutions by its members. In order to qualify, Augsburg needed to increase GivingPlus by 588 member donors before December. It exceeded that with a total of 693, thereby also earning $78,805 in matching funds from Thrivent under the program. The bonus funds will be used for student scholarships, curriculum development, student-oriented activities, and campus improvements. Spring 2006 Barbara Gage, president of the Curtis L. Carlson Family Foundation, was honored with the 2006 Leading Leaders award for lifelong commitment to family, career, and service to community. (L to R) Emily Anne Tuttle, Augsburg Board of Regents; Barbara Carlson Gage; and Tracy Elftmann, Augsburg vice president for institutional advancement. The Connections event, co-sponsored by Augsburg and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, also included speakers Janice Aune ’88, chairman/CEO of Onvoy, Inc.; Augsburg regent Gloria C. Lewis, president/CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities; and Shira Hussain, Augsburg senior admissions counselor. 23 Sig Hjelmeland led fundraising efforts for 30 years Sigvald Hjelmeland ’41 was the second of four generations of Augsburg graduates and spent three decades at Augsburg leading fundraising efforts that made possible a number of major capital projects. He died on Dec. 25 at age 90. Hjelmeland returned to Augsburg in 1952 to serve as the College’s first director of development. Major campaigns he headed led to the completion of the George Sverdrup Library, Christensen Center, Urness Hall, and Foss Center. He is best remembered by colleague Jeroy Carlson ’48 as “meticulous.” In the late 1950s, as donor and giving programs were being created, Hjelmeland drew on his expertise and passion for detail to create a manual accounting system and bookkeeping procedures for donor gifts. This included the use of a bank book to help donors track their monthly pledge payments. In 1963, as the College moved through the transition from the Lutheran Free Church (LFC) into the American Lutheran Church, Hjelmeland, with his Norwegian LFC background, served a valuable role in helping many of Augsburg’s longtime LFC families stay part of and feel connected to Augsburg. “He spoke Norwegian and had a great sense of humor,” Carlson says, “not just American humor, but Scandinavian humor as well.” Hjelmeland’s relationships helped to foster a culture of philanthropy that has nurtured many of Augsburg’s current donors. In 1986, Hjelmeland, with his wife, by Betsey Norgard Three generations of Hjelmeland Auggies: Sigvald Hjelmeland ’41, who is survived by his wife, Helen; (back row, L to R) James Clarke and daughter Laurene (Hjelmeland) Clarke ’64; son John ’70 and Lynn (Benson) ’69 Hjelmeland; and granddaughter Jennifer (Hjelmeland) Stewart ’00. Helen, and son and daughter-in law John ’70 and Lynn (Benson) ’69, established a scholarship in the name of his father, John Hjelmeland, who graduated from Augsburg Academy, College, and Seminary. In 2003, Sig Hjelmeland received the Spirit of Augsburg award for his dedication and long service to the College. Hjelmeland is survived by his wife, Helen; two children, Laurene and John; seven grandchildren; and five greatgrandchildren. The family has directed memorial gifts to the Rev. John Hjelmeland Scholarship Fund. Faculty-staff giving boosts campaign From September through December, guided by a faculty-staff campaign committee, employees of Augsburg raised the bar on giving and encouraged awareness of a philanthropic culture. A generous matching fund, matches from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for its members, and contacts from committee members helped to significantly increase both the dollar amount and the rate of giving within the Augsburg community. 24 Through December 31, an additional total of $133,000 was given or pledged by employees of the College, beyond the $635,000 since the campaign’s launch. Even more important, however, was the increased rate of participation in the campaign—to more than doubling the overall rate of 17% in 2004-05. By the end of the year, the giving rate for full-time faculty and staff exceeded 50%. Spring 2006 AAlumni LUMNINews NEWS From the director of Alumni Relations… A ugsburg College is in the midst of many exciting changes this spring. Our first group of MBA students will graduate in May, along with candidates from our other master’s programs in leadership, education, nursing, physician assistant studies, and social work—plus our undergraduates from the day, weekend, and Rochester programs. Congratulations to you all! The campus face is changing, too. I hope that you have had an opportunity to view the artist renderings of the planned Science, Gateway, and Si Melby additions. We welcome you back to campus to tour the grounds this spring and summer—our grounds crew does an amazing job beautifying the campus! In Alumni Board news, three members will end their terms this spring. We would like to thank Beth Torstenson ’66, Andy Morrison ’73, and Paul Mueller ’84 for their dedication and hard work during their tenures. We hope to see them at many events in the future. Thank you! Alumni Relations, along with Advancement Services and Information Technology, are pleased to announce the newly launched Augsburg Online Community, which will help you stay informed and involved with Augsburg via the Internet. See the information below for details. Planning for Homecoming 2006 is well underway. This year’s theme is “Watch Us Soar,” and events are scheduled this September 25-30. Watch your mailbox for your Homecoming brochure in August. We have made changes to the usual Saturday activities, and we encourage all alumni, family, and friends to join us. We look forward to hosting you at an Augsburg event in the near future. Please let the Office of Alumni Relations know if you will be in the metro area this summer—we would love to show you the campus! Heidi Breen Director, Office of Alumni Relations Introducing Augsburg’s new online community A ugsburg’s online community has been developed just for you— alumni, friends, parents, and donors of the College. The new online community will help you stay informed and involved with Augsburg via the Internet. This is a great way to stay connected! Visit the site and register today so that you can take advantage of the great new features to keep you connected to your Augsburg friends and classmates. You’ll find: Alumni Directory • Learn where your classmates and friends are, and what they’ve been doing since graduation • Connect with other alumni in your area of the country • Update your personal profile so your classmates can get in touch with you Spring 2006 Class Notes Tell us what you’ve been up to! As part of your personal profile you can now submit class notes online for possible publication in Augsburg Now. programs, and of course, Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College. Giving online is easy and secure—and there’s no need to be a registered user to donate. Events Wondering what events are taking place for Augsburg alumni? The online community is the place to search and register for events specifically for alumni and friends of the College. Check back often to learn about upcoming Auggie Hours, parent events, or just to find out the most up-to-date news around the Augsburg campus. It’s EASY Simply go to www.augsburg.edu/alumni Online Giving You asked, and we listened! Making a contribution to Augsburg has never been easier. Simply visit Augsburg’s online community and click on the “Give Now” link to donate online. Otherwise, click on “Giving at Augsburg” to learn about planned giving, our various giving It’s FAST Moving? Changing your e-mail address? New addition to your family? Let us know instantly by logging in and updating your information. QUESTIONS? If you have any questions, first read through the information on the Augsburg online community website. If you still have questions, send an e-mail to <healyk@augsburg.edu>. 25 Alumni Events SUMMER AUGGIE HOURS Please join us for these upcoming alumni events (see also the college-wide calendar on the inside back cover for additional Augsburg events); unless otherwise noted, call 612-330-1178 or 1-800-260-6590 or e-mail <alumni@augburg.edu> for more information. March May 16 5 Graduation reception for all undergraduate and graduate business students, Marshall Room, Christensen Center, 4-6 p.m. April 9 Alumni tour to China departs 18 Alumni Board meeting, Christensen Center, 5:30 p.m. 18 27 Senior reception hosted by the Alumni Board in honor of the Class of 2006, East Commons, Christensen Center, 4:30-6 p.m. WECAN meeting (Weekend College Alumni Network), 6-8 p.m., Riverside Room, Christensen Center WECAN meeting (Weekend College Alumni Network), 6-8 p.m., Riverside Room, Christensen Center April Join a variety of alumni who are actively involved in the Twin Cities theatre community; location TBA. May W.A. Frost & Company, Historic Cathedral Hill—Dacotah Building, 374 Selby Ave., St. Paul, 651-224-5715 June Maynard’s Restaurant, 685 Excelsior Blvd, Excelsior, Minn. (located in the southeast corner of Excelsior Bay on Lake Minnetonka), 952-470-1800 August Campiello, 1320 West Lake St., Uptown Minneapolis, 612-825-2222 June 20 Alumni Board meeting, Christensen Center, 5:30 p.m. 25 Rochester Weekend College graduation banquet, Rochester Country Club, 5-8 p.m. Commencement 2006 Augsburg Associates Spring Seminar Softball and baseball alumni receptions The Augsburg Associates invite you to their 20th Annual Spring Seminar, Saturday, April 1, 8:30-11:30 a.m. at Foss Center. This year’s guest speakers include Augsburg professor of religion Brad Holt ’63, Tsehai Wodajo, and Ann (Tjaden) Jensen. Wodajo emigrated from Ethiopia 15 years ago and received her MSW from Augsburg in 1997. Jensen served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia after graduating from Augsburg in 1964. They are founders of REAL (Resources for the Enrichment of African Lives). Registration is $15 per person, payable in advance (this includes refreshments and materials). Call your old teammates and join us at these upcoming receptions! Softball alumni are invited to gather at 5 p.m., Thursday, April 20, prior to the game against Carleton College; for more information, contact Carol Enke at 612-330-1250 or <enke@augsburg.edu>. Baseball alumni are invited to gather at 1 p.m., Saturday, April 29, prior to the game against Macalester College; contact Keith Bateman at 612-330-1395 or <bateman@augsburg.edu>. 26 Auggie Hours are held the second Tuesday of each month from 5:30-7 p.m. Please join us! Reunion celebrations Attention Auggies from the classes of 1956, 1966, 1981, and Young Alumni 1990-2006: this is your reunion year! Plan now to join your classmates this September 25-30 for the annual Homecoming festivities and your reunion reception. Watch your mail and upcoming issues of Augsburg Now for complete details; please let us know your current e-mail address at <alumni@augsburg.edu>. You can also stay up-to-date by visiting the alumni website at <www.augsburg.edu/alumni>. Spring 2006 CLASS NOTES Class Notes 1956 Richard Thorud, Bloomington, Minn., has pursued a hobby of writing, illustrating, publishing, and marketing books since his retirement as a research and development engineer. His seventh book, Mette Marie’s Homestead Journal, is based on his mother’s childhood memories of living in a sod hut in North Dakota; for more information, go online to <www.amazon.com>. 1967 Rev. Harley J. Refsal, Decorah, Iowa, is a professor of Scandinavian folk art and Norwegian at Luther College. He has earned national and international acclaim for his figure woodcarving— including a St. Olav Medal in 1996 from the king of Norway. Besides teaching at Luther, he has written four books and numerous magazine articles. He’s also the star of an instructional video, Scandinavian Style Figure Carving with Harley Refsal, which earned a prestigious 2005 Telly Award. John N. Schwartz is serving as interim president and chief executive officer of St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center in Missoula, Mont. He previously served as interim president of Providence Medford Medical Center in Medford, Ore., and has 30 years of experience in the healthcare field and a long history in management. 1969 Allen C. Tripp was one of four Rush City, Minn., teachers selected by their peers for the Leadership in Excellence Award, which honors their teaching quality and commitment. The awards were presented in October at a banquet in St. Cloud. Tripp has been an English teacher at Rush City High School since 1970. In addition to teaching English, he has directed class plays and all school plays for 14 years and has been a junior high speech coach for 15 years. He has also served as an assistant track coach for 20 years. His wife, Linda, teaches first grade at Jacobson Elementary School. They have two sons, Ryen, 29, and Justin, 23. See more about Allen on p. 20. AUGGIES AT CARNEGIE HALL 1977 Timothy Strand was elected mayor of the City of St. Peter (Minn.) in November in a landslide victory. Strand, who by election time had served two years of a four-year term as a Ward II council member, was anxious to start his new role. “I’m very excited, and the first thing that comes to my mind is that I’m proud to have been elected,” he said in a postelection article in the St. Peter Herald. Patricia Clausen Wojtowicz, Largo, Fla., is manager of Jan (Pedersen) Schiff ’68 of Mill Valley, Calif., will be a guest conductor at Carnegie Hall on April 24, performing two works for women’s chorus and orchestra. The concert is part of MidAmerica Productions’ 2005-2006 concert series. Courtesy photo AUGGIE HONORS Ora Hokes ’90 of Minneapolis was one of 10 recipients of the 2005 Virginia McKnight Binger Award in Human Service. The awards are an annual tradition of The McKnight Foundation, and each recipient exemplifies the life-changing difference one person can make through service. The following is reprinted from the award program: Ora Hokes is transforming the health of her community Sunday by Sunday. A member of the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church for 25 years, Hokes saw the alarming health-related risk factors affecting the African American community, and took action. In 2003, after years of service with the Sabathani Community Center and its Way to Grow program, she began volunteering with the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association. Working with her pastor, she created the Health Sundays program to provide monthly health information to her congregation. Partnering with nurses and others from the congregation, and using additional resources from the American Cancer Society and the Stairstep Foundation’s Health Initiative, she implemented monthly blood pressure checks, distributed health information on sexually transmitted diseases, instituted a “Stomp Out Stroke” awareness program, and started the Promised Land Fellowship walking program which focuses on weight loss, nutrition, and exercise. “My mother was my inspiration,” Hokes says. “She had the gift of healing.” Hokes is a lifelong advocate for continuing education. She returned to school after her two children were grown, and has since received an Associate of Arts degree from Minneapolis Community College, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Augsburg’s Weekend College, a Master of Arts degree from the University of St. Thomas, and a parent educator license from the University of Minnesota. It seems no challenge is too big for Ora Hokes. Spring 2006 27 Class Notes Courtesy photo ALUMNI PROFILE Mike and Gail Koski: Traveling the missionary road by Sara Holman ’06 Working in the mailroom, falling in love with a fellow coworker, graduating in four years, and preparing for a bright future were just a few of the things that Mike and Gail (Niederloh) Koski accomplished while attending Augsburg. However, finding their joint calling to become missionaries happened just months after their marriage. Married in October 1972, the following July carried the Koskis across the ocean to Africa. Mike, a 1971 graduate, came to Augsburg and studied history and secondary education. Gail graduated one year later with a B.A. in French secondary education. Both came from congregations that were involved in missionary work, yet each confesses that overseas missionary work had not been a part of their plan. When the inspiration came, Mike recalls, “It was an answer to prayer.” “We just understood that this was the way God would want us to use our gifts and abilities,” Gail said. Mike ’71 and Gail ’72 (Niederloh) Koski have traveled the world as missionaries since meeting and graduating from Augsburg more than 30 years ago. After 32 years of missionary work in Kenya and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), the Koskis are currently awaiting their next assignment. The couple works with the Minneapolis-based mission organization World Mission Prayer League (WMPL). When choosing a mission group, “WMPL resonated well. Its principles, policies, and practices fit the best,” Mike said. Every four years, the couple comes back to the United States on furlough. During this one-year break, the missionaries continue their work and await news about their future destination. The Koskis were called back in September 2005. The couple’s mission experience started in Zaire where they worked in a rural setting, often connecting with nomadic tribes. It was the couple’s responsibility to learn the language and culture and then present the gospel in a way that would be understood. Their time in Zaire was limited to only four months, and then their assignment changed. Kenya has been a very permanent place for the Koskis’ mission work. They spent many years in the agricultural parts of northern and western Kenya but have been stationed in the city of Nairobi for the past 10 years. Mike became assistant director of the Urban Ministries Support Group (UMSG) in 1995 and then moved up to the director position in 1999. Gail’s work has consisted of many facets: UMSG resource center librarian, ESL teacher, Sunday school supervisor, and mission hostess. She was also in charge of home-schooling their three children. Now fully grown, their children have all graduated college and live and work at various places within North America. The Koskis’ main goal in Nairobi was to help develop leadership within the Lutheran church. With strong leadership skills instilled, the church was able to discuss and respond to societal ailments such as poverty and HIV. To reach more people within the city, one church decided to split the congregation into five groups and build five new churches. Everything was planned and prepared ahead of time: pastors were found, worship teams were formed, and everything transitioned very smoothly. The five new congregations each held a special characteristic that made it fit perfectly into its new part of the city. For example, in the area where many university students lived, the church emphasized youth activities and provided a contemporary worship service. The couple’s greatest excitement is to see their fellow church members’ faith development. “We’ve been doing this for so long that we get to see young people grow into adults. We are able to see how their faith keeps growing and then how it impacts their families, vocations, and communities.” Kenya holds a special place in both the Koskis’ hearts. They enjoyed the vibrant colors and temperate climate, but it was the people-oriented culture and relaxed pace of living that really appealed to the couple. Being concerned about people and taking time to establish relationships is a big part of missionary work, and the Koski family praises God for the rich experiences that were shared in Kenya. Sara Holman is a senior English/communication studies major. 28 Spring 2006 accreditations at Forensic Quality Services, Inc., in Largo. Courtesy photo STENSVAAG-DARDA WEDDING (CORRECTION) 1979 1980 Nancy (Weatherston) Black, Cornelius, Ore., is a serial cataloger for Millar Library at Portland State University. Rev. David L. Norgard, West Hollywood, Calif., has established a consulting practice for churches and other nonprofits in the area of organizational development. He can be contacted at <davidnorgard@yahoo.com>. 1982 Kevin Gordon, International Falls, Minn., was quoted in an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper about his son, Ben Gordon, who is a sophomore forward on the University of Minnesota Gopher hockey team. Ben acquired his hockey skills growing up playing on outdoor rinks and from his father, a former International Falls High School coach and an Augsburg All-American. Spring 2006 The above photo from the July 2004 wedding of Rebecca Stensvaag ’01 and Paul Darda ’01, which features more than 40 Augsburg alumni, contained unintentional inaccuracies in the winter issue of the Augsburg Now. The correct information is as follows: ROW 1 (L to R): Cindy Huber Blummer ’01, Emma Stensvaag ’08, Ruth Casperson ’67, Hannah Mehus Stensvaag ’38, Rebecca Stensvaag Darda ’01, Paul Darda ’01, Nancy Strommen Stensvaag ’71, John-Mark Stensvaag ’69, Stephanie Johnson Sulzbach ’71, John Sulzbach ’69, Jean Boxrud Steen. ROW 2: Roland Blummer ’00, Mary Kay Johnson Stensvaag ’72, Ken Casperson ’70, Peggy Nelson Hintzman, Gladys Boxrud Strommen ’46, Hans Strommen ’04, Andrea Johnson Strommen ’75, Bob Strommen ’74, Roy Steen. ROW 3: Normajean Johnson Strommen ’69, Saul Stensvaag ’72, Ann Peterson ’01, Tony Quance ’03, Tjersti Strommen ’07, Adam Thronson ’99, Marsha Strommen Olson ’68, Dawn Hofstad Strommen ’70. ROW 4: Peter Strommen ’69, Mary Nelson Eckberg ’70, Brad Fischer ’03, Heidi Peterson ’03, Mark Peterson ’01, Mary Ellen Strommen Lieber ’67, Tim Strommen ’70. ROW 5: John Eckberg ‘68, Ben Paul ’03, Ainy Carlson, Jeroy Carlson ’46, Phil Edstrom ’69, Luther Strommen ’40, Steve Strommen ’65. 1984 Bruce Palmquist, Ellensburg, Wash., was honored as the 2005 Washington State Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Palmquist is a physics and science education professor at Central Washington University, and is highly regarded for his commitment to improving public understanding of basic scientific principles and working to develop skills in the next generation of science teachers needed to successfully bring about a scientifically literate society. In his dual role as a physicist and a teacher educator, Palmquist has taken on many AUGGIES ON THE ROAD Courtesy photo Paul Daniels, archivist for ELCA Region 3 and archivist/curator at Luther Seminary, traveled to Chennai (Madras), India, to assist the Lutheran Heritage Centre at Gurukul Theological College on several projects. Daniels had served there 12 years ago when the archives center was just beginning its work of collecting and making available records of the 12 Indian Lutheran church bodies. Over the years he has maintained contact with the staff, working on issues of collection development, preservation, and program expansion. Daniels and his wife, Sally (Hough) ’79, director of parent and family relations at Augsburg, live in Golden Valley, Minn., and have two daughters, Kristin ’09 and Maren. Jennifer Tome ’99 (left) of Minneapolis visited Mary Olson ’74 (right) in October at Airlie Winery, Olson’s winery in Monmouth, Ore. Tome is a wine representative for Grape Beginnings. 29 Class Notes initiatives, including developing a new CWU program at Green River Community College in Auburn, called Project TEACH (Teacher Education Alliance for Colleges and High Schools). In 2004, Palmquist was also named the CWU Distinguished Public Service Professor. 1988 Brad Anderson, Plymouth, Minn., teaches biology and human genetics at Wayzata High School. He also serves as head football coach, and this past season led the Trojans to capture the 2005 state championship. He and his wife, Maari Anderson ’87, have two daughters, Barrett and Isabelle. 1990 Kay E. Baker, Savage, Minn., is an account director hired to set up the new Minneapolis office of the Jerome Group, a direct marketing support firm based in St. Louis, Mo. She was recently featured as a “Mover” in the business section of the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper. 1992 West Central Initiative in Fergus Falls, Minn., as a Connectinc Replication Project executive. She has several years of experience in the service industry, including serving as a board member for Restart Inc. 1996 Julie (Lindusky) Corcoran, Forest Lake, Minn., was elected in November to a four-year term on the ISD 831 School Board. She and her husband, Mike, have three children. Paul Wahmanholm, St. Paul, is an administrative intern for Dayton’s Bluff Elementary School in the St. Paul Public Schools district. Debra Carpenter has joined Courtsey photo HINTON-HANSEN WEDDING 1997 Lars P. Dyrud, Amesbury, Mass., was one of approximately 70 selected worldwide by the Young Scientists Award Panel to attend the Union RadioScientifique Internationale (URSI) General Assembly at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, India, last October. Participants were also given the opportunity to meet with the president of India at the Rashtrapati, the official presidential residence. 1998 Melanie Hinton ’04 married Mark Hansen in October; the couple resides in Kasson, Minn. Melanie is a registered nurse and assistant nursing supervisor at the Mayo Medical Center. Ann Rohrig, Lima, Ohio, married Stephen Jenkins in June, becoming a stepmother to two children. She is a social worker for a therapeutic foster care agency in Lima. AUGGIES IN THE MILITARY Lewis Nelson ’00, pictured here with his wife, Holly, is currently deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is in the U.S. Army serving with the 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT), and is in charge of the signals intelligence analysis section for the brigade. Lewis’ wife and two children, Benjamin, 2, and Arianna, 9 months, reside in Clarksville, Tenn. The family maintains a website at <www.nelson downs.com> and welcomes any e-mail messages for Lewis at <lewis@nelsondowns.com>. 30 2000 Mauris De Silva, Miami, received a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota in May. He now works in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Miami’s Miller Medical School of Medicine. 2001 Greg Barrett, St. Paul, graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a master’s degree in gifted and talented education. Becki Frestedt, Seattle, received a Master of Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington in June. She works for a community development organization, where she coordinates outreach for a land use study in the city. Beth Nordin, Minnetonka, Minn., was named vice president of information technology by CHS Inc., an energy and grain-based foods company. She previously served as vice president of operations for Capella Education. Prior to Capella, she held several positions with Pearson Education, including senior vice president of information technology and chief information officer. 2003 Shawn Smith was acquired by the Quad City Mallards from the Port Huron Flags. Smith is a rookie-defenseman who has appeared in 14 United Hockey League games this season split between the Fort Wayne Komets and the Port Huron Flags. Births/Adoptions Lisa (Svac) ’85 and Lee Hawks ’85 in New Brighton, Minn., adopted a son, Andrew John, in December. Spring 2006 Carley (Miller) ’94 and William Stuber in Shakopee, Minn.—a daughter, Kirsten Rae, in May. Carley is executive director of the St. Francis Regional Medical Center Foundation in Shakopee. Jay Lepper ’95 and his wife, Bronwyn, in Savage, Minn.—a daughter, Rowan Jane, in May. Jennifer (Polis) ’97 and Dan Debe in Minneapolis—a son, George William, in September. He joins older sisters Allison, 5, and Emily, 3. Jennifer can be reached at <jendebe@ yahoo.com>. Summer Joy (Sorenson) ’99 and Jeffrey Brackhan in Mondovi, Wis.—twin boys, Cole and Dakota, in February 2005. Heidi (Erickson) ’01 and Matt Segedy in Minneapolis— a daughter, Eleanor Catherine, in November. Matt is a pediatrician at South Lake Pediatrics, and Heidi is currently home with Nora. in November. Lisa (Ashbaugh) ’04 and Darrel Stange in Bertha, Minn.— a son, Nathan, in September. Lisa and Darrel married in October. In Memoriam Bertha D. Lillehei ’34, Minneapolis, died in January; she was 92. Following the example of her father, Lars Lillehei, who taught Greek at Augsburg, Bertha taught English at Augsburg in the 1930s and ’40s. Sigvald Hjelmeland ’41, Edina, Minn., died in December; he was 90 (see p. 24 for further details). Rev. Earl E. Dreyer ’56, Detroit Lakes, Minn., died in December of heart-related problems; he was 75. Ordained in 1959, he served parishes in Alexandria, Rochester, Canby, and Detroit Lakes. Holly Ebnet ’03 married Jeremy Knutson in August 2004; the couple resides in Hugo, Minn. Holly is pursuing an MBA at Augsburg, and Jeremy is a pipefitter for Yale Mechanical in Bloomington. The couple can be reached at <hknutson04@yahoo.com>. NEVE-KNUTSON WEDDING Paul A. Benson ’85, Willmar, Minn., died unexpectedly in December; he was 42. He was a financial controller for West Central, Inc., and previously worked for R.J. Ahmann Company and Twin City Group. Rev. Louisa (Goplen) Fure ’95, Albert Lea, Minn., died in December after an automobile accident; she was 53. Ordained in 1999, she served as an associate pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Owatonna. She was also active in community theatre, with roles in Sommerset Theatre of Austin, Little Theatre of Owatonna, and Footlights Dinner Theatre in Rochester. Jason Jenness ’01 died in July 2001 of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; he was 31. Spring 2006 EBNET-KNUTSON WEDDING Courtsey photo Marissa (Skowronek) ’02 and Michael Partridge in St. Michael, Minn.— a son, Logan Michael, Courtsey photo C.J. Beaurline ’94 and his wife, Christin, in Ham Lake, Minn.—a son, Basil, in December. He joins older siblings Savanna, 7, Simeon, 4, and Sophia, 2. C.J. is a sales engineer at Vector Design Technology, and has also served as an NCAA hockey referee in the WCHA for eight years. He can be reached at <cbeaurline@ vectordesigntech.com>. Niels Neve ’97 married Darlene Knutson in September; the couple resides in Pine Island, Minn. Niels is an account representative at UnitedHealth Group, and Darlene works for the Mayo Clinic in cytogenetics. 31 AUGGIE THOUGHTS Auggie Thoughts Editor’s note: Bruce Palmquist ’84 was honored as the 2005 Washington State Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement in Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Eschewing the normal media interviews that accompany such honors, Palmquist decided to introduce himself to readers through the eyes of his best canine friend, Jack. Bruce DOES know Jack, or Jack, Bruce’s Jack Russell Terrier, interviews Bruce about teaching Bruce: I like answering students’ questions and helping them make sense of concepts they are having problems with. Some professors go into the classroom with an elaborate presentation all planned out. But, that’s not me. I know where the class should end up by the end of the week. And, I have planned, in general, how we will get there. But, the students help create the path with their specific needs and questions. J: You often teach late night astronomy labs or organize public observing sessions that go late. How can you stay up so late and still get up at 5 a.m. to take me outside? B: Well, it isn’t easy. The Central Washington University Astronomy Club helps out a lot. In fact, they plan most of the late observing sessions you mentioned. But, I think it is important that introductory astronomy students get familiar with the nighttime sky. The best way to learn about the night sky is to observe it with some expert help. By the way, taking you out at 5 a.m. is better than cleaning up after you in the house. J: Speaking of expert help, you write a weekly astronomy column … B: I hope Augsburg Now doesn’t misspell that as “weakly column.” 32 J: It would be a Freudian slip if they do. Anyway, why do you volunteer your time to write a newspaper column in the Ellensburg Daily Record? B: Science is such an important topic. And, it is woefully under covered in the popular press. Astronomy is a very attainable topic. The stars and planets are always up there for people to see. And, I have selfish reasons for writing the column, as Bruce Palmquist ’84 and his “interviewer,” Jack well. If my column helps the general public have a requires students to write about science more positive outlook toward science, and to design scientific experiments. they are more likely to support science Simply memorizing facts will not result teaching in the schools and universities. in a good WASL score. And, the WASL’s emphasis on designing experiments J: Talk a little bit more about science means that teachers will need to include in the schools, especially the state’s more experiments and the analysis of standardized test called the experiments in their classroom. This is a Washington Assessment of Student good thing. Learning, or WASL. J: What is your favorite constellation? B: Even dogs know that the WASL is a sensitive subject. In general, children are B: Canis Major, the great dog. During the over-tested. I think no child gets left winter, it is low in the southern sky. behind, because they leave such a long paper trail of standardized test sheets. J: Good answer. But, the science WASL is much better than the typical multiple choice For more about Bruce Palmquist’s thoughts standardized test. The science WASL on teaching and leadership, see p. 20. Spring 2006 Courtsey photo Jack: What is your favorite aspect of teaching? CCalendar ALENDAR Music April 29 March 27 For music information, call 612-330-1265 Augsburg Concert Band 7 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel Sverdrup Visiting Scientist Lecture: “Civilization as a Geosystem: A Scientific Perspective on Global Change” Dr. Thomas H. Jordan, university professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California 8 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel 612-330-1551 or gregoire@augsburg.edu March 28 Augsburg Jazz Ensemble 7 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel March 29 Augsburg Choir 5:30 & 7 p.m.— Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church; Minneapolis April 1 Augsburg Choir 7 p.m.—St. John Lutheran Church Owatonna, Minn. April 30 Musical celebration honoring the service of President William V. and Anne Frame 2 p.m.—Central Lutheran Church Minneapolis May 8–21 Augsburg Choir Tour to Hungary, Czech Republic, & Germany April 2 Theatre Augsburg Choir 8:45, 10, & 11:15 a.m.—Calvary Lutheran Church; Golden Valley, Minn. For ticket information, call 612-330-1257 Riverside Singers 9:30 & 11 a.m.—Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church; Excelsior, Minn. Metamorphoses By Mary Zimmerman Directed by Darcey Engen April 7, 8, 20, 21, & 22 at 7 p.m.; April 9 & 23 at 2 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater Augsburg Choir 4 p.m.—Cambridge Lutheran Church Cambridge, Minn. Brass in the Chapel Joint concert of the Augsburg & St. Thomas brass ensembles 7:30 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel April 9 Masterworks Chorale 4 p.m.—Lake Nokomis Lutheran Church Minneapolis April 22 Augsburg Symphony Orchestra 4 p.m.—Sateren Auditorium April 23 Riverside Singers 8:30 & 11 a.m.—Mayflower Congregational Church; Minneapolis April 26 Chamber Music Recital & High Tea 4 p.m.—Sateren Auditorium & Arnold Atrium April 7–23 Exhibits For gallery information, call 612-330-1524 April 7–May 7 All-Student Juried Art Exhibition Opening reception: April 7, 4:30–6:30 p.m. Gage Family Art Gallery April 7–May 14 Senior Art Exhibition Opening reception: April 7, 5–7 p.m. Christensen Center Art Gallery Seminars, Lectures, and Films January 25–May 20 Augsburg Native American Film Series www.augsburg.edu/home/ais/filmseries/ April 12 Speech and booksigning by Norwegian Crown Princess Martha Louise 4 p.m.–6 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel 612-330-1176 or jorgensd@augsburg.edu Other Events April 18 Pan-Afrikan Year-End Celebration 6–9 p.m.—Christensen Center 612-330-1022 or bolden@augsburg.edu April 27 Senior Athletes Award Banquet 6–9 p.m.—Christensen Center 612-330-1243 or grauerp@augsburg.edu May 5–6 Commencement 2006 Featured speaker: Dr. Peter Agre ’70 Recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry www.augsburg.edu/commencement/ May 22 Third Annual Healthcare Conference: “Building Minnesota’s Healthcare Workforce Through Diversity” 8 a.m.–5 p.m.—Melby Hall www.augsburg.edu/healthcare Send us your news and photos! Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to <alumni@augsburg.edu>. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Maiden name Class year or last year attended Full name __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Street address __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City State Zip Is this a new address? ■ Yes ■ No ________________________________________________________________________________ E-mail Home telephone ■ Okay to publish your e-mail address? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Employer Position Work telephone Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? ■ Yes ■ No If yes, class year_______________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Maiden name Spouse name Your news: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non—Profit Org. 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Title: Augsburg Now Winter 2005-06
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: A P U B L I C AT I O N Winter 2005-06 F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I & F R I E N D S Vol. 68, No. 2 TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Winter 2005-06 FEATURES 10 Putting a fresh ‘face’ on Augsburg by Lynn Mena 12 Jeroy Carlson ’48—’Mr. Augsburg’ by Sara Holman ’06 ...
Show more A P U B L I C AT I O N Winter 2005-06 F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I & F R I E N D S Vol. 68, No. 2 TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Winter 2005-06 FEATURES 10 Putting a fresh ‘face’ on Augsburg by Lynn Mena 12 Jeroy Carlson ’48—’Mr. Augsburg’ by Sara Holman ’06 14 Physician Assistants—increasing healthcare access by Cynthia Hill 18 A chance to skate by Don Stoner 20 Faith in the City by Betsey Norgard DEPARTMENTS 2 Around the Quad 6 Sports 23 Vision, news of Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College 26 Alumni News 28 Homecoming 2005 32 Class Notes 40 Auggie Thoughts inside back cover Calendar A college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Augsburg College is an equal education/employment institution. Editor Betsey Norgard Assistant Editor Lynn Mena Graphic Designer Kathy Rumpza Photographer Stephen Geffre Media Relations Manager Judy Petree Sports Information Coordinator Don Stoner www.augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058–1545 Send address corrections to: Advancement Services Augsburg College, CB 142 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 50 percent recycled paper (10 percent post—consumer waste) On the cover: On this page: Samuel Gross ’03 shows off a sampling of merchandise that carries the Auggie Eagle athletic logo he created for the College, a project that began in a graphic design class. Photo by Stephen Geffre. The maroon banners on the Link between Sverdrup and Memorial Halls, and Lindell Library pale in comparison to the blazing fall colors of the maple trees alongside the library. Photo by Stephen Geffre. AROUND QUAD Around THE the Quad New regents are elected to the board S even new members were elected to four-year terms on the Augsburg College Board of Regents at the annual meeting of the Augsburg Corporation in October. In addition, Gloria C. Lewis was reelected to a second six-year term. She is the executive director and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Twin Cities and serves on the Marketing and Executive Committees of the board. Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson A native of Nicaragua, Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson is founder, president, and CEO of Milestone Growth Fund, Inc., a nonprofit venture capital fund providing capital to minority entrepreneurs. She also serves on the boards of the Bush Foundation, Walker Art Center, Center for Ethical Business Cultures, and Chicanos-Latinos Unidos en Servicio (CLUES). Norman R. Hagfors Recently retired from Norsen, Inc., the management and engineering consulting firm he founded, Norman Hagfors is returning to the Board of Regents, where he served from 1989-2001. He is active in the community and his church. Jodi Harpstead Jodi Harpstead is vice president and chief advancement officer at Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, where she leads marketing, fundraising, public 2 relations, and public policy. She has served on several boards, including Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the Girl Scout Council of St. Croix Valley, as well as in numerous volunteer leadership positions. Dean Kennedy ’75 Fridley native Dean Kennedy graduated from Augsburg in 1975, where he was a four-year wrestler with conference and All-American honors. In 1996, he was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. He is president of Texakoma Oil & Gas Corporation and lives in Plano, Texas. Dean C. Kopperud Returning to the Augsburg Board of Regents where he served from 19982004, Dean C. Kopperud brings 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently he was national sales director for Oppenheimerfunds, Inc., in New York. Marie O. McNeff In 2000 Marie McNeff retired from Augsburg, where she served as professor of education and dean for over 30 years. As academic master planner during her last year before retirement, she led efforts to bring together faculty and staff in a campuswide learning community and created the blueprint to implement academic provisions of Augsburg 2004, the College’s first vision document. Paul S. Mueller, M.D. ’84 Dr. Mueller is an internal medicine consultant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He has served as Augsburg Alumni Board president and was an instrumental force in launching Augsburg’s Rochester program. The Augsburg Corporation is comprised of representatives elected by the assemblies of the Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Southeastern Minnesota, and Northwest Wisconsin Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The bishops from these four synods serve as rotating ex officio members on the board. Bishops Peter Rogness of the Saint Paul Area Synod and Harold Usgaard of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod will begin their service in January. Advent Vespers video wins Emmy Last year’s video recording of Advent Vespers won an Upper Midwest regional Emmy for director Jeffrey Weihe at Twin Cities Public Television for best direction of a live recording. The 2004 recording will be shown again this year in the Twin Cities: TPT-2 on Dec. 25, 10:30 a.m. and TPT-17 on Dec. 24 at 6 p.m. and Dec. 25 at 12 a.m., 6 a.m., and noon. Contact public television stations elsewhere for broadcast times. Winter 2005-06 Welcome to the Class of 2009 American Indian honors given While attending new student orientation with his daughter, Christina, Rory Waller decided it was time for him to pursue his own dream to teach. W hen President Frame welcomed incoming first-year students and their parents at orientation last summer, he didn’t realize he was recruiting one more student. Rory Waller, father of first-year student Christina, wrote, “During Christina’s new student orientation in August, President Frame addressed the new students and spoke about vocation. His words rekindled an old desire from my youth, in that I have always wanted to teach. Later that day during the Expo, I happened across the information table for the WEC program, and discovered that Augsburg offered a degree in education through the weekend program. Sometimes the signposts in life are subtle, and other times they just hit you right between the eyes. … [My family] backs me wholeheartedly in obtaining the goal I have set, and for this I am grateful. “Because of the weekend program at Augsburg I feel I have the opportunity to find my true vocation in life.” Christina is one of 320 new first-year day students. Of them, 41% are Lutheran. They represent 15 states, with 83% from Minnesota. Eleven percent of them are students of color. During their first week, on City Service Project day, first-year students volunteered 1,000 hours of service at 18 community sites. Recent grants received • $301,000 over three years from National Science Foundation (NSF) to physics professor Mark Engebretson for collaboration with the University of New Hampshire and University of Oslo to study northern lights in the Svalbard archipelago of northern Norway. • $500,000 from Lilly Endowment to sustain the work of “Exploring Our Gifts” through 2010. • A National Science Foundation grant to computer science professor Karen Sutherland for undergraduate research on questions involving the design of robot rescue teams, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota. Part of the NSF- Winter 2005-06 supported Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Safety, Security, and Rescue at the University of Minnesota and University of South Florida. • Five-year grant from U.S. Department of Education for TRIO/Student Support Services to continue providing academic and personal support to help low-income, first-generation college students and students with disabilities. • $10,000 from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for one year to provide health education programming primarily to student-athletes in areas of sexual assault, eating disorders, and nutrition. At their 20th annual conference in October, the Minnesota Indian Education Association (MIEA) named American Indian studies professor Sophia Jacobson (left) as the Outstanding Postsecondary Teacher, and sophomore Chris Adams (center) as the Outstanding Postsecondary Student. Cindy Peterson (right), director of American Indian Student Services, serves as secretary of the MIEA board. Augsburg again top-ranked In U.S.News & World Report’s 2006 listings of America’s Best Colleges, Augsburg was ranked 26th in the category “Master’s Universities-Top Midwestern.” Augsburg was included in the “Academic Programs to Watch For” listings of the 40 or so top programs in the country for both First-Year Programs and Service-Learning, and was the only Minnesota private college listed. For information go to <www.usnews.com>. Augsburg is also included in Colleges of Distinction, an online guide listing colleges that excel in providing the best places to learn, to grow, and to succeed. For information go to <www.collegesof distinction.com>. 3 Around the Quad President emeritus Oscar Anderson dies at 89 Augsburg News Service scar Anderson, Augsburg’s president from 1963-80, died Aug. 25 in Minneapolis following injuries suffered from a fall. He was 89 years old. While president, Anderson was credited with defining Augsburg’s role as an urban college, while not losing its roots as both a liberal arts institution and a College of the church. “My goal for Augsburg College was to make it an urban college, not only one recognized within the urban setting, but one utilizing the resources of a metropolitan setting,” he said in 1993 when the College dedicated Oscar Anderson residence hall in his name. “I think we got into the bloodstream of the city.” President emeritus Charles Anderson, who succeeded Oscar, said Oscar was instrumental, in terms of attitude, in bringing the College together with the city. “We always were here geographically,” Charles Anderson said, “but our institution moved considerably closer with the city in Oscar’s tenure. It was true then, and it remains so today.” Born in 1916 in Minneapolis, Oscar Anderson was educated at Minnehaha Academy and Augsburg before eventually receiving his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in 1938. He graduated from Luther Theological Seminary in 1942; his first pastorate was at Lake Harriet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, from 1942 to 1948. For the next six years he was the executive director of the International Young People’s Luther League of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He went on to complete graduate study at Union Theological Seminary in New York, an experience that heightened his awareness of contemporary trends in theological scholarship. From the mid-1950s until his appointment as president at Augsburg, he served as senior pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minn., where he established close ties with the 4 Rob Levine O President emeritus Oscar Anderson returned to campus at Homecoming 1990 to speak about Augsburg heritage. On one of his last visits to campus Oscar Anderson posed with his two successors, Charles Anderson (left) and William Frame (right). academic community—both at Concordia College and Moorhead State University. After coming to Augsburg, Anderson presided over a tremendous period of growth and evolution at the College. Six new buildings—Urness and Mortensen residence halls, Christensen Center, Music Hall, Murphy Place, and the Ice Arena—were built during his presidency. At his retirement, Board of Regents chair Clayton LeFevere noted that Anderson had signed more diplomas than all of his predecessors—approximately 4,600. Winter 2005-06 Archive photo A nationally known preacher, Anderson received many honors, including the Knight’s Cross First Class of the Order of St. Olav from the Government of Norway; the Paul Harris Fellow from Rotary International; the Distinguished Alumni Citation from both Augsburg and St. Olaf College; and the Distinguished Service Award from the City of Minneapolis. “Oscar Anderson was president of the College during two crucial decades and supervised our transition from a college in the city that wished it were in the country to a college fully engaged with the city that had grown up around it,” noted President William Frame. “As perhaps the best pulpit preacher of his time, Oscar employed a razor sharp and telling wit to guide the College and its alumni through this crucial transition. He had returned to the College frequently since his retirement and invariably brought that wit and powerful rhetoric with him.” Anderson’s wife, Leola, died in December 2004. In 1993, at the dedication of Anderson Hall, Anderson had paid special tribute to Leola and the Winter 2005-06 At the memorial service in Hoversten Chapel on Sept. 1, a photo display captured the life and service of Oscar Anderson. Archive photo Oscar and Lee Anderson greeted the Homecoming crowd at Parade Stadium in the 1960s. President Anderson led an estimated crowd of 800 faculty, staff, and students from campus to the Minneapolis Courthouse in 1965 in support of the Montgomery (Ala.) march. 17 years she presided as Augsburg’s first lady. “I call the two of us ‘Osceola,’ he said. “In my secret heart this will be ‘Osceola Hall.’” They are survived by their children, Donna Anderson Hoekstra ’68; Randall; Sheldon ’73; and Gracia Anderson Lindberg ’80. A memorial service was held in Hoversten Chapel on Sept. 1. The family has requested memorial gifts to the Access to Excellence campaign or the Leola G. Anderson Scholarship. ■ 5 Sports O by Don Stoner White House photo by Paul Morse Auggie wrestlers visit the White House n Oct. 12 the Auggies, winners of a record nine NCAA Division III national titles in the last 15 years, became the first Division III wrestling title team—and just the second college wrestling national title squad ever—to meet with the president at the White House. The University of Minnesota’s 2001 Division I national title team was the first to achieve this honor. The White House meeting was arranged between Augsburg coaches and U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert (RIllinois), the speaker of the House of Representatives and a former wrestler and wrestling coach. Other key people assisting in arranging the Fourteen Augsburg wrestlers and coaches, along with College officials and friends, accepted an invitation to meeting included Manchester the White House in honor of Augsburg’s longtime domination of small-college wrestling with nine national (Ind.) coach Tom Jarman and titles in 15 years. (L to R) President Frame, Joe Moon ’05, Dean Kennedy ’75, Justin Sorensen ’06, Alan Rice, Mike and Bev Chapman, assistant coach Sam Barber, President Bush, Jared Evans ’07, Marcus LeVesseur ’07, Ryan Valek ’06, Brad Tupa founders of the International ’06, Jamell Tidwell ’05, head coach Jeff Swenson ’79, and Mark Matzek ’05. Wrestling Institute and Museum, said Augsburg head importance of that achievement and coach Jeff Swenson ’79. because they were student-athletes at thanked me for mentioning it to him.” Instead of meeting in the Rose Augsburg College, they had this “I was motivated when [Bush] talked Garden, the normal site for team opportunity. They’ll never forget that as about the word ‘leadership’ and the receptions with the president, the long as they live.” qualities he said are necessary to have in meeting was held inside the Oval Office, Team members said the trip was also order to be an effective leader,” junior a rare occurrence. The Auggies met with a special honor for the hundreds of Jared Evans said. “This motivated me, the president for about a half hour, individuals in the past who have helped because as I looked around at my much longer than he normally spends establish Augsburg as a national power in teammates, coaches, President Frame, with teams in these kinds of meetings, small-college wrestling. Dean Kennedy, and thought about White House staff told Swenson. President Bush gave the Augsburg Augsburg wrestling and the Augsburg A total of 14 Augsburg individuals group a tour of the Oval Office and community, I realized I am surrounded made the trip, including head coach discussed a variety of subjects with the by a great number of leaders.” Swenson, assistant coaches Sam Barber team, Swenson said, including history “This experience obviously means a and Scott Whirley, and eight of the 10 and patriotic subjects and sports topics. lot to the whole team, but particularly All-Americans from the 2004-05 national The team presented Bush with an Jeff [Swenson] and the rest of the championship team. President William Augsburg wrestling singlet with “Bush” coaching staff that have been together for Frame also met with President Bush, printed on the back. so long and working for so long to along with team leaders Dean “He admitted that he was not a achieve what they have,” senior Ryan Kennedy ’75 and Alan Rice. wrestler, that his athletic passion is Valek said. “It meant a lot to me to have “To spend time with an active cycling,” Frame said. “[I] told him that that team together one last time. It was president is really an incredible feeling,” the wrestling team was consistently really an incredible experience to be part Swenson said. “For the rest of their lives, [among] the highest-performing of a group like that.” our wrestlers are going to remember that academically. … He acknowledged the 6 Winter 2005-06 Around the Quad Sally Daniels ’79 heads new parent and family relations office by Sara Holman ’06 A ugsburg has created a new office specifically aimed to provide service to the people behind the student—the parents. Most comparable Lutheran colleges, such as Luther or Concordia, have an alumni and parent relations office; however, Augsburg has gone beyond the common model. Augsburg’s Office of Parent and Family Relations is completely devoted to the family. Sally Daniels ’79, the new director of parent and family relations, said, “This position is not a fundraising component, so I can focus on service to the parents. That’s completely in keeping with Augsburg’s mission.” Daniels was asked to inaugurate this position not only because she has 26 years of experience in Augsburg’s undergraduate admissions office, but because she is also an Augsburg alumna and parent. Daniels’ Augsburg experience began in 1975 when she was a first-year student living on the fourth floor in Urness. She graduated in 1979 and eventually married her college sweetheart, Paul Daniels, also a 1979 Augsburg graduate. “Because I am an alum, it comes naturally to say what a cool place this is. I’ve told my Augsburg story many, many times,” Sally Daniels said. Both parents were very excited when their daughter, Kristin, also chose to come to Augsburg. Daniels will draw on this experience, as well as how she is handling being a Sally Daniels ’79 (right) takes her experience as an Augsburg student, former director of admissions, and, now as parent of first-year student Kristin (left) to a new role as director of parent and family relations. first-year college student’s mom, in her new position. This will help her build relationships with three different types of parents—the prospective parent, the current parent, and the parents of alumni. All of these parents have different questions, concerns, and needs as their children work through Augsburg. Daniels said, “I make sure parents and family members have someone to connect with about life at Augsburg, and specifically the life of their kids.” Parents who send their kids off to college for the first time have many questions, like how to deal with “letting go,” or how to handle the new adult who comes home in the summer. Daniels will have personal experience to share. By better caring for Augsburg parents, the College can improve the student’s experience. “Kids born after 1985, the millennium generation, have a close relationship with their parents,” Daniels says. She and her daughter, Kristin, have this type of relationship. “We’ve always been very close. We try to connect somehow each day,” Daniels said. Since Kristin studies at the place where her mother works, it’s easy for them to stay in contact. But, Sally says, “This is her college experience; the fact that she likes me is an extra bonus.” Right now, Daniels is hand-writing letters to all of the first-year parents. Since she worked in the admissions office last year, Daniels says, “I know the students; I’ve read their essays. I admitted them all. I’m hand-writing these notes because I think it’s important.” Daniels works with a parent council; and so far 119 parents have contacted her. Parents who do not live near the Twin Cities are sent minutes from the council meetings. It doesn’t matter where parents live; they can stay connected to Augsburg. Even though Parent and Family Relations has split from the Alumni Relations office, the two directors work closely together. Heidi Breen, the alumni relations director formerly headed both Alumni and Parent Relations, but now is solely in charge of alumni and has an assistant director, Donna Torgeson. “Donna, Heidi, and I have a very open door,” Daniels said. “We all want this new position to be successful.” Sara Holman is a senior English/ communication studies major and an intern in the Public Relations and Communication office. Alumni Relations Heidi Breen, new director of alumni relations, poses at Homecoming with Auggie Eagle. Winter 2005-06 Heidi Breen, who has worked at Augsburg for 19 years in the admissions and alumni relations offices, became director of alumni relations in August. Donna Torgeson, who was administrative assistant in the office, is now assistant director. Amy Sutton, formerly alumni director, is now director of corporate and foundation relations in the Development Office. 7 HOMECOMING 2005 Donald A. Anderson ’60 Janice L. Aune ’88 Donald Mattison ’66 Three honored as Distinguished Alumni by Lynn Mena Three alumni join 166 others as Distinguished Alumni of Augsburg College. Recipients are recognized for significant achievement in vocation, for outstanding contribution to church and community, and for a life that exemplifies the ideals and mission of Augsburg College. Donald A. Anderson ’60 is a retired two-term Minnesota senator and business owner. He served in the Minnesota State Senate from 1982 to 1990; between 1991 and his retirement in 1995 he also served as assistant to the commissioner of transportation, as deputy chief of staff to Governor Arne Carlson, and in the Department of Transportation-Aeronautics Department. For nearly 20 years, Anderson owned a Red Owl grocery store in Wadena, Minn., before selling to one of his sons in 1984. He graduated from Augsburg with a B.A. in business and history. Janice L. Aune ’88 is chairman and CEO of Onvoy, Inc., a Minneapolis-based telecommunications services provider. Since her appointment in 2000, she has led Onvoy to a position of financial growth and has exceeded all financial performance expectations for the privately-held company. Prior to joining Onvoy, Aune served in various executive leadership positions at US West (now Qwest) and ended her 30-year career there as 8 president of the !NTERPRISE division and a senior officer. She graduated from Augsburg with a B.A. in business management and finance. Donald Mattison ’66, M.D., is senior adviser to the directors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Center for Research for Mothers and Children. He also serves as an adjunct professor at both the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He has served as medical director of the March of Dimes Defects Foundation, and prior to that as dean of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was also professor of environmental and occupational health, as well as of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive services in the university’s School of Medicine. He graduated from Augsburg in 1966 with a B.A. in chemistry and mathematics. Winter 2005-06 First Decade and Spirit of Augsburg award recipients named by Lynn Mena Augsburg is pleased to announce the 2005 recipients of the First Decade and Spirit of Augsburg awards. The First Decade Award is presented to Augsburg graduates of the past 10 years who have made significant progress in their professional achievements and contributions to the community, and, in so doing, exemplify the mission of the College: to prepare future leaders in service to the world. Graduates from the day, weekend, and graduate programs are eligible. The Spirit of Augsburg Award honors alumni or friends of the College who have given exceptional service that contributes substantially to the well being of Augsburg by furthering its purposes and programs. First Decade Award Spirit of Augsburg Award Aaron Cross ’97 formed his own business, Motivation on Wheels, in which he travels the United States delivering motivational speeches that stress the importance of seeing beyond daily obstacles in order to accomplish goals. Despite his physical challenges (Cross become a paraplegic as a result of a bicycle race crash in high school), he has kept his eye on a variety of targets— both literally and figuratively. He holds 15 national titles in archery, five world titles, and a bronze team medal from the 2004 Greece Para-Olympic games. In addition to archery, Cross is also a skydiver. He graduated from Augsburg in 1997 with a B.A. in communication. Richard J. Thoni is director of Augsburg’s Rochester Program. His exceptional and dedicated service to the College began in 1972 as a parttime instructor in the Department of Psychology and as a counselor in the Center for Student Development. Starting in 1975, he served as associate dean of students, and over the proceeding years he also served as acting vice president of student affairs; director of an extensive, yearlong community outreach project; director of Weekend College; vice president for enrollment management; and vice president for research and development. Thoni is most widely recognized for his leadership and achievement in the establishment of both the Weekend College and Rochester programs. He received his B.A. in English from St. Olaf College, and his Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota. Andry Andriambololona-Jurcich ’98 graduated from Augsburg with a B.A. in political science, international relations, and religion. She received her M.A. in intercultural communications from Luther Seminary in 2001. Jurcich is vice-president of Marketing and Company Relations for Invisik Corporation, a Twin Cities-based computer consulting company she co-manages with her husband, Matt Jurcich. Concurrently, she works as a professional non-profit development consultant with various Twin Cities non-profits, and is currently the acting executive director of Jordan New Life Community Development Corporation—a non-profit organization improving the lives of families in North Minneapolis. Jurcich also continues to stay involved with Augsburg as a member of the Pan-Afrikan Center’s Alumni Council, as a mentor with the Scholastic Connections Program, and as the alumni representative on the committee to select the new Augsburg president. Winter 2005-06 The Augsburg Centennial Singers were formed in 1993 to honor the 100th anniversary of the Augsburg Gospel Quartets. Since its formation, the Augsburg Centennial Singers have furthered the quartet’s mission to spread the Lutheran faith and the name and mission of Augsburg. Under the current direction of Al Reesnes ’58 (who took over after the original director, Dr. Merton Strommen ’42, retired) and assistant director Paul Christensen ’59, the group—which consists mainly of Augsburg alumni—are true ambassadors of Augsburg, performing across the United States and around the world. 9 PUTTING a FRESH ‘FACE’ on A U G S B U R G B Y 10 L Y N N M E N A P H O T O S B Y S T E P H E N G E F F R E Winter 2005-06 W hat began as a class project three years ago came full circle at this year’s Homecoming, where visitors were introduced to Augsburg’s newest “member.” The newly unveiled Auggie Eagle logo could be spotted all over campus—on team helmets and cheerleader uniforms; on sweatshirts, T-shirts, and baseball caps; on the balloons and decorations that dressed up various events; on students’ faces as temporary tattoos; and even on the gymnasium floor as an illuminated hologram. “The College is pleased to present its new athletics logo, and even more pleased to announce that its creator is one of our own—Class of 2003 alumnus Samuel J. Gross,” says Ann Garvey, dean of students. “The logo further establishes Augsburg’s identity and serves as a graphic component to the Auggie Eagle mascot that was introduced at Homecoming in 2002.” The logo first took shape a few years ago when the Office of Public Relations and Communication partnered with John McCaffrey, assistant professor of art. McCaffrey’s graphic design students were challenged to design an athletics logo for their final project. While the entire class created a wide range of exceptional designs, Gross’ logo was a strong favorite, and this year the College officially signed contracts to acquire it from Gross as its new athletics and merchandising logo. “Sam demonstrated that he was creative, dedicated, and driven by a purpose from his very first assignments in my Graphic Design class,” says McCaffrey, reflecting upon Gross. “Sam delivered excellent work that was always in excess of any project requirements. It immediately became apparent that he would succeed in the design field. He Winter 2005-06 dedicated himself to learning all that he could ensuring his future career direction.” Staff members in the public relations department were also impressed with Gross’ work, and quickly recruited him to work as a student graphic designer during his senior year. There he created designs for letterhead, flyers, greeting cards, brochures, and magazines. After he received his B.A. in studio art, he stayed on in the public relations department for the summer, and shortly thereafter landed his first full-time job as the graphic design and production coordinator at Sons of Norway in Minneapolis. Today, Gross serves as a graphic designer and production coordinator for TQ3Navigant Performance Group in Minneapolis, a division of Denver-based Navigant International, where he produces original marketing graphics, designing creative pre-trip travel packages for large corporate industries such as Best Buy, ING, T-Mobile, and Qwest. In addition, Gross is building a successful freelance business, 144design, creating works in traditional studio pieces as well as digital media, including digital retouching of photographs, custom logo design, illustration, and various print related materials. “The birth of 144design was inspired by a mentor and lifelong friend, my father,” writes Gross on his Web site, <www.invisik.com/144design/artist2.html>. “Born in rural Minnesota in 1980, the influence of art began in the earliest stages of my life,” continues Gross. “Impacted by those around me, I began my own pursuit of knowledge in the continually changing art and design world. “Two and a half decades into my life I am still chasing this aspiration of achieving artistic prominence in this transforming world.” This year, Gross designed logo and stationery pieces for expansion NAHL hockey team the North Iowa Outlaws, and is currently working on other expansion team logos. In July he designed the book cover for Daniel Boone and the Defeat at Blue Licks, written by Neal O. Hammon. Gross is also an accomplished painter, whose work was recently purchased by the Springfield Public Library in Minnesota for their permanent collection. His oils and photography have twice placed third in the annual Five County Juried Art Show in Minnesota. Gross, a former Auggie football and baseball player, has particularly enjoyed athletic logo design, and is pleased that his alma mater has chosen to use his work. “It’s really exciting and interesting to see my design carried out in so many different ways—on the uniforms, on the line of sweatshirts,” says Gross. “Plus, it’s great to give back as an alum.” ■ 11 Jeroy Carlson ’48 ‘MR. AUGSBURG’ by Sara Holman ’06 Jeroy Carlson ’48 has spent over 60 years on the Augsburg campus as a student, volunteer, alumni director, and development officer. Here, he sits in Old Main 17, which was Augsburg’s chapel and is now the art studio. AUGSBURG COLLEGE pastor Dave Wold paused, “Mr. Augsburg … well, I don’t know where the name got started. Everyone just refers to him as that. Anyone who mentions Jeroy always says ‘Jeroy from Augsburg.’” Why is Jeroy Carlson Mr. Augsburg? Really, the question doesn’t need to be asked. He just is. Carlson embodies everything that is Augsburg—from knowing its history to sharing its faith. “Jeroy’s commitment and love for Augsburg is pretty clear,” Wold said. “No one can be identified with Augsburg as much as Jeroy can. He has a network of friends I’ve never seen before.” Carlson has spent the last 42 years serving Augsburg, first as Augsburg’s alumni director and then as senior development officer. He has connected with hundreds of people through Augsburg and has been able to raise millions of dollars to help build the chapel, library, fitness center, football field, and theater (to name just a few). Carlson’s efforts can be seen all over campus, though he is quick to 12 protest, “I just ask for support. It’s really about what the donors have done for this college.” Being 82 years old, Carlson has spent the better part of his life on campus, not to mention the years he spent as a student. What would inspire someone to become so dedicated to a place? “I’m not here because of myself. I’m here because of the people who have given their lives to this place. I don’t want them to be forgotten. I’ve developed a purpose for living from their caring about me. Charles Anderson, Gerda Mortensen, Bernhard Christensen, Phil Quanbeck Sr., Joel Torstenson, Paul Sonnack, Dave Wold—these people have been my friends,” Carlson said. Carlson took his first step onto Augsburg soil in 1940. His high school basketball team had come to challenge Augsburg’s junior varsity team. Fortunately, Augsburg’s embarrassing loss didn’t keep him from applying to the College two years later. After spending one year on campus, Carlson enlisted in the Navy. On Monday, Dec. 10, 1945, Carlson was released, and the following Thursday he registered for classes. That Saturday he played for Augsburg’s basketball team. Carlson laughs as he recalls this memory. “I hadn’t even taken a class, but the coach needed me.” Sports have always been a passion for Carlson. He played baseball, basketball, and football while he attended Augsburg and was part of four MIAC championship teams. After graduating, Carlson spent 15 years teaching and coaching. During this time, he became part of the Augsburg Alumni Board and wrote an article titled “Why is Being a Christian Important?” for a Christian magazine that most alumni received. When the alumni director position became open, Carlson didn’t even have to apply. “Two people just asked me if I wanted to do it. It was the best move I’ve ever made.” In honor of his service, the alumni office was dedicated in 1991 as the Jeroy C. Carlson Alumni Center. While working at Augsburg, Carlson was able to stay active in the Athletic Alumni Association (the A-Club) and Winter 2005-06 also helped establish the Athletic Hall of Fame. He can still remember when the A-Club started. It was 1937, and the athletes wanted an honor banquet. Four people took it upon themselves to raise the money—a difficult task during the Depression years. They put on skits like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and charged 10 cents a person. Times were very different during Carlson’s student years. His tuition was $50 a semester, so he worked in the dining room, which was on the lower level of Memorial Hall. He worked with 18 other people, 16 of whom were in the choir. A lot of singing was done in the kitchen, and this was a treat for Carlson, since he wasn’t able to participate in both music and sports. By working five hours, Carlson was able to pay for his Winter 2005-06 Archive photo Archive photo In the 1948 Augsburgian, Jeroy Carlson ’48 was called a “standout player” on the 1947 basketball team, and he was selected for an all-state second team. Carlson (left), along with teammates Kenneth Walsh (center) and Al Mateyko (right), celebrate the Auggies’ 1947 baseball conference championship. room for one week—55 cents an hour went a long way back then. One not so pleasant memory Carlson recalls from the dining hall was dropping a tray on [dean of women] Gerda Mortensen. “I was lucky I didn’t get expelled,” he said. “Gerda knew it was an accident. Mortensen was a woman you never forget.” Carlson also went to school with Jim Lindell, for whose family Lindell Library was named in 1997. Lindell and Carlson both completed their first year at Augsburg together, and then each joined the Navy. However, upon returning to the Twin Cities, Lindell found he needed to transfer colleges because Augsburg didn’t offer a business degree. He enrolled across the river at the university but never forgot the best friends he made at Augsburg. Carlson has been fortunate in his long tenure at Augsburg to get to know the people behind the great names on campus. While it’s easy for students to grumble about tuition costs and for alumni to feel continually asked for donations, it’s the dedication of the people for whom Augsburg means so much—the people who work here and the people who learn here—that makes the difference. Carlson understands all of this. It’s why he has stayed so long. “After all these years, the attitude here is still the same. What I believe is here, and what’s happening at Augsburg is important.” ■ Sara Holman is a senior English/ communication studies major and an intern in the Public Relations and Communication office. 13 PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS i n c r e a s i n g h e a l t h c a r e a c c e s s by Cynthia Hill photos by Stephen Geffre When Rob Carlson turned 40, he turned a career corner as well. He left the propane gas business to enroll in Augsburg’s very first class in the Physician Assistant (PA) program. Today, Carlson maintains a busy schedule treating recent immigrants and refugees at the Regions Center for International Health in St. Paul. He also sees patients at the Regions HIV Clinic and St. Paul Ramsey Public Health tuberculosis clinic. Jackie Osterhaus was also in Augsburg’s first class of PA students. She had worked as a laboratory technician and a clinical assistant, but wanted more out of a healthcare career. Yet with two small children, becoming a PA made Winter 2005-06 more sense than medical school. Osterhaus now handles a full caseload of patients in Belgrade, a tiny Minnesota town some 100 miles west of the Twin Cities. The Belgrade clinic is a satellite of the Paynesville Area Health Care System, which employs five PAs, a nurse practitioner, and seven physicians. Carlson and Osterhaus are among more than 170 graduates of Augsburg’s PA program since it was launched as Minnesota’s only PA preparation program in 1995. From rural towns to urban centers, these well-trained healthcare practitioners are living out the program’s mission of increasing healthcare access to underserved communities in Minnesota. What is a physician assistant? Physician assistants are not doctors, but they can do many things a doctor does, including seeing their own patients, making diagnoses, doing minor surgery, writing prescriptions, and ordering tests. “But here’s the caveat: we can’t do it on our own,” said Dawn Ludwig, director of Augsburg’s program who is a PA herself. “PAs are team providers who work under the supervision of a licensed physician. We can’t open our own practice.” That doesn’t mean the supervising physician is always in the next room. For example, Jackie Osterhaus staffs the Belgrade clinic four days a week, along with a nurse and laboratory technician, but without a physician on site. A physician from the Paynesville clinic 10 miles away provides regular telephone supervision and chart review to Osterhaus’s cases. “It’s definitely a team effort with ongoing communication and interaction with the supervising physician, but as a PA, I am ultimately responsible for my patients,” said Ludwig, who was named Minnesota Physician Assistant of the Year in 2002 by the Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants. Because of the similar roles, it’s not uncommon for patients to be confused, said May Mua, an Augsburg graduate who also practices at the Regions Center for International Health. “My patients—primarily Hmong, Somalis, and recent immigrants from other countries who may never have had access to health care before—often call me ‘Dr. Mua,’” she said. “I’m always correcting them but it’s hard to get across the idea of the difference because they see me regularly for their care.” 15 A response to the healthcare shortage The physician assistant career is a relatively recent addition to the healthcare team, growing out of the Vietnam era when highly skilled medics returned from military service, Ludwig said. “At the time, we were seeing a shortage of physicians around the country and needed a new source of caregivers,” she said. To help fill the need, Duke University created the first formal physician assistant program in 1965. In the early ’90s, Augsburg was approached by the Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants and asked to consider starting a physician assistant training program for the state. “People were going to other states for training and not returning to practice in Minnesota,” she said. “Augsburg’s mission of community and world service was right in line with the concept of physician assistants providing health care to underserved areas.” Initially offered as a two-year, postbachelor’s certificate, Augsburg’s program drew immediate interest, especially among people seeking a career change. “That first informational meeting at Augsburg was standing room only. There must have been 600 people there,” recalls Rob Carlson. Over 10 years, admission to the program, now offered as a three-year master’s degree, has remained highly competitive, reflecting Augsburg’s reputation and strong track record. This year’s class of 28 was culled from more than 140 applications. One thing that has changed is average age of applicants—from 34 at the outset to 27 currently, Ludwig said. “At first, the appeal was mainly to 16 folks already in some aspect of health care—nurses, laboratory assistants, emergency medical technicians, etc. But it is definitely becoming a first-career option for those looking for a career in medicine.” Cases in point: second-year PA students Kari Badali and Jodi Winters, both 2004 Augsburg bachelor’s degree graduates. “Before coming to Augsburg as an undergraduate, I read a magazine that listed a physician assistant as one of the top ten careers for women. I was interested in the medical field but not sure which direction to go. I researched schools offering a PA program and Augsburg was the only one in Minnesota,” said Badali ’04, a biology major. Winters, a biology and chemistry double major, added, “The reputation of the Augsburg program is what finally helped me make my decision.” High expectations, high performance Augsburg’s program is known for its academic rigor, in-depth clinical training, and track record of well-prepared graduates. Consider these indicators: • 100% pass rate on national certification examinations since the program’s inception. • Scores on the national certification examinations have never been below the 90th percentile (the Classes of 2001 and 2004 both ranked in the 99th percentile). • In recent years, every PA graduate has been employed within six months of graduation, 85% of them in Minnesota. Winter 2005-06 These successes grow out of high expectations and a demanding educational program that moves from a foundation of classroom study into direct clinical experience. In the first phase, students are on campus in courses in human gross anatomy, pathophysiology, clinical medicine, pharmacotherapy, history and physical exam skills, research, and ethics and legal medicine. An orientation to the program’s mission of reaching the underserved is woven throughout this phase in courses on special populations and in annual service-learning projects. The clinical phase is next, structured much like a physician’s internship. Taught by physicians and supplemented by physician assistants and other healthcare providers, students progress through seven required rotations and one elective, each six weeks long, in healthcare facilities across the state. At least one rotation is required to be outside of the metropolitan area, in keeping with the program’s mission of addressing healthcare gaps across the state. Twin Cities native Debbie Maas did rotations in Deer River, Minn., a small community west of Grand Rapids. After graduation last year, she accepted a job at the Deer River clinic. About 25% of Augsburg graduates practice in rural communities and greater Minnesota. “I found I really liked the variety in a smaller clinic. There was great camaraderie with the physicians, and I learned so much,” she said. “This is truly family practice medicine. We see everything from OB-GYN to geriatrics.” The final component is a 12-week preceptorship—an intensive clinical experience required by only a few other PA programs. “This is the last piece of their education that ties everything together and solidifies all they’ve learned,” said Ludwig. “It gets them ready to go out and practice.” The personal touch Core to the Augsburg PA training is an emphasis on treating patients as individuals, not diseases. “We look for students who are able to handle a tough and rigorous program but who are also able to connect with patients on a personal level,” Ludwig said. “Physician assistants should be good at JACKIE OSTERHAUS (p. 14) graduated in Augsburg’s first class of physician assistants and enjoys the variety of patient care she gives in her work at the Paynesville Area Health Care System clinic in Belgrade, Minn. ROB CARLSON (left) and MAY MUA (p.16) are two of the three Augsburg graduates who are physician assistants at Regions Hospital’s Center for International Health. Second-year PA student CHENTEL DANGERUD (above) discusses health issues with a resident at the Danebo Home in Minneapolis during a health and wellness fair specifically for seniors. Winter 2005-06 listening and building trust with their patients.” Patricia Walker, M.D., director of the Regions Hospital Center for International Health, considers the clinic’s three physician assistants, all Augsburg graduates, “an absolutely vital part of our provider team.” “They are so talented that they are working at the level of other providers in our group on a daily basis, and rarely ask questions of the physicians. That being said, they also know when to consult us on difficult cases,” Walker said. “They provide outstanding clinical care and are very kind and compassionate.” In the future, demand for physician assistants is likely to continue to grow, according to Rodney McFadden, M.D., a physician with Internal Medicine and Geriatric Associates in Minneapolis and a preceptor of Augsburg PA students on rotation at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview. “Medical schools are producing about the same number of doctors each year, so as the population gets older, we will need more healthcare providers,” said McFadden. “Physician assistants play an important role and I see them becoming even more common to meet growing healthcare needs in our society.” ■ Cynthia Hill is a freelance writer in St. Paul who frequently writes about Augsburg College. 17 A C H A N C E T O S K AT E BY DON STONER The scene is like any other in hockeycrazed Minnesota on a weekday evening. A cacophony of noise inside a cold indoor ice arena. Young kids, some maybe just a few months from putting skates on for the first time in their lives, are learning the fundamentals of hockey. Coaches strain to be heard above the din. On one half of the rink, an older group has the ice. On the other, Janet Marvin and a couple of assistant coaches are working with girls ages 10 and under. Marvin yells encouragement to her young charges. “I want two hands on your stick all the time.” “When you find it, look up for your teammate and pass it to her stick.” “Good job, excellent! Nice job!” You look at the faces inside the masks, and that’s where you notice the difference. Most of the girls aren’t typical Minnesota hockey players. Most are Hmong, some are African-American, some are white. But if it weren’t for Marvin, it’s likely that none of them would be on the ice this night—or any night, for that matter. For the past seven years, Marvin, a 1986 Augsburg graduate, has been volunteering with young girls on the north and northeast neighborhoods of Minneapolis with the Edison youth hockey program. Along with her sister and a devoted group of volunteer women coaches, they have provided opportunities for young girls who wouldn’t otherwise have discovered the sport. For Marvin, it’s an extension of a family tradition to provide hockey opportunities to others. Her father, Cal, was a legend in hockey in the Upper Midwest. A U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer, he helped to start the men’s hockey program at the University of North Dakota, coached the U.S. national team in 1958, and founded and coached one of the most successful amateur hockey teams in American history, the Warroad Lakers. He helped to establish Warroad, a small town near the Canadian border in northwestern Minnesota, as a place synonymous with hockey. 18 “My dad did it for young men. He let young men play for over 50 years, and he had over 900 young guys that got to skate for him,” Marvin said. “What he did for the guys is what my sister and I are trying to do for young girls who want to play hockey. It doesn’t matter where they’re from, or what color they are, or what background they come from. If they want to play, we’ll get them equipment, we’ll find them a place to play, we’ll make sure they have transportation and make sure their fees are paid.” One of 12 children in the Marvin family, Janet Marvin grew up around hockey. “We grew up at the rink,” she said. “We folded programs, we cleaned the rink, we worked in the concession stands, we sold tickets. We did whatever we could do, because we wanted to be up there at the rink with Dad and the rest of the community. That’s what you did in Warroad. You were at the hockey rink.” She and her sister played hockey in their early years, but as they grew older, there were fewer opportunities for young women to play hockey in northern Minnesota. So she played basketball instead, eventually playing two seasons of junior college basketball and a season at the University of St. Thomas, before transferring to Augsburg for her senior season, 1985-86. She earned a degree in education from Augsburg and eventually worked for the Minneapolis public schools for 15 years. But hockey remained a major part of her life. She played competitively on adult teams for more than a decade, and also worked as a volunteer assistant coach on teams with her friend, Sue Ring-Jarvi. Marvin also served as an adult mentor for young kids in northeast Minneapolis, including youngsters who wanted to play hockey for Edison’s youth program. She eventually got involved with coaching at Edison, and helped to start the Edison girls’ youth program. Along the way, Marvin and her sister began bring out the best of their potential. … But her work with the hockey incorporating more young Hmong girls You can see how these coaches put their program doesn’t end there. The coaches from the neighborhood into the program. whole lives into coaching these kids. It organize year-round experiences for the “Because there weren’t enough kids makes all the work worth it.” girls, in order to keep them active and coming out, I started recruiting Hmong Since many family incomes may not together as a group. They’ve had camping girls. My sister and I are involved in the be able to support the expenses for their trips, barbeques, and trips to team Hmong community in mentoring kids and children to play, Marvin often dips into coaches’ cabins in northern Minnesota to getting kids involved,” she said. “It’s been her own pocket to pay for equipment, go skiing. a focus point for us to bring them into the uniforms, and supplies. “My parents gave us all the program and give them an opportunity to A shed in Marvin’s yard is full of opportunities. If you wanted to play, play. skate. But when we coach at Edison, we hockey equipment that she has either They wanted you to be involved,” Marvin coach anyone who wants to play said. “There’s so many kids who and who lives on the north side don’t have that opportunity, and I or northeast.” think that’s what my sister and I The program started from are trying to provide. We give one small team seven years ago them an opportunity.” to nearly 50 girls on teams for Last summer, Marvin and ages 10-under, 12-under, and fellow Augsburg alumnus John 14-under. This year, Edison has Evans ’82 received grant money two teams, with Janet Marvin from City Kids Inc., a north coaching the 10-under team and Minneapolis program, to provide Robin Marvin coaching the 12hockey instruction for north-side under team, along with a faithful children. About 30 kids took part group of volunteer assistants. in the summer-long program, “It’s an all-female staff, and portions of which were held at not one coach has anybody the Augsburg Ice Arena. Several involved with the program, Augsburg student-athletes which is very unique,” Marvin assisted Marvin in coaching said. “When you go to other during the summer program. associations, it’s always a dad or “The kids love the attention, a brother or an uncle who is and when the college kids came coaching the kids because there’s Janet Marvin ’86 plays less hockey these days so she can concentrate on the ice, I think it was a match on coaching. She makes it possible for girls like these at the Edison a connection. … We just have right away,” Marvin said. “The Youth Hockey Civic Arena in Northeast Minneapolis to learn hockey. females who want to come in kids know that when they come and coach. We’ve skated with to the rink, there’s going to be them in the women’s hockey associations, purchased or had donated to her by someone there that’s going to say ‘Hi’ to and they want to come in and give back. friends. It’s available for her players to them, ‘How are you doing,’ ‘You’re doing They see this program and they see that pick from. She often provides a good job,’ and giving them positive these kids need it, these kids want it, and transportation for team members to and feedback. That’s what these kids need.” these kids absorb it.” from practices and games in her van. Coaching has become a major part of The devotion that Marvin and the “Last year, my mom bought the whole Marvin’s life, so much so that she now other coaches have makes them positive 12-under team a brand new stick for plays less hockey herself in order to role models for the children they are Christmas. That was the first time our concentrate on coaching. coaching, said Marta Kurak ’98, a parent kids that we register had a brand new “The kids like it. They want to go to of two girls who have played hockey on stick,” she said. the rink. They want to play,” she said. Marvin’s Edison teams. Kurak now serves Marvin figures that she puts in 25 or “You see them skating around the rink as a manager for the 12-under team. more hours per week into the Edison and they have smiles on their faces. They “[The coaches] bring an energy to the hockey program, on a strictly volunteer might fall down or get a little hurt, but program. They are always positive and basis. She now also works for Ring-Jarvi’s they get up and they’re like, ‘OK, let’s go never say anything negative. They always sportswear business, in addition to again.’ They just want to be at the rink. … look for the positives in the girls,” Kurak working for a local flower shop. My heart’s really into coaching and said. “[Marvin] works with every kid to working with the kids.” ■ Winter 2005-06 19 Faith City in the Faith BY BETSEY NORGARD PHOTOS BY STEPHEN GEFFRE Envisioning a renewed public calling for the well-being of the city and its people In a twist on the realtor’s three magic words, the Faith in the City initiative might be described as “location, location, vocation.” This distinctive collaboration brings together seven urban-focused Lutheran institutions in Minneapolis and St. Paul. All of them are committed to improving the quality of life in their community and they all center their work around Lutheran ideas of vocation. They share a belief that more can be accomplished when people and organizations work together and when they share their particular expertise toward common goals. It’s a diverse group—Augsburg College, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Central Lutheran Church, Fairview Health Services, Luther Seminary, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans— 20 whose members contribute their expertise across the areas of health, education, social services, finance, publishing, and service in faith. The two synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Minneapolis and St. Paul are partners in the collaboration. After several years of informal discussions among the CEOs, a formal collective was launched in 2002 that draws its calling from a passage in the book of Jeremiah, “Seek the welfare of the city … for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” The collaborative seeks to renew that same concern to care for each other in the community that motivated the founding of their institutions a century or more ago. And, today, they are again finding some of the greatest community needs among recent immigrants. “[Faith in the City] has set before Lutheran institutions across the land a model which illustrates service leadership,” says President William Frame. “The CEOs became interested in Luther’s idea of vocation as a vehicle to draw their constituents out into the world in service and in collaboration.” They were encouraged by the extent of common purpose and overlap in their missions. Tom Morgan, Augsburg’s vice president for planning and market development, speaks of Augsburg’s perspective: “It’s a way for us to more deeply express and live out our commitment to the city, to service, and to strengthen and demonstrate our connection to the church.” Ci Winter 2005-06 Community initiatives Faith in the City serves as a catalyst for collaboration among people, neighborhoods, congregations, and others, primarily in the areas of health, education, and neighborhood. Each initiative has two or three member organization sponsors and appropriate strategic partners. Initiatives specific to Augsburg are: Augsburg Academy for Health Careers—Augsburg, together with Fairview Health Services, developed the first proposal to Faith in the City. Responding to the shortage of healthcare professionals, especially within increasingly diverse communities, a charter school was proposed, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to prepare students for careers and vocations in health care. The Augsburg Academy for Health Careers opened this fall with 61 students, a majority from diverse backgrounds, in grades 9, 10 and 11, with grade 12 to begin next year. Lutheran College House—A second initiative spearheaded by Augsburg, together with Luther Seminary, is the Lutheran College House, proposed for summer 2006. Students from six partner Lutheran colleges will live for a semester in the Phillips neighborhood to explore vocation, service opportunities, and leadership development. Augsburg/Central Nursing Center—Augsburg’s 10-year-old free nursing center at Central Lutheran Church that serves neighborhood residents at no cost was incorporated into the Faith in the City initiatives. Hands-on learning for health careers by Judy Petree Jasmine Smith, a junior, and one of 61 students at the new Augsburg Academy for Health Careers, travels from Maple Grove across the city everyday. She enrolled at the academy to pursue a career in the health field, particularly forensic science or neurology. In addition to her interest in the CSI television shows, she said she chose the academy for its small class sizes and the ability to work one-on-one with instructors. She recently interviewed for an internship at Fairview in the nursing department. Students at the academy are paired with Fairview health professionals as mentors. Together they explore the student’s talents and interests as related to vocations in the health field. Students use Fairview as a hands-on learning laboratory; they also take field trips to Mayo Clinic, and visit emergency care centers, hospitals, clinics, and science-related businesses and industries. All students receive training to become certified as emergency medical technicians, first responders, and/or certified nursing assistants. This will help them find employment during summers and after graduation. Mark Youngstrom, director of Augsburg Academy, is a former state education department specialist in English education and co-founder of the Perpich Center for the Arts in Golden Valley. “The primary purpose [of the academy] is to provide immigrant students and students of color with a solid academic education that enables them to advance in the educational system,” he said. “In addition, hospitals and healthcare facilities of all kinds are treating increasing numbers of patients from immigrant communities and communities of color, and they need employees who speak their languages and understand their cultures.” Youngstrom concludes, “Our ultimate hope is to raise the sights of our students so they can plan a future for themselves that includes higher education and a professional career.” Other initiatives include: The Wellness Connection—With the help of several neighborhood organizations and congregations, this center responds to Somali immigrants’ health needs, promotes healthy lifestyles, and connects them with appropriate medical providers. ty Personal Finance Center—Begun as a tax service for lowincome residents, this center has grown to offer a wide range of financial literacy tools for banking, home ownership, borrowing money, etc. Phillips Neighborhood Park, Library, and School—Faith in the City provides financial resources and volunteer service to help sustain these sites as vibrant neighborhood centers. Above left: Tom Morgan (left), Augsburg’s representative on the steering committee, and Jeri Nelsen (right), executive director, are finding that the Faith in the City Lutheran collaborative is an effective model for responding to community needs. Winter 2005-06 Jasmine Smith (right) and Ophelia Mensah (left) enjoy the small classes and one-on-one mentoring at the Augsburg Academy for Health Careers. 21 Leadership conference—Two annual conferences have brought together downtown faith and business leaders for discussion and mutual collaboration around faith and work. Leadership initiative—-For the second year, a program nurtures emerging leaders at member organizations through ongoing discussions of vocation and faith. The next steps Faith in the City is proving that greater good can come about through working together in collaboration than by individual organizations working in isolation. In a commentary written for the Star Tribune last year, Thrivent president and CEO Bruce Nicholson described Faith in the City’s process as “mission-based collaboration, an ideal model for holistically addressing pressing community needs.” Moving forward, the collaborative continues to seek strategic partners for specific initiatives as well as to engage Lutheran congregations in outreach to urban needs. Perhaps nowhere else in the nation could such an integrated community collaboration take place, and Faith in the City is beginning to garner attention. Tapped for leadership by Betsey Norgard 22 Executive director Jeri Nelsen, Morgan, and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota CEO Mark Peterson presented Faith in the City at the national meeting of Lutheran Services in America (LSA) in April. The collaborative has also garnered significant attention from Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak. Nelsen says that Rybak sees Faith in the City as a model for collaboration with great potential for improving community well-being. Frame believes that Faith in the City has proven that, even within a highly competitive arena, nonprofits can combine resources to carry out their work more effectively. ■ Last fall Julie Olson ’90, ’04 MAL, dean of enrollment management, was part of the first “class” of Faith in the City’s Leadership Development Institute. Over several day-long sessions, the group participated in presentations and discussions on leadership, read books, and listened to the CEOs of Faith in the City member organizations talk about their own vocational paths—all woven around the concept of servant leadership. This first group bonded with each other to the extent that they couldn’t let go when the formal series ended. They continue to gather periodically for conversation, even as the second “class” of the institute has begun. The leadership initiative came about as member organizations felt a need to be better prepared for their next phase of growth. Olson says the program is about identifying emerging leaders within the organizations, and helping them discern their vocation—i.e., helping them feel “tapped,” or hear the call of an inner voice. In addition to getting to know their Faith in the City colleagues, participants gain valuable insight into their organizations—how they’re structured, issues they face, what’s ahead for them, and how they respond to their constituencies. The member organizations share a common Lutheran background, but some—Fairview, for example-—are less overt in their Lutheran heritage than others. Olson says that if you look at how they treat their employees, their staff and leadership development programs, and their missions, it’s all there. It may not be called Lutheran, or even Christian, but the organization effectively puts action behind their values in the model of servant leadership. “By the end, everyone was more comfortable with identifying themselves from a Lutheran organization and recognizing what’s special about that,” Olson said. “This is something that’s essential to our identity, and we mutually reinforced that with each other.” While this is the only “inward” initiative of Faith in the City, Olson says the leadership institute is about “building the strengths of the individual organizations to enable them to better serve their larger communities.” In this second year, a coaching component was added to the initiative, and Olson is one of two from the first group who will be coaching members of the second group. “It’s an honor to be asked and identified as an emerging leader,” she said. “Now I have the responsibility to carry out that gift.” Winter 2005-06 Scholarship brunch honors donors and students On Nov. 20, the Scholarship and Donor Brunch was the place where more than 170 Augsburg donors were honored for their generosity and commitment to Augsburg College. Scholarship donors, Heritage Society donors who have estate plans that include Augsburg, and Maroon & Silver Society donors, who give annual support at the leadership level for Augsburg scholarships, were all thanked. It was also the place where 100 students had the opportunity to meet the families behind the scholarships they've received. Student body president Paul Cumings, speaking on behalf of students, told the donors, “You give; it’s not required, but I’m here to tell you it’s appreciated.” Philip Rowberg Sr. ’41 had not been on campus since 1948. He recently endowed a scholarship in memory of his wife, Betty, who died last year. “I decided to fund a scholarship in appreciation of Philip Rowberg Sr. ’41 (left) recently endowed a scholarship in memory of his wife, Betty. At the brunch he met the scholarship’s first recipient, Evan Holmes ’06 (right). Winter 2005-06 the education I received here,” Rowberg said. “Nothing is more important than investing in the education of our young people.” The Philip and Helen Taylor Rowberg Scholarship gives preference to a student from rural Minnesota. Rowberg and his son, Philip Jr., were able to meet its first recipient, Evan Holmes ’06, from Janesville, Minn. Among other donors at the reception were the Rev. Orville ’52 and Yvonne (Bagley) ’52 Olson, and their son Jonathan. In 1993, the Olsons established a scholarship in memory of another son, Timothy, and in recognition of his devotion to Jonathan. “The scholarship is in honor of son Timothy. Our other son, Jonathan, has a disability, so we made our scholarship available to students in college who have special needs or are going into the field of special education. Nicky Cronin ’08, the recipient of the Olson scholarship, is a special education major in emotional/behavioral and learning disabilities. “Our giving has been out of profound gratitude to Augsburg for the many blessings we received as college students and over the years,” said Yvonne Olson. “I personally am one of 11 siblings, and eight of us have attended Augsburg. My husband and I graduated in the same class, and our daughter, Beth (Olson), and her husband, Scott Bouman, both graduated in the Class of 1977. That’s our connection to Augsburg.” “‘Tak for alt’—we noticed this saying on a lot of gravestones around Scandinavia,” Olson continued. “This saying is important to our family. It’s a symbol of gratitude and means ‘thanks for everything.’ ” The Rev. Orville Olson ’52 and his wife, Yvonne (Bagley) ’52 Olson created a scholarship in memory of their son Timothy and his devotion to brother Jonathan (center). They enjoyed meeting this year’s recipient, Nicole Cronin ’08 (back center). 23 Roarin’ and soarin’ to the finish at Si Melby At Homecoming 2005, hundreds of alumni, students, fans, friends, and even prospective students celebrated and cheered for the campaign to expand Si Melby Hall with a new south wing addition. It was a celebration of Auggie athletics past, present, and future. Emcee Tim McNiff, from KARE-11 TV, introduced coaches and athletic teams, fired up the crowd with achievements and successes of Augsburg’s athletic program, and extolled the benefits of the new south wing. A virtual video tour took the crowd through the proposed 27,000 new square feet that includes expanded classroom space, a fitness center, training areas, and more. The project was explained in depth by Jeff Swenson ’79, head wrestling coach and assistant dean for athletics, and regent and campaign co-chair Mike Freeman. The video also featured testimonials from current and former student-athletes and administrators. The Si Melby completion team, led by Freeman, has rallied volunteers to work with them to make sure that all Augsburg athletes and friends have opportunities to help Augsburg reach the goal. The team includes Dan Anderson ’65, Rich Colvin ’74, Mike Good ’71, Jane Helmke ’83, and Glen Person ’47. Staff support to the team includes Swenson and Development Office staff: Jeroy Carlson ’48, Jack Osberg ’62, Ron Main ’56, and Donna McLean. Momentum continues to grow as the team pushes toward the final goal, enjoying additional volunteer support from Bob Strommen ’74, “Butch” Raymond ’63, Rick Ekstrand ’72, Dave Andell ’71, Bob Martin ’71, Bruce Brekke ’70, and Erv Inniger. Each sport is also gathering alumni support to help complete the project so that Student-athletes cheered as coaches, teams, and alumni spoke at the athletic celebration. 24 Winter 2005-06 groundbreaking can occur as soon as possible. Augsburg is especially grateful to Alan Rice for making the first lead gift in the amount of $1 million and to Dean ’75 and Terry Kennedy for the largest lead gift of $2 million, in addition to several others whose gifts helped kick off the campaign for the new south wing. For additional information on the Si Melby south wing addition, or to make a gift, go to <www.augsburg.edu/ campaign/athletic>, or call the Development Office at 612-338-0002 or 1-800-273-0617. The new South Wing will include spaces already named in honor of the following: Doc Johnson A-Club office Lavonne (Johnson) Peterson ’50 Hospitality and Conference Room and patio Luther (Lute) Olson ’56 Hall of Champions Jack ’62 and Nina Osberg Student Study and Computer Room “Gamma House” Hospitality Lounge and Classroom overlooking Nelson Field Rolf Erickson Hospitality Lounge and Classroom overlooking Nelson Field Many exciting opportunities remain to create a legacy in someone’s name for the new south wing. Contact Donna McLean at 612-338-4826 or <mclean@augsburg.edu> for further information. Winter 2005-06 Jeff Swenson ’79 (left), head wrestling coach and assistant dean, and Mike Freeman, Augsburg regent and campaign co-chair, kept the crowd fired up about Auggie athletic successes and the progress toward the new south wing of Si Melby Hall. Faculty and Staff Make It Happen Faculty and staff launched a campaign in September to increase giving to the Access to Excellence campaign among Augsburg employees. The goal of the faculty-staff campaign was to significantly increase the participation rate of giving from within the Augsburg community—a critical factor to funding agencies when reviewing grant proposals from the College. At the end of last fiscal year in May, the overall participation rate among the more than 800 faculty and staff employed by the College was 22%. As of Nov. 10, with more than half the current fiscal year remaining, that figure has risen to 29%. An even greater indicator of commitment to the campaign goals from within the College is the giving rate among full-time faculty and staff, and staff who work more than 50% of the time. As of Nov. 10, full-time faculty giving rose to 54%, while the rate among full- and nearly-full-time staff was at 41%. First-time givers and those who increased their current gifts were eligible for a full match from a special fund established by a group of faculty emeriti, faculty, and staff whose generosity enabled even small gifts to grow in size. In addition, new and increased gifts from members of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans were also eligible for a 50% match from that organization. 25 AAlumni LUMNINews NEWS From the director of Alumni Relations… G reetings! As the new director of Alumni Relations, it is a great pleasure for me to have the continued opportunity to work with Augsburg’s alumni and our many Augsburg friends. In addition to myself, Donna Torgeson currently serves as assistant director of our newly re-structured Office of Alumni Relations. Donna finds herself busy working with the Class Agents, the Augsburg Associates, and also coordinating with the alumni group traveling to China this spring. You may have also worked with her on your reunion group this past year. I have been at Augsburg since 1986, when I began working in the undergraduate admissions office. In 2002, I joined the Alumni/Parent Relations office working with the Parent Council, Homecoming and Reunions, plus many events on and off campus. I am very fortunate to now be working closely with the Alumni Board—please take a look at the calendar on the next page and join us for one of many upcoming events. If you are interested in more information regarding opportunities to join the Alumni Board, or if you believe that you know an alum who should be nominated for our Distinguished Alumni, First Decade, or Spirit of Jon Thorson ’86 leads groundbreaking research with anti-cancer potential E mploying a simple new technique to manipulate the sugars that power many front-line drugs, a team of Wisconsin scientists, led by Augsburg alumnus Jon S. Thorson, professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of WisconsinMadison, has enhanced the anti-cancer properties of a digitalis, a drug commonly used to treat heart disease. Reported in the August 8 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Thorson and the team describe a series of experiments that boosted the cellkilling potency and tumor specificity of the drug, derived from the foxglove plant and used to stimulate the heart. The drug is suspected to have anti-cancer properties, but its use to treat cancer has been little explored. The new work is important because it provides scientists and drug companies with a quick and easy way to manipulate the sugars found in chemicals produced in nature. According to Thorson, the technology 26 can be widely applied: “We’ve already taken this chemistry and applied it to many different drug classes. It’s possible to extend it to antibiotics and antivirals.” The new technique, according to Thorson, will play a prominent role in the new UW National Cooperative Drug Discovery Group, a consortium of UW scientists seeking to develop new anticancer drugs from natural products. Thorson joined the UW School of Pharmacy in the summer of 2001, and since moving to UW has been designated an American Society of Pharmacognosy Matt Suffness Awardee (2004) and a UW H.I. Romnes Fellow (2004). From 19962001, Thorson held appointments as an assistant member of the Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center and assistant professor of Sloan-Kettering Division, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cornell University, during which he was named a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar (1998-2002) and Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (2000-2002). Augsburg awards, please go to <www.augsburg.edu/alumni> or call 612-330-1173. We are in the midst of an exciting year, and we hope that you’ll join us on campus for an athletic event, theatre production, musical performance, or one of several convocations scheduled this year. Please save the date for Homecoming 2006, and bring your classmates, family, and friends to our next ever-growing family picnic event on Saturday, September 30, 2006. Heidi Breen Director, Office of Alumni Relations Two alumni appointed to Alumni Board The Augsburg Alumni Board of Directors appointed two new members and elected Karina Karlén ’83 as president and Barry Vornbrock ’96 MAL as president-elect. To view the complete list and photos of board members, visit <www.augsburg.edu/alumni/board.html>. The new members are as follows: Dale E. Hanka ’60 Dale E. Hanka graduated from Augsburg with a B.S. in Scandinavian studies. He is a retired teacher, business owner, and financial planner. Jamie E. Smith ’04 Jamie E. Smith graduated from Augsburg with a B.S. in history. He is a real estate professional at Keller Williams Premier Realty in Woodbury, Minn. Winter 2005-06 Alumni Events Please join us for these upcoming alumni events (see also the college-wide calendar on the inside back cover for additional Augsburg events); unless otherwise noted, call 612-330-1178 or 1-800-260-6590 or e-mail <alumni@augsburg.edu> for more information. December February 10 15 11 Washington, D.C.: Alumni gathering honoring 2005 Distinguished Alumnus Donald Mattison ’66, M.D., Watergate Hotel, Executive Boardroom (Ballroom Level), 8 p.m. immediately following the Peace Prize Forum reception; registration is limited, please RSVP no later than Dec. 2 to 612-330-1598 or <rsvp@augsburg.edu> McLean, Virginia: President Frame will speak at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 703-356-3346, 9:45 a.m. 16 19 Auggie Hour at Beaujo’s Wine Bar & Bistro, 4950 France Ave. S, Edina, 952-922-8974, 5:30 p.m., featuring a wine tasting with Jenn Tome ’99 Honors Program alumni gathering, Christensen Center, 5:30-7 p.m.; please RSVP no later than Jan. 13 to 612-330-1598 or <rsvp@augsburg.edu> Scottsdale, Arizona: Alumni gathering at Winn and Maxine Wallin’s home, 4-7 p.m. 18 Tucson, Arizona: Gospel Praise at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 520-327-6521, time TBA 19 Tucson, Arizona: President Frame and Gospel Praise* at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 7:45 a.m., *8:45 a.m., and *11:15 a.m., 520-327-6521 January 10 Sun City, Arizona: President Frame will speak at American Lutheran Church, 623-974-2512; 5:15 p.m. gathering and light supper; 6-6:30 p.m., “Christian Civility: Is it a Sellout?” March 26 Annie at the Orpheum: Gather for brunch on campus prior to a performance of Annie at the Orpheum Theater; transportation provided FOURTH ANNUAL CONNECTIONS EVENT Augsburg alumnae are invited to attend Connections—A Women’s Leadership Event, cosponsored by Augsburg and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, on Feb. 11 from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Thrivent Financial Corporate Offices in downtown Minneapolis. Presenters at this fourth annual event include Gloria C. Lewis, president/CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities and member of the Augsburg Board of Regents; Janice L. Aune ’88, chairman/CEO of Onvoy, Inc.; and Shira Hussain, senior admissions counselor at Augsburg College. This unique event brings together students, alumnae, and women throughout the community for a morning of networking, mentoring, and leadership development. Please join us for this incredible morning of empowerment and encouragement through the experiences and stories of the amazing women who attend! For more information and to register online, please visit <www.augsburg.edu/womenconnect>. Winter 2005-06 A-Club invites alumni on Baltic cruise The Augsburg A-Club invites alumni and friends of the College on an exciting and relaxing 12-day Baltic cruise with hosts Dick (Porkchops) and Jane Thompson on the Holland America Rotterdam Cruise Ship. The adventure begins July 28 in London, England, with stops in Norway, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, and Sweden. Group rates range from $2,548 to $4,300 per person; airfare depends on your city of origin. If you are interested, call the alumni office at 612-330-1178. You are encouraged to book early if you are using frequent flyer miles for your own air transportation. Most of the commissions for this cruise will be donated to the Augsburg A-Club Building Fund. So gather a group of Auggies—or honorary Auggies—and experience a true northern European adventure! Business alumni events All business alumni are invited to attend the Department of Business Administration’s Executive Management Lecture on March 4 from noon-1 p.m., in Christensen Center (speaker TBA). Alumni are also encouraged to attend the annual Spring Business Forum (speaker and date TBA). Please call 612-330-1191 or e-mail <heckers@augsburg.edu> for more information. 27 Homecoming 2005—Roarin’ & Soarin’ Auggie Style Augsburg alumni and friends gathered during Homecoming week for the annual Augsburg Associates Fall Luncheon at the Women’s Club in Minneapolis. The Auggies’ new head coach, Frank Haege, walked the sidelines during the Auggies’ nailbiting loss to Carleton College. Festive Auggie beads in maroon and silver decorated every tree, building, and statue during Homecoming weekend. 28 Above: The new Auggie Eagle logo, designed by Augsburg alumnus Samuel Gross ’03 (see p. 10) was illuminated on the floor of the gymnasium in Si Melby Hall during the athletics celebration. Left: The Augsburg community cheered on students who dared to compete in the comical, oversized boxing arena at Homecoming picnic. President William V. and Anne Frame performed at the student talent show in true 1920s style. Winter 2005-06 Photo by Charles Walbridge The Auggie cheerleaders kept spirits high at the Homecoming football game despite a disappointing 21-19 loss to Carleton College. Many students and alumni received Auggie Eagle temporary tattoos at the Homecoming picnic. Above: Linnea Evans and Andy Nelson were crowned as Homecoming Queen and King. Left: Simona “Fiery” Williams wowed everyone at the student talent show, taking top honors for her rap performance. Donald Mattison ’66, one of three alumni honored this year as Distinguished Alumni (see p. 8), spoke during the Homecoming chapel service Winter 2005-06 Photos by Stephen Geffre (unless otherwise noted) 29 Homecoming 2005—Roarin’ & Soarin’ Auggie Style GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY CLASS OF 1955 (L to R) ROW 1 (front): Beverly (Omdahl) Nelson, Agnes (Tweet) Schaper, Beverly (Williams) Lundeen, Miriam (Greguson) Travis, Mary Jean (Danger) Holmquist, Wenona (Strandlie) Lund, Beverly (Jorgensen) Olander. ROW 2: John Mulliken, Richard Dronen, Delores (Eide) Berkas, Clinton Peterson, Maxine (Dahlin) Christ, Kenneth West, I. Shelby (Gimse) Andress, Beverly (Halling) Oren. ROW 3: Darrell Egertson, Arthur Lunow, Elmer Karstad, Duane Westfield, David Skaar, Robert Herman, James Anderson. ROW 4: Robert Sneitzer, Richard Mahre, Wesley Bodin, Wayne Thoreson, John Benson CLASS OF 1965 (L to R) ROW 1 (floor): Lyndon West. Lyle Olson, Marie (Bergh) Sandbo, Julie (Gudmestad) Laudicina, Joyce (Anderson) Pfaff, Judy (Thompson) Eiler, Gary Thyren. ROW 2 (chairs): Darryl Carter, Dorothy (Rasmussen) Nelson, Anita (Christopherson) Gransee, Eunice (Bergman) Dietrich, Sharon (Dittbenner) Klabunde, Adrienne (Strand) Buboltz, Larry Buboltz. ROW 3: Carolyn (Fernstrom) Anderson, Sharon (Kunze) Erickson, Jane (Huseby) Norman, Judith Reynolds, Wayne Fehlandt, Phyllis Borri, Mary (Tildahl) Meyers, Mary Ann Cogelow. ROW 4: Gerald Dahl, Dale Slone, Gracia Grindal, Bette (Bodin) Leeney, Karen (Lund) Orrill, Priscilla (Strecker) Feildhammer, Paul Fieldhammer, David Berg, Larry Nelson, Keith Dyrud, Dwight Olson, James Daugherty. ROW 5: Donald Anderson, Robert Klemenhagen, Robert Lee, Mary Ann Miller, Daniel Meyers, Ronald Blake, David Dyrud. ROW 6: Donald Hoseth, Gerald Hamlin, Gary Blosberg, Daniel Anderson. 30 Winter 2005-06 CLASS OF 1980 (L to R) ROW 1 (front): Lori (Elmgren) Binder, Kristin (Johnson) Hella, Laurie Fyksen-Beise, Christine (Edlund) Luk, Mary Carlson. ROW 2: Jeffrey Jarnes, Brett Batterson, Carolyn (Johnson) Spargo, Jacqueline (Brookshire) Teisberg, Claudia (Walters) Forsberg, John Carlson. ROW 3: Paul Sannerud, Jon Burnison, Gary Tangwall. CLASS OF 1995 (L to R) ROW 1 (front): Jonathan Arntz, Lisa (Carlson) Sackreiter, Soven Sackreiter (baby), Andy Sackreiter, Dan Deitrich, Theresa (Hoar) Magelssen, Trygg Magelssen (baby), Scott Magelssen. ROW 2: Erica Bentley, Amy (Torgelson) Forsberg, Aubrey Forsberg (little girl), Cory Forsberg, Olin Forsberg (baby), Andrea (Mathieu) Bedard. ROW 3 (back): Kirk Litynski, Mark Bedard, Nick Bedard (baby). Winter 2005-06 31 CLASS NOTES Class Notes 1951 John Garland, St. Paul, was recognized by the American Institute for CPCU and the Insurance Institute of America as an outstanding course leader. He has served as an institute course leader for 33 years, and currently teaches insurance for Hughes Group, LLC. Minn., is director of social services at Rose of Sharon Manor. 1968 1957 Marshall D. Johnson, Minneapolis, published a new book, The Evolution of Christianity: Twelve Crises that Shaped the Church, in May (Continuum). 1960 Lois (Richter) Agrimson, Eagan, Janet Letnes Martin, Hastings, Minn., and Suzann (Johnson) Nelson ’68, Grand Rapids, Minn., were featured in the Star Tribune for their musical, Church Basement Ladies, based on their books celebrating the foods and traditions of Lutherans. After successful trial runs in Grand Rapids, Fargo, St. Cloud, and Bismarck, the musical is settling in for a 14-month run at the Plymouth Playhouse. 1969 Barbara Hagel Stevens, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., retired in June; she taught second grade at Pilot Knob Elementary School in Eagan for more than 30 years. childhood experiences of her grandfather, King Olav V, the princess has written a tale about a little boy who becomes a prince in her first children’s book, Why Kings and Queens Don’t Wear Crowns. 1971 1973 Mike Sevig, Bloomington, Minn., and his wife, Else (Tallaksen) ’71, operate Skandisk, Inc., a company that distributes books and CDs (especially those related to Scandinavia) to specialty shops around the country. Last winter Skandisk secured the English language rights to publish a new fairy tale written by Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise and illustrated by one of Norway’s most celebrated artists, Svein Nyhus. Drawing from the Corrine (Froelich) Frank, Detroit Lakes, Minn., proudly reports that her son, Corporal Will A. Frank, is currently serving in the United States Marine Corps in San Diego (Miramar). He has served in Iraq and will be deployed again in December. He also plays tuba in the USMC Band. Courtsey photo AUGGIE REUNION 1974 Marlene (Chan) Hui, Bloomington, Minn., sadly notes the passing of her mother, Choi Wan Chan, in September. 1976 Rev. Gary Andersen, Bloomington, Minn., was installed as senior pastor of Community of the Cross Lutheran Church in June. He previously served Bethany Lutheran in Rice Lake, Wis. His wife, Diane (Forsberg) ’76, teaches English as a second language. 1977 These Auggies and their spouses gathered at Chautauqua, N.Y., and stayed at the Anthenaeum Hotel to share special memories of their 1953-1957 college years. Pictured on the hotel’s porch are: ROW 1 (L to R, seated): Gayle Engedahl Matson, Doug Herr, Verna Skovholt Barrett, Grace Forss Herr, and Marlys Holm Thorsgaard. ROW 2 (standing): Norman Matson and Arlen Thorsgaard (not pictured is Roger Barrett). 32 Lise LungeLarsen, Duluth, Minn., published her third children’s book in August 2004, Hidden Folk: Stories of Fairies, Dwarves, Selkies, and Other Secret Beings (Houghton Mifflin). LungeLarsen grew up in Norway, and her parents and grandparents filled her life with stories of elves, dwarves, and fairies. Now she shares those stories with children and the adults who read to them. Winter 2005-06 ALUMNI PROFILE Stan Waldhauser 100 years young: Community celebrates Knut Hoversten’s 100th birthday by Bill Vander Weele Reprinted by permission of the Sidney Herald in Sidney, Montana When Knut Hoversten [Class of 1930] was nine months old, he suffered from whooping cough. In May, he officially celebrated his 100th birthday. In between, there have been very few illnesses or other physical problems for the longtime Sidney resident. Because of rheumatism in his knees and hips, Hoversten uses a wheelchair, but appears to be in excellent health for someone who is a century old. He credits his long life to a harmonious family and living in Big Sky Country. “I watched my appetite very closely,” Hoversten said. “I don’t do any drinking or smoking.” He remembers being an 8-year-old boy and reading about proper diet during his mother’s trip to the doctor’s office. “I always had food that was tested by proper nutrition. I kind of studied a balanced diet all through my life. I studied the kind of vitamins food contained, especially food with good vitamins.” His daughters say Hoversten’s wife of 65 years, Hazel, also played an important role in his health. Hazel died in November 2004 at the age of 93. “She took awfully good care of him,” said daughter Julianne Mell ’64. “She was a nurse and made sure he ate right.” During the past year, Hoversten received the shocking news from his dentist that he had two cavities—the first in his life. Hoversten remembers, “I had to have all of my baby teeth pulled by a dentist because of the strength of my teeth.” Hoversten currently lives with his daughter, Carol Anderson, in Spokane, Wash. He remains busy during the day by reading, visiting friends, and seeing his greatgrandchildren. “My mom and dad used to come out and visit, so it’s been a second home for him,” Anderson said. Knut Hoversten celebrated his 100th birthday in May. Since his graduation from Augsburg in 1930, more than 40 members of the extended Hoversten family have also attended, including the family’s most recent Augsburg graduate, Kari Lucin ’03. The pair, along with the entire Hoversten clan, was honored in 2003 with the Distinguished Service Award. The oldest of 14 children (eight are still living), Hoversten attended Augsburg College in Minneapolis. He then went to the University of Minnesota, where he majored in chemistry, physics, and aeronautics. Years later, he finished his master’s degree at Montana State University. “He still reads and has been a student all his life,” said his daugher, Mell. Hoversten can speak several languages, including Norwegian, German, Greek, Latin, and French. “The best resources of medical sources are in German and Russian,” Hoversten said. He feels the greatest advances during his life came in the physics and medicine fields. “It started out pulling slivers out of your hand with a tweezers, and turned into working with DNA,” Hoversten said. Knut Hoversten ’30 He experienced many highlights during his 40 years of teaching. One memory he shared was building a rocket with a student in the 1950s and setting the rocket off from the baseball field. “It went pretty high,” he said. That student was Kendall Habedank, who is now a retired major general from the Air Force. Many students are thankful that Hoversten went into the teaching field. He was hoping to become a doctor, but because of the Depression, he couldn’t continue his education. “I ran out of money,” he said. “But I think his teaching was rewarding,” Mell said. “He was meant to be a teacher. I think he influenced more people than he would had he been a doctor.” Hoversten’s non-teaching activities included being a member of the Sidney Kiwanis Club for 58 years, a member of Pella Lutheran Church for 59 years, and director of the Methodist Church choir for 30 years. His many years of retirement featured teaching Norwegian at the Sons of Norway and working as a piano tuner. “I’ve got a good reputation in all of the area for being a good piano tuner.” When asked if he ever thought he would celebrate his 100th birthday, Hoversten said, “No. But I didn’t object to it.” Winter 2005-06 33 Class Notes Courtsey photo AUGGIES ABROAD AUGSBURG CENTENNIAL SINGERS 2006 FLORIDA APPEARANCES Concert Performances FEBRUARY 1 Trinity Lutheran Church and School 3016 S. Vine St., Kissimmee, Fla., 407-847-4204; 7 p.m. FEBRUARY 2 Emmanuel Lutheran Church 800 Tamiami Trail S, Venice, Fla., 941-488-4942; 7 p.m. FEBRUARY 4 Peace Lutheran Church 15840 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers, Fla.; 6:30 p.m. (time tentative) FEBRUARY 5 Emmanuel Lutheran Church 777 Mooring Lane Dr., Naples, Fla., 239-597-1043; 3 p.m. FEBRUARY 6 First Presbyterian Church 9751 Bonita Beach Rd., Bonita Springs, Fla., 239-992-3233; 3 and 7 p.m. FEBRUARY 7 Grace Lutheran Church 327 C Ave. SE, Winter Haven, Fla., 863-293-8447; 7 p.m. Church Appearances FEBRUARY 5 Emmanuel Lutheran Church 777 Mooring Lane Dr., Naples, Fla., 239-597-1043; 8, 9:30, and 11 a.m. Hisham Al-Fergiani, an Augsburg alumnus from the 1970s, stands in the bookshop and press that he owns in Tripoli, Libya, called Dar Al-Fergiani Publishers. FEBRUARY 5 First Presbyterian Church 9751 Bonita Beach Rd., Bonita Springs, Fla., 239-992-3233; 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. 1979 1983 1984 1985 Judy Berkeland, Fairmont, Minn., recently became the Fairmont Area Schools’ new orchestra director. Her husband, Steve ’79, is senior pastor of Grace Lutheran Church. Les Heen and Barbara (Westerlund) ’89, Maynard, Minn., are enjoying life in the country, “with nothing but room to run, hills to roll down, and stars in the sky to find through the telescope,” says Barbara. Les is director of communications for Minnesota Farmer’s Union, located in St. Paul, and Barbara is an estate and businessplanning attorney, operating her own law practice in Maynard. They have two children, Christopher, 7, and Erik, 4. Laurie (Lindell) Miles, Apple Valley, Minn., recently moved back to Minnesota from California. She is a sales representative at Northwest Airlines. Norm Okerstrom and John Wahlberg ’86, owners of Excel Promotions, LLC, have entered into an agreement with Prime Advertising & Design, Inc., of Maple Grove, Minn., as an exclusive provider of promotional products, apparel, and corporate recognition items. Okerstrom and Wahlberg can be reached at <norm@excelpromo.com>. 1980 Bradley J. Imsdahl left his position as lead publisher of Quickfinder Handbooks, published by Practitioner’s Publishing Company of Fort Worth, Texas, to start a new publishing company called Tax Materials, Inc. His new company publishes quick reference tax guides to sell to CPAs and other tax professionals nationwide. He can be reached at <brad@thetaxbook.com>. 34 Franklin Tawah was featured as a “mover” in the business section of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He is assistant vice president of University Bank in St. Paul. Elizabeth (Ingersoll) Swanson, Minneapolis, received the Master of Sacred Music degree with an emphasis on conducting from Luther Seminary in May. She currently serves as the choir director for Glen Cary Lutheran Church in Ham Lake, Minn.; she plans to become ordained as an associate in ministry and seek a call as a full-time cantor/music director in the Twin Cities. Jean Taylor, Eagan, Minn., was elected to serve on the board of directors for Piper Jaffray Companies. Taylor is president of Taylor Corporation and serves as chair of the Augsburg College Board of Regents. She also serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota Private College Council and is a trustee of the Glen A. Taylor Foundation. Winter 2005-06 AUGSBURG ARTISTS Amy Rice ’93 is known in the Twin Cities’ art community for her bold stencil creations, inspired as much by pop art and Japanese printmaking as the graffiti art movement. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has cited Rice’s mural work as an example of how art has participated in the rebirth of Franklin Avenue. Rice is also known locally for her advocacy role on the behalf of artists with mental illness and recently received a national award for her efforts. Rice is a member of the Rosalux Collective, a vibrant and growing community of Twin Cities’ artists. Her work will be on display at the Rosalux Gallery’s upcoming Holiday Hoopla exhibit, Dec. 3-30 (opening reception Dec. 10, 7-11 p.m.). For more information and to view more of Rice’s work, visit the Rosalux Gallery online at <www.rosaluxgallery.com>. Mural on 11th and Franklin, Minneapolis, fall 2003 1986 Michael Berry was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Dallasbased i2 Technologies, Inc. He previously served as senior vice president of Solutions Management at The Reynolds and Reynolds Company, Inc. 1987 Andrew Altenburg, New York, produces and hosts fundraising events through his company, Will Clark USA, which raises money for and awareness of AIDS causes under the umbrella name Bad Boys Events. He produced the Fifth Annual Bad Boys Pool Party in Palm Springs, Calif., in May, Winter 2005-06 Fisher Price Angel Spray paint and acrylic on canvas, 6” x 6” which raised $64,000 for L.A. Shanti, a nonprofit HIV/AID support organization in Los Angeles. He also executive produced a series of weekend events that brought another $13,000 to various Californiabased nonprofits. In the past eight years, Altenburg has been directly responsible for nearly a million dollars raised for gay men’s health organizations such as Magnet and the AIDS Emergency Fund in San Francisco and the Gay/Lesbian Anti Violence Project and Visual AIDS in New York. He currently hosts a weekly bingo game at the 9th Ave. Bistro in New York, which raises money for AIDS organizations, gay sports groups, and community organizations such as the Gay Men’s Chorus. Lisa Martin-Crawford, Minneapolis, received a 2005 Association of Schools of Public Health Minority Fellowship to support her study of the experience of Ojibway adolescents with Type II diabetes who live on reservations. The goal of the two-year study is to improve preventive health care. The fellowship is one of only four public health fellowships made annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Martin-Crawford is a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, and is an enrolled member of the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, an Ojibway tribe in Northern Wisconsin. Meghan with Olivia Mixed media, 24” x 48” 1988 Jim Damiani, Plymouth, Minn., was featured in the Twin Cities Business Journal as a recipient of its “Forty under 40” honor. Damiani, who serves as vice president of Bloomington-based Welsh Cos., has secured more than 1,500 real estate transactions in the past two decades. He got his start in real estate rehabbing old apartment buildings while still a student at Augsburg. 1989 Dawn Givans-Lander, Los Angeles, is a busy stay-at-home mom with 2-year-old twin boys. She is launching a hair salon/spa next spring. 35 Class Notes 1990 Courtsey photo KOLANDER-MCCUNE WEDDING Dave Frisell, Bloomington, Minn., is Kennedy High School’s new head football coach. He also teaches physical education at Kennedy and at Oak Grove Middle School. Alex Gonzalez, Bloomington, Minn., earned the title of financial consultant for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans after successfully completing extensive training. He is one of 450 financial consultants nationwide qualifying for membership in the group. Judith A. Lemke was named executive vice president and chief information officer at Schneider National, Inc., in Green Bay, Wis. She previously served as CIO of Capella University in Minneapolis and as vice president of the Midwest region for Minneapolis-based BORN Information Services, Inc. Holly Kolander ’96 married Chris McCune in March 2004 at Orange Tree Golf Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. Holly taught 4th grade, but now stays home to care for their four-month-old twin daughters (see their birth announcement on p. 38). Courtsey photo BOLDEN-FIELDS WEDDING 1991 Penny R. Olson, Richfield, Minn., received the Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in May. Before entering the seminary, she worked as a registrar, data processor, health consultant, and health unit coordinator at hospitals and medical centers in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park. She plans to serve as an ELCA parish pastor. Carolyn Pool, Minneapolis, originated the lead in the world premiere of Paula Cizmar’s play, Bone Dry, aka the Copy Editor Murders, at the Jungle Theater. A writer in the Star Tribune recently described her as a “dynamo of the stage.” 1992 Trena Bolden ’00 married Jerome Fields ’00 in August. Trena serves as director of Augsburg’s Pan-Afrikan Center. 36 Walt Filson, Brooklyn Center, Minn., teaches law enforcement for Anoka-Hennepin ISD #11; he is pursuing a master’s degree in criminal justice. Ladd Ojala, Minneapolis, competed in an Ironman competition this summer in British Columbia, Canada. 1994 Susan (Horning) Arntz, Waconia, Minn., recently received the International City/County Management Association (ICMA)’s Credentialed Manager designation. Arntz, a member of Augsburg’s Alumni Board of Director’s, is city administrator of the City of Waconia. She also serves as chair of the Leadership ICMA Committee, and previously served as assistant city manager for the City of New Brighton and as assistant to the administrator/economic development coordinator for the City of Chaska. 1995 Jason Shaver was appointed as director of broadcasting and corporate sales by the Iowa Stars hockey team. Shaver, who was the vice president of communications and the playby-play voice of the Texas Wildcatters the past two seasons, will be the play-by-play voice of the Dallas Stars American Hockey League affiliate. 1998 Camille Carnes, San Rafael, Calif., received a Master of Education with a concentration in equity and social justice in May from San Francisco State University. She is currently working with high-risk youth in a young women’s empowerment program. She can be reached at <camillecarnes@sbcglobal.net>. Stephanie Simones, New Berlin, Wis., married Jeff Wehrman in May 2004. She teaches at St. Mathias Catholic School, and enjoys running and biking in road races, marathons, and triathlons. Winter 2005-06 Courtsey photo STENSVAAG-DARDA WEDDING Brenda Selander, Champlin, Minn., married Ted Mitshulis in June. They met at Anoka High School, where they teach and coach. 2003 Eric Bretheim, Edina, Minn., married Kelly Anne Lewis in July. Eric is a transportation logistics coordinator for Cargill. Ken McCann, Eden Prairie, Minn., works for Target Financial Services. Shawn Smith was added to the 2005-06 pre-season roster of the Fort Wayne Komets—five-time United Hockey League champions. 2004 Rebecca Stensvaag ’01 married Paul Darda ’01 in July 2004. Paul is a history teacher and assistant wrestling coach at Champlin Park High School, and Rebecca teaches 3rd grade at Johnsville Elementary School. Their wedding photo features more than 30 Augsburg alumni. Pictured here are: ROW 1 (L to R, front): Cindy Blummer ’01, Emma Stansvaag ’08, Ruth Casperson ’67, Hannah Mehus Stensvaag ’38, Rebecca Stensvaag Darda ’01, Paul Darda ’01, Nancy Strommen Stensvaag ’71, John-Mark Stensvaag ’69, Stephanie Johnson Sulzbach ’71, John Sulzbach ’69, Jean Boxrud Steen. ROW 2: Roland ’03, Tjersti Strommen ’07, Adam Thronson ’00, Marsha Strommen Olson ’68, Dawn Hofstad Strommen ’70. ROW 4: Peter Strommen ’69, Mary Nelson Eckberg ’70, Brad Fischer ’03, Heidi Peterson ’03, Mark Peterson ’01, Mary Ellen Strommen Lieber ’67, Tim Strommen ’70. ROW 5: John Eckberg ’68, Ainy Carlson, Jeroy Carlson ’48, Phil Edstrom ’69, Luther Strommen ’40, Steve Strommen ’65. 1999 Tony Hudson, Minneapolis, is the diversity achievement coordinator at Sandburg Middle School in Golden Valley, Minn. He recently received a master’s degree in education administration from St. Mary’s. Rachel (Westhed) Stenback resides in Sweden with her husband, Tomas. She received a master’s degree in enthnology from Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. She recently co-wrote the resources section of a new book, On My Swedish Island: Discovering the Secrets of Scandinavian Well-being, by Julie Catterson Lindahl (Teacher Winter 2005-06 Penguin), and she has worked on marketing the book—both in Scandinavia and the United States. She and her husband, who is a math and science teacher, have been offered English teaching positions in China starting next August through the Lutheran Church in Sweden (Svenska kyrkan). Stenbak can be reached at <rachel.stenbak@home.se>. 2000 Larissa (Westfield) Larson along with her sister, Rebecca Westfield ’03, launched Ensemble, a women’s clothing and accessories boutique in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. The sisters and the boutique were featured in the September issue of Women’s Business Minnesota magazine. Marcia Volk, Rosemount, Minn., married Brian Marrison last December. 2001 Conor E. Tobin, St. Paul, received a juris doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law in June. While attending William Mitchell, Tobin served as president of the Student Bar Association and was a recipient of the CALI Award of Excellence for his work in the Immigration Law Clinic. 2002 Chris Kambeitz recently moved from Fargo, N.Dak., to Carver, Minn. He works in sales with Summit Products North, and can be reached at <cgkambeitz@ yahoo.com>. Erica Champer, Chicago, works at Heartland Housing. Kelly L. Chapman is a student at Fashion Institute Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. She is working and interning for Ali Rahinii, owner and designer of Mon Atelier. After graduation in December, she hopes to enroll in the institute’s third-year program. Rick Dzurik is a music therapist, working with patients at the North Memorial Residential Hospice in Brooklyn Center, Minn., on the North Memorial Inpatient Hospice and Palliative Care Unit and with Hospice Homecare patients. Brian Eayrs is pursuing a master’s degree in sports administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he serves as graduate assistant to the defensive coordinator of the UW-L Eagles’ football team. His father, Mike Eayrs ’72, once served as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator; he now serves as director of research and development for the Green Bay Packers (he also served 16 years in the same capacity for the Minnesota Vikings). 37 Class Notes Dayle VanderLeest, Minneapolis, is serving as a long-term substitute secondgrade teacher at Cedar Riverside Community School in Minneapolis. 2005 Brad Schwartzbauer is the new Mounds View, Minn., boys’ hockey coach. He was an allconference player and captain at Augsburg, and played in the Colorado Rockies’ minor league system. Births/Adoptions Mark Muhich ’89 and Allison, Eveleth, Minn.—a son, Brennan, on St. Patrick’s Day. He joins older brother Quinn, 4. Mark owns Muhich Law Firm in Virginia, Minn., and teaches legal-related courses at Mesabi Range Community and Technical College in Virginia. He can be reached at <mamuhich@ rangenet.com>. Rich Blumer ’95 and his wife, Heather, Maple Grove, Minn.— a daughter, Amanda Jane, in February. She joins older brother Carson, 2. Rich is an applications consultant for US Bank. Ryan Carlson ’96 and his wife, Lauren, St. Paul—a son, Quintus (Quin) Joseph, in September. Ryan is a senior manufacturing manager for Seagate in Bloomington and Lauren is a scientist for Ecolab in Eagan. They can be reached at <rc_and_lauren@yahoo.com>. Holly (Kolander) ’96 and Chris McCune, Scottsdale, Ariz.—twin daughters, Sierra and Malayna, in June (see Holly and Chris’ wedding photo on p. 36). Ann (Gallagher) ’96 and Lee Stephenson ’06, Sturgeon Lake, Minn.— a daughter, Laura Ann, in May. She joins older sister, Grace. Ann and Lee received master’s degrees from St. Mary’s University. Amy (Gustafson) ’97 and Ross Albertson, South St. Paul—a son, Max Andrew, in June. Amy teaches 6th grade for South Washington County Schools. Leah (Holloway) ’99 and Kevin Rudeen, Vadnais Heights, Minn.—a son, Zachary John, in June. Leah is a research consultant with John H. Harland Company in Roseville. Jennifer (Crego) ’00 and Chad Carls ’00, Oak Grove, Minn.—a son, Brock David, in April. He joins older brothers Tommy, 3, and Andrew, 1. In addition to teaching chemistry and physics at Champlin Park High School, Chad also sells real estate. Jennifer and Chad can be reached at <chadcarls@yahoo.com>. Amy (Stier) ’01 and Jeff Eppen, Belle Plaine, Minn.— a daughter, Courtney Breanne, in February. Stefanie (Lindell) ’98 and Bruce Lender ’98, St. Paul— a son, Samuel, this year. Courtesy photo ALUMNI PROFILE Laura McGowan ’03: Study-abroad seminar inspires future service Written by Lynn Mena; interviewed by Betsey Norgard After participating in an Augsburg Center for Global Education seminar to Namibia during her senior year, Laura McGowan ’03 was so inspired by her experience that she pledged to one day return to Africa. This summer, she landed upon an opportunity to spend six weeks volunteering at Beautiful Gate Namibia, an international, interdenominational Christian organization providing daycare and support to children and families in need. Located in Katutura, Windhoek, Namibia, the center provides emotional, spiritual, and physical care to these children, and supports their families and communities by giving practical assistance. “I just started doing whatever they needed—sharpening pencils, cleaning, making food,” said McGowan. “It took a bit of time for me to put into perspective what I was doing, and I started to realize that what I might ordinarily consider menial tasks were genuinely helping to make the staff’s lives easier as well as to serve these kids. I may not be up there in front of the class teaching, but what I’m doing is needed just as much.” Laura McGowan ’03 posed with one of the children at Beautiful Gate, a daycare center in Namibia where McGowan volunteered for six weeks this past summer. McGowan, who teaches 9th-grade history at Northview Junior High in Brooklyn Park, Minn., formed a special bond with a young girl named Queen whom she provided one-on-one tutoring. She also traveled with staff to various homes to perform needs assessments as well as to provide support. Upon returning to Minnesota, McGowan was immediately struck by the multitude of opportunities available to children and students in the United States as compared to those at Beautiful Gate. “Even though many of my students are at or below the poverty level, I started to realize that even for them, in comparison, there is tremendous opportunity here,” said McGowan. “And so now I really have a drive to make sure the kids I teach realize and have access to those opportunities.” 38 Winter 2005-06 In Memoriam M. Glendora Dueland ’29, Slater, Iowa, died in April; she was 98. She taught in public schools in Minnesota and eventually entered public service in Washington, D.C., working for various government departments. She retired back to Slater, where she was active in the historical society. Dueland was a longtime supporter of the College and generously included Augsburg in her estate plans. Joseph E. Erickson ’37, Mukilteo, Wash., died in February; he was 91. He was a retired farmer and missionary, known to many as the “singing farmer” for his singing ministry, which he shared during his mission trips to more than 50 countries. Norman Myrvik ’38, Brooklyn, N.Y., died in August 2004; he was 91. He was an opera singer, composer, choral conductor, opera impresario, radio host, record producer, and teacher. His Town Hall debut was followed by many engagements with opera companies and symphony orchestras, as well as leading roles on NBC’s Opera of the Air and recitals in major U.S. cities. In 1967 he founded the Brooklyn Lyric Opera Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which received glowing reviews from The New York Times. In 1962 his recording of Charles Griffes and Edvard Grieg songs won praise from The New York Times, The Atlantic, and High Fidelity. Myrvik hosted Opera Stars of Tomorrow for many years on WNYC Radio, and held teaching positions at Lehman and Kingsborough colleges. Rev. Grant H. Olson ’40, Seminole, Fla. (formerly of Minneapolis), died in August; he was 90. He formed two churches in Washington and served Minneapolis at Lebanon Lutheran Church for 26 years. In 1984 he joined the Lutheran Winter 2005-06 Synod staff in Tampa and later became chaplain at Palms of Pasadena Hospital and Bay Pines VA Medical Center, retiring in 1999. Agnes (Landsverk) Torbenson ’41, Detroit Lakes, Minn., died in July. She was a retired English teacher. Sylvia (Brandt) Sateren ’47, Indio, Calif., died in May. She was a retired choral music teacher and a 1996 inductee into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. Marvin Larson ’50, Carrollton, Texas, died in September 2004. He and his wife, Elaine, built three Home Mission churches in Circle Pines, French River, and Keewatin (all Minn.) and spent six years in Guadalajara, Mexico, serving as missionaries before moving to the Texas/Mexico border town of McAllen to open an English/Spanish Bible bookstore. Prior to his retirement, Larson also taught high school building trades and did cabinetry work. Arthur J. Cote, Jr., ’54, Columbia Heights, Minn., died in September; he was 82. Dale Erdahl ’54, Sioux Falls, S.Dak., died in May; he was 73. In addition to farming for more than 20 years, he was a two-time Minnesota legislator and an employment counselor for the State of Minnesota. Rev. Glen C. Eveland ’56, Backus, Minn., died in July 2004; he was 71. In his 38-year ministry, he served churches in Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota. Paul L. Nyhus ’57, Brunswick, Maine, died in August of brain cancer; he was 70. He was former Bowdoin College dean of students, dean of the college, and Frank Andrew Munsey Professor of History emeritus. As dean of students from 1969 to 1974, he encouraged and protected diversity among students and faculty, participated in the founding of the Afro- American Society and the establishment of co-education, and dealt with such crises as the student strike of 1970 to protest the bombing of Cambodia. As dean of the college from 1975 to 1980 and again in the fall of 1987, he continued to work on the goals established earlier, and participated in the debates that lead to Bowdoin’s divestment of investments in companies operating in apartheid South Africa in 1985. Nyhus retired last year after 38 years of service. Prior to Bowdoin as a graduate student at Harvard, he participated in the second march to Montgomery, Alabama, organized by Martin Luther King, Jr., an experience that forever shaped and strengthened Nyhus’ commitment to civil liberties and racial equality. Nyhus was a named an Augsburg Distinguished Alumnus in 1978. Rev. Glenn O. Davidson ’58, Pine Island, Minn., died in December 2004; he was 73. He was ordained at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis and later served 10 years in parish ministry in Wisconsin and as a pastoral counselor throughout Wisconsin for 20 years, retiring in 1995. Marilyn Rogers ’61, Minneapolis, died in March of complications from post-polio syndrome; she was 64. Despite spending much of the past 55 years in an iron lung, she lived an active and inspired life. In the 1970s, she helped start the United Handicapped Federation, which worked with the Minnesota Legislature to improve access for people with disabilities. James R. Quick ’71, Bloomington, Minn., died in September; he was 72. A retired social worker, he also served in the Air Force during the Korean War and was a singer and former Golden Gloves boxer. Rev. Daniel D. Rudquist ’71, Arden Hills, Minn., died in August; he was 55. He was ordained in 1976, and served the parishes of Sillerud and Trinity in Balaton, Minn., and Redeemer Lutheran in Fridley, Minn. Charlotte M. Granite ’97, Freeport, Minn., died in July of cancer; she was 42. She worked as a physician assistant for the Paynesville Area Health System and the St. Cloud Medical Group (Cold Spring office), and served in the 134th Forward Support Battalion of the Army National Guard. Rev. Dr. Karl H. Brevik, Indian Wells, Calif., died in October 2003; he was 75. He taught religion courses at Augsburg in the 1950s, during which time he served as a parish minister at Central Lutheran Church. Katherine A. Hennig, Minneapolis, died in October; she was 94. An Augsburg professor of emerita of music, she also taught voice at the College of St. Catherine and Hamline University. She was a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and also performed with the Minnesota Opera Company. In New York, she obtained the lead on the Broadway stage in Allegro and a role on Broadway’s 46th Street Theater in the musical Arms and the Girl. She also appeared in a 14-week engagement at Radio City Music Hall. Elvira Carlson Springer, Golden Valley, Minn., died in July; she was 93. She was a dietician and teacher at Augsburg during WWII. Nels Stanley “Stan” Stake, Wayzata, Minn., died in January; he was 87. A former regent of Augsburg, he was a longtime employee of Honeywell. His career took him from his hometown of Chicago to Pittsburgh and finally to Minneapolis, retiring as senior vice president of the Commercial Buildings Group. 39 AUGGIE THOUGHTS Auggie Thoughts Making cultural choices by Dulmaa Enkhchuluun ’04 Courtesy photo Dulmaa Enkhchuluun, or “Enkee,” as he explains below, is a 2004 Augsburg graduate who majored in international relations. He now works for the Mongolian Parliament, handling international communications, especially from international organizations. The following is excerpted, with his permission, from a piece he wrote for a Star Tribune blog. I over. He had more electronic am a 26-year-old Mongolian male, equipment than my whole school and everyone calls me Enkee. My had in Mongolia. full name is Dulmaa Enkhchuluun. I learned about the value of Under the Mongolian system, we choice and the abuse of choice. I only have one name, but my had to select those things that mother’s name is Dulmaa and out of could help my family and country, honor to her, I use her name as my and I had to avoid the excess. first name or what you would call Having choice was worthless unless my family name. She gave me the I could use the choices wisely. I personal name Enkhchuluun, learned that I would never have which comes from two Mongolian more food than I could eat, that I words, enkh meaning peace and could never have more equipment chuluun meaning stone. She hoped than I could use, and that I would that in a world of great uncertainty buy only what I needed. I also I would be as strong as stone but Dulmaa Enkhchuluun ’04, or “Enkee,” walks through fields in made a promise to myself to remain also as peaceful as a stone. his native Mongolia, with the sacred mountain Burkhan as strong as a rock and as peaceful I came to Minnesota to pursue Khaldun in the distance behind him. as a rock in America. In order to my B.A. degree. It was my first trip remain strong, I would walk or ride abroad, and I had no idea how the to have as much pop, milk, or tea as I the bike that my host family gave me, American academic system functioned or wanted. Just walking into the cafeteria even in the coldest weather. even how Americans lived. I knew that gave me more choices in food than I was In five years I learned to be an the images I saw on television and in accustomed to making in a whole year American in some parts of my life and films did not represent real life in back in Mongolia. even in some parts of my heart, and yet I America, but I had no idea what to I came to America with one small strove to remain a Mongol and to be my expect aside from those images. suitcase. I kept everything that I had in mother’s son. I wanted to return home to I thought of America as a large, powerful it. Each piece of clothing was folded Mongolia with the best education and country associated with democracy and, exactly as my mother taught me. My pen, training that America had to offer, but I of course, Hollywood. pencil, and notebook were each carefully wanted to be the strong and peaceful My introduction to American life wrapped, and I treasured them. By man that mother intended me to be. came through the college experience. I contrast, my roommate had a roomful of After all, in giving me the name was delighted by the great choice of food. stuff. He owned more books than a Enkhchuluun, she gave me my destiny On campus and within a few blocks, I library, yet he never seemed to read. He and my character, I wanted to live up to could find pizzas, hamburgers, French had enough music CDs for a music store, her hopes for me. fries, and the drink machines allowed me but he played the same one over and 40 Winter 2005-06 CCalendar ALENDAR Music February 16 For music information, call 612-330-1265 The Guthrie Theater: An Organization in Transition December 2-3 26th Annual Advent Vespers 5 and 8 p.m. service each night Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis A conversation with Tom Proehl, managing director, Guthrie Theater 7 p.m.—Tjornhom-Nelson Theater January 27-29 Exhibits Gospel Praise Tour For gallery information, call 612-330-1524 Performances in southern Minnesota November 4-December 18 February 5 Recent Works Gregory Fitz and Jake Keeler Gospel Praise Concert Gage Family Art Gallery, Lindell Library Artist gallery talk: Dec. 8, noon 10 a.m.—Woodlake Lutheran Church Richfield, Minn. February 17 Gospel Praise Concert 4 p.m.—MMEA Conference Convention Center, Minneapolis Fragments: Glimpses of History and Place Thomas Westbrook February 28 Trio Concert Featuring Mary Horozaniecki, violin; Jim Jacobsen, cello; Jill Dawe, piano 7 p.m.—Sateren Auditorium Theatre For ticket information, call 612-330-1257 February 4-12 The Illusion By Tony Kushner Directed by Martha Johnson Feb. 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, and 11 at 7 p.m.; Feb. 5 and 12 at 2 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater January 25-May 20 January 13-February 17 Gage Family Art Gallery, Lindell Library Opening reception: Jan. 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Featuring five collegiate women’s choruses including Augsburg’s Riverside Singers 4 p.m.—St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church Mahtomedi, Minn. “Being Global Citizens; Living a Legacy” 1 p.m.—Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center For information, call 612-330-1022 For more information, visit <www.augsburg.edu/ais/filmseries> or call 612-330-1523 Gospel Praise Concert WomanVoice Concert Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation Augsburg Native American Film Series Sculptural installations by Barbara Claussen February 26 January 16 Christensen Center Art Gallery February 18-19 Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church Tucson, Ariz. you work and live. A continental breakfast is served, no reservations are needed. 7 a.m., first Wednesday each month, St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Minn. For speaker information, contact Pastor John Hogenson at <jhogenson@spdlc.org> or John Knight at <faith@augsburg.edu>. Photography by Terry Gydesen Christensen Center Art Gallery Opening reception: Jan. 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m. February 24-March 31 Sculpture by Jane Frees-Kluth Gage Family Art Gallery, Lindell Library Opening reception: Feb. 24 February 14 Dana Gioia Poet, critic, and bestselling author. Part of the Augsburg Convocation Series: Global Citizens/Local Citizens. 11 a.m.—“American Poetry in a Violent War” Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center For information, call 612-330-1180 Mixed media by Mary Bergs Christensen Center Art Gallery Opening reception: Feb. 24 Other Events December 2 Seminars, Lectures, and Films December 7-May 3 FAITH@WORK Monthly Series FAITH@WORK is a monthly meeting of business professionals featuring speakers to help you grow as a leader so that you can more effectively live out your faith where Annual Velkommen Jul Celebration 10:15 a.m.—Chapel Service, Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center 11 a.m.-2 p.m.—Scandinavian treats and gifts, Christensen Center February 11 Connections—A Women’s Leadership Event See p. 27 for more details Send us your news and photos! Please tell us about the news in your life, your new job, move, marriage, and births. Don’t forget to send photos! For news of a death, printed notice is required, e.g. an obituary, funeral notice, or program from a memorial service. Send your news items, photos, or change of address by mail to: Augsburg Now Class Notes, Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55454, or e-mail to <alumni@augsburg.edu>. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Full name Maiden name Class year or last year attended __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Street address __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City State Zip Is this a new address? ■ Yes ■ No ________________________________________________________________________________ ■ Okay to publish your e-mail address? Home telephone E-mail __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Employer Position Work telephone Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? ■ Yes ■ No If yes, class year_______________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Spouse name Maiden name Your news: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non—Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Minneapolis, MN Permit No. 2031
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Title: Murphy Square 2006: A Literary And Arts Journal
Collection: Literary Journals

Title: Augsburg Now Summer 2005
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: A P U B L I C AT I O N Summer 2005 F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I & F R I E N D S Vol. 67, No. 4 EEditor’s DITOR’Snote NOTE Staying connected I t seems the talk everywhere is about being “connected.” There’s the daily media buzz about camera phones, text messagi...
Show more A P U B L I C AT I O N Summer 2005 F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I & F R I E N D S Vol. 67, No. 4 EEditor’s DITOR’Snote NOTE Staying connected I t seems the talk everywhere is about being “connected.” There’s the daily media buzz about camera phones, text messaging, chat rooms, etc., but here on campus the conversations focus more on meaningful ways to help our alumni stay connected to the College. While I was thinking about all of this, we received the sad news of the death of Augsburg’s President Emeritus Oscar Anderson. It was a quote included in a newspaper article that sparked more thinking about connections. In 1983, while speaking about liberal arts education, Anderson said that students needed to be as familiar with Captain Ahab in Moby Dick as with the computer HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. “The computer is an extension of the brain, not a substitute for the mind.” To me, this really tells us that as we become more proficient in maintaining the technological connections, we should remember that it’s the fostering of deeper relationships that make people want to stay involved in the life and future of Augsburg. It’s the difference between being brain-connected and being heartconnected. Like family members who grow up and move away, we hope our students will leave us wanting to stay involved in what goes on at this place. We hope this relationship begins with the very first impression a high school junior gets as he or she is led around campus, and with each stop increasingly thinks, “This is the place I really want to be.” Or, when a full-time nurse or a stayat-home mom hangs up the phone, excited about the prospect of finishing college after receiving lots of encouragement from an admissions counselor. Once students are on campus, they discover many opportunities to forge this kind of relationship—with classmates, with athletic teammates, with professors in classrooms and labs, with academic advisers, and with people they meet as they explore the world off campus. Each year at Commencement, we send off our graduates confident that they’ll take their learning in directions that bring meaning to their lives. We fervently hope they stay in touch. After that the connections become more tenuous. Work and family life take over, and again we hope that somehow Augsburg fits into their careers and activities. This summer issue of the Now speaks to this whole process of building Augsburg relationships and keeping the “family” connected. You’ll share the excitement of the 600 graduates we sent off in May with Augsburg diplomas. You’ll be encouraged to return to campus for Homecoming festivities to catch up with old friends and connect with our current students. In the feature stories, you’ll meet bright, young music scholars who have graduated and followed their hearts and talents to places far and near. You’ll also meet students and faculty in our Mathematics Department, and learn how math studies and career exploration go hand-in-hand in a very personal process. And, you’ll read about some very remarkable donors to our Access to Excellence campaign—both Augsburg alumni and others—who are committed to building exceptional opportunities for future students. Alumni president Bill Vanderwall sums it up at the end of his column, “Be connected—stay connected!” And I’ll add, “Stay heart-connected!” Betsey Norgard Editor Augsburg Now is published quarterly by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454. Editor Betsey Norgard Assistant Editor Lynn Mena Graphic Designer Kathy Rumpza Class Notes Coordinator Sara Kamholz ’04 Photographer Stephen Geffre President William V. Frame Director of Alumni and Parent Relations Amy Sutton Director of Public Relations and Communication Dan Jorgensen Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058–1545 Postmaster: Send address corrections to: Advancement Services Augsburg College, CB 142 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 healyk@augsburg.edu E-mail: now@augsburg.edu Telephone: 612-330-1181 Fax: 612-330-1780 Augsburg College, as affirmed in its mission, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, or disability in its education policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and/or school administered programs, except in those instances where religion is a bona fide occupational qualification. Augsburg College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to its employees and its students. www.augsburg.edu 12 A PUBLICATION FOR AUGSBURG COLLEGE ALUMNI & FRIENDS Summer 2005 Vol. 67, No. 4 FEATURES 21 Finding the right career formula by Betsey Norgard 25 Following the Hognander Scholars by Jessica Brown 10 12 16 2005 Fifth Annual International Photo Contest Commencement 2005 Vision, news from Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College DEPARTMENTS 21 2 Around the Quad 8 Sports 28 Alumni News 30 Class Notes 35 In Memoriam 36 Auggie Thoughts inside back cover Homecoming 2005 Preview On the cover: Three education students enjoy the serenity of the Quad to study after their summer school class. 25 Photo by Stephen Geffre. 50 percent recycled paper (10 percent post—consumer waste) AROUND QUAD Around THE the Quad President Frame announces retirement in 2006 Augsburg News Service W illiam V. Frame, who has served as president of Augsburg College since the summer of 1997, has announced plans to retire in the summer of 2006 following completion of his current term. In letters to regents and colleagues and in a talk before a gathering of staff and faculty on the campus, Frame said that he and his wife, Anne, have found the work both rewarding and demanding, with the principal rewards being a deeper understanding of the Lutheran idea of vocation and of the educational regimen that it requires. He saluted faculty, staff, regents, and other supporters of the College as “true partners” in his presidency. “Our work together has helped us draw Augsburg to new levels of recognition for advancing the cause of Lutheran higher education in the city and in the global society of the 21st century,” he said. “Together, we have brought new life and utility to Luther’s idea of vocation, and have organized our general education curriculum and now our graduate programs around this grand idea of the ‘called life of service.’ “Augsburg plays a unique role in the world of Lutheran education. Its service to the city, to the provision of accessibility to first-class educational opportunities for both traditionally-aged students and working adults, and its regard for faith and reason as interactive and mutually reinforcing modes of understanding gives us a special mission which you have helped us to see and pursue. No doubt my successor will rely as heavily upon your counsel and support as have I.” Jean Taylor ’85, president of Taylor Corporation and chair of the Augsburg Board of Regents, said she expects the search for the new president to occupy most of the next year. She has appointed H. Theodore Grindal ’76, partner in the law firm of Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. and vice-chair of the Augsburg board, to lead the search. Frame, who is the 10th president in Augsburg’s 136-year history, said that while much has been accomplished, he expects his final year to be filled with projects and opportunities. Among those is his continuing work on the College’s $55 million Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College, kicked off in April 2004. Some $41 million has been raised toward that goal, the largest in the College’s history. Prior to joining Augsburg, Frame was vice president for finance and operations at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash. He has been a strong proponent of William V. Frame the tradition of Lutheran higher education, which he believes is based on the ideas of vocation and service and requires ongoing dialogue between faith and reason. His advocacy for vocation also has led to his national leadership among college presidents, currently serving as project director for the Council of Independent Colleges’ program designed to guide both current and prospective presidents in reflection about each leader’s sense of calling and its intersection with institutional mission. He also has taken leadership roles with the Minnesota Private College Council—as chair during the 2004-05 academic year—and the Minnesota Campus Compact. A L U M N I A S K E D T O S U B M I T N A M E S O F P R E S I D E N T I A L C A N D I D AT E S The Augsburg College Presidential Search Committee is continuing to seek names of potential candidates for the presidency and especially wants to hear from Augsburg alumni, parents, and close friends of the College during this process. Names of suggested candidates should be sent to Dr. Thomas B. Courtice of the Academic Search Consultation Service, Washington, D.C., who is assisting with the search. Nominators or prospective candidates may contact Courtice at <tom.courtice@academic-search.org> or at 614-405-9209. 2 Summer 2005 David Tiede named to first endowed chair D avid Tiede, president of Luther Seminary for 18 years, has been named to the Bernhard M. Christensen Chair in Religion—the first endowed chair in Augsburg’s history. Known as one of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s preeminent theologians and educators, Tiede was selected following a nationwide search by the College. He earlier had announced his intention to retire from the Luther presidency in May 2005. His appointment to Augsburg begins in the 2005-06 academic year. The chair honors Bernhard M. Christensen ’22, the seventh president of Augsburg College and Seminary from 1938-62 and a central figure in drawing Augsburg fully into the study of liberal arts. Augsburg Seminary was later merged with Luther Seminary. In announcing the selection, Augsburg President William V. Frame noted, “David Tiede is a champion of the Augsburg ideals of vocation and service to the city. These ideals, along with Augsburg’s increasing attention to its role as a college of the church and in a global society—including the formation of a new Center for Faith and Learning under the auspices of our Lilly Endowment grant—were keys in attracting him to this new position.” As the Christensen professor, Tiede will carry out research and writing, including focus on Christensen’s legacy and work. He also will lecture and conduct on-campus workshops, represent the College at various events sponsored by the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Fund, work with Augsburg students who have been designated as “Lilly Scholars” and who have demonstrated an interest in studying for ministry, and will seek ways to strengthen the College’s ties to key Christian leaders and communities. In accepting the position, Tiede noted, “Since the days of President Bernhard Christensen, Augsburg College has had a vision of academic excellence for the sake of vocation in the world. Summer 2005 Now faculty, graduates, and administrative leaders are bringing renewed focus, discipline, and strength to this vision. I am grateful the Christensen Chair will allow me to join them in helping make it happen.” Inez Schwarzkopf, former Augsburg regent and chair of the College’s Christensen Endowment Fund Committee, said Tiede graces the Christensen chair with a wide reputation as a scholar, a leader, and a churchman. “We are delighted that he has accepted this new challenge,” she said. “At the same time, the appointment honors Dr. Tiede by association with Augsburg’s solid legacy of scholarship, Christian spirituality, service, diversity, and ecumenism as embodied in the life and work of Bernhard M. Christensen.” Christopher Kimball, provost and dean of the College, who co-chaired the search committee with Schwarzkopf, said, “Tiede provides the College with a voice in the national conversation about the importance of church-related—in particular Lutheran—higher education. So, we are fortunate to have someone of that stature join the faculty.” Tiede’s teaching career began in 1967 as a summer instructor in Greek at Harvard Divinity School, where he became a teaching fellow in New Testament in 1969. Ordained in 1971, he served as associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, from 1972-75. In June 2000 he was elected vice president of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in the U.S. and Canada. Two years later, he was elected president of ATS. He serves on the board of directors for In Trust magazine. Courtesy of Luther Seminary Augsburg News Service David Tiede, retiring president of Luther Seminary, is Augsburg’s first Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion. Tiede earned the B.A. degree from St. Olaf College, attended Princeton Theological Seminary, and received the B.D. degree from Luther Seminary in 1966. He earned the Ph.D. degree from Harvard in 1971 and began his career at Luther that same year, teaching New Testament, his specialty. In addition to ten books and textual notes, he has written dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters, done a number of audio and video productions, and served on numerous boards and committees for the church, in national and international religious organizations, and throughout the Greater Twin Cities. For the past three years he has been the initial chair of the new consortium, Faith in the City, composed of seven Lutheranbased organizations working collectively and with others to contribute to the wellbeing of the community. Oscar Anderson dies at 89 As Augsburg Now goes to press, we sadly report the death of President Emeritus Oscar A. Anderson, Augsburg’s eighth president, from 1963-80. Read the news release at <www.augsburg.edu/news/news-archives/2005/oscaranderson.html> and see the complete story in the next issue. 3 Around the Quad Larry Crockett recognized for Honors Program leadership omputer science professor Larry Crockett, who directed the Honors Program from 1988 through this past academic year, was honored by the College for his service and vision for the program over 16 years. Crockett will be on sabbatical leave during spring 2006 and return in the fall to teach in the Honors Program and computer science department. “His vision for the Honors Program has shaped its curriculum and the intellectual lives of its students,” said academic dean Barbara Edwards Farley at the April recognition gathering. “Establishment of the Honors Suite gave students a place to call their own; and Larry’s work on the Honors Web page and contributions to the National Collegiate Honors Council have brought the College national recognition,” she continued. For several years, Augsburg’s Honors Program Web site was the top-ranked honors page at both Google and Yahoo. Christopher Kimball, provost and dean of the College, said that Crockett “cares deeply about ideas, particularly those that should shape and be shaped by a liberal arts education.” Kimball recalled a conversation in which Crockett lamented that faculty only gather to take care of questions of governance and legislation, and no longer to converse about ideas. “We never talk about the important stuff,” Kimball recalled Crockett saying. “Those are the things that got all of us into academia.” Crockett’s teaching crosses disciplinary boundaries—computer science, philosophy, history of science, theology, and history. He has served in the clergy of the Lutheran church, and is currently a priest in the Episcopal church. Both former and current students testified to the impact that Crockett’s sometimes unorthodox, but always challenging, teaching made in their education. Erica Huls ’01 recalled the first day of Honors 101 when students were asked to 4 Staff photo C Larry Crockett catches up with former Honors Program students Erica Huls ’01 (left) and Stephanie Lein Walseth ’00 (right) at the reception honoring his leadership and service to the program. count the ceiling tiles in the classroom, before pondering why it was that people don’t sit around all day doing that. She said that Crockett’s goal was to teach them how to think, to make and defend arguments, and to find fallacies in others. “The program wanted us to look at subjects like religion, science, and technology, and see how they could live and work together, just as they live and work together in Dr. Crockett’s person,” she said. Senior Eric Dunens spoke about community. “[Crockett] created a program that surrounds its participants with the best Augsburg has to offer. He’s created an honors community that challenges its participants to reach their potential. He’s also created an honors community that encourages students to interact with other students and create a real community on campus.” Crockett participated on the Honors Program Design Team to develop a new proposal for the Honors Program. The proposal was approved by the faculty, and Crockett has worked with the team implementing the program, along with Robert Groven, the new Honors Program director. Bob Groven named Honors Program director Augsburg News Service R obert Groven, associate professor of communication studies, has been named to a threeyear term as director of the Honors Program. Groven holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School and a Master of Arts in speech communication from the University of Minnesota. He is a 1989 graduate of Concordia College-Moorhead, where he participated in the honors program in humanities. Groven, who has been a member of the faculty since 1997, also is director of Augsburg’s award-winning forensics program and has led it to national prominence in recent years. In announcing the appointment, Christopher Kimball, provost and dean of the College, said, “Dr. Groven’s philosophy of education, his vision for an honors program education at Augsburg, and his commitment to student development and community building make him an excellent choice to assume leadership of the program.” Kimball noted that an Honors Program Council will be established this year to work with the new director to guide the development of the recently revised program. Kimball said that the Honors Program—as noted in its operational statements—both celebrates and enhances the signature elements of Augsburg’s Core Curriculum: Christian vocation, global citizenship, the importance of service, the value of diversity, and the role of the city in framing the College’s beliefs and values. About 115 students participate in the program each year. Summer 2005 Making room for mental illness P rofessor Dan Hanson’s family has struggled for a decade to understand and care for their mentally ill son and brother, Joel. The road has been difficult and, at times, seemingly hopeless. Hanson has transformed that journey into a book that aims to give hope and support to countless other families who also never expected to find themselves in this situation. At age 20, Joel Hanson was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia, and believes that he is God. He lacks the insight to understand why others can’t share his delusion and why he must inhabit his different reality alone. If he discontinues his court-ordered medication, he stops eating and drinking, and becomes severely ill and dehydrated. Dan Hanson explains that his book, Room for J: A Family Struggles with Schizophrenia, evolved in several ways. The simplest is that it started out as a personal journal. “Writing is often my way of dealing with difficult situations,” he says. “[My books] always emerge out of my own struggle.” As Hanson and his wife, Sue, sought care and support for Joel, they also began to consider a book that would help other families navigate the social services system, as well as deal with the sense of loss for a loved one who has become a totally different person. And, thirdly, Hanson wanted to include Joel’s own voice, his own writing about his self-identity, to demonstrate how he, too, Professor Dan Hanson struggles with family and others who don’t acknowledge or understand him for the person he believes he is. The book presents journal entries of the Hanson family members. They talk about good times, even during Joel’s illness, when the Joel they know shines through while out fishing or playing with a nephew. But there are also the most difficult times, when they fear for Joel, when he becomes psychotic, when they must confront him to force commitment, or when they discover he’s gone off medication and disappeared. What the Hansons and other families learn and face is that society does not deal adequately with mental illness. Many institutions and asylums were closed in order to mainstream the mentally ill into society, but the reality is that the programs by Betsey Norgard and support to accomplish this are severely underfunded and understaffed. Some end up reinstitutionalized in nursing homes, prisons, or state hospitals not designed to treat them—or they end up on the street and helpless. Ultimately, Hanson says, Room for J is about making room for Joel in the family, as well as challenging society to make room “for all our Js, and to find ways to do a better job of providing community-based programs that integrate people who cope with severe mental illness back into the community so they feel respected, yet are given the right kinds of program to survive and even thrive in the social structure.” Room for J has been welcomed and critically acclaimed. It was recognized as a “highlighted title” on an independent publisher’s Web site. Hanson appreciates hearing from others who find comfort in understanding that they need not face their challenges alone. Dan and Sue Hanson spoke about the book and insights the family has gained on Minnesota Public Radio’s “Speaking of Faith” program on July 17. That program can be heard at <speakingoffaith. publicradio.org>. Room for J: A Family Struggles with Schizophrenia was published last year by Beaver’s Pond Press. Augsburg gains a provost and three new deans Christopher Kimball Summer 2005 Barbara Edwards Farley Ann Garvey Julie Olson Last September, as part of a restructuring of the College administration, Christopher Kimball became Augsburg’s first provost, as well as continuing as dean of the College. In further changes to the Academic and Student Affairs division, three positions of dean were created. Barbara Edwards Farley became academic dean, while Ann Garvey is now dean of students. Formerly, both positions were associate deans. Julie Olson ’98, ’05 MAL , formerly director of the Enrollment Center, is the new dean of enrollment management, with responsibility for the Enrollment Center; day, weekend, and graduate admissions; and public relations and communication. 5 Around the Quad Music therapy celebrates past, present, and future by Jessica Brown F aculty, alumni, and friends of Augsburg’s music therapy program gathered in April to celebrate its 30th anniversary. They reflected on the growth of the program, affirmed a leading role for music therapy across many careers and vocations, and proposed a vision for its continued growth. The original vision for music therapy at Augsburg was that of longtime music department chair Leland Sateren ’38, who asked Prof. Robert Karlén to attend a national conference in this emerging field. Karlén was impressed, and invited Roberta Kagin to teach the first music therapy courses. She was eager. “As a college student,” she said, “I saw a demonstration by a talented composer and pianist who asked handicapped children to walk across the room to the beat of her piano music. If music had the power to influence the way these children could move, what else might lie in its power?” Today, Augsburg’s more than 100 music therapy graduates live around the world and work in a wide variety of careers and fields that serve people of all ages and needs—working with disabled children to maximize their learning potential, helping elderly people remain active and engaged, and combining music with many forms of treatment and therapy to promote healing and wellness. Keynote speaker Cheryl Dileo, from Temple University, recounted personal experiences from her career in which music therapy is introduced in situations of death and dying, i.e., of aiding people in the transition from life to death. Where communication can be difficult among family members, Dileo says, “songs help families express all the love they hold in their hearts to the dying patient,” as well as provide spiritual affirmation, healing, and a musical legacy. Speaker Bill Bowen spoke personally about the value of music therapy to 6 people with physical and cognitive challenges. He told of the instrumental role that music therapy and Professor Roberta Kagin played in the remarkable progress of his son, Edward “Major” Bowen, following surgery to remove a brain tumor. Kagin, honored as one of the original architects of the program and its current director, presented a slide presentation and oral history of Augsburg’s music therapy program and affirmed its place in Augsburg’s curriculum. “The music therapy major is firmly and without apology steeped in a liberal arts education,” she said. Students study a four-year liberal arts course, followed by an intense six-month internship with a music therapist. Above all, music therapy touches a very basic human need for creative expression. Kagin also spoke about music therapy within a Center for Creativity and Transformational Learning envisioned at Augsburg. In addition, a master’s degree in music and medicine is under consideration. Augsburg remains the Each year Augsburg music therapy students join with VSA Arts of Minnesota in a music festival for developmentally disabled children. only music therapy program among Minnesota’s private colleges. For information about music therapy at Augsburg, contact the Music Department at 612-330-1265. Jessica Brown is a communication specialist in the Office of Public Relations and Communication. 2005 teaching and learning distinctions The 2005 awards for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning have been announced by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Provost. TEACHING— Kristin Anderson (standing), associate professor, art ADVISING/MENTORING— David Wold (seated, left), College pastor and director of ministries, and Sonja Hagander (seated, right), associate College pastor SERVICE TO STUDENTS— Wendi Wheeler (seated, center), Weekend College academic coordinator Summer 2005 Terry Lewis retires from PA program T erry Lewis, clinical site director and faculty member of Augsburg’s physician assistant program, retired from Augsburg at the close of the 2004-05 academic year. He joined the PA program in 1995 as clinical coordinator, having spent several years prior as a physician assistant in the military. Lewis received his initial PA training in 1977 from the U.S. Army/Baylor University PA Program in Texas. He went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in 1983 from Siena Heights University in Adrian, Mich., and his Master of Physician Assistant Studies in 2002 from the University of Nebraska. “Terry and I [joined Augsburg] when this program was new,” says Dawn Ludwig, PA program director. “Terry’s wisdom has been invaluable to me as this program was molded into the premier program it is today. … He is a kind and patient person and I will miss him greatly.” Over the course of his career in the physician studies field, Lewis has received numerous honors and awards, including the U.S. Army PA of the Year in 1990, presented by the surgeon general, as well as 40 additional military honors. He has presented numerous presentations around the world, and his work has been published in several PA reference works. Not one to stand still—even in retirement—Lewis has signed a one-year Getting the project done right P roject management is carried out in all kinds of organizations; and across the board, advances in computer technology and globalization of the workforce have required everyone to become smarter about managing work and resources. Within information technology, it has become a highly specialized field that others are beginning to notice. Business Administration professor Kathy Schwalbe has published a textbook, Information Technology Project Management, now in its fourth edition, that incorporates the guidelines of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), information that the Project Management Institute (PMI) uses as the basis for its certification. Even while the book is aimed at IT students, it is not so advanced to preclude others who could benefit from principles of good planning and management. After teaching a project management course for several years, Schwalbe decided to tackle the project of writing a book the way she would like it, using the PMBOK Guide as a basis and Summer 2005 by Lynn Mena Professor Terry Lewis contract with a small rural health clinic in Melba, Idaho (population 497). by Betsey Norgard advances in the field and updating Microsoft Project software. At her publisher’s request (Course Technology, a branch of Thomson Learning), she is also working on a new project management textbook, not geared toward Professor Kathy Schwalbe information technology projects, to be published including many examples in late 2005. and exercises to help Within the past two students understand and years, the second edition apply project management. Information Technology of Schwalbe’s book has Project Management, In every chapter, case been translated into translated into Japanese studies—both successes Chinese and the third and failure—feature actual edition into Japanese, applications of the project management reflecting the growth and interest framework. A companion Web site worldwide in the project management includes template files for creating profession. various project management documents, A senior project manager for IBM notes, quizzes, case studies, and links. In Germany commented that global IT five years sales of the book have companies—especially in Japan, China, exceeded 120,000 copies. and India—are creating career models On her Web site, Schwalbe explains for project managers based on PMI her intent to release a new edition of the certification credentials. book every spring, continually adding 7 Sports Augsburg nets record number of academic All-Americans by Don Stoner A Charles Walbridge ugsburg student-athletes set a new milestone for academic performance this season, as a record four athletes earned ESPN The Magazine Academic AllAmerica honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Senior wrestler Mark Matzek and junior Ryan Valek earned Academic AllAmerica men’s at-large honors, while junior baseball player Darren Ginther and track and field/cross country senior Riley Conway earned Academic AllAmerica honors in their respective sports. Four Auggie All-Americans represents the most ever in a single year. Since 1981, Augsburg student-athletes have earned 17 Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA. Matzek, a first-team men’s at-large Academic All-America honoree, is profiled in the story about honor athletes on page nine. Ginther, a first-team Academic AllAmerica selection in baseball, is a secondary education/social studies major with a 3.81 grade point average (GPA). He also earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors as well as American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings AllMidwest Region second-team honors in 2005. As the Auggies’ No. 2 starting pitcher, he finished as one of the top hitters in the MIAC this year, and was Darren Ginther Ryan Valek Riley Conway Augsburg’s fourth .400 hitter since 1988. Conway, a second-team Academic Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honoree, was the Auggies’ top Scholar All-America honors his senior year. runner in all seven cross country Valek was a third-team men’s at-large competitions in 2004, earning all-region Academic All-America honoree. He earned honors at the 2004 NCAA Division III wrestling All-American honors for the Central Regional in November. At the second time in 2004-05, finishing second MIAC championships in October, he nationally at 165 pounds. earned all-conference honorable-mention Valek is an accounting major with a honors. 3.789 GPA. He has earned National In track and field, Conway earned Wrestling Coaches Association Division III All-MIAC honors at the outdoor Scholar All-America honors in both 2004 conference championships in May. In the and 2005. indoor season, Conway set a school Top student-athletes from non-Division record as part of the distance-medley I programs, who have already earned relay squad. Academic All-District first-team honors, Conway had a perfect 4.000 GPA and are eligible for inclusion in the ESPN The graduated in May summa cum laude with Magazine Academic All-America program. an English major. He was an Academic They must have a GPA above 3.20 (4.0 All-MIAC selection his junior and senior scale) and have outstanding athletic years in both track and field and cross credentials. The Academic All-America country, and earned NCAA Division III ballot is voted on by a committee of CoSIDA members. In addition to the four Academic AllAmericans, Augsburg had three other student-athletes earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V honors, saluting the top student-athletes in a four-state area of the Midwest. Senior women’s hockey players Lauren Chezick and Laura Prasek were named to the Academic All-District V women’s at-large second team, and junior Millie Suk earned Academic All-District V first-team honors in women’s soccer. For a full list of Augsburg 2004-05 athletic award-winners, go to <www.augsburg.edu/athletics/sportsnews/ 0405athleticawards.html>. Augsburg wrestler Mark Matzek controls Wartburg’s Tyler Hubbard en route to a 4-2 win in a dual meet in February at Si Melby Hall. Matzek repeated as NCAA Division III national champion at 133 pounds in 2004-05. 8 Don Stoner is sports information coordinator. Summer 2005 Eight senior athletes are honored A ugsburg College honored eight senior student-athletes for 2004-05. Athletic awards are voted on by coaches in Augsburg’s men’s and women’s athletic departments. Five Auggies were named Honor Athletes, the highest honor the College gives its senior student-athletes for accomplishment, leadership, and character on the playing field and in the classroom. Three Auggie student-athletes were named Men’s Athletes of the Year. 2004-05 AUGSBURG HONOR ATHLETES Lauren Chezick rewrote the record book in women’s hockey at Augsburg. A three-year captain on teams that qualified for conference playoffs in three seasons, Chezick earned MIAC Player of the Year and American Hockey Coaches Association Division III All-American honors. Chezick was named to the Dean’s List five semesters and graduated with a 3.562 grade point-average (GPA) and a prelaw/communications major. She volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and served as a student-athlete mentor. Joe Cullen earned honors in both football and wrestling. In football, Cullen earned All-MIAC first-team honors in 2004 after honorable-mention honors in 2002 and 2003. In wrestling, Cullen earned NCAA Division III All-American honors in the 2003-04 season. He earned the wrestling team’s Auggie Award his senior season. Cullen was a mathematics major with a 3.500 grade-point-average. He has also earned numerous national and conference academic honors in both football and wrestling. Hannah Dietrich was a four-year member of both Augsburg’s cross country and track Summer 2005 and field teams and played women’s hockey two years. In cross country, Dietrich was a team captain and No. 3 runner her senior season. In track and field, Dietrich was a top middle-distance runner, earning three MIAC championships. In 2005, she qualified and competed at the national outdoor meet in the 1,500-meter run. A psychology major with a 3.672 GPA, she graduated with departmental honors in psychology, national honor and leadership society recognition, and numerous academic athletic and leadership awards. In 2004, she was voted Homecoming Queen. Adam Hoffmann, a three-year offensive line starter in football, was named to the Division III Preseason AllAmerica team by the D3football.com Web site in 2004, and was named to the Football Gazette Division III All-West Region third team at the conclusion of his senior campaign. A two-year captain, Hoffmann was voted the team’s top lineman by his teammates for three years, and earned the team’s highest honor, the Edor Nelson Auggie Award, in 2004. Hoffmann graduated with a 3.770 GPA as a finance major. He was an Augsburg Presidential Scholar and a student-athlete mentor. Mark Matzek, one of the top lightweight wrestlers in school history, won national titles at 133 pounds his junior and senior campaigns, while earning NCAA Division III All-American honors three times. Finishing his collegiate career with a 42-match winning streak, Matzek dominated his weight class in the 2004-05 by Don Stoner campaign. He earned the team’s Coaches Award his senior season, was the team’s Auggie Award winner his junior season, and earned the team’s Most Improved Wrestler award his sophomore season Matzek graduated as a mathematics and secondary education major with a 3.408 grade-point-average. 2004-05 AUGSBURG ATHLETES OF THE YEAR Mike Elcano has been a team leader throughout his career for Augsburg’s men’s soccer team. In 2004 he led the conference in overall scoring. He finished his career with Augsburg’s all-time record for goals with 35, and earned MIAC honors in two years. He graduated with a major in finance. Jeremy Nelson emerged as one of the top pitchers in recent years for Augsburg’s baseball team. He was Augsburg’s No. 1 starter throughout his four seasons, and earned MIAC and regional honors over two years. He graduated with a marketing major, was on the Dean’s List, and served as a studentathlete mentor. Jamell Tidwell was a four-year starter on the varsity squad and a fourtime qualifier for the NCAA Division III national championships. He earned All-American honors three times and finished his career with a 155-17 record, second best in wins in school history. A health and physical education major, he was one of 10 members of an Augsburg academic national team that finished sixth nationally in team GPA this year. Don Stoner is sports information coordinator. 9 Augsburg’s fifth INTERNATIONAL OFF-CAMPUS STUDIES PHOTO CONTEST 1 Scenic landscapes, first place. “MY CHAIR,” Jamie Schiller ’05. Venice, Italy. 2 Scenic landscapes, second place. “STRENGTH, SWEAT, AND SOUL,” Lindsay Plocher ’06. Cuernavaca, Mexico. 3 Scenic landscapes, third place. “BUILDING BRIDGES,” Lindsay Plocher ’06. Cuernavaca, Mexico. 4 Local culture, second place. “SAWADEE CROP,” Rachel Schuette ’03. Bangkok, Thailand. 5 Local culture, first place. “LUK LUK,” Rachel Schuette ’03. Chiang Mai, Thailand. 6 Augsburg students in a host setting, second place. “ON WATCH,” Sari Gallagher ’08. U.S. Virgin Islands. 1 3 2 10 4 Summer 2005 7 5 8 6 7 Augsburg students in a host setting, first place. “A TROPICAL MINNESOTA NIGHT,” Maria Roots Morland ’05. Minneapolis, Minn. 8 Augsburg students in a host setting, third place. “LAST DAY,” David Nash ’04. Edinburgh, Scotland. 9 Local culture, third place. “GAMBLING DURING RAMADAN,” Jake Renze ’05. Morocco. Summer 2005 9 11 COMMENCEMENT 2005 The 136TH YEAR of Augsburg College photos by Stephen Geffre (except as noted) TONY SCHADEN RECEIVES MARINA CHRISTENSEN JUSTICE AWARD The Augsburg campus provided fresh spring blooms as a backdrop for family photos. REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE CLASS OF 2005 ❚ Glenda C. Holste, representing graduate students ❚ Gretchen M. Hemmingsen, representing day students ❚ Nicholas J. Schumm, representing weekend students 12 Tony Schaden, a history major from Minneapolis, was selected as the 2005 recipient of the Marina Christensen Justice Award. Each year, this honor is presented to the graduating senior who best exemplifies Augsburg’s motto “Education for Service.” The student must have demonstrated a dedication Tony Schaden, a history major from to community involvement as Minneapolis, was honored with the 2005 characterized by the personal and Marina Christensen Justice Award during the Commencement ceremony. professional life of Marina Christensen Justice, who courageously and effectively reached out to disadvantaged people and communities. Schaden grew up in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood and was a member of Trinity Congregation, where he has been a longtime volunteer with the Safe Place Tutoring Program. At Augsburg he has held numerous leadership roles, including serving as chaplain for the Pan-Afrikan Student Association for the past two years, as organizer of Peace Day in the Park, and as a member of the Outreach Ministry Team through Campus Ministry. He has done service-learning at Women against Military Madness, as well as volunteered with Campus Kitchens and mentored youth at the Wednesday Night Out program in the neighborhood. Among his numerous awards and honors are the Dean’s Award for student leadership, the Pan-Afrikan Ambassador of the Year Award for commitment to campus and community, the Win Wallin Scholarship, and the Bilkie Scholarship. Paul Cummings, president-elect of Augsburg’s student body, wrote this about Schaden: “Giving back to the community is part of Tony’s very nature. The courageous example he is setting within his community and family has given many people hope that they too may succeed in college. Tony is a role model in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. His actions in service to his family and community speak volumes about his true character.” In the coming year he will expand his work with youth mentoring and counseling, serving in Brazil and Africa under the auspices of the Wapagasset Luther Bible Camp. Students processed from Foss Center to Melby Hall for the Commencement ceremony. Summer 2005 “ON OUR OWN—AGAIN” Excerpts from the Baccalaureate Address William V. Frame, President, Augsburg College May 7, 2005—Ascension Sunday … The thing that Graduation has in common with the Ascension is separation. You are leaving us today and are henceforth and in a new way “on your own;” Jesus leaves the Disciples at Ascension. They are “on their own.” And so—What is the good news in this Separation—either yours from the College or the Disciples from Christ? Staff photo The Commencement concert featured performances by the Augsburg Choir and Augsburg Chamber Orchestra. If we stick with the relationship between you and us, a preliminary and happy interpretation is quite possible. Not that we’re glad to be rid of you … but your separation from the College is a necessary condition of your full engagement with the world. However successfully we have introduced you to the city and to the global society of which it is so much and evidently a part, Augsburg College remains a refuge and a training ground, a harbor ringed round by our core general education curriculum; an open cloister in which we can talk “… of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax—of cabbages—and kings … .” All that talking, and especially about such things as these, yields self-knowledge at exactly the rate at which it yields knowledge of the world. … But when we turn to the Easter Story itself, the good news lies deeper and is harder to detect. According to the lectionary passage from Acts, the first consequence for the disciples of their separation from Jesus is the loss of their special access to the Divine Plan. They ask: “Is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus responds: “It is not for you to know the time or period that the Father has set by his own authority.” Kathy Rumpza, advertising and graphic design manager for Augsburg’s public relations department, posed with her husband, Matt Rumpza, manager of Augsburg’s Central Support Services, prior to receiving her Master of Arts in Leadership. You can sense their stunned reaction. “After giving up everything of our own to follow you; after all that we've been through together-you leave! And at the same time cut us off from the very knowledge you’ve been so anxious to reveal to us. You've left us on our own in this world after pointing us time and again, especially recently, at the other world.” Before they have time to register this complaint with their ascending Lord, he imposes upon them a task—to be performed in his absence. For the sake of this task, he expects them “to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” … Both the good news and the good sense in this is camouflaged by the pathos of the separation. Just behind the fact that the disciplesand, through them, we—have been left on our own by the ascension, lies the fact that we were prepared for this independence by the whole of the Easter story—including the part of it here at issue. Christ’s refusal to answer the disciples’ request for knowledge of the Divine Plan—indeed, his general refusal to give us any detailed portrait of heaven-keeps our attention where the Gospel focuses it-not on the next world but this. The Easter story—all of it, including the ascension-gives us the tools (including a carefully confined ignorance) to take up, for the first time, life on our own. To read the complete address, go to <www.augsburg.edu/president/bacc05.pdf>. Christopher Kimball, provost and dean of the College, handed out honors cords during the Honors Convocation. Summer 2005 13 COMMENCEMENT 2005 COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS: “IF YOU CAN'T GET OUT OF IT…” Dawn Ludwig, director of the Physician Assistant Program, placed a master’s hood on Patricia Rodriguez. Nicholas Schumm, Weekend College Class of 2005 representative, addressed the crowd at the Commencement ceremony. Following are excerpts from Parker J. Palmer’s Commencement address; download the complete address at <www.augsburg.edu/president/palmer05.pdf> … I was raised by a father who gave my two sisters and me the perfect graduation speech at breakfast every school day. Dad had a thousand aphorisms, brief and pithy sayings designed to point us kids in the right direction. Well, it seemed like he had a thousand, but he probably only had 50, which he recycled constantly. We’d be almost finished with breakfast, my sisters and I, when Dad would look at us and say, “Just remember kids, add a little ‘oomph’ to ‘try’ and you get ‘triumph.’ Now off you go!” Or on another day he’d look at us and say, “Just remember kids, there’s only one-letter’s difference between hero and zero. Now off you go!” … Now, if I had any sense I’d say “Off you go!” and sit down, having delivered succinct advice from a highly reliable source, my father. But there are a few more things I’d like to say … First, we never outgrow our need for teachers … as you go down the road called life after college, stay alert for your next teacher, and the next, and the next. It may be a family member, a friend, a child, a stranger, it may even be a socalled enemy. If the teacher does not appear, reach out for him or her. Your need for a teacher will draw that person to you if you make your need known. … A second lesson is this: whatever good and true thing you want to do, go ahead and take the first step … of course the big enemy of trust and risk-taking is fear. But here we can take good counsel from the religious tradition in which this college is rooted: “Be not afraid.” Those words do not say that you should not have fear, which we all do (at least I do); instead they say you need not be your fear. Right alongside our fear we have other places within us, places with names like hope, and faith, and trust. We can look at the world from those places instead of from our fears. … Here’s the third lesson: when you face into that fear as you step off the cliff … seek out people with whom you can tell it like it is. … A fourth lesson is this: know that you have an inner guide, an inner teacher, a true self who will be there for you when all else fails. … And finally, a fifth lesson … “If you can’t get out of it, get into it.” Of course there are some things that you can get out of, and you should: a relationship that kills your spirit, a job that contradicts your most basic values … but there are other things that we can’t get out of, so we had better get into them. And one of them is to fully inhabit ourselves, which means making the most of our gifts and being honest about our shadows. … So congratulations to all of you, and many blessings for your journey. And, as my father would surely say, “Now off you go!” Parker Palmer (center), Commencement ceremony keynote speaker, was presented the Augsburg Medal by President Frame and Jean Taylor ’85, chair of the Board of Regents. 14 Summer 2005 Staff photo THE AUGSBURG COLLEGE Twin brothers Robert Amaya (left) and Renzo Amaya Torres (right) celebrated the day with their mother, who flew to Minnesota from Colombia to watch her sons graduate. 630 Candidates for graduation 355 Day program candidates 144 Weekend College candidates 85 Graduate program candidates (20 Master of Arts in Leadership, 35 Master of Social Work, 6 Master of Arts in Nursing, 16 Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies, 8 Master of Arts in Education) 33 Rochester program candidates 9 United Hospital candidates 4 3M candidates 20-65 10 Jubilant students celebrated after the Commencement ceremony. Summer 2005 CLASS OF 2005 Age range of graduates in the Class of 2005 Countries other than the United States represented (Belarus, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Sweden, and Vietnam) After the Commencement ceremony ended, students exited Melby Hall to join their families at the reception in Murphy Square. 15 Dean ’75 and Terry Kennedy donate $2 million to Melby Hall expansion by Dan Jorgensen The proposed addition to Si Melby Hall, as shown from the southwest corner, is adjacent to Edor Nelson Field, facing 23rd Avenue South. All-American his senior year. He also was a two-time Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, and twotime MIAC Tournament Most Valuable Player. In dual-meet competition, he lost only one match during his career and had 53 victories his junior and senior seasons. In 1996, he was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. He credits the discipline instilled in him by his coaches and mentors, particularly Mike Good ’71 (a current Augsburg regent) and John Grygelko (Augsburg’s head coach from 1973-80), as keys to his success. Good preceded Kennedy at both Fridley High School and Augsburg where he, too, was a champion wrestler. He went on to a successful business career in New York and has served on Continued on page 19 16 Dean Kennedy ’75 shared a moment of honor with his wife, Terry, when he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996 for his career as an Auggie AllAmerican wrestler. Thanks to the generous gifts from Augsburg alumni and friends, the ceremonial groundbreaking for the south wing addition is scheduled for Oct. 29. Ground cannot be broken, however, until the remaining $1.5 million in gifts and pledges is secured. Contact the Development Office at 612-338-0002 or 1-800-273-0617. Summer 2005 David Santos/H. Larson Photography A former All-American wrestler and his wife have contributed $2 million to Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College in support of a major addition to the College’s athletic center, Si Melby Hall. The gift, made by Fridley natives Dean Kennedy ’75, and his wife, Terry, was announced recently by Augsburg President William V. Frame, who said the gift not only is “a magnificent gesture of support for the campaign, but also significant recognition for the work of coaches and others who shape the lives of those of our students and colleagues who are engaged in athletics.” Kennedy, an independent businessman, was the first four-time AllLutheran Tournament champion in the tournament’s history. And he was at the front end of what has been built into the most successful small-college wrestling program in the nation. In his senior year as co-captain, Kennedy led Augsburg to a runner-up spot in the NAIA national finals with a third-place finish at 142 pounds. In the ensuing 30 years, Augsburg has consistently finished among the top 10 in the nation, winning a record nine NCAA Division III national titles and taking second place seven more times. A four-year varsity wrestler for Augsburg, Kennedy was a 142-pound The Augsburg Fund annual goal of $1 million reached again Significant growth in alumni giving to The Augsburg Fund made an aggressive goal of $1 million reachable for the fiscal year ending May 31. The annual fund primarily supports student financial aid through scholarships and grants. Since this is unrestricted annual giving, gifts also may be used to provide for the critical needs of the College such as technology advancement and other strategic operations. “This is the second time in Augsburg’s history that $1million has been raised in one year for The Augsburg Fund,” said Stephanie Malone, director of the fund. “The standard has been set, so it should be an achievable goal in the future.” Significant giving this year came from the Alumni Board with 100 percent participation, the Board of Regents, and two class challenges generated by Alumni Board members and volunteer leaders, including the “Decade of the ’70s Challenge.” Ken ’74 and Linda (Bailey) ’74 Holmen provided the lead gift to the challenge, followed by more than 200 fellow alumni from the decade of the ’70s. Five alumni families from the 1970s—Rick Colvin ’74, Mark ’79 and Pamela (Hanson) ’79 Moksnes, Robert ’74 and Andrea (Johnson) ’75 Strommen, Philip ’79 and Julia (Davis) ’79 Styrlund, and Thomas Peterson ’70—issued a $50,000 challenge and 1:1 dollar match to ensure new levels of support and gifts of $100,000 to the College. “The Decade of the ’70s Challenge was a dollar-focused challenge that matched new and increased gifts to The Augsburg Fund,” said Malone. “We are pleased with the results and hope that next year other individuals will come forward and think of creative ways to sustain the College. “It was a highly successful year in terms of participation levels. First time donor giving rose 100 percent, and alumni giving increased from 20 percent to a participation rate of 25 percent.” Repeat and increased giving also were noticeable. All donors at the $10,000 level renewed their gifts, and new donors were added to the $25,000+ level, currently the top tier for gifts to The Augsburg Fund. Reunion year activities and volunteer involvement this year also sparked the growth of annual giving, led by Alumni Board initiatives. Class agents, who engaged their classmates through letters and contacts, were also extremely beneficial in helping to meet annual fund needs. “We will especially miss the efforts of class agent Wes Sideen ’58 who passed away earlier this year,” said Malone. He affected many Augsburg families by his vigor for life and commitment to his alma mater.” Giving to The Augsburg Fund is an important component of the $55 million capital campaign, Access to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College. “We hope alumni and friends of the College will continue to make The Augsburg Fund a priority,” Malone said. “We hope they continue to offer prayers and gifts of support and that the first gift they make every year is a gift to The Augsburg Fund as a way to ‘check in’ annually with their alma mater,” she continued. “After that we hope they will consider special opportunities based on the College’s priorities, like building and endowment initiatives. Gifts to Augsburg offer a future of access and excellence to our students.” For information on how to contribute to The Augsburg Fund, contact Stephanie Malone at <malone@augsburg.edu> or 612-338-4825. ■ Campaign progress $41.1M of $55M goal as of 7-31-05 Summer 2005 17 What is your dream job? For many of us, travel would play a part in our dream. The Reverend Dr. Arne Markland ’49, and his wife, Jean (Swanson) ’52 Markland, have lived their dream of seeing the world. Their gift for storytelling has landed them on the lecture circuit for a number of cruises—162 and counting. Arne first starting working on cruise ships as a chaplain and history lecturer and has amassed a repertoire of 156 lectures on countries and islands around the world. Jean shares her knowledge and expertise of how nutrition affects the brain. They have acted as destination art lecturers and have been fortunate to collect art on their travels. Their cruise travel has taken them mainly overseas. “We’re waiting to cruise to Sri Lanka, India, Havana, New Orleans, and Lake Wobegon,” said Arne. The Marklands have spent their lives encouraging people to enthusiastically embrace learning. Since graduating from Augsburg, Arne became a campus and parish pastor in Georgia, South Dakota, and Utah. He also served as a military chaplain for four years. Jean used her skills as a teacher and taught many different subjects in the public school system as a secondary school educator for 30 years. Recently the Marklands established an endowed scholarship to help support students who want to attend Augsburg from two high schools: Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls, Minn., and Oak Grove Lutheran School in Fargo, N.Dak. Arne grew up in the Norwegian section of Brooklyn, N.Y., but his parents sent him to Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls for high school. Jean is from Bemidji, Minn., and has had an interest in Oak Grove Lutheran School. The scholarship is structured so if there are no students accepted to Augsburg from these high schools in a given year, the scholarship will be given to a current Augsburg student who will attend Luther Seminary or one who has an interest in secondary education. “We have always been interested in Christian education,” said Jean. “I liked the spiritual values of Augsburg when I was attending college. Augsburg has Courtesy photo Marklands endow a scholarship as they cruise into retirement Rev. Dr. Arne ’49 and Jean (Swanson) ’52 Markland are enjoying second careers as cruise ship lecturers while staying connected with Augsburg through an endowed scholarship. always stressed the values of serving and giving to others.” Perhaps like the Marklands you want to make student dreams a reality. After all, 85 percent of Augsburg’s students receive financial aid and scholarship support. Contact the Development Office at 612-338-0002 or 1-800-273-0617 to offer encouragement and significant financial assistance for students. ■ Ellingers support Science Center through student-faculty research Albert Einstein’s words, “It is high time that the ideal of success should be replaced by the ideal of service,” reflect the giving spirits of Patricia (Olson) ’71 and Mark ’71 Ellinger. The Ellingers, both biology majors at Augsburg, have enjoyed success in their careers and are now giving back in ways that will serve others. 18 Last year, they established an endowment, the Ellinger Faculty Scholar, to provide support for faculty research to include student collaboration. “We really appreciated how the research program was developed,” said Pat. “It is our way to support the new Science Center and faculty research because of the positive experiences we had at Augsburg.” “We were both drawn to Augsburg because of the strong science and biomedical programs and its Lutheran heritage,” continued Pat. Mark, who transferred to Augsburg during his junior year, echoed that: “I had a deep and continuing interest in the relationship of Summer 2005 Dean and Terry Kennedy, continued Augsburg’s board for the past three years. Just out of college in 1971, Good convinced Kennedy to come to Augsburg and then coached him his freshman year. Grygelko was Kennedy’s coach for his final three years. “I was fortunate to be on the varsity for four years and take my lead from good leaders who remain my lifelong friends,” Kennedy said. “It was such an important part of my life at the time, and it molded me and shaped my values as a person. “Terry and I have been blessed to be in the position to do this. We’re doing it for Jeff Swenson ’79, Mike Good, John Grygelko, and all the outstanding young men for whom the Augsburg wrestling program has meant so much. And now that we’ve thought it through and made the commitment, we’re feeling very good about it, both of us.” Swenson is current wrestling coach and assistant dean for athletics and recreation. Kennedy said he is a great admirer of Swenson’s coaching, but more importantly how he has shaped his team members into outstanding men who excel in the classroom and in society. “Augsburg has done a very good job in working with its student-athletes. I took great pride in the program when I was there, and 30 years later I’m still able to take pride. When I was at this year’s national tournament (in Northfield, Minn.) I was very impressed by Jeff’s work with these young men. They were articulate and, even with all their success, very humble. I attribute that to Jeff and his coaches. “You see a lot of successful ‘sports’ programs, but you don’t hear them talk about their graduation rates or inclassroom successes. But you do hear that at Augsburg. This is a college that teaches its students how to think critically and care about the world. I wanted to be supportive of that.” Kennedy said he also was spurred into making his gift by an earlier gift science and religion, which continues to captivate me.” Both of them enjoyed learning in smaller classes and taking a wide array of liberal arts in addition to the required biology courses for their majors. Taking Professor Robert Herforth’s Developmental Biology course influenced Mark significantly: it’s where he and Pat met, and it convinced Mark to pursue a Ph.D. Pat has never regretted following a career in medical technology suggested by her chemistry professor Courtland Agre. She went on to specialize in blood banking and obtained a master’s degree in health education. For many years both Mark and Pat Ellinger have mentored students about the importance of science careers and research. The Ellinger scholarship will further those efforts; and for its first recipient, biology professor Mark Strefeler, it will provide enhanced resources for his research and support for a student assistant. Summer 2005 made by Twin Cities wrestling legend Alan Rice—a non-Augsburg alum who donated $1 million to the campaign just a year ago. Kennedy said he had long known and admired Rice, and when he saw that kind of commitment from him, he knew that he, too, needed to step forward to insure that good facilities were available for future generations. The goal for the new facility is about $5 million, and nearly $4 million has now been raised. The College hopes to bring in the last of the money by fall and have a ceremonial groundbreaking soon thereafter. “I hope that Terry’s and my gift will not only spark interest in other generations of Augsburg athletes whose lives have been shaped by the College, but also by Augsburg alumni in general in support of the many other important projects, such as the new Science Center, that will serve so many students in so many different ways,” Kennedy said. ■ The Ellinger Faculty Scholarship has supported the collaborative research of biology professor Mark Strefeler and student assistant Andrea Carlson ’05. 19 Seed family endows StepUP to affirm others SM Adam Seed’s life changed when he attended Augsburg. “It took Hazelden and Don Warren, former StepUP SM director, to jumpstart me,” said Seed. “Don Warren saw my potential and made me believe in myself. He was always available to me and the other students.” Seed was one of the first students in Augsburg’s StepUP program, which supports students in recovery to achieve academic success. Now it’s Seed’s turn to share his passion for the program and offer his unique insight as co-chair of the StepUP Alumni Board. “His leadership, wisdom, and strong recovery are necessary assets for the Alumni Board,” said Patrice Salmeri, StepUP director. “I want to make a connection with others and come up with unique solutions to common problems,” Seed said. “I’d also like to help re-establish alumni connections and contribute to the decisions concerning StepUP’s present and future. StepUP is a major part of who I am today and its health and possibility for the future are very important to me. Augsburg’s part in my Vision is published by Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454. Editor and Writer Lynn James Contributing Writer Dan Jorgensen Graphic Designer Kathy Rumpza www.augsburg.edu/campaign 20 Jim and Adam Seed development was crucial. It’s my hope that students take the opportunity to get uncomfortable and grow in areas that typically don’t occur naturally.” Seed’s family also continues to be involved with StepUP because of the impact it had on his life. In 2003 the Seed family received the Toby LaBelle Award as the StepUP Family of the Year. Recently, they showed support for the program by answering the Parent/Family and Friend Challenge. “By endowing the StepUP program— both as a physical and financial resource—we hope to create more certainty for its future,” said Jim Seed, Adam’s father. “We appreciate what was available to Adam and to others. I’d also like to commend [President] Bill Frame on his dedication to this program and to Augsburg,” said Jim. “I appreciate the commitment and loyalty to the program shown by the Seeds,” said Salmeri. “Since its inception in 1997, when Adam was in the class of founding students, the program has grown from 23 students to 53 students. Our new home, [the] Gateway [Building], will house 84 students.” “The original model for the StepUP program evolved over the last eight years,” Jim Seed said. “Young people are living in a small community and supporting each other. Prior to StepUP it was something that was impossible for them to do on their own. It’s a transformational environment where students break through the memories of failure and then come back into that environment. “It’s a wonderful program. It will be affirming and visionary if this program is constructed and transported to other colleges and universities. StepUP is a paradigm for life. As a collective group we have to help each other.” ■ GATEWAY CONSTRUCTION FURTHERED BY CHALLENGE GIFTS Thanks to the generous support by the Seed family and others, StepUP’s Parent/Family and Friend Challenge met its goal. The challenge, set by Jim Johnson in the spring of 2004, raised $425,000 toward construction of the Gateway Building that will house the StepUP program. Johnson, a former CEO of Fannie Mae, likes the urban village concept of the planned mixed-use office/retail/residential Gateway Building. He also appreciates the collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Augsburg, with both institutions serving the neighborhood and addressing needs for retail and housing. Johnson has been supportive of education and a strong proponent of higher education. At Augsburg, Johnson honored his mother, Adeline (Rasmussen) ’31 Johnson, by establishing a scholarship in her name. Summer 2005 FINDING THE RIGHT CAREER F O R M U L A by Betsey Norgard TRYING OUT THE OPTIONS Senior Jennifer Geis has shaped her own career goals in just this way. She came to Augsburg having been turned on to math in the eighth grade and having studied two years of college math as a postsecondary student. But, she really didn’t have a career focus, and hadn’t even settled on a math major. After two years of Summer 2005 Staff photo S On one of the first nice days in spring, students in Professor Rebekah Dupont’s (second from left) class enjoyed solving their math problems outside on the Quad. Stephen Geffre tudying mathematics can open doors to increasing numbers of varied careers and jobs for students. Often called the “language of science,” mathematics provides a structure and the tools to solve many kinds of problems, especially within the increasing complexity of today’s sciences and technology. In the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2002 Jobs Rated Almanac, eight of the 10 “best jobs”—biologist, actuary, financial planner, computer-systems analyst, software engineer, meteorologist, statistician, and astronomer—all require complex understanding and interpretation of numbers. Even more telling of how mathematics is becoming “cool” is the popularity of the new CBS-TV show, Numb3rs, in which a mathematician helps the FBI solve crimes through mathematical modeling—constructing formulas to reveal patterns and predict behavior. Using mathematics as a complementary skill to a variety of disciplines makes it a valuable second major or minor. Augsburg s