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Title: Augsburg College Graduate Catalog, 2016-2017
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Search Result: 2016-2017 GRADUATE CATALOG at Introduction Graduate Catalog 2016-2017 Official Publication of Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454 The Augsburg College Graduate Catalog contains information about academic program requirements and academic and student policies an...
Show more 2016-2017 GRADUATE CATALOG at Introduction Graduate Catalog 2016-2017 Official Publication of Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454 The Augsburg College Graduate Catalog contains information about academic program requirements and academic and student policies and procedures for Fall Semester 2016 - Summer Semester 2017. It is subject to change without notice. The catalog is intended to complement other College publications including the Student Guide and College website. It is important for students to be familiar with all College policies and procedures. Students are strongly encouraged to consult their advisor(s) at least once each semester to be certain they are properly completing degree requirements. Published 2016 Phone: 612-330-1000 www.augsburg.edu 1 A Greeting from the President I am pleased to know of your interest in Augsburg College’s exciting and innovative graduate programs. You are part of a select and discerning group of professionals who seek to find a graduate program that combines an excellent curriculum, a values-based approach to work, a talented and experienced faculty, and program formats that meet the needs of busy and successful people. Augsburg College’s graduate-level programs in Business Administration, Creative Writing, Education, Leadership, Nursing, Physician Assistant Studies, and Social Work are distinguished by the opportunities they provide students to expand decision-making and strategic skills. Augsburg College is characterized by a strong mission: Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its life and work. An Augsburg education is defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values of the Lutheran church, and shaped by its urban and global settings. For our graduate programs, this mission helps to shape an innovative educational experience that features an expansive perspective on social responsibility, economic realities, business initiative, and environmental sustainability. At Augsburg College we believe that our distinctive educational purpose is to help you find your calling, at work and in the world. Augsburg graduate programs are designed to offer you quality educational experiences, personal attention, and opportunities to expand your personal and professional talents and skills. We are confident that our graduates are prepared for leadership in our ever-changing global society, the hallmark of an Augsburg degree. Sincerely, Paul C. Pribbenow, Ph.D. President 2 Welcome from the Provost and Chief Academic Officer Welcome to graduate study at Augsburg College! Augsburg has a long history of preparing students for leadership in their communities and places of work. Across our array of graduate programs, our students acquire specialized knowledge in a discipline or field, engage in applied and collaborative learning, develop advanced intellectual skills; encounter diverse perspectives and ideas; test theory through real-world experiences, and equip themselves for the next stage in their vocational journeys. In joining the Augsburg community, you become part of the Augsburg story—a story of academic excellence, experiential education, intentional diversity, commitment to service in a spirit of mutuality, and dedication of faculty and staff to student learning. The College offers learning opportunities for traditional and adult students in state-of-theart physical and online classrooms. Our locations--in the Twin Cities, Rochester, and several international sites—offer opportunities to apply what you learn in the neighborhood, the local community, and in various urban and rural locations. Inspired by the faith of our Lutheran founders to be inclusive to the early immigrants who came to Augsburg’s doors, we welcome a diversity of cultures and faiths. Indeed, the diversity of our campus community helps ensure that our graduates are uniquely prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. We actively encourage interdisciplinary study and opportunities for students to collaborate with others across disciplines. We ground professional study in the best of the liberal arts tradition; we work to ensure that graduates from liberal arts disciplines are “career ready.” We embrace the best in both traditions as we equip our students for future success. While connected through these common commitments, each graduate program has its own distinctive identity and curriculum. Your program offers a disciplinary home where you will join a community of faculty, staff, and fellow students who will collectively extend your network of connections with prospective employers and expand your career opportunities. You will have access to Augsburg alumni mentors; you will have opportunities to develop new global connections through such public events as our annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum. We’re delighted that you’ll be joining us. Sincerely, Karen Kaivola Provost and Chief Academic Officer 3 About Augsburg At Augsburg College, we believe that graduate education should prepare gifted people for positions of leadership in their communities and places of work. Augsburg graduates will be able to demonstrate not only the mastery of a major field of study, but also the ability to apply critical thinking, problem solving, and advanced communication skills in a collaborative approach within that discipline, thereby engaging others with diverse perspectives in the work of advancing civic and global initiatives critical for a sustainable future. The heart of an Augsburg education is the Augsburg mission, informed by the liberal and professional arts and sciences, to serve our neighbors in the heart of the city and out into the world with faith-based, ethical values. We welcome students from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. Also, our programs look to the world through international courses and cultural exchanges. Mission Statement Students who graduate from Augsburg are well prepared to make a difference in the world. They stand as testaments to the College motto, “Education for Service,” and mission: Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its life and work. An Augsburg education is defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values of the Lutheran Church, and shaped by its urban and global settings. Augsburg Today Augsburg was the first seminary founded by Norwegian Lutherans in America, named after the confession of faith presented by Lutherans in Augsburg, Germany, in 1530. Augsburg opened in September 1869, in Marshall, Wisconsin, and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1872. A Rochester, Minnesota campus was added in 2002. A short history of Augsburg College can be found at www.augsburg.edu/about/history. Today, Augsburg continues to reflect the commitment and dedication of its founders who believed:    Education should have a solid liberal arts core at the graduate level; this focus centers on the ability to think critically and broadly about the world and the work we do in it. An Augsburg education should be preparation for service in community and centers of faith. The city—with all its excitement, challenges, and diversity—is an unequaled learning environment. The vision of the College’s work today is lived out in the phrase, “We believe we are called to serve our neighbor.” Through common commitments to living faith, active citizenship, meaningful work, and global perspective, Augsburg prepares its students to become effective, ethical citizens in a complex global society. Degrees Offered Augsburg offers the following graduate degrees:          Master of Arts in Education* Master of Arts in Leadership Master of Arts in Nursing* Master of Business Administration* Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Master of Music Therapy Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Master of Social Work Doctor of Nursing Practice* (with tracks in Transcultural Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner) 4 Augsburg offers the following dual degrees:    Bachelor of Arts in Accounting/Master of Arts in Leadership Master of Arts in Leadership/Master of Business Administration Master of Social Work/Master of Business Administration *Programs offered at both of Augsburg’s campuses (Minneapolis and Rochester, MN) A Community of Learners Essential to the goals of Augsburg’s graduate programs is participation in a community of adult learners. This community is enriched by the presence of men and women with a variety of work and life experiences. To facilitate this kind of community interaction, Augsburg encourages students to make use of all College facilities, whether a student in Minneapolis or Rochester, and to participate in College activities such as music and dramatic presentations and lecture/speaker events. Graduate Faculty The heart of any educational institution is its faculty, and Augsburg College is particularly proud of the excellence and commitment of its professors. Most faculty hold the doctorate or other terminal degree, and all consider teaching and service to be the focus of their activity at the College. Faculty are involved in social, professional, and a variety of research activities, but these support and are secondary to their teaching. Faculty are actively involved in a dynamic faculty development program that introduces them to best practices in teaching and learning techniques and theories. Augsburg’s small classes encourage its tradition of close involvement between professors and students. Faculty act as academic advisors and participate regularly in campus activities. 5 Locations Minneapolis Campus Augsburg College is located in the heart of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The campus is bordered by Riverside Avenue and Interstate 94, near the University of Minnesota West Bank campus and the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Downtown Minneapolis is just minutes away, providing access to internships and careers with some of the country’s leading companies, as well as entertainment, arts, sports venues, shopping, dining, and transportation. The campus is blocks from the METRO Green and Blue light rail lines, which provide easy access to destinations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as the Minneapolis International Airport. Rochester campus Augsburg’s branch campus in Rochester, Minnesota, was established in 1998 as a natural extension of the College’s mission and its expertise in teaching working adults. Graduate degrees and undergraduate majors including business, education, and nursing, are offered on the Rochester campus. Graduate programs in Rochester include the Master of Business Administration, Master of Arts in Nursing*, Master of Arts in Education*, and Doctor of Nursing Practice*. The Rochester campus classrooms and offices are located at Bethel Lutheran Church (ELCA), just a few blocks south of downtown Rochester. Home to approximately 110,000 residents, Rochester is a city that enjoys a rich ethnic diversity and superior technological resources. Augsburg classes in Rochester meet on a semester schedule with classes taking place on alternating weekday evenings and on occasional Saturdays, making them accessible to working adults. Students may also take courses within their program on the Minneapolis campus. Students at the Rochester campus are Augsburg College students. They are supported through an array of e-learning resources ranging from access to Lindell Library databases to the use of online course management software. Information about the Rochester campus is available at augsburg.edu/rochester or by calling the Rochester office at 507-288-2886. *Program includes some Minneapolis courses. Abroad Locations Augsburg is enhanced by its global centers in Namibia, Mexico, and Central America. Students can perform research, take courses, or consult with faculty in those locations to gain new perspectives on their disciplines. 6 Facilities Instruction facilities and student housing at Augsburg are conveniently located near each other. A tunnel/ramp/skyway system connects the two tower residence halls, the five buildings on the Quadrangle, plus Music Hall, Lindell Library, Oren Gateway Center, and the Foss, Lobeck, Miles Center for Worship, Drama, and Communication. Admissions Office—The Office of Admissions is located on the lower level of Christensen Center. Anderson Hall (1993)—Named in honor of Oscar Anderson, President of Augsburg College from 1963 to 1980, and this residence hall is located at 2016 8th Street. Anderson Hall contains four types of living units and houses 192 students, as well as the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies; Center for Global Education; and the Office of Marketing and Communication. Center for Wellness and Counseling—The Center for Wellness and Counseling offers programs and services that enhance student learning by promoting personal development and well-being. Christensen Center (1967)—The College center, with the Admissions Office, student lounge and recreational areas, the Strommen Center for Meaningful Work, the Commons dining facility and Einstein Bros. Bagels, two art galleries, copy center, and offices for student government and student publications. Edor Nelson Field—The athletic field, located at 725 23rd Avenue, is the playing and practice field of many of the Augsburg teams. An air-supported dome covers the field during winter months, allowing year-round use. Foss, Lobeck, Miles Center for Worship, Drama, and Communication (1988)—The Foss Center is named in recognition of the Julian and June Foss family. The Tjornhom-Nelson Theater, Hoversten Chapel, and the Arnold Atrium are also housed in this complex, which provides space for campus ministry, the drama and communication offices. Ice Arena (1974)—Two skating areas provide practice space for hockey and figure skating, and recreational skating for Augsburg and the metropolitan community. Kennedy Center (2007)—Completed in 2007 as a three-story addition to Melby Hall and named for Dean (’75) and Terry Kennedy, it features a state-of-the-art wrestling training center, fitness center, classrooms for health and physical education, and hospitality facilities. The James G. Lindell Family Library (1997)—This library and information technology center houses all library functions and brings together the computer technology resources of the College. It also houses the Gage Center for Student Success. The library is located on the corner of 22nd Avenue and 7th Street and the Center for Learning and Adaptive Student Services (CLASS). Luther Hall (1999)—Named for theologian Martin Luther, Luther Hall is a three-story apartment complex along 20th Avenue, between 7th and 8th Streets that houses juniors and seniors in units from efficiencies to two-bedroom suites. Melby Hall (1961)—Named in honor of J. S. Melby (dean of men from 1920 to 1942, basketball coach, and head of the Christianity Department). It provides facilities for the health and physical education program, intercollegiate and intramural athletics, the Hoyt Messerer Fitness Center, and general auditorium purposes. The Ernie Anderson Center Court was dedicated in 2001. Mortensen Hall (1973)—Named in honor of Gerda Mortensen (dean of women from 1923 to 1964), it has 104 one- and two-bedroom apartments that house 312 upper-class students, the Department of Public Safety and a lounge area. Charles S. Anderson Music Hall (1978)—Contains Sateren Auditorium, a 217-seat recital hall, classroom facilities, two rehearsal halls, music libraries, practice studios, and offices for the music faculty. Old Main (1900)—Home for the Department of Art and the Department of Languages and Cross-Cultural Studies, with classrooms used by other departments. Extensively remodeled in 1980, Old Main combines energy efficiency with architectural details from the past. It is included on the National Register of Historic Places. Oren Gateway Center (2007)—Named for lead donors and alumni Don and Beverly Oren, it is home for the StepUP program, Institutional Advancement offices, the Alumni and Parent and Family Relations Offices, Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation, the Master of Business Administration Program, the Master of Arts in Leadership program, the 7 Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, and substance-free student housing. It also houses the Barnes & Noble Augsburg Bookstore, Nabo Café, Gage Family Art Gallery, and the Johnson Conference Center. Science Hall (1949)—Houses classrooms; laboratories for biology, chemistry, and physics; mathematics; a medium-sized auditorium; faculty offices, administrative offices, and various other program offices. Sverdrup Hall (1955)—Named in honor of Augsburg’s fourth president, it contains the Enrollment Center, as well as classrooms and faculty offices. Sverdrup-Oftedal Memorial Hall (1938)—Built as a residence hall and named in honor of Augsburg’s second and third presidents, it contains the President’s Office, Human Resources, and other administrative and faculty offices. Urness Hall (1967)—Named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Urness, this tower provides living quarters for 324 firstyear students. Each floor is a “floor unit,” providing 36 residents, housed two to a room, with their own lounge, study, and utility areas. 8 Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships Augsburg College is accredited by:       The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) (Bachelor, and Master level degrees) Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) (Bachelor, Master and Doctoral level degrees) Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) (Bachelor, and Master level degrees) American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) (Bachelor, and Master level degrees) Augsburg’s programs are approved or monitored by:       American Chemical Society (ACS) American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Minnesota Board of Teaching Minnesota Board of Nursing Minnesota Office of Higher Education (MOHE) National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) Augsburg College is an institutional member of:                     American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) American Music Therapy Association, Inc. (AMTA) Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) Campus Compact Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) Diversity Abroad Network The Forum on Education Abroad Institute of International Education (IIE) Lutheran Education Council in North America (LECNA) National Association of International Educators (NAFSA) National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE) Physician Assistant Education Association Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC) Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA) Minnesota Private College Council MPCC) Twin Cities Adult Education Alliance (TCAEA) Augsburg College is registered with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education pursuant to sections 136A.61 to 136A.71. Registration is not an endorsement of the institution. Credits earned at the institution may not transfer to all other institutions. Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 1450 Energy Park Dr., Suite 350, St. Paul, MN 55108, www.ohe.state.mn.us; 651-642-0533. 9 Policies Non-Discrimination Policy Augsburg College, as affirmed in its mission, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religious belief, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, genetic information, status with regard to public assistance, or citizenship in its educational policies, admissions policies, employment, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and/or school-administered programs, except in those instances where there is a bona fide occupational qualification or to comply with state or federal law. Augsburg College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to its employees and students with disabilities. (Approved by Board of Regents on October, 2014) For further information, please contact the College’s Title IX Officer: Ann Garvey| Vice President of Student Affairs| Student Affairs Memorial Hall, Room 118G| 612-330-1168| garvey@augsburg.edu Additionally, the College has four Deputy Officers: Deputy Officer for Students: Sarah Griesse| Dean of Students Memorial Hall, Room 118F| 612-330-1489| griesse@augsburg.edu Deputy Officer for Employees: Lisa Stock| Director and Chief Human Resources Officer Memorial Hall, Room 19| 612-330-1783| stock@augsburg.edu Deputy Officer for Athletics: Kelly Anderson Diercks| Associate Athletic Director Si Melby Hall, Room 205E| 612-330-1245| diercks@augsburg.edu Deputy Officer: Leif Anderson| Vice President and Chief Information Officer Memorial Hall, Room 124D| 612-330-1497| andersol@augsburg.edu The Deputies work with the Title IX Coordinator to identify any patterns or systemic problems that arise and may assist as investigators of complaints. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), as amended, provides certain rights to students regarding their education records. Each year Augsburg College is required to give notice of the various rights accorded to students pursuant to FERPA. In accordance with FERPA, you are notified of the following: Right to inspect and review education records You have the right to review and inspect substantially all of your education records maintained by or at Augsburg College. The student must request to review their education records in writing with their signature. The College will respond in a reasonable time, but no later than 45 days after receiving the request. 10 Right to request amendment of education records You have the right to seek to have corrected any parts of an education record that you believe to be inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of your right to privacy. This includes the right to a hearing to present evidence that the record should be changed if Augsburg decides not to alter your education records according to your request. Right to give permission for disclosure of personally identifiable information You have the right to be asked and to give Augsburg your permission to disclose personally identifiable information contained in your education records, except to the extent that FERPA and the regulations regarding FERPA authorize disclosure without your permission. One such exception which permits disclosure without consent is for disclosure to school officials who have legitimate education interests. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); person or company with whom the College has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the board of regents, or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. Right to withhold disclosure of “directory information” FERPA uses the term “Directory Information” to refer to those categories of personally identifiable information that may be released for any purpose at the discretion of Augsburg College without notification of the request or disclosure to the student. Under FERPA you have the right to withhold the disclosure of the directory information listed below. Please consider very carefully the consequences of any decision by you to withhold directory information. Should you decide to inform Augsburg College not to release Directory Information, any future request for such information from persons or organizations outside of Augsburg College will be refused. “Directory information” includes the following:               The student’s name The student’s address The student’s telephone number The student’s e-mail address The student’s date and place of birth The student’s major and minor field of study The student’s academic class level The student’s enrollment status (FT/HT/LHT) The student’s participation in officially-recognized activities and sports The student’s degrees and awards received (including dates) The weight and height of members of athletic teams The student’s dates of attendance Previous educational agencies or institutions attended by the student The student’s photograph Augsburg College will honor your request to withhold all Directory Information but cannot assume responsibility to contact you for subsequent permission to release it. Augsburg assumes no liability for honoring your instructions that such information be withheld. The Registrar’s Office must be notified in writing of your intent to withhold your Directory Information. Right to complain to FERPA Office You have the right to file a complaint with the Family Policy Compliance Office, US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, DC, 20202, concerning Augsburg’s failure to comply with FERPA. 11 Reporting Educational Information Letters of reference must be requested in writing and explicitly indicate what information may be reported in the letter. Annual Security Report The Annual Security Report (ASR) for Augsburg College contains statistics on reported crimes on and near Augsburg property and campus, as well as institutional policies concerning campus security and crime. The Department of Public Safety prepares this annual Crime Report to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act. The report is available online at www.augsburg.edu/dps/reports. For a printed copy, contact Augsburg’s Department of Public Safety at 612-330-1717. Copyright Policy Augsburg College Graduate Programs follows the norms of the US Copyright Law in granting exclusive rights under the Copyright Act to faculty and student authors to reproduce their original works, to use them as the basis for derivative. Student Rights The College has adopted a statement of student rights and responsibilities and has provided for due process in the matter of disciplinary action, grievances, and grade appeal, as outlined in the Augsburg Student Guide, at inside.augsburg.edu/studentaffairs/studentguide. Official Notices A College-provided e-mail account shall be an official means of communication with students, faculty, and staff of Augsburg College. Students, faculty, and staff are responsible for all information sent to them via the College-provided email account. Students should regularly check their e-mail account. If a student, faculty or staff member chooses to forward their Augsburg e-mail, they are responsible for all information and attachments sent to the forwarded e-mail account. Students will also receive official notices via the A-Mail online publication and should routinely review the AMail. 12 Admission All graduate programs require students to have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally-accredited four-year institution or an equivalent degree from outside the US. All graduate students must submit completed applications. Each graduate program also has additional program requirements, which may include coursework, professional experience, testing, etc. See the program sections for these additional requirements. Please refer to each individual program’s catalog section (below) for additional instructions and for detailed information on applying to graduate programs, refer to the Graduate Admissions website at www.augsburg.edu/grad. Readmission Graduate students who have not registered for courses at Augsburg College for two or more semesters, must apply for readmission through the Registrar’s Office to resume attendance. Students who have attended other institutions during their absence from Augsburg must have an official transcript sent from each institution to the Registrar’s Office. Returning students do not pay the application fee. The last day to receive approval for readmission to the College and register for classes is the Friday prior to the start of the term. Pending approval by the graduate program, students who left on probation or who were dismissed from the College must have their readmission application and file reviewed by the program director. (Please consult with individual programs for information regarding readmission process). Non-degree Students Individuals may take coursework at Augsburg College as a non-degree-seeking student. Non-degree students can enroll on a space-available basis. Registration dates are included in the College’s Academic Calendar. Admission requires program director approval, and the student must be in good standing at all previously attended institutions. To apply for admission as a non-degree seeking student, submit the completed application, academic intent, and unofficial transcript from the bachelor’s degree granting institution to the Admissions Office. Some programs may have additional application requirements. A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution is the minimum requirement for admission. Students who have earned a bachelor’s degree outside of the United States must submit a copy of a foreign credential evaluation from World Education Services (WES) or the National Association of Credential Evaluators (NACES) to confirm it is equivalent to a United States bachelor’s degree or greater. Non-degree status is conferred for only one term of enrollment. Additional terms require reapplication as a non-degree seeking student. Students may count up to 6-8 semester credits earned as a non-degree seeking student toward an Augsburg College degree with approval from the program director. Non-degree seeking students who wish to pursue a degree must reapply for admission by submitting the completed application, academic intent, official transcript from the bachelor’s degree granting institution, and any additional materials required by the program. International Students Augsburg College graduate programs encourage qualified applicants from other countries to apply. An F-1 student is a nonimmigrant who is pursuing a “full course of study” to achieve a specific educational or professional objective at an academic institution in the United States that has been designated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to offer courses of study to such students, and has been enrolled in SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System). 13 A student acquires F-1 status using form I-20, issued by a DHS-approved school through SEVIS. Status is acquired in one of two ways:   If the student is abroad, by entering the United States with the I-20 and an F-1 visa obtained at a US consulate. If the student is already in the United States and not currently in F-1 status, by sending the I-20 to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) with an application for change of nonimmigrant status. A student who is maintaining valid F-1 status may transfer from another DHS-approved school to Augsburg by following the transfer procedures set forth in the F-1 regulations. In addition to fulfilling all general admission requirements for a particular graduate program, prospective F-1 students must also comply with the following: English Proficiency Requirements for International Graduate Applicants To meet Augsburg College admission requirements, you must provide evidence of a sufficient command of both written and spoken English to study college courses conducted entirely in English. Below is a list of the tests and programs Augsburg College accepts as evidence for English proficiency.           TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) www.toefl.org Score report of 80 on the Internet-based TOEFL (iBT) with a sub-score of 20 on the written and 20 on the speaking sections. (The Augsburg College TOEFL code is 6014.) IELTS (International English Language Testing System) www.ielts.org Score report of 6.5. MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery) www.cambridgemichigan.org/melab Score report of 80, and score report must be accompanied by an official letter from the testing coordinator. Successful completion of a previous undergraduate or graduate degree at an accredited college or university in the US, the United Kingdom, Ireland, English-speaking Canada, New Zealand, or Australia. Score reports must be sent to Augsburg directly from the testing center. Score reports must not be more than two years old. Foreign Credential Evaluation Augsburg requires foreign credential evaluation for any transcript(s) from an institution outside of the United States. This evaluation should include the following:       Analysis of credentials to determine if your degree is equivalent to an accredited US bachelor’s degree Verification the degree is equivalent, at a minimum, to a four-year US bachelor’s degree is required. Course-by-course evaluation to show your complete course listing with credit values and grades received for each course, may also be required for specific programs. Calculation of grade point average to demonstrate your cumulative grade point average using the standard US grading system, i.e., A=4.0, B=3.0, C=2.0, D=1.0, F=0.0. Translation to English (if applicable) The evaluation report must be sent directly to Augsburg’s Office of Admissions. Refer to World Education Services at www.wes.org or the National Association of Credential Evaluators (NACES) at www.naces.org for information on how to obtain a foreign credential evaluation. Proof of Financial Support International applicants must provide reliable documentation that they have financial resources adequate to meet expenses for the duration of their academic program, which include tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, health insurance, personal expenses, and living expenses for dependents (if applicable). 14 Funds may come from any dependable source, including scholarships, fellowships, sponsoring agencies, personal funds, or funds from the student’s family. Documentation of scholarships and fellowships may be in the form of an official award letter from the school or sponsoring agency; documentation of personal or family funds should be on bank letterhead stationery, or in the form of a legally binding affidavit. Government Form I-134, Affidavit of Support, or Augsburg’s Financial Sponsorship form can be used to document support being provided by a US citizen or US legal permanent resident. All financial documents such as bank statements must be dated within three months prior to the date of application. Health Insurance All F-1 international students and their dependents (if applicable) are required to have adequate health insurance coverage for the duration of their program. International students will be enrolled in the Augsburg international student plan unless they fill out a waiver verifying proof of coverage through an alternative provider for the same period. 15 Financing Your Education Costs The Board of Regents approves the costs for the academic year. The board reviews costs annually and makes changes as required. Augsburg reserves the right to adjust charges should economic conditions necessitate. Full-Time vs. Half-Time Graduate students will need to be enrolled in 3 credits to be considered half-time and 6 credits to be considered fulltime. Tuition and Fees           Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Master of Arts in Nursing (MAN) Master of Arts in Education (MAE) Master of Arts in Education Tribal (MAET) Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL) Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Master of Social Work (MSW) Master of Business Administration (MBA) Master of Arts in Music Therapy (MMT) Master of Science in Physician Assistant (MPA) $921 per 1.0 credit $703 per 1.0 credit $485 per 1.0 credit UMD Rate $799 per 1.0 credit $642 per 1.0 credit $668 per 1.0 credit $799 per 1.0 credit $822 per 1.0 credit $761 per 1.0 credit* *2015 start cohort Tuition Students are charged per credit. All associated costs must be paid by the beginning of each semester to avoid accruing finance charges, unless you have enrolled in an official payment plan through Student Financial Services. Fees Specific courses or programs may have additional fees associated with them, such as lab or supply fees. DNP Fee MAN Fee $55 $55 Payments Semester Charges Prior to the start of each semester, a statement of estimated charges showing charges and financial aid credits designated by the Student Financial Services Office is sent to the student via e-mail. All statements are available online through AugNet’s Records and Registration site. Payments can be made online at www.augsburg.edu/studentfinancial/make-a-payment. Augsburg may charge late fees and interest on delinquent accounts. Review the full policy regarding past due balances online at www.augsburg.edu/studentfinancial/disclosure Payment Options Augsburg College offers payment plan options for all students. Information about payment plans is available online at www.augsburg.edu/studentfinancial/payment-plans-and-discounts. 16 Payment Policy Students at Augsburg College are obligated to pay Term Fees and additional charges when they register for each academic term. “Term Fees” include tuition, room and board charges and other fees initiated during your time as a student. Students are responsible to pay for all of these charges regardless of whether financial aid is received or employers or other third parties pay as agreed. “Term Fees” are subject to refund only to the extent allowed under the Augsburg College Tuition Refund Policy. Augsburg accepts the following forms of payment: Cash Students and guest payers may make cash payments in-person at the Enrollment Center. Cash should never be mailed. Students will receive a receipt of their cash payment. Check Students and guest payers may pay their term fees via check either in-person at the Enrollment Center, through mail, or online using e-check/ACH. A $30 NSF Fee will be added for any payment returned by the bank for Non-Sufficient Funds. A receipt will automatically be sent electronically for any online payments. Students who pay in-person or through mail may request a receipt of the check payment. Credit Card/Debit Card Students and guest payers may make student account payments online with a Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express credit card. As of June 10th, 2016, Augsburg will no longer accept credit card or debit card payments in-person, over the phone, or through the mail. Credit cards will only be accepted online via Cashnet, a vendor contracted by Augsburg. Because Cashnet charges Augsburg for their services, a credit card service fee of 2.75 percent will be associated with any credit card payment made to the college. This is to offset the approximately $250,000 in costs that Augsburg accrues annually for providing credit card payment options to our students. Augsburg will not receive any part of the service fee and will not be profiting from it. Financial Aid All students who wish to be considered for financial assistance must reapply each year. In addition to reapplying for aid, students must make satisfactory academic progress toward the attainment of their degree or certificate as stipulated in the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) section of this catalog. Financial assistance awarded through Augsburg may be a combination of grants and loans. The College cooperates with federal, state, church, and private agencies in providing various aid programs. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) helps determine the amount of assistance for which a student is eligible. This analysis takes into account such family financial factors as current income, assets, number of dependent family members, other educational expenses, retirement needs, and special considerations. Types of Aid A student applying for aid from Augsburg applies for assistance in general rather than for a specific scholarship or grant (except as noted). Institutional Grants/Discounts Augsburg offers grants/discounts for a variety of different students. Specific information about the different grants and scholarships, along with eligibility requirements, can be found online at www.augsburg.edu/studentfinancial/paymentplans-and-discounts. 17 Loan Assistance Graduate students must be enrolled at least half-time in order to receive federal loans. Three semester credits per term is considered half-time. Six semester credits per term is considered full-time.     Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Student Loan Interest begins accruing on the date of disbursement and the borrower is responsible for all interest. The borrower may choose to make payments while in school or may defer payments and allow interest to accrue and be capitalized (added to the balance of the loan). Federal Graduate Loan Program (PLUS) Graduate PLUS is a loan program to help graduate students meet college costs. Students may borrow up to the cost of attendance (minus all other student financial aid). Further information about loan programs can be found online at www.augsburg.edu/studentfinancial. Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Federal regulations require that all higher education institutions establish and implement a policy to measure whether students [1] receiving financial aid [2] are making satisfactory academic progress toward the completion of a degree. The purpose of this policy is to make sure that students who receive financial aid are using this money wisely. It is meant to curtail the use of financial aid by students who fail to successfully complete their course work. Failure to meet the following standards makes a student ineligible for all institutional, federal, and state financial aid. Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress  Minimum GPA requirements: Graduate Students must maintain a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA based on the entire academic record.  Minimum Credits Completed: Graduate Students must earn a cumulative 66.67% of the credits attempted based on the entire academic record. A completed credit has a grade of 4.0 – 2.5 or P. Credits earned and completed will include accepted cumulative transfer credits as defined by the Registrar’s Office. Unsatisfactory grades “W (withdrawn),” “I (Incomplete),” “0.0/F/FN (Zero),” and “N (Not Passing)” are counted towards the cumulative attempted credits. Repeated and remedial courses are not counted towards the cumulative attempted credits.  Maximum Time Frame: To demonstrate academic progress, graduate students must complete their degree objective within 150% of the length of the program. Monitoring and Evaluating Progress In order to ensure SAP standards are being met, the Student Financial Services Office will evaluate students’ academic achievement at the end of each term. After the student’s record is evaluated and the Student Financial Services Office determines the student’s GPA or completion rate to be unsatisfactory, the student will be placed on Financial Aid Warning or Financial Aid Suspension. Students will be notified through their Augsburg email if they fail to meet SAP standards. Financial Aid Warning A student who fails to meet SAP standards will be placed on Financial Aid Warning for the following term of enrollment. Students placed on Financial Aid Warning will still be eligible to receive financial aid. Financial Aid Warning will last for one term. If at the end of the term, the student meets SAP standards the Financial Aid Warning will conclude. Students currently on Financial Aid Warning who do not meet SAP standards at the end of the term will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. Financial Aid Suspension A student who fails to meet either the minimum GPA requirement and/or minimum credits attempted while on Financial Aid Warning will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. A student on Financial Aid Suspension is ineligible to receive any form of financial aid. A student on Financial Aid Suspension may submit an appeal to reinstate their financial aid. Financial Aid Suspension will conclude when the student meets SAP standards, or successfully appeals. 18 Financial Aid will be suspended when a student placed on Financial Aid Suspension does not meet SAP standards. Because grades may not be available before the beginning of the next scheduled term, it is possible that financial aid may be disbursed to a student before the review can be conducted. In the event that a student is found to be ineligible for the financial aid that has been disbursed due to a failure to meet one of the Standards, the aid that was disbursed will be canceled, and returned to the appropriate program(s). Right to Appeal Students who have had their financial aid suspended may submit the SAP Appeal Form to the Student Financial Services Office. The SAP Appeal Form must be completely filled out, along with any additional documents required by the SAP Committee. The appeal should state reasons why the student failed to meet SAP standards, and what changed for the student that will allow the student to demonstrate progress towards meeting SAP standards. The appeal will be decided by the SAP Committee. All decisions made by the Committee are final. If a student’s appeal is approved they will be placed on Financial Aid Probation. If a student’s appeal is denied they will remain on Financial Aid Suspension and will remain ineligible for financial aid. Financial Aid Probation A student who has been placed on Financial Aid Suspension and successfully appeals SAP will be place on Financial Aid Probation. A student on Financial Aid Probation will be eligible to receive financial aid. Financial Aid Probation will last for one term. If at the end of the term, the students meets SAP standards, the Financial Aid Probation will conclude. Students currently on Financial Aid Probation who do not meet the standards at the end of the term will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension. [1] Financial Aid is defined as: Augsburg Institutional Aid, Federal Title IV funding, and Minnesota State Financial Aid programs. Student Account Financial Disclosure Students at Augsburg College are obligated to pay Term Fees and additional charges when they register for each academic term. “Term Fees” include tuition, room and board charges and other fees initiated during your time as a student. Students are responsible to pay for all of these charges regardless of whether financial aid is received or employers or other third parties pay as agreed. “Term Fees” are subject to refund only to the extent allowed under the Augsburg College Tuition Refund Policy. Statements and account history are available online through AugNet Records and Registration. Augsburg College may require someone to co-sign on the students’ obligations in special cases, such as when a student has a history of late or missed payments. When a co-signer’s signature is required, both students and co-signers are responsible for payment of all costs incurred (including collection costs and fees of any collection agency and/or attorney, if applicable) and all other conditions outlined on the Student Account Financial Disclosure. Results of Balances Not Paid in Full Augsburg may charge late fees and interest on delinquent accounts. Missed or late payments will be subject to a late payment charge and/or a finance charge on the overdue balance from the date the balance was due until payment in full is received. If your account is not paid in full on the first day of the term, finance charges at the rate of 8% per year (.67% per month) will be added onto your student account balance. For example, this means that for every $1,000 owed you will receive $6.70 a month in finance charges. A $30 NSF Fee will be added for any payment returned by the bank for Non-Sufficient Funds. Past Due Accounts If the student does not set up a formal payment plan with Augsburg’s Student Financial Services department, Augsburg reserves the right to demand payment of the entire balance owed by that student and to take steps to collect it. Augsburg may cancel the student’s registration, prevent the student from registering for future terms, withhold 19 transcripts or diplomas, remove the student from on-campus housing, turn the student’s account over to a collection agency or take legal action to collect any past due balance. Each student authorizes Augsburg to release financial information about her or his account and other pertinent information such as address and phone number to third parties who are dealing with the collection of the account balance. By providing us with a telephone number for a cellular phone or other wireless device, you are expressly consenting to receive communications – including but not limited to prerecorded or artificial voice message calls, text messages, and calls made by an automatic telephone dialing system – from us and our affiliates and agents at that number. This express consent applies to each such telephone number that you provide to us now or in the future and permits such calls regardless of their purpose. Calls and messages may incur access fees from your cellular provider. Each student also agrees to reimburse Augsburg College, or its agents, the fees of any collection agency, which may be based on a percentage at a maximum of 40% of the debt, and all costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, we incur in such collection efforts. Please note that, due to the Bankruptcy Reform Act, educational benefits are generally exempt from discharge under bankruptcy. The terms of this agreement remain in effect until all Term Fees and other charges are paid in full. Financial Policy Registration is permitted only if the student’s account for a previous term is paid in full or if the student is making scheduled payments in accordance with an approved payment plan. Augsburg College will not release student academic transcripts or graduation diplomas/certificates until all student account charges are paid in full or, in the case of student loan funds administered by the College (Federal Perkins Student Loan), are current according to established repayment schedules and the loan entrance and exit interviews have been completed. Tuition Refund Students are eligible for a 100% tuition refund for any courses they drop without notation through the date labeled “Last day to drop without a ‘W’ grade & 100% refund – Full Semester class” on the Academic Calendar. After this date, students are no longer eligible for any refund of tuition unless they withdraw from all of their courses. This policy is effective whether or not a student has attended classes. Students withdrawing from all of a term’s courses may receive a 50% tuition refund when they withdraw by the date labeled “Last day to withdraw with 50% refund – Full Semester class” on the Academic Calendar. Students are responsible for cancelling courses through the Registrar’s Office (or online) in order to be eligible for any refund. Students who unofficially withdraw (stop attending) but do not complete the drop/add form are responsible for all charges. Financial aid may be adjusted based on the student’s last recorded date of attendance. Refund calculations are based on the date that the drop/add form is processed. Medical Refund If a student is forced to withdraw from one or more courses in a term due to illness or an accident, a request for a medical refund should be made through the Academic/Financial Petition. Petition forms are available through the Registrar’s Office website. An extra medical refund may be granted by the Committee upon submission of documentation from the attending doctor, on letterhead, verifying the medical circumstances. Unofficial Withdrawal Federal regulations require that records of financial aid recipients who earn failing grades in all their classes be reviewed. If courses are not completed (e.g., unofficial withdrawal, stopped attending), the College is required to refund financial aid to the appropriate sources according to federal or Augsburg refund policies based on the last recorded date of attendance. Students are responsible for the entire cost of the term including the portion previously covered by financial aid should they stop attending. Students are strongly urged to follow guidelines for complete withdrawal from college. If there are extenuating circumstances, a petition to have the cost of tuition refunded can be made. Petition forms are available online through the Registrar’s Office website. 20 A student who registers, does not attend any classes, and does not withdraw may petition to withdraw retroactively. The student must petition within six months of the end of term and provide proof of non-attendance. Proof can include, but is not limited to, statements from each instructor that the student never attended, or documentation of attendance for the term at another college or university. If approved, grades of W will be recorded and tuition charges for the term will be replaced with an administrative cancellation fee of $300. Financial Aid Policy Financial aid such as federal, state, and institutional grants and scholarships are awarded based upon the total number of registered credits on the “Last day to add with faculty signature – Full Semester class” as noted on the Academic Calendar. Students must register for internships, Time 2 classes, and ACTC classes before the “Last day to add with faculty signature-Full Semester class”. Financial aid will not be adjusted for classes added after this date. Students must earn the financial aid they are awarded each semester by actively attending and participating in classes throughout the semester. Financial aid is recalculated when students do any of the following: drop classes without a “W” grade, fail to begin classes, cease to attend classes, fail all classes, or fully withdraw from all classes. Financial Aid - Return of Aid Students must earn the financial aid they are awarded each semester. A student can earn their aid by attending classes, or in the event of hybrid/online courses, be an active participant in the course. Federal/State Aid Adjustments Augsburg is required to return unearned federal/state aid for students who fully withdraw from their courses. Student are eligible to keep more aid the longer they attend their courses. After 60% of the term has passed, students are eligible to keep all of their federal/state aid. If you are planning to completely withdraw from your courses, please see a Student Financial Services counselor to determine what aid may need to be returned. Institutional Aid Adjustments Augsburg will return institutional aid for students who partially withdraw or fully withdraw from courses. If students withdraw from their courses they will receive a 50% tuition refund and 50% of their institutional aid will be removed. If a student withdraws after the last day to receive a tuition refund, there will be no adjustment to their institutional aid. Credit Refund Augsburg students may be eligible to receive a credit refund if their financial aid exceeds tuition and fee charges for a term. Credit refunds are issued within two weeks after the last day to drop courses without recorded notation. Financial Aid needs to be finalized (You can verify your financial aid status online through Track Your Financial Aid) and applied to a student’s account (Check your Transaction History online to verify all of your financial aid has been applied to your account and nothing is left pending) before the credit refund can be issued. Changes in enrollment status, housing status, and program status may affect financial aid eligibility and credit refunds. Students who are enrolled less than half-time (less than 6.0 credits for undergraduates, less than 3.0 credit for graduates) may not be eligible for financial aid; however, students may apply for private alternative loans. Registration changes made from the first week of the term through midterm may require a return of financial aid funds. Students who drop courses may receive a tuition refund, but some forms of financial aid may have to be adjusted before a refund will be available. Financial aid return of funds may take up to 30-45 days to be processed. Bookstore Students who are registered for the upcoming term will be allowed to charge up to $700 to their student account. Students DO NOT need to request a bookstore account this year. Please plan ahead and purchase books and supplies before the scheduled cut off dates; plan ahead for courses that start midterm as you will be unable to charge anything to your student account after the cut-off date. 21 Students’ accounts will be billed for only what was spent on their bookstore accounts before credit refunds are issued. If your bookstore charges create a balance on your account, you need to make payments in accordance with your statement. Bookstore purchases charged to a student account are intended for students who have excess financial aid funds to cover their tuition, fees, AND their books or supplies. Please contact Student Financial Services before you purchase books if you need to discuss payment options. Due to the financial aid cycle, you can only charge expenses to your bookstore account during specific times. Third Party If you are expecting a third party to cover the cost of your books, you will need to turn in an itemized receipt of your purchases to the Student Financial Services Office, along with your invoice request. Additional Funds If the cost of your textbooks and supplies are above $700 in one term, you have enough financial aid to cover the additional costs, and you would like to charge the additional amount to your student account, please send the following information to Student Financial Services (studentfinances@augsburg.edu). All requests need to be in writing. Subject: Request for additional funds Full Name: Student ID number: Additional request: Students will receive an e-mail when the additional request has been processed. Accounts are opened as quickly as possible, but it could take up to two business days for activation. Consumer Information Loss of Financial Aid Due to Drug Offense A student, who is convicted of a state or federal offense involving the possession or sale of an illegal drug that occurred while the student was enrolled in school and receiving Title IV aid, is not eligible for Title IV funds. [An illegal drug is a controlled substance as defined by the Controlled Substance Act and does not include alcohol and tobacco. A borrower’s eligibility is based on the student’s self-certification on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Convictions that are reversed, set aside or removed from the student’s record, or a determination arising from a juvenile court proceeding do not affect eligibility and do not need to be reported by the student. A student who is convicted of a drug-related offense that occurred while the student was enrolled in school and receiving Title IV aid loses Title IV eligibility as follows: For the possession of illegal drugs: First offense: one year from the date of conviction. Second offense: two years from the date of the second conviction. Third offense: indefinitely from the date of the third conviction. For the sale of illegal drugs: First offense: two years from the date of conviction. Second offense: indefinitely from the date of the second conviction. A school must provide a student who loses Title IV eligibility due to a drug-related conviction with a timely, separate, clear, and conspicuous written notice. The notice must advise the student of his or her loss of Title IV eligibility and the ways in which the student may regain that eligibility. 22 Regaining Eligibility after a Drug Conviction A student may regain eligibility at any time by completing an approved drug rehabilitation program and by informing the school that he or she has done so. A student regains Title IV eligibility on the date he or she successfully completes the program. A drug rehabilitation program is considered approved for these purposes if it includes at least two unannounced drug tests and meets one of the following criteria:     The program received or is qualified to receive funds directly or indirectly under a federal, state, or local government program. The program is administered or recognized by a federal, state, or local government agency or court. The program received or is qualified to receive payment directly or indirectly from a federally or state licensed insurance company. The program administered or recognized by a federally or state-licensed hospital, health clinic, or medical doctor. Policies may change throughout an academic year if necessary to comply with federal, state, or institutional changes or regulations. 23 Student Resources/Academic and Support Services Lindell Library Resources Since 1997 the James G. Lindell Family Library has been home to a wide variety of print and digital collections, now numbering almost 200,000 books, 60,000 e-books, 60,000 e-journals, 4,000 movies on DVD or VHS, and more than 120 databases. Through its streaming video services, Lindell Library provides access to an additional 50,000+ educational videos. Lindell also houses significant collections of juvenile literature and K-12 curriculum materials, as well as the College’s archives and special collections. If that still isn’t enough, Lindell Library belongs to CLIC, Cooperating Libraries in Consortium, a network of seven private liberal arts colleges in the Twin Cities. Augsburg students can borrow books and videos from any of the other CLIC libraries and get those materials delivered directly to Lindell Library through CLIC’s daily courier service. Research Support Research Support Research help is always available, either online or in person, at Lindell Library’s Learning Commons. Our research guides, available on the library’s website, provide access to key research materials on topics as wide-ranging as health and physical education, film studies, computer science, or music therapy. Students can talk to an expert in person at Lindell’s Learning Commons desk, by phone at 612-330-1604, by email at refdesk@augsburg.edu, or chat with an expert 24/7 through our Ask-A-Librarian service at library.augsburg.edu. Other Cool Stuff Libraries are more than just books and databases, they are places to gather for collaborative research or quiet study and reflection. At Lindell Library, you can do both. Ten group study rooms are available on the top floor of Lindell Library, and can be reserved up to two weeks in advance. The lower level is a designated quiet study space for those who prefer to work alone. Whether working alone or in a large group, Augsburg students can check out a laptop from the Library’s Circulation Desk. Other equipment is also available for check out; just ask our friendly staff for assistance. The staff at Lindell Library are eager to help you with all your research needs. Stop by anytime that the library is open (hours are always posted on the library’s website), or contact us at: library.augsburg.edu refdesk@augsburg.edu 612-330-1604 Information Technology Services Augsburg College has built a reputation as a leader in its commitment to provide students with relevant and timely access to information technology and training. Visit the Student Technology website, inside.augsburg.edu/techdesk, for more on Information Technology at Augsburg. Computing Students have access to more than 250 on-campus computers. Both PC and Macintosh desktop computers are available in the Lindell Library Learning Commons and computer lab, and in the 24-hour Urness computer lab. The College has five computer classrooms, 41 technology-enhanced classrooms and one video conferencing-enabled classroom. The circulation desk in Lindell Library has 45 wireless laptops available for use in the library. Several computer clusters are available for more specific student use within academic departments. A high-speed fiber optic campus network provides access to AugNet online services, printing, and to the internet. Network-ready student machines can connect to the campus network from residence hall rooms or any building on campus using WiFi. All of the AugNet online services are available securely on- and off-campus. 24 Center for Learning and Accessible Student Services (CLASS) The Center for Learning and Accessible Student Services (CLASS) provides individualized accommodations and academic support for students with documented learning, attention, psychiatric, sensory, and physical disabilities, as well as those with temporary disabilities. CLASS has been recognized as a leader in its field, helping these students gain access to the college curriculum. Its mission is a reflection of Augsburg’s commitment to providing a rigorous and challenging, yet supportive, liberal arts education to students with diverse backgrounds, preparations, and experiences. Each term, Disability Specialists work directly with students to develop a plan for ensuring they have equal access to Augsburg courses, programs, activities, and facilities. Students are encouraged to meet regularly with their specialist, and discussions may include:      Accommodations for testing and coursework (e.g., extended time, note-taking) Referrals to other campus resources (e.g., tutoring, student technology assistance, academic advising, counseling, financial aid) Training and use of assistive technology through the Groves Accommodations Laboratory Coaching on academic, organizational, and time management skills Campus living accommodations The Disability Specialists may also consult with instructors, academic advisors, and other members of the college faculty, staff, or administration to support each student as they work toward success. Taking advantage of these accommodations and services, however, remains the student’s responsibility. Any Augsburg student who wants to establish eligibility for accommodations and services should schedule a meeting with a Specialist to discuss their needs, as well as appropriate documentation of their disability. CLASS also provides informal screenings for students who suspect they may have a learning-related disability. These screenings are meant only to help students determine whether they should seek a thorough evaluation by a qualified professional. Academic accommodations are intended to ensure access to educational opportunities for students with disabilities and may not fundamentally alter the basic nature or essential components of an institution’s courses or programs. The services and technology provided by CLASS are enhanced by the generous support of the Gage family and Groves Foundation. For further information, call 612-330-1053. International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) ISSS is responsible for the enrollment planning, recruitment and advising of degree-seeking international students. Members of the ISSS team serve as Designated School Officials (DSO) for the College’s F-1 student visa program and as Responsible Officer (RO) and Alternate Responsible Officer (ARO) for the College’s J-1 student/scholar exchange program. A DSO ensures institutional and individual compliance with the law and government policies pertaining to F-1 students. The RO and ARO ensure institutional and individual compliance with the law and government policies pertaining to J-1 exchange students and scholars. ISSS advises students regarding the F and J regulations so that students maintain their F or J immigration status. 25 Academic Programs and Policies Academic Calendars All of our graduate programs meet on a semester calendar. Academic Calendars can be found at www.augsburg.edu/registrar. All academic calendars are subject to change without notice. Academic Policies The College and its faculty subscribe to the Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom as promulgated by the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges. Academic Honesty A college is a community of learners whose relationship relies on trust. Honesty is necessary to preserve the integrity and credibility of scholarship by the Augsburg College community. Academic dishonesty, therefore, is not tolerated. As a College requirement, student course projects, papers, and examinations may include a statement by the student pledging to abide by the College’s academic honesty policies and to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity. (See Augsburg’s Academic Honesty Policy in the Student Guide). Evaluation and Grading Evaluation of academic performance in each program will be based on number grades using a 4.0 point scale, where 4.0 achieves highest standards of excellence. See each program for details of field study and special projects. Students must achieve a 3.0 cumulative GPA in order to graduate; Physician Assistant students must consult the PA Program Progression Standards Policy. Grading option cannot be changed from traditional (0.0 - 4.0) to Pass/No Credit. Explanation of grades for Graduate Studies: Grade 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0–0.0 FN P N V W I X Explanation Achieves highest standards of excellence Achieves above acceptable standards Meets acceptable standards Meets minimum standards Unacceptable performance Unacceptable performance, student stopped attending Represents work at 3.0 or higher (not counted in grade point average) No credit (not counted in grade point average) Audit Withdrawn Incomplete In progress, extended beyond term of registration Auditing Courses Students who wish to take courses without credit or grade may do so by registering for Audit (V) on a space-available basis. Graduate students will be charged an audit fee of $1,000. The written permission of the instructor is required to register an audit. Students who audit a course should confer with the instructor within two weeks of the beginning of the term to determine expectations, attendance, and any other requirements. If expectations have been met, the course will be listed on the transcript with a V grade. If expectations have not been met, the course will be listed with a grade of W. Audited courses do not count towards graduation. 26 Withdrawal Grade A course is given a grade of W (withdrawn) when it is dropped after the deadline for dropping classes without a W grade and before the last day to withdraw. Incomplete (I) Grades Incomplete grades (I) are to be given only in the case of extreme emergency (i.e. illness, family emergency, death in the family, military commitment). If you have any questions regarding the qualifying emergency please contact the Registrar’s Office for verification. An incomplete grade (I) may be awarded when the instructor grants permission after determining that a student emergency may delay completion of coursework. Students who receive an incomplete grade should be capable of passing the course if they satisfactorily complete outstanding course requirements. To receive an incomplete grade, a student must file an Application for Incomplete Grade form with the Registrar’s Office that states the reasons for the request, outlines the work required to complete the course, and includes the course instructor’s signature. The instructor may stipulate the terms and conditions that apply to course completion; however, students may not attend the same course (or a portion of the same course) in a following term with an incomplete grade. The student must complete the outstanding work in enough time to allow evaluation of the work by the instructor and the filing of a grade before the final day of the following academic term in the student’s program. If the work is not completed by the specified date of the following academic term, the grade for the course becomes 0.0. Extension (X) Grades Internships, independent studies, and directed studies may sometimes last longer than one term. When this is the case, they must be completed by the grading deadlines within one year from the beginning of the first term of registration. A grade of X (extension) is given by the instructor to indicate that the study is extended. It is expected that students given X extensions will continue to communicate with their instructors and demonstrate that satisfactory progress is being maintained. A final grade will be issued at the end of the term in which the work is completed and evaluated (but not longer than one year). An instructor has the right to not grant an extension where satisfactory progress is not demonstrated. If the course is not completed, a grade of 0.0 will be assigned. Repeated Courses A course in which a grade of FN, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or N has been received may be repeated for credit. Courses in which higher grades have been earned may not be repeated for credit and a grade, but may be audited. All courses taken each term and grades earned, including W and N, will be recorded on the academic record. Only the credits and grades earned the second time, for legitimately repeated courses, are counted toward graduation and in the grade point average. Courses completed at Augsburg College must be repeated at Augsburg to be included in the repeat policy. Grade Point Average The grade point average (GPA) is based on final grades for all work at Augsburg. It does not include credit and grade points for work transferred from other colleges. Courses taken on the P/N grading option are recorded, but not computed in the GPA. The formula for computing the GPA is: GPA = Total grade points divided by number of credits attempted, i.e., courses with 0.0 to 4.0 grade assigned. Attendance Attendance and participation are critical to the success of any course. Evaluation of the level and quality of participation may be incorporated into the course grade. We view attendance as a joint commitment of both instructors and students to our professional development. Each instructor has the authority to specify attendance and participation requirements to address the needs of particular courses, individual students, or various learning styles. 27 Lack of attendance may result in a failing grade and the requirement to repeat the course. Students must notify the professor in advance of any expected absence. In the case of emergency, when prior notification is not possible, students must notify the professor of an absence as soon as possible. Non-Attendance/Non-Participation Attendance/participation in class is important for academic success and financial aid. Therefore, students are dropped for non-attendance/non-participation after the 10th business day of the term if reported by the instructor. Students are ultimately responsible for dropping classes if they no longer plan to attend/participate. Students who have been dropped and wish to re-enroll must submit and Academic/Financial Petition. Graduate Continuation Policy Students registering for the final project course must complete the Final Project Registration/Graduate Continuation Contract by the last day to add with faculty signature for a Full Semester class as noted on the Academic Calendar. Upon receipt of the contract, the Registrar’s Office will enroll the student in the Continuation Program for 7 semesters. Entry into the Continuation Program maintains students’ active status in the graduate program, including library and AugNet Services. If a grade is not received by the grading deadline of the 7th semester, the grade will change from X to N. Students who wish to complete the final project after receiving a failing grade must meet with the program director to evaluate readmission to the College and program. Students who are readmitted may need to complete additional coursework and will need to pay tuition and fees for any additional courses. If/when the final project course is completed, the new grade would replace the previous N grade. Students may withdraw from the College, and thus from the Continuation Program and the final project course, at any point during the continuation period and receive a W notation on the transcript for the final project course. Following a withdrawal, students are welcome to meet with the program director to evaluate readmission to the College and program. Students who are readmitted may need to complete additional coursework and will need to pay full tuition and fees for any additional courses. If/when the final project course is completed, the new grade would replace the previous W grade. Credit and Contact Hours Augsburg’s credit hour policy follows the federal guidelines in defining a semester credit hour as one fifty-minute period of instruction and 100 minutes of out-of-class work per week for fifteen weeks, or the equivalent amount of student work completed over a different time frame or via a different delivery method. All Augsburg programs follow the semester calendar with semester lengths from 14-16 weeks. Augsburg offers a summer semester which follows the same format as both fall and spring semester. Students must take at least 3 credits to be considered half-time, and 6 or more credits to be considered full-time. Students may take up to 22 credits. Degree Requirements To be conferred the graduate degree, all graduate students must achieve the following:    Successful completion of all required courses A cumulative GPA of 3.0; Physician Assistant students must consult the PA Program Progression Standards Policy. Successful completion of all degree requirements within the stipulated period of matriculation or a signed continuation agreement with Augsburg College. Probation and Dismissal Graduate students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average. If a student falls below a 3.0 average, the student will be placed on academic probation for the following term. A 3.0 cumulative grade point average must be 28 restored in order for a student to be removed from probation. Graduate students in the Physician Assistant must consult the PA Program Progression Standards Policy. A student whose GPA falls below the required GPA for his/her graduate program (3.0 in most programs) in two or more terms may be subject to probation or dismissal. A plan for the student to continue in the program may be worked out with the program director. Students may also be dismissed for violation of standards of behavior defined by their profession, their program, or the College. Dismissal Appeals Process A student may appeal a program’s dismissal decision using the College’s program dismissal appeals process. Appeals are limited to procedural errors that the student can demonstrate negatively affected the outcome. The student initiates the appeal process by submitting a hard copy of the statement of appeal to the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate Studies (AVP-Graduate Studies); email is not acceptable. The statement must identify each procedural error and state how each error negatively affected the outcome. The statement of appeal will be the only basis of the student’s appeal. The AVP-Graduate Studies must receive the student’s statement of appeal within 14 calendar days of the date on the department’s written notification of dismissal. The AVP-Graduate Studies will send a copy of the statement of appeal to the program chair/director. The program must submit a response to the student’s statement of appeal within 15 business days of the date that the statement was received by the AVP-Graduate Studies’ office. A hard copy of the program’s response should be submitted to the AVPGraduate Studies. The AVP-Graduate Studies will send a copy of the program’s response to the student. The AVP-Graduate Studies will convene the Program Dismissal Appeals Committee, which will include the AVP-Graduate Studies as a non-voting chair and three program faculty members (one from programs not named in the appeal: Business, Creative Writing, Education, Leadership, Nursing, Physician Assistant Studies, Social Work). The Program Dismissal Appeals Committee will schedule its hearing within 15 business days of receipt of the program’s statement of response. The Committee will meet with the student and a program representative to review the procedures and ask questions of both the student and the program representative. The student and program representative may each bring a third party to the review meeting (limited to an Augsburg College faculty member, staff member, or student). The role of the third party representative is to provide support to the student or the program representative, not to serve as an advocate during the meeting. Dropping or Withdrawing Courses may be dropped or withdrawn online through AugNet Records and Registration or with a Registration Form. To see the drop and withdrawal deadlines, see the Academic Calendar at www.augsburg.edu/registrar. Independent Study Students may request to complete an independent study course as an addition to the required coursework. A faculty sponsor is required for an independent study project, and project proposals must be approved by the program director in order to receive credit. Normally, independent study may not be used as a replacement for a standard course offered in the curriculum, with the exception of the general elective (if approved). A special independent study registration form is required and is available on the Registrar’s Office website. Term Off Students may take a term off for up to two semesters and have continued access to Augsburg e-mail and AugNet Services. If a student is not registered after 10th day of the third semester, the student’s file will be deactivated and the student will need to submit an Application for Readmission to re-enroll. 29 For an absence of any length, students should coordinate with their program director prior to leaving. Due to a variety of program schedules and cohorts for some degrees, it is required that students meet with their advisor and obtain the advice of their director. Evaluation of Transfer Credit Students may petition the program director for transfer credit to apply to program requirements. The transfer of credit will be evaluated on an individual basis. Students will be asked to provide appropriate documentation regarding previous coursework, including but not limited to an official transcript, course description, and syllabus. In order to be considered for transfer, a course must be from a regionally-accredited college or university institution and graded 3.0/B or better. Courses must have been taken at the graduate level and course content must be comparable to program requirements at Augsburg. The maximum number of semester credits that can be transferred is:          Master of Arts in Education (6) Master of Arts in Leadership (6) Master of Arts in Nursing (9) Master of Business Administration (18) Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (12) Master of Music Therapy (Contact program director) Master of Science, Physician Assistant Studies (Contact program coordinator) Master of Social Work (22) Doctor of Nursing Practice (Contact program director) Augsburg credits are calculated in semester hours. If you completed courses at other institutions that are quarter hours, they will be converted to semester hours. One quarter hour equates to two-thirds of a semester hour. Courses and credits that are accepted in transfer are recorded on the student’s transcript. Grades and grade points from other institutions are not transferred to Augsburg and are not included in the student’s cumulative grade point average. 30 Master of Arts in Education Augsburg has a long history in teacher education with alumni of our programs teaching throughout Minnesota and elsewhere. The Master of Arts in Education (MAE) program combines our excellent undergraduate licensure coursework with a master’s level coursework focused on teacher leadership, preparing teachers to serve K-12 students effectively and to nurture healthy change within schools and school systems. Our Philosophy The Education Department program themes include relationships, reflection and inquiry, diversity and equity, and leadership. One of these themes - leadership - is lived out within the MAE program. As this program theme suggests, we expect our students to leave our programs as responsive, knowledgeable teachers prepared to exercise leadership in the classroom and, eventually, the school and community. Our urban setting provides yet another dimension to our programs through a combination of course content, field experiences, and classroom instructors. Our goal is that students will leave our programs as collaborative and capable teachers committed to educating all learners in a diverse and changing world. Our Faculty Augsburg faculty members who teach in the MAE program are a mix of full-time and adjunct instructors, all of whom have K-12 teaching experience. Many adjunct instructors are currently teaching in K-12 settings; all full-time faculty members are frequent visitors to K-12 settings through student teaching and field experience supervision, volunteer work, and/or in-service education. We understand the importance of what we do and what you hope to do. We value good teaching and, most especially, we value good teachers. Our Accessibility We realize that although teaching is your dream, your reality most likely includes work, family, and personal responsibilities. Because we understand the demands adult students face, we offer flexible scheduling. A majority of licensure and graduate-level courses are taught in the evenings to allow you to manage these responsibilities while pursuing your goals. You will need to be available during the weekday for the challenge and responsibility of field experiences, but education coursework is accessible through the evening schedules*. As a student in Augsburg’s Master of Arts in Education licensure and degree program, you will find yourself among interesting students and dedicated professors who believe that all children deserve a good, highly-qualified teacher— the teacher you can become. *By the end of Spring 2015 our licensure programs will have been fully transitioned from a weekend to an evening schedule. New students will be in the evening program. For the time being, end of program MAE degree completion options will remain on the weekend schedule. Education Department Mission The mission of the Augsburg Education Department is to develop responsive, knowledgeable teachers committed to educating all learners in a diverse and changing world. Program Themes Responsive, knowledgeable teachers understand the dynamic interaction among relationships, reflection and inquiry, diversity and equity, and leadership. These four interrelated program themes provide lenses through which we filter our practice. 31 Relationships Learning is relational and communal. Responsive teachers create significant relationships with their students, colleagues, and community partners by developing learning communities. These nurturing learning communities provide safe, trustworthy places where challenging and engaging questions can be considered. We model the kinds of learning communities that we expect our graduates to create. We share with our students a learning model that connects content, theory, and practice in an ongoing cycle. Students and their learning are the focus for responsive teachers. Therefore we embrace and foster a progressive and constructivist orientation. Reflection and Inquiry Responsive teachers are reflective practitioners who are students of teaching and learning. Providing numerous frameworks through which to filter our experience encourages intentional and thoughtful inquiry. Through field placements, service learning, generative questions, and classroom experiences, students and faculty develop their perspectives about teaching and learning. Critical reflection allows us to examine content, theory, and practice in ways that transform our practice. We think it is important to understand and learn how to manage the many polarities inherent in the teaching and learning process. Diversity and Equity Responsive teachers embrace diversity and intentionally work to ensure that all learners, especially those who for some reason have been marginalized, learn and develop in powerful ways. We continually reflect on what it means to be a “school in the city.” We recognize that each student is unique, shaped by culture and experience; therefore, differentiating instruction is essential. The perspective of multiple intelligences, learning style theory and teaching for understanding help us differentiate and enable us to provide choice, variety, and flexibility. Responsive teachers believe that all students can learn. They also have a sense of efficacy and believe that they can help all students learn. Leadership Responsive teachers recognize that becoming a learning leader is a developmental process, which begins in pre-service education and continues throughout one’s career. Teachers serve as leaders within the classroom, and with experience, increased confidence, and professional development become leaders within the school, the district, and the community. Teacher leaders view themselves as lifelong learners. They become role models committed to their profession as a vocation rather than a job. Emerging teacher leaders keep student learning at the center of their work while advocating for instructional innovation, constructivist curricular development, and systemic change. Master of Arts in Education Conceptual Framework Teacher leadership is the theme that threads through our graduate licensure and degree completion program. The Augsburg Education Department believes that teachers are leaders in their classrooms and should be leaders in their institutions and communities. The leadership focus plays out in three ways. First, the additional work required in the graduate versions of the combined undergraduate/graduate courses focuses on providing graduate students the chance to exercise leadership as well as extend their knowledge beyond the basic requirements. Second, in the degree completion component, students are required to include coursework focused on leadership and study aspects of leadership as part of their degree program. Third, the final project—be it an action research, a leadership application project, or performance assessment —gives students the opportunity to study an issue of concern and, supported by research, define a means for addressing it. Three Teacher Leadership Aspirations inform our program. They are as follows: Aspiration 1: Teacher leaders value learning for personal and professional growth. Teacher leaders share knowledge effectively with colleagues. We believe that teacher leaders are comfortable with their knowledge and expertise, neither flaunting it nor hiding it, but sharing it with others generously. They work to build bridges with a full range of colleagues, but they don’t let recalcitrant colleagues stop their own development. They see learning as a continuous endeavor and seek it throughout their careers. 32 Aspiration 2: Teachers leaders think big—beyond the classroom to the broader context of education and community. We believe that teacher leaders see systems and the “big picture” and are able to put their classrooms, schools, and communities into a broader context. They understand the link between policies, politics, and education and participate in change efforts at the macro and micro levels. They seek to work with administrators to establish school and district policy that improves life for everyone. If this involves political action, they are prepared to engage in it. Teacher leaders also understand that teaching and learning are dynamic and that change within school systems is an ever-present phenomenon. They are informed decision-makers predisposed to take on the challenge of change when they think it benefits students, teachers, and/or community. Aspiration 3: Teacher leaders possess courage and an orientation to action. We believe that teacher leaders help others not be afraid. They are able to help people to take warranted risks and step outside their comfort zones. They have the courage to bring people together to see the bigger picture and then help people get there. Teacher leaders accept both power and accountability. They understand that responsibility without power diminishes potential for effectiveness. They believe that accountability is a fair trade for the power to take effective action. They operate from a foundation of self-efficacy. Program Overview The Master of Arts in Education (MAE) is designed to provide a teaching license as part of a master’s degree program. K12 initial teaching licenses offered at Augsburg include:   Elementary education (K-6), with or without a middle school content area endorsement in math, communication arts, social studies, or science. Subject matter courses for these endorsements may need to be taken in the weekday schedule or at a community college when unavailable through evening course work. Secondary education (5-12 and K-12) in social studies, communication arts/literature, visual arts, health, mathematics, music, and physical education, 9-12 in biology, chemistry, and physics, and 5-8 general science . Subject matter courses for these licenses may need to be taken in the weekday schedule or at a community college when unavailable through evening course work. Augsburg requires that at least two content area courses are taken at Augsburg. Teachers who are already licensed can work towards the MAE degree through the following four licensure endorsement options:   K-12 English as a Second Language K-12 Special Education: Academic Behavior Strategist All teachers seeking licensure through Augsburg must take and pass all tests required by the state of Minnesota for licensure. These include tests in basic skills, pedagogy and content area knowledge. Accreditations and Approvals Augsburg College Teacher Education programs are accredited and approved by:   National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Minnesota Board of Teaching. (MN BOT) Augsburg College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a complete list of Augsburg’s accreditations, approvals, and memberships, see the listing in the Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships section of this catalog. Program Structure The Master of Arts in Education (MAE) program is made up of a core of education licensure courses at the graduate level coupled with a degree completion option. Courses in the degree completion phase are drawn from the Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL) and graduate courses in education. Most students in the MAE program pursue a teaching license as part of their program plan. 33 The MAE degree is also open to students who do not want a teaching license but do want a background in education and leadership. See the MAE program director for details. The MAE degree requires ten or eleven Augsburg graduate level courses, depending on the degree completion option. In addition, several courses at the undergraduate level are required for licensure. Only courses taken at the graduate level apply towards the MAE degree. Credit MAE graduate level courses are offered for 3 semester credits. Each course is comprised of 37.5 instructional hours with the expectation of about 75 hours of independent study outside of class. Schedule The majority of the education courses in the MAE licensure and degree programs are offered through the AU evening schedule. Courses in this schedule meet face to face every other week with online instruction during the alternate weeks. A few education courses and many undergraduate content area courses are offered in a face to face, classroom based format, meeting weekly in the evenings. The MAL and education degree completion courses are offered primarily in a weekend schedule through a mix of face-to-face and online instruction. Summer session courses are offered primarily weekday evenings. Summer courses are offered in a mix of formats from all online to all face-to-face. The following teaching licenses are available almost entirely through the evening and summer schedule: elementary education, 5-12 social studies, 5-12 communication arts, K-12 art, K-12 special education, and K-12 English as a second language. Additional licenses in the following areas are available through a combination of weekday, weekday evening, summer schedules, and, occasional off-campus courses: biology, chemistry, health, mathematics, music, physical education, and physics. For these licenses, the education and degree completion courses are taken weekday evenings and summer while some, if not all, of the content area courses are taken during the weekday and/or off-campus. The weekday evening schedule is comprised of two semesters spread from early September through late April. In general, classes are held every other week, face to face with online instruction in the intervening week. The weekday schedule is also comprised of two semesters spread from early September through late April. Classes offered during the weekday meet one to three times per week. Classes offered jointly between weekday and weekend meet on a weekly basis in the evening. The official academic calendars can be found at www.augsburg.edu/registrar. Curriculum—Teaching Licenses K-6 Elementary Education This program is designed to prepare teachers for grades K-6. Optional endorsements in middle school specialty areas of math, science, social studies, and communication arts can be pursued along with or separately from the K-6 license. The teaching license and some endorsements are offered at both undergraduate and graduate levels through a mix of undergraduate courses and combined graduate and undergraduate courses. Graduate-level licensure coursework (500 and above) is available to students who already hold a bachelor’s degree and have been admitted to the MAE program. All of the following courses must be taken for K-6 elementary licensure. Up to seven courses may be taken at the graduate (500) level and applied toward the MAE degree. EDC 200/522 - Orientation to Education in an Urban Setting* EDC 206/566 - Diversity/Minnesota American Indians EDC 310/533 - Learning and Development in an Educational Setting* EDC 410/544 - Learners with Special Needs* EDC 490/580 - School and Society EED 225/524 - Foundations of Literacy EED 325/525 - K-6 Methods: Literacy* EED 350/550 - K-6 Methods: Math 34 EED 360/560 - K-6 Methods: Science To complete the license, the following undergraduate requirements must be completed: HPE 115 - Chemical Dependency Education EDC 220 - Educational Technology EED 326 - Elementary Reading K-6 Field Experience* (taken concurrently with EED 325/525) EED 311 - K-6 Methods: Health EED 312 - K-6 Methods: Physical Education EED 336 - Advanced Literacy Methods* EED 341 - K-6 Methods: Art EED 370 - K-6 Methods: Social Studies/Thematics EED 380 - Kindergarten Methods* EED 386 - K-6 Methods: Children’s Literature EED 481, 483, 485 - Student Teaching: Elementary K-6 EED 489 - Teacher Performance Assessment and Student Teaching Seminar *Field experience hours are required in these courses. Students spend 20 or more hours per term in field experiences. These experiences occur in K-6 classrooms during the weekday. If more than one course with field experience is taken in a given term, field experience requirements expand accordingly (i.e., two courses with 20 hours of field experience each require a total of 40 hours). Undergraduate Liberal Arts Requirements The number of supporting content area courses required for licensure depends upon the courses completed as part of the bachelor’s degree and/or other coursework. Requirements are determined by Minnesota licensure standards for specific college-level coursework in math, biology, physics, and earth science for all students seeking elementary licensure. Specific requirements are on file in the Education Department. Minnesota licensure standards allow for optional subject area endorsements in communication arts/literature, social studies, math, and science. Subject matter courses for these endorsements will be available through a combination of weekday, evening and off-campus courses. Specific requirements for these endorsements are on file in the Education Department. Previous coursework can be accepted into the licensure program if it meets Minnesota standards and if a grade of C or better was achieved. The Education Department and the content area departments determine the courses that are accepted. Transcripts, course descriptions, and course syllabi are used to make these determinations. Courses that are older than five years are judged on a case-by-case basis. Graduate coursework accepted into the licensure program is not automatically accepted into the MAE degree. The program has limits on the amount and type of courses that are accepted. Grades of B or better are required for transfer consideration. See the MAE program director for approval of graduate coursework accepted in transfer. K-12 and 5-12 Secondary Education K-12 and 5-12 licenses in several content areas are offered through a combination of graduate and undergraduate coursework. K-12 licenses prepare teachers to teach a content area across elementary, middle school, and high school. Licenses for grades 5- 12 prepare teachers to teach at the middle and high school levels. Graduate-level licensure coursework (500 and above) is available to students who already hold a bachelor’s degree and meet MAE admissions criteria. Subject matter courses in the following majors are offered on weekday evenings and summer: English, communications (for communication arts), art and selected social science courses. Students seeking 5–12 licensure in social studies must complete a broad-based core of courses in the social studies in addition to a social science major. Education courses for these licenses are also taken during weekday evenings and summer. The following content area majors are offered primarily or entirely through the weekday program: biology, chemistry, physics, health, physical education, music, and mathematics. Students seeking licensure in any of these areas typically will need to take additional content courses in the weekday schedule and off-campus. Students can obtain a 9-12 license 35 in physics, chemistry, or biology and have the option of adding the 5–8 general science to the 9-12 license. Students also can obtain the 5–8 general science license without the 9–12 license. Education courses for these licenses are taken during weekday evenings. Licensure Requirements The following requirements are offered at both the undergraduate and graduate level. All courses must be taken for licensure; four to seven of them also may be taken at the graduate level and applied toward the master’s degree in education. EDC 200/522 - Orientation to Education in an Urban Setting* EDC 206/566 - Diversity/Minnesota American Indians EDC 310/533 - Learning and Development in an Educational Setting* EDC 410/544 - Learners with Special Needs* EDC 490/580 - School and Society ESE 325/525 - Creating Learning Environments ESE 300/500 - Reading and Writing in Content Area* To complete the license, students also will need to complete the following requirements at the undergraduate level: HPE 115 - Chemical Dependency Education EDC 220 - Educational Technology ESE 3XX - K-12 or 5-12 Methods (in the content area)* ESE 481, 483, 485 - Student Teaching: Secondary ESE 489 - Teacher Performance Assessment and Student Teaching Seminar *Field experience hours are required in these courses. A minimum of 100 hours in classrooms and education-related settings is required prior to student teaching. Students spend approximately 20 hours per term in field experiences. Undergraduate Content Area Requirements The equivalent of a major in the licensure content area is required for K-12 and 5-12 licenses. Students who have majored in a field in which we offer licensure must have their previous coursework evaluated by the major department at Augsburg. Two or more content area courses tied to Minnesota licensure standards are generally required, even with a completed academic major. Previous coursework is evaluated by the content area department and accepted if it meets Minnesota licensure standards and if a grade of C or better was achieved. Coursework older than five years is judged on a case-by-case basis. Specific course requirements for each content area are on file in the Education Department. Graduate coursework accepted into the licensure program is not automatically accepted into the MAE degree program. See the MAE program director for approval to use graduate level transfer courses in the degree program. Special Education Augsburg College offers licensure in K–12 Special Education: Academic Behavioral Strategist (ABS). This program qualifies students to teach in special education programs and positions working with students with mild to moderate disabilities in the areas of emotional/behavioral disabilities, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disabilities, developmental and cognitive disabilities and other health disabilities. This program is built on an inclusive education model. Under this model, students learn how to work closely with both special and general educators to facilitate inclusion of special education students into the regular education classroom. Five years after being licensed, teachers must extend their license in one of the above categories through additional coursework. Also available is the Naadamaadiwin Tribal Special Education Cohort (temporarily suspended for 2016)—this graduate licensure program in Special Education: EBD/LD is designed and taught from an American Indian perspective. It is offered in collaboration with the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a hybrid (partly face-to-face and partly online) cohort program. The licensure courses can be applied towards the MAE degree. See the Education Department and for more information. The ABS licensure program is offered through weeknight and summer schedules. The Naadamaadiwin 36 Tribal Special Education Cohort program is offered primarily online with weekend sessions at the beginning and end of each semester. Licensure Requirements Licensure requirements are offered at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Classes will include both undergraduate and graduate students, with graduate students having additional course responsibilities. Graduate courses are taken at the 500 level. All courses must be taken for licensure, and up to seven courses may also be applied toward the master’s degree in education. The following courses for the ABS license are offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels: EDC 200/522 - Orientation to Education in an Urban Setting* EDC 206/566 - Diversity/Minnesota American Indians EDC 310/533 - Learning and Development in an Educational Setting* EDC 410/544 - Learners with Special Needs* EED 225/524 - Foundations of Literacy EED 325/525 - K-6 Methods: Literacy* EED 350/550 - K–6 Methods: Math* EED 360/560 - K–6 Methods: Science* SPE 410/510 - Implementing Assessment Strategies* SPE 411/511 - Etiology and Theory of Mild to Moderate Disabilities SPE 415/515 - Theory to Practice* SPE 425/525 - Transition and Community* SPE 430/530 - Instructional and Behavioral Practices* SPE 490/540 - Parent and Professional Planning To complete the ABS license students will also need to complete certain requirements at the undergraduate level: HPE 115 - Chemical Dependency Education MAT 137 - Mathematics for Elementary Teachers I EDC 220 - Education Technology EDC 330 and 332 - Building the Public Good: Public Achievement and Organizing EDC 331 and 333 - Practicum in Public Achievement EED 326 - Elementary Reading K-6 Field Experience* (taken concurrently with EED 325/525) SPE 481,483 - Student Teaching: Elementary Special Education SPE 485, 487 - Student Teaching: Secondary Special Education SPE 489 - Teacher Performance Assessment and Student Teaching Seminar *Field experience required as part of this course. This program is based on an innovative internship model that allows students employed in special education classrooms to fulfill a portion of their special education field experience requirements while they work. Students not employed in these settings are expected to complete a significant number of volunteer hours in special education settings. All must complete field placements or student teaching in classrooms serving these populations. Hours must be completed across elementary, middle school, and high school and include experiences with the five areas of disability that are part of this license. Specific information on field experience requirements is available from the Education Department. Licensure Requirements—EBD/LD–Naadamaadiwin Special Education Tribal Cohort This program is available only at the graduate level. Courses are taught in a hybrid fashion, partially face-to-face and partially online. Courses are available only to those admitted to the special education tribal cohort program. (Temporarily suspended, 2015) SPE 501 - Historical and Contemporary Issues in American Indian Education SPE 503 - Assessment of American Indian Learners SPE 504 - Working with American Indian Families and Communities SPE 505 - The Manifestation of Multigenerational Trauma and Internalized Oppression 37 SPE 506 - Indigenous Learners SPE 507 - Indigenous Methods of Instruction: Practical Application SPE 508 - Professional Issues and Development SPE 509 - Literacy Instruction for American Indian Learners with Exceptionalities SPE 481, 483 - Student Teaching: Elementary Special Education SPE 485, 487 – Student Teaching: Secondary Special Education K-12 English as a Second Language (ESL) License The K-12 English as a Second Language license is available as an initial license as well as an endorsement to an existing license. This license qualifies teachers to work with K-12 students for whom English is a second language across a range of subject areas. The K-12 ESL licensure program is comprised of both undergraduate and graduate courses; up to seven of the graduate courses can apply to the completion of the MAE degree. Graduate-level licensure coursework (500 and above) is available to students who already hold a bachelor’s degree and have been admitted to the MAE program. A pre-requisite to program admissions is two years of high school level or one year of college level language instruction. The K-12 ESL program is offered in a hybrid format which means that courses are a mix of face to face and online instruction. Classes are offered during the academic year in the evening semester framework and during summer session to make them accessible to working adults. This license is also offered as an undergraduate major to Augsburg Undergraduate (AU) students seeking a baccalaureate degree. The following requirements are offered at both the undergraduate and graduate level. All courses must be taken for licensure, and up to seven also may be taken at the graduate level and applied toward the master’s degree in education. EDC 200/522 - Orientation to Education in an Urban Setting* EDC 206/566 - Diversity/MN American Indians EDC 310/533 - Learning and Development in an Educational Setting* EDC 410/544 - Learners with Special Needs* EED 325/525 - K-6 Methods: Literacy* ESE 325/525 - Creating Learning Environments* ESL 330/510 - History and Structure of the English Language ESL 340/520 - ESL Literacy* ESL 490/530 - Language, Culture, and Schools ESL 420/540 - ESL Methods* To complete the license, students also will need to complete the following requirements at the undergraduate level: HPE 115 - Chemical Dependency Education EDC 220 - Educational Technology EED 326 - Elementary Reading K-6 Field Experience (taken concurrently with EED 325/525) ESL 310 - Second Language Acquisition ESL 320 - Introduction to Linguistics ESL 410 - ESL Testing and Evaluation ESL 481, 483 - Student Teaching: Elementary ESL 485, 487 - Student Teaching: Secondary ESL 489 - Teacher Performance Assessment and Student Teaching Seminar *This course has a 20 hour field experience attached to it. Student Teaching Students are required to complete student teaching for initial and additional licenses (unless otherwise indicated). In the MAE program, student teaching is generally completed before finishing the degree. Students can apply for licensure at this point and finish the degree later. Student teaching for elementary, secondary, and K-12 initial licenses lasts 12-14 weeks, depending on licensure scope. During that time, students work full-time as student teachers and are supervised by an Augsburg faculty member. Students register for eight to twelve semester credits of student teaching and a two 38 semester credit edTPA and student teaching seminar. They meet at Augsburg College for student teaching seminars several times during the term. Most student teaching placements are in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area and Rochester. However, students do have the opportunity to student teach abroad, where students complete a 10-week student teaching experience in the metro area and then complete another student teaching experience abroad. Opportunities to teach abroad are available around the world, and it is a wonderful way to build a global perspective in education. Additional information is available through the Education Department. Curriculum—Graduate Degree Completion Options Students take graduate coursework as part of the licensure program. This coursework forms the Master of Arts in Education licensure core, with between four to seven Augsburg graduate-level licensure courses fulfilling master’s requirements. Students bringing fewer than seven graduate-level licensure courses or 21 semester credits into the degree program must complete additional Master of Arts in Leadership (ML) or education graduate courses to reach the required 30-33 semester credits for the MAE degree. To finish out the master’s degree, students will need to complete one of the following options. Action Research Degree Completion Option (Minimum 30 credits) This degree completion option requires a minimum of three classes totaling at least nine semester credits: a Master of Arts in Leadership (ML) elective, EDC 592 Action Research 1, and EDC 593 Action Research 2. The action research courses guide the student through completion of a long-term action research project, typically conducted in the student’s classroom and focused on a question or concern identified by the student. The research is presented at an action research symposium and a formal written report of the research is placed in Lindell Library. The coursework for action research is designed to be completed in two semesters; the project itself is done once the research is presented at an action research symposium and the paper is accepted for placement in Lindell Library. Additional terms beyond those in which the courses are completed are available through continuing registration for up to 12 semesters at no further charge. Leadership Application Project (LAP) Degree Completion Option (Minimum 30 credits) This degree completion option requires a minimum of three classes totaling at least nine semester credits: an ML elective, EDC 514 – Research Methods - Education focus or ML 514 - Evaluating Empirical Research and EDC 585 Leadership Application Project. Students electing this degree completion option do so because they are interested in developing an educational product that meets an identified need.   The goal for those developing an educational product is to identify an issue or problem related to their practice, and after researching available literature, develop a solution to the problem or issue. The solution might be developed in the form of a curriculum, a workshop, a set of informational materials, a website, an article for publication or other appropriate educational product. This option is completed with a final oral presentation and placement of the final paper in the Lindell Library. Additional terms beyond those in which the courses are completed are available through continuing registration for up to 12 semesters at no further charge. Performance Assessment/Teacher Leadership Degree Completion Option (Minimum 33 credits) This degree completion option focuses on the theme of the MAE degree program - teacher leadership - and requires a minimum of the following four classes: One ML leadership-focused course EDC 570 - Teacher Leadership EDC 514 - Research Methods (ML 514 can be substituted if necessary) EDC 594 - Performance Assessment Project Students electing this degree completion option do so because they are especially interested in considering leadership within the context of education and themselves as potential change agents. EDC 594 must be taken as the last course in this sequence. Students finish their degree through this option with the successful completion of these four classes. 39 Alternate Settings—MAE in Rochester In step with Augsburg College’s excellent reputation in the field of education, the Master of Arts in Education program is also offered in Rochester, MN. Licenses are available in elementary education and special education: ABS. Classes primarily meet weekday evenings and summer at Bethel Lutheran Church in Rochester. Elementary education The K-6 elementary education license allows students to teach in grade K-6. Augsburg College offers this license at the graduate level to students who already hold a bachelor’s degree and meet admissions requirements. Courses for this license are available in Rochester. Special education The K-12 Academic Behavior Specialist (ABS) program is designed for students currently working with or planning to work with students with mild to moderate special needs. The program leads to Minnesota teaching licensure in special education and the ability to work with students whose special needs are categorized as EBD, LD, DCD, ASD, and/or OHI. All courses for these licenses are available in Rochester. The Performance Assessment degree completion option is offered in Rochester as needed, typically every other year. MAL Elective Courses At least one elective must be taken from the Master of Arts in Leadership courses. The following are recommended, but others may also be used. Course descriptions can be found in the MAL portion of the graduate catalog. ML 510 - Visions of Leadership: A Historical and Literary Journey ML 511 - Creativity and the Problem-Solving Process ML 520 – Self-Identity and Values: Keys to Authentic Leadership ML 530 - Ethics in Communication ML 531 - The Dynamics of Change ML 545 - Decision Making and Leadership ML 550 - Communication, Decision Making, and Technology ML 560 - Cultural Competence and Effective Leadership ML 565 - Women and Leadership ML 599 - Topics For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Admission to MAE Admission Requirements Students admitted into the MAE licensure and degree programs must have:   Bachelor’s degree from a regionally-accredited four-year institution Cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher (required for full admission for the graduate licensure option and degree program). Students with a cumulative grade point average of 2.5-2.99 may be admitted conditionally into the graduate licensure program. To be admitted to the MAE degree completion program, all students must have a 3.0 or better Augsburg GPA. Application Checklist The following items must be sent to the Augsburg Office of Admissions:  Completed application form - www.augsburg.edu/mae 40    $35 non-refundable application fee Personal summary outlining your tentative educational objectives and reasons for wanting to attend Augsburg Official academic transcripts from all previously attended post-secondary institutions (including colleges, universities, vocational/technical schools, and PSEO institutions) sent directly to the Admissions Office. Admission as an International Student International applicants must submit the required application materials listed above. Refer to the additional requirements outlined in Admission of International Students. Transfer Policy Acceptance of previous education coursework completed at institutions other than Augsburg College is limited. Most courses that have not been completed in the last seven years are considered to be too old to transfer and need to be completed as part of one’s program at Augsburg. EDC 310/533 - Learning and Development, EDC 220 - Education Technology, and ESE 3XX - K-12/5-12 Special Methods in Content Area are courses which may have a shorter acceptance time frame. Additional information on the transfer policy is available through the Education Department. Credit Evaluation: An official transfer credit evaluation of previous academic work will be completed as part of the admissions process. Education coursework is evaluated by the Education Department. For secondary licenses, content area coursework is evaluated by the content area department. This process is initiated as part of the admissions process. Generally, the requirement for secondary licensure is that two or more classes in the content area must be taken at Augsburg, even with an undergraduate major in the field. In all cases, previous undergraduate courses must have received a grade of C or better to be eligible for transfer. Previous graduate coursework must have received a grade of B or better to be considered. Acceptance into the MAE Program Application files are reviewed by the MAE director. Applicants are notified of the admission decision by the Office of Admissions, usually within one to two weeks after the application file is complete. Applicants whose cumulative undergraduate GPA is below 2.5 will not be admitted into the MAE program; however, these applicants can be reconsidered when additional undergraduate coursework raises the cumulative undergraduate GPA to 2.5 or above. An exception to this occurs when the applicant has completed an advanced degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. Under these circumstances, the applicant can be considered for full admission into the MAE degree and licensure programs. Advising and Registration Admitted students are able to participate in academic advising and the registration process. Typically, first-term registration occurs with intake advising. After the first term, students generally are able to register online through Records and Registration. All students are assigned an Education Department advisor early in the first semester of courses. Academic Policies Application to the Education Department Once accepted to the College and the MAE program, students may take designated courses in education and content areas. Prior to beginning the methods courses within a program, students must be admitted to the Education Department. This admissions process is outlined in the EDC 200/522 - Orientation to Education and in admissions handbooks, which are available through the Education Department. Academic Achievement All MAE students are expected to achieve and maintain 3.0 or better GPA in their Augsburg course work. Students whose cumulative GPA falls between 2.5 and 2.99 at the end of their licensure program are able to complete the license 41 but are not eligible for the degree. Students with cumulative GPA’s below 2.5 may not student teach and are subject to academic probation and possible dismissal. In all cases, a cumulative GPA on the Augsburg graduate transcript must be at 3.0 or better to be admitted to the degree completion component of the MAE degree. Students who are ready to begin the degree completion component must file an Intent to Complete form (available through the MAE coordinator) at which point a transcript review is completed to confirm the 3.0 or better GPA and to determine the completed courses that apply to the degree and the courses that remain. Minimum Grade Policy Students who fail to maintain a cumulative 2.5 GPA in a given term are notified that they must raise their GPA to the required level. Students who receive below a 2.0 in any undergraduate course or 2.5 in any graduate course required for licensure are expected to repeat the course as soon as possible and raise the grade to the appropriate level. Dismissal from Licensure and Degree Program Students may be dismissed from the licensure program prior to and during student teaching for failure to maintain appropriate academic and teaching-based performance standards, for gross violation of College policy, and/or for conduct in violation of professional ethics. Dismissal occurs within the context of established department procedures described in the Education Department Handbook available through the Education Department. Students have the right to appeal dismissal from the licensure program on the grounds of procedural error, using the College’s program dismissal appeals process. Information about the program dismissal appeals process is available in the Augsburg Student Guide. Students who fail to complete the license may have the option to finish the degree. Fieldwork Requirements Fieldwork experiences are tied to several licensure courses. In most cases, these experiences are conducted within a service-learning framework, providing service to the school and classroom while also providing students’ opportunities for focused reflection linked back to course objectives. In general, students should plan for a minimum of 20 hours field experience per term. When multiple courses with field experience are taken in the same term, the requirements expand accordingly. Students in field experiences are evaluated by their host K-12 teachers on the basis of criteria drawn from the Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice. Evaluations are kept in the students’ Education Department files and used in decisions regarding progress through the program and student teaching. A full description of field experience requirements is available in the Education Department Handbook. Readmission and Withdrawal Students in good standing who fail to register for courses for two terms (not including summer) are withdrawn from the MAE program. To be readmitted to the College and the MAE program, students file a Readmission form through the Registrar’s Office. Program Costs In addition to tuition, students in this program can expect to pay a data maintenance fee upon admission to the department, as well as liability insurance at the student rate during student teaching and the cost of a background check for licensure and, possibly, field experience. In addition, optional international travel courses have associated costs above and beyond the charge for tuition. Full-time Faculty Joseph A. Erickson, Professor of Education. BA, MA, College of St. Thomas; MA, Luther-Northwestern Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Minnesota. Margaret J. Finders, Associate Professor of Education. BA, University of Iowa; MA, University of Iowa; PhD, University of Iowa. 42 Jeanine Gregoire, Associate Professor of Education. BS, MA, PhD, University of Minnesota. Audrey Lensmire, Assistant Professor of Education. BA Indiana University; MAT National Louis University; PhD University of Minnesota. Rachel M. Lloyd, Assistant Professor of Education. BS, Carleton College; MA, University of Minnesota; PhD, University of Minnesota. Susan O’Connor, Associate Professor of Education. BS, University of Minnesota; MS, PhD, Syracuse University. Donna Patterson, Assistant Professor of Education. BA, MEd, University of Minnesota. Christopher Smith, Assistant Professor of Education. BS Purdue University; MS Purdue University; PhD University of Minnesota. Jennifer Diaz, Assistant Professor of Education. B.S. Elementary Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. M.S. Curriculum and Instruction, Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 43 Master of Arts in Leadership MAL Mission The purpose of the Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL) program is to develop leaders for organizations, the community, and society. Organizations seek leaders who possess:      An ethically and morally responsible vision An understanding of how change occurs and how it can be managed A sensitivity to the complex problems of organizations and an ability to find solutions consistent with their mission Cultural competence and sensitivity to the needs of a diverse population The ability to inspire and motivate people to work toward a common goal The Augsburg leadership development model provides a framework through which the program recruits its students and develops their skills. Program Overview The study of leadership is central to Augsburg College. The College mission statement says, “Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.” The Master of Arts in Leadership is quintessentially Augsburg. The integrated liberal arts perspective on leadership education is what we think of as the “Augsburg difference.” The Master of Arts in Leadership is the core program of Augsburg’s Center for Leadership Studies (CLS). Developed and launched in 1987, it is Augsburg’s oldest graduate degree and one of the oldest leadership graduate degrees in the United States. The program responds to the leadership development needs of both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. MAL has a deep theoretical base in leadership studies, yet also offers its students practical approaches to leadership that can be applied in the workplace and society. Leadership Development Model The MAL program promotes leadership as a process that:    Inspires cooperation among people who must compete for limited resources Promotes productivity within and beyond the organization Works toward progress for the individual and the organization To accomplish this, individuals aspiring to positions of leadership must possess three key attributes: a sense of vision, the ability to persuade, and the ability to direct action. Underlying these attributes are abilities and awareness, outlined in the Leadership Development Model, which serve as specific outcomes for the MAL program. Augsburg’s model of leadership development is designed to assess, promote, enhance, and refine these capabilities within the individual. Learning Goals and Outcomes The MAL program is designed to support students in developing the knowledge and skills to:       Explore the nature and practice of leadership in a wide variety of dynamic organizational and community settings Develop a personal understanding and philosophy of leadership Aspire to be responsible leaders who are informed citizens, critical thinkers, and thoughtful stewards Enhance knowledge of self and the capacity to be reflective learners Analyze and navigate increasingly complex changing environments Formulate and articulate a shared vision in order to inspire others to achieve desired goals 44 MAL Courses Each course encourages pursuit of the designated outcomes and uses a variety of learning techniques appropriate to adult learners. Instructional techniques include case studies, debate, written and oral presentations, and group activity. These techniques develop targeted leadership abilities and understanding. Students are encouraged to see abilities and understandings as cross-disciplinary and to view content areas as integrated. The program reflects the view that the world in which we operate is complex and that dealing with it successfully requires well-developed integrative abilities. Plan of Study Accommodating the Full-Time Work Schedule Designed to meet the needs and preferences of working adults, the MAL program is based on the assumption that the students who enroll are career-oriented, self-disciplined, and well-motivated individuals seeking a balance of classroom experience, group interaction, and individual study. Courses are organized as seminars with the opportunity for discussion and dialogue. The program features classes taught by faculty from multiple disciplines and offers two formats to allow students to choose the option that works best for them. Both formats offer a combination of classroom and online learning styles in different proportions. The classic classroom format emphasizes face-to-face instruction augmented by online work. The integrated hybrid format combines online and intensive learning experiences with occasional sessions in a traditional classroom setting. Two Convenient Formats: Classic Classroom and Integrated Hybrid Cohort Overview of Classic Classroom Format For nearly 30 years, our classic classroom format has featured a flexible choice model that allows students to select courses that focus on individual goals, interests, and learning style. Students can also determine the pace at which they move through the program. This format offers numerous electives and allows for individualized studies. Some online work is incorporated into this format. Schedule During fall and spring semesters, classes usually meet every other Saturday morning or afternoon for four hours. Additional instruction time is provided online. Seven Saturday sessions are included in one semester. Some select classes meet on Monday evenings. Students can take a combination of Saturday and Monday courses. A sample class schedule in the classic classroom format: Period I Saturday 8:00 am to 12:00 pm Period II Saturday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm Period III Weeknights 6:00 pm to 9:45 pm Note: Each class taken commits a student to Period I, Period II, or Period III, an average of two meetings a month. A few courses are taught on an immersion model, which features fewer but longer sessions. The MAL program also offers summer semester courses in seven-week, fourteen-week, or special immersion formats. Most summer semester courses meet on weeknights from 6:00 pm to 9:45 pm rather than on Saturdays. Curriculum Four core courses: ML 505 - Foundations of Leadership ML 514 - Evaluating Empirical Research ML 580 - Colloquium on Contemporary Theories of Leadership 45 ML 585 - Integrating the Theory and Practice of Responsible Leadership (Capstone Course) Seven electives, selected from more than 20 offerings* *Students may petition the program to do a thesis in place of two of the elective courses. Students who do the thesis are required to develop and carry out an in-depth study of some aspect of leadership or of a leadership-related topic and register for ML 592 Thesis Consultation I and ML 593 Thesis Consultation II. Students electing to write a thesis are still required to take ML 585 to complete the program. Elective courses for the Classic Classroom format The MAL program requires that seven elective courses be selected from the following course list. All courses are 3 semester credits: ML 510 - Visions of Leadership ML 511 - Creativity and the Problem-Solving Process ML 520 - Self-Identity and Values: Keys to Authentic Leadership ML 527 - Spirituality and Leadership in the Workplace ML 530 - Ethics in Communication ML 531 - The Dynamics of Change ML 535 - Organization Theory and Leadership ML 536 - Facilitating Organizational Change ML 538 - Communication Skills for Leadership ML 539 - Communicating a Self in the Modern Organization ML 540 - Political Leadership: Theory and Practice ML 545 - Decision Making and Leadership ML 548 - Coaching and Consulting ML 550 - Communication, Decision Making, and Technology ML 553 - Design and Leadership ML 557 - Language of Leadership ML 560 - Cultural Competence and Effective Leadership ML 563 - Leadership in a Global Society ML 565 - Women and Leadership ML 570 - Negotiation: Theory and Practice ML 574 - Strategic Leadership ML 575 - Constructive Conflict Resolution ML 576 - Leading Innovation ML 577 - Universal Responsibility and Leadership: A Nicaraguan Experience ML 598 - Independent Study ML 599 - Topics Overview of Integrated Hybrid Cohort Format A combination of online, classroom, and experiential learning The integrated hybrid model is completed in two years with a combination of intensive face-to-face sessions and online coursework. Students complete the program with a cohort of peers representing many different perspectives. Students learn from each other and build relationships that will provide support throughout the program and a valuable network for the future. Schedule After starting with a five-day summer experience, classes meet on a semester schedule September through mid-April (fall and spring semesters) and mid-May through mid-August (summer semester). Coursework will be online and supported by three on-campus class sessions per term. 46 Curriculum *ML 505 - Foundations of Leadership ML 512 - Responsible Leadership for the 21st Century (Intensive) *ML 514 - Evaluating Empirical Research ML 520 - Self-Identity and Values: Keys to Authentic Leadership ML 535 - Organization Theory and Leadership ML 553 - Design and Leadership ML 563 - Leadership in a Global Society ML 574 - Strategic Leadership ML 577 - Universal Responsibility and Leadership: A Nicaraguan Experience (or alternative elective) *ML 580 - Colloquium of Contemporary Theories of Leadership *ML 585 - Integrating the Theory and Practice of Responsible Leadership (Capstone Course) * Core courses offered in the integrated hybrid format (required for all students) A sequenced list of seven electives is prepared for each cohort. In the cohort program, students complete 11 courses, including a capstone course (ML 585). MBA/MAL Dual Degree The dual degree program takes advantage of the intellectual benefits of studying business administration and leadership in a coordinated program. It leverages Augsburg’s long tradition of graduate leadership training via the MA in Leadership with the robust demand for business education through our MBA program. The dual degree provides students with the leadership skills needed to run a business and, at the same time, helps them develop the comprehensive outlook they need to thrive in today’s interconnected world. A minimum of 18 Augsburg courses completes the MBA/MA in Leadership dual degree, including at least 7 MBA courses and 7 MA in Leadership courses. The following dual degree program requirements must be met. 7 courses are required from MBA courses:  MBA 510 – Applied Managerial Economics  MBA 520 – Accounting for Business Managers  MBA 530 – Managerial Finance  MBA 540 – Business and Professional Ethics  MBA 550 – Marketing Management  MBA 570 – Quantitative Decision Making for Managers  MBA 580 – Management Consulting Project 4 core courses are required from MA in Leadership courses with 3 MAL elective courses:  ML 505 – Foundations of Leadership  ML 514 – Evaluating Empirical Research  ML 580 – Colloquium on Contemporary Theories of Leadership  ML 585 -- Integrating the Theory and Practice of Responsible Leadership  ML Electives (3) Three Focus Area Courses Students will choose one course from each of the focus areas: Focus Area #1: Organizational Development  MBA 545 – Organizational Behavior  ML 535 – Organization Theory and Leadership 47  Director approved course with organizational development focus Focus Area #2: Global/Multicultural Perspective  MBA 565 – Managing in a Global Environment  ML 560 – Cultural Competence and Effective Leadership  ML 563 – Leadership in a Global Society  Director approved course with global/multicultural focus Focus Area #3: Strategic Leadership  MBA 595 – Strategic Management  ML 574 – Strategic Leadership  Director approved course with strategic leadership focus One Additional Elective Course Elective course may be taken in either MBA or MA in Leadership Program Admission to the Dual Degree Program Admission for the dual degree program is handled on a “rolling” basis and requires applicants to hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited four-year college or university. Official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions are required as well as a current résumé and two recommendations. An interview with the program director is also part of the admissions process. Although we do accept the GMAT and GRE, we also offer candidates an alternative math and writing profile assessment entitled the Individual Learning Profile (ILP) which provides a picture of candidate’s math and writing (verbal) competency detailing strengths and areas of improvement. The profile is not an admissions screening instrument and will be used as a platform to develop a skills improvement plan for students should they need it. Earning the dual degree during or after the MBA or MA in Leadership program Students who are currently enrolled in the MBA or MA in Leadership program or alumni who wish to return to Augsburg may add the dual degree to their existing degree by completing most of the same requirements listed on the front of this page. Students may use previously completed application pieces and coursework to help meet these requirements. Returning students may complete an abbreviated application form after consultation with the MBA or ML program director. Upon entering the MBA program, a quantitative online profile assessment must also be taken. This is used as a platform to enhance skills, if needed. Students with an MA in Leadership who wish to add the dual degree will take a minimum of 7 required MBA courses. Students will complete one course in each of the 3 focus areas if they did not complete these courses during their MAL program. Each student’s program will be slightly different based on their prior course selections. Students with an MBA will complete 4 required and 3 elective MA in Leadership courses. Students will need to complete one course in each of the 3 focus areas if they did not complete these courses during their MBA program. Each student’s program will be slightly different based on their prior course selections. Students in both programs will meet individually with the program directors to determine whether their completed final project meets the criteria aligned with the dual degree final project. Directors may ask that the project be modified or added to or ask the student to complete another project. These decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. The Graduate Certificate in Leadership Studies The certificate program is an attractive option for people who want to develop their leadership skills without undertaking a full degree program. A certificate is awarded after completion of three Augsburg MAL courses in leadership. Students pursuing this option take ML 505 - Foundations of Leadership and two additional electives. All three 48 courses may count toward an MA in leadership. No more than one course may be double counted in another Augsburg graduate degree program. The normal application process is used for students who wish to pursue the certificate. Joint BA in Accounting and Master of Arts in Leadership A BA in Accounting and an MA in Leadership (MAL) can be earned in this five-year program designed for students who wish to qualify for CPA certification and obtain a master’s degree. By the end of the fifth year and successful completion of all requirements, the student receives both a BA in Accounting and an MA in Leadership and will have fulfilled the 150-hour requirement to qualify for the CPA certification. The MAL program offers a large number of courses on a Saturday and weeknight schedule. Refer to the MAL program schedule for the list of courses each year and to the accounting program coordinator for a detailed academic plan. Students should meet with both the MAL director and an accounting advisor to create an effective plan for successful completion of the five-year program. General Requirements for the Accounting/MAL Program Accounting students planning to pursue the five-year degree must apply for admission to the MAL program at the end of their junior year. The application process includes submission of:       Completed application form Two letters of recommendation (one from a professor and one from an employer) Personal statement Example of applicant’s writing in an academic paper GPA of at least 3.30 Interview with the Director of the MAL program Students must also have faculty endorsement from the Accounting program. Students must complete at least one year of accounting work experience (either a job or internship) by the time they graduate from the MAL program. Program Coordinator: Professor Stu Stoller. For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Admission to the Master of Arts in Leadership Program Admission Requirements Applicants to the program must have:           Bachelor’s degree from a regionally-accredited, four-year college or university Minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 and a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 for graduate courses completed at an accredited college or university. Should an applicant not meet the minimum admission requirements, a conditional admission may be possible as decided on a case-by-case basis. Applicants to the program must have two years of experience (or equivalent) with one or more organizations in a position of leadership or position demonstrating leadership potential. Applicants holding a master’s or other advanced degrees from accredited colleges or universities are admissible. Decisions about admission to the program will be made on an individual basis by the MAL Admissions Committee. Admission is handled on a “rolling” basis, with students admitted at the beginning of the fall, spring, and summer terms. Selection of candidates will be made on the basis of an evaluation of each applicant’s: Previous college record Letters of recommendation Experience and organizational background Written statement Interview, if requested 49 Application Checklist The following materials must be submitted to the Office of Admissions:         Completed application form $35 non-refundable application fee (waived if online application is used) A 1-3 page statement relating the applicant’s career and life goals to leadership aspirations Recommendation letter from an immediate supervisor, assessing leadership potential Recommendation letter from a work colleague (at the same level) describing the applicant’s work style and leadership potential Official transcripts from all undergraduate institutions attended, listing all courses taken and any degree(s) conferred Official transcripts from all graduate institutions attended, listing courses taken and degree(s) conferred, if any. Résumé Applicants may be asked to participate in an interview with graduate program faculty and/or staff members. For further information, contact: Office of Admissions, 612-330-1101, gradinfo@augsburg.edu or www.augsburg.edu/mal. Admission as an International Student International applicants must submit the required application materials listed above. Refer to the additional requirements outline in Admission of International Students in the Graduate Admissions section. Academic Policies Academic Evaluation Courses not offered on the numbered grading system are noted in the course descriptions in this catalog as being graded on P/N basis. In order to receive a grade of P, a student must achieve at least a grade of 3.0. No more than two courses with a grade below 3.0 will count toward the degree. No more than two courses with a grade of or below 2.5 can be repeated. Only the credits and grades earned the second time are counted in the grade point average. Any course with a grade of 2.0 or lower will be transcribed as 0.0 academic credit. In order to graduate, a student must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. All required courses and the final projects must be successfully completed. A student registered for a final course may be permitted to participate in commencement but will not receive a diploma until all courses are successfully completed. Academic Probation and Dismissal Policies Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average. If a student falls below a 3.0 average, the student will be placed on probation for the following term. A 3.0 cumulative grade point average must be restored in order for a student to be removed from probation. If a student receives a grade of N or 0.0 in a course, the student must petition successfully with the MAL director before being allowed to continue in the program. A plan for the student to follow would be outlined at that time. If a second grade of N or 0.0 is received, the student may be dismissed from the program. Students may also be dismissed for behavior detrimental to the program, such as a gross violation of College policy (as published in the Student Guide). Dismissal would occur only after established procedures were followed. MAL Program Enrollment Policy Students normally take either one or two courses per semester. Enrolling in two courses per semester (including summer semester) enables a student to complete the coursework in the program within two years. Students who are away from classes for one year or longer must complete an Application for Readmission and submit it to the Registrar’s Office. Students who have been out of the program for more than two years may, at the discretion of the program director, be required to take additional courses to refresh their understanding of the field. 50 Accreditation and Affiliation Augsburg is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a complete list of Augsburg’s accreditation, approvals, and memberships, in the Accreditation, Approvals and Memberships section. MAL Faculty Andrew Aoki, Professor of Political Science. BA, University of Oregon; MA, PhD, University of Wisconsin. John Benson, Professor Emeritus of Religion. BA, Augsburg College; BD, Luther Theological Seminary; MA, PhD, Columbia University. Thomas Berkas, Instructor of Leadership Studies. BCE, University of Minnesota, PhD University of Minnesota. Joseph A. Erickson, Professor of Education. BA, MA, University of St. Thomas; MA, Luther Seminary; PhD, University of Minnesota. Stephen K. Erickson, Instructor of Leadership Studies. BA, Augsburg College; JD, University of Minnesota. Vice President and Advanced Practitioner, Erickson Mediation Institute. Garry Hesser, Martin Olav Sabo Professor of Citizenship and Learning. BA, Phillips University; MDiv, Union Theological Seminary; MA, PhD, University of Notre Dame. Lucinda Hruska-Claeys, Instructor of Leadership Studies. BS, University of Minnesota; MA, Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale; JD, University of Minnesota; MAL, Augsburg College. Attorney at Law and Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank (retired). David Lapakko, Associate Professor of Communication Studies. BA, Macalester College; MA, PhD, University of Minnesota. Velma J. Lashbrook, Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies. BS, Iowa State University; MS, Illinois State University; EdD, West Virginia University. Steven Manderscheid, Instructor of Leadership Studies. BS, St. Cloud State University; MS, University of Minnesota; EdD, University of St. Thomas. Chair, Department of Organizational Management, Concordia University. Marilyn S. McKnight Erickson, Instructor of Leadership Studies. BA, Augsburg College; MA, St. Mary's University; President and Advanced Practitioner, Erickson Mediation Institute, Mpls. Thomas Morgan, Professor of Business Administration. BS, Juniata College; MBA, University of Denver; MS, University of Oregon; PhD, University of Minnesota. Norma C. Noonan, Professor Emerita of Political Science and Leadership Studies, former Director of the Center for Leadership Studies and the MAL Program (1993-2011). BA, University of Pennsylvania; MA, PhD, Indiana University. Diane Pike, Professor of Sociology. AB, Connecticut College; PhD, Yale University. John S. Schmit, Professor of English. BS, St. John’s University; MA, University of New Orleans; PhD, The University of Texas-Austin. Alan Tuchtenhagen, Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies and Director of the Center for Leadership Studies and the MAL Program. BS, Westmar College; MA, University of Nebraska; DPA, Hamline University. Joseph Volker, Instructor of Leadership Studies. BA, University of California-Irvine; MA, PhD, University of Minnesota. Vice President and Practice Area Leader, MDA Leadership Consulting Inc. 51 Master of Arts in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice Welcome to graduate nursing education at Augsburg College. Our classes are made up of students representing a dynamic mix of cultures, spiritual traditions, and life-ways. It is exciting for us to offer experienced nurses transforming educational opportunities and engaging transcultural encounters that expand career choices and advance nursing practice. The increasing diversity of our population today challenges all of us to respond to individual health care needs with creativity and competence in a variety of emerging care settings. The Master of Arts in Nursing program is designed to prepare nurses for those evolving contexts of care. Students can choose between two tracks of study: Transcultural Nursing and Transformational Nursing Leadership. Each track of study emphasizes leadership skills, inter-professional collaboration and ways to serve persons in a variety of care settings. The post-master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program builds on the MAN and prepares nurses for innovative health leadership and advanced nursing practice at local and system-wide levels. Drawing on a transcultural nursing (TCN) foundation, the DNP-TCN curriculum embraces integrative health care and holistic nursing practice to maximize health for individuals and communities. Emphasis is on eliminating health inequities through peaceful, just, and collaborative actions that uphold and improve human potential. Students design their own scholarly paths defined by their unique gifts, interests, and practice goals. Throughout the DNP-TCN program, there are a range of opportunities for collaboration across cultures, socio-economic strata and care systems. The post-BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) to DNP/Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP/FNP) track of study prepares nurses for advanced nursing leadership and integrative primary care of families across cultures and care settings. Using transcultural nursing as a foundation, the DNP/FNP curriculum embraces integrative healthcare and holistic nursing practice. The curriculum emphasizes knowledge, skills and values that foster one’s ability to lead change, while addressing health needs and concerns of families and communities. Nursing scholarship and advanced autonomous practice frame the critical exploration of knowledge in transcultural nursing, integrative healthcare practices, transformational leadership, and health assessment. Classes in both the DNP and MAN programs are offered on the Augsburg campus and at Bethel Lutheran Church in Rochester, MN, where our learning site is located. Class formats vary: face-to-face, video conferencing or immersions with on-line components. However, students and faculty are committed to driving from one site to the other at least once during each semester to be physically present and together. Building relationships is important to us. Program faculty and staff are available at both sites and eager to assist students. Joyce P. Miller, DNP, RN Lisa M. VanGetson, DNP, RN, FNP-C, APHN-BC Chair, Department of Nursing Director, Doctor of Nursing Practice – Director, Master of Arts in Nursing Program Family Nurse Practitioner Program and Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Transcultural Nursing Track 52 Master of Arts in Nursing Mission Within the context of liberal arts education and guided by the values of the Lutheran Church, the Master of Arts in Nursing program prepares nurses for transformational leadership and transcultural nursing practice across care settings with particular emphasis on promoting health equity locally and globally. Students select from two tracks of study—Transformational Nursing Leadership or Transcultural Nursing. Both tracks prepare nurse leaders to assume a wide variety of roles and responsibilities throughout the healthcare system and in emerging care settings in communities. Curriculum The MAN curriculum is organized into 33 semester credits –15 semester credits in a Nursing Core, in which all students enroll, and 18 semester credits in one of the two Tracks of Study. Practica are taken concurrently with most courses and are integrated throughout the program. Each semester credit of practicum is equal to 45 clock hours of practice. Students select a track of study when applying to the program, however, this is not essential until after one’s first semester. Students may study full-time (6-8 semester credits per term) or part-time (4 semester credits per term). Time to degree completion takes an average 22 months when studying full-time, and 32 months when studying part-time. Nursing Core Courses (15 semester credits) The core nursing courses integrate a strong foundation of social justice incorporating multiple ways of knowing with curricular emphasis on nursing science, art, and theory to guide practice. NUR 500 - Transcultural Health Care (3 semester credits) NUR 500P - Practicum: Transcultural Health Care (1 semester credit) NUR 541 - Politics of Health (3 semester credits) NUR 541P - Practicum: Politics of Health Care (1 semester credit) NUR 505 - Theoretical Foundations for Advanced Nursing Practice (3 semester credits) NUR 505P - Practicum: Theoretical Foundations for Advanced Practice Nursing (1 semester credit) NUR 520 - Research Methods in Nursing (3 semester credits) Transformational Nursing Leadership Track (18 semester credits) The Transformational Nursing Leadership track is designed to develop nurse leaders’ ability to critically analyze, articulate, and develop effective strategies to cope with high level health care inequities. Curricular emphasis is on interprofessional collaboration across care settings. Participation in nursing leadership practica in traditional and emerging care settings adds depth and meaning to classroom dialogue. Practica also provide opportunities for students to apply knowledge and gain experience partnering with diverse care providers, populations, and communities to address health inequities in creative and relevant ways. Transformational Nursing Leadership track courses include: NUR 501 - Nursing Leadership in Complex Adaptive Systems (3 semester credits) NUR 501P - Practicum: Nursing Leadership in Complex Adaptive Systems (1 semester credit) NUR 521 - Transformational Nursing Leadership (3 semester credits) NUR 521P - Practicum: Transformational Nursing Leadership (1 semester credit) NUR 523 - Theory, Practice and Research Seminar (3 semester credits) NUR 523P - Practicum: Theory, Practice and Research Seminar (2 semester credits) NUR 525 - Graduate Field Project (3 semester credits) NUR 525P - Practicum: Graduate Field Project (2 semester credits) Students graduating from the Transformational Leadership Track of the master’s program are eligible to apply to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for certification as a Nurse Executive, Advanced and to the Transcultural Nursing Certification Commission (TCNCC) for advanced certification in Transcultural Nursing. 53 Graduate Field Project in Transformational Nursing Leadership Students will fulfill their Master of Arts in Nursing through a final practice-focused project, which serves as the capstone of the master’s program. The last two classes in the curriculum–NUR 523 and NUR 525—emphasize the development and articulation of a graduate field project focused on transformational leadership. Students present their final projects in NUR 525. Transcultural Nursing Across Care Settings Track (18 semester credits) The Transcultural Nursing track in the Master of Arts in Nursing program is designed to prepare nurses for advanced practice across care settings in culturally diverse communities. The curriculum is grounded in nursing science, theoryguided practice, and transcultural principles. Emphasis is on reaching out to persons and populations that are underserved by traditional care systems and who exist outside of the social mainstream. As such, the track provides rich alternative learning opportunities for graduate students locally and internationally. Transcultural Nursing Across Care Settings track courses include: NUR 532 - Transcultural Healing Practices and Self Care (3 semester credits) NUR 532P – Practicum: Transcultural Healing Practices and Self Care (1 semester credits) NUR 530 - The Power of Ritual and Ceremony for Healing (3 semester credits) NUR 530P – Practicum: The Power of Ritual and Ceremony for Healing (1 semester credits) NUR 523 - Theory, Practice and Research Seminar (3 semester credits) NUR 523P – Practicum: Theory, Practice and Research Seminar (2 semester credits) NUR 525 - Graduate Field Project (3 semester credits) NUR 525P - Graduate Field Project (2 semester credits) Students graduating from the Transcultural Nursing track of the master’s program are eligible to apply to the Transcultural Nursing Certification Commission (TCNCC) for advanced certification in Transcultural Nursing. Graduate Field Project in Transcultural Nursing Students will fulfill their Master of Arts in Nursing through a final practice-focused project, which serves as the capstone of the master’s program. The last two classes in the curriculum—NUR 523 and NUR 525—emphasize the development and articulation of a graduate field project focused on transcultural nursing. Students present their final projects in NUR 525. Practica Practice experience is emphasized in both tracks in the Master of Arts in Nursing program. Students earn 9 semester credits of practicum work that is equal to 405 clock hours of practice—45 clock hours per semester credit hour. Some practica are semi-structured, experiential, and led by faculty and cultural guides familiar with the communities in which the practica occur. Other practica options are student directed. Students are encouraged to immerse themselves in practice settings that serve persons underserved or excluded from mainstream health care, as emphasis in the transcultural track is on cultural diversity and health inequities across healthcare settings. Practica focusing on experiential learning with a transformational nurse leader provides students with the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of organizational dynamics and change through a complexity science paradigm. Augsburg Central Health Commons & the Inner City A unique opportunity for students to explore advanced nursing roles and new models and forms of practice is provided by the Augsburg Central Health Commons, and the Health Commons in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Both Health Commons are nursing-led drop-in centers dedicated to serving those in need and focused on healthy individuals and communities. People from diverse backgrounds, who have health experiences grounded in wide ranging cultural contexts frequent the Health Commons for health support and reassurance. Service and care are based on respect, relationship, and collaboration that connects health and hope for all participants. Health Commons partners include Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis, Fairview Health Services, and the East Africa Health Project. 54 Study Abroad and Away The Department of Nursing works closely with cultural guides and nurse mentors in various contexts of care in emerging care settings at home and abroad. The Center for Global Education is a partner with the Department of Nursing in developing and facilitating study abroad opportunities in Guatemala, Mexico, Namibia, Pine Ridge, SD, and England.. Additional collaborative partners include the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) in Namibia. A detailed listing of practica and immersion experiences abroad and away can be found at the nursing website (www.augsburg.edu/nursing). For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Admission Requirements Decisions about admission to the program will be made by the Graduate Nursing Faculty on an individual basis. Admissions are handled throughout the year, with students being admitted at the beginning of the fall (September), spring (January), and summer (May) semesters. Selection of candidates will be made on the basis of an evaluation of the following items:                   An earned Bachelor’s degree in nursing from a regionally accredited college or university, or an Associate of Science degree in nursing in addition to a non-nursing bachelor’s degree A cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all previous college coursework Experience as a registered nurse Three letters of recommendation A current, unencumbered nursing license All required immunizations Transcripts from all colleges and universities attended A Criminal Background check A college level statistics course within the last 7 years is required for progression in the program, but is not necessary for admission A written statement describing professional and educational goals The following items must be sent to the Office of Admissions: Completed application form—www.augsburg.edu/ma_nursing $35 non-refundable application fee (fee waived if completed online) A 2-3 page typed statement describing the applicant’s professional and educational goals Three letters of recommendation addressing the applicant’s character and ability for graduate study. (Two of these recommendations must be from professional colleagues) Evidence of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) training, and required immunizations Official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended, listing all courses taken and any degree(s) conferred An interview with graduate program faculty and/or staff members may be requested. Admission as an International Student International applicants must submit the required application materials listed above. For more information, refer to the additional requirements outlined in Admission of International Students in the Graduate Admissions section. (www.augsburg.edu/grad/international) Academic Policies Evaluation of academic performance in the Master of Arts in Nursing program will be based on number grades using a 4.0 point scale. See detailed information in the Academic Programs and Policies 55 Attendance Policy Class attendance is expected and should be considered a key responsibility, not only to one’s self, but to one’s classmates and the course instructor. Instructors may lower grades if attendance and participation is lacking. Individual syllabi will contain individual instructors’ requirements. Because classes are held in Rochester and Minneapolis, students must prepare to drive to class at least once per semester. Academic Probation and Dismissal Policies Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average in the MAN program. If a student falls below a 3.0 average, the student will be placed on probation for the following term. A 3.0 cumulative grade point average must be restored in order for a student to be removed from probation. If a student receives a grade of 2.0 or less in a course, the student must petition successfully to the faculty of the Master of Arts in Nursing program before being allowed to continue in the program. A plan for the student to follow would be outlined at that time. If a second grade of 2.0 or less is received, the student may be dismissed from the program. Students may also be dismissed for behavior detrimental to the program, such as a gross violation of college policy as published in the Student Guide. Dismissal would occur only after established procedures were followed. Credit for Prior Education Students may petition the Master of Arts in Nursing faculty for approval of transfer of credit. Transfer credits will be evaluated on an individual basis. The only courses that will be considered for transfer credit are those earned from regionally accredited colleges and universities, whose course content is comparable to course content in the Master of Arts in Nursing program. No more than nine semester credits will be accepted for transfer credit. Schedules for Classes Master’s classes are taught in a hybrid format combining in-class and web-based instruction to meet the needs of working adults. Fall and spring classes meet 6 times per semester for 5 hour periods. Summer classes meet weekly for 78 hours for 7 weeks. Video conferencing is used to connect students in Rochester, MN, with students in Minneapolis. Some driving for class is required, as students from Rochester will travel to Minneapolis one time per semester and students from Minneapolis will travel to Rochester one time per semester. If weather is inclement, video conferencing is used. Classes in Rochester meet at Bethel Lutheran Church at 810 3rd Ave SE, Rochester, MN. Practica are additional to courses. Students enroll in practica concurrently with enrollment in courses. Accreditation and Affiliations The Master of Arts in Nursing program is fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Augsburg is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a complete list of Augsburg’s accreditations, approvals, and memberships, see the listing in the Accreditation Approvals, and Memberships section. Faculty Katherine Baumgartner, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, Minnesota State University; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Kathleen Clark, Instructor and Director of the Augsburg Central Health Commons and Health Commons at CedarRiverside, BSN University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Kaija Freborg, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Cheryl Leuning, Professor of Nursing, BA, Augustana College; MS-PHN, University of Minnesota; PhD, University of Utah. 56 Joyce Miller, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Chair of the Department of Nursing, and Director of Graduate MAN and DNP-TCN Programs. ADN, Rochester State Junior College; BSN, Augsburg College; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Deborah Schuhmacher, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, University of North Dakota, MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Lisa Van Getson, Assistant Professor, Director, DNP-FNP Program, BSN, College of St. Teresa, Winona, MN; MA, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN; MAN, FNP, Winona State University; DNP, Augsburg College. Gail Van Kanegan, Lecturer & Clinical Director, DNP-FNP Program, Diploma of Nursing, Blessing Hospital School of Nursing; ADN, John Wood Community College; MA, FNP, GNP, University of Missouri-Columbia; DNP, Augsburg College. Staff Sharon Wade, Nursing Programs Coordinator. BA, Augsburg College. Linden Gawboy, Nursing Programs Administrative Assistant. 57 Doctor of Nursing Practice – Transcultural Nursing (TCN) Leadership Track Mission Within the framework of liberal arts education and guided by the values of the Lutheran Church, the post-master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program, TCN Leadership track of study prepares nurses for advanced transcultural nursing leadership in communities in order to maximize health through peaceful, just, and collaborative actions that uphold and improve human potential across care settings and care systems, with emphasis on eliminating health inequities locally and globally. As a post-master’s program, the DNP-TCN track of study builds upon the strengths of the Master of Arts in Nursing (MAN) program and prepares nurses for advanced leadership and practice roles in Transcultural Nursing (TCN). Program Goals Graduates of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program are prepared to:    Negotiate the complexity of multicultural care settings and care systems to eliminate health inequities among populations and communities Challenge conventional knowledge about illness through an ecological approach to social determinants of health Lead change through building coalitions with marginalized people that are based on mutuality and common cause Program Structure The program is structured in a modified cohort model. One cohort a year will be admitted to begin in the fall term. Students can choose to take full or part-time study. Students taking full-time study take two didactic offerings, two seminars, and a practicum each semester. Students in full-time study can complete the post-master’s DNP-TCN curriculum in 20 months, including completion of the DNP project. Students selecting part-time study take one didactic offering, one seminar and a practicum each semester. As a part-time student, completion of the program is expected to take 32 months, including completion of the DNP project. The DNP curriculum is organized into 33 semester credits comprised of didactic classes, experiential practica, and seminars, with a DNP project completing the degree. As a practice doctorate, the emphasis is on building leadership and practice skills in knowledge application among diverse population groups. The goal is to improve health and decrease health inequities that lead to unnecessary morbidity and mortality in communities. Students graduating from the DNP-TCN track are eligible to apply to the Transcultural Nursing Certification Commission (TCNCC) for advanced certification in Transcultural Nursing. Didactic A total of six didactic courses (18 semester credits) constitute the DNP program. One course equals three semester credits. The DNP courses (NUR 800 level), are taught in a variety of immersion models: one format is two days a month eight hours of class time each day, followed by a half-day morning seminar. Other courses are offered in an immersion format of 3-4 days of class per semester with 3 half-day seminars. Class attendance is expected and should be considered a key responsibility, not only to one’s self, but to one’s classmates and the course instructor. Classes are held on Augsburg’s campus in Minneapolis and an additional learning site in Rochester, MN, at Bethel Lutheran Church (810 3rd Ave SE). Video conferencing or Zoom is used for some of the classes and for distant students. However, students must be prepared to drive to Rochester and/or Minneapolis for class at least once per semester. If weather is inclement, video conferencing or Zoom is used. Practica Practica are organized to give flexibility and individual choice to students to support their increasing independence and depth of practice experience at the doctoral level. Students select practicum experiences that are either structured 58 immersions in a variety of cultural contexts led by nursing faculty or are student initiated and individually directed experiences mentored by nursing faculty. In a 15-week semester, practicum hours are computed as follows:    1 semester credit hour = 2 semester credit hours = 3 semester credit hours = 45 clock hours of practicum time per semester 90 clock hours of practicum time per semester 135 clock hours of practicum time per semester To earn the DNP, students must complete a total of 1,000 practicum hours in their Master’s and DNP programs. Students will be allowed to transfer up to 600 practicum hours from their master’s in nursing into the Augsburg DNP. As such, all students will register for at least nine semester credits of practica in the post-master’s DNP-TCN. Seminars Seminars focus on integration of conceptual learning with field practice, developing the student’s particular practice interests. Students are required to participate in a doctoral seminar every semester —fall and spring—until completion of the DNP degree. Cohorts of students who enter the DNP program together usually progress as a group in the seminars in which they enroll each semester, depending on whether they are studying full-time or part-time. The final seminar (NUR 841) culminates in the DNP project presentation and completion of the requirements for the DNP degree. Final DNP Project Final DNP projects must make a significant impact on nursing practice and health outcomes of populations and communities, demonstrate an evidence-based contribution to existing nursing knowledge, and be suitable for presentation or publication in a peer-reviewed venue. Through this scholarly project students demonstrate leadership in synthesizing and applying scientific knowledge to practice challenges in local and/or system wide contexts of care. Students should begin working on their DNP projects in the early stages of the DNP program and continue throughout the program. The student’s scholarly project is planned in collaboration with a major faculty advisor. For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Admission to the DNP-TCN Applicants to the Doctor of Nursing Practice TCN program must have:             An earned master’s degree in nursing from a regionally-accredited institution A GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 grading scale in master’s in nursing program A current unencumbered RN license to practice in the US. Evidence of a completed graduate research course Evidence of up-to-date immunizations Satisfactory results of a certified federal criminal background check Decisions about admission to the program will be made on an individual basis. Selection of candidates will be made on the basis of an evaluation of the following items for each applicant: Three page typed double spaced essay responding to the following excerpt from Wendell Berry’s essay, “Health in Membership.” “I believe that the community—in the fullest sense: a place and all its creatures—is the smallest unit of health and that to speak of the health of an isolated individual is a contradiction in terms.” Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended (Applicants with a college or university degree completed outside of the United States must submit an official evaluation from World Educational Services.) Three professional references A non-refundable deposit will be used to hold a place in the DNP/FNP program. The deposit will be applied to the orientation practicum. A successful, personal interview with Augsburg Nursing faculty 59 The number of applicants admitted to the DNP program will be limited and based on availability of faculty members who share a student’s practice interests and goals. Meeting the minimum admission criteria does not ensure that an applicant will be admitted to the program. Applicants who have graduated from a foreign nursing program, should submit their coursework for validation to the World Education Service (WES) or the National Association of Credential Evaluators (NACES) and have the reports sent directly to Augsburg College. Additionally, internationally-educated applicants may request the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) (www.cgfns.org) to forward their educational credentials report to the Minnesota State Board of Nursing. Once their credentials are verified, applicants must apply for licensure and demonstrate successful passing of the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Nurses who have previously submitted CGFNS credential verification in a state other than Minnesota, who have passed the NCLEX, will be considered for admission and must meet the same residency requirements expected of all students. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit score evidence from TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score report of 80 on the Internet Based TOEFL (iBT) with a subscore of 20 on the written and 20 on the speaking sections. See Graduate Admissions for more information. (www.augsburg.edu/grad/international) Accreditation The Doctor of Nursing Practice program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Augsburg is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a complete list of Augsburg’s accreditations, approvals, and memberships, see the listing in the Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships section. Faculty Katherine Baumgartner, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, Minnesota State University; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Kathleen Clark, Instructor and Director of the Augsburg Central Health Commons and Health Commons at CedarRiverside, BSN University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Kaija Freborg, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Cheryl Leuning, Professor of Nursing, BA, Augustana College; MS-PHN, University of Minnesota; PhD, University of Utah. Joyce Miller, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Chair of the Department of Nursing, and Director of Graduate MAN and DNP-TCN Programs. ADN, Rochester State Junior College; BSN, Augsburg College; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Deborah Schuhmacher, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, University of North Dakota, MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Lisa Van Getson, Assistant Professor, Director, DNP-FNP Program, BSN, College of St. Teresa, Winona, MN; MA, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN; MAN, FNP, Winona State University; DNP, Augsburg College. Gail Van Kanegan, Lecturer & Clinical Director, DNP-FNP Program, Diploma of Nursing, Blessing Hospital School of Nursing; ADN, John Wood Community College; MA, FNP, GNP, University of Missouri-Columbia; DNP, Augsburg College. Staff Sharon Wade, Nursing Programs Coordinator, BA, Augsburg College. Linden Gawboy, Nursing Programs Administrative Assistant. 60 Doctor of Nursing Practice – Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Track Mission Within the framework of liberal arts education and guided by the values of the Lutheran Church, the post-BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) to DNP/FNP track of study prepares nurses for advanced nursing leadership and integrative primary care of families across cultures and care settings. Emphasis is on eliminating health inequities through peaceful, just, and collaborative actions that uphold and improve human potential. The curriculum emphasizes knowledge, skills and values that foster one’s ability to lead change, while addressing health needs and concerns of families and communities. Nursing scholarship and advanced autonomous practice as a primary care Nurse Practitioner, frames the critical exploration of knowledge in transcultural nursing, integrative healthcare practices, transformational leadership, and health assessment. Program Goals Graduates of the Doctor of Nursing Practice/Family Nurse Practitioner program are prepared to:      Negotiate the complexity of multicultural care settings and care systems to eliminate health inequities among populations and communities. Challenge conventional knowledge about illness through an ecological approach to social determinants of health. Lead change through building coalitions with marginalized people that are based on mutuality and common cause. Provide primary care to persons, families and communities with particular consideration for those who are underserved and/or marginalized by dominant societal structures. Integrate scientific evidence based guidelines into clinical practice. Program Structure The program is structured to admit students beginning each fall semester. Students may take courses on a part-time or full-time basis during the completion of their 500 level courses and the pre-FNP 800 level courses. Full-time study is required during the didactic and clinical courses in the FNP course sequence during the last two years of the program. Length of program: The Post-BSN to DNP/FNP track of study leads to eligibility for certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and requires a minimum of 84 semester credit hours, including 57 didactic credit hours and 23 clinical credit hours. Didactic A total of 19 didactic courses (57 semester credits) constitute the DNP/FNP program. Didactic classes, structured practica, and clinical experiences are taught in a variety of flexible schedules that are responsive to student needs. 500 level courses consist of six classes a semester - five hours of class time, in addition to taking a one credit practicum course associated with the didactic course. The DNP courses (NUR 800 level), are taught in a variety of immersion models: one format is two days a month - eight hours of class time for the first day and four hours the subsequent morning, followed by an afternoon seminar. Other courses are offered in an immersion format of 3-4 days of class per semester with 3 half-day seminars. The FNP courses (final two years of study) are offered on Mondays approximately five times a semester, class time hours will vary from 8 to 12 hours. Web-based assignments are integrated into all classes through Moodle. Community practicum experiences may be scheduled during the class meeting days as well. Additionally, some courses may be taught in an immersion format, where students and faculty are “immersed” in a unique socio-cultural context and course content and a set number of practicum hours are condensed into seven to fourteen days. Class attendance is expected and should be considered a key responsibility, not only to one’s self, but to one’s classmates and the course instructor. Classes are held on Augsburg’s campus in Minneapolis and in Rochester, MN, at Bethel Lutheran Church (810 3rd Ave SE) the location of Augsburg’s learning site or at Hermitage Farm Center for 61 Healing, 6415 West River Road NW, Rochester, MN. Video conferencing is used for some of the classes. However, students must be prepared to drive to Rochester and/or Minneapolis for class at least once per semester. If weather is inclement, video conferencing is used. Practica (for DNP courses) / Clinicals (for FNP courses) Practica are organized to give flexibility and individual choice to students to support their increasing independence and depth of practice experience at the doctoral level. Students select practicum experiences that are either structured immersions in a variety of cultural contexts led by nursing faculty or that are student initiated and individually directed experiences mentored by nursing faculty. FNP clinical sites will be arranged by clinical faculty. In a 15-week semester, practicum hours are computed as follows:    1 semester credit hour = 45 clock hours of practicum time per semester 2 semester credit hours = 90 clock hours of practicum time per semester 3 semester credit hours = 135 clock hours of practicum time per semester To earn the DNP/FNP, students must complete a total of 1,035 practicum hours. Students will be allowed to transfer up to 400 practicum hours from their master’s in nursing. To complete the DNP/FNP, students must complete 630 clinical hours (530 hours of primary care of the adult and 100 hours of primary care of children and women’s health and 35 clinical for integrative health). As such, all students will register for at least 23 semester credits of practica. Seminars Seminars focus on integration of conceptual learning with field practice developing the student’s particular practice interest. Students are required to participate in a total of four one-semester-credit doctoral seminars during the DNP/FNP program. The final seminar culminates in the project presentation and completion of the requirements for the DNP degree. Final DNP/FNP Project Final DNP/FNP projects must make a significant impact on nursing practice and health outcomes of populations and communities, demonstrate an evidence-based contribution to existing nursing knowledge, and be suitable for presentation or publication in a peer-reviewed venue. Through this scholarly project students demonstrate leadership in synthesizing and applying scientific knowledge to practice challenges in local and/or system wide contexts of care. Students should begin working on their DNP/FNP projects in the early stages of the program and continue throughout. The student’s scholarly project is planned in collaboration with a major faculty advisor. For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Admission to the DNP/FNP Applicants to the Doctor of Nursing Practice FNP program must have:        A completed application form and payment of application fee ($50 fee waived if apply on-line). An earned baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN or BAN), master’s degree in nursing, or a doctor of nursing practice (DNP), from a nationally accredited institution and a nationally accredited nursing program. A minimum of five years active and current clinical practice as a Registered Nurse. Evidence of current unencumbered license as a Registered Nurse. MN license required. Other state licenses will be required for clinical rotations. Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended (Applicants with a college or university degree completed outside of the United States must submit an official evaluation from World Educational Services. All costs related to document translations and evaluations are applicants’ responsibility. GPA of 3.0 from previous baccalaureate nursing program; GPA of 3.2 from previous masters in nursing program or DNP program. Three professional letters of recommendation. 62           A 2-3 page professional essay responding to the following: Explain why transcultural, holistic and integrative health education as a Doctorate of Nursing Practice/Family Nurse Practitioner is important in shaping the future of healthcare. Documentation verifying the number of practice hours completed in a nationally accredited graduate nursing program, if applicable. (A maximum of 400 practice hours may be transferred into the DNP/FNP tract of study from a nationally accredited master’s in nursing program.) A current Curriculum Vitae. Successful personal interview with Augsburg Nursing Faculty. Evidence of a completed undergraduate statistics course (within the last 5 years) on an official transcript before enrolling in the Nursing Research course (NUR520) & the associated practicum (NUR520P). Evidence of up to date immunizations per Department/College requirements A valid passport or proof of application is encouraged. Evidence of HIPAA training within the last 2 years. Satisfactory results of a certified federal criminal background check at time of admission and annually thereafter; additional testing may be required for clinical placement, e.g., alcohol, drug testing, HIV testing, etc. A non-refundable deposit will be used to hold a place in the DNP/FNP program. The deposit will be applied to the orientation practicum. The number of applicants admitted to the DNP/FNP program will be limited and based on availability of faculty members that share a student’s practice interests and goals. Meeting the minimum admission criteria does not ensure that an applicant will be admitted to the program. The above Admission Criteria are current as of April 2015 and are subject to change. Applicants who have graduated from a foreign nursing program, should submit their coursework for validation to the World Education Service (WES) or the National Association of Credential Evaluators (NACES) and have the reports sent directly to Augsburg College. Additionally, internationally-educated applicants may request the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) (www.cgfns.org) to forward their educational credentials report to the Minnesota State Board of Nursing. Once their credentials are verified, applicants must apply for licensure and demonstrate successful passing of the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Nurses who have previously submitted CGFNS credential verification in a state other than Minnesota, who have passed the NCLEX, will be considered for admission and must meet the same residency requirements expected of all students. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit score evidence from TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score report of 80 on the Internet Based TOEFL (iBT) with a subscore of 20 on the written and 20 on the speaking sections. See Graduate Admissions for more information. (www.augsburg.edu/grad/international) Accreditation The Doctor of Nursing Practice program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which has accredited the Master of Arts in Nursing and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs at Augsburg. Augsburg is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a complete list of Augsburg’s accreditations, approvals, and memberships, see the listing in the Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships section. Faculty Katherine Baumgartner, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, Minnesota State University; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Kathleen Clark, Instructor and Director of the Augsburg Central Health Commons and Health Commons at CedarRiverside, BSN University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. 63 Kaija Freborg, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Cheryl Leuning, Professor of Nursing, BA, Augustana College; MS-PHN, University of Minnesota; PhD, University of Utah. Joyce Miller, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Chair of the Department of Nursing, and Director of Graduate MAN and DNP-TCN Programs. ADN, Rochester State Junior College; BSN, Augsburg College; MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Deborah Schuhmacher, Assistant Professor of Nursing. BSN, University of North Dakota, MAN, Augsburg College; DNP, Augsburg College. Lisa Van Getson, Assistant Professor, Director, DNP-FNP Program, BSN, College of St. Teresa, Winona, MN; MA, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN; MAN, FNP, Winona State University; DNP, Augsburg College. Gail Van Kanegan, Lecturer & Clinical Director, DNP-FNP Program, Diploma of Nursing, Blessing Hospital School of Nursing; ADN, John Wood Community College; MA, FNP, GNP, University of Missouri-Columbia; DNP, Augsburg College. Staff Sharon Wade, Nursing Programs Coordinator. BA, Augsburg College. Linden Gawboy, Nursing Programs Administrative Assistant. 64 Master of Business Administration Embarking on a graduate degree program is an exciting and challenging decision. The Augsburg MBA is a rigorous and intensive educational experience. The Augsburg MBA is practical and “hands-on,” focusing on applicable skills and knowledge designed to increase your ability to think, analyze and act. Augsburg MBA students all work on a consulting project with a local business where they apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to a real-world business problem. The Augsburg MBA also provides students a unique opportunity to investigate business cultures and practices through a faculty-led international experience. Our curriculum integrates the global experience of our faculty and reflects Augsburg’s mission of developing leaders grounded in values, purpose, and vocation. The Augsburg MBA is a proven accelerated cohort-based program focused on three learning modules; Personal and Professional Development, Quantitative Decision Making and Value Creation, all built on a foundation of ethical decision-making. We encourage our students to challenge themselves, their classmates and professors to bring a new and expanded focus of the world through guided reflection and examination. Augsburg MBA students are chosen because they exhibit purpose and direction in their careers and lives, and positive engagement with their community and associates. Our MBA graduates make a difference. We invite you to become part of a growing community of Augsburg MBA alumni. Bruce E. Batten, Ph.D. Director, Master of Business Administration Program MBA Mission - “Prepare Students for Meaningful Work” Our mission is to prepare students for meaningful work by developing their decision-making skills, critical thinking and by transforming them into effective managers and leaders in service to others. The program aspires to provide an outstanding student-centered education that produces graduates who are critically astute, technically proficient, and who understand the moral and ethical consequences of their decisions on their organization and on the world. Accreditation The Augsburg MBA is a candidate for accreditation with the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). Augsburg is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a complete list of Augsburg’s accreditations, approvals, and memberships, see the listing in the Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships section. MBA Program Overview Today’s business leader must be able to quickly analyze situations and information and critically analyze alternatives and courses of action. The purpose of the Augsburg MBA is to prepare students to accept greater responsibility in organizations facing this dynamic and fast-evolving business culture. The curriculum of the MBA gives students the ability to think critically and ethically as they face the increased challenges of a global business environment. Quality, individual initiative, ethics, and teamwork are hallmarks of the Augsburg MBA. We have a commitment to continually improve students’ experiences and learning in the program. Our faculty is uniquely qualified to bridge theory and realworld application, giving MBA students opportunities to acquire skills and knowledge in a variety of disciplines. Plan of Study The Augsburg MBA is an accelerated, evening program that allows working professionals to complete an MBA degree in approximately 24 months. This is accomplished by using a cohort model in which students follow a predetermined schedule with classes meeting one night a week. Students in a cohort program model stay together as a group through the sequence of classes for the duration of the program. This provides a continuous, collaborative learning process. The cohort environment fosters a cohesive learning 65 community where students learn from each another, mentor each other, and peer coach. You’ll share diverse professional expertise and experience as you work in teams on projects, case studies, presentations, and simulations, both inside and outside of class. Working both individually and in small groups enables you to enhance your strengths, build your skills, expand your business acumen, and improve your decision-making. Together as a community you’ll build personal, social, and academic abilities. Adult learners bring a wealth of work and personal life experiences with them into the classroom, multiplying the opportunities for learning. The personal connections and relationships you build with fellow students and faculty will extend into an important and valuable network as you take your career to new levels. Program Requirements The Augsburg MBA requires 42 semester credits for degree completion. Augsburg MBA courses are either one and a half or three semester credits. Each three semester credit course consists of 28-32 hours of in-class instruction and 5 ½ 9 ½ hours of online instruction through our web-based electronic course management system. Up to nine credits may be waived through prior business coursework (with director/faculty approval) or certain professional credentials (with appropriate documentation). Courses that can be waived with equivalencies:      MBA 510 (3 semester credits) MBA 520 (3 semester credits) MBA 530 (3 semester credits) MBA 550 (3 semester credits) MBA 565 (3 semester credits) Professional Credentials Students who have passed the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) or Certified Management Accountants (CMA) exam may be waived from MBA 520, Accounting for Managers. Prior Academic Coursework Guideline  Students with prior academic coursework that meets the following criteria may be waived from eligible core courses.  Completion of at least two undergraduate courses covering corresponding Augsburg MBA core course material (See department for Equivalency details).  The most recent of the undergraduate courses was taken within the past five years and a second course within seven years.  A grade of B (or 3.0 on 4 point scale) or higher was earned in any course considered for a course waiver.  Course(s) must be taken at an approved, regionally-accredited institution.  Acceptance of core course waivers implies the student accepts the responsibility for having the essential knowledge and understanding of the core course material, and is properly prepared for any future core or elective course for which the waived course was a prerequisite. Academic credit is not awarded for any waived course, nor will the course appear on academic transcripts. Academic Calendar The Augsburg MBA is designed as a year-round program. Courses are offered during fall, spring, and summer semesters. Courses are offered consecutively during each term so students are able to concentrate on one subject at a time. The program is designed to have students take at least two courses per term. Official academic calendars and the MBA registration policies can be found at www.augsburg.edu/registrar. The unique cohort model of the Augsburg MBA requires individual schedules for each cohort. These schedules are provided by the MBA department. 66 The Faculty-Led International Experience Each year, all current MBA students are offered the opportunity to participate in a faculty-led international experience. This trip is taken in conjunction with either of these courses: MBA 565 - Managing in a Global Environment or MBA 595 Strategic Management. Students will travel as a group to an international location, visit businesses, participate in faculty lectures, and learn about the culture and traditions of the countries visited. Each MBA student should have two opportunities during their matriculation in the program to participate. Costs can vary; but as a minimum, trips normally include tuition (for the course selected), lodging, and travel in-country, as well as some meals. The Augsburg MBA The 16 required courses of the Augsburg MBA are as follows: MBA 592 - Leadership: Ethics, Vision and Transformation MBA 540 - Business and Professional Ethics MBA 560 - Communication Issues in Management MBA 545 - Organizational Behavior MBA 585 - Student Learning Experience 1: Personal and Professional Development MBA 570 - Quantitative Decision-Making for Managers MBA 520 - Accounting for Business Managers MBA 530 - Managerial Finance MBA 510 - Applied Managerial Economics MBA 586 - Student Learning Experience 2: Simulation/Decision Making MBA 550 - Marketing Management MBA 565 - Managing in a Global Environment MBA 515 - Operations Management MBA 594 - Innovation and Entrepreneurship MBA 595 - Strategic Management MBA 580 - Management Consulting Project For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Locations and Schedules MBA classes are offered at two locations: Augsburg’s Minneapolis campus and Augsburg’s Rochester campus. Cohorts begin three times per academic year at Augsburg’s Minneapolis campus: September, January, and May. In Rochester, cohorts begin in September and May. Orientation for new cohorts is generally scheduled for one to two weeks in advance of the beginning of classes. For more information on class schedules, go to www.augsburg.edu/mba or call the Office of Admissions at 612-330-1101. Admission to the Augsburg MBA Program Admission to the Augsburg MBA program is determined by a committee decision. The committee may include MBA program staff, Business Administration Department faculty, and Office of Admissions staff. Admission Requirements Applicants to the MBA program must have:    Bachelor’s degree from a regionally-accredited four-year institution Minimum of two years of relevant work experience Personal interview with the MBA program director Admission checklist The following materials must be submitted to the Office of Admissions: 67        Completed application—Apply online at www.augsburg.edu/mba $35 application fee Two personal statements Official undergraduate/graduate transcripts sent directly to the Augsburg Office of Admissions Current résumé of work history Two confidential letters of recommendation MBA Math (needs to be completed before by the end of the second semester) Admission as an International Student International applicants must submit the required application materials listed above. Refer to the additional requirements outlined in Admission of International Students in the Graduate Admissions section. Admission as a Transfer Student Students may apply to Augsburg as a transfer student. Transfer students follow the same procedure as new applicants. Transfer students may receive up to 9 semester credits in transfer. (See Evaluation of Transfer Credit in Academic Programs and policies.) Students must complete no fewer than 21 semester credits at Augsburg in order to receive their MBA degree from Augsburg College. All students must complete the Management Consulting project (MBA 580) to graduate. Eligible coursework must be approved by the MBA program director before transfer credit will be granted. Academic Policies MBA Program Enrollment Policy Students are strongly encouraged to remain in their cohort and complete their MBA program as scheduled. Adjustments or modifications to the MBA schedule require the approval of the MBA program director. All students are required to complete all components of the program within five years of matriculation. Extensions beyond five years will be considered on the basis of petition to the MBA director. Students who leave the program for more than one semester must request a leave of absence in writing from the MBA program. A leave of absence may be granted for one calendar year. Students who return to the program after a leave of one year or more must fill out an Application for Readmission form and submit it to the MBA office. Time spent on an official MBA-approved leave of absence will not count toward the five-year deadline for degree completion. Academic Evaluation Evaluation of academic performance in the MBA program will be based on number grades using a 4.0-scale. For complete information, see Academic Programs and Policies. Withdrawal from Class For information regarding the last date on which students may withdraw from a class and receive a “W” on their records, refer to the academic calendar at www.augsburg.edu/registrar. Attendance Policies Student attendance at scheduled class meetings is a priority and required. However, MBA faculty understand that MBA students are working adults with significant responsibilities who, on occasion, face unforeseen situations that may interfere with attendance. Students should notify the faculty member teaching the course as soon as possible when the problem is immediate. When the student knows in advance of a class date where a potential conflict exists, they must discuss the proposed missed class with the faculty member prior to the date of the class. Students are responsible for the work covered during that class session and for making appropriate arrangements for obtaining handouts, lecture content, or other materials. Faculty members may assign appropriate independent work to insure that the student understands the material covered during the class session. 68 If appropriate and acceptable coordination is carried out by the student, there need not be any grade reduction for a single missed class session. This may be dependent on assignments due on the date of the missed class; e.g., final project presentations or team presentations. Point/grade reductions for unexcused absences are the prerogative of the faculty. Two missed class sessions, excused or unexcused, may be grounds for directing the student to withdraw from the course. More than two absences, excused or unexcused, require that a student withdraw from the class. Degree Requirements To be conferred the MBA degree, students must achieve the following:      Successful completion of all admission conditions Successful completion of MBA courses (2.5 or above) No more than two courses with a grade of 2.5 or below, and with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher at the completion of the program Successful completion and submission of the management consulting project (capstone) Students who successfully complete Augsburg’s MBA program will receive a Master of Business Administration degree. MBA Faculty Bruce Batten, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, MBA. BS, Davidson College; PhD, Medical College of Virginia. Jeanne M. Boeh, Associate Professor of Economics. BS, MA, PhD, University of Illinois. David Conrad, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. BA, Winona State University; MA, Ed.D, St. Mary’s University George Dierberger, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. BS, University of Minnesota; MA, International Studies, University of St. Thomas; MBA, Fairleigh Dickinson University; Ed.D, Organization Development, University of St Thomas. Stella Hofrenning, Assistant Professor of Economics. BS, University of Maryland; PhD, University of Illinois. Mark Isaacson, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. BA, St. Olaf College; MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Marc McIntosh, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. BS, DePaul University; MBA, Harvard University; DBA, Argosy University. Magdalena Paleczny-Zapp, Associate Professor of Business Administration. BA, MA, Central School for Planning and Statistics, Warsaw; PhD, Akademia Ekonomiczna, Krakow. Peter J. Stark, Assistant Professor of Business Administration. BS, Northwestern University; MBA, Pepperdine University. Steven M. Zitnick, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, BA, Shimer College: MS, Economics, University of Utah. 69 Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing MFA Mission The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a two-year, low-residency program designed for those who wish to deepen and broaden their artistic sensibilities, discover a close-knit community of fellow writers, enjoy individual attention from an accomplished and forward-thinking faculty, and prepare themselves for the future of creative writing. Program Overview Summer Residencies The Augsburg Low-Residency MFA includes 10-day summer residencies on the Augsburg campus in Minneapolis, offering daily workshops, readings, and panels that focus on literary craft as well as career skills in teaching, editing, publishing, book arts, marketing, translation, and adaptation. The full degree program includes three summer residencies, featuring visits by distinguished writers in each genre as well as editors, agents, publishers, and literary entrepreneurs. Fall and Spring Semesters The first two residencies are followed each year by fall and spring off-campus semesters. During those terms, students work with faculty mentors in virtual classrooms that make use of online and other technologies. Each semester, MFA candidates enroll in one Mentorship section and one section of Critical and Creative Reading. Although MFA learning objectives call for demonstrated expertise in at least one genre by graduation, twenty-first century writers compose their work in an environment in which genre has permeable boundaries and lines between genres are often erased. With this in mind, cross-genre work will be encouraged, with students working in a genre other than the declared specialty, usually during the second off-campus semester. Owing to a revision in the curriculum, those students beginning the program in Summer of 2016 will take a combined mentorship and reading course during each fall and spring semester. During their final year of long-distance study, they will also take two two-unit courses: in one they will write a paper on some element of the craft of writing; in the other they will work on and complete their thesis. Semester Mentorships The Mentorship is a one-on-one experience with a faculty mentor who guides the student’s production of work and study of craft. This one-on-one creative studio experience is focused on the MFA candidate’s own writing and growth as a writer. Critical and Creative Reading in an Online Classroom This is a reading-as-writers course that provides an opportunity to work with your professor and a community of peers, considering craft, criticism and aesthetics. Meetings are online in the electronic classroom. The format may include online discussion boards, Skype or video chats, and teleconferences with mentors and fellow learners. The online classroom offers an opportunity to continue conversations begun during the residency with members of the MFA community. Students may repeat mentorship courses (ENL 511, 513, 521, and 523) and critical and creative readings courses (ENL 512, 514, 522, and 524), subject to the permission of the program director. Genres and Concentrations Genres include Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Screenwriting and Playwriting. The program also includes concentrations in teaching, translation, and publishing. Concentrations require additional coursework. With the program director’s consent, students may enroll in concentration courses simultaneously with 70 MFA studies. Candidates enrolled in the publishing concentration will be the staff of the publishing house Howling Bird Press and will select and publish one book each year. The book prize is open to submissions nationally. Plan of Study Students may select a completion plan for the MFA:      The Traditional plan. Students choose one genre as the designated field of study but areis encouraged to work outside the designated field of study for one term. Extended Study. Designed for students who wish to prolong their studies in a single genre, this option has students completing at least five mentored and reading terms instead of the standard four. At least four of these terms should be used to study the student’s declared genre. Mixed Genre. Designed for students who want to more deeply immerse themselves in a secondary genre, this option has students completing at least five mentored and reading terms, including three in the student’s primary declared genre and two in a different genre. Post-MFA. Designed for students who already have an MFA, this option allows students to drop into the program for a single residency or semester of study — or longer. Students seeking this option should contact the program director, as his approval is required. Career Concentration. Designed for students who wish to better prepare themselves for the job market, this option allows students to enroll in electives in teaching, translation and/or publishing. This work is completed alongside a traditional or extended/mixed genre course of study, or pursued immediately after completing the MFA. Accommodating Writers Who Work Full-Time and Those Who Live Outside of Minnesota Augsburg’s Traditional MFA in Creative Writing can be completed in eleven courses (three summer residencies and four off-campus electronic semesters of two courses each). Those students beginning summer of 2016 can complete the program in nine courses (three summer residencies, four long-distance mentorship and reading courses, a craft paper course, and a thesis course.) A typical plan of study in the Traditional Low-Residency MFA, will work like this: First Year Summer Residency I, including genre workshops, writing seminars, readings and lectures, ten days on the Minneapolis campus, with assignments before and after residency. Fall Semester I, a combined Mentorship studio and Creative and Critical Reading course. Spring Semester I, a combined Mentorship studio and Creative and Critical Reading course (generally the “out-ofgenre” term). Second Year Summer Residency II, including genre workshops, writing seminars, readings and lectures, ten days on the Minneapolis campus, with assignments before and after residency. Fall Semester II, a combined Mentorship studio and Creative and Critical Reading course and a craft paper course. Students complete a craft paper at this point. Spring Semester II, a combined Mentorship studio and Creative and Critical Reading course and a thesis units course. This is the semester during which students complete a thesis and prepare a lecture/presentation for their final residency. Third Year – Residency Only Summer Residency III, including genre workshop, writing seminars, readings and lectures. Final term for graduating MFA candidates. Graduates give a public lecture/presentation and a reading from thesis work. Ten days on the Minneapolis campus, with assignments before and after residency. 71 Coursework: ENL 531 Residency in Creative Writing: Fiction ENL 532 Residency in Creative Writing: Nonfiction ENL 533 Residency in Creative Writing: Poetry ENL 534 Residency in Creative Writing: Screenwriting ENL 535 Residency in Creative Writing: Playwriting ENL 536 Residency in Creative Writing: Multi-Genre ENL 541 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading: Fiction ENL 542 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading: Nonfiction ENL 543 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading: Poetry ENL 544 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading: Screenwriting ENL 545 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading: Playwriting ENL 546 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading: Multi-Genre ENL 547 Craft Paper: Fiction ENL 548 Craft Paper: Nonfiction ENL 549 Craft Paper: Poetry ENL 550 Craft Paper: Screenwriting ENL 551 Craft Paper: Playwriting ENL 552 Craft Paper: Multi-Genre ENL 553 Thesis: Fiction ENL 554 Thesis: Nonfiction ENL 555 Thesis: Poetry ENL 556 Thesis: Screenwriting ENL 557 Thesis: Playwriting ENL 558 Thesis: Multi-Genre ENL 561 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading - Half-time: Fiction ENL 562 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading - Half-time: Nonfiction ENL 563 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading - Half-time: Poetry ENL 564 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading - Half-time: Screenwriting ENL 565 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading - Half-time: Playwriting ENL 566 Mentorship and Critical and Creative Reading - Half-time: Multi-Genre Concentrations: ENL 525 - Teaching Writing: Practice and Theory ENL 526 - Literary Translation Practicum ENL 527 - Publishing I ENL 528 - Publishing II For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Admission to MFA Admission Requirements Qualified applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally-accredited college or university with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for all undergraduate coursework. Students with a GPA of 2.5-3.0 may be admitted conditionally into the program based on the strength of their writing samples. Applications Must Include  Completed online application  One letter of recommendation  A personal essay 72     A writing sample: Fiction or Creative Non-Fiction, 20 pages, double-spaced Poetry, 15-20 pages, single-spaced Screenwriting or Playwriting, up to 30 pages in script/playwriting format Admission as an International Student International applicants must submit the required application materials listed above. Refer to the additional requirements outlined in Admission of International Students in the Graduate Admissions section. Academic Policies Credit To earn the MFA, candidates must complete 44 semester credits, write a critical/creative paper, deliver a public lecture/presentation, give a public reading/staging, and complete a book length manuscript of publishable quality (fiction, nonfiction and poetry), a screenplay/calling card script (screenwriting), or a full-length play of producible quality (playwriting). The residencies and the combined mentorship and critical and creative reading courses carry six semester credits. Craft paper and thesis courses carry two semester credits. To earn the MFA, candidates must complete 46 semester credits, write a critical/creative paper, deliver a public lecture/presentation, give a public reading/staging, and complete a book length manuscript of publishable quality (fiction, nonfiction and poetry), a screenplay/calling card script (screenwriting), or a full-length play of producible quality (playwriting). To include a concentration in Teaching or in Translation/Adaptation in the MFA, students must complete 12 courses or 48 credits. For the MFA with a concentration in Publishing, students must complete 13 courses or 52 credits. Transfer Augsburg’s low-residency MFA includes in-person and online elements that help us maintain a strong community and create a culture in which our writers thrive. This studio degree is the terminal degree in writing and because of the unique features of a terminal, low-residency, studio degree, the final decision on transfer credit will depend on review by the Augsburg College MFA Program. A maximum of eight semester credits from traditional residency MFA programs and from MA programs in creative writing or English literature may be accepted. The MFA Program Director will review and may offer up to four additional credits in transfer for equivalent residency or workshop experience completed in another program. The maximum transfer credits allowed is 12 credits. Academic Evaluation Grading The MFA Program uses fine arts studio grading practices, formative in nature and designed to be an element of the teaching curriculum. A narrative transcript composed of comments on those elements that the particular student writer is working on during a particular term will be used to assess progress in the mentorship courses. These are formative and qualitative assessment elements and professors’ responses will vary as professor/artists and student/artists approach student work with the student’s individual artistic aims in mind. In addition to the fine arts formative and qualitative assessment, students will be assessed in light of their success in meeting learning objectives of the course while completing work assigned. MFA in Creative Writing Courses are graded on a Pass/No Credit basis, using the Augsburg graduate grading model scale as described below: P – Represents work at 3.0 or higher and meets acceptable standards. N – No credit, not counted in grade point average. 73 Alignment of Course Outcomes MFA courses are aligned with the Program Hallmarks of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), the national professional organization for writing programs and the writers who teach in those programs. Participation Students are expected to fully participate in Summer Residencies, attending workshop sessions and scheduled meetings with mentors as well as a majority of readings, lectures and other scheduled sessions. Participation in off-campus coursework is expected to occur during the designated time for each Mentorship studio critique session and “time away” for creative work. Students are also expected to take part in synchronous and asynchronous sessions with mentors and demonstrate “presence” in the Creative and Critical Reading courses through regularly scheduled exchanges with faculty and peers. Academic Honesty Augsburg’s high expectations for academic honesty will be applied to this class. Please refer to the Student Guide at inside.augsburg.edu/studentaffairs/studentguide/academic-honest-policies if you have any questions. Affiliation The Augsburg College MFA Program is a member of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and curriculum is based on the AWP Hallmarks of an Effective Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing. A complete list of Augsburg’s accreditation, approvals, and memberships, is available in the Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships section. Mentor Faculty James Cihlar, Publishing Mentor. BA, University of Iowa; MA, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; PhD, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Stephan Clark, Assistant Professor of English, MFA Mentor. BA, University of Southern California; MA, University of California, Davis; PhD, Literature and Creative Writing, the University of Southern California. Cass Dalglish, Professor of English, MFA Mentor. BA, Spanish Language and Literature, St. Catherine University; MFA, Creative Writing, Vermont College of Fine Arts; PhD, Creative Writing, Archetypal and Ancient Women’s Writing, The Union Institute and University. Heid E. Erdrich, MFA Mentor. BA, Dartmouth College; MA, The Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars; PhD, Creative Writing and Native American Literature, The Union Institute and University. Jack El-Hai, MFA Mentor. BA, Carleton College; MFA, Creative Writing and Literature, Nonfiction, Bennington College. Neal Karlen, MFA Mentor. BA, Brown University; MA, University of Minnesota. Carson Kreitzer, MFA Mentor. BA, Yale University; MFA, University of Texas, Austin. Christina Lazaridi, MFA Mentor. BA, Princeton University; MFA, Screenwriting, Columbia University. Sarah Myers, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts, MFA Mentor. BS, Northwestern University; MFA, Playwriting and Drama and Theatre for Youth & Communities; PhD, Performance as Public Practice, the University of Texas, Austin. Lindsay Starck, Assistant Professor of English, MFA Mentor. BA, Yale University; MFA, University of Notre Dame; PhD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (anticipated). Cary Waterman, Assistant Professor of English, MFA Mentor. BA, the University of Denver; MA, Poetry Thesis, Minnesota State University-Mankato. 74 Faculty Associates Robert Cowgill, Associate Professor of English, Academic Writing Faculty. BA, MA, PhD, University of Minnesota. D.E. Green, Professor of English. Academic Writing and Teaching Faculty. BA, Amherst College; MA, PhD, Brown University. Michael Kidd, Associate Professor of Languages and Cross-Cultural Studies, Translation and Adaptation Faculty. BA, Pomona College; PhD, Cornell University. John Schmit, Professor of English, Academic Writing and Teaching Faculty. BS, St. John’s University; MA, University of New Orleans; PhD, The University of Texas. Frankie Shackelford, Professor Emerita, Languages and Cross-Cultural Studies, Translation and Adaptation Faculty. BA, Texas Christian University; PhD, University of Texas. Kathryn Swanson, Professor of English, Academic Writing and Teaching Faculty. BA, St. Olaf College; MA, PhD, University of Minnesota. Visiting Writers Ed Bok Lee, Poetry Sue William Silverman, Creative Nonfiction Ben Percy, Fiction Alex Lemon, Poetry and Memoir Deborah Blum, Creative Nonfiction Pam Houston, Fiction Kristoffer Diaz, Playwriting Bill Wheeler, Screenwriting Carson Kreitzer, Playwriting Kenneth Rance, Screenwriting Helene Wecker, Fiction Staff Kathleen Matthews, Administrative Assistant 75 Master of Music Therapy MMT Mission To prepare students to be leaders in the field, while fostering their passion to serve clients and families, and offer unique learning experiences that allow them to discover and realize their full potential. To engage students in life changing experiences, rich in experiential learning, collaborative in nature, fostering a holistic view of the use of music in health, healing and well-being. To advance the practice of music therapy by preparing students through a hybrid master’s degree program that is innovative, flexible and possesses breadth and depth, designed to meet the changing demands of healthcare. Program Overview Degree requirements The MMT degree program is designed for music therapists who are currently board certified and who wish to continue their education and advance their level of practice. The program is a 36 credit program with core music therapy courses, courses focused on the practice of music therapy in healthcare and medicine, and elective courses of interest. Core Music Therapy Courses – 24 credits MUS 510 - Advanced Music Therapy Theory (3 credits) MUS 511 - Advanced Music Therapy Practicum (0 credit) MUS 515 - Advanced Music Therapy Clinical Practice I (3 credits) MUS 520 - Advanced Music Therapy Clinical Practice II (3 credits) MUS 525 - Cross-Cultural Awareness in Music Therapy (3 credits) MUS 530 - Music Therapy Ethics (2 credits) MUS 535 - Music Therapy Supervision and Professional Development (2 credits) MUS 540 - Music Therapy Research I (3 credits) MUS 545 - Music Therapy Research II (3 credits) MUS 595 – Thesis or Final Project (2 credits) Music Therapy Electives– 12 credits MUS 550 - Music Psychotherapy (2 credits) MUS 555 - Music Therapy, Spirituality and Well-being (2 credits) MUS 560 - Music and Imagery (2 credits) MUS 565 - Advanced Music Therapy with Infants, Children and Family Centered Care (2 credits) MUS 570 - Music, Neurology and Physiology (2 credits) MUS 575 - Music Therapy in Palliative Care (2 credits) MUS 576 - Music Therapy in Trauma Informed Care (2 credits) MUS 580 - Transcultural Music Therapy I (4 credits) (global educational experience) MUS 582 – Transcultural Music Therapy II (4 credits) (global educational experience) MUS 585 - Advanced Music Therapy Group Work (3 credits) MUS 590 - Interdisciplinary Practice & Research Methods in Music Therapy (3 credits) Thesis or Final Project Completion of a thesis or final project is required as a part of the degree program. The thesis and final project are both subject to approval by program director.   Thesis: A scholarly paper utilizing historical, philosophical, descriptive, experimental or mixed methods research. Final Project: A supervised clinical project that is comprehensive and designed to develop and advance an area of one’s clinical practice. 76 The Equivalency Plus Master of Music Therapy will complete the courses outlined above in addition to any courses needed to accomplish their equivalent status. The Equivalency Plus MMT is 64 credits plus the clinical internship and is designed to be completed in two and a half years. The equivalency courses include the following: MUS 271 - Introduction to Music Therapy (2 credits) MUS 274 - Music Therapy Practicum (0 credits) MUS 340 - Music Therapy Methods I (2 credits) MUS 345 - Music Therapy Methods II (2 credits) MUS 374 - Music Therapy Practicum (0 credits) MUS 372 - Psychological Foundations of Music I (4 credits) BIO 103 - Human Anatomy & Physiology (3 credits) PSY 105 - Principles of Psychology (4 credits) PSY 262 - Abnormal Psychology (4 credits) EDC 410 - Learners with Special Needs (4 credits) The Equivalency Plus+ Master of Music Therapy will complete the courses outlined previous two sections (MMT and Equivalency Plus), as well as the course listed below. MUS 101 Materials of Music I (2 credits) MUS 111 Aural Skills I (2 credits) MUP xxx Primary Lessons (minimum 4 semesters needed) MUE xxx Chamber or Large Ensemble (minimum of 4 semesters needed) MUS 102 Materials of Music II (2 credits) MUS 112 Aural Skills II (2 credits) MUS 201 Materials of Music III (2 credits) MUS 211 Aural Skills III (2 credits) MUS 231 History and Lit of Music I (4 credits) MUS 232 History and Lit of Music II (4 credits) Plan of Study There are three tracks for the Master of Music Therapy program. The first is for individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree in music therapy. They follow the master of music therapy track. The second track is for individuals that hold a bachelor’s degree in music. They follow the Equivalency Plus Master of Music Therapy track. The third is for individuals that hold a bachelor’s degree that is not in music, but have a strong music background. They follow the Equivalency Plus+ Master of Music Therapy track. Admission to MMT          Online Application All college transcripts 2 letters of recommendation (can be submitted online through the application-please have your recommenders email addresses when you begin the application). Proof of Board Certification An Audition (this can be taped or live) ten to fifteen minutes of your best instrument(s). Essay-(can be submitted as part of the online application) no longer than three pages addressing the following questions. Describe your goals as a music therapist and how an MMT degree will help you reach those goals. Tell about a moment that helped encourage you to begin a career in music therapy. As a music therapist you will help people from all walks of life and with a variety of needs and illnesses, how are you qualified (physically, mentally, and emotionally) to assist these people in improving their quality of life? 77 Please note that you can upload your essay directly into the online application. You may also input the names and emails of your recommenders and the system will send them a link to directions and the checklist we request they fill out for you. If not submitted with the online application, materials need to be sent to: Augsburg College Graduate Admissions, CB 65 2211 Riverside Ave S. Minneapolis, MN 55454 or emailed to gradinfo@augsburg.edu For Academic Policies, please see Academic Policies. Accreditation and Affiliation Augsburg is regionally accredited by: The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) The Master of Music Therapy Program is accredited by: National Association Schools of Music (NASM) American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) MMT Faculty Annie Heiderscheit, Assistant Professor, Director of Master of Music Therapy. BME-MT, Wartburg College; MS, Iowa State University; PhD, University of Minnesota. 78 Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Mission The mission of the Augsburg College Department of Physician Assistant Studies is based on a foundation of respect and sensitivity to persons of all cultures and backgrounds and oriented toward providing care to underserved populations. Students are well educated in current medical theory and practice, and graduates are encouraged to work in primary care settings. The program promotes dedication to excellence in performance, with the highest standards of ethics and integrity, and commitment to lifelong personal and professional development. Accreditation The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Continued Accreditation to the Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Augsburg College. Continued accreditation is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards. Continued Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next comprehensive review of the program by ARC-PA will be Spring 2019. About PA As defined by the American Academy of Physician Assistants: “PAs are health professionals licensed or, in the case of those employed by the federal government, credentialed to practice medicine in association with designated collaborating physicians. PAs are qualified by graduation from an accredited PA educational program and/or certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants ... Within the physician-PA relationship, PAs provide patient-centered medical care services as a member of a healthcare team. PAs practice with defined levels of autonomy and exercise independent medical decision making within their scope of practice.” In the state of Minnesota, a PA is licensed with the Board of Medical Practice. In Minnesota, and most other states, the PA must be NCCPA (National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants) certified and hold a delegation agreement with a licensed physician. Curriculum The Physician Assistant program at Augsburg is 28 months long with studies beginning each year in the summer semester (late May or early June). The program accepts up to 30 students for each new class. Graduates will receive a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies and a PA certificate. Approximately the first 16 months of the program is didactic, or classroom work, including courses in human gross anatomy, pathophysiology, clinical medicine, pharmacotherapy, history and physical exam skills, research, and professional issues. The academic phase of the program also includes development of practical skills through the use of case studies, simulated patients, and technical skills workshops (ie. suturing, casting/splinting, etc.) The clinical phase is completed in approximately 12 months. The clinical phase of the program is designed to effectively train students for practice by providing them with rotation experiences in different specialties and a variety of practice settings. To that end, each student will be required to complete rotations outside the metropolitan area. Each student is required to successfully complete clinical rotations in family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral health, emergency medicine, internal medicine, surgery, and one elective rotation by choosing from various specialties. The clinical phase will culminate with a preceptorship that is designed to solidify the student’s skills and potentially place them in a setting that might be interested in recruiting a graduate PA. Clinical instructors include Physicians, Physician Assistants and other health care providers. 79 A student will be required to complete the clinical phase at site(s) determined by the Program to provide the student with the best educational experience. Clinical rotation sites will be located throughout the state of MN and other cities in the 5 state area. The Augsburg PA program includes time away from the program at varying times which may or may not differ from the traditional breaks at Augsburg University; these breaks contribute to the overall 28 month length of the program. PA Program Sample Calendar YEAR 1 Summer PA 501 - Human Anatomy and Neuroanatomy PA 503 - Human Pathophysiology Fall PA 511 - History and Physical Exam Skills I PA 521 - Pharmacotherapy I PA 531 - Clinical Medicine I PA 542 - Professional Issues PA 546 - Clinical Practice Seminar I Spring PA 512 - History and Physical Exam Skills II PA 522 - Pharmacotherapy II PA 532 - Clinical Medicine II PA 547 - Clinical Practice Seminar II PA 555 - Research Tools for the Physician Assistant YEAR 2 Summer PA 533 - Clinical Medicine III PA 545 - Clinical Phase Transition Master’s Project course, one of the following*: PA 599 - Directed Study ML 577 - International Experience Fall PA 6XX - Clinical Rotations 1, 2, 3 Spring PA 6XX - Clinical Rotations 4, 5, 6 YEAR 3 Summer PA 6XX - Clinical Rotations 7, 8 PA 62X - Preceptorship PA 690 - Capstone *Other program-approved options may be available For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. 80 Admission to the PA Program Admission Requirements Complete and current-year admission guidelines can be found on our website at www.augsburg.edu/pa. Admission to any physician assistant program is a highly competitive process. Qualified applicants will have:     Bachelor’s degree (in any major) from a regionally-accredited four-year institution Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 as calculated by CASPA at the time of application Minimum science GPA of 3.0 as calculated by CASPA at the time of application Completed the prerequisite courses listed below Prerequisite Courses To be an eligible applicant for the physician assistant studies program, you must have completed the prerequisite courses listed below. These courses must have been completed within 10 years of the year you are applying for admission. Applicants completing their first undergraduate degree in the spring term may complete prerequisite coursework in the summer, fall, and spring term of the academic year they apply as long as the degree and prerequisite coursework will be completed by the start date for the program. Applicants who already have an undergraduate degree, or who will complete their degree in a term other than spring, have the summer and fall semesters of the year they apply by which to complete prerequisites. All course prerequisites must have been passed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher. Meeting minimum prerequisites does not guarantee admission into the program.       One full course of psychology One full course of physiology* (human/vertebrate/organ) One full course of microbiology* One full course of biochemistry* One full course of general statistics One course of medical terminology *Labs are recommended but not required. The following are strongly recommended but not required:     Direct patient care is the best type of experience to obtain in order to strengthen an application. We recommend at least 2000 hours to be competitive in this category. Additional science courses such as anatomy, genetics, immunology, other biology courses, and organic chemistry Demonstration of motivation for the PA profession by formally shadowing a PA or other health care provider. Demonstration of a commitment to, and involvement with, underserved communities Note: The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is not required. PA Studies Application Process The Augsburg Physician Assistant Studies program has a two-step application process—applying through CASPA and to Augsburg’s PA Studies Program. The Augsburg PA Program participates in the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) which is sponsored by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA). All applications to the PA Program for the entering class must be processed through CASPA, following all guidelines and regulations set forth by CASPA. Application forms with detailed instructions can be obtained online at portal.caspaonline.org. 81 You will be considered an eligible applicant if you have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 at the time of application (as calculated by CASPA), if you have a minimum science GPA of 3.0 at the time of application (as calculated by CASPA), if you have completed or will complete your undergraduate degree prior to the start date of the program, and if you have completed or will complete your prerequisite courses within the timeline specified for your degree status. Additional Application Details: The Augsburg PA Program requires three letters of recommendation submitted through the CASPA process. We strongly recommend that one be from an employer/colleague (a professional reference), one letter be from a professor or adviser (an academic reference), and the third from a person of your choice. Be sure that your letter writers are able to tell the committee about you as well as his/her experiences with you and observations about you. Your Supplemental Application must be submitted electronically on or before August 1 in order to be considered. We use the CASPA “Complete Date” to determine if you have met the application deadline of August 1. The “Complete Date” on your application must be August 1 or prior in order to be considered meeting the deadline. CASPA assigns a “Complete Date’ when they have received your electronic application, transcripts from all schools attended, 2 of your 3 letters of reference, and payment. Until those criteria are met, your application will not be given a “Complete Date.” Your GPA (cumulative and science) is set at the time of your CASPA submission. The Augsburg PA Program will not recalculate GPAs as additional coursework is completed post CASPA submission. We will request grade reports for your prerequisite courses and add them to your file as they are completed, but your official GPA, as calculated by CASPA, will be the GPA of record for your application Selection Process All complete files (CASPA and Supplemental Applications that meet requirements) will be reviewed by the admissions committee. The selection committee looks for a balanced application by reviewing key criteria such as cumulative GPA, science GPA, and direct patient care experience followed by overall academic record, service to underserved (meaning disadvantaged, minority, or underrepresented populations), essay responses, knowledge of the profession, fit with the program goals and mission, and recommendation letters. As the committee completes file review, candidates are selected for an interview. The interviews are generally conducted during the months of October, November, and January. Candidates come to campus to meet program faculty, staff and current students, and to view the facilities. As interviews are completed, seats in the incoming class are offered. The cohort class will be filled between the months of October and May. A list of alternates will be selected in January to fill seats that accepted candidates may not claim. All applicants are notified of their final status by mid-February. Accepted candidates must complete and pass a background check prior to matriculation and annually through the program. Failure of the background check may result in dismissal from the program. Academic Policies Please see the PA program website at www.augsburg.edu/pa for further details about policies outlined here. Technical Standards The physician assistant must have the knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care. They must be able to integrate all information received by whatever sense(s) employed, consistently, quickly, and accurately, and they must have the intellectual ability to learn, integrate, analyze, and synthesize data. Candidates for physician assistant certification offered by the Physician Assistant Studies Department at Augsburg College must have, with or without reasonable accommodation, multiple abilities and skills including: perception/observation, communication, motor/tactile function, cognition and professionalism. 82 Candidates for admission and progression must be able to perform these abilities and skills in a reasonably independent manner. Perception/observation Students must be able to perceive, by the use of senses and mental abilities, the presentation of information through:           Small group discussions and presentations Large-group lectures One-on-one interactions, Demonstrations (physical exam maneuvers) Laboratory experiments (cadaver dissection) Patient encounters (at a distance and close at hand) Diagnostic findings (EKGs, laboratory results, x-rays and ultrasound) Procedures (suturing, casting/splinting, IV access)) Written material (powerpoints, textbooks, and readings) Audiovisual material (slides, medical videos) Communication Students must be able to skillfully communicate (in English) verbally and in written form with faculty members, other members of the healthcare team, patients, families, and other students, in order to:       Elicit information Convey information Clarify information Create rapport Develop therapeutic relationships Demonstrate competencies Motor/tactile function Students must have sufficient motor function and tactile ability to meet the competencies required for graduation and to:         Attend (and participate in) classes, groups, and activities which are part of the curriculum Communicate in a written format Examine patients (including observation, auscultation, palpation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers) Do basic laboratory procedures and tests Perform diagnostic procedures Provide general and emergency patient care (airway management, placement of intravenous catheters, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and application of pressure to control bleeding) Function in outpatient, inpatient, and surgical venues (standing and actively assisting the surgical team) Perform in a reasonably independent and competent way in sometimes stressful clinical environments Cognition Students must be able to demonstrate higher-level cognitive abilities, which include:        Rational thought Measurement Calculation Visual-spatial comprehension Conceptualization Analysis Synthesis 83        Organization Representation (oral, written, diagrammatic, three dimensional) Memory Application Clinical reasoning Ethical reasoning Sound judgment Professionalism Students must possess the emotional health required for the full utilization of their intellectual abilities, for the exercise of good judgment, for the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and for the development of effective relationships with patients. Candidates must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and function effectively under stress. They must be able to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility and learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of patients. In summary, PA students must be able to:       Consistently display integrity, honesty, empathy, caring, fairness, respect for self and others, diligence, and dedication Promptly complete all assignments and responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients Develop mature, sensitive, and effective relationships, not only with patients but with all members of the Augsburg community and healthcare teams Tolerate physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding workloads Function effectively under stress, and proactively make use of available resources to help maintain both physical and mental health Take responsibility for themselves and their behaviors Documentation of a Disability The Augsburg College Department of Physician Assistant Studies is pledged to the admission and matriculation of qualified students and wishes to acknowledge awareness of laws which prohibit discrimination against anyone on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability. Regarding disabled individuals, the Physician Assistant Studies department will not discriminate against such individuals who are otherwise qualified but will expect all applicants and students to meet certain minimal technical standards. All Augsburg students have been accepted by the college based on their ability to succeed academically and are required to meet the same academic and technical standards. Disability Resources (CLASS Office) provides academic support and accommodations to students with disabilities or temporary conditions. Accessing accommodations is an ongoing and interactive process where information can be gathered from the student and from other relevant sources. We ask that students interview with a Disability Specialist to discuss their requests. We prefer students to present any documentation that describes their disability and the impact on educational experiences and in the educational environment early in the process. Each student’s requests will be evaluated on an individual basis. The purpose of documentation is to assist in providing information and understanding about how the courses or facilities might present barriers and to what degree the disability affects the student, and to plan for accommodations to facilitate access. Some Examples of Disabilities       Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD) Learning Disabilities Psychiatric Disabilities Autism Spectrum Disorders Head Injury/Traumatic Brain Injury Physical Disabilities and Systemic Illnesses 84     Deafness/Hearing Impairment Blindness/Low Vision Disabilities that are sporadic or degenerative in nature Temporary conditions The first step in accessing services is to call CLASS to schedule an appointment with a Disability Specialist, (612) 3301053. Experiential Learning Policy The Augsburg Physician Assistant Program does not award academic credit to an individual for experiential learning. Applicants desiring admission to Augsburg’s PA Program must satisfactorily complete all prerequisite courses. Experiential learning will be considered separately from prerequisite courses. Experiential learning prior to and during admittance to the Augsburg PA Program will not substitute for any part of the clinical phase. Employment while in the Program Program faculty discourage outside employment while in the Physician Assistant Program. Faculty do recognize that employment may be an issue that some students will face. Given this recognition, realize that program obligations will not be altered due to a student’s work obligations. It is further expected that work obligations will not interfere with the physician assistant students’ learning progress or responsibilities while in the program. Withdrawal and Readmission Policies Voluntary withdrawal from the Physician Assistant Program may be initiated by a student after submission of a letter to the Program Director requesting withdrawal. In the letter, the student should outline the circumstances and reasons for withdrawal. Students will be requested to conduct an exit interview with the Program Director prior to leaving the program. For information on withdrawal, see the Academic Policies section. Readmission Students may request readmission after voluntary withdrawal by submitting a letter to the Program Director stating the reasons the student wishes readmission and the anticipated date for readmission. The submission of a letter and previous enrollment does not constitute automatic acceptance and/or reentry into the program. Reapplication to the PA Program after dismissal from the program will be considered only under extremely unusual circumstances. For the full readmission policy and reapplication process, please contact the program. Advanced Placement The Department of PA Studies does not offer advanced placement to admitted students. All students admitted to the PA Program must complete the entire curriculum. Transfer The Department of PA studies does not accept student transfers from other PA programs. Costs of the PA Program For tuition information, go to www.augsburg.edu/pa. For complete and current payment options go to the Student Financial Services website at www.augsburg.edu/studentfinancial. PA Program Faculty Beth Alexander, Associate Professor and Academic Coordinator; PharmD, University of Minnesota 85 Eric Barth, Assistant Professor; BS and PA Certificate, Trevecca Nazarene University; MPAS, University of Nebraska Stephanie Elko, Director of Clinical Education; MPAS, PA-C University of New England Jenny Kluznik, Assistant Professor; MPH, George Washington University; MPAS, Augsburg College Holly Levine, Assistant Professor; MD, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine Skye Peltier, Instructor; MPH, University of Minnesota; MPAS, Augsburg College Alicia Quella, Program Director, Clinical Associate Professor; PhD, PA-C, University of Iowa Meredith Wold, Instructor; MPAS PA-C, Augsburg College 86 Master of Social Work You have chosen an exciting way to serve others. The social work profession offers you the rewarding prospect of joining with others to respond to problems and develop opportunities that benefit individuals, families, groups, and communities. The MSW degree prepares you for advanced professional practice in the field of social work. Augsburg’s MSW program prepares you for agency-based practice with individuals, families, groups, and communities, and with a dedication to system change that reduces oppression and discrimination. Graduates of our program share how they appreciated the opportunity to learn new ideas as well as learn more about themselves. These graduates valued our small class size, our cohort structure, and the opportunity to have a mentoring relationship with our faculty and staff. As a small program, we have high expectations for our students and at the same time offer the flexibility to help them meet their individual goals. Attending Augsburg College will transform and develop your professional life in unexpected ways. We have two concentrations. The first, Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP), will prepare you for direct clinical practice with individuals, families, and groups. The second, Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP), will prepare you for macro social work practice with organizations, communities, and other large systems. We are delighted in your interest in our MSW program and invite you to join us in a lifelong adventure in learning. The personal and professional growth necessary to become an advanced professional social worker is challenging. We encourage you to take the challenge with us. Lois A. Bosch, PhD, LISW Director, Master of Social Work MSW Mission Our mission is to develop social work professionals for advanced practice that promotes social justice and empowerment towards the well-being of people in a diverse and global society. Program Overview The MSW program prepares social work students for agency-based practice in public and nonprofit settings. By working in the agency setting, social workers collaborate with others to provide holistic, affordable, and accessible services to individuals, families, groups, and communities. Our challenging MSW curriculum integrates social work theory with micro and macro practice methods. Students develop skills, knowledge, and values necessary for ethical social work practice. As you progress through our MSW program, you will:         Learn how individuals live in and are affected by their social environment Understand how social policies and programs affect individuals, families, communities, and society Apply theories and methods of practice through the field practicum experience Use a range of client-centered approaches to practice with client groups of all types and sizes Engage in practice informed by sound, scholarly research Evaluate the effectiveness of your social work practice or social work programs Advocate for the eradication of oppression and discrimination Be a responsible and contributing citizen in the local and global community Accreditation Augsburg’s MSW program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Your MSW degree must be accredited by CSWE if you seek licensure with the social work board of your state. For more information on CSWE accreditation go to www.cswe.org. Augsburg College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For a complete list of Augsburg’s accreditations, approvals, and memberships, see the Accreditation, Approvals, and Memberships section of this catalog. 87 Plan of Study Students entering Augsburg’s MSW program with a bachelor’s degree from a discipline other than social work are classified as foundation students. Full-time foundation students are enrolled in a two year program. Part-time foundation students are enrolled in a four year program. Students entering Augsburg’s MSW program with a bachelor’s degree in social work from a CSWE (Council on Social Work Education) accredited institution are classified as advanced standing students. Advanced standing students are enrolled in a 16 month program. The part-time option is not generally available for advanced standing students. All students must complete the MSW degree in no more than 4 years following matriculation. Academic Calendar The MSW program meets on a semester calendar, with classes offered September through June. Classes typically meet every other weekend with an occasional back-to-back weekend. Field practicum hours are generally completed during weekday hours. If a student lives outside the Twin Cities metro area, the field practicum hours can be completed at a placement near the student’s place of residence. Hours per week vary depending on the agency placement and the student’s availability. For academic calendars and schedules, go to www.augsburg.edu/registrar. Class Periods Classes meet in 4 hour blocks on Friday evenings, 6 to 10:00 pm; Saturday mornings, 8:00 am to 12 pm; and Saturday afternoons, 1:00 to 5:00 pm. Each class meets on campus for 8 sessions in a given semester and for 4 sessions on campus in a summer term (May-June), with the expectation that students engage in hybrid learning activities between on-campus class weekends. Time Commitment Although classes meet on weekends, students spend time on their studies during non-class weekends and weekdays in accordance with our hybrid learning format. Hybrid learning is a combination of face-to-face class sessions and online/experiential learning. On a class weekend, the typical student will spend 12 hours in class within a 23-hour period. For every hour spent in class, a student may expect to spend 3 to 4 hours outside of class working on online activities, assignments, readings, or group projects. A student may also spend 15 to 20 hours per week in the field practicum during the fall and spring semesters (a span of 8 to 9 months for each practicum). In the final year of study, students complete a summative evaluation or a portfolio, which requires significant independent research, analysis, and writing. Some MSW students work full-time while enrolled in the program. However, full-time employment is not recommended. Most students arrange to reduce their work hours or request time away during their graduate studies. Each student’s situation is unique and must be decided individually. All students must develop strategies for balancing family, work, and academic responsibilities. Credit and Contact Hours MSW courses range from 2 to 4 semester credits. Depending on the number of credits, students will spend 16 to 32 hours in the classroom per course. Students will also be expected to engage in activities and independent study outside of class. Cohort Structure MSW students are admitted to a particular cohort. Cohorts are distinguished by level of admission (foundation or advanced standing), rate of attendance (full-time or part-time), and chosen concentration (Multicultural Clinical Practice [MCCP] or Multicultural Macro Practice [MCMP]). Any changes to a student’s cohort selection must be approved by the MSW director. 88 Field Practicum Foundation students complete 920 hours in two field practica; advanced standing students complete 500 hours in one field practicum. Successful completion of the first field practicum, required for foundation students, is a minimum of 420 hours. Successful completion of the second field practicum, required for both foundation and advanced standing students, is a minimum of 500 hours. Each practicum experience is spread over two semesters (fall and spring). These hours are completed concurrent with enrollment in the fieldwork seminars as well as other MSW courses. MSW Curriculum Components Foundation Curriculum In the foundation courses and field practicum, you are introduced to social work as a profession. You will learn both historical and contemporary theories and practice methods relating to both the individual and the environment. During the foundation year, you will study human behavior and the social environment, history of social welfare policy, research methods, assessment frameworks, family and community diversity, and social work values and ethics. In the foundation curriculum you will apply this generalist knowledge of theories and practice methods in the generalist field practicum. The field practicum is completed concurrently with your enrollment in two field seminar courses. The full foundation curriculum is required of all students, with the exception of those admitted with advanced standing. Before beginning the concentration curriculum, all foundation coursework and field hours must be successfully completed. Concentration Curriculum After completing the foundation requirements, you will enroll in the concentration curriculum that you selected at the time of your application to the program. You will also complete an advanced field practicum. Augsburg offers two concentrations: Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) or Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP). In either concentration, you will deepen your knowledge of the primary issues affecting families and communities, develop a range of clientcentered approaches to practice, gain a broader understanding of human diversity, develop competencies in practicebased research, and learn practice or program evaluation techniques. In the concentration curriculum, you will apply this advanced knowledge of theories and practice methods in the concentration field practicum. The field practicum is relevant to your chosen concentration and is completed concurrently with your enrollment in two field seminar courses. As a capstone to your MSW program, you will complete a portfolio project or a summative evaluation project. Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) Concentration Multiculturalism is a process requiring practitioners to have a deep awareness of their social and cultural identities, as well as the ability to use multiple lenses when working with diverse populations. With person-in-environment as an organizing perspective, multicultural clinical social work practice addresses the biopsychosocial and spiritual functioning of individuals, families, and groups. To this end, graduates of the MCCP concentration develop competence in using relationship-based, culturally informed, and theoretically grounded interventions with persons facing challenges, disabilities, or impairments, including emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders. Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) Concentration In the tradition of Jane Addams, the heart of macro social work practice is directing energy toward changing agency, government, and institutional policies that obscure or oppress people. While many social workers view their role as focused on individuals and families, social workers must actively seek equality and justice for clients within agencies, institutions and society. Social work leaders must advocate for social change where necessary to ensure social justice. Similar to the MCCP concentration, it is important to address macro level social work practice within the context of cultural understanding and awareness. The Multicultural Macro Practice concentration (formerly Program Development, Policy and Administration) responds to this demand for leadership. 89 The macro social work practitioner recognizes the strengths and abilities of individuals and communities to implement change. The social work macro practitioner works with these individuals to do so. In the MCMP concentration, you will learn the knowledge and skills necessary to work with others to achieve needed social change. You will also learn to develop, lead, guide, and administer programs that serve diverse people in a variety of settings. Portfolio or Summative Evaluation Project  Portfolio Project (MCCP students)  The goal of the MCCP Portfolio is to enhance the integration of theory and practice, as well as to offer more vivid portrayals of a student’s academic and professional experience than traditional assessments. By definition, portfolios are formative (i.e., designed for guided reflection and self-evaluation). However they are also summative documents in that they illustrate students’ competencies. All MCCP students are required to create a portfolio during their final year of study. Items in a portfolio might include videos, process recordings, reflective statements, writing samples, case analyses, term papers, electronic submissions, policy activities, feedback from service users, self-evaluations of personal progress, and links to references.  Summative Evaluation Project (MCMP students)  All social workers must evaluate their practice to determine whether they are helping or harming clients. While in the concentration practicum, MCMP students will design and implement a program evaluation for their summative project. This project requires integration and application of knowledge and skills from both the foundation and concentration curricula. Students develop their research while in their field internship and are advised by their field seminar professor. Students conduct and present this evaluation/research project during their final year of study. Master’s Thesis Students in both concentrations have the option of completing a thesis in addition to either the portfolio or summative evaluation project. Credit for the SWK 699 general elective is given for this option. Students work with a thesis advisor to develop more in-depth research skills contributing to social work knowledge. To pursue the thesis option, students should notify the MSW program director by the end of spring semester of the foundation year. Degree requirements To be conferred the MSW degree, students must achieve the following:       Successful completion of any admission conditions (see Admission to MSW) Successful completion of all required MSW courses No more than two courses with a grade of 2.5 and with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher Successful completion of 920 hours of approved field practica for foundation students or 500 hours of approved field practicum for advanced standing students Successful completion and submission of the portfolio project (MCCP) or the summative evaluation project (MCMP) Successful completion of all degree requirements within 4 years of matriculation. State of Minnesota Social Work Licensure Six months prior to completion of the MSW degree at Augsburg, students may apply to take the Licensed Graduate Social Worker (LGSW) license exam from the Minnesota Board of Social Work. To achieve LGSW licensure students must pass the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) master’s level national social work licensure examination and complete the MSW degree. To seek the Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) license or the Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) license, one must work two years full-time (or 4,000 hours part-time) as an LGSW under the supervision of an LISW or LICSW, depending on the desired licensure. Upon completion of the supervision requirement, one may take the LISW or LICSW’s Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) national social work licensure examination. For the LICSW, there are additional requirements for 360 clinical clock hours in 6 specific categories. For more information, go to the Minnesota Board of Social Work web page, www.socialwork.state.mn.us. 90 MSW Course Requirements Foundation Courses FALL SWK 500 - Human Behavior and the Social Environment* SWK 505 - Practice Methods and Skills 1: Individuals* SWK 530 - Integrative Field Seminar 1 (taken concurrent with first practicum)* SPRING SWK 506 - Practice Methods and Skills 2: Groups and Families* SWK 535 - Integrative Field Seminar 2 (taken concurrent with first practicum)* SWK 504 - Applied Research Methods (foundation students only) SUMMER SWK 501 - History of Social Welfare Policy* SWK 516 - Practice Methods and Skills 3: Communities and Policies* SWK 510 - Advanced Practice Methods (advanced standing students only) SWK 509 - Human Behavior: Mental Health Assessment and Diagnosis (advanced standing students only) SWK 504 - Applied Research Methods (advanced standing students only) *Course potentially can be waived for advanced standing students (BSW holders). Concentration Courses Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) Concentration: FALL SWK 610 - Integrative Field Seminar 3: Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) (taken concurrent with second practicum) SWK 615 - Diversity and Inequality 1: Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) SWK 628 - Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) with Individuals SWK 629 - Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) with Families SPRING SWK 611 - Integrative Field Seminar 4: Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) (taken concurrent with second practicum) SWK 616 - Diversity and Inequality 2: Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) SWK 630 - Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) Policy Practice SWK 631 - Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) with Groups SUMMER 1 SWK 634 - Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) Supervision SWK 639 - Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) Elective SWK 640 - Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) Capstone SWK 699 - General Elective Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) Concentration: FALL SWK 651 - Integrative Field Seminar 3: Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) (taken concurrent with second practicum) SWK 657 - Diversity and Inequality 1: Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) SWK 660 – Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) Research Methods SWK 667 - Organizations/Social Administrative Practice 1 SPRING 91 SWK 652 - Integrative Field Seminar 4: Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) (taken concurrent with second practicum) SWK 658 - Diversity and Inequality 2: Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) SWK 668 - Organizations/Social Administrative Practice 2 SWK 670 - Multicultural Macro Practice Policy SUMMER SWK 669 - Organizations/Social Administrative Practice 3 SWK 699 - General Elective SWK 671 – Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) Planning Portfolio or Summative Evaluation Project Completed and submitted in final year of study. SWK 699 General Elective Students in both concentrations complete at least one general elective course. The following are examples of elective offerings that rotate each year:      Trauma, Theory, and Treatment in Multicultural Clinical Practice Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Social Work Clinical Practice Spirituality and Social Work Practice Empowerment of Services Users in Mental Health Children’s Mental Health We also offer short-term electives abroad, typically two weeks in length: Exploring Human Services in International Settings (examples include Mexico, Slovenia, Namibia, South Africa, India, Bolivia, China, and Hong Kong) Fieldwork and Field Placement Social work education goes beyond the classroom. Through the field experience, we expect that students will demonstrate skills to bridge theory and practice. Collaborative efforts between the student, the field agency, and the MSW program are essential to successful learning. The foundation of the practice includes:        Ethical, competent professional practice Problem solving within a systems framework and strengths perspective Use of advanced practice theories in Multicultural Clinical Practice (MCCP) or Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) settings Evaluation of the effectiveness of program or practice activities An understanding of and respect for diverse peoples and cultures Responsibility and service to the local and global community in the interest of social justice A commitment to oppose oppression of all forms Field Education Format Under the instruction and supervision of professionally-trained, MSW-level, and program-approved field instructors, foundation students will spend a minimum of 920 hours in two field practica. Advanced standing students will spend a minimum of 500 hours in one field practicum. Both the foundation and concentration practica are spread over 2 semesters (fall and spring). Both practica are concurrent with enrollment in integrative field seminars, as well as other MSW coursework. The fieldwork education of the MSW program is divided into two components:   Foundation Practicum The foundation practicum, or generalist practicum, puts emphasis on developing competence as a professional generalist social worker. It requires a minimum of 420 hours and is completed by students admitted at the 92   foundation level. Students spend an average of 15 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters in this practicum. Concentration Practicum The concentration practicum places emphasis on advanced practice skills and leadership qualities related to the chosen concentration. It requires a minimum of 500 hours and is completed by all students, including those admitted with advanced standing. Students spend an average of 18 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters in this practicum. Process for Field Practicum Selection Field practica begin in the fall, but the selection process begins the previous spring in collaboration with two other Twin Cities MSW programs. Students attend a field orientation before beginning their search. Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota - School of Social Work jointly host a field fair where students meet a large number of agencies and potential field instructors. Practicum selection involves interviews at approved sites, arranged by the student, and a matching process conducted collaboratively by the field coordinators at three of the MSW programs in the Twin Cities. In some instances, students can petition to complete a field practicum at an agency not on the approved list or at their place of employment. Students who wish to do so work with the MSW field coordinator for such proposals. Field Practicum Settings The Augsburg field faculty are committed to the success of each student in a stimulating and challenging field practicum. Our current list of approved clinical and community practice field sites includes agencies in the following areas of practice:                          Family and children Child welfare Mental health Crisis intervention Senior resources Family social policy Health and human services Corrections and probation Public and independent schools Youth services Hospitals Developmental disabilities American Indian family services Chronic and persistent mental illness Chemical dependency Court services Immigrant, migrant, refugee services Victims of torture Faith-based social services Neighborhood services Legislation advocacy Housing services Employment services Community organizing Research centers 93 Dual Degree in Social Work and Business Administration (MSW/MBA) Augsburg College offers a dual MSW/MBA degree in social work and business administration. Students enrolled in the dual degree program learn to create better managed and financially sound service organizations to serve diverse communities, both locally and globally. Purpose Many social service agencies today require that agency managers combine financial and business expertise with social work practice and policy formation. The MSW/MBA dual degree prepares graduates to function in a workplace that demands the delivery of quality services with increasingly limited resources. Concentration The MSW/MBA dual degree includes an accelerated third year of study for MSW students who elect the Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) concentration. In this concentration, students learn to effect positive change in social service systems through their work with communities, organizations, and social policy makers. Prior Augsburg MSW graduates who have completed the necessary Multicultural Macro Practice (MCMP) coursework are eligible to return to complete the MBA portion of the dual degree. The MSW degree must be completed before the MBA portion of the dual degree. Schedule Years 1 and 2 (September through June) MSW classes meet on alternating weekends—Friday evenings, Saturday mornings, and Saturday afternoons—and students engage in hybrid learning activities between class weekends. Year 3 (12–16 months) MBA classes meet one night per week. The MBA program includes a summer term. See the MBA section for required courses for the dual degree. Curriculum  Foundation or advanced standing coursework  Either 920 hours (foundation) or 500 hours (advanced standing) MSW field practicum experience  The MSW summative evaluation project may be accepted by the MBA program as partial fulfillment of the MBA project.  Complete a minimum of eight MBA courses for students who completed the MSW degree 2002 and beyond; complete a minimum of nine MBA courses for students who completed the MSW degree prior to 2002  For more information regarding the MBA coursework required for the MSW/MBA dual degree, see the MBA section. MBA Admission MSW/MBA dual degree applicants may apply to both programs at the same time or admitted MSW students may wait to apply to the MBA program until their concentration year. The GMAT is waived for MSW/MBA dual degree applicants. MBA application materials include: completed application, two short essays, an updated resume, two letters of recommendation, and a personal interview with the MBA program director. Admission to one program does not guarantee admission to the other. For a complete list of courses and descriptions, see the Course Description Search. Admission to MSW The Augsburg College MSW program promotes the widest possible diversity within its student population. Therefore, the admission policies ensure that educational opportunities are provided to persons with a range of abilities, backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures. 94 Listed below are general descriptions for the application process. Refer to the online MSW application documents for details regarding specific application requirements. Admission Requirements  Bachelor’s degree from a regionally-accredited college or university  Cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher  Liberal arts coursework in the social sciences, humanities, biology, and statistics Application Checklist The application deadline is January 15 each year for matriculation in the following academic year. All application materials noted below are due by the application deadline. For more information go to www.augsburg.edu/msw or call 612-330-1101.          Completed application form $35 application fee One official transcript from each previously-attended postsecondary institution. This includes colleges, universities, vocational/technical institutions, and PSEO institutions. Liberal arts prerequisite coursework including four social sciences, three humanities, one biology, and one statistics course. These courses must be completed prior to enrollment. Completed BSW course equivalency checklist (for advanced standing applicants) Three recommendation checklist forms, with letters attached, submitted online Typed personal statement responding to the questions noted on the application form Results of the TOEFL language tests, if applicable Official international credit evaluation course-by-course review (for degrees completed outside of the United States) Admission as an international student International applicants must submit the required application materials listed above. Refer to the additional requirements outlined in Admission of International Students in the Graduate Admissions section. Admission as a transfer student Students may apply to Augsburg as a transfer student. Transfer students follow the same procedure as new applicants. Transfer students may receive up to 22 transfer credits. (See Evaluation of Transfer Credit in the Academic Programs and Policies section of this catalog.) Eligible courses must be from a CSWE-accredited MSW program and students must have received a grade of B (3.0) or higher. Students must complete no fewer than 30 credits at Augsburg in order to receive their MSW degree from Augsburg College. We do not grant academic credit for work or life experience. Admission with Advanced Standing Advanced standing is an application category open to those with a bachelor’s degree in social work from a program that is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Advanced standing applicants may seek waivers for the following eligible MSW courses: Human Behavior and the Social Environment, History of Social Welfare Policy, Practice Methods and Skills 1 and 2, and Integrative Field Seminars 1 and 2 (which include 420 field practicum hours). Advanced standing applicants must offer an equivalent BSW course for each with a grade of B (3.0) or higher in order to receive a waiver. 95 Academic Policies Academic Achievement Students must maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average in the MSW program. If a student falls below a 3.0 average, the student will be placed on academic probation. A 3.0 cumulative grade point average must be restored in order for a student to be removed from probation. If the cumulative grade point average again falls below 3.0, the student may be dismissed from the program. Students are retained in the program who can:     Maintain expected grade point average (3.0 or higher) Complete course requirements of the program and field placement in a timely manner Complete the program within four years Abide by the department’s Standards for Social Work Education and the NASW Code of Ethics No more than two courses with a grade of 2.5 will count toward the degree. Courses with a grade below 2.5 must be repeated. No more than two courses can be repeated. Only the credits and grades earned the second time are counted in the grade point average. If a student receives a grade below 2.5 in a field course, the MSW director will initiate a Level 3 review, as outlined in section 3.2 of the Standards for Social Work Education. Evaluation of Student Field Performance The criteria for evaluating field performance can be found in the MSW Field Manual, which is located on the MSW program Moodle page. The MSW Field Manual may be requested from the MSW Field Coordinator or MSW program staff. Four-Year Limit All students are required to finish the degree within four years of matriculation. See the Academic Programs and Policies section of this catalog for policy on continuation of coursework or final thesis. Leave of Absence Students who interrupt their program enrollment must request a leave of absence through the MSW program in order to maintain their admitted status. The request must be made in writing or via the student’s Augsburg email account. A leave of absence typically requires a full year away from the program in order to return to classes in sequence. Prerequisite Courses All foundation courses are prerequisite to the concentration courses. Students may not enroll in the concentration courses until successfully completing all foundation courses. In addition there are individual courses that are prerequisite to other individual courses in the MSW curriculum. These are listed in the MSW Student Handbook. Program Costs In addition to tuition fees, MSW students can expect to a pay a facilities fee and a field program fee. Students can also expect to purchase textbooks and student liability insurance when in a field placement. There may also be additional fees associated with short-term study abroad electives. Graduate Scholarship Search Tips As you may know, graduate students do not have access to many of the financial aid opportunities open to undergraduates. Because of this, we strongly encourage you to spend time doing your own independent research into graduate funding available locally, nationally, and internationally. The simplest way to begin a search for graduate funding is to look online. There are many scholarship search engines online. The following websites may provide a good starting point for your search: www.naswfoundation.org 96 www.gradloans.com www.cswe.org www.gradschools.com www.mnssa.org www.fastweb.com www.aauw.org www.gradview.com www.finaid.org www.petersons.com www.studentaid.ed.gov Examples of Social Work Graduate Scholarships  Carl A. Scott Book Scholarship  Two $500 scholarships offered each year to students from ethnic groups of color. Applications due in May (go to www.cswe.org).  Gosnell Scholarship Funds  Ten awards ($1,000-$4,000) offered to social work students interested in working with American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino populations or in public and voluntary nonprofit agency settings. Applications due in August (see www.naswfoundation.org).  Vern Lyons Scholarship  One award ($2,000) offered to students interested in health/mental health practice and a commitment to the African American community. Applications due in August (see www.naswfoundation.org).  American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work  Several awards ($1,000 each) offered to students who demonstrate excellence in preparation for clinical social work practice. Applications due in March (see www.abecsw.org).  MSSA Diversity Educational Scholarship  One $500 award offered to students from African-American, American Indian, Asian, LGBT, Hispanic and Immigrant Cultures in completing their education in the Human Service Field. Applications due in June (see www.mnsocialserviceassoc.org).  Marjorie J. Carpenter Scholarship  One $1,500 award offered to students seeking education in the human service field so they may enhance their professional and/or technical skill development. Applications due in June (see www.mnsocialserviceassoc.org). Augsburg Scholarships Augsburg’s Social Work Department offers several scholarships each year. Students who are enrolled in the first year of the program are eligible to apply. Awards range in amount from $300 to $1,500.        Phyllis M. Baker Memorial Scholarship Edwina L. Hertzberg Scholarship Arvida Norum Memorial Scholarship Steen Family Scholarship Fund for Minority Social Work Students Edwin Yattaw Memorial Scholarship Bodo F. Suemnig Memorial Scholarship Blanca Rosa Egas Memorial Scholarship AmeriCorps Tuition Discount Augsburg offers a tuition discount to students who are or have been AmeriCorps volunteers—25% off the tuition cost of one course per semester. This would apply to all semesters of the MSW program. Contact the Enrollment Center for more information. 97 Augsburg Partnership Grant The Augsburg Partnership Grant applies to new enrolling students only and allows employees of partner institutions to receive a 10% tuition discount. Application fees of $35 are also waived. If a student enrolls in an Employer Tuition Reimbursement Payment Plan, the $20 processing fee is also waived. Contact the Enrollment Center for more information. Military Discount See description in the Financing Your Education section of the catalog. MSW Forum All MSW students are invited to participate in the student-run organization, the MSW Forum. The purpose of the forum is to facilitate communication between social work students and the social work department, as well as to provide the opportunity for student participation in departmental governance, curriculum development, and program improvements. As such, forum members are invited to attend Social Work Department meetings via representatives. The forum has historically been volunteer based. Any student may serve on the forum, provided the student can make a commitment to attend the meetings and share in the efforts. The MSW director and MSW program coordinator also serve on the forum. Other faculty may be invited as permanent members or as guests. Past forum members established these guidelines:       Provide an avenue for students to share and discuss ideas and/or concerns related to the MSW educational experience with the Social Work Department Encourage constructive dialogue among students, faculty, and department and College administrators Make recommendations to the department regarding program improvements Receive and give feedback on expectations of faculty, students, and the College Plan and coordinate MSW student events, lectures, discussions Organize social action projects MSW Faculty Laura Boisen, Professor of Social Work, MSW Field Coordinator. BS, Wartburg College; MSSW, University of Wisconsin; MPA, Iowa State University; PhD, University of Minnesota. Lois A. Bosch, Professor of Social Work, MSW Program Director. BA, Northwestern College; MSW, University of Iowa; PhD, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. Ankita Deka, Associate Professor of Social Work. BA, Delhi University; MSW, Tata Institute of Social Sciences; PhD, Indiana University. Christina Erickson, Associate Professor of Social Work, BSW Field Coordinator. BS, University of Minnesota; MSW, University of Minnesota-Duluth; PhD, University of Illinois-Chicago. Melissa Hensley, Associate Professor of Social Work, Field Education Coordinator. BA, MSW, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis; MHA, University of Missouri–Columbia. Bibiana Koh, Assistant Professor of Social Work, BSW Program Director. BA, Hartwick College; MA, Columbia University; MAT, School for International Training; MSW, Smith College; PhD, University of Minnesota. Barbara Lehmann, Associate Professor of Social Work. BA, Knox College; MSW, Tulane University; PhD, Case Western Reserve University. Nancy Rodenborg, Professor of Social Work. BA, Indiana University; MSW, University of Minnesota; MIA, School of International Training; PhD, University of Arizona. 98 Michael Schock, Associate Professor of Social Work, Department Chair. BA, University of Washington; MSW, University of Minnesota; PhD, University of Washington. MSW Staff Doran Edwards, BSW Program Assistant Director Emily Glynn, MSW Program Coordinator 99 Augsburg College Board of Regents For more details, go to www.augsburg.edu/about/leadership/regents. Andra Adolfson Ann B. Ashton-Piper Karen A. Durant ’81 Matthew K. Entenza, J.D. Mark A. Eustis Alexander J. Gonzalez ‘90 Norman R. Hagfors Jodi L. Harpstead Bishop Richard N. Hoyme, ex-officio Diane L. Jacobson, Ph.D. Rev. Rolf A. Jacobson, Ph.D. Wayne D. Jorgenson ‘71 Toby Piper LaBelle ‘96 The Honorable LaJune Thomas Lange ’75, J.D. Steven E. Larson ’71, M.D. André J. Lewis ’73, Ph.D. Dennis J. Meyer ‘78 Pamela Hanson Moksnes ‘79 Paul S. Mueller ’84, M.D. Jeffrey M. Nodland ’77 Lisa M. Novotny ’80 Paul C. Pribbenow, Ph.D. Curtis A. Sampson Earl W. Sethre ‘68 Dean A. Sundquist ‘81 Bishop Ann M. Svennungsen, ex-officio Gary A. Tangwall ’80 Rev. David L. Tiede, Ph.D. Vicki L. Turnquist Rev. Norman W. Wahl ’76, D.Min. Steven J. Wehrenberg ‘78 Rev. Mark N. Wilhelm, Ph.D., ELCA advisory member ELCA Congregational and Synodical Mission Executive Director The Rev. Dr. Stephen Bouman Program Director for Schools The Rev. Dr. Mark Wilhelm 100
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Title: Augsburg Now Spring 2016: High-Impact Learning
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: Navigating uncharted waters Playing it forward An exploration of faith HIGH-IMPACT LEARNING SPRING 2016 | VOL. 78, NO. 2 INSIDE AUGSBURG NOW Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu Director of News and Media Services Stephanie Weiss weis...
Show more Navigating uncharted waters Playing it forward An exploration of faith HIGH-IMPACT LEARNING SPRING 2016 | VOL. 78, NO. 2 INSIDE AUGSBURG NOW Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu Director of News and Media Services Stephanie Weiss weisss@augsburg.edu NOTES FROM PRESIDENT PRIBBENOW On serendipity in education I vividly recall the moment in 1977 when a conversation with a religion professor at Luther College, my alma mater, offered me a way of thinking about my vocational journey that has changed my life. When I admitted my doubts about following my dad’s path to the ministry, the professor shared his own journey to divinity school and the study of theology, the sort of study I had begun to explore in his class. The rest is history, as they say. I went on to study ethics and theology in divinity school and to pursue my own calling for leadership in higher education. A moment of serendipity that changed my life—unexpected, unplanned, and so very meaningful—made possible by a teaching and learning community and a teacher that created the opportunity for such moments. Such serendipity in education is a hallmark of the educational experience at Augsburg. I’m sure you have your own stories of the faculty or staff member, maybe the fellow student, or perhaps the community member who offered you the insight, the experience, the counsel, or the challenge that shaped your path. This issue of Augsburg Now reminds us of the people and experiences that continue to offer Augsburg students the promise of serendipity in their education. From award-winning teachers and researchers like Phil Adamo of the History Department and Henry Yoon of the Psychology Department to inspiring guest speakers like LeVar Burton (yes, the “Star Trek” and “Reading Rainbow” star) and Dr. Donald Warne (an American Indian medical doctor challenging us to pay attention to public health issues on reservations). From nationally recognized efforts like our StepUP® program for students recovering from addiction to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum that inspires all of us to be peacemakers in our communities. Serendipity in education happens for all of us because of these people and programs, and because of this College’s deep commitment to such experiences. One particular moment from last fall stands out for me. Our groundbreaking River Semester gave 12 students the educational experience of a lifetime as they spent the entire semester on the Mississippi River (see page 16). When I went to St. Louis to meet with the River Semester students and faculty halfway through the semester, I heard tale after tale of serendipitous experiences along the river. But then one student took me aside and said that for Associate Professor Joe Underhill, who organized the class, this was the trip he had always dreamed about, given his passion for the river. And, the student continued, Joe could have done the trip with his family or friends—surely an easier way to spend nearly four months on the river? Instead, the student said, he chose to do it with us, his students. He chose to do it with his students. That, my friends, is the “stuff” of serendipity in education. Teachers who choose to create the space for serendipity to happen—in the classroom, in the cafeteria, on the playing fields or performance stage, even on the Mighty Mississippi. May it always be so. Faithfully yours, Director of Marketing Communication Stephen Jendraszak jendra@augsburg.edu Communication Copywriter and Editorial Coordinator Laura Swanson ’15 MBA swansonl@augsburg.edu Creative Associate Denielle Johnson ’11 johnsod@augsburg.edu Marketing Copywriter Christina Haller haller@augsburg.edu Production Manager Mark Chamberlain chamberm@augsburg.edu Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Advancement Communication Specialist Jen Lowman Day dayj@augsburg.edu Contributor Kate H. Elliott augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published by Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT Send address corrections to: alumniupdate@augsburg.edu. Email: now@augsburg.edu AUGSBURG NOW Spring 2016 02 Around the quad 08 Playing it forward 14 An exploration of faith 16 Navigating uncharted waters 24 Auggies connect 27 Class notes 32 In memoriam On the cover: Auggies paddle past the Gateway Arch in St. Louis as part of a semester-long journey following the Mississippi River from St. Paul to New Orleans. See page 16. Photo by Whitney Curtis. Correction: In the Fall 2015 issue of Augsburg Now, the story “From Riverside Ave. to Riverside, CA” omitted that Matthew Dunn ’08 was among several recent Augsburg College graduates to pursue an advanced degree at the University of California-Riverside. All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. Augsburg College students walk through Lindell Library—a building that will connect to the future Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion. Learn more about the Hagfors Center on page 3. AROUND THE QUAD IGNITING PASSION, FINDING HARMONY Convocation Series sparks conversation 2 Augsburg Now The Augsburg College Convocation Series each year offers the community a chance to hear from leaders and visionaries who spark important discussion and educate about the challenges and opportunities of today’s generation. The first event in 2016 was the Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation in January, featuring Chuck D, leader and co-founder of the legendary rap group Public Enemy, and his presentation, “Race, Rap, and Reality: Supporting Our Youth in the Spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as They Face the Unique Challenges of Today.” The Batalden Seminar in Applied Ethics in February welcomed Dr. Donald Warne—professor and chair of the Department of Public Health in the College of Health Professions at North Dakota State University, and senior policy advisor to the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board—whose presentation was “Traditional Lakota Approaches to Health Disparities: Connecting People and the Environment.” The Koryne Horbal Lecture in March featured Nekima Levy-Pounds, attorney, law professor, and president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP. Courtesy Photos Hip-hop pioneer and best-selling author Chuck D addresses hundreds of attendees at the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation. AROUND THE QUAD Exterior rendering of the Hagfors Center E L A S N O TICKETS CONSTRUCTION STARTS In May, Augsburg College will begin the construction of its newest and largest academic building, the Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion. The interdisciplinary Hagfors Center embodies Augsburg’s commitment to student learning, urban placemaking, and thoughtful stewardship. The building design features classrooms and labs that are configurable to support experiential learning as well as other teaching and learning formats. These spaces will be constructed on a modular framework that allows for flexibility to meet the College’s long-term needs. The building will anchor the west side of campus and welcome the College’s neighborhood with an “open arms” design facing the adjacent residential community and embracing the on-campus community gardens. The Hagfors Center also will be the most environmentally friendly building on campus, seeking a LEED Silver certification for its Mock-up offices sustainable design. As part of the building planning process, Augsburg constructed life-size models of two proposed configurations for faculty and staff offices. The office concepts were on display in Lindell Library so community members could stop by to check out the look and feel of the spaces. Students (and even some faculty members) made themselves at home in the offices by taking time to study, check email, and read, all the while bringing new meaning to the phrase, “open-door policy.” Children’s rights advocate to keynote peace-building event Augsburg College will host the 28th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum June 6–8, inviting global leaders and the general public to explore pressing peacemaking issues faced by people across the globe. This year’s forum will honor and feature a keynote address by Kailash Satyarthi, joint winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. For decades, Satyarthi has been tireless in his advocacy for child rights, education, and child labor reform in India. While in Minneapolis, Satyarthi will join other peace-building experts to explore human rights and democracy, disarmament, sustainability, and inclusivity. Courtesy Photo THIS SPRING College moves forward on new academic building Get tickets and learn more at nobelpeaceprizeforum.org. The first classes will be held in the Hagfors Center in January 2018. Go to augsburg.edu/hagforscenter to keep track of project developments. Spring 2016 3 Historyapolis project wins ALICE SMITH PRIZE Twin Cities middle schoolers participate in a Somali debate initiative led by the Minnesota Urban Debate League. [Top to bottom]: Kirsten Delegard, who serves as a scholar-in-residence in the Augsburg College History Department, and Michael Lansing, associate professor of history, were presented the Alice Smith Prize for best public history project completed in the previous calendar year by the Midwestern History Association. The Historyapolis Project was created when Delegard realized that the citizens of her hometown of Minneapolis craved complex stories about the city’s past that would help them understand how it became the wonderful and intricate place that it is today. Augsburg students are deeply involved with the project, which aims to make the city’s history accessible and helps instigate community dialogue around challenging aspects of local history. Visit historyapolis.com for more information. Signature urban debate program REACHES MILESTONE Augsburg College’s Minnesota Urban Debate League program provides services, support, and materials to more than 750 students engaged in competitive academic debate at 40 high schools and middle schools across the Twin Cities metro area. This year marked the first time that the state debate championship featured two teams from the Minnesota Urban Debate League: St. Paul’s Highland Park and Minneapolis’ Washburn high schools. Led by Executive Director Amy Cram Helwich and Faculty Adviser Robert Groven, an Augsburg communication studies professor, the program helps increase school engagement and connectedness, which boosts young people’s confidence in their academic abilities. The program’s impact is shown through a 100 percent on-time high school graduation rate and a 99 percent college acceptance rate for debaters. “No other out-of-school program accomplishes such significant gains,” according to Groven. 4 Augsburg Now Photo courtesy of Lisa Lynch Minnesota Urban Debate League participants dominate 2016 state championship The Historyapolis Project invites Augsburg College students and community members to conduct research to help interpret the history of Minneapolis. [L to R]: Citizen-researcher Rita Yeads and Anna Romskog ’15 view city planning photographs from the 1930s in the Minneapolis City Archives at City Hall. AROUND THE QUAD Professor Phillip Adamo peers out of his office in Memorial Hall. Phillip Adamo named 2015 Minnesota Augsburg College was named No. 6 on Best Value Schools’ 2015 list of 20 Best Value Colleges or Universities in Minnesota. eetable Rankings are based on graduation rate, net price, acceptance rate, #AuggieP and 20-year net return on investment. e rid Augsburg College’s Phillip Adamo, professor of history and director of the Honors Program, was named the 2015 Minnesota Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Adamo was recognized for his accomplishment in a proclamation by Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges who declared November 19, 2015, “Dr. Phillip C. Adamo Day in the City of Minneapolis.” Adamo is the second Augsburg College faculty member to be honored by Carnegie/CASE. In 2004, Professor Emeritus of Sociology Garry Hesser earned the prestigious award. Tw PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR Augsburg deemed a ‘best value’ college Spring 2016 5 ON THE SPOT Henry Yoon examines addiction risk Augsburg College Associate Professor Henry Yoon oversees the biopsychology major and leads the Augsburg Biopsychology Lab. One area of his research involves studying disorders related to the inability to inhibit socially inappropriate or even illegal behaviors such as the use of illicit substances that can lead to addiction. Yoon uses neurophysiological techniques including EEG to capture and analyze the brain’s electrical activity to identify telltale signs of biological or genetic risk for substance dependence. Yoon works collaboratively with the StepUP® Program, Augsburg’s residential recovery community, and the University of Minnesota’s Department of Psychology. Ultimately, Yoon’s research may help refine the biological tools used in the diagnosis of substance addiction. Q: A: What prompted your interest in studying addiction? Substance use disorders are both common and costly—many of us have personal issues with substance use or know someone who does, including our family members. Plus, addiction is often connected to other major psychiatric disorders in systematic ways. It is important to understand the core factors underlying addiction for intervention and treatment purposes. Q: One of the brainwaves you focus on— the P3—has been studied in relation to childhood disruptive disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, adolescent substance dependence, and adult antisocial behaviors. What’s the link among these areas? A: Collectively, these disorders reflect a tendency toward behavioral disinhibition, which may be expressed in various ways over development through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Evidence shows that this tendency is highly heritable—in other words, influenced by genes. The P3 brain measure is significant because it may signify who is at risk for these disorders. For instance, my colleagues and I showed that P3 is itself highly heritable and can be used to predict who will develop these types of disorders over a 12-year span. So, we reason that the P3 can serve as a red flag. 6 Augsburg Now Q: Despite recognition of the biological and genetic nature of substance use disorders, social stigmas persist. Could improved scientific literacy play a role in reducing these stigmas? A: I think a cautionary tale from my field’s history can help address this question. In the 1940s-70s, the concept of the “schizophrenogenic mother” was popular in the psychiatric literature. This term implied that mothers who interacted with their children in a cold, rejecting, and aloof manner caused schizophrenia in those children. Another version of this, in relation to autism, was the “refrigerator mother,” which carried a similar implication. Later scientific research rejected these incorrect and harmful notions and instead showed that such disorders largely involve genetic/biological factors. The same trend can be observed with regard to addiction. For instance, it is now known that substance use disorders are influenced by genetic background to a degree comparable to other complex medical conditions such as diabetes or coronary heart disease. Of course environmental factors are also important, but overall this shows that combating addiction is not a matter of willpower or flawed character. Go to augsburg.edu/now to learn more about Yoon’s research. This colorful graph shows a representation of the P3 brainwave activity that Henry Yoon has been investigating in relation to behavioral disinhibition. Abnormalities in the P3 wave have been shown to correlate with addictive behaviors. AROUND THE QUAD StepUP Gala ® Research, study, and offer your two cents breaks fundraising record In March 2015, Melissa Motl, circulation coordinator in Augsburg’s Lindell Library, started posing questions to students on a whiteboard as a way to gain more information about how students use and view the library. She asked questions like, “What can you get at the library that you can’t get anywhere else?” and “What would you like to see the library do differently?” It garnered such great feedback that she decided to continue asking questions as a fun and interesting way to find out more about Auggies. Each year, Augsburg College’s StepUP Program supports dozens of students as they achieve academic success and sustain lives of recovery from substance use disorders. Augsburg is home to the largest collegiate recovery community in the United States, and its work receives generous support from numerous corporations, foundations, individuals, and families. The program received a noteworthy boost this year when its philanthropic gala raised $419,000 from ticket sales, sponsorships, and individual gifts—a sum that nearly doubled the amount raised the previous year. Former WCCO TV anchor Don Shelby was the master of ceremonies and the featured keynote speech was by Anne Thompson Heller ’08, a StepUP alumna who has founded [L to R]: Broadcaster Don Shelby joins and championed recovery U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Augsburg organizations at collegiate, College President Paul Pribbenow state, and national levels. at the StepUP Gala. Who ever came up with this question is EVIL!! You can’t make me choose! :( wars “We have some really creative and thoughtful students here at Augsburg, and I think that’s why we always get great responses. Some are thoughtful, and some are silly or witty,” said Motl. Who ever came up this question “Your lackwithof is EVIL!! 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Whoever came up At the 15th annual Sports Extravaganza, Augsburg College physical with this question education and exercise science students used knowledge gained in the is of EVIL!! You can’t “Your lack rs wa classroom to deliver smiles to a record 307 grade-school and middle-school makeme!” me choose! :( faith disturbs children with physical, cognitive, and learning disabilities. For the event, -Darth Vader Auggies created activity stations in the Augsburg athletics dome and assisted children as they played. The Star Tribune published several Sports Extravaganza photos and described participants’ enthusiasm as “Flying high without leaving the ground.” Visit augsburg.edu/now. V Spring 2016 7 PLAYING IT FORWARD AUGGIE COACHES CREATE CYCLE OF GIVING BACK BY CHRISTINA HALLER Division III athletics is the sweet spot for student-athletes—they compete on teams and nurture deep, meaningful relationships with their coaches and peers, and at the same time have the freedom and time to explore other activities and passions while having a strong focus on academics. These reasons, among others—the competition, camaraderie, discipline, and love of the game—are why more than 500 Augsburg students participate in varsity and intramural sports every year. The welcoming and supportive Augsburg College Athletics Department has had a profound impact on many student-athletes, which in return has sparked a desire in many former players to give back to youth as leaders, mentors, and friends. Here is a glimpse into the lasting influence of Auggie athletics on alumni through the decades. 8 Augsburg Now Whitney Restemayer ’10 is the first woman in the state of Minnesota to coach a team to a hockey state title, the 2015 Minnesota State High School Girls’ Hockey Tournament Class A Championship. I’ve always enjoyed working with kids, teaching the game, and mentoring players off the field. Being a student-athlete at Augsburg taught me many valuable lessons and allowed me to strengthen my leadership skills. Many people from my athletic upbringing have influenced the way I teach young men about soccer and life. I must admit, Auggie soccer coaches Greg Holker, Jonathan Schaefer, and Nate Hitch had a profound influence on me during college. The most gratifying thing about coaching is seeing my boys grow into young men and become contributing members of the community. I was a kid who was influenced in so many positive ways by several people in my athletic path. For me to have the opportunity to give back a fraction of my time is the most gratifying thing in the world. VAN HONG ’11 Enterprise risk analytics consultant at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Minneapolis; youth soccer coach at Park Valley United and co-founder of Spam F.C. College Scholarship Foundation in St. Louis Park, Minnesota SUE (MEIER) ZIEGLER ’80 Physical education and health and wellness teacher and head volleyball and track coach at Lincoln Lutheran Middle/ Senior High School in Lincoln, Nebraska Photos by Matt Ryerson I was involved with basketball and track as an Auggie. I would credit the whole Augsburg Health–Physical Education Department and coaches for supporting me—people like longtime athletic director and men’s basketball coach Ernie Anderson ’37 were always looking out for athletes’ best interests. I believe I received a quality education in a Christian environment, and feel blessed to be in a similar situation now. I hope I have had an impact on helping shape young people’s lives through education and athletics, too. Students teach me life lessons every day. The impact that they have had on my life has been invaluable—on relationships, commitment, and learning. I love seeing where my former students and athletes go on in the next step of their lives— from college to starting their families to excelling in their careers. Spring 2016 11 Everything I got from sports as a player— the love of the game, the friendships, the teamwork, the cohesion—sparked a desire in me to coach. I started playing sports at a young age and experienced coaches who I really clicked with, and I knew that I wanted to be able to give back to athletes in the same way. I had a great experience at Augsburg. Playing two sports, being a health and physical education major, and working within the Athletics Department allowed me to meet many people who had a great influence on my life. I have been very lucky to achieve a lot of success in my short coaching career. Being able to be a part of something so great on ice allowed me to also be a part of something great off the ice. The relationships that I have developed with many of the girls I have coached is second to none. WHITNEY RESTEMAYER ’10 Physical education teacher at Challenger Elementary School and assistant girls’ softball coach and head girls’ hockey coach at Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, Minnesota JAMELL TIDWELL ’05 Assistant administrator, athletic director, and middle school football and track coach at Valley Middle School of STEM, and high school wrestling coach at Apple Valley High School in Apple Valley, Minnesota I feel like God put athletics in my life to keep me out of trouble so that I could get to where I am today. If I didn’t have wrestling in my life, there’s no way I’d currently be working toward my doctorate. I didn’t have a dad growing up, so when I was a studentathlete at Augsburg, Auggie wrestling coaches Jeff Swenson ’79, Sam Barber, and Donny Wichmann ’89 took me under their wings and taught me how to be a student, how to be an athlete, how to be a man, and how to be successful. I hope that by being a coach, I can show kids that, through athletics and working hard in school, you can achieve anything. I always tell my players, you have to be a student first and an athlete second. AN EXPLORATION OF FAITH PRESTIGIOUS $467,000 GRANT FOSTERS STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN YOUTH THEOLOGY INSTITUTE BY STEPHANIE WEISS “J esus is in the generosity business,” said Amber Kalina ’15 when she quoted from Walter Brueggeman’s theology of abundance at an Augsburg College chapel service. “That means being constantly alert to any mismatch between the generosity of God and the needs of people.” Certainly, Augsburg was given a great and generous gift this winter when the College was awarded a prestigious three-year Lilly Endowment Inc. grant of $467,000 for the Youth Theology Institute. This residential summer camp program explores deep and meaningful questions of faith and vocation through classes, service work, and reflection. The competitive grant ensures that this program will continue the work of helping young people discern their vocations. Kalina’s homily was part of a visit to her home state of Minnesota to pursue the next step in her vocational journey: Attending seminary to become ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The journey of this youth and family ministry graduate, however, started in the the summer of 2010 14 Augsburg Now when she was a junior in high school in Perham, Minnesota. It was then that she attended Augsburg’s Youth Theology Institute at the encouragement of her youth pastor. “I would grill my youth director about everything. He had heard about the Augsburg College Youth Theology Institute, and he encouraged me to attend because I just couldn’t stop asking questions,” Kalina said. “At the Institute, I was challenged and pushed to think about and explain what I actually think about faith.” DIVERSE EXPERIENCES IN A DIVERSE ZIP CODE The 13-year-old Youth Theology Institute engages young people in grades 10-12 in deep theological questions and vocational discernment through community-based and classroom learning, worship, reflection, and solitude. The program, which has touched more than 200 young people since its inception, is an example of how Augsburg College lives out its vision to educate people for lives of purpose across disciplines and beyond the classroom. “This grant supports Augsburg’s continued commitment to intentional diversity and to modeling what it means to be a Lutheran college of the 21st century, located in the heart of one of the nation’s most diverse ZIP codes. It equips young people with theological and vocational skills and helps them learn what it means to practice their faith, with its commitments to education, radical hospitality, and serving your neighbor,” said Augsburg College President Paul Pribbenow. LEARN, PRAY, AND PLAY TOGETHER Since its inception in 2004, the Youth Theology Institute—a program of Augsburg’s Bernhard M. Christensen Center for Vocation—has explored themes germane not only to the College, but also to current events. Augsburg’s emphasis on interdisciplinary learning shaped the 2015 program, which explored interfaith action, a deeply compelling topic for participants and the College, particularly given Augsburg’s setting in the midst of a neighborhood with a growing Muslim population. The Lilly grant will allow the Augsburg College Youth Theology Institute to expand upon its history of success while increasing programmatic goals, including: • Development of a cohort of youth ministers from regional churches, synods, and multicultural and ethnic-specific congregations, interested in enhancing vocational discernment and theological reflection among youth. Photo by Mark Chamberlain Amber Kalina ’15 serves Abundant Life Together, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This Alt Year program in Toledo, Ohio, provides young adults a chance to explore in community subjects including vocation through reflection, leadership, relationships, and service. • Growth in the number of participants from 20 in 2016 to 40 by 2019 while also strengthening relationships with attendees, their families, their pastors, and their churches. • The creation of a mentor program to allow college-age students to help high school students develop practices and skills for theological reflection. • An increase in connections to the four synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that form Augsburg’s governing structure—Minneapolis, St. Paul, Southeastern Minnesota, and Northwest Wisconsin. • Continuation of scholarships for Youth Theology Institute alumni to attend Augsburg College. “We learn together, pray together, play together, explore the city together, and discern God’s work in our world together.” − Jeremy Myers Youth Theology Institute program director and associate professor of religion Participants in the program are respectfully challenged in every activity to dig deep into their perspectives and biases to uncover their beliefs. “We learn together, pray together, play together, explore the city together, and discern God’s work in our world together,” said Associate Professor of Religion Jeremy Myers, the Youth Theology Institute program director. For her part, Kalina hopes the grant prompts others like her to find their paths. “Young people are so eager to learn,” Kalina said. “But if there is nothing at home to welcome their questioning or to guide them, it is difficult. Home church congregations have to be involved. Participation from our churches provides a chance for all of us to show young people that abundance exists in Christian community and that abundance is meant to be shared with everyone.” Augsburg College will welcome the 2016 class of Youth Theology Institute students to campus from June 19–24. Participants from across the country will explore meaningful questions related to social and environmental justice, the role of the congregation in these questions, and how one can both love and be frustrated by community. To learn more, visit augsburg.edu/acyti. Spring 2016 15 Navigating uncharted waters First-ever River Semester pushes boundaries of experiential learning By Kate H. Elliott The River Semester was billed as an experiential learning opportunity: engage in a full load of political, environmental, and physical education courses—reinforced by a research project—while canoeing down the Mississippi River from its headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. But for the 12 Augsburg College students, two faculty members, teaching assistant, and two guides who completed the first-of-its-kind trek from August to December, it was so much more. For it was on those waters that the crew learned to appreciate the quiet, to be curious about the world around them, and to seek knowledge. They learned to be prepared, to make friendship a fine art, and most importantly to enjoy the 8 Augsburg Now moment. And they didn’t just learn about the river so much as become enamored of it, so much so that many of them feel unsteady back on solid ground. The Mississippi became their muse, teacher, personal trainer, and confidante. They dreamt alongside its calming waters and paddled through its more turbulent channels. Soon, its problems became their problems: urban stormwater runoff, the economic decay of river towns, and invasive flying carp smacked them—literally—in the face. And so, what started as an interesting, immersive experience has become a sobering call to restore and protect one of the United States’ most iconic natural wonders. Spring 2016 17 Ricky Taylor ’17, a film and graphic design major, captured the crew’s three-month journey and many of the social, economic, political, and cultural forces gripping the river as he gathered footage for a feature-length documentary. He plans to premiere “Learning to Listen: Our Semester on the River” this summer. “We learned by living, meeting the people, and witnessing the issues that illustrate the complexities plaguing the river,” Taylor said. “We met Carl, a shrimper who once walked on land that is now six feet beneath water, and we paddled past sediment that was filling in the river’s largest lake (Lake Pepin near Red Wing, Minnesota). We read about levees being ‘big bad wolves’ but then saw them protect families just trying to make their way through life. A portion of Louisiana is being swallowed up by the ocean, a culture disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico, largely due to agricultural practices that help feed our nation. “Somewhere along the way, I slipped out of the boat and into the Big Muddy. Every day I think about the river—about the paddling, the friends, the food, the learning—longing to be back there. Mud runs through my veins, and the only word I can find to describe the experience is ‘love,’ and that’s not a word I take lightly.” A gripping odyssey The trip had all the elements of any good adventure story: There was a steadfast leader, Joe Underhill, who has been engaged in environmental politics for 30 years and had been dreaming about this trip for almost as long; an epic journey paddling nearly 700 miles in 24-foot handmade cedar-strip voyager canoes; and a compelling cast of characters, including the student who’d never camped, the chipper morning person, and a student about to drop out who found his calling en route. There were unexpected moments, including an emergency appendectomy outside Mark Twain’s hometown, an open mic night harmonizing with the locals of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and a visit to the Michael Brown memorial in Ferguson, Missouri. And finally, there were lots of emotions—all of them, really. Underhill knew the trip would be an odyssey in every sense of the word. The professor of political science, environmental studies, and international relations had been planning “ Mud runs through my veins —Ricky Taylor ’17 and networking for 15 years to realize the River Semester. He tested the waters in 2001 by organizing a three-day field trip from St. Cloud, Minnesota, to St. Paul. Five-day and 10-day excursions followed before he proposed the semester experience in 2012. “This is where Augsburg stands out from other institutions,” said Underhill, who has organized interdisciplinary trips throughout the world. “Augsburg values experiential learning, place-based pedagogy, and innovative approaches so much that it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ we can make this happen but ‘how.’ Yes, we had three years of sorting out logistics, but the College continues to empower and support faculty to engage in this type of work, and you only have to talk with one of these students to grasp the impact.” Once logistics were in place, Underhill’s years of contacts at organizations such as the National Park Service rushed in to participate— offering guest lectures, exclusive tours of historic sites, hot meals, and lodging. Wilderness Inquiry, a Minneapolis-based outfitter that has partnered with Augsburg for years, provided logistical expertise and risk management planning as well as guides, food, and equipment. Erik Ophaug, a Wilderness Inquiry program manager, said the outfitter is proud to be at the forefront in creative endeavors that increase students’ access to and connection with the natural world. “This was the longest expedition we have run, in terms of number of days on the river, in our 40-year history of supporting educational and expeditionary outdoor adventures,” Ophaug said. “It was inspiring to watch these students truly soak up and process all of the little moments that make up the culture, politics, ecosystem, and history of the Mississippi River watershed.” Guide Emily Knudson ’15 had paddled with Underhill on a 10-day canoe trip as part of a River Politics course her senior year. When she learned the semester-long excursion wouldn’t materialize until after she would graduate, the determined triple major in environmental studies, English literature, and Spanish secured a job with Wilderness Inquiry in hopes of gaining a staff position on the trip, which she did. Charged with almost every logistical task, from planning mileage and booking campsites to grocery shopping and monitoring weather conditions, Knudson also served as a supplemental instructor and intern for Augsburg. She led study sessions and presented lectures in their outdoor classrooms (or the nearest city’s laundromat or public library in bad weather). “Educational experiences like this are important because they make you think so much more deeply about the course content. Instead of memorizing facts about the lock and dam system for a test, we were paddling through the pools the dams created, hearing stories from locals, and camping on the islands built to replace those flooded out decades earlier. In a couple years, I will forget almost everything I memorized, but I will never forget my learning in action,” said Knudson.  Guitar  Headlamp  Rain gear  French press  Rubber boots Visit augsburg.edu/now to learn which items the River Semester crew couldn’t live without. Self-discovery on the riverbanks Glen Gardner ’17 was considering taking a year off from school when he saw the River Semester publicized in the cafeteria. He signed up, and somewhere along the pilgrimage, the Montana native realized he wants to teach art. Gardner is back at Augsburg this semester, majoring in studio art and art education. “Having the time to unplug and reflect about my life helped me realize my passion for art education. I have always been interested in the arts, but I hadn’t really thought about teaching until I discovered that I loved spreading the feelings I find in art to other people as much as I enjoy making art,” Gardner said. “I want to extend my knowledge and passion beyond myself and use art to promote living in a way that is not wasteful to the world.” Spring 2016 19 Hearing this, Underhill is proud. Provoking self-exploration was not his motivation for organizing the trip, but the sense of vocation students found down river is certainly the journey’s most fulfilling outcome. Admittedly, he took a leap of faith selecting the crew. He didn’t pick a team of students with similar interests, backgrounds, maturity levels, and outdoor experience. He picked a team that reflects Augsburg’s commitment to nurturing a diverse community of resilient, driven, and faith-filled citizens. As you can imagine, the initial weeks included some whining and a few cold stares, but before long, this dynamic group evolved into a harmonious tribe. Forging lasting bonds Taylor was nervous about the trip, not because of the physical demands or the elements (he was an Eagle Scout and grew up a “river kid” in north-central Wisconsin). As the crew’s videographer and documentarian, Taylor was most concerned about getting his new Nikon, Sony video camera, and two GoPros wet. But even more so, he was terrified of the quiet—for those moments when people would start sharing information about their lives. He was finishing up his second semester at Augsburg in the College’s StepUP® Program, the nation’s largest residential collegiate recovery community. Now sober for two years, Taylor said he burned bridges between himself and others before he entered recovery. “My peers on the River Semester were some of my first friends in a long time. It was truly a fresh start,” he said. “On the trip, I heard things that were strange to my ears: ‘Ricky, you’re a good person,’ ‘You’re kind,’ and ‘I’m amazed by you.’ I always looked around, thinking, ‘Are you sure you’re talking to me?’ It was the first time in years that I felt good, felt worth, and felt confidence. People trusting and caring for me is more precious to me than anything, and I developed everlasting bonds with this crew.” Brian Arvold ’80 witnessed that closeness when he welcomed home his daughter, Hannah, who was one of the first two students to sign up for the trip. When the crew stepped off the train at a welcome home rally in midDecember, Arvold said, the students ran into their families’ arms, and then they all ran back—to each other. 8 Augsburg Now “It was touching for all of us to see,” said Arvold, who was waving a canoe paddle painted with “River Semester” as the train slowed to a halt. “You may want a lot for your child, but lifelong friendships are at the top of the list. Knowing that these students will be there for each other through life’s ups and downs is comforting. “We’d talk to Hannah along the trip, and we could hear her growing more socially and culturally aware, but we also detected a real sense of confidence. Paddling that entire river empowered our daughter as she was placed in settings where she had to stand up for herself, push through, and create solutions. Augsburg is truly on the forefront—a small college doing great things. It’s neat to see them embrace learning without four walls.” Wading through analysis, navigating partnerships Hannah Arvold ’18 was able to channel her professional pursuits into a research project focused on nutrition and the environmental impacts of farming. On the first leg of their trip, she calculated the caloric intake and expenditure of her peers, noting which foods provided the best sources of energy. Near the end of their voyage, she recorded the agriculture industry’s negative impacts on the river, including gasoline and pesticides seeping into groundwater. “Caring about the health of your body,” Arvold said, “is just as important as the health of the land it is grown on. “I created an ‘I  the Mississippi’ bumper sticker and gave it out to people along our trip for freewill donations,” Arvold said. “We donated $500 of the money raised to purchase science equipment for the International School of Louisiana where we presented many of our research findings to more than 160 fourth- and sixth-graders.” Each student conducted a research project, and many of them involved collaborations with external partners throughout the United States. Noah Cameron ’17 worked with Minnesota artist Monica Haller, known for the “Veterans Book Project,” which captures interviews and data from dozens of soldiers, refugees, and journalists affected by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cameron used a hydrophone to record underwater noises while on the river and then paired them with social and cultural recordings, which he plans to use for future collaborations with Haller. “It seems that intense, mindful listening is a difficult task nowadays, and some people have no reason to listen. I was given a reason, and I learned much about the nature of sound, silence, noise, and listening,” the political science major said. “My project acknowledges that the river has something to say, which it certainly does. One thing the river told me was that it is polarized; its waters are either filled with the sounds of mechanical engineering or with quiet ecological or hydrologic characteristics. “Similarly to how I thoughtfully listen to the systems of the river, I realized that we—as a society—should thoughtfully listen, which is not the same as agreeing, to our government and each other. I viewed the river like our government—this massive, daunting entity that we seem to have little effect on. However, as we moved down that river and as we took classes about both the nature of the river and the nature of democracy, we learned that we do affect that river, and we do affect our government.” Blair Stewig ’18 connected with the river on a molecular level, studying how the concentrations of various chemicals influence ecosystems. Throughout the trip, she collected water quality data like that of the National Park Service’s “State of the River Report.” She also collaborated with Reuben Heine, a geology professor at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, to gather sonar data about subaqueous dunes, or sediment bed forms at the bottom of the river. “My main focus was on the accumulation of nitrates in the Mississippi and its effect on the Gulf of Mexico. The molecule, commonly found in fertilizers, seeps into the river system from agricultural and urban runoff, feedlots, sewage treatment plants, and more. This excess results in a ‘Dead Zone’ in the Northern Gulf of Mexico each late spring and summer,” said Stewig, who is majoring in biology and chemistry. “What does that mean? An influx of nutrients results in an algae bloom. When these algae die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean, where they are consumed by bacteria, which depletes the area of oxygen. Some marine life sense the lack of oxygen and leave, but others die as a result. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Dead Zone costs the U.S. seafood and tourism industry $82 million per year.” Lark Weller, who collaborated with Stewig on behalf of the National Park Service, said Stewig’s data will inform brochures and fact sheets about excess nitrates in a river system that provides water for upwards of 15 million people. The research these students conducted is compelling, Weller said, but their connection to the river is even more impressive. “I suppose it’s possible to complete a college degree without really ever understanding the broader context of the world around you—but not for River Semester students. It is clear the experience dramatically changed the lives of every single student who accepted the challenge. They have returned with a new and expansive sense of self, place, and world,” said Weller. Memories keep rollin’ along The next leg of this journey: The documentary. Taylor produced several short videos chronicling the trip, which are at augsburg.edu/river, and he’s looking forward to sharing the experience through his forthcoming feature-length film. For now, the River Semester crew continues to process the issues they know and to reflect upon their moments together: rows of sleeping bags dotting the shore as they looked up at an ebony sky studded with millions of heavenly diamonds; waking at 3 a.m. to paddle from darkness to dawn; and swaying in hammocks tied to the tall willow trees of remote river islands. So, if you see members of this motley crew sleeping outside, don’t judge. They’re just longing to be back on the water, where they grew stronger and a bit wiser, having realized that the issues gripping the Mississippi River are as sophisticated as its ecosystems. That enlightenment has influenced the way they now see the world, with varying shades of compromise and understanding. They reenter their lives with renewed purpose, fueled by an empowering sense of community, the ability to adapt, and the ache for life’s next adventure. “ It feels good to say, ‘I know the Mississippi.’ But, of course, you don’t—what you know better is yourself and the Mississippi has helped. —River Semester student journal entry From trickling headwaters to the WIDE AND MIGHTY OCEAN River Semester participants share memorable events along the river Beginning in 2003, Augsburg College Associate Professor Joe Underhill began incorporating short Mississippi River trips—three-, five-, and 10-day excursions—into his environmental politics curriculum. He first presented the idea of a semester-long trip to College leadership in 2012, and then three years of logistical discussions and planning followed. This past fall, Underhill and biology instructor Thorpe Halloran shoved off from St. Paul with 12 students, two guides, and a teaching assistant. Here are a few highlights from their journey. AUG. 28-30: Held an orientation at the Mississippi River headwaters to introduce courses, review canoeing and water safety basics, and discuss topics such as American Indians’ perspectives on the environment and sustainability. 1 SEPT. 1: Chris Coleman, mayor of St. Paul, joined nearly 100 Auggies, family members, and high school students at the launch of the nation’s first-ever River Semester. Dozens of attendees paddled in a flotilla of 24-foot voyageur canoes to South St. Paul. 2 SEPT. 5-7: Studied the water quality and impact of farming, including increased sediment load on the river. Sampled water alongside fisheries biologists with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 3 “Without a current and with a brutal head wind, paddling Lake Pepin was probably one of our most challenging days.” —Lily Moloney ’15 SEPT. 12-17: Joined faculty and students from Winona State University for stream ecology labs and discussion on the impact of the lock and dam system. 4 OCT. 3: A rough paddle through the pool above Lock and Dam No. 13, one of the widest pools on the upper river. The crew struggled through fierce winds to avoid submerged tree stumps left over 5 from before the dam was built. One of the canoes sustained a bad crack, which the crew repaired at camp. OCT. 7-10: Met with local farmers and a nonprofit environmental group that organizes river cleanups, tree plantings, and other conservation efforts. The crew also engaged a field lab with Reuben Heine, geography professor at Augustana College in Illinois. 6 OCT. 20-21: When the crew paddled into author Mark Twain’s hometown, Izzie Smith ’18 began to suffer from stomach pain. By midnight, she had been diagnosed with appendicitis, and the next morning she had surgery. Two weeks later, Smith rejoined the group in Memphis. Even with all the excitement, the team still engaged in a lively discussion about Huck Finn and literary figures born along the Mississippi. 7 OCT. 29: The last morning of their journey on the upper river, the crew woke up at 3 a.m. to paddle for a few hours in the dark to catch the sun rise over the river. They ended their sunrise paddle on the Mississippi’s banks north of St. Louis, from which vans shuttled the crew past the Chain of Rocks, an exposure of bedrock in the Cuivre River. 8 9 NOV. 2: As part of Underhill’s course, Democracy in the American Heartland, students traveled to the Michael Brown Memorial—the site of the August 2014 shooting death of a black teenager by a white policeman, which prompted national commentary on racial discrimination and gun control. President Paul Pribbenow joined the group for a tour through the city and discussions with residents. “Standing at that memorial in the middle of the road was a deeply unsettling experience— there was no way it could or should have been otherwise.” —President Paul Pribbenow NOV. 16: The team paddled past expansive sandbars and islands full of wildlife at the confluence of the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers. Waters in this area can rise and fall as much as 70 feet and swirl around canoes. 10 NOV. 26: Thanksgiving in New Orleans: The crew enjoyed an abundance of fried turkey and comforting side dishes at their hostel as they visited with fellow travelers from more than a dozen countries. 11 12 DEC. 11: Travel by train to Chicago. “The train back to Chicago was spent doing a lot of work on our finals, but it was also a time to reflect on everything we experienced on the trip.” —Blair Stewig ’18 1 ITASCA STATE PARK, MN HARRIET ISLAND, ST. PAUL 2 LAKE PEPIN 3 4 WINONA, MN CLINTON, IA HANNIBAL, MO 5 6 CHICAGO, IL 12 QUAD CITIES 7 LOUISIANA, MO 8 FERGUSON, MO 9 10 CHOCTAW ISLAND, TN DEC. 14-15 The crew traveled by train from Chicago to the Twin Cities and joined in a “good-bye” hug upon arrival at Union Depot in St. Paul. As part of the River Semester welcome back celebration, Augsburg graphic design and typography students created an interactive gallery exhibit chronicling the voyage. Learn more at augsburg.edu/now. NEW ORLEANS, LA 11 Spring 2016 23 AUGGIES CONNECT FROM THE ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT Dear alumni and friends, JILL WATSON ’10 MBA, ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT 24 Augsburg Now Courtesy Photo T oday’s Augsburg College students seek to make a difference, and it’s been a privilege to interact with them as they gather to meet alumni, discuss vocation, and pick up targeted professional advice at recent events. Last fall, the Clair and Gladys Strommen Center for Meaningful Work hosted a Career and Internship Fair and welcomed young Auggies who sought to make connections with employers and internship hosts. Shortly after the event, nearly two dozen Augsburg alumni returned to campus to join panel discussions about their academic and career stories across a range of disciplines and professions. These events were part of a five-week major and career exploration series that provided nearly 175 students the opportunity to explore a wide variety of degrees and occupations. This series was made successful thanks, in part, to the Augsburg College alumni who served as panelists. Thank you to all Auggies who shared your vocation and insight with students! Most recently, I was humbled by the talent, drive, and thoughtfulness I saw all around me at the annual Alumni-Student Networking event in February, where hundreds of alumni mingled with current students and faculty, received free professional profile photos, and listened as alumni addressed the importance of informational interviewing, mentoring, and using social media to connect. Regardless of where we are in our professional lives, I think we all have something to offer to or gain from such events. Events like these make me proud to be an Auggie. If you shared your experiences with students in the past year, you helped to inspire Auggie pride. Whether you’re connecting with students, networking with graduates of all class years, contributing to The Augsburg Fund View videos that illustrate the to support College initiatives, or planning a impact of student internships gift to fund an endowed scholarship, we are so at augsburg.edu/now. grateful. As Augsburg moves into the future, alumni can help the College live out its vision—to educate students for lives of purpose—across the disciplines, beyond the classroom, and around the world. You can engage your employer in identifying Auggies as candidates for employment, internships, or mentorships by posting opportunities at your company on the AugPost job board found at augsburg.edu/alumni. I joined the alumni board because I wanted to see Auggies help other Auggies and make a difference. Each time I attend an Augsburg event, I learn more about what current students are up to, and I want to do everything I can to help them succeed. Won’t you join me? UNIQUELY AUGSBURG TRAVEL IN THAILAND AND CAMBODIA JANUARY 3-15, 2017 In January, English Professor Kathy Swanson and her husband, Jack, will lead an educational trip through Thailand and Cambodia. After arriving in Bangkok, travelers will tour the Grand Palace, visit the temple at Wat Po (the Reclining Buddha), shop for tropical produce, and sample local cuisine cooked on boats at a floating market. From there they will continue to Chiang Mai to ride elephants, perfect their culinary skills with a cooking class, and volunteer at an orphanage. The trip will conclude in Siem Reap, Cambodia, at Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. This thought-provoking tour has been customized specifically for Augsburg alumni, parents, and friends, and there’s still time to learn more and participate. Contact Katie Koch ’01, director of Auggie Engagement, at kochk@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1178 if you are interested in learning more about Augsburg’s travel opportunities. To learn more, go to augsburg.edu/alumni/travel. AUGGIES CONNECT ALUMNA COMBINES CREATIVITY AND CHEMISTRY through career at 3M Capstone dinner celebrates SUCCESSFUL BUILDING CAMPAIGN This winter, as part of the annual Advent Vespers festivities, Augsburg College held a dinner to celebrate the successful completion of the largest capital campaign in the institution’s history and to recognize the generosity of all who made the Campaign for the Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion possible. More than 200 donors attended, including members of the Board of Regents and many alumni supporters. President Paul Pribbenow offered his sincere thanks to Norman and Evangeline Hagfors and all donors to the new building. Chair of the Board of Regents Dr. Paul Mueller ’84 shared his gratitude and recognized the incredible leadership and commitment of Mike Good ’71 [pictured above], who served as national chair for the campaign that exceeded its $50 million goal. After becoming involved with the 3M STEP program as a high school student, Audrey Sherman ’97 [pictured] became an inventor at age 20. Now a scientist with 3M, Sherman is credited with nearly 80 patents, some created with other Augsburg alumni working at the Minnesota-based company. Sherman’s most recent patent is for a versatile material with the potential to improve cosmetics, insulation wrapping, and electronics. Two of her favorite patents involve using pressure-sensitive adhesives to transport light and making a solvent-free duct tape. She also helped discover a new solution for restickable diaper tape. Sherman feels that her Augsburg minor in art has been an important factor in pursuing her inventions, enabling her to blend creativity with her skills in chemistry. Today she mentors St. Paul high school students interested in science and gives talks to juniorhigh and middle-school students about careers in science and technology. Share your ideas for AUGSBURG’S 150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION years Augsburg alumni, parents, friends, faculty, and staff are invited to help celebrate the College’s 150th anniversary in 2019. What aspect of your Augsburg history would you like to celebrate during the sesquicentennial year? Were you connected to a team, a club, or a department that made a difference? Would you like to see a reunion for your favorite activity—whether it was the Echo newspaper staff, a sport, Lutheran Youth Encounter, the Augsburg Choir, or theater? How best would you like to honor Augsburg’s past, present, and future? Visit augsburg.edu/150 to submit your ideas and find monthly updates on planning already underway for the sesquicentennial celebration. Spring 2016 25 AUGGIES CONNECT ALUMNI ASSIST STUDENTS on their path to physician assistant career [L to R]: Augsburg College alumnus Tom Towle ’14 MPA leads thenstudents Scott Harder ’15 MPA and Christina Pekoske ’15 MPA through the steps of starting an IV. 32 26 Augsburg Now I n the classroom and in the field, Augsburg College alumni help today’s physician assistant students gain a glimpse into the professional world they’re preparing to enter. Through clinical work and course instruction, alumni share their experience in a high-demand field. Augsburg’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program was the first of its kind in Minnesota and admitted its inaugural class in 1995. The full-time graduate program educates generalist physician assistants oriented toward service to underserved populations in rural and urban settings. The physician assistant (PA) concept has evolved over time but continues to increase in relevance. In alignment with health care industry demand, the PA’s role continues to expand. The Augsburg PA program’s long history in Minnesota is advantageous, according to Jenny Kluznik ’13 MPA, assistant professor of physician assistant studies. PA students spend approximately half of their graduate program in a didactic—or classroom—phase. The latter half of the program is spent in the community where students complete clinical rotations that change every five weeks. Augsburg’s PA alumni serve as educators and lecturers for a course series in clinical medicine and also serve as hosts for the hands-on field work. Meredith Wold ’07 MPA is a guest lecturer for the program and an adjunct faculty member. She works as a hospitalist PA with an internal medicine team at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. As an undergraduate, Wold was focused almost exclusively on medical school, but during her final year in college she was struck by the teamwork she witnessed between a doctor and a PA in surgery. Now, after nearly a decade in her profession, Wold values the team-based work of taking care of hospitalized patients. She weaves clinical episodes from her career into her lectures, which serve to remind students of the whole patient—not just the upcoming exam. Melissa Oeding ’10 MPA, another guest lecturer, agrees. “As a recent graduate, I can relate to the student experience, understand how students learn, and provide real-world insight and advice regarding what to expect as a practicing PA,” said Oeding, who works at Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center. She’s stimulated by the chance to sit on the other side of the lectern. “It renews an excitement for my work and career and reminds me just why I started out in the program,” she said. “I feel extraordinarily blessed to have been trained and trained well at Augsburg.” Guest lecturer Olga Trouskova ’13 MPA sought out Augsburg’s PA program in part because of its emphasis on serving the underserved. “I went into medicine to provide answers and to heal,” Trouskova said. “Now I understand that great medicine cannot happen without building relationships and trust with my patients.” She also is a hospitalist PA at Regions and, during her weeks off, serves as a family practice PA at Westside Community Health Services/La Clinica, a community clinic. Trouskova makes a point of including real patient stories in her presentations to remind students that PAs treat patients, not diseases. For students, there’s no match for hearing these types of lessons from alumni, according to Wold. “It shows a level of alumni commitment toward the program and the next generation of Augsburg PAs,” she said. “Early on after graduation I felt a duty, a professional responsibility really, to give that back.” And teaching is its own kind of gift, according to Trouskova. “By teaching others, I have learned as well,” she said. ALUMNI CLASS NOTES 1960 Lowell “Zeke” Ziemann ’60 continues to write. His newest book, “Gunslingers and Baseball,” is a collection of Western historical fiction, essays, and baseball stories. It is available on Amazon. 1965 From his time at Augsburg, Allen Anderson ’65 fondly remembers his music professor Leland Sateren ’35, the Burgundy Singers, dorm life, and choir tours. Today, Anderson is still involved with choral music and enjoys golf, woodworking, activities in his community and at his church, travel, and participation in Lutheran Men in Mission. He and wife, Joyce, have two children who graduated from Augsburg. They travel to New Zealand on occasion to visit their son and his family. Gary Blosberg ’65 says that his current position is “reclined.” He is retired after 26 years as a finance manager at General Electric and 23 years in the U.S. Navy. He thanks chemistry professor Courtland Agre for sharing his wisdom when he said: “You don’t need to know everything; you just need to know where to find the answers.” Blosberg still sings with the Centennial Singers, the Masterworks Chorale, and other groups. He is proud to be a father and grandfather. Connie (Ekeren) Cameron ’65 teaches at Honors Mentor Connection, is on the Fringe Festival Board, sings in the St. Joan of Arc Choir, and is involved in politics, travel, and the League of Women Voters. Her fondest memories of Augsburg include the Kappa House girls, professor Anne Pederson’s literature wonderful teachers and role models. Among Dietrich’s most treasured Augsburg memories are the excellent convocation speakers and the great friendships she made. Today, she and husband, Franklin, enjoy their grandsons, their involvement at Central Lutheran Church, and traveling. She also volunteers with literature; and professor of history Carl Chrislock ’37 for his effective use of anecdote to enliven history. Dyrud spends his time reading, golfing, and traveling. He and wife, Marilyn, have three children who are all involved with theater, and they enjoy seeing their children’s work. In October, Janis “Matty” Mathison ’69 was honored by the American Planning Association’s Wisconsin Chapter as its Citizen of the Year for her leadership in working with local residents and planners to promote healthy living and active lifestyles in eastern Wisconsin’s Shawano County. Last year was the third year of Bike the Barn Quilts, an area bike tour that she spearheaded. From the NOW@Augsburg blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. classes, and her roommate of four years Carol (Welch) Langness ’65. Cameron thanks the team behind the Christmas smorgasbords; Ailene Cole, speech professor; Orvald Haugsby, math professor; Leland Sateren ’35, music department head; and Phil Quanbeck Sr. ’50. She and husband, Bill, have three sons and one grandchild. Eunice (Bergman) Dietrich ’65 thanks home economics faculty Ruth Segolson, Ruth Sonsteng, and Katherine Peterson for being daughter, Kari, at Dakota City, the 1900s village in Farmington, Minnesota. The Dietrichs also have a son, Hans. The faculty members who most influenced David Dyrud ’65 as a student were philosophy professor Paul Sonnack ’42 for his intensity; New Testament Greek and Latin professor Mario Colacci for his flamboyance; professor of English Gerald Thorson ’43 for his Hush Puppies (Dyrud’s favorite shoes); professor of English Anne Pederson, for her affection for Mark Gjerde ’65 retired in 2004 from 3M. He enjoys traveling with wife, Jan (Lunas) Gjerde ’68, and spending time with their grandchildren at a lake home. He remembers Gerald “Jerry” Pryd ’66 and Paul Dahlen ’66, his friends who died in a plane crash while they were Augsburg students. Gjerde was influenced by professor of math George Soberg ’26 and professor of philosophy Paul Sonnack ’42. The Gjerdes lived in Brussels from 1995-97 while Mark worked for 3M. They have two sons and four grandchildren. AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS 1960 This group of alumni were friends during college but had little contact since graduating. They were reunited at the 2015 Homecoming celebration and barely scratched the surface in terms of catching up. Now retired, the five Auggies plan to get together again soon. [L to R]: The men and their previous careers: Arden Flaten ’60 (science teacher), Myron Carlson ’60 (pastor), Don Gilberg ’60 (band teacher, piano tuner), Iver Christopherson ’60 (high school principal), and Neuman Berger ’60 (attorney). 1974 The National Tile Contractors Association recently honored Janet (Durkee) Hohn ’74 with its Tile Person of the Year award. Hohn was the third woman to receive this honor in the six decades it has been presented. For more than 20 years, Hohn has operated a one-person, high-end residential tile and stone installation company. She has served as president of the Twin Cities Local Tile Contractors Association, as a board member and technical methods and standards committee member for NTCA, and most recently as chairperson of the NTCA training and education committee. Spring 2014 2016 Fall 2014 17 27 37 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES One Augsburg College memory treasured by Glenn Hamberg ’65 is the teaching style and effectiveness of W. LaMarr Kopp in German class. Other faculty members who influenced Hamberg as a student were Mario Colacci from the department of New Testament Greek and Latin, Courtland Agre from chemistry, Gerald Thorson ’43 from English, and Paul Sonnack ’42. Hamberg’s present interests include crossword puzzles, computers, movies, Jeopardy, volunteering, travel, and spending time with his grandchildren and wife, Sandra (Edstrom) Hamberg ’66. Jerry Hamlin ’65 works part time. He likes to volunteer and to travel in his free time. He treasures his memories of Augsburg basketball games, the convocation with Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, and feeling like every day was a good day. He was most influenced by Donald Gustafson and Carl Chrislock ’37 in history, and Sheldon Fardig in education. Hamlin and wife, Jari, have four children and 10 grandchildren. James Harbo ’65 has a full-time dental practice in New York. He enjoys visiting his two grandchildren in Pennsylvania, doing church work, reading theology, participating in a book club, and aging well! He fondly remembers his dorm friendships, baseball, Augsburg Choir concerts, and soaking up the culture of Minneapolis. The past 50 years have heightened his appreciation of his years at Augsburg where, he says, there was “much goodness and inspiration.” Harbo and wife, Amy, have three children. Today you can find Peter Jacobson ’65 woodworking, volunteering, or traveling. He and wife, Lynne, have two children and two grandchildren. His fondest memories of Augsburg include dorm life all four years, Augsburg basketball, being a resident assistant, and spending afternoons in the physics lab. He was most influenced by physics professor Theodore “Ted” Hanwick. 28 Julie (Gudmestad) Laudicina ’65 and husband, Joe, love to travel and recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary with a cruise on the Danube River. She also enjoys gardening, reading, leading a book club, and living in New York City. She has been a civil wedding officiant for 10 years and has married more than 300 couples from around the world. Some For 12 years, David Raether ’78 wrote for TV comedy sitcoms, including “Roseanne.” After building his career, he took a break to focus on his family and found the job market had changed completely when he attempted to return to the field. After struggling and becoming homeless, he says, he discovered that he was far more resourceful and resilient than he had ever dreamed. Raether delivered a TEDxAmherst talk and wrote a book about his experiences titled, “Tell Me Something, She Said.” From the NOW@Augsburg blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. of her memories of Augsburg include listening to choir practice, freezing at football games, enjoying her many friends, and participating in student government and chapel. She was most influenced by faculty members Phil Quanbeck Sr. ’50, professor of religion; Anne Pederson, professor of English; and Philip Thompson, professor of art. She also remembers Dean of Students Glen Johnson and Dean of Women Fern Martinson. Laudicina would most like to thank her parents, both Augsburg alumni, for encouraging her to live and learn with a strong set of values. Sharon (Dittbenner) Klabunde ’65 plays in a mountain dulcimer band, and loves to travel and garden. She remembers chapel time from her days at Augsburg and also living in a house as a freshman where, she says, there were three women to a room who shared one dinky closet. She enjoyed working in the cafeteria. Bette (Bodin) Leeney ’65 and husband, Jack, love their home in Florida. They have a pool and use it a lot. She likes to garden and to welcome the family, mostly in the winter! Her treasured memories of Augsburg focus on the good values she learned and kept with her. She remembers the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and how difficult that was. She admired Dean of Students Peter Armacost, who supported her when her father passed away. Her psychology and social work professors inspired her to get her master’s degree in social work. She and Marie (Bergh) Sandbo ’65 met freshman year and have remained friends for 50 years. They share the same birthday. Carol (Welch) Langness ’65 and husband, Gary, spend every January to April in the East African city of Iringa, Tanzania, along with their synod partners in the Iringa Diocese. They have two children and three grandchildren. As a student, John Luoma ’65 was influenced by Mario Colacci, professor of classical languages; Carl Chrislock ’37, professor of history; and William “Bill” Halverson ’51, professor of religion. He treasures memories Augsburg Now of chapel, serving as student body president, and Augsburg’s emphasis on vocation, service, and faith active in love. Luoma is a minister of education at Hope Lutheran, The Villages. He is a Via de Cristo coordinator, a Diaconate teacher, and likes to travel and bowl. He and wife, Gracia (Nydahl) Luoma ’66, have two sons. Their oldest son, Aaron, passed away in January 2015. LeRoy Martinson ’65 retired in June 1998 after 33 years of teaching math and coaching skiing. Now he stays active with tennis, volleyball, and five grandchildren. He lives with wife, Micki, in Cross Lake, Minnesota. His memories of Augsburg are of his math teachers, his coaches, and student teaching with Ms. Anderson. He was influenced by professor of math George Soberg ’26, professor of physical education Howard “Howie” Pearson ’53, and Coach Edor Nelson ’38. Martinson is a member of the Minnesota State High School Coaches Hall of Fame. Dan and Mary (Tildahl) Meyers ’65 met during their freshman year at Augsburg. The couple celebrated their 50th anniversary, Dan has worked for AdvisorNet Financial for 50 years, and it’s been 50 years since he graduated from Augsburg. Dan remembers playing basketball and baseball, and he was influenced most by Ernie Anderson ’37 and Edor Nelson ’38. He would thank Milt Kleven ’46, if he could, for funding his scholarship. Dan keeps busy with work, golf, reading, and basketball. Mary enjoys walking, reading, caring for a grandson, and traveling. She treasures the friendships she made at Augsburg and meeting Dan there. Carl Chrislock ’37 and her world history class helped her realize she wasn’t a history major. Mary says that Augsburg has been an influence in their lives for 50 years. Whether they return for athletic games, homecoming or concerts, it always feels like coming home. The Meyers have two children and three grandchildren. Larry Nelson ’65 thanks Theodore “Ted” Hanwick, of the Physics Department, for his challenging and thorough classes. Nelson’s Augsburg education provided a solid foundation for his career in science education. He enjoyed teaching various areas of biology, in addition to wilderness-based experiential education. His fondest Augsburg memories are of morning chapel, convocations, studying in the library, concerts, sporting events, and social activities. Nelson says Augsburg also prepared him for continued spiritual growth. Today, he likes to travel, read, garden, volunteer, do house maintenance, and spend time with his family. He and wife, Marilyn, have two daughters and five grandchildren. Becky (Walhood) Nielsen ’65 remembers her good friends from Miriam House. She and husband, Steve Nielsen ’64, have three daughters, 10 grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. Their granddaughter, Morgan Kenny ’17, attends Augsburg. Lois Peterson ’65 would thank Mimi Kingsley, professor of Spanish, for telling her that she had “a gift for language.” Peterson is fluent in Spanish, and she visited Mimi in Chile prior to her death. Today, Peterson enjoys traveling and has been to Costa Rica, Mexico, Norway, and Spain. She remembers being in a class Bill Halverson ’51 taught in Old Main when the news came of President John F. Kennedy’s death, and watching the Beatles for the first time while in The Grill. She loves life in Denver, where her children live nearby. Leland Sateren ’35 most influenced Sharon (Bjugstad) Ronning ’65, and she has spent her life involved in music. She sings in the Masterworks Chorale, directs a church choir, and teaches piano. Other activities include knitting, spending time at her cabin, and enjoying her four children and eight grandchildren. She met husband, Don Ronning ’66, in the Augsburg Choir. Don passed away in 2000. Marie (Bergh) Sandbo ’65 and husband, Hans Sandbo ’63, will celebrate 50 years of marriage this year. Marie likes to travel, spend time with grandchildren, and serve on the Heritage Committee at church, all while continuing to run a small business from home. Her treasured memories of Augsburg include the friendships made and her studies in library science. Don Gustafson, Martha Mattson ’28, Ruth Aaskov ’53, Dick Husfloen ’60, and Pat Parker are the faculty and staff who most influenced Marie. Two of the Sandbos’ three children graduated from Augsburg. 1991 On October 13, 2015, David Johnson ’91 was promoted to Colonel in the North Dakota Army National Guard. He is a senior Army chaplain for the state. Johnson also is an ELCA pastor serving as a full-time chaplain for the North Dakota Army National Guard. He has been serving in this call for the past 12 years. Previous to this role, he served parishes in central and eastern North Dakota. Terry Simonson ’65 and wife, Patricia, live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he serves as a half-time chaplain at a residence for seniors. Three generations share their home, and his three granddaughters are the joy of his life. The memories of Augsburg that he treasures are good times spent with roommates and learning Greek and Latin (his major). Erwin Mickelberg ’54 was influential in Simonson’s decision to attend Augsburg. These days, he is interested in quantum physics and continues to explore the subject. 2006 Heather (Nystrom) Finholm ’06 and husband, Jeffrey, announce the adoption of their twin sons, Joseph and Matthew, born April 30, 2015, and adopted on July 27, 2015. 2007 Lázaro G. Payano Stark was welcomed into this world at home with the help of his midwives on April 3, 2015. He is the son of Jenessa Payano Stark ’07 and Geomar Payano Stark. The family resides in south Minneapolis. This fall, seven Auggies served on the varsity football coaching staff at Osseo (Minnesota) High School and helped lead the team to its first Class 6A state championship. The group of Augsburg alumni included Jack Osberg ’62, Derrin Lamker ’97, Mark Joseph ’01, Andy Johnson ’04, Jordan Berg ’09, Royce Winford ’09, and David Tilton ’12. From the NOW@Augsburg blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. Spring 2014 Fall 2014 Spring 2016 17 37 29 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Win Stiefel ’65 taught school in Alaska and now lives with wife, Gracia (Olson) Stiefel ’66, in Glennallen, Alaska. He spent 10 years teaching at a Bible college and 10 years in Russia helping Evangelical churches. These days he drives a school bus, enjoys 10 grandchildren and a great grandchild, cuts firewood, and volunteers at missions. He remembers traveling with the wrestling team, canoeing on the Mississippi River, and listening to the Basin Streeters. If he could thank someone, it would be the old man outside Cedar Ave. Mission who asked him and others whether or not they were saved. Steve Strommen ’65 likes to spend his days playing “Old Timer” softball, bird hunting, appreciating winters in San Diego and summers at a Minnesota cabin, performing home renovations, and enjoying his family and grandchildren. He has many memories from athletics at Augsburg, including three championship basketball teams and a championship in baseball. The most influential people during his time at Augsburg were Carl Chrislock ’37 and coaches Ernie Anderson ’37 and Edor Nelson ’38. He and wife, Chynne, have two children and five grandchildren. Sharon (Topte) Taeger ’65 and David Taeger ’65 recently moved to Camrose—a city in Alberta, Canada—after living for 19 years in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Sharon likes to read, paint, and socialize. David likes to listen, watch, and marvel at the growth and development of children, especially their four grandchildren. He also enjoys reading and being with friends. David received his M.Div. from Northwestern Theological Seminary. He was most influenced by Mario Collacci and Carl Chrislock ’37 while at Augsburg. Sharon and David have two children. Virg Vagle ’65 would thank Ernie Anderson ’37, Edor Nelson ’38, and Ed Saugestad ’59 for being influential during his time at Augsburg. Vagle enjoys golfing, traveling, and being with his grandchildren. He and wife, Pat, have seven children and 12 grandchildren. Lyndy West ’65 fondly remembers playing in the concert band and in the Basin Streeters, a group that performed for Augsburg basketball games. He entered Luther Seminary after graduating from Augsburg and served parishes in Los Angeles, inner-city Chicago, and Minnesota. He officially retired in 2012. He says the smartest thing he ever did was to marry Diane Haas in 1969. They have four children and four grandchildren. They like to bike, travel, read, participate in music at their church, and lead polka services. He thanks his parents for encouraging him and his siblings to attend Augsburg. 1967 John Schwartz ’67 is in his sixth season with the acclaimed Apollo Chorus of Chicago, which was formed in 1872. Schwartz serves as vice president of its board. Auggie singers in the Chicago area can audition to join this 130-member chorus. Details can be found at Apollochorus.org. 1975 Glen Teske ’75 is enjoying the adjustment to retirement after working for 40 years in the IT department at Hennepin County. Among his treasured memories as a student at Augsburg are business administration classes, tutoring other students, and the friendships he made. He also remembers playing four years of basketball and winning the MIAC conference title in 1975. He thanks professor of history Khin Khin Jensen, adviser and professor of business Keishiro Matsumoto, mentor Jeroy Carlson ’48, and coaches Butch Raymond ’63 and Erv Inniger for their impact on his life. 1979 Laura (Rolfe) Matuska ’79 has been selected as WeCAB’s part-time community outreach fundraiser. WeCAB provides door-to-door supplemental transportation in the Westonka and eastern Carver County service areas for people who are unable to drive to medical appointments, church, social events, the grocery store, or the food shelf. Matuska has significant experience working with seniors and clients, providing case management to support transitions through all levels of senior living. She has launched volunteer programs, developed a hospital-based domestic abuse intervention program, and is a successful grant writer. Matuska also has worked with many volunteers in a variety of positions. 1980 The new Bill Simenson Quintet recently debuted at The Nicollet. Leader Bill Simenson ’80 (trumpet) has been performing professionally in the Twin Cities for nearly 30 years. After earning his degree in music and political science at Augsburg, he attended the University of Trondheim in Norway where he studied music at the graduate level. Catch the Bill Simenson Orchestra, a larger ensemble, once a month at Jazz Central in Minneapolis. 1981 Rob Hubbard ’81 tells the story of the hilarity, irreverence, and imagination of the Brave New Workshop in his new book, “Brave New Workshop: Promiscuous Hostility and Laughs in the Land of Loons.” The book, from The History Press, celebrates the marvelous, unexpected, and absurd history of this one-of-a-kind comedy institution. The owners of Brave New Workshop are John Sweeney and Jenni Lilledahl ’87. 1987 Tammy Jo Rider ’87 received a 2015 Leadership Award from the 2015 2013 Amanda Rowan ’13 and Jordan Lakanen ’14 married August 8, 2015. Auggies in the wedding party included: Eric Lakanen ’02, Stephanie Nelson ’13, Rachel Rixen ’13, and Ashley (Carney) Wolke ’13. 30 Augsburg Now Top row [L to R]: Tyler Dorn ’15 and Alisha Esselstein ’15 were married on June 20, 2015, at Sugarland Barn in Arena, Wisconsin. Many Auggies participated in and attended the wedding. Bottom row [L to R]: Best man Alex Obanor, Augsburg Department of Public Safety officer; Dustin Parks ’16; Keisha Barnard ’16; bridesmaid Alia Thorpe ’15; bridesmaid Lily Moloney ’15; maid of honor Rachel Shaheen ’15; ceremony musician Becky Shaheen ’11; and officiant Rev. Mike Matson ’06. ALUMNI CLASS NOTES After graduation, Joshua Harris ’08 moved to Baltimore drawn to the service opportunity of working with Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest inter-collegiate communityservice-oriented fraternity founded by African-Americans. Harris serves as managing editor of APA’s journal, “The Sphinx.” He works with other community leaders in Baltimore on many initiatives, including one to build a network of individuals, businesses, and organizations that can provide internships, scholarships, and mentorship opportunities for high school students. He returned to Minneapolis in fall 2015 to speak on a panel at the Augsburg Young Alumni Council’s networking event at Surly Brewing Co. Harris is running for mayor of Baltimore. Learn about his campaign at harrisforbaltimore.com. From the NOW@Augsburg blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. Southeast Minnesota affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. 1991 Bill Koschak ’91 was hired as the chief financial officer at YA, which is an industry market leader in delivering omni-channel marketing promotions for the nation’s most respected brands. Before joining YA, Koschak was vice president of finance and CFO for the convenience and foodservice business at General Mills. 2000 Lewis Nelson ’00 joined the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business MBA for Executives. He blogs about the experience at wanderingveteran.com. 2007 Barrozo is studying the development of novel gene therapy treatments for human diseases caused by persistent viral infections and mutations of the genome. The goal of his research is to develop safe and effective strategies for treating these diseases. He also has worked as a Post-Baccalaureate Research Program Scholar at the University of Georgia. 2015 Hannah Frey ’15 has an AmeriCorps position in the Community Technology Empowerment Project, which helps bridge the “digital divide” for new immigrants and low-income communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul. She serves at Roseville (Minnesota) Library as a digital literacy coordinator for adult technology programming and outreach. Kati (Tweeten) Bergey ’07 married Brandon Bergey on October 18, 2014. Kati teaches sixth grade for MabelCanton Public Schools in Mabel, Minnesota. Heidi Heller ’15 has accepted a job as a historian and researcher with Hess Roise Historical Consultants. 2012 GRADUATE Lauren Grafelman ’12 graduated with her MBA from Hamline University in August 2015. William “Billy” Hamilton ’12 graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in May and received news that he passed the Minnesota Bar Exam in July. He began work as a public defender in training at the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office. He has found his vocation! 2014 Enrico Barrozo ’14 is pursuing a doctorate in genetics and genomics at the University of Florida, supported by the McKnight Doctoral, UF Graduate School, and Top-Up fellowships. Ava Beilke ’14 MBA formed her own social media consulting business, Paragon Social (paragonsocialco.com or @paragonsocialco on Twitter), with the desire to help individuals and small businesses excel in social media. Beilke studied communications in undergrad and pursued her MBA to round out her business expertise. She now fuses her creative skills with her business savvy to create the most effective social media efforts. Katie Koch ’01 is the new Director of Auggie Engagement at Augsburg College. Koch comes from a diverse background of performing arts management, having most recently worked at The O’Shaughnessy Auditorium at St. Catherine University as an event and administrative manager. Koch worked for nearly five years at the Guthrie Theater as an assistant to former director Joe Dowling, where she supported the Guthrie Board of Directors and highprofile visiting artists. During her time at Augsburg, Koch was a member of The Augsburg Choir, Augsburg Concert Band, and Augsburg Jazz and Gospel Praise. She served as an admissions ambassador, a student coordinator for new student orientation in 1999 and 2000, and wrote for the Augsburg Echo. Spring 2016 31 In memoriam Dwight E. Elving ’37, Mercer Harvard E. Larson ’50, Island, Washington, age 99, on September 17. Greeley, Colorado, age 86, on September 14. James K. Horn ’59, Lino Lakes, Minnesota, age 83, on November 26. Isabella “Bella” (Frazier) Sanders ’73, Park Rapids, Evelyn B. (Wibeto) Stone ’41, Alexandria, Minnesota, age 98, on November 26. Wesley N. Paulson ’51, Eugene “Pete” S. Peterson ’59, Gregory J. Semanko ’73, Altoona, Wisconsin, age 88, on December 2. Jackson, Minnesota, age 78, on October 17. Dassel, Minnesota, age 64, on September 16. J. Maurice “Maury” Erickson ’42, Vermillion, South Dakota, age 95, on September 10. Walter L. Dilley ’52, Paynesville, Minnesota, age 88, on October 14. Peter M. Locke ’60, South St. Paul, Minnesota, age 82, on November 30. Brent M. Amundson ’78, Colorado Springs, Colorado, age 61, on December 3. Helen L. (Fevold) Nelson ’43, Woodrow W. Wilson ’53, Gayle J. Arvidson ’61, Newburgh, Minneapolis, age 94, June 4. Lincoln, Nebraska, age 97, on September 11. Indiana, age 84, on December 25. David C. Eitrheim ’79, Menomonie, Wisconsin, age 58, on January 1. Chester E. Hoversten ’44, Northfield, Minnesota, age 93, on November 16. Joyce E. (Gronseth) Limburg ’44, Erling B. Huglen ’54, Roseau, Minnesota, age 83, on December 19. Harvey L. Jackson ’61, Park River, North Dakota, age 78, on September 28. Morgan S. Grant ’82, Willmar, Kelly M. Williams ’92, Edina, Minnesota, age 45, on August 25. River, North Dakota, age 51, on October 13. Apple Valley, Minnesota, age 93, on October 10. Allan J. Kohls ’54, Minneapolis, age 87, on October 4. John D. Sorenson ’62, Hickory, North Carolina, age 75, on November 2. Elise H. (Hoplin) Anderson ’45, Marvin S. Undseth ’54, Salem, Lee E. Keller ’63, San Edina, Minnesota, age 96, on October 13. Oregon, age 90, on October 12. Bernardino, California, age 80, on August 27. Edgar A. Emerson ’46, Minnesota, age 81, on September 30. Perham, Minnesota, age 90, on December 3. Guilford “Guy” L. Parsons ’47, Minneapolis, age 94, on September 17. Ruth E. (Thompson) Larson ’48, Clearbrook, Minnesota, age 92, on December 26. Rolf Heng ’55, Fergus Falls, Elmer Karlstad ’55, Warroad, Minnesota, age 91, on November 14. Alfred E. Kaupins ’57, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, age 88, on November 25. Joyce (Hanson) Holbrook ’65, Lincoln, California, age 72, on December 27. Edythe “Edie” (Berg) Johnson ’65, Stillwater, Minnesota, age 72, on October 1. Marilyn J. Larson ’65, Estes Park, Colorado, age 73, on November 3. Lawrence “Larry” C. Pratt Jr. ’57, Joyce A. (Schuchart) Hagerty ’66, Minnesota, age 88, on October 16. St. Anthony, Minnesota, age 81, on July 12. Oneida, Illinois, age 72, on December 4. Paul I. Roth ’49, White Bear Eldri R. (Johanson) Salter ’57, Lake, Minnesota, age 90, on November 21. Pocatello, Idaho, age 80, on September 8. Philip “Phil” A. Walen ’70, Stillwater, Minnesota, age 67, on September 9. Arne Simengaard ’49, Dennis F. Gibson ’59, Edina, Russell “Jeff” J. Quanbeck ’71, Fridley, Minnesota, age 88, on November 28. Minnesota, age 83, on September 5. Bloomington, Minnesota, age 67, on December 1. Allen J. Moe ’48, Dawson, Minnesota, age 85, on October 1. Minnesota, age 55, on August 28. Thomas D. Orstad ’93, Park Earl R. Kinley III ’94, Eagan, Minnesota, age 55, on December 18. Christine L. (Quandt) Edinger ’99, Madison, Wisconsin, age 49, on December 19. Judith A. (Gretz) Roy ’99, Minneapolis, age 68, on September 24. Traci M. Singher ’12, ’15 MSW, Minnetonka, Minnesota, age 44, on December 1. Dustyn B. Hessie ’13, Minneapolis, age 27, on June 15. Augsburg College Women’s Basketball Head Coach William “Bill” L. McKee, New Brighton, Minnesota, age 62, on August 27. The “In memoriam” listings in this publication include notifications received before January 10. 32 Augsburg Now EXPERIENCE AUGSBURG NOW ONLINE Fresh look, more interaction Enjoy several new features on the Augsburg Now magazine’s companion website. Thanks to a site upgrade, it’s possible to: • Manage your magazine subscription and delivery method • Read articles on mobile devices with ease • Share favorite stories and photos on social media • View exclusive slideshows and videos • “Go green” by opting for digital content instead of print • Submit class notes and share good news AUGSBURG.EDU/NOW 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 2031 LeVar Burton encourages the next generation Actor, director, writer, producer, and educator LeVar Burton—best known for his roles in “Roots,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and “Reading Rainbow”—inspired prospective students to make positive change in the world. Burton’s presentation took place this winter during Scholarship Weekend, an annual event where prospective students compete for the President’s and Fine Arts scholarships.
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Title: Augsburg Now Summer 2016: Carving the Way Forward
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: Beyond the scoreboard National champion to local hero Leadership and conflict CARVING WAY THE FORWARD SUMMER 2016 | VOL. 78, NO. 3 INSIDE AUGSBURG NOW AUGSBURG NOW Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu Summer 2016 Director of News a...
Show more Beyond the scoreboard National champion to local hero Leadership and conflict CARVING WAY THE FORWARD SUMMER 2016 | VOL. 78, NO. 3 INSIDE AUGSBURG NOW AUGSBURG NOW Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu Summer 2016 Director of News and Media Services Stephanie Weiss weisss@augsburg.edu NOTES FROM PRESIDENT PRIBBENOW On thoughtful stewardship Director of Marketing Communication Stephen Jendraszak jendra@augsburg.edu Communication Copywriter and Editorial Coordinator Augsburg’s mission statement says that we educate students to be “thoughtful stewards” as well as “informed citizens, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.” I imagine some may read “thoughtful stewards” and think about church fundraising campaigns or care for the environment, the typical places we consider stewardship—and both important causes! At Augsburg, though, thoughtful stewardship is a much more compelling claim. It goes beyond simple acts of giving or environmental care. It is a way of living, an ethic that teaches us how to live in the world. And it is at the heart of an Augsburg education—from how we engage students with the community to help them discern their gifts and gain a holistic understanding of the needs of our world (see page 16) to the deep listening and conversation we embed in our classes, such as in the Master of Arts in Leadership course that was integrated with this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Forum (see page 20). Also in this issue of Augsburg Now, you will read about the genuine privilege I had to deliver a major address on stewardship to Cargill employees worldwide. In that address, I said: “… stewardship involves a practice of standing up, speaking up in a manner that reflects—and makes clear—our values. The challenge for the good steward—as a parent or manager or citizen—is to pursue practices that help connect us with the deeply held values and commitments that characterize our personal and corporate lives. “The truth is that many people do not think about the reasons for their actions. They act, and they expect others to accept their action at face value. But good stewardship demands reflection, then the courage to act based on our convictions, and to do so overtly so that we are publicly accountable for how our actions reflect our values. Only in that link is there integrity in human life.” At Augsburg—as reflected in the stories that follow in these pages—we educate students to embrace their many gifts, to understand the obligations they have to steward those gifts, and to appreciate the important work of taking a stand for the values and commitments that honor the gifts and contributions of each of us. Thoughtful stewardship—a way of life for all of us. I give thanks for a teaching and learning community that is blessed with and inspired by our remarkable legacy and mission. I give thanks for the privilege of being a faithful steward of all the gifts that make Augsburg such a rare place. Faithfully yours, Laura Swanson Lindahl ’15 MBA swansonl@augsburg.edu Creative Associate Denielle Johnson ’11 johnsod@augsburg.edu Marketing Copywriter Christina Haller haller@augsburg.edu Production Manager Mark Chamberlain chamberm@augsburg.edu Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Advancement Communication Specialist Jen Lowman Day dayj@augsburg.edu Contributor Ryan Nichols ’16 augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published by Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi brought energy and passion to the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Forum sponsored by Augsburg College. Following three days of dialogue on peacebuilding, he and his wife, Sumedha Kailash, joined Forum attendees in a Bollywood-style dance party for the conference’s finale. 02 Around the quad 20 Leadership and conflict 08 From national hampion to local hero 23 Auggies connect 14 Beyond the scoreboard 27 Class notes 16 The city: Course content and classroom 32 In memoriam ISSN 1058-1545 Send address corrections to: alumniupdate@augsburg.edu. On the cover: Construction crews work on the footings for the main lobby of the Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion, an interdisciplinary building that will open in 2018, anchoring the west side of the Augsburg College campus. See page 2. Email: now@augsburg.edu All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. FROM THE GROUND THIS BUG’S-EYE VIEW captures the April 2016 groundbreaking ceremony for Augsburg’s Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion. The celebration included hundreds of Augsburg College alumni, students, donors, neighbors, and faculty and staff members, as well as city and county officials. The new academic building is slated to open in January 2018. 2 Augsburg Now Pictured [L to R]: Outgoing Augsburg College Board of Regents Chair Dr. Paul Mueller ’84, Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Naming Gift Donors Evangeline Hagfors and Norman Hagfors, Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow, National Fundraising Campaign Chair Michael Good ’71, Augsburg College Provost Karen Kaivola, and 2015-16 Day Student Body President Duina Hernandez ’16. Summer 2016 3 AROUND THE QUAD $50,000 grant funds RECYCLING PROGRAM EXPANSION Student-faculty-staff collaboration improves campus sustainability D A U Q E H T D N U O AR NEW RESIDENTS HONORING Retiring Faculty SET MEMORIAL HALL KATHY ACCURSO ABUZZ Instructor, Department of Education— with the College since 2012 KATHERINE BAUMGARTNER Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing—with the College since 2005 Hives installed to bolster honey bee population RONALD FEDIE It has been decades since the last students moved out of Memorial Hall; the dormitory was converted to office space in the late 1960s. However, a new group of inhabitants moved in this spring when The Beez Kneez organization installed beehives on the building’s rooftop as part of an urban apiary partnership program. Augsburg joined the program to further the College’s commitment to environmental stewardship and to creating green spaces within the city. Recently, honey bee populations have been decreasing due to parasites and the misuse of pesticides. The on-campus hives will help rebuild the local population and pollinate Augsburg’s plant life. Those worried about getting stung can rest easy—honey bees are not aggressive and will not sting unless threatened. 4 Augsburg Now Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry—with the College since 1996 FEKRI MEZIOU Professor Emeritus, Department of Business Administration—with the College since 1987 VICKI OLSON Professor Emerita, Department of Education—with the College since 1987 CELEBRATING STUDENT Augsburg College can boost its efforts to divert organic and compostable items from trash and other recycling thanks to a $50,000 recycling grant from the Hennepin County Environment and Energy Department. The funding will be used to purchase indoor and outdoor bins, rolling carts, and signage to foster increased composting of organic material and the proper disposal of mixed recyclables. Go to augsburg.edu/green to learn about Augsburg’s Environmental Augsburg’s commitment to offering facilities that are welcoming, sustainable, Stewardship Committee, Facilities and and designed for educational excellence. Custodial staff, and the Augsburg Day Student Government’s Environmental Action Committee collaborated to submit the grant proposal. “Thousands of people touch the campus in some way during the course of one year,” said Amber Lewis ’17 MAE, an Environmental Stewardship Fellow who supports on-campus sustainability initiatives. “In addition to students, faculty, and staff, guests join our community for graduation ceremonies, sporting events, performances, convocations, summer camps, conferences, and workshops. This presents us with an opportunity to share a clear message about the importance of recycling in our community.” SUCCESS Read about the wide range of prestigious academic achievements and awards earned by Auggies during the 2015-16 year at augsburg.edu/now. AUGSBURG EXHIBITION SHINES in Guerrilla Girls Twin Cities Takeover World-renowned feminist art activists the Guerrilla Girls recently “took over” Minneapolis and St. Paul to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Augsburg College was among more than two dozen arts and cultural institutions that hosted exhibits and events highlighting gender and race inequalities and promoting artistic expression. The Guerrilla Girls, who wear gorilla masks and use the names of famous female artists as pseudonyms, were on campus for the opening reception of “Reconfiguring Casta,” a site-specific installation for the Christensen Center Art Gallery. Combining prints and paintings, artist Maria Cristina Tavera addressed the social concept of race and the issue of socio-racial classifications. Tavera, known on campus as “Tina,” also serves as the director of Augsburg’s McNair Scholars program, which seeks to increase graduate degree awards for students from underrepresented segments of society. Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow delivered the keynote address for Cargill’s annual ethics week this spring. Pribbenow is recognized as one of the nation’s most engaging commentators and teachers on ethics, philanthropy, and American public life. His talk, “Promises to Keep: An Ethic of Stewardship,” reached Cargill employees located in Minneapolis and around the world. Summer 2016 5 AROUND THE QUAD ON THE SPOT What does it mean to matter? What does it look like to matter? With the Black Lives Matter movement, questions of racial equity have ignited important—and difficult— conversations in communities and courtrooms, on political campaign trails, and on college campuses. Augsburg College Professor William “Bill” Green studies and writes about history and law. His most recent book, “Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota, 1865–1912,” chronicles conditions for African American Minnesotans and others in the half-century following the Civil War. Today, Minnesota and the nation are very different than they were in the postbellum period that Green examined, but tightly woven threads unite contemporary events with those occurring more than a century earlier. COMMENCEMENT 2016 Students of color, award winners, and former KARE 11 anchor stand out at graduation Augsburg College celebrated students completing degrees in the traditional undergraduate, adult undergraduate, and graduate programs through commencement ceremonies held April 30. The 2016 traditional undergraduate class is the most diverse in the College’s history and comprised of more than 42 percent students of color. Commencement keynote speaker Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, addressed ceremony attendees and was awarded an honorary doctorate. Michael Good ’71 also was awarded an honorary degree in recognition of his service to the College. Eleanor Barr ’16 earned the Marina Christensen Justice Award, and Kim Chisholm ’16 received this year’s Richard Thoni Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to their communities. Teaching and learning award winners Augsburg recognizes individuals or groups who have made exemplary contributions to creating an engaging academic learning environment. The 2016 recipients of the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning awards are: Teaching Former KARE 11 News anchor Diana Pierce ’16 MAL earned her Masters of Arts in Leadership and participated in commencement this spring. “The program at Augsburg gave me exactly what I wanted to add to my skillset for a new adventure,” Pierce said on KARE 11 in April. Joe Underhill, associate professor of political science Research Michael Lansing, associate professor and History Department chair Service Dulce Monterrubio, director of Latin@ Student Services 6 Augsburg Now Q: What prompted your interest in studying the history of African Americans in Minnesota? A: In 1860, a slave woman was freed in a Minneapolis courtroom. In the aftermath, citizens in the communities of St. Anthony and Minneapolis for days walked the streets eyeing their neighbors, waiting for the smallest provocation to spark violence. We were on the verge of seeing our own little civil war erupt in Minnesota over the issue of slavery. Ultimately, Minnesotans’ attention was averted by news of the Confederate bombardment of the federal installation of Fort Sumter. Upon hearing the news, Minnesota was the first state to send volunteers into the Union Army. Seven years later, it would be the first state to extend voting rights to black men, pre-dating the ratification of the 15th Amendment. I felt compelled to understand this dynamic. Q: When Minnesota granted suffrage to people who are black, what implications did this have in citizens’ lives? ELCA college conference Students, faculty members, and staff from two dozen colleges and universities affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America came together this summer as Augsburg hosted the annual Vocation of a Lutheran College Conference. The event featured a partnership with Interfaith Youth Core—an organization renowned for uniting young people of different religious and moral traditions for dialogue around shared values. IFYC Founder Eboo Patel [pictured speaking] discussed the colleges’ role in preparing students for life in a religiously diverse world. ‘Degrees of Freedom’ in Minnesota’s past and present A: [L to R]: Michael Lansing, Dulce Monterrubio, and Joe Underhill. In a practical sense, the implications were non-existent. There simply weren’t enough black voters in Minnesota to influence political leaders or affect public policy. Symbolically, however, during a time of mounting economic dislocation coupled with the spread of white supremacy, it raised the bar, not just in terms of the broader virtue of racial equality, but, more fundamentally, stressing the need for true leadership that called on ordinary people to overcome their baser instincts and choose to act with common decency. Q: And yet you’ve said that race is “written between the lines” of early Minnesota history, rather than spoken about directly. What do you mean? A: The fact that the black population was so small made it easy for historians and opinion makers to draw rosy pictures of racial exceptionalism without needing to be checked by a more balanced reality. Without the “significant other” whose history was hidden in footnotes, it became easy to believe what one wanted to believe. But could it really be true that Dred Scott was the only slave to live in Minnesota? Could Frederick Douglass be the only African American to be denied service in a prestigious hotel in St. Paul, even though the proprietor was a friend of his and an officer in the Union Army? Could the paucity of discrimination lawsuits in the 19th century really mean there was no discrimination in restaurants and taverns? Q: Today’s Black Lives Matter movement involves participatory democracy— participation by many and with more diffuse leadership than the civil rights movements of the 1960s. When you look at the Black Lives Matter movement, what strikes you, considering the lens through which you write your books? A: In 1965 when the civil rights movement pressed for voting rights, the powerful symbolism of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X joining forces placed pressure on the President of the United States to shepherd through Congress the Voting Rights bill and sign it into law. Federal protection of the right to vote was a moral issue. But it was the union of two leaders who embodied opposing approaches to advancing civil rights that heightened a sense of urgency to enact the bill. The moral: As long as there are no “inside”-“outside” forces simultaneously working for the same clearly defined issue, advocates on either side of the spectrum can be marginalized and eventually dismissed. I don’t see a rival force to Black Lives Matter that is pushing for the same ends but through different means. This isn’t the fault of BLM, but the absence of a “significant other” should be a concern to them, nonetheless. History can only provide suggestions on how or even whether to proceed. The Minnesota Book Awards honored Green with the 2016 Hognander Minnesota History Award. Go to augsburg.edu/now to learn more about Green’s research. Summer 2016 7 Devean George ’99 was the first NCAA Division III player ever selected in the first round of the NBA Draft—and he played professionally for more than a decade. Now retired from basketball, he’s gone back to his roots to help revitalize the Minneapolis neighborhood where he grew up. BY CHRISTINA HALLER 8 Augsburg Now November 3, 1999. The Los Angeles Lakers are debuting in their brand new home, the Staples Center, with an unveiling ceremony followed by a game against the Vancouver Grizzlies. A crowd of 20,000 fans is packed inside, waiting for NBA stars Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal to make opening remarks. But instead, the Lakers players decide to encourage their newest rookie to address the crowd. The lights go down, and all becomes still. In less than 30 seconds, it’s go time. “No, guys, don’t make me do this! I don’t know what to do,” whispers a 22-year-old Devean George ’99. But his pleas were met with laughter. “I just remember shaking in my boots. There are tens of thousands of people here, and I’m going to be out at center court—all eyes on me,” recalls George. “So I get out there, and it just clicked. It was easy.” George credits his education in communication studies from Augsburg for helping to prepare him for that life-changing moment, as well as all of his public speaking engagements from that point forward. “As an NBA player, you have a camera with that big, red light in front of your face every day,” George said. “You have to know how to conduct yourself and communicate effectively. And all those communication classes I took at Augsburg come into play.” After high school, George enrolled at Augsburg assuming he would play basketball for the Auggies, earn a degree, and find a job in business. But his “hoop dreams” became a reality pretty early on in his Augsburg career. “When I recruited Devean, he was about 6'2" and 170 pounds,” said former Augsburg basketball coach Brian Ammann ’85. “Fortunately for Devean, he grew about five inches and put on 50 pounds by his sophomore year. And his hard work paid off in big ways.” George was the first NCAA Division III player ever selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. He was the 23rd overall pick in 1999, chosen by the Los Angeles Lakers—one of the most storied franchises in NBA history. George is now retired from the NBA after playing 11 seasons and becoming only the seventh player in history to win a league championship in each of his first three seasons. He has since found a successful career in real estate development and a passion for giving back. George played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999 to 2006. In 2006, he signed with the Dallas Mavericks and played in Texas until 2009. He then joined the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, California, in 2009 until his retirement in 2010. George was raised by devoted, hardworking parents in the Willard-Hay neighborhood of north Minneapolis and still calls the Twin Cities home — a place he loves for its friendly people and four seasons. His current work focuses on helping to improve his childhood community. 10 Augsburg Now Summer 2016 11 After George joined the NBA, he started volunteering his time in schools and after-school programs. He noticed many of the children he visited didn’t have stable housing, which significantly affected their security and education. “That’s when I decided helping kids and families would be the foundation of what I do,” said George, who has two young sons. He founded Building Blocks, a nonprofit organization committed to providing quality housing, community development, and programming for youth and families. “If you don’t have stable housing, you’re not going to care about schooling, safety, or eating healthy. If we get those families into stable housing, then they can focus on those other things,” George said. George’s first affordable housing project opened this spring—The Commons at Penn in north Minneapolis, an income-restricted, 47-unit workforce apartment building that also includes an on-site health and wellness facility, an after-school program, a fitness center, a toddler playground, and a grocery store. Long-term, George would like to help create a more family-friendly community in north Minneapolis—a community that provides greater amenities for its residents. So far, The Commons at Penn has been a successful addition to the neighborhood. “[The] Commons at Penn achieves multiple city goals: creating new, highquality, affordable housing options [and] increased residential density along a key commercial and transit corridor, and bringing in commercial activity and services,” said Andrea Brennan, director of Housing Policy and Development for the City of Minneapolis. “This project sets us on a promising course to continue development at this important north Minneapolis node.” George is planning phase two of The Commons at Penn, which will go up right across the street from the existing mixed-use building. He also is developing housing complexes in South Carolina and Louisiana, and has been contacted by fellow professional athletes who would like to see a change in the neighborhoods where they were raised. In addition to literally helping build a solid foundation for families through stable housing, George also helps build a strong foundation for young people through mentorship programs like Read to Achieve. “The kids think that [NBA players] are not human beings because we know how to play basketball,” said George. “If I can tell a kid to go to school and not to do drugs, and just because I can play basketball he’ll listen to me, I’m going to try to use that to my advantage.” George is also busy instilling the values of compassion and service in his own two sons, ages 7 and 4. For starters, they learn to share by donating their toys to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have any. “They’re still young, but I started teaching my boys early on a way of giving and understanding. I explain to them that this [lifestyle] isn’t normal; they’re in a blessed situation,” George said. “I’ve been able to achieve a lot of things. But I know I’ve had a lot of help along the way.” 12 Augsburg Now WORKFORCE HOUSING offers reduced rent to people who are gainfully employed (and don’t qualify as low-income), yet still struggle to afford market-rate housing. It’s explained by the Urban Land Institute as housing that is “affordable to families earning 60 to 100 percent of area median income.” Workforce housing commonly is targeted for essential workers in a community, such as police officers, firefighters, teachers, social workers, and nurses. Summer 2016 13 BY STEPHEN GEFFRE AND LAURA SWANSON LINDAHL ’15 MBA THE CITY: COURSE CONTENT AND CLASSROOM Each semester, painting and drawing classes typically occur in what originally was an Augsburg College chapel. Old Main 100 is an inspiring place with 25-foot ceilings and soaring windows. On-campus studios offer focused spaces for students to learn about visual art media, methods, and creative expression. For 25 years, Associate Professor and Art Department Co‑Chair Tara Sweeney has taught foundational drawing principles in Old Main with what she calls “as few spectators and distractions as possible,” and in recent years she also has led short-term international travel courses in which students develop the same skills without the support of a traditional studio. This spring, Sweeney and her Minneapolis-based students traveled close to home as they stepped beyond the boundaries of the campus studio, choosing to forgo a controlled setting to embrace learning opportunities present in public areas that are as complex and challenging as they are diverse. “Instead of creating a still life with the same old props, I utilized the city as subject matter and classroom,” Sweeney said. “Students were as actively engaged in creative placemaking as they were in making drawings — effectively shaping the physical and social character of whatever neighborhood, museum, coffee shop, or landmark we chose as a drawing site.” A CORE CHALLENGE In the article “The Power of Experiential Education,” nationally recognized education scholar and professor Janet Eyler noted that a central challenge for liberal arts educators like Sweeney—and indeed the entire Augsburg College faculty—is to “design learning environments and instruction so that students will be able to use what they learn in appropriate new contexts.” That is, to successfully “bridge classroom study and life in the world and to transform inert knowledge into knowledge-in-use.” In a drawing course, for instance, students develop technical skills while exploring individual subject matter and creative expression. It is perhaps the latter of these elements that came into clearer focus when Sweeney took her students out in the community. The artists “made connections with strangers and learned things about themselves in the process,” Sweeney said. They become comfortable creating art in the midst of daily life and finished the course with “real skills and the right tools to continue drawing wherever they find themselves and wherever inspiration finds them.” JUST A GLIMPSE At Augsburg, students across disciplines and degree programs benefit from faculty instruction that integrates experiential learning opportunities with traditional instructional methods, thereby linking course concepts with real-world applications. The pages that follow offer a glimpse at a small sample of the faculty and students who use Minneapolis as their classroom. 16 Augsburg Now Johanna Goggins ’16 works on a sketch in the solarium at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Summer 2016 17 ARTS AND THE CITIES ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE ENV 120: Students clad in safety gear and earplugs to dampen the deafening noise weave their way through a Eureka Recycling processing plant. Environmental Science focuses on understanding and resolving problems humans have created in the natural world. The course includes hands-on learning opportunities that make complex scientific concepts more approachable and applicable for students. “The city is the perfect place for these types of experiences to happen—it’s all right at our fingertips: a wastewater treatment plant, power plant, recycling center, and public transit,” said Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies Emily Schilling. “We can observe the detrimental effects humans are having on the environment, and we also can see some of the ways we are trying to mitigate that impact.” MIS 375: HON 230: Students in Augsburg College’s Honors Program join Minnesota Orchestra performers onstage following a symphony event at Orchestra Hall. As an interdisciplinary course, “Arts and the Cities” unites film, music, theater, and visual art — offering students the chance to peruse Picassos, soak in Shakespeare, and mingle with musicians. Together, students and teachers explore the role of the arts in a culturally dynamic urban setting. “Students enjoy the experiential nature of this course,” said Associate Professor of Music Merilee Klemp ’75. “They often comment that it presents them with opportunities that they would not have on their own and deepens their understanding of the role of the arts in their lives long after the course is over.” 18 Augsburg Now E-COMMERCE Students speak with Abdirahman Mukhtar, a youth program manager at Pillsbury United Communities’ Brian Coyle Center. Mukhtar oversees the Sisterhood Boutique, a secondhand clothing store that serves as a training ground for young women to learn about entrepreneurship, business, community partnerships, and sustainable fashion. Through their discussions with Mukhtar, the Auggies began to apply some of their fundamental course concepts in a real-world setting. Summer 2016 19 2016 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FORUM LEADERSHIP & CONFLICT BY REBECCA JOHN ’13 MBA 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi shared his vision for global compassion during the Nobel Peace Prize Forum. More than 300 students, academics, activists, and thought leaders participated in three days of discussion and presentations to advance peacebuilding. O R G A NI ZI NG PA RT N E RS 20 Augsburg Now MED IA SPO N SO R GRADUATE STUDENTS STUDY GLOBAL COMPASSION AT THE 2016 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FORUM Conflict is a pervasive characteristic of human interaction. This is the opening line of the summer syllabus for Augsburg College’s Master of Arts in Leadership course, “Navigating Local & Global Conflict: Interfaith Dimensions.” The statement underscores how important it is for leaders to develop the ability to navigate and inspire others in the face of conflict and sets the stage for the work of analyzing leadership in the context of real-world situations. By design, the course is integrated with the annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum, for which Augsburg is the host sponsor. “The Nobel Peace Prize Forum is a gem,” said history and leadership studies professor Jacqueline deVries. It’s a oneof-a-kind event that allows students to learn through direct engagement about the contexts and complexities involved in conflict. deVries, who also serves as director for Augsburg’s general education program, co-taught the course with Martha Stortz, Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion and Vocation, and Tom Morgan, professor of leadership studies. Held annually in Minneapolis, the Nobel Peace Prize Forum is one of only three programs officially associated with the Norwegian Nobel Institute. The Forum’s mission is to inspire peacemaking by focusing on the work of Nobel Peace Prize laureates and by engaging students and the wider community with national and global leaders in the process of peacebuilding. The Forum provided the students in the graduate course with direct access to leaders from businesses, nonprofits, and government organizations whose work involves navigating complex, real-world challenges that range from food security to civil unrest to poverty and climate change. The students used examples from the Forum, as well as from their own lives, to analyze conflict involving religious diversity in their communities, examine contemporary issues in a historical perspective, and develop a view on what effective leadership looks like (or might look like) in actual situations. Students come to the Master’s of Arts in Leadership program with experience PEACEB U ILD IN G PARTN ER- SPONSORS Summer 2016 21 AUGGIES CONNECT Martin Olav Sabo ’59 leaves mark on Augsburg College community in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. In gathering during a lunch break to share reflections about what they were learning at the Forum, the class observed that it is not possible to be effective as a leader without knowing what’s going on in the world. The Forum, they said, was a prompt for thinking about how a leader would approach addressing challenging topics and situations in their work. Too often, people are so wrapped up with their jobs and family and school that they don’t think about the difficulties others are facing in the world. It’s not that people don’t care about these topics, one student said, but they often just don’t pay attention to the issues on a daily basis. Being at the Forum offered a level of understanding that may not happen in a classroom, the students said. In fact, during the Forum the students directly engaged with difficult topics, and it required a conscious choice to hear the tragic stories about topics like child slavery and human trafficking. This is where our general population may be falling short, one student observed—choosing to turn away instead of understanding the reality of these issues. The Master of Arts in Leadership program, however, equips individuals to turn toward—rather than away from— challenging issues in order to seek solutions and inspire others toward a common goal. The program is designed to prepare leaders who are ethically and morally responsible, who can see beyond immediate concerns, and who are sensitive to the complex problems that organizations face. By using the Nobel Peace Prize Forum as a classroom, these students worked to understand both the systems that contribute to conflict and the systems that effective leaders can use to address it. “WE HAVE TO CHANGE THE DEMAND” Top [L to R]: Dean Jarrow ’16 MAL and Dele Odiachi ’17 MAL Bottom: [L to R]: Jacqueline deVries; Margaret PowellMack ’17 MAL; Kevin Stirtz ’17 MAL; Subashini Ambrose ’18 MAL; Tom Morgan; Eric Miamen ’04, ’14 MBA, ’16 MAL; David Nyssen ’16 MBA, ’17 MAL; Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi; Howie Smith ’80, ’19 MAL; Satyarthi’s wife, Sumedha Kailash; MAL Director Alan Tuchtenhagen; and Brad Beeskow ’17 MAL. 22 Augsburg Now For example, some students thought that business was potentially the most powerful force for addressing the issues discussed at the Forum; others argued that the biggest changes will come when consumers demand it, quoting comments by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who, in his opening remarks, said, “We have to change the demand.” Another student observed that every person has a powerful “what’s in it for me” filter and noted that, if we don’t translate the message in a way that addresses this filter, it will not be effective. And, although the class agreed, the students also recognized that people are often motivated not just by what benefits them directly, but also by generosity and helping others—by what, as one student phrased it, satisfies a need of the heart. BY STEPHANIE WEISS Former U.S. Representative Martin Olav Sabo ’59, who passed away on March 13 at age 78, was a lifelong public servant and renowned Augsburg College alumnus who exemplified the progressive approach and personal integrity that were modeled in his Lutheran upbringing and education. The work he and his wife, Sylvia, devoted to guiding the Martin Olav Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, the Sabo Scholars program, and the annual Sabo Symposium—all of which create opportunities for civic experiences and skillbuilding inside and outside the classroom—will leave a lasting legacy at Augsburg. Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow said that Sabo’s “life-long commitment to public service is an inspiration to all of us. The Sabo Center gives Augsburg the ongoing opportunity to celebrate the life and work of our dear friend.” One year after graduating from Augsburg College, Sabo—then 22—was elected to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives. During his tenure, he became the first member of the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party to serve as Speaker of the House—a post he held from 1973-78. He went on to serve for 28 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, retiring in 2007. At the same time that Sabo served in Congress, he volunteered 12 years to Augsburg College as a member of the Board of Regents. The College named Sabo a Distinguished Alumnus and awarded him its first-ever honorary degree. Sabo was distinguished in all he undertook and, in 2006, was appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for outstanding work and dedication to NorwegianAmerican relations. Congressman Sabo and Sylvia Sabo are parents of Auggies Karin Mantor ’86 and Julie Sabo ’90. Summer 2016 23 AUGGIES CONNECT New to the Alumni Board Five Auggies elected to serve three-year terms on the Augsburg College Alumni Board will network with and mentor current Auggies, build community with alumni, and provide a vital link between the College and graduates. TRAVEL IN THAILAND AND CAMBODIA JANUARY 3-15, 2017 To learn more, go to augsburg.edu/alumni/travel. Derek Francis ’08 School counselor, Minneapolis Public Schools “Through the awesome community and volunteer opportunities at Augsburg, I realized I was passionate about working with youth. Augsburg’s value of service to the community transformed my life.” Lori Higgins ’94, ’12 MAL President, MetroNorth Chamber of Commerce “I am eager to give back to the school that has given me so many opportunities, such as political internships with [former U.S. Rep.] Martin Sabo ’59 and MN Sen. Bill Luther, which began my career.” MAKES LASTING IMPACT With its Give to the Max Day gifts, the Biology Department funded new research opportunities for two students: Oksana Burt ’17 and Davy DeKrey ’17 [pictured]. 24 Augsburg Now Business development, Gravie “A continuing passion of mine is to grow our networking efforts, both for employers and individuals as they connect with Auggie alumni.” Online giving day supports students, faculty, programs Auggies last fall made Augsburg College No. 1 in the annual Give to the Max Day challenge. This year, Give to the Max Day is November 17, and the College is calling on alumni to push Augsburg into the top spot for the fourth year in a row. In 2015, in just 24 hours, more than 1,000 Auggies—many of whom were first-time donors—generously stepped up to give more than $240,000 to Augsburg. As a result, Augsburg ranked first among all participating Minnesota colleges and universities, and earned a $10,000 bonus. Alumni support on Give to the Max Day has a lasting impact and supports new opportunities for students. Funds raised last year supported the expansion of on-campus research; the purchase of a 3-D printer for the mathematics and statistics department; production costs for Howling Bird Press, the student-run book publishing project in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program; and trips by athletic teams for competition, education, and community service. This November, alumni also can give to scholarships that honor the legacy of music, research, and civil service at Augsburg. Gifts are being sought to honor the work of Leland Sateren ’35, U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo ’59, the StepUP® program, and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity, which connects students with new and existing research and scholarship on campus, across the United States, and around the world. Anyone can donate any amount on Give to the Max Day. Schedule your gifts online at givemn.org beginning November 1. Josh Krob ’08, ’15 MBA Janeece Oatman ’05 Development director, American Diabetes Association “I have a passion for committee-building, and I am interested in networking opportunities, reconnecting with campus, and fellow Auggies.” Brad Randall ’13 Mechanical maintenance planner, Xcel Energy “As a graduate of Augsburg’s Adult Undergraduate program, I am interested in mentoring Augsburg alumni in all fields.” [L to R]: Lewis Istok ’18 and Abigale Enrici ’18 create a two-material print using a 3-D printer purchased with Give to the Max Day funds. Jordan Brandt ’17 throws a pitch on the baseball team’s 2016 spring break trip to Arizona. The team raised more than $17,000 on Give to the Max Day 2015. Back row [L to R]: Josh Krob ’08, ’15 MBA; Brad Randall ’13; Mary Prevost ’12 MBA; Cyrus Batheja ’08, ’10 MBA; Jay Howard ’03, Nick Rathmann ’03; Hanna Dietrich ’05; Rick Bonlender ’78; Patricia Jesperson ’95; Melissa (Daudt) Hoepner ’92; Howie Smith ’80, ’19 MAL; Marie (Eddy) Odenbrett ’01; Greg Schnagl ’91. Front row [L to R]: Adrienne (Kuchler) Eldridge ’02; Meg (Schmidt) Sawyer ’00; Adriana Matzke ’13; Janeece Oatman ’05; Chau “Tina” Nguyen ’08; Jill Watson ’10 MBA. Not pictured: Derek Francis ’08; Lori Higgins ’94, ’12 MAL; Nick Swanson ’09 Q&A with tour guide and Professor of English Kathy Swanson Q: A: How many times have you traveled to Thailand? What keeps bringing you back? My husband and I lived in Thailand as Peace Corps volunteers for two years and have returned eight times since. We return because we feel Thailand is our “second home.” We love Thailand’s beauty—from the huge city of Bangkok to the mountains of northern Thailand in Chiang Mai to the small beach town where we lived. We also have many dear friends, some former students and colleagues, with whom we love to reconnect. Q: A: Can you share with us a memory from a trip you led with Augsburg students? We have shared our love of Thailand with Augsburg students during five trips and have so many good memories. Former Auggies still share their memories and pictures of the trips with us. Some of these students became English language learner teachers because of their experience teaching English in our former school. I remember one student, for example, who was hesitant about going so far away from home and to such an unfamiliar place. She had been my student in several classes and seemed to trust me when I encouraged her, so she took the big step. We are still in contact after many years and she has written about her trip to Thailand as being “lifechanging.” She stepped out of her comfort zone and experienced things she could have never imagined, gaining confidence and self-awareness. Q: A: Who should take this trip? Anyone who values expanding a worldview, learning about a new culture, and experiencing beauty. Summer 2016 25 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES AUGGIES CONNECT Martin Sabo ’59 leaves a lasting legacy. See page 23. 1960 Rev. Dennis Glad ’60 and Barbara Glad of St. Francis, Minnesota, have led nearly 1,000 volunteers on mission trips to 14 Caribbean islands, Costa Rica, and Belize over the past 25 years. Working on a volunteer construction team, the Glads and their crew have built schools, clinics, churches, orphanages, and more. In April, the couple received WCCO Radio’s Good Neighbor Award, and they are now in the station’s Good Neighbor Hall of Fame. In 1999, Rev. Glad retired after serving in the United Methodist Church for more than 40 years. empowering dreams Travelers EDGE® grant affords students pathway to success In March, Augsburg was awarded a $115,000 grant to continue offering Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment), a program that provides underrepresented students with scholarships, paid internships, and mentorship in an effort to break down barriers and provide long-term opportunity. The highly successful program, now in its sixth year at Augsburg, is poised to have 15 Travelers EDGE scholars on campus this fall—its largest cohort yet. This prestigious program—open to only 12 colleges in the United States—has lifetime payoffs for students, including the chance to find challenging and rewarding careers in the insurance and financial services industry. To get there, each Travelers EDGE scholar works with a career coach and a professional mentor at Travelers and participates in financial literacy programming. Marlene Ibsen, vice president of community relations at Travelers, said Augsburg was already doing great work and made for a natural Travelers EDGE partner. “Everything and everyone we encountered at Augsburg, including President Pribbenow and throughout the organization, made us think, ‘This is a team of people who really get it and would be outstanding additions to the Travelers EDGE collaborative,’” said Ibsen. Students in the program receive financial 26 Augsburg Now scholarships and something that, in the long run, pays even greater dividends— networking contacts. “Once they begin immersing themselves in the professional development workshops and start to build relationships with Travelers employees, students quickly learn that the networking and professional coaching they are getting will be of significant use to them in the long term,” said Janet Morales, Augsburg’s director for the program. So far, Augsburg has had 23 Travelers EDGE scholars participate in the program and some have gone on to accept full-time positions with Travelers. Dustina Granlund ’14 is one of the Travelers EDGE alumni who works at Travelers. Granlund had two internships at the company, including one in Hartford, Connecticut. As an intern, she helped develop new and more efficient reporting systems that are still in use today. Granlund said her mentor helped her understand how school applies to the real world by encouraging her to accept and take on challenges, to network, and to push herself beyond her comfort zone. “My Travelers EDGE scholar work taught me business etiquette, interviewing techniques, and résumé writing,” she said. “It helped connect me with resources at Augsburg that I didn’t really know about.” Travelers EDGE connected Granlund with staff in Augsburg’s Clair and Gladys Strommen Center for Meaningful Work who helped Granlund become more comfortable seeking regular advice on graduate school. Morales sees that the value of the program goes far beyond job experience. “Travelers EDGE is confidence building,” she said. “Our scholars do not typically have any corporate experience prior to becoming a part of Travelers EDGE, nor do they have family members with that experience, so starting their professional journey within insurance and financial services can be intimidating. However, Travelers EDGE gives the scholars opportunities to learn and build their skills within a safe space. The end result is that they can imagine themselves with a career in insurance and financial services, which they couldn’t before.” 1964 Roger Johnson ’64 was presented with the Donald Clark Memorial Award at Minnesota Hockey’s annual banquet in April. The award is given to an individual who has been dedicated to the grassroots growth and development of youth hockey in Minnesota. Johnson was the head coach for boys’ hockey in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, from 1965 until 1972 and then was varsity assistant and junior varsity head coach for the next 27 years until 1999. He is a substitute teacher and a volunteer general manager for the boys’ hockey team. 1969 Royce Helmbrecht ’69 graduated with a degree in education. Today, 47 years later, he works as a substitute teacher with students who struggle to get through school. He also teaches jail inmates for the GED program. fundraisers. Her leisure activities include gardening, walking, biking, and reading. Michael Good ’71 celebrates at groundbreaking ceremony. See page 2. jazzy food songs. Sullivan attended Augsburg as a flute student, studied broadcasting at Brown Institute, and has worked in radio and as a voice-over artist. After appearing at venues that draw swing dancers, she teamed up with Laurie to create the duo Retro Swing Sister. Three years ago at Valley of Peace Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, Minnesota, three parishioners took on a Lenten art project to create a mosaic for their church entry. Led by Barb (Durkee) Mikelson ’71, the committee also included Emilie Moravec ’07 and Jon Daniels ’88. The design, primarily Mikelson’s work, echoed the stained glass window design in the church’s sanctuary created by the late August Molder, an Augsburg professor. Mikelson served the past 12 years as director of her church’s early childhood education center, All God’s Children Learning Center, and retired in January. The school’s leadership is now in the able hands of another Auggie, Courtney GadboisBrumbaugh ’95. From the Auggie Connections blog. Read more at augsburg.edu/alumni/blog. He says the Lord intervened in his life and directed him to Augsburg, and he feels blessed to have followed the Lord’s direction. 1971 Mary (Soulen) Johnson ’71 is the new branch assistant at Minnesota’s Aitkin Public Library. She especially enjoys working with children at the library and at the Aitkin Children’s Center. As a volunteer at Wild and Free in Garrison, Minnesota, she helps with feeding animals and assists with Merilee Klemp ’75 uses the city of Minneapolis as her classroom. See page 16. 1982 Maryann Sullivan ’82 and Rhonda Laurie have been entertaining listening audiences and swing dancers for the past three years. In February, the two performed “Swingin’ a la Carte” as part of the Jazz@ St. Barney’s concert series at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Minnesota, reflecting the singers’ love of cooking through Scott Whirley ’82 and Henry Gerten ’98 were inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, prior to this year’s NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships. Whirley and Gerten are the ninth and 10th Auggies to be inducted into the NWCA Division III Hall of Fame. Dr. Paul Mueller ’84 breaks ground on Augsburg’s new, signature academic building. See page 2. AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS 1967 In March, the Rev. Terry J. Frovik ’67 and his wife, Pauline, were invited by Archbishop Nemuel Babba to participate in the installation service for the Rev. Peter Bartimawus, who was elected Bishop of the Gongola Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN). The service took place in Bartimawus’ home village of Guyuk. 1992 Rosanne Newville Bump ’92 plans events, including the St. Paul Winter Carnival as president and CEO of the Saint Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation. She received her MBA in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She has stayed in touch with many of her Auggie classmates over the years, and is pleased that both the St. Paul Winter Carnival and the Cinco de Mayo organizations benefit from the help of Augsburg interns as they plan events. She lives with her husband of 28 years, Jeff Bump ’85, and their three daughters (Madelyn, Ella, and Julia) in River Falls where she served for nine years as CEO of the River Falls Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. Summer 2016 27 2000 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Brian Ammann ’85 reflects on one of the standout athletes he coached. See page 8. 1988 Building hope In March, Bob Strommen ’74 volunteered for a Habitat for Humanity project in Nicaragua. He joined cousins Tim ’70 and Dawn (Hofstad) ’70 Strommen, and Judy (Knudson) Strommen ’77, and was overwhelmed by the magnitude of poverty in the small village where they worked. The trip was Tim’s third visit to the same site. Bob writes, “Prior to our venturing out, we had an orientation led by our Nicaraguan Habitat leader, Aleandra, who reported that there was a need for more than 600,000 homes in Nicaragua—either new builds or fixing up existing homes in desperate need of repair. And we were going to build one home. At the time I thought, ‘What difference will this make? How do you tackle such an overwhelming need?’” Upon meeting the eventual homeowner, her daughter, and grandchildren, Bob soon learned that their work in that one week would make a lifechanging impact for the family. He’d considered the impact they would make on the family of the house, but did not comprehend the impact that the people and volunteering would have on him, saying: “My goal is not to be better than anyone else, but to be better than I used to be.” Jeff Judge ’88 successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at Minnesota State University. His thesis was “Spirituality in Higher Education: A Narrative Analysis of its Use by Leaders for Decision-Making.” Judge graduated from Augsburg with bachelor’s degrees in music education and Spanish, and received a master’s in Spanish from Middlebury (Vermont) College. He lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, with his wife, Jeannie, and their three teenagers: Nico, Danny, and Clare. He is the dean of the humanities division at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota. 1989 Troy Bakker ’89 received a doctorate of science degree from Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota. Stephen Hindle ’89 has been appointed practice lead at the partner level for Aon Hewitt’s assessment and leadership practice for Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. He also is the face of Aon Hewitt in these markets. His responsibilities include commercial management of all assessment and leadership business across 14 countries as well as all operations, solution development, and mergers and acquisitions activity in these markets. He is based in Singapore with his wife of more than 21 years, Adean, and their two daughters, Claudia and Madeleine. 1996 As twin sisters, Kaja Foat ’96 and Zoe Foat ’96 have shared a lot in life—a last name, a love of color and nature, and a vision for a more ethical world. In 2002, the sisters followed their shared vision to create FOAT. Their goal was to offer a refreshing, eco-conscious alternative in women’s fashion, starting with yoga apparel. Since then, they’ve expanded their designs to additional lines of one-of-a-kind garments and wedding gowns, and their workspace to studios in Minneapolis and Charleston, South Carolina. Devean George ’99 builds neighborhood pride alongside community housing in north Minneapolis. See page 8. 2000 Augsburg theater alumni Stephanie Lein Walseth ’00, Quinci Bachman ’15, and Jorge Rodriguez ’15, and Professor Emerita Martha Johnson participated in the Full Circle Theater Company’s return engagement of “Theater: A Sacred Passage.” Lein Walseth and Johnson are two writers of this original performance piece, devised by the core artists of Full Circle from their personal journeys into theater. Their stories embody the challenges and transformational experiences they have had in becoming theater artists and how their lives and work reflect the changes in the theater community during the past two decades. The piece incorporates acting, storytelling, choreography, and music. Bachman was production coordinator, stage manager, and sound designer. Rodriguez served as set and technical director and lighting designer. Johnson was dramaturge and assistant director. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. 1992 Heather Johnston ’92 (second from left) was invited to speak at the annual conference of the Municipal Finance Directors of Israel in Eilat, Israel. Johnston is president of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. Johnston serves as the city manager for Burnsville, Minnesota. 28 Augsburg Now 1999 [L to R]: J. Roxanne Prichard, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, and Jeanne “Birdie” (Ramacher) Cunningham ’99, associate director of health and wellness, have created and launched the Center for College Sleep at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. 2005 Jon Dahlin ’05 participated in track and field at Augsburg, and he set a national record in the hammer throw that still stands. He went on to compete nationally and internationally in Highland games. He competed in states including California, Florida, and Texas, and he also competed in Iceland. He traveled to Gyor, Hungary, as part of Team USA for the 2015 World Highland Games Championship where he squared off against 15 athletes from around the world. He was pleased to record one of his best performances ever in caber (tossing a 175-pound wooden beam), and finished in seventh place. Dahlin lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and works as a software developer at Barr Engineering, focusing primarily on creating web applications. He also is a sports photographer who covers NFL games. Jenni Fisher ’05 and Jade Boettcher ’15 MAE were united in marriage on January 20 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Boettcher received his Master of Arts in Education from Augsburg and is a special education teacher at John Marshall High School in Rochester, Minnesota. Fisher received her bachelor’s from Augsburg and is a clinic assistant at Planned Parenthood in Rochester. Brandon Green ’05 is a new managing partner at MG Resources. Before joining the company, Green spent nearly 18 years with Griffiths Corporation. 2007 James Lekatz ’07 wrote the music for “The Snow Queen,” which was presented at Stages Theatre in Hopkins, Minnesota, in March. This summer, Lekatz worked with a group of students with autism on a production of “The BFG” as part of a program called CAST, Creative Accepting Sensoryfriendly Theatre. He will be assistant director on a production called “Twinkle Twinkle,” as part of Stages Theatre Company’s theater for the very young, and he will compose Stages’ next dance/ ballet piece, “The Velveteen Rabbit,” to be performed next spring. 2008 Andrew Webb ’08 volunteers his time to assist local and global communities as they recover from natural disasters and tragedies. He encourages others through a letter-writing campaign and invites groups, such as area high schools, to join him in his dedication to this mission. Sara (Quigley) Brown ’00 received her chaplain badge for the Alaska Police and Fire Chaplains Ministry, a statewide nonprofit that serves police and fire personnel. The program follows a strict training that mirrors the training of police officers. Brown will return to the Twin Cities in August to attend a clinical pastoral education residency through which she will receive certification to become a hospital chaplain. 2000 Ross Murray ’00, ’09 MBA, has been issued a call from the Metropolitan New York Synod in New York City to be consecrated as a diaconal minister and focus on LGBT advocacy at GLAAD. He and Richard Garnett ’07, ’09 MBA were married in April. 2001 Sarah (Grans) Peterka ’01 married Erik Peterka on December 12. Several Auggies were at the celebration including: Carrie Lind ’01, Skylar Hanson ’01, Laura Hahn ’02, Erica ’01 and Jason ’01 Bryan-Wegner, Ben Hoogland ’00, Larye ’98 and Melissa (Moyle) Pohlman ’00, Lenise Butler ’01, and Birgitte Simpson ’13. 2010 Jennifer (Mathwig) Ortloff ’10 became joint owner of the public accounting firm of Peterson Juergensen Hemerick & Co. in Hutchinson, Minnesota, after five years with the firm. Prior to becoming an owner and before earning an accounting degree at Augsburg, she worked on the administrative side of the company. Ortloff is a native of Brownton, Minnesota, and worked for the city of Brownton while completing her degree. 2005 When Claire Pettry ’05 moved to Ohio in the fall of 2015, her Augsburg College connection played a key role in helping her form friendships in her new locale. She met Chris Ascher ’81 and wife, Susan, and the three became fast friends who completed a 5K run on Thanksgiving. 2003 Megan and Jay Howard ’03 welcomed their son, Elias John, on April 28. Lisa Svac Hawks ’85 sees Augsburg College as a “pillar of faith,” one of the reasons she chose the College and why she continues to be involved. She served six years on the Alumni Board and is a founding member of Augsburg Women Engaged. Hawks is vice president, external communications, for United Healthcare Services. She is focused on helping simplify the complicated health care landscape for the consumers so that they can live healthier lives. In her spare time, Hawks enjoys gardening, cooking, and playing golf and other sports. She also enjoys coaching her 10-year-old son Andrew’s baseball team, which she has done for the past three years. From the Auggie Connections blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. ALUMNI CLASS NOTES 2011 Patrick Siegel ’11 is the proud owner of Robusto & Briar cigar store and lounge in Lakewood, Ohio. The establishment is made for all who appreciate a fine cigar and conversation-worthy décor. He got hooked on the cigar business when, as a student at Augsburg, he was hired by the Golden Leaf shop, where he bought his cigars. He and wife, Nicole, who grew up in Rocky River, Ohio, decided to settle in Lakewood. Robusto & Briar specializes in hand-rolled products that are kept in a 15-by30 foot humidor. The shop offers about 400 types of cigars and about 50 kinds of tobacco. 2012 The Minnesota Women’s Press published an article on Interfaith Youth Connection, a program for high school and college-age youth that promotes interfaith understanding and service. The article includes comments from Fardosa Hassan ’12, Muslim student program associate at Augsburg College and program coordinator of Interfaith Youth Connection. By holding regular conversations and yearly service events, the group seeks to give youth “a way to be proud of who they are in whatever faith background they [believe], while reducing prejudice and misconception,” Hassan said. “In the midst of what is going on today, this is something we need.” Patrick Sayler ’12 is the new general manager of Co-op Natural Foods in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Before returning to Sioux Falls three years ago, he spent 16 years in the Minneapolis area managing cafes and retail shops. As the general manager of Co-op Natural Foods, he will oversee an established business that employs approximately 20 people and does more than $2 million a year. He is completing work on a degree in business management/marketing and project management at the University of Sioux Falls. 2014 Allison Zank ’14 has been named a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow for 2016-17. Zank will receive a $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 costof-education allowance to assist her in achieving a research-based graduate degree. An NSF GRFP indicates to graduate schools that a student is a top undergraduate scientist in the nation. Zank conducted summer research on biofilms with Augsburg Associate Professor Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright as well as at the University of Minnesota’s Dental School. Zank also has spent time conducting research in industry. At Augsburg, she was named an URGO Scholar, McNair Scholar, AugSTEM Scholar, and Goldwater Scholar. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in clinical microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse this fall. GRADUATE 2015 Katie Clark ’10 MAN, ’14 DNP presented at a breakout session for Fairview Health Services’ Somali Cultural Health Day in April. Her topic was “Critical decision making and chronic illness.” Clark connected her previous bedside nursing experience with her current experience working with Somali community members at the Health Commons in the CedarRiverside neighborhood. Her focus was to teach health care providers to deliver culturally congruent care to marginalized populations. She concentrated her efforts on reducing the role of stereotypes and assumptions in the patient-provider relationship. Jordan Holm ’15 competed in the 2016 Olympic trials in the 85-kilogram weight class for Greco-Roman wrestling at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, on April 6. Holm was one of three athletes automatically earning the No. 1 ranking. He graduated from Augsburg with a business degree in marketing. Duina Hernandez ’16 lets dirt fly at an Augsburg groundbreaking ceremony. See page 2. Evan Berg ’10 MBA was hired as assistant vice president and loan officer at the Janesville State Bank in Janesville, Minnesota. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics/ business administration from Winona State University and an MBA from Augsburg, as well as eight years of experience in credit analysis and lending with Farm Credit and several banks. AUGGIE CONNECTIONS: a new, personalized newsletter Whether it be in the classroom, cheering on your favorite Auggie team, or supporting the on-campus groups that mean the most to you, Augsburg College emphasizes a direct, personal experience for its students and alumni. In today’s world where information is coming from all angles and at all times, personalized, meaningful information is more important than ever. The Alumni Association recognizes this and is taking a step to provide more pertinent and timely information about what’s happening at Augsburg. Beginning this summer, Augsburg is offering a personalized e-newsletter that will be delivered on a schedule of your choosing, in a format you want. No more monthly Now@Augsburg emails. The Auggie Connections newsletter is now in your hands. Choose the topics you are most interested in: Auggie athletics? Theater and music? Science? Want to hear it all? With your new, improved Auggie Connections newsletter, you won’t miss a thing. The first personalized Auggie Connections newsletter arrived in your email inbox in late June. If you haven’t yet set your preferences, check your email for the message titled “Augsburg College - delivered YOUR way,” to get started. To update your contact information, email alumniupdate@ augsburg.edu. 2009 Benjamin Austin ’09 and Michelle (Anderson) Austin ’11 were married December 19 in St. Paul. They met at Augsburg during her sophomore year and his senior year. Schuyler (Dunhaupt) Tilson ’10 graduated from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul in January with a focus in Indian law. She recently passed the Minnesota bar and became a staff attorney for the Ho-Chunk Nation Trial Court. She holds undergraduate degrees from Augsburg in history and American Indian studies. 2012 Muneer Al-Hameed ’12 won the Dancing with the Twin Cities Celebrities Charity Ball in February. Augsburg alumna Carla Beaurline ’91 was a judge this year and a 2015 Dancing with the Twin Cities celebrity dancer. FRESH LOOK, INCREASED INTERACTION Nic Thomley ’06 MBA was named to the 2016 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute. This growing network unites a worldwide community of entrepreneurial leaders from business, government, and the nonprofit sector who share a commitment to enlightened leadership and to using their creativity, energy, and resources to tackle the foremost societal challenges of our time. Thomley is an accomplished entrepreneur in the human services industry and the founder of companies that provide an array of services to persons with disabilities and senior citizens. Thomley is the founder and 30 Augsburg Now CEO of Morning Star Financial Services and the founder and chairman of Summit Fiscal Agency and Pinnacle Services, Minneapolis. Thomley was named a 2015 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist and, in 2006, was named to Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30, America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs” list and to the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list. In 2010, Thomley was presented with Augsburg’s First Decade Award, which honors graduates of the past 10 years who have made significant progress in their professional achievements and contributions to the community. Enjoy several new features on the Augsburg Now magazine’s companion website. Thanks to a site upgrade, it’s possible to: • Read articles on mobile devices with ease • Share favorite stories and photos on social media • View exclusive slideshows and videos • Manage your magazine subscription and delivery method • “Go green” by opting for digital content instead of print • Submit class notes and share good news SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE Tell us about the news in your life—your new job, move, marriage, and births. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/connect to submit your announcements. Mike Polis ’10 has started Backboard Media, based in Northeast Minneapolis. Check it out at backboardgroup.com. 2010 augsburg.edu/now Entrepreneurial leader recognized 2010 2013 Kuoth Wiel ’13 cofounded the NyaEden Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to provide basic survival necessities to disadvantaged women and children throughout Africa. She is an actress, model, and humanitarian whose debut film role was in “The Good Lie,” a drama starring Reese Witherspoon that tells the story of a group of Sudanese refugees who are offered shelter in the United States. Wiel was born to a Sudanese mother and father in an Ethiopian refugee camp following her parents’ escape from war-torn Sudan. As a young adult, Wiel moved to Minneapolis to attend Augsburg and study social psychology. Visit nyaedenfoundation.org to learn more about the organization’s work to foster girls’ and women’s safety, empowerment, independence, dignity, self-esteem, and self-respect. Fall 2015 37 Summer 2016 31 In memoriam Chester R. Heikkinen ’40, Robbinsdale, Minnesota, age 99, on November 24. Helen (Quanbeck) Nichols ’44, Monticello, Minnesota, age 94, on April 27. Frederick “Fred” M. King ’71, Onalaska, Wisconsin, age 73, on February 5. Helen E. (Berg) Peterson ’46, Minneapolis, age 92, on November 23. Martin O. Sabo ’59, Minneapolis, age 78, on March 13. Kenneth J. Dahlberg ’80, Colorado Springs, Colorado, age 62, on December 21. Doris M. Rear-Hustad ’46, Blanchardville, Wisconsin, age 90, on March 18. Gary A. Hoonsbeen ’60, Crystal, Minnesota, age 77, on March 7. Brenda L. Fredrick ’82, Strawberry Point, Iowa, age 57, on April 23. Loren M. Thorson ’46, Green Valley, Arizona, age 96, on March 8. Robert N. Martin ’61, Dracut, Massachusetts, age 81, on March 22. Janice C. Olson ’84, Lakewood, Washington, age 79, on January 19. Robert “Bob” E. Lee ’47, Hallettsville, Texas, age 92, on March 3. Norbert W. W. Mokros ’61, Duluth, Minnesota, age 77, on January 25. Melissa A. Lawrence ’88, Minneapolis, age 59, on March 1. Aagoth E. (Hanson) Hansen ’48, Willmar, Minnesota, age 89, on January 4. Sherman P. Coltvet ’62, Rochester, Minnesota, age 75, on January 30. Marilyn J. (Cederstrom) Teubert ’88, Waconia, Minnesota, age 84, on November 23. Paul D. Hilton ’51, Cumberland, Wisconsin, age 86, on January 28. Eugene M. Nelson ’51, Colorado Springs, Colorado, age 86, on January 11. Lillian K. (Ysteboe) Ose ’51, Benson, Minnesota, age 87, on January 5. Leonard E. Dalberg ’52, Solvang, California, age 90, on April 21. Randall “Randy” Fischer ’52, Lynchburg, Virginia, age 85, on February 5. Robert C. Ingman ’54, Minneapolis, age 85, on September 3. Charles “Bob” R. Hudgins ’62, Burnsville, Minnesota, age 75, on December 12. Charles W. King, Jr. ’62, Sun City West, Arizona, age 76, on December 17. Philip O. Sidney ’63, St. Paul, age 75, on April 10. Mary M. Lindgren ’64, Minneapolis, age 74, on March 15. David A. Mallak ’65, Austin, Texas, age 72, on February 10. Steven H. Steinke ’65, Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, age 68, on January 26. Robert R. Benson ’67, Preston, Minnesota, age 70, on December 23. Karl B. Lunder ’70, Red Wing, Minnesota, age 69, on March 12. SAVE THE DATES: SEPTEMBER 22-24 New events and schedule! William “Bill” J. Schutt ’75, Watertown, South Dakota, age 74, on February 2. Richard “Dick” L. Berg ’57, Minneapolis, age 85, on February 3. Vera C. (Alberg) Hafstad ’50, Owatonna, Minnesota, age 86, on March 11. Augsburg Now Dayne W. Sather ’55, Maple Grove, Minnesota, age 86, on January 25. Joyce I. (Engstrom) Spector ’70, Minneapolis, age 68, on April 1. Mary (Mortensen) Nelson ’45, Minneapolis, age 92, on January 22. Arnold H. Skaar ’48, Edina, Minnesota, age 91, on February 2. 32 Dale W. Quanbeck ’54, Grand Forks, North Dakota, age 84, on January 18. Carol R. (Pasquarella) Liedtke ’89, Shorewood, Illinois, age 73, on December 5. Diane P. Ondrey ’94, Minneapolis, age 80, on February 19. Jean W. (Thompson) Rondeau ’94, Minneapolis, age 77, on April 12. Sandra K. Berg ’98, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, age 69, on January 26. Conrad D. Meyer ’98, Merida, Mexico, age 66, on April 3. . S E I G G U A E B . D U O PR E B . D E L BE CAL Barbara (Steinle) Huckle ’00, Burnsville, Minnesota, age 55, on April 16. Jason C. Magnon ’13, Georgetown, Texas, age 25, on January 15. Go to augsburg.edu/homecoming to register and see the new events this year. The “In memoriam” listings in this publication include notifications received before May 10. 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 2031 The Augsburg Choir joins Barry Manilow on stage The exceptional talent and hard work of the Augsburg Choir was rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing backup during Grammy-award winner Barry Manilow’s farewell tour. Members of the choir sang three of his hits in an encore at the Xcel Energy Center: “I Write the Songs,” “Miracle,” and “Copacabana (At the Copa).”
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Title: Augsburg Now Fall 2016: United in Community
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: Play with purpose The space to learn An ambitious approach Homecoming 2016 FALL 2016 | VOL. 79, NO. 1 INSIDE AUGSBURG NOW Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu Director of News and Media Services NOTES FROM PRESIDENT PRIBBENOW On the gif...
Show more Play with purpose The space to learn An ambitious approach Homecoming 2016 FALL 2016 | VOL. 79, NO. 1 INSIDE AUGSBURG NOW Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu Director of News and Media Services NOTES FROM PRESIDENT PRIBBENOW On the gifts who are our students Last spring, a small group of Regents, faculty, staff, and alumni were charged by the Board of Regents with exploring long-term strategy for Augsburg, especially in light of shifting demographics, economic trends, and volatility in higher education. It was an inspiring process as we reflected on how Augsburg would remain faithful to its historic distinctions, while at the same time being relevant to a changing world. Perhaps the most compelling conclusion of the Futures Group was that Augsburg would be its best self in the years ahead as it remains radically student-centered, meeting students where they are and equipping them for lives of meaning and purpose. It is not a unique claim, this idea of being student-centered, but it is understood in diverse ways across higher education. For some, the claim means that students are customers or clients who deserve high-quality service. For others, it means that students are lumps of clay to be formed and shaped with particular values. For still others, the claim means that students are deeply engaged in the governance of the college or in its administrative decision-making. At Augsburg, though, the claim of being radically student-centered means something very different. For our community, each student is a gift, a gift to be received with gratitude and humility, a gift that surprises and engages us, a gift that changes us. Each summer, I tell our incoming students that their gifts of intellect and leadership and passion will make Augsburg a more faithful and successful college, even as we accompany them on their educational journeys. And I mean it. This issue of Augsburg Now illustrates well how the gifts who are our students have made all of us better. Read about alumna Maya Santamaria ’94, an entrepreneur whose Augsburg education has shaped her community work in Minneapolis. Witness the stories of our remarkable student-athletes, partnering with Special Olympics Minnesota to show how intellectual differences need not get in the way of teamwork and sportsmanship. Hear the stories of this year’s Distinguished Alumni and Spirit of Augsburg awardees, whose lives are testaments to how Augsburg’s mission is lived out across the world and generations. And perhaps most powerfully, learn about how Gov. Mark Dayton declared August 29, 2016, as Augsburg College Equity Day in Minnesota, recognizing Augsburg for its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and justice. As one staff member told me on that special occasion, this work is “a love letter to our students,” a recognition that our remarkably diverse students, who come to us with their many experiences and talents, are gifts that have changed us forever and for the better. What gifts we have been given for almost 150 years! They ground our vision to be “a new kind of student-centered, urban university, small to our students and big for the world.” Faithfully yours, Stephanie Weiss weisss@augsburg.edu Director of Marketing Communication Stephen Jendraszak jendra@augsburg.edu Communication Copywriter and Editorial Coordinator Laura Swanson Lindahl ’15 MBA swansonl@augsburg.edu Creative Associate Denielle Johnson ’11 johnsod@augsburg.edu Production Manager Mark Chamberlain chamberm@augsburg.edu Photographer Stephen Geffre geffre@augsburg.edu Advancement Communication Specialist Jen Lowman Day dayj@augsburg.edu Contributing Writer Kate H. Elliott augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published by Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 Send address corrections to: alumniupdate@augsburg.edu. PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT Send comments to: now@augsburg.edu. AUGSBURG NOW Fall 2016 PHOTO BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 This fall, Augsburg College hosted the national Lilly Fellows Program Conference. The event focused on the theme, “Reformed and Always Reforming: Faith, Science, Art, and Culture,” and featured the Rev. Paul Oman, founder of Drawn to the Word ministry, who painted an artistic expression of the Reformation. 02 Around the quad 22 Homecoming 2016 08 Annual report to donors 24 Auggies connect 10 Play with purpose 27 Class notes 16 The space to learn 20 An ambitious approach 32 In memoriam On the cover Augsburg College students show their school spirit at the 2016 Homecoming pep rally. Learn more about the celebration on pages 22-23. Photo by Caroline Yang. Inset photo by Courtney Perry. All photos by Stephen Geffre unless otherwise indicated. NEW ACADEMIC BUILDING SCALES HEIGHTS The Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion is on track to open for classes in January 2018. In the six months since the April 29 groundbreaking, McGough Construction and its subcontractors have completed the concrete work for the partial basement and most of the four floors of the north wing, and the three floors of the west wing. As the cement work has finished, the team has undertaken installation of electrical conduit, plumbing, and framing for interior walls. Weekly construction updates are available at augsburg.edu/hagforscenter. 2 Augsburg Now The Hagfors Center brings together the study of global business, advanced science and technology, and religious dialogue. It is home to eight academic departments: Biology Business Chemistry Computer Science Mathematics Physics Psychology Religion Structural rendering of the Hagfors Center courtesy of McGough Construction COLLEGE AWARDS 2016 President’s Interfaith and Community Service Honor Roll—Finalist with Distinction: Augsburg College was one of five finalists in the United States named to the prestigious President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction in the interfaith community service category. This is the seventh year the College has earned this recognition. The AugSTEM Scholars Program, funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation, supports students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The scholars participated in Zyzzogeton, a celebration of student research. Best Regional Universities by U.S. News & World Report: U.S. News & World Report named Augsburg one of the best universities in the Midwest. Rankings are based on factors including average first-year retention rates, graduation rates, class sizes, studentto-faculty ratios, acceptance rates, and more. $1 MILLION GRANT PREPARES STUDENTS for graduate school, meaningful work The National Science Foundation awarded Augsburg College a highly competitive $1 million grant for continued support of the AugSTEM Scholars Program. Under the direction of Professor Rebekah Dupont, the program will provide scholarships to as many as 80 academically talented students with financial need who are pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering, and math. The four-year grant is part of NSF’s work to address the need for a highquality, diverse workforce. With a traditional undergraduate student body that is more than 35 percent persons of color, Augsburg is well positioned to support this goal. The program provides direct financial support, delivers hands-on learning, offers research opportunities, and pairs each student with a faculty mentor. Research shows this combination of hands-on learning and close mentorship is highly effective in helping students leave college ready for graduate school and the workplace. Augsburg recognized for being studentcentered: The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranked Augsburg No. 2 in Minnesota for student engagement in the learning process in their inaugural ranking of U.S. colleges and universities. The student engagement score is based largely on results of a student survey that addressed how challenging classes are, whether they foster critical thinking and prompt students to make connections to the real world, and how much interaction the students have with faculty and other students. Auggie earns “Most Promising Young Poet” national honor Donte Collins ’18 was named the “Most Promising Young Poet” by the Academy of American Poets this fall. His poem, “what the dead know by heart,” previously won Augsburg’s John R. Mitchell Prize, which qualified him for the prestigious competition. Collins is a theater major who is active in the local, regional, and national spoken word and poetry scene. Collins told Minnesota Public Radio that he plans to use the $1,000 prize from the award to self-publish his first collection of poetry, a chapbook called “autopsies.” PHOTO BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 Editor’s Note: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 1565060 and 1154096. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. 50 Best Disability Friendly Colleges and Universities: College Choice ranked Augsburg No. 13 of the 50 Best Disability Friendly Colleges and Universities in 2016 for having strong programming and solid support services that meet the physical, social, and academic requirements of students with learning disabilities and special needs. Best LGBT Friendly Colleges and Universities: College Choice ranked Augsburg among the 50 Best LGBT Friendly Colleges and Universities in 2016 for having a strong and proven history of creating quality programming for the LGBT community and its allies. Fall 2016 3 Augsburg partners with MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO to deliver Strommen Engagement Series A new partnership with Minnesota Public Radio means the Augsburg College Strommen Engagement Series is poised to spark dialogue on some of the state’s pressing contemporary issues. The reimagined Strommen Engagement Series was created in collaboration with MPR as part of the “Conversations on the Creative Economy” program hosted by Chris Farrell. He is a senior economics contributor at Marketplace, American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio business and personal finance program. For the 2016-17 academic year, MPR and Augsburg will explore: • Living in Recovery—Working in a Culture of Alcohol: A discussion on the health cost to a business when employees are chemically dependent and how professionals in recovery are working to remove the stigma of addiction and the culture of drinking in business. • Global Food in a Farm-to-Table World: A discussion on how companies are adapting to environmental and consumer demands to be more sustainable and still grow food for 7 billion people. • Worship in the Workplace: A discussion about the business advantages of accommodating the faith traditions of employees and how leaders navigate these situations. • Banking on the Unbankable: A discussion on how financial institutions create both a business product and a social good for people who traditionally would not have access Go to augsburg.edu/now to financial tools. for details. Governor declares ‘AUGSBURG COLLEGE EQUITY DAY’ Gov. Mark Dayton declared Aug. 29, 2016, “Augsburg College Equity Day” in recognition of the College’s commitment to equity and justice, and its efforts to close the opportunity gap in Minnesota. President Paul Pribbenow met with leaders of the Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial board to discuss Minnesota’s educational achievement gap among children and youth of diverse backgrounds. The state has one of the largest achievement gaps in the nation, and Augsburg is working to ensure all students of academic ability have access to higher education. The College’s pledge to this work includes limited debt pathways to graduation, setting aside dedicated housing for homeless students, increasing financial aid literacy, supporting faculty in creating inclusive classrooms, and increasing access to course materials. The College was applauded for this leadership through a compelling editorial, “Augsburg College leads the call for campus equity,” written and published by the Star Tribune editorial board on Aug. 30. ARCHIVE PHOTO PHOTO BY BRIANA ALAMILLA ’17 NOW AND THEN: AUGGIE HOMECOMING [Left]: Current students play dodgeball in Si Melby gymnasium. [Right]: Jan (Koepcke) Steller ’66, a member of this year’s 50th reunion class, snaps the football during a 1965 coed Homecoming matchup. 4 Augsburg Now All good Homecoming celebrations need some friendly competition, right? This year, Augsburg College students got into the competitive spirit at a dodgeball tournament that pitted Auggie against Auggie in a battle testing speed, agility, and … fashion sense. The event’s companion costume contest proved to be a lighthearted update on a long-time tradition. Coed sporting events have been part of Augsburg Homecoming for decades, and the outfits seem to get better with time. See highlights from Homecoming on pages 22-23. AROUND THE QUAD SOOTHING SOUNDS: Auggies compose music for pediatric patients Music therapy major Tristan Gavin ’16 records a composition for use at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. COURTESY PHOTOS CONVOCATION SERIES 2016-17 Augsburg College’s annual convocation series offers the community meaningful opportunities to engage with contemporary issues and to hear from speakers who are renowned in their fields. In September, the series kicked off with the Bernhard M. Christensen Symposium featuring bestselling author, public theologian, and social activist Jim Wallis and his presentation, “The Bridge to a New America.” Wallis is president and founder of Sojourners, a nonprofit, faith-based organization whose mission is to put faith into action for social justice. In November, the Center for Wellness and Counseling Convocation welcomed Kristin Neff, an education psychologist and associate professor of human development and culture at the University of Texas at Austin. Her presentation was titled, “Self-Compassion: How to be an Inner Ally Rather than an Inner Enemy.” Augsburg College music therapy students created original compositions to help patients and families at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital get better sleep. During the 2016 spring semester, students in the Music Therapy Senior Seminar course taught by Annie Heiderscheit, director of the Master of Music Therapy program, wrote lullabies as part of a community partnership. The music therapy students worked with music business students and their advisor, Augsburg Instructor Dain Estes, to produce high-quality recordings for use on the hospital’s network of digital, interactive health care features. Individuals can choose to play the calming tunes using devices in their hospital rooms. The Auggies’ compositions also are part of a pilot study that is exploring whether listening to music helps improve sleep quality in patients and families who use it in the pediatric intensive care unit. SAVE THE DATE: Join us on Monday, Jan. 16, for the Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation. All events are free, public, and held in the Foss Center. For detailed information, go to augsburg.edu/convo. Fall 2016 5 BOARD OF REGENTS Jeffrey Nodland ’77 Nicholas Gangestad ’86 WELCOMES NEW CHAIR AND MEMBERS Jeffrey Nodland ’77, president and chief executive officer of KIK Custom Products, was elected chair of the Augsburg College Board of Regents at its April 2016 meeting and began his term July 1. Nodland will play a key leadership role in Augsburg’s planning and fundraising initiatives. In addition, the Augsburg Corporation, at its annual September meeting, elected six new members to the Board of Regents and re-elected three members. Elected to their first term on the Augsburg Board of Regents: Dr. Amit Ghosh ’12 MBA Rev. Marlene Whiterabbit Helgemo Rachel Pringnitz ’02, ’07 MBA • Nicholas Gangestad ’86, senior vice president and chief financial officer of 3M • Dr. Amit Ghosh ’12 MBA, a staff consultant, professor of medicine, and medical director of internal practice at Mayo Clinic • Rev. Marlene Whiterabbit Helgemo, an ordained Lutheran pastor serving All Nations Indian Church of the United Church of Christ and executive director of the Council for American Indian Ministry of the UCC • Rachel Pringnitz ’02, ’07 MBA, operations administrator for the Division of General Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic • Jill Nelson Thomas, philanthropist and board member for multiple nonprofits, including Family & Children’s Services of Oklahoma • Noya Woodrich ’92, ’94 MSW, former president and chief executive officer of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches PHOTOS BY MARK CHAMBERLAIN Elected to a second or third term: Jill Nelson Thomas Noya Woodrich ’92, ’94 MSW 6 Augsburg Now • Mark Eustis, an organizational leadership and governance advisor for health systems • Alexander Gonzalez ’90, financial consultant at Thrivent Financial • Pam Moksnes ’79, vice president for gift planning services, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, through the Lutheran Church Extension Fund HOME SWEET HOMEPAGE: Augsburg launches redesigned website College and university websites are often the first place students turn to for reliable information when they research schools. This fall, Augsburg unveiled a website redesign offering prospective students a fresh experience and encouraging them to learn more about the College. The new look took more than a year to research, plan, design, and develop. Now this work is on display on the site’s top-level sections, which showcase how Augsburg positively influences Auggies from their first day in class to decades after graduation. Visit augsburg.edu to see the new design. AROUND THE QUAD ON THE SPOT A look at erratic weather and climate change with John Zobitz “Do we live in the tropics?” In early fall, a Minneapolis Star Tribune article asked this question. While readers surely answered “no,” the story described the recent soggy summer in which Midwestern Regional Climate Center weather data showed the Twin Cities got twice as much rain as usual in August, contributing to the fourth-wettest summer since records began in 1895. Associate Professor John Zobitz studies math and how it relates to climate. Scientists point to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as one of the culprits in global warming. Zobitz uses mathematical modeling to conduct environmental science research on several topics, including carbon uptake. For years, Zobitz has helped media make sense of unusual weather across the country. He commented on record-setting snowfall in Buffalo, New York, following a November 2014 blast, as well as the return of wintry weather during an April 2013 whiteout in Augsburg’s own backyard. Here’s a glimpse into the world of climate science—an area where the forecast can have more to do with mathematical formulas than tomorrow’s high temp. Q: How can mathematicians’ expertise help environmental scientists and climatologists? A: Mathematicians test and evaluate hypotheses through mathematical and computational models. We model and benchmark future global temperatures based on current scenarios, hopefully providing an informed context for climate policy decisions. Q: A: Hasn’t the Earth always warmed and cooled throughout history? Yes, but what is alarming is both the amount and the rate of the increase. The global monthly temperature has been warmer than average for 360 consecutive months (that’s every month during the past 30 years). That persistent global pattern underscores a shift in global temperature beyond natural temperature cycles. Q: A: Do unusually cold temperatures in an area dispute global warming? No. An important thing to remember is that global temperature represents an average across a global network of monitoring stations. Climate change will affect each area differently: some areas might warm and some areas may cool, but the overall trend of global temperature is increasing. Q: A: Do you think climate change is inevitable? A key concept in calculus is the accumulation of smaller pieces to one larger whole. If we want to reduce climate change, small changes in our daily lives such as driving less and reducing waste, together, may accumulate to a large effect. Q: What does it mean to our future, as human beings, if climate change continues as it has in the past 30 years? A: We need to recognize that we live in a rapidly changing world where “normal weather” is the exception rather than the rule. Adapting—and innovating— in an environment of constant change will become key for success. Fall 2016 7 ALISON RANUM ’17 NAZIH SAFI ’17 Hometown: Minneapolis Hometown: Eden Prairie, Minnesota Studying: Biology and Exercise Science Studying: Mathematics and Management Information Systems Roy and Eleanor Krohn Scholarship With thanks: “College is an expensive investment, and without the donors who have been so kind to help me along the way, attending Augsburg College would not be an option for me. Thank you so much.” 8 Augsburg Now Beverly Durkee Mathematics Scholarship With thanks: “Thank you for your continuous support of student learning. It feels good to know that I go to a college where the alumni really care about furthering their alma mater.” REVENUE BY SOURCE 2015-16 AUGSBURG COLLEGE 67% ANNUAL REPORT TUITION TO DONORS 19% T 3% PRIVATE GIFTS AND GRANTS 7% o the people who understand that together we can build and shape a campus, a community, and the world for lifetimes to come, thank you. To the people who are hard-working, inspired, and trying to make a difference and impact the future locally and internationally, thank you. To the 4,965 individuals who gave $17,689,103 for multiple programs, projects, and funds, thank you. To the community who gave $1,551,262 to the Augsburg Fund, thank you. Thank you for making this community a place where we are developing informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. Whether you were a student 50 or five years ago or are a friend of Augsburg College, Auggies like you are what keep an Augsburg education sustainable, faithful, and relevant long into the future. ROOM AND BOARD GOVERNMENT GRANTS 4% OTHER SOURCES EXPENSES BY CATEGORY 41% SALARIES AND BENEFITS 31% FINANCIAL AID 13% OPERATING EXPENSES* 7% CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS 3% Thank you. 3% *Expenses in this category include: facility repairs and maintenance, information technology expenditures, marketing expenditures, membership dues and fees, outside consultants, supplies, and travel and business meetings. DEBT SERVICE UTILITIES AND INSURANCE 2% STUDENT SALARIES ENDOWMENT MARKET VALUE $40.5 May 31, 2016—$39,412,669 MIKE SHAW ’17 Professor Jeanne Boeh and Mr. Bernhard Fleming Economics Scholarship $32.4 Augsburg College’s influence: “Augsburg has pushed me to do my absolute best at school and forced me to think how I can use the skills I am developing to help my community.” $28.2 $27.8 $39.4 $34.6 $33.3 $31.5 Hometown: Minneapolis Studying: Business Administration and Economics $38.3 $29.8 $24.5 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 As of May 31, 2016, Augsburg College had annual realized and unrealized losses of 3.23 percent on the College endowment. The five-year average annual return on the endowment is 3.52 percent, and the 10-year average annual return is 3.49 percent. The College is committed to maintaining the value of the principal to provide support to the College in perpetuity. Special Olympics Minnesota and Augsburg College team up BY KATE H. ELLIOTT 10 Augsburg Now All eyes are on a group of athletes in college basketball jerseys. There are short ones, tall ones, fast ones, and slow ones—some having good days and others feeling off their game. An athlete flies through the air, dunking a ball. High-fives, cheers, and clapping echo through the rafters. Moments later, voices rise. “No, no, the other way,” shouts an encouraging spectator trying to prompt an athlete dribbling with authority toward the wrong basket. A foul, some underhand throws, and then a pause for a player with a medical issue. Play resumes. More commotion. Sneakers skid across the gym floor as the spectrum of abilities and disabilities blurs. Then, the buzzer sounds, but the final score isn’t the focus given the diversions of smiling, sweaty faces and celebratory exchanges among athletes. The February game brought together teams comprising athletes from Augsburg College, Hamline University, and Special Olympics Minnesota—the first in a series of ongoing Unified Sports competitions that pair individuals with and without intellectual disabilities. Auggie participation reflects the Augsburg Athletic Department’s broader effort— spearheaded by its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee—to engage student-athletes in meaningful, life-changing community service. And in this game, everyone wins: dozens of student-athletes such as Sean Adams ’17 are building lasting bonds and gaining a more sophisticated understanding of ability; Minnesota’s more than 8,000 Special Olympics athletes such as Alec Kelsey are gaining confidence, training, and lifelong friends; and PHOTOS BY MATT HIGGINS, MIAC Augsburg alumni such as Steele Krause ’16, are leading informed, engaged lives after graduation. Krause said volunteerism through Augsburg transformed his idea of service from “checking a box” to a way of life. “At Augsburg, my idea of service evolved from logging hours to serving with purpose and gaining a true understanding of each organization,” said the former men’s basketball player now living in Denver. “Last week, I stopped by the Colorado Special Olympics office to learn more about ways to get involved.” Augsburg’s embrace of unified competition in the past year has intensified personal connections and impact, said Adams, a captain of Augsburg’s men’s cross country and men’s track and field teams. “Out there on the court, it didn’t matter whether someone had a disability or not; we were all working toward a common goal and all had strengths to contribute to the team,” he said, reflecting on a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Special Olympics D-III Week Unified Basketball Tournament held in April at Macalester College. “Playing alongside others—next to their pure love for the game and competition—reminds me why I love sports.” The winner of each Augsburg-Hamline Unified Rivalry competition—such as the basketball game pictured—earns the “Unified Hammer,” a trophy similar to the ceremonial sledge hammer passed since 2005 between the schools each time their varsity football teams square off. Fall 2016 11 In February, a Special Olympics Minnesota athlete had the chance to skate the Minnesota Wild flag to center ice during an Augsburg College men’s hockey game. The Minnesota Wild hosts several events each year to celebrate “The State of Hockey,” and Augsburg facilitated this unique partnership between SOMN and the professional sports team. PHOTO BY KEVIN HEALY Augsburg has partnered with Special Olympics since 2011, when NCAA Division III formally began supporting the organization’s efforts to provide year-round training and competition for more than 5.3 million children and adults in 170 countries. But Augsburg upped its game in 2016 by committing to pair with Special Olympics Minnesota each month of the academic year. SOMN named Augsburg a Champion School, one of only five institutions in the state recognized for student leadership and advocacy, campus involvement, and participation in Unified Sports. Michael Kane, vice president of SOMN’s area programs and initiatives, said the organization is eager to strengthen existing collaborations, including regional bowling championships, hockey tournaments, and the organization’s most popular fundraiser, the Polar Plunge—during which Auggies, along with thousands of Minnesotans, jump into icy lakes. Augsburg’s passionate drive to advance understanding, acceptance, and healthy living is elevating SOMN’s reach and reputation, particularly among the next generation. “Augsburg College is a great example of an institution striving to make inclusion a reality,” Kane said. “Students and staff have fully embraced Special 12 Augsburg Now Olympics Minnesota by volunteering at competitions and planning to host a wide variety of events and activities. Hundreds of Augsburg students have stood up to make these events and activities possible.” Guiding Augsburg’s increased involvement is the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a group of about 50 student-athlete volunteers committed to enriching the student experience through a range of relevant service opportunities. Jane Becker is Augsburg’s head volleyball coach and athletic community service coordinator, and Jennifer Jacobs is an assistant athletic director, assistant volleyball coach and advisor for SAAC, overseeing the student-run organization with representation from all of Augsburg’s 21 teams. The pair talk at length about the importance of student-athletes connecting with the community. Augsburg student-athletes and teams host clinics and open gyms for neighboring schools, help area churches renovate, and build partnerships—like the Unified Rivalry with Hamline—to foster lasting friendships and healthy competition. Becker and Jacobs lift up the committee’s work with Special Olympics because it advances the lessons of determination, teamwork, and heart that coaches promote on the court and in the field. They hear of perceptions changed and career paths adjusted because of these meaningful experiences. “Our student-athletes are putting in long hours of competition, making grades, and then giving themselves to others,” said Jacobs. “The amount of time and energy our student-athletes dedicate to Special Olympics and other volunteer opportunities is inspiring. They are committed to making an impact, relationship building, and experiential learning.” Rachel Frantz ’17, co-president of SAAC, said she and her peers are energized by the heart and competitiveness of Special Olympics athletes. She has friends such as Tom, who competes in speed walking and swimming. Non-verbal, Tom communicates through sign and body language. “His favorite gesture,” Frantz said, “is his signature hug that last about three minutes.” It’s hard to let go of those types of connections. “Special Olympics athletes teach me how to come as I am and do my best. They support one another and foster a positive environment where each athlete can grow,” said the biology major, who has participated for the past six years in Special Olympics events, including jumping in an icy lake during the Polar Plunge, competing in a unified basketball game, and volunteering at basketball, swimming, and track and field events, which happen to be her favorite. “The athletes are always congratulating all of their competitors, regardless of their finish,” Frantz said. “I love cheering them on as they achieve a new personal record or finish a difficult race.” Beyond friendships and lasting memories within the community, these experiences inspire bonds among Augsburg student-athletes as well as the general student body, many of whom also serve Special Olympics. Frantz, a competitor in lacrosse, cross country, and track, who likes snorkeling, rock climbing, and choir, might not have gotten to know Adams, who plays guitar and acts in his roommate’s short films. But, through SAAC, the two have volunteered together, growing closer with every project. “It’s been a privilege to build upon the good work of those who led the committee before us,” said Adams, who serves as co-chair of SAAC’s volunteering committee. “The evolution to unified competitions and partnerships AUGSBURG AS A CHAMPION SCHOOL Augsburg is one of only five Special Olympics Champion Schools in Minnesota. The designation is granted to institutions that excel in three areas: Unified Sports, student leadership and advocacy, and campus involvement. • Unified Sports: Augsburg student-athletes participate alongside Special Olympics Minnesota athletes in clinics and competitions. In partnership with Hamline University, Auggies cofounded the first Unified Rivalry in Minnesota. Special Olympics Minnesota created the Unified Hammer trophy given to the winner of these competitions throughout the year. • Student Leadership and Advocacy: The more than 50 student-athlete leaders on Augsburg’s StudentAthlete Advisory Committee work with SOMN to activate students, engage faculty, and promote communities of acceptance. • Campus Involvement: Augsburg student-athletes have enthusiastically recruited students to create teams for the Polar Plunge and other key SOMN events held throughout the year. The campus also has held Respect Campaigns, including Spread the Word to End the Word, which discourages people from using demeaning, offensive, or inaccurate terms. “Our events are volunteer driven, and I’m just not sure what we would do without Augsburg student-athletes volunteering at every turn,” said Devin Kaasa, the college partnership and competition manager for SOMN. “Their work fosters respect and dignity for people with intellectual disabilities and changes actions and attitudes among their peers without intellectual disabilities.” Members of the Augsburg football team volunteer at the 2016 Fall Games organized by Special Olympics Minnesota. PHOTO COURTESY OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS MINNESOTA with other colleges in the area is expanding our reach and feels more authentic and influential than cheering from the sidelines.” Friends across the river, Hamline’s SAAC advisor and women’s volleyball coach Becky Egan and senior softball player Mary-Clare Couillard, said they, too, have big hopes to grow from several rivalry games to multiple contests and volunteer efforts throughout the year. “Our campuses can have such a positive impact for Special Olympics athletes, and I hope to see us doing all that we can to help out,” said Couillard, who has interned with Special Olympics since June. Egan echoed her sentiments. “Since our campuses are so close, it is easy for our student-athletes to travel and stay excited about volunteering,” Egan said. “The more inclusive we become with other schools in our conference, the healthier the competitions become across our other sports, and it broadens connections among all our student-athletes.” PHOTO BY MATT HIGGINS, MIAC 14 Augsburg Now passing year. During a January 2016 game against Saint Mary’s University, the Augsburg College women’s hockey Devin Kaasa, the college partnership team recognized more than 100 Special and competition manager for SOMN, Olympics athletes in attendance with a is the main contact for schools in the ceremonial puck drop prior to the game. MIAC as they build and strengthen their Proceeds from puck purchases for a relationship with the nonprofit. Kaasa, halftime “Chuck-A-Puck” competition whose brother has participated in Special benefitted SOMN. The following Olympics for 20 years, said he has been weekend, the hockey players volunteered showcasing positive Augsburg-Hamline at the Special Olympics Minnesota State outcomes to promote similar interactions Poly Hockey Tournament. among the conference’s 13 schools. In early March, Auggies raised more “Our athletes look up to studentthan $1,000 for the 19th annual Polar athletes because of Plunge event at their abilities and Lake Calhoun in “Augsburg College is a great energy. To some, Minneapolis. The example of an institution striving 2016 plunge season these college to make inclusion a reality.” students are like raised more than –Michael Kane professionals, and $3.9 million for playing alongside Special Olympics’ them is such a thrill,” Kaasa said. “I athletic, health, and leadership love Augsburg because they are always programs for children and adults with up for trying a new idea, and I can intellectual disabilities. always count on them to serve.” Just this September, members of Augsburg’s involvement with SOMN the Augsburg football team helped out has been diverse and expansive, with SOMN’s Fall Games where athletes growing in size and scope with each competed in equestrian, softball, bocce, and golf events. Each month, the NCAA Division III features a Special Olympics Spotlight Poll, asking fans to vote on one of three compelling stories highlighting efforts at various institutions and conferences. With 1,300 votes, the MIAC won the July spotlight (and $500 toward its next Special Olympics event) for hosting the first-ever conference-wide unified tournament. Mark Kelsey’s son, Alec, was among the 50 Special Olympics athletes who competed alongside student-athletes from Augsburg, Carleton, Hamline, Macalester, St. Catherine, and St. Thomas in an eightteam, double-elimination tournament held during the fifth annual NCAA Division III Week in April. At 6-foot-2, 25-year-old Alec loves basketball, lives for the moment, and never looks for an excuse to quit, even after a seizure on the court. “Special Olympics athletes represent the best of what sports has to offer—no fear, no nerves, no hate, all heart,” said Kelsey, who started the West Metro Warriors Special Olympics delegation in the Twin Cities 10 years ago. “Alec rarely gets through a game without a seizure, but I cannot tell you how excited and proud he and his fellow athletes are to play with college studentathletes. We were particularly impressed with Augsburg’s showing at the tournament … while one team played, the other team cheered with Special Olympics athletes. It was magical, and I can only hope those Auggies were so moved in such a deep and positive way that they become forever advocates for inclusion and acceptance.” As a recent graduate, Krause regularly reflects on the intersection of athletic, religious, and academic experiences he enjoyed at Augsburg. His time learning to live with purpose “sparked a craving for personal and communal excellence” and a desire to create a stable, nourishing, and joyful environment for his community. “Being involved with SOMN was humbling and gratifying … and being able to use my knowledge and skills within various sports is empowering,” said Krause, a former SAAC copresident who works as an account manager for Pacific Office Automation. “I am extremely proud to be an Auggie, and I will always refer myself as such. Augsburg’s commitment to community is astounding, and it keeps getting better every year.” At Augsburg, Krause said, he learned that volunteering is as much about selfreflection after the experience as it is about the outcome of the service. Only then can people begin to understand more about the world around them and assess (and possibly adjust) their attitudes and actions. “I no longer just show up to volunteer and then leave when the job is done,” he said. “It sticks with me, urging me to think about how my involvement and experiences shape my life, and how I can continue to make a difference.” To learn more about Augsburg’s athletic teams and service, including Auggie involvement with Special Olympics, go to augsburg.edu/now. [Far left]: The Augsburg-Hamline Unified Rivalry series began with basketball games and has grown to include several activities. The schools hosted a flag football game in October and will sponsor a softball game this spring. [Center photos]: Augsburg football players helped facilitate softball and bocce ball activities at the 2016 Fall Games series organized by Special Olympics Minnesota. [Far right]: Athletes take a break from the action during a MIAC conferencewide unified basketball tournament held in April at Macalester College. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS MINNESOTA Fall 2016 15 S. E I G G U A . BE D U O R P D. BE E L L A C E B AUGSBURG COLLEGE’S 2016 HOMECOMING CELEBRATION was held Sept. 22-24—a festive PHOTO BY JOHANNA KITZMAN ‘11 weekend when alumni, students, and families took part in new events and beloved traditions. More than 500 alumni from 64 different graduation years attended celebrations, including reunions for the classes of 1966, 1976, 1991, and 2006. PHOTO BY REBECCA ZENEFSKI Ten Auggies were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame after being welcomed to the ceremony by current student-athletes. During a Homecoming lunch with alumni award recipients, students were invited to share in discussion with recipients of the First Decade, Spirit of Augsburg, and Distinguished Alumni awards. In an evening ceremony, six alumni and two honorary Auggies received awards and were recognized for their generous service to the world. 22 Augsburg Now PHOTO BY JOHANNA KITZMAN ’11 PHOTOS BY COURTNEY PERRY The Taste of Augsburg featured 38 booths—most hosted by student groups—and offered games, entertainment, and food, including the Augsburg Chemistry Society’s liquid nitrogen ice cream. Augsburg won the football game against Carleton College, and alumni, families, and students stayed after the game to enjoy s’mores at an Auggie Block Party featuring the band Broken Spoke. Bob Stacke ’71 This year, 30 Homecoming events celebrated the best of Augsburg, from an all-band reunion to Auggie Talks led by alumni, staff, and faculty experts. The Centennial Singers and an alumni band led by Professor Emeritus and Spirit of Augsburg Award recipient Bob Stacke ’71 invigorated the chapel at a worship service where Associate College Pastor Justin Lind-Ayres welcomed all Auggies with a “Home Calling” message. Fall 2016 23 AUGGIES CONNECT FROM THE ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT Dear alumni and friends, T he Alumni Board has made exciting changes to better serve Augsburg College graduates and current students. We reorganized our board committees, and we’re already seeing the fantastic engagement and work of two new groups. • The new Parent and Family Committee shares information about Augsburg and its services with families. We’re thankful to the Parent and Family Committee for helping students move into campus housing this fall. Committee chair Howie Smith ’80 joined Cyrus Batheja ’08, ’11 MBA to help with first-year student move-in day. Committee members Derek Francis ’08 and Hannah Dietrich Swanson ’05 assisted with new student orientation. The committee hosts two parent and family nights per year, and the next event is March 2. • Rick Bonlender ’78, Josh Krob ’08, ’15 MBA, Adriana Matzke ’13, and Brad Randall ’13 on the new Adult Education Committee will focus on the growing adult undergraduate and graduate studies alumni communities. I attended Augsburg College as an MBA student from 2008 to 2010, and I’m inspired by this work. Whether you remember your time at Augsburg as a cohort, a class, or a team—as a grad student, traditional undergraduate, or adult undergraduate—there is a place for all in the upcoming events at the College. The MBA networking event on October 25 was a welcome chance to see former cohort members for a mini-reunion and to get involved mentoring a future Auggie MBA. As a board, we strive to better serve the College, our fellow alumni, and— perhaps most importantly—Augsburg’s current students. We’re looking ahead to our next Alumni-Student Networking event on February 8. Last year, we had 260 participants—a record-breaking attendance that included students, alumni, and faculty. Thanks to all who helped recruit attendees, facilitate introductions, and open doors for Auggies! I look forward to our continued service and engagement with the Augsburg community. JILL WATSON ’10 MBA, ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT 24 Augsburg Now For more information about alumni events, see augsburg.edu/now. The StepUP® Program at Augsburg College has had a successful year. As the largest residential collegiate recovery program in the United States, StepUP is regarded as the gold standard for programs of its kind. Now in its 20th year, StepUP empowers students to champion lives of recovery, achieve academic success, and thrive in a residential community of accountability and support. StepUP celebrated its annual gala October 29, and the event focused on the theme of “hope.” The gala is an opportunity to reduce the stigma often associated with substance use disorders by raising awareness—and honoring the accomplishments and contributions—of StepUP’s 100 students and 750 alumni. At the gala, emcee Don Shelby, an Emmyaward-winning former news anchor and person in recovery, welcomed supportive Auggies, families, friends, and advocates for recovery. Peter Hubbard ’10 spoke about his work with StepUP alumni to create chances for StepUP students to learn about life after graduation, network, and explore concerns with those who have followed a similar path. The Barbara and Skip Gage family received the Toby Piper LaBelle award in recognition of their longstanding commitment to education at Augsburg. The Gage’s dedicated support of the CLASS program, Lindell Library, Gage Family Art Gallery, and Gage Center for Student Success furthers Augsburg’s ability to live out its mission of serving the diverse needs, gifts, and experiences of its students. In addition, the contributions of The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation were recognized with the inaugural Keystone Award for institutional support. To continue the deep success of the StepUP Program, the College has launched an endowment campaign for the program. The campaign is nearly halfway to its goal of raising $10 million by 2017. The endowment will allow the College to increase enrollment in the program, to maintain StepUP’s unparalleled community experience, and retain StepUP’s exceptional counselors and staff. Visit augsburg.edu/stepup to learn more. AUGGIES CONNECT GENEROSITY OF ALUMNI fuels research, hands-on opportunities for Auggies Two influential Augsburg College alumni, Terry Lindstrom ’73 and Dean Sundquist ’81, have found that giving back to their alma mater is a way to inspire young researchers to pursue their passions. They have chosen to support the Office of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity, known as “URGO,” which aligns students’ interests in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), social sciences, humanities, and the arts with research by faculty. Each year, research by more than 20 Augsburg students is funded by the College for 10 weeks each summer. Because of the committed support of Lindstrom and Sundquist, 16 additional scholars participate in URGO and receive a stipend. This financial support is critical to providing the hands-on, skills-based training students need to successfully apply to graduate school and to shape meaningful careers. “Fundamentals are absolutely essential,” Lindstrom said, “but it was the research experience that helped me determine what I wanted to do.” Lindstrom and his wife, Janet, plan to fund URGO students for the next three years, just as they have since 2013, and will ensure the perpetuity of their scholarships through their estate plan. “Everyone deserves to find the career that creates passion,” said Lindstrom, who retired in 2010 as a distinguished research fellow at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, where he spent 31 years in drug discovery and development. Eager to find real-world applications to benefit society, Lindstrom earned his PhD in pharmacology and biochemistry at the University of Minnesota after his Augsburg graduation. He led the research teams that resulted in a half-dozen patents for life-changing pharmaceuticals, including Evista for osteoporosis and Cymbalta, used as an antidepressant and for bone and muscle pain. He visited campus this past summer to meet faculty and student researchers—including four students he sponsored directly: Josh Kuether ’18, Taylor Mattice ’18, Adam Pancoast ’18, and Ellyn Peters ’18. Similarly, since 2006, Sundquist, a member of the College’s Board of Regents, and his wife, Amy, have sponsored research by URGO students. Sundquist visited campus this summer as well to meet with the 12 students he sponsors and learn His campus visit was a chance to see the energy, enthusiasm, and excitement in students as they researched projects with their mentors, including Assistant Professor Matt Beckman, Associate Professor Vivian Feng, and Assistant Professor Michael Wentzel. “These URGO students are very smart and very impressive. They go on from Augsburg to graduate school and medical school and business school with research experience and the confidence to succeed at the next level,” Sundquist said. Ultimately, generosity of people like Lindstrom and Sundquist has had a transformational effect on thousands [L to R]: Terry Lindstrom ’73 watches as chemistry student Taylor Mattice ’18 draws out a chemical reaction scheme from her summer research project with Assistant Professor Michael Wentzel, her faculty mentor. about their research. As chairman and CEO of Mate Precision Tooling, a worldwide leader in metal products and laser technologies, he has a global perspective and understanding of how scientific improvements propel the economy. of students. Alumni create learning opportunities that prepare students to solve real-world problems, develop lifelong relationships with peers and faculty, and deliver a uniquely Augsburg summer. Fall 2016 25 Augsburg women inspired to fund transformative mural in new academic building For women who are driven to lead and participate, meeting a fundraising goal for Augsburg College doesn’t mean your work is done. It just means it’s time to engage in another meaningful challenge to continue positively impacting the lives of Augsburg students, faculty, staff, and the CedarRiverside neighborhood. That’s just what Augsburg Women Engaged (AWE) is doing through the leadership of Lisa Svac Hawks ’85, vice president of external communications for UnitedHealthcare, who was moved to make a lead gift to fund a mural planned for the interdisciplinary Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion. “When I learned about the way Augsburg is bringing these disciplines together under one roof, I knew this was something distinctive and powerful,” said Hawks. “The Hagfors Center will measurably contribute to shaping greater leaders for tomorrow.” The mural that AWE will fund, titled “Emergence,” incorporates the image of monarch butterflies with references to symbiosis, textile traditions, geometry, faith, home, prayer, and identity. The $150,000 project will express the College’s commitments to hospitality and serving the neighbor, two core principles of the Lutheran tradition in which the College is rooted. The large-scale mural will adorn the staircase at the end of the west wing. Making the lead gift for this powerful installation, which will be created by muralist Greta McLain, came naturally to Hawks. “Art has a special way of helping us experience what it means to come together in a new way. Art helps us visualize new futures. It helps us connect to big concepts and to engage emotionally with them so we can see ourselves in big ideas,” Hawks said. 26 Augsburg Now “As a group of women, we believe that art connects the heart and head. By funding this mural as a permanent beacon in the Hagfors Center, we invite everyone to connect our heads and our hearts, so our hands can get to the good work.” For McLain, the collaboration between space, artist, community, and construction can take many forms. “We all are asking: In what ways are we shaping the future leaders we need to address the challenges of the future?” she said. AWE is undertaking this new challenge and commitment to the greater Augsburg College community at the same time it successfully closes out another project for the Hagfors Center. This group of 70 women already raised $130,000 to sponsor a student study lounge in the building. The AWE-Inspired Philanthropy Council invites all Auggie women to join them in sponsoring “Emergence.” They supported a Give to the Max Day project to raise funds for the work, and are partnering with Donna McLean and Martha Truax ’16 MAL in Institutional Advancement to reach their goal of $150,000 in gifts and pledges by December 31. Email mclean@augsburg.edu or truaxm@augsburg.edu for more information. To see work available for sponsorship in the Hagfors Center, including 21 pieces created by faculty, staff, alumni, and artists who have exhibited previously in Augsburg galleries, visit augsburg.edu/now. ALUMNI CLASS NOTES 1960 The newest book by Lowell “Zeke” Ziemann ’60 is “America’s First Centennial and the Old West: 1876 A Year to Remember.” This book presents prominent events in the Western Territories during the United States’ centennial year. Incidents of 1876 described in the book include: the Little Bighorn conflict, Wild Bill Hickok’s murder, the capture of Jesse James’ gang, and Bat Masterson’s first gunfight. 1968 The Rev. Mark Hanson ’68, former presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, received the Walk of Faith Award from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service on October 26 in recognition of his career in service to the Lutheran community. The ELCA is the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination. Hanson was ordained in 1974 and has since served as a pastor for three Minnesota congregations, as bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod, and as the president of the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva. Hanson is an advocate for migrants and refugees. He currently serves as the executive director of the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg College. Regent Emeritus Ron Nelson ’68 was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award at Homecoming. He retired from 3M after 33 years with the company and spent 11 years as vice president and controller. A captain for the baseball and basketball teams at Augsburg, Nelson was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991. He is one of the owners of Thawzall, LLC, located in Alexandria, Minnesota, and is a member of the board of Oakdale-based Hearing Components, Inc. Nelson lives in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, and is an active member of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church. His wife, Mary Kay (Belgum) Nelson ’68, passed away in July after a courageous 11-year battle with leukemia. They were blessed in their ALUMNI AND ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME AWARDEE PHOTOS BY JOHANNA KITZMAN ’11 marriage with a focus on faith and their family, including daughters Kristy and Becky. 1971 Professor Emeritus and Retired Chair of the Augsburg College Music Department Robert “Bob” Stacke ’71 was honored with the Spirit of Augsburg Award at Homecoming. In retirement, he pursues his passion for photography and continues to be a guide and mentor for music and arts alumni as the leader of Bob’s Band, an ensemble comprised primarily of Augsburg jazz band alumni. Since 2001, he has volunteered at a music camp in Haiti during his summers to share the joy of music with children. 1972 Ray Yip ’72 received the Distinguished Alumni Award at Homecoming. Yip is an international public health leader who has had a significant impact on global public health in the areas of nutrition, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, and tobacco control. He has held positions with UNICEF, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 2015, he has served as special advisor with a focus on health and clean energy for bgC3, a thinktank and incubator founded by Bill Gates. Yip lives in Beijing with his wife, Florence Bannicq. 1983 Tim Schultz ’83 has been named private client services market leader for Arizona Bank & Trust, a division of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. He most recently served as regional wealth manager at Johnson Bank and chief operating officer for the western region of BMO Private Bank. 1987 Richard Bahr ’87 released his book, “Amazed: Why the Humanity of Jesus Matters,” in June. The book provides a one-of-a-kind look at Jesus through the lens of his humanity. Bahr and his wife, Carla, operate the Threshold to New Life ministry (threshold2newlife.org), providing relief and restoration to homeless persons. Bahr coordinates the volunteers for a daily breakfast held at Minneapolis’ Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, which serves more than 40,000 meals per year. His blog can be found at richardbahr.com. Amy Hyland Baretz ’87 had an outstanding pitching career on the Auggie softball team, an accomplishment that earned her induction into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. She set the school record for career victories, twice earned All-MIAC honors, and was a member of an Auggie squad that won the MIAC title and reached the NCAA Division III national tournament in 1984. She also played volleyball at Augsburg. Following graduation, she became the owner of franchise businesses in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE Tell us about the news in your life—your new job, move, marriage, and milestones. Visit augsburg.edu/now to submit your announcements. Fall 2016 27 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES 1988 Lee RoperBatker ’88 received the Distinguished Alumni Award at Homecoming. She is president and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, and she has spent her career working to further gender equality, create equal opportunities, and build pathways to economic security for women and girls. Roper-Batker founded and serves on the executive committee of Prosperity Together, a nonpartisan coalition of public women’s foundations that, at the White House in November 2015, publicly committed $100 million to improve the economic security of low-income women and their families in America. 1990 Matt Staehling ’90 is the new city administrator for St. Cloud, Minnesota. He has served the city for 20 years, most recently as the city attorney. 1992 Augsburg volleyball star Tina (Kubes) Peterson ’92 was a dominant player in the early ’90s, securing AllMIAC honors, earning a season MVP nod, producing impressive numbers as an outside hitter, and serving as a multi-year captain. Peterson, who was inducted in the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame, also was a member of the Auggie women’s basketball team. Following her graduation, Peterson has used her health and physical education degree as a teacher and coach. She has coached volleyball and track athletes in Minnesota’s New LondonSpicer school district. Joel Tveite ’92 was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his successes on the baseball, basketball, and golf teams. Tveite was an all-around talent for Auggie baseball, pitching and playing third base. On the mound, he set school records with 28 complete games, 253 innings pitched, and 36 starts. He earned AllMIAC honors and was a team captain. Since graduation, Tveite has worked in accounting and management positions, and he has been active in baseball and basketball leagues as a player and coach. for Entrepreneur of the Year at the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce small business awards luncheon. She was also a 2016 nominee for the Excellence in Leadership Award at the I-94 West Chamber’s small business awards breakfast. Candidates were judged on business strategies, drive for excellence, financial success, and community involvement. 1993 Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Schiltz ’93 was a dominant wrestler for the Auggies in the early ’90s who earned three All-American honors and qualified for national tournament competition four times. He was a MIAC champion in wrestling as well as an offensive and defensive lineman for Augsburg’s football team. Schiltz was a team captain for both sports. Since graduation he has worked in university athletics. Today he serves Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, as a wrestling assistant coach and department equipment manager. Sharol Tyra ’92, professional certified coach, certified professional co-active coach, mentor, makeup artist, and president of Life Illumination Coaching & Image (lifeillumination.com), and a Lord of Life Canticle Choir member was the 2016 finalist Jodi (Divinski) Walfoort ’93 received recognition for her time on the Auggie cross country and track teams when she was inducted AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS ’08 ’06 28 Augsburg Now ’09 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. Walfoort competed in her first athletic season in 1991 at the age of 25 when the Auggies re-started the cross country program. She made the most of her two years as a runner, earning All-Region honors twice, and she was voted a two-time MVP. After Augsburg, Walfoort became an IT professional and went on to start a commercial real estate company. 1994 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Bill Gabler ’94 transferred to Augsburg and competed in wrestling, football, and baseball. As an Auggie wrestler, he twice earned All-American honors, won a MIAC championship, and was on the program’s first NCAA Division III national title winning team. He later served as an Augsburg assistant coach who helped guide the Auggies to two NCAA national championships. In football, Gabler was a starting middlelinebacker, and in baseball he was the starting shortstop. He has enjoyed a career in sporting goods, fundraising, and corporate promotions. 1996 Robert Anderson ’96 was the first Auggie football player to earn All-American honors, and the former ’11 defensive lineman was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame this fall. Some of Anderson’s athletic achievements at Augsburg include setting school records for sacks, being named a MIAC conference lineman of the year, and serving as a cocaptain. Following his graduation, Anderson has worked as a sales director for the software industry in locations including Australia, Austria, China, Germany, New Zealand, and Singapore. Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Bill Kriesel ’96 is one of the top defensive backs in Augsburg football history. He set a single-season school record for interceptions, was named a team MVP on defense, earned All-MIAC first-team honors, and served as a co-captain. Following his graduation, Kriesel played professional football in Germany, earned his MBA, and served on the Augsburg football coaching staff, among other roles. Since 2013, he has worked as a defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Jodi Markworth ’96 was hired as the new principal at Cedar Ridge Elementary in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She had been principal at Sheridan Hills Elementary in the Richfield (Minnesota) School District. Hernan Moncada ’06 is the new principal at Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion, a K-6 elementary school in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. ’06 Cyrus Batheja ’08, ’10 MBA threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Twins baseball game on August 6. The Augsburg nursing grad and Alumni Board member was given the honor for his community work including homeless outreach and assistance with UnitedHealth Group, his family’s commitment to quality disabled living situations, and his work on the Tix for Tots advisory board. ’08 Former men’s basketball player Jim South ’96 was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame. South was a four-year starter for the Auggies, and he holds Augsburg’s career record for field-goal percentage. He earned All-MIAC honors in basketball three times and also played on the Augsburg baseball team for three seasons. Following graduation, South worked for CocaCola before obtaining a law enforcement degree. He also is an active volunteer who serves as an assistant coach for a high school basketball team. 1997 Derrin Lamker ’97 received Augsburg’s Excellence in Coaching Award in recognition of his impressive career. After quarterbacking Augsburg’s football team to a MIAC championship and several of its best seasons in school history, Lamker moved into teaching and coaching. He served as head coach at Osseo (Minnesota) High School for 11 years, winning three Northwest Suburban Conference titles, two section championships, and a Minnesota Class 6A state title. This season he became the offensive coordinator Brian Gullick ’09 and Matt Tonsager ’09 are custom woodworkers of furniture, games, and décor. Their business is Gullton Wood, and the pair created a set of Augsburg College bean bag boards used at Homecoming in September. ’09 Amy (Satnik) Bachman ’11 and her husband, Blair, welcomed a baby girl, Mackenzie Peach, on March 3. ’11 Fall 2016 29 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES at Edina (Minnesota) High School, and he also has coached basketball and baseball. Dwayne Lowman ’00 has been appointed to the inaugural advisory board of Definitely Someday, a nonpartisan firm that helps Minnesotans prepare for a future run for political office. Sweden, which was attended by Pope Francis. Laudert says, “I am beyond thankful, inspired, and thrilled at this opportunity. I am incredibly grateful to the Metropolitan New York Synod and my congregation for the chance to do this. [I am] even more thankful for our partnership in the gospel and the ecumenical mission we share together.” 2004 2008 2000 Melissa “Mel” Lee ’04 has taken the reins as interim head softball coach during the 2017 Augsburg College athletic season after serving as an assistant with the program for the past 12 years. She will continue her duties as an assistant athletic director and an instructor in Augsburg’s health and physical education program. In addition, as a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, Lee is one of two 2016 recipients of the Mary Nutter Scholarship. The educational grant will fund Lee’s attendance at the 2016 NFCA National Convention. 2006 Kyle Loven ’06, a Seattle-based performance and visual artist, was recognized with the First Decade Award at Homecoming. His work combines puppetry, projections, objects, sound, and other art forms with the human presence. Since moving to Seattle in early 2009, Loven has created and toured his original works. His shows have premiered at venues such as the acclaimed Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and Seattle’s On the Boards. Loven is the recipient of grants from the Jim Henson Foundation and numerous arts organizations based in Washington state. 2007 Wolfgang Laudert ’07 attended the ELCA Grace Gathering this summer and made a pilgrimage in October to the Taizé community in France as the result of receiving a leadership development grant. His European trip ended on a journey to the joint Lutheran-Catholic ecumenical prayer service commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Lund, 30 Augsburg Now Matthew Dunn ’08 received his doctorate in sociology from the University of California-Riverside in June. He is married to Gabriela Oliva Dunn. They live in Murrieta, California. Sara Horishnyk ’08 earned a master’s degree in arts and cultural management from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and is now working at Twin Cities Public Television. 2012 Angelica Erickson ’12 graduated from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota with a master’s degree in arts and cultural management. Her thesis was, “Every Child is a Work of Art: Helping Children Heal through the Arts after Multiple Traumatic Experiences.” Andrew Fox ’12 is the new manager of the 180-year-old Mendota, Minnesota, home of Henry Hastings Sibley, Minnesota’s first governor. Fox is the point person in a partnership between the Minnesota Historical Society and the Dakota County Historical Society. The state will own and preserve the Sibley site, while the county will staff and operate the three restored houses on the property. Fox studied medieval history at Augsburg. Kimberly Simmonds ’12, with the MonDak Heritage Center in Sidney, Montana, coauthored the book, “Sidney,” in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. 2013 Anthony Gore ’13, Steven Schwartz ’13, Ryan Bachman ’14, and Shea Drenkow ’14, all members of the Minneapolis-based band Porno Wolves, recorded the live album “Young Moon Rising” on a cold evening last winter. The friends formed the rock ’n’ roll band in 2012. 2015 Riley Hunter ’15 has a new position as assistant service desk analyst in the IT department at Securian Financial Group in downtown St. Paul. GRADUATE PROGRAMS Derek Nord ’04 MSW is the new director of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University. Nord previously was associate director of the Research and Training Center on Community Living, part of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration. Dr. Amit Ghosh ’12 MBA placed third in the 2016 District 6 Toastmasters International spring convention held in April in Minneapolis. Ghosh competed in the international speech category. District 6 is comprised of 290 clubs and 5,000 members. It serves most of Minnesota and southern Ontario, Canada. Jeremiah Dagel ’15 MPA has joined the urgent care department at the Essentia Health Saint Mary’s Detroit Lakes (Minnesota) Clinic. As part of the urgent care team, Dagel will treat medical conditions that require immediate attention but that are not life-threatening. AUGGIES HONORED Karim El-Hibri was recognized with the First Decade Award at Homecoming. He is a strategic advisor and founding board member of the El-Hibri Foundation, which focuses on peace education and interfaith cooperation through grants and awards that recognize leadership, and programs that promote learning and inclusion. He holds a BA in international relations from the American University School of International Service, and graduated from the StepUP® Program at Augsburg. El-Hibri lives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS area with his wife, Carley, and two children, Roula and Sami. Norman and Evangeline Hagfors received the Spirit of Augsburg Award at Homecoming in recognition of their leadership in the campaign for the Center of Science, Business, and Religion. As community leaders and longtime friends of Augsburg, the Hagfors embody Augsburg’s faithfulness to education grounded in the Lutheran faith and relevant to the evolving needs of our students and the world. Norman served as an Augsburg College Regent from 1989-2001, providing active participation during a critical stage of the College’s growth. In October 2005, he was re-elected to the Augsburg Board of Regents. A chapel on the third floor of the new building will be named for Evangeline’s father, the Rev. Elnar Gundale ’33, who graduated from Augsburg College and Augsburg Seminary and went on to serve as a pastor in the Lutheran Free Church and ELCA. Heidi Kammer-Hodge ’00 MSW joined Jackson Recovery Centers in Sioux City, Iowa, as a vice president and chief operating officer. KammerHodge’s position at Jackson comes after serving at Resource in Minneapolis for the past 17 years, where she held many leadership roles, most recently as a vice president. ’07 ’00 ’00 ’08 ’14 On July 23, Brett Cease ’07 married Julia Besser in Grand Portage, Minnesota. Auggies in the wedding party included [L to R]: Micah Erickson ’07, Chris Swanson ’07, Eriks Dunens ’06, and Lava K.C. ’07. ’07 Brian Krohn ’08 and Kari Aanestad ’08 welcomed a baby girl, Seora Eileen Aanestad Krohn, on May 11. ’08 Five Auggies received their white coats this fall as part of the incoming University of Minnesota Medical School class. Congratulations to [L to R]: Anna Weitz ’14, David Bergstrand ’14, Michelle Grafelman ’15, Mahad Minhas ’12, and David Fowler ’14. ’14 ’15 Laura (Swanson) Lindahl ’15 MBA and David Lindahl were married May 21 in Dellwood, Minnesota. ’15 31 In memoriam Philip A. Horne ’40, San Rafael, California, age 99, on August 7. Paul S. Paulson ’49, Spokane, Washington, age 87, on June 12. Robert D. Goodrich ’57, Big Lake, Minnesota, age 83, on April 22. Ruth C. (Kveen) Rydquist ’40, Fargo, North Dakota, age 98, on July 23. Idelle S. (Nornes) Bagne ’50, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, age 89, on May 6. Judith A. (Sather) Suther ’57, Totowa, New Jersey, age 80, on May 18. Lila A. (Israel) Erickson ’41, Minneapolis, age 97, on May 20. Charlotte A. (Ellingson) Ennen ’50, Dublin, Ohio, age 88, on May 17. Philip H. Johnson ’60, Belleville, Wisconsin, age 79, on June 20. Morris E. Ulring ’42, Minneapolis, age 95, on February 5. Kenneth A. Hengler ’50, Eagan, Minnesota, age 91, on May 19. Ernest I. Knutson ’43, Spooner, Wisconsin, age 95, on May 21. John T. Garland ’51, Saint Paul, age 86, on August 26. Ronald H. Stanley ’60, Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, age 78, on July 22. Gloria (Burntvedt) Nelson ’43, Minneapolis, age 94, on June 21. Olive L. (Nilsen) Zoller ’51, Marine On Saint Croix, Minnesota, age 87, on July 30. Kenneth A. Gilles ’44, Scottsbluff, Nebraska, age 94, on June 2. Ralph W. Hofrenning ’45, Fargo, North Dakota, age 94, on May 31. 32 Rebecca “Becky” A. (Skonnord) Johnson ’52, Valley City, North Dakota, age 86, on April 26. Lois M. (Black) Ahlbom ’47, Saint Paul, age 91, on May 9. Mildred R. (Zustiak) Baerg ’53, Anoka, Minnesota, age 85, on July 15. Myrtle C. (Skurdal) Bar ’49, Williston, North Dakota, age 91, on August 19. Edmund R. Youngquist ’53, Northfield, Minnesota, age 91, on May 30. Augsburg Now Phyllis E. (Ebrenz) Wagner ’60, Minneapolis, age 78, on July 11. Theodore “Ted” P. Botten, Jr. ’61, Rochester, Minnesota, age 77, on June 29. Jacob “Jack” A. Mayala ’61, Kimball, Minnesota, age 77, on June 12. John D. Heruth ’62, Rochester, Minnesota, age 75, on June 25. David L. Faust ’63, Green Isle, Minnesota, age 76, on May 30. Elaine L. (Legaarden) Swanson ’63, Maitland, Florida, age 75, on May 14. Dolores A. (Sheppard) Carrico ’74, Wyoming, Minnesota, age 86, on March 8. Linda L. (Benson) Pederson ’64, Frederic, Wisconsin, age 75, on June 23. Audrey C. (Jorgensen) Hanson ’77, Lewiston, Idaho, age 90, on March 21. Gary M. Ellis ’65, Hendricks, Minnesota, age 74, on June 27. Scott A. Hugstad-Vaa ’77, Apple Valley, Minnesota, age 60, on June 2. Michael J. Marcy ’65, Minnetonka, Minnesota, age 73, on June 16. Paula A. (Beckley) Beckley-Gildner ’78, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, age 65, on June 8. Larry D. Cole ’66, Minneapolis, age 73, on May 18. Mary Kay (Belgum) Nelson ’68, Mendota Heights, Minnesota, age 69, on July 18. Christine A. (Toedt) Olson ’70, Delano, Minnesota, age 67, on June 6. Donald F. Deming ’71, Fort Mill, South Carolina, age 69, on June 14. Lillian M. (Sedio) Mattson ’71, Excelsior, Minnesota, age 67, on August 1. Marian T. (Jauquet) Finger ’83, Baraboo, Wisconsin, age 89, on April 5. Scott E. Herceg ’00, Minneapolis, age 44, on August 12. Cynthia L. (Cramer) Reed ’11, Rochester, Minnesota, age 59, on August 18. Assistant Professor of Music Douglas Diamond, Minneapolis, age 59, on May 27. The “In memoriam” listings in this publication include notifications received before September 19. IT PAYS TO BE AN AUGGIE ALUMNI DISCOUNT Doctor of Nursing Practice Master of Arts in Nursing Master of Arts in Education Master of Arts in Leadership Master of Business Administration (MBA) Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Master of Music Therapy Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Master of Social Work augsburg.edu/grad/discount GRADUATE PROGRAM TUITION DISCOUNT FOR ALUMNI Many of Augsburg College’s current graduate students are alumni who earned their first degree at Augsburg and returned to pursue further education. Become a part of this growing group and take advantage of our Alumni Tuition Discount—a savings of $80 per credit! Auggie graduates who’ve earned a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from Augsburg qualify for this alumni discount. gradinfo@augsburg.edu | 612-330-1101 PHOTO BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 2031 Pedestrians take priority This fall, Open Streets Minneapolis allowed community members to stroll, skate, and cycle on roads closed to cars near Augsburg’s campus. Open Streets events held across the city throughout the summer promoted healthy living, local business, sustainable transportation, and civic pride. As an anchor institution in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, Augsburg used the celebration to further its commitment to place-based community building, organizing live music and a fashion show for attendees to enjoy.
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Title: Murphy Square 2017: Murphy Square Visual Art and Literary Magazine
Collection: Literary Journals
Search Result: MURPHY SQUARE VISUAL ART & LITERARY MAGAZINE ISSUE 42, 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD Malena Larsen, Editor In Chief Abigail Tetzlaff, Associate Editor Audrey Campbell, Art & Layout Editor Cassie Dong, Art Editor Jazmin Crittenden, Art Editor Elisabeth Beam, Prose Editor Abigail Carpenter, Prose Ed...
Show more MURPHY SQUARE VISUAL ART & LITERARY MAGAZINE ISSUE 42, 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD Malena Larsen, Editor In Chief Abigail Tetzlaff, Associate Editor Audrey Campbell, Art & Layout Editor Cassie Dong, Art Editor Jazmin Crittenden, Art Editor Elisabeth Beam, Prose Editor Abigail Carpenter, Prose Editor Ryan Moore, Prose Editor Gabriel Benson, Poetry Editor Danny Polaschek, Poetry Editor Cary Waterman, Advisor 2 WITH THANKS TO Ivy Arts Copy and Print Augsburg College Student Government Augsburg College English Department Augsburg College Art Department The Echo Augsburg Honors Program QPA 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 What Type of Black Girl Are You? Nikkyra Whittaker ........................................................................... 8 Simul Justus et Peccator, Andy Anderson .......................................................................................... 11 Queer, Eve Taft ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Jesus in a Cracker, A.Tetzlaff ................................................................................................................ 14 Grey Cloud Island, David Baboila ......................................................................................................... 17 Saint Paul Airport, David Baboila .......................................................................................................... 18 White Bear Lake, David Baboila ............................................................................................................ 19 Zips Coliseum, David Baboila ............................................................................................................... 20 Bridge, Jacob J. Miller ............................................................................................................................ 21 50 Feet Tall, Emilie Tomas ...................................................................................................................... 25 Meow, Ashley Waalen ............................................................................................................................ 26 Mousetrap, Halle Chambers .................................................................................................................. 27 Faces, Constance Klippen ..................................................................................................................... 29 I Don’t Always Feel Colored, Diamonique Walker ............................................................................... 30 Where I am From, Hannah Schmit ......................................................................................................... 32 Who Am I?, Ashley Waalen .................................................................................................................... 34 2 Gratitude, D.E Green .............................................................................................................................. CSBR, Gabriel Bergstrom ...................................................................................................................... The Fire, Elisabeth Beam ........................................................................................................................ Desert Drums, Abigail Carpenter .......................................................................................................... Colors, Hannah Schmit ........................................................................................................................... Urban Delight, Jazmin Crittenden ......................................................................................................... When Dad Wore Cologne, A. Tetzlaff .................................................................................................... Shitty Christmas Trees, Elisabeth Beam ............................................................................................... Summer Nights, Adam Ruff ................................................................................................................... 36 38 39 41 42 43 44 46 48 The People United, Adam Ruff .............................................................................................................. 49 After the Hike, Adam Ruff ..................................................................................................................... 50 Crumbs, Malena Larsen ......................................................................................................................... 51 Bloomed, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................................................... 55 Pruned, Audrey Campbell ...................................................................................................................... 56 Herman, Danny Polaschek ................................................................................................................... 57 El Barrio Suyo, Chad Berryman ............................................................................................................. 60 The Neighborhood, Chad Berryman ..................................................................................................... 61 Odyssey, Eve Taft .................................................................................................................................... 62 Postcards From My Bedroom, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................. 63 Postcards From My Bedroom, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................. 64 Counting Sheep, Danny Polaschek ...................................................................................................... 65 3 Sky Nights, Keeyonna Fox ...................................................................................................................... 67 Inner Self, Keeyonna Fox ....................................................................................................................... 68 Victory of the People, Petra S. Shaffer-Gottschalk ............................................................................. 69 An Open Letter to the Un-specials, Halle Chambers ...........................................................................76 Sorex Palustris, Emilie Tomas ................................................................................................................. 79 Woodsy Adam Ruff, Gabriel Bergstrom .................................................................................................. 80 Words, Malena Larsen ................................................................................................................................. 81 Malcom, Danny Polaschek ....................................................................................................................... 83 DRIVING AT ZERO ONE, John Herbert ................................................................................................... 85 DRIVING AT ZERO TWO, John Herbert ................................................................................................... 86 Placemakers, Diamonique Walker ........................................................................................................ 87 A Necessary Evil Thing Considered in any Light, Jacob J. Miller ....................................................... 88 1 WHAT TYPE OF BLACK GIRL ARE YOU? Nikkyra Whittaker On the spectrum of being black and female, we can only be what we appear to be. Take this quiz to find out what kind of black girl you really are! 1. You’re listening to the radio on the way to Target. You’re playing… a. Beyonce’s “****Flawless” b. Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” or “You Belong With Me” or “Wildest Dreams” c. Chris Brown’s “Loyal” d. Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock” 2. It’s your day off work. What will you be doing? a. Blowing off steam on Facebook. b. Watching old episodes of One Tree Hill c. Out for drinks and scoping eye candy d. Talking shit with the ladies while drinking Moscato! 3. What’s your dream home like? a. Full of books on systemic oppression b. Beverly Hills penthouse c. Some big shot rapper’s mansion d. Spacious New York Loft 8 4. Your favorite TV show is… a. Docu-series on race b. Sex in the City c. Bad Girls Club d. Love and Hip Hop 5. Finally, who’s your favorite female icon from this list? a. Angela Davis b. Taylor Swift c. New York from I Love New York d. Nicki Minaj Tally up how many of each letter you got and turn the page to find out who you really are! If you got mostly a’s...You’re an Angry Black Girl! Congratulations, you loud-mouthed, anger filled home-girl! I’m guessing there’s always some reason to be mad at someone, isn’t there? Do you just spend your days in a perpetual state of rage, angry at the world for reasons they don’t find important? Do you find yourself constantly snapping your fingers in that z-formation, pursing your lips at anyone who steps in your way? I bet people are telling you to just be quiet, huh? I mean, what issues could you, a black female, possibly have? Why should you care that your high school English teacher gives you a C+ on your essay because she thinks you copied it from the white man online? Why does it matter that your male co-worker at Target constantly teases you about your nappy hair, calling it a “brillo pad,” “cheeto puff,” or some other clever name? None of this should anger you! Be aware, you sassy Sapphire, in this world, your anger means nothing. If you got mostly b’s...You’re an Oreo! You grew up watching Lizzie McGuire and listening to Aaron Carter. You straightened your hair from the moment you were old enough to assert yourself and cried when it wouldn’t lay flat. Your friends were always shocked to see you bring collard greens and jambalaya to lunch so you stopped eating your favorite foods. They didn’t understand why you couldn’t just brush your hair, wash your hair everyday, why it suddenly grew or shrunk inches overnight. I’m certain you’ve heard from many of your friends how they just don’t see you as a black girl. They erase your black skin because it doesn’t fit the images of other black girls they see. You spend most of your time edging away from the loud black girls, the ghetto black girls who ate hot cheetos and drank kool aid and had corn rows and long braids and smelled like a mix of the jungle and your ancestors pain and you wished, maybe for a just a moment, but you did wish that you could be white. But honey, you can never wash off that melanin! It’s a permanent stain. Just because your friends can’t see the black on you, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t. 9 If you got mostly c’s...You’re a Hip Hop Ho! You sexual deviant you! Let me guess—big breasts, small waist, and wide hips? You’ve got that original Betty Boop to you, something in your eyes that say yes to a question no one bothers to ask. You’re the black girl that white guys use as a notch in their belt. You are the exotic sexual being that men love to hate and hate to love. You became a sexual thing at a young age, when your breasts came in at ten years old and became d-cups at fourteen. They started looking at you differently, didn’t they? Your eyes stopped existing. Your words didn’t matter. Your body became the tool used to diminish your worth. How often did you get yelled at in school to put on something less revealing than your shorts? Did you ever wonder why the skinny, flat-assed white girls were never told the same thing? Honey, your wide hips wrapped in chocolate skin were never yours. You will never be yours. 10 If you got mostly d’s...You’re a Ghetto Fabulous Black Girl! You make what little money you can working at Walmart or doing nails. You make people waiting at the bus stop with you uncomfortable with your loud laughter and yellow and pink braids and long, bedazzled nails. You toss your weave around, remove your earrings, and square up to anyone that says shit about you. When you’re out, you are often told to stop yelling, screaming, taking up space. You’ve got baby daddy problems and you’re only 18. You grew up playing double dutch in the middle of the street with old rope. You accept your black, your ghetto, your Ebonics. But you are not supposed to accept yourself, honey! Don’t you see the fashion police spreads in the magazines? You are on all the pages! Don’t show your hips. Put on a shirt that conceals your stomach. Put your breasts away. Don’t wear bright lipstick. Stop standing out, being different. Get smaller, quieter, lesser, as you are supposed to be. You love your black too loudly and it makes others uncomfortable. Your job is to make people comfortable so do your best to limit the loudness of your melanin. simul justus et peccator andy anderson 11 QUEER Eve Taft You think there isn’t a sign on my ribs that says “stonewall inn”? You think Matthew Shepard doesn’t tug at my hair and warn me as I walk the streets of my city? You think I don’t choke on the smoke from the hellfire you spit from your pulpits with sparks that sear and heat branding irons which scar your names on me to mark me as danger? You think my veins don’t shiver when they think of the devastation wracking the cities that some called deliverance while Reagan fiddled as we burned You think that the prisons pink triangles asylums bullets spitting into a nightclub don’t whisper in my head as I make my way through the world? 12 You think that I don’t notice— I kiss her and kiss her —the headline blowing by with a death toll and I kiss her the skyline splashing out behind us the lights on the Washington Avenue bridge flicker on and I kiss her Putin criminalizes us, across the world I kiss her Vigils held too late for young suicides Corrupting, perverted, disgusting, an affront to family values— I kiss her in the rain and the sleet of Minnesota I kiss her, our lips tasting of chants from the protest that shut down I-94 handed down from our grandmothers hearts beating, eyes sparkling, alive I kiss her You think I forget the lists and the candles and the deaths and the pain and all that roars in my ears is a chorus screaming over and over again you were not able to kill us I kiss her and all is still 13 JESUS IN A CRACKER A. Tetzlaff Eucharist I hugged my father’s black, pleated pants while we waited for mass to start. He was beaming proudly and chatting with the rest of our family. I wore the only dress I allowed to touch my body: by then it was a year old and from my uncle’s wedding when I walked down the aisle carrying a bouquet, looking like a blonde deer caught in front of a semi truck. It had a black velvet top connected to a white skirt. All the girls wore white. My parents cut their losses. All the boys, shirt and tie. Eight-year-olds taking their first communion despite the fact that most of us had no idea what was happening. Understanding the sacraments isn’t really necessary when you grow up in a Catholic family. By the time you are aware of your burden, it’s too late anyway. Religion lived at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Between church and home, I lived in a realm of contradiction. I came to visit religion, but it never went home with me. On Sundays when the game was in town, God would not judge you for wearing your Packer jersey to church. Sinning was bad, but you could tailgate and drink and carouse to your heart’s content. We should have taken beer at 14 that first communion. We would have appreciated it more than the wine. We took our places in the ritual that had been performed again and again. The time-worn ritual begins anew as I walk to the altar with my hands folded in front of me. I must remember to raise my hands high enough so the rheumatic priest doesn’t have to bend down. Right hand over left. I’m a blonde deer again. “The body of Christ.” This is the part where I say, “Amen,” whether I mean it or not, then put the communion wafer in my mouth. I must cross myself (right hand touching head, then left shoulder, then right shoulder) as I walk back up the aisle and toward my family. They liked to sit in the middle section, never too close to the altar. They didn’t like making direct eye-contact with the priest during his homily. To this day I skip the wine for fear of communicable diseases. It stuck to the roof of my mouth, this first communion wafer. It was stale. There was no substance. Maybe the parched flour and water, mixed with the lingering incense is actually what Jesus tastes like. The absorbent clump lasted into the next hymn. Saliva rushed into my mouth and eventually the wafer, heavy with mois- ture, fell from the roof of my mouth. I swallowed without chewing. Just go with it, I told myself. All these people believe in this, so one day, you will too. But I wasn’t sure. I didn’t get it. The power that kept me from running back up the aisle wasn’t the love of God gently pushing me along, but the ritual itself, and the expectation of my parents and grandparents watching proud and probably dewy-eyed as I joined their ranks. Hugs and smiles and congratulations as my family comes out of the first communion Mass, but I wasn’t sure what was such cause for celebration; I hadn’t had a great epiphany about God, nor had I felt any change at all. It was just like every Sunday late in October. head and tell me I was forgiven. “Sometimes, I’m not very nice to my mom or my brother,” I told him. Navitity didn’t own a confessional booth like the ones in movies. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a confessional booth at any Catholic church outside the movies. We sat quietly in a tiny room. Being small for my age, I circled the air below me with my feet. I sat facing him directly. He crossed his legs under the cassock he wore, clearly annoyed. After a silence and a slow nod, the priest said, “Sometimes, we hurt the people we love the most.” It was the only part I heard or remember hearing; he started talking about God’s forgiveness, I assume. I didn’t pay attention, because I didn’t feel different after admitting such a pitiful sin. Marriage I had no ill-feeling toward the physical place of church. In fact, the ritual, the sounds, the smell of incense, and the light that filtered through the stained-glass windows from an Easterly rising sun became familiar and comforting over the years. The nave, filled with old pews, had witnessed my parents’ wedding and my grandparents’ weddings. The organ towered over the choir. The smell of old patrons and Sunday cologne too liberally applied became a sensory memory of that place. However, religion has never been an inward practice; the practice and the scene never joined together. Anointing of the Sick When times are bad, I’ve pulled the fragments of ritual from my memory and recite the “Our Father.” I did this in the winter of my eighteenth year in days following my grandfather’s funeral. He died of bladder cancer, worsened by a communicable bacterial infection called C.Difficile. I became familiar with the ritual of funeral; I’d been to three or four for close relatives. But this time, the ritual felt different. Before, I was sad. My grandfather’s funeral confirmed that the only sacred part of my world had been ripped mercilessly from my arms. Reconciliation “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”As the words come out of my mouth, they themselves felt sinful. I hadn’t sinned, I was eleven. I barely knew what sin was. I had to stop a moment to think of a sin I had committed, so the priest could nod his Baptism I sat in the shower until the water hitting my face was colder than I could stand, reciting the “Our Father” over and over, sobbing. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. I hoped, over so many repetitions, that my view 15 of God and heaven would change. Yet, it confused me more. Religion stopped looking like the patron blind to reality and became a place where I didn’t belong. Like I was missing out because I didn’t get that epiphany, and didn’t have that same faith. Confirmation Religion was so stale, that when my Mother would occasionally talk about faith, or God, or divine love at the dinner table I would blush with pity and embarrassment. How can you believe this? I thought, how can you be so blind to the real world? Perhaps, I’m the blind one. I continue to live in an intermediate space between faith and atheism. I can’t commit to either. The fence between atheism and faith is fraught with angst. Most days, I try to laugh away my uncertainty. I tell jokes about my Catholic past, chuckle when I hear of “recovering Catholics,” and tell friends, “It smells like a Catholic church in here,” whenever they burn incense. Religion is still stale to me. Religion has no nutritional value. Stale religion has no holy orders. 16 grey cloud island david baboila 17 saint paul airport david baboila 18 white bear lake david baboila 19 zips coliseum david baboila 20 BRIDGE Jacob J. Miller This was not way back when, as my dad would have you believe. It was more recent than that. If he can’t flat out deny it, which he no longer can, he will at least try to convince you that it was so long ago as to suggest it might have been a different lifetime, and he a different person. He has been, after all, Born Again. Except he was not the only person involved, and to carry along as if he was is an exercise in what I’ve heard philosophers call solipsism. For him, his transgression was between himself and the Holy Ghost: accountable not to those he wronged, only to an invisible spirit. But he doesn’t have sole authority in determining the past’s relevance or irrelevance to our lives today. My mother too pretends the past is only what has happened at a particular point in time, and not a factor in what determines what has happened since then and what is happening now. The slate wiper theory of forgiveness is what allowed them to wear their veneer of innocence and believe in its authenticity, and for that reason I resent their new-leaf turnover. My love for them may not be emergent in my words, I know, but I do love them, regardless of the fucked up traits they passed on to their children, which will become evident as this story unfolds You might be wondering, if you care at all, what could be so terrible. Well, it’s not so terrible, and not even very uncommon, but it happened to me, and my brothers and my sisters, and there was never anything we could really do about it. We watched it unfold almost every night to reveal its rotted pit. What was scariest was not when a half-full beer bottle would be hurled in our direction for us being too noisy, and then being held responsible for wasting the beer, and getting punished even more for that. What was scariest was when they fought with each other, mom and dad, when they were both liquored up. All of us children would be sitting in the living room, on our knees, in a line, with our hands folded and tucked inside our clenched thighs, having hitherto been fulfilling our playful, childish duties who couldn’t expect things to go so suddenly and intensely wrong. They would fight about anything, or nothing, for all we knew or cared. They would yell, swear, slam their fists on various surfaces, throw things across the room at each other as if rehearsed. One time, I remember, and this is what I’m talking about when I talk about how scary things got, my 21 dad had my mom pinned up against the refrigerator—after she threw three or four plates at him, one that hit his arm, but would have hit his face if he hadn’t been blocking, and cut it deep. He had the sharp kitchen knife pressed firmly under her chin. If she gulped too hard in fear, or if dad in his stupor lost balance, she would have been bleeding all over the family pictures held by magnets to the fridge. As we grew older, my big brother and I began working under dad instead of merely living under him. Our prospects in life weren’t substantial at that point. Whatever potential we had, it had never been encouraged, so entering into the family business, if it can even be called that, was the only viable option. I woke dad up most mornings from his typical collapse into a face-down, fetal heap on the kitchen floor, sometimes still wet, sometimes already crusted over. I’d say, “it’s time for work, dad,” and he’d drive me to the site where (drinking coffee with whiskey in it on the way) heavy machinery was waiting to be operated—even though we used hammers and nails whenever we could. Stonehenge-sized slabs of cement, wooden pillars, cinder blocks, and iron rods littered the landscape. It was all so disorderly that if a nomad wandered upon the scene, the indication would be of destruction rather than pre-construction. There were no piles of allocated materials or inventoried supply lists. It could have all been salvaged from past demolitions or by thievery from other project sites. We seemed to accrue it all without any kind of exchange or standard of accountability for use. Everything seemed to just show up wherever and whenever we needed it. Who actually made all this stuff? How did we move it from place to place to use from job to job? Who permitted my sodden father to oversee such potentially hazardous 22 projects? He was a self-made man outside the advent of auditing. What did I care then? I was making my way, fashioning for myself a future out of will power, and holding my breath until I could extricate myself from this grim farce. First day on the job, my dad said to me, don’t fuck up, or he’d make me test the bridge before the support beams were all in place. I believed him. That particular bridge wasn’t connecting two sides over a raging river or anything; more of a convenient pathway over a stream, but it was still a threat coming from dad. Second day on the job, my brother James tore partway through his leg with a chainsaw. I heard him yell, but it sounded more out of frustration than terror and pain. He sat down, ripped his immediately blood-soaked pants from where the initial tear was, delicately unlaced and removed his boot so as not to cause more pain, grunting as if he had done nothing more than step in dog shit, and lifted the nearly severed part of his leg that dangled lifelessly like a tube sock on a clothesline, to close the wound, from which I saw steam rising sacrificially to the wintery heavens. He reached forward to grab the excess of sock which, although bunched up at his toes, had a long, tortuous journey before being completely removed. He screamed as he stretched forward, more circumstantially appropriate this time, and this is when I dropped my— whatever, the thing I was holding, I can’t remember what, but I didn’t hear it land because I couldn’t assimilate anything else that may have been transpiring around me. I almost seemed to float over to him, not even aware of my legs propelling me forward. I saw all the blood, but I wasn’t put off by it as much as I thought I probably should have been, and I thought that as I stared at it pooling out. I observed it dispassionately, coldly, but I may not have been breathing. At first sight, it was just an organic pipe that sprung a leak. I think I asked if he was all right but I meant it more like did he think he was going to die. He said to go get dad and that’s when I became afraid. I stood there for I don’t know how long, until he repeated himself more urgently: “Walt!” he said, “Go! Get! Dad!” I listened that time, but I was still very afraid. I was trembling and began feeling like I might faint, and I almost hoped I wouldn’t find dad, that he’d be off drinking somewhere, but he wasn’t. He was drinking right there, over a small mound of dirt, holding a big piece of wood sturdy for someone to do something with. I saw his breath bellow out into the cold with a cough and evaporate as he took a swig from a bottle before sliding it back into his coat pocket, without so much as a pretense of inconspicuousness.The bottle neck stuck straight out and brushed against his elbow, a cumbersome lump sinking down and throwing off his equilibrium further than the ethanol already had. I slowed my pace, tried to regain some composure, and still hoped he wouldn’t notice me. I could claim an attempt at getting his attention, but he just couldn’t be bothered with me. I tried, I’d tell James, but I’ll carry you. I was sure I could have done that. Part of me still wished I could have avoided involving my dad at all. It was selfish, but I thought I might get slapped with the blame. But I yelled, Dad! Come quick! Dad, I yelled again, skidding on the gravel as I spun around, intent on not letting my dad’s impatient glare lock on me, and from that momentum, nearly ascending at a perfectly horizontal angle in the air before I landed face first on those same tiny rocks, a perfect reenactment of self-humiliation on the school playground at recess. I felt all those multiple points of impact, but wasted no time in catapulting myself back up—no time for embarrassment just yet—clawed off the pebbles that clung gently to the tiny dents they bore into my face and palms, and sped back to my brother who, when I reached the dirt-mound summit again, I could see was lying flat, surrounded by the thick, still-steaming purplish puddle which had, since I left him, at least quadrupled in circumference. Not looking back at all during my return sprint to see how far behind me dad was, or even if he followed me at all, I turned from the sight of my brother completely to see him, Dad, shuffling over the mound, bogged down by beer bottles, which could be heard clanging together in his pockets. He was wheezing inhalations of frozen air. He saw James right away, I know it, but he didn’t say anything until he got right up close to him, planting one clumsy boot in the blood puddle with a squelchy, meager splat, like an old-fashioned letter-sealing stamp on melted wax. He leaned over with outward turned elbows and hands on hips, looked at James’ face. James’ eyes were closed. Dad then scanned down to the butchered leg, grimaced, scanned back up to James’ face. James’ eyes were now open again, frigid with shock, and dad said, “pull yourself together, son,” erupting hysterically at his own clever buffoonery. James turned out to live, no real thanks to our father. I ended up having to run to the nearest phone anyway and call an ambulance. He didn’t even lose his leg. He did require a blood transfusion because he lost gallons of it, or at least it seemed like it when I stood there staring at the mess, but his gristly cheeks had their color restored right in front of me, resupplying and, it almost seemed, re-inflat23 ing him to human shape at the coercion of some stranger’s bodily elixir. It worked like sorcery, but far more astonishing because it was methodologically reliable. The warm fluid surged through his veins, and he was ensconced for a moment in a prodigious glow of newfound vitality. Back then, my dad, laughing, called him a lucky son-of-a-bitch, whereas telling the story now, upon reflection and suspension of rational thought, my brother was “touched by an angel.” Now, whenever this celestial creature of mercy is mentioned, who conveniently remains anonymous for humility’s sake I suppose, instead of our dad drunkenly laughing and mocking the situation, James does. An example of an aforementioned fucked up trait passed on in the family. 24 50 FEET TALL Emilie Tomas I was in 5th grade When my class went To see ‘The Human Body’ and I watched In childhood Horror as A 50 foot grin Unfurled, loomed Large enough To pull me Into orbit Devoured First a sandwich And then my Faith in humanity With deafening Smacks Like thunder If thunder Was made Of jelly and Dismay and I Knew it was a Crime to allow a Person to become This Inflated, With every pore Its own path to Hell and I knew I couldn’t trust Anyone because In our heads We are all 50 feet tall. 25 meow you see ashley waalen 26 MOUSETRAP Halle Chambers Minnie “Mousy” O’Mally knew she was invisible up here on her fire escape. This was her safeplace. With the ladder pulled up as it was now, almost no one could reach her here. Plus, even if someone did make it up here, she could easily get away. If she crawled rough the window, she’d be securely locked in the apartment. There, it was warm and dry and at least sometimes safe when her daddy…no, excuse her, correction, “Father or Sir” wasn’t home. He hated when she called him Daddy. He wasn’t home now, out doing illegal God knows what in the “family business,” but he would be back soon. Hence why she was out here. So, no apartment, not right now. If she dropped the ladder, she could slide down to street level in seconds and be down the block in under a minute. She knew, because she’d practiced and had timed herself. The only way to avoid getting hit in the face was to be quick on your feet. That was the first rule of fighting that Jase, her older brother, had taught her. With the life they lived, it was also a rule of survival. And they didn’t call her “Mousy” for nothing: she was small and fast… very fast. Jase could make a distraction, and Minnie could run. But, Jase was working a job that “Father” had given him out of town till this weekend, and she’d surely get caught if she didn’t have her usual head-start. So,“down” wouldn’t work either. If she scaled up the ladder above her, she’d be on the roof, where their oldest brother, Cobie, had often taken her and Jase to stargaze. She hadn’t known till six years into her still short life that he’d done it to keep his precious baby brother and sister away from their father’s sight when the man would come home satellite high or plastered. She hadn’t known till twelve years in that he’d take their father’s hungover backhand on the mornings after, so she and Jase didn’t. All she’d known as he’d taught her each constellation was that Cobie was braver than Orion and that she and her brothers were more inseparable than the Gemini twins. But, her world went as topsy-turvy as Cassiopeia when her father had sent Cobie away, saying he would not have a queer as a son. When Jase and Minnie hugged him, Cobie swore he’d come back for them in a year or so. Jase had given up when he’d been two years gone. That was two years ago, and now even Minnie 27 was starting to doubt. No, she couldn’t go up to the roo, not alone. She shivered in the October chill as she reviewed her options: “in” would be facing her father’s wrath, “down” would be facing being caught by a cop or a stranger, and “up” would be facing a reminder of the happiness, now heartbreak, brought by a brother who was likely never coming home again. So, maybe she couldn’t escape easily…or at all. She shivered again, this time more in frantic panic than from the frigid, near winter city wind. For not the first time in her life, Mousy felt trapped. 28 faces connie kilppen 29 *I DON’T ALWAYS FEEL COLORED Diamonique Walker Sometimes I find comfort in places I somehow know I don’t belong Never a full day, but hours will pass and I won’t consider my brown skin or kinky hair I’ll let the imminent fear of my black body being made into an example fall back to the depths of my mind My daughter’s safety in mixed company won’t occur to me I won’t juxtapose my blackness with any other’s identity confidence As if one chooses randomly from a pile of stock black girl names when they look at me He asks me if my hair is real I tell him he can’t ask me that He says oh it’s okay, my girlfriend is black I’m a dirty smudge on freshly ironed white linens Trying to blend in, trying to live my life I breathe, momentarily Suddenly, I’ll feel breathless, choked Stabbed in the chest Stung by a white hot micro aggressive slap in the face An unsolicited violation of my personal space A pale hand gently pulls a lock of my hair in white amazement Or a thin pair of lips will say “what’s upppppp” to me and not anyone else I’ll get called a name like Jasmine with such utter 30 *Line borrowed from Claudia Rankine, Citizen WHERE I AM FROM Hannah Schmit I am from the forest. From ruddy Maple and heady Pine. I am from the sunlit dust that refracts the life of the breeze. The rough wood of the trees are my bones, roots firmly planted deep in the depths of the cool black soil. Generations have taught me to live in the sun, tan weathered hands, calloused and worn cover small, break earth and sow seeds. Exhaling with the unfurling of new leaves whose first stretch welcomed life, I learned the importance of patience and nurturing. I am from dirt beneath my nails and gritty sand in my teeth. Sap painted hands and hot tar feet, blackened from short dashes across burning pavement that rippled with summer heat. Sandboxes were my kingdom, the layers of silt and sand familiar to my prodding hands. I climbed turreted towers of twisted bark and branches to survey the world and breath in time with the breeze. Twigs and leaves were my crown and a rusty tractor my carriage. My people were the songbirds and insistent cicadas whose songs filtered lazily together through the woods. Sometimes I called back, matching note for note, melodies and harmonies creating a canopy of familiarity. I am from wildflowers who nodded their velvet, satin, and paintbrush heads as I passed by. From dried grasses whose sweet scent rose from rolling waves that undulated under horse-tail clouds above. The gold-fringed top of the corn is my hair as it turns to brown under the autumn sun. I am from the passing of seasons, each marking the time as brilliant red and orange gave way to pristine white and serene gray. Freckles and sunburn traded for pale skin cold kissed cheeks. My life can be counted in scraped knees and bruises, and band-aids and scars, each a story unique unto itself. I am from the water. Clear and silted, still and rushing it surrounds me. The river courses through my veins, its steady pulse my heartbeat. I am from the muted silence of holding my breath. From letting go in the soft pixelated light that swirls lazily in the haze of a murky river. From the dew that rests in early mists that lay as a blanket over a newly purified earth, protecting the last of the dawn. I am from music. Love-strung tunes of lullabies rock 31 my past to sleep and call forth dog-eared memories. Treasured memories that float fragmented in my mind, I was waltzing with my darling… Goodnight, Irene… Then sings my soul… Black Forest I have come to be in this place. Knit sweaters and hand me downs weave the fabric of my personality. The black ink of the notes is stained on my fingers, the lyrics printed out as a map on my mind. My body is movement, ‘full of grace’ as I danced through recitals and music competitions. My history is composed of the ivory keys of a piano board, the metallic strings of a guitar, and the soft wheeze of a musty accordion. I am from survivors. From broken families and lives I was given the opportunity to begin. Out of the ashes of war and blood, death and pain I was taught compassion. The scars remind me of my privilege. A handful of ink-smeared letters, a fading tattoo, and relentless nightmares that went unspoken. Touched by shadows of heartbreak and longing I have learned the fears of disease and pain, the cruelty of man and the destruction of illness. I am from a legacy. Footsteps preceded my very first and taught me how to stand tall—to walk courageously. When I was tired of walking and needed to fly, strong hands lay behind me as I learned to test my own strength. I am from fading memories. From sweat and ploughs, rough tools and run down sheds. My past is a copper foundation of saved pennies stretched with love and trust. The polished wood of a hunter’s gun and tug of a taut fishing line tie me to the land of a generation gone by. I am from the creaking wood of a ship that ferried dreams. From the fjords and 32 I am from strength. From weary hands that sought to move forward. From songs crooned in different tongues, prayers tucked away from missed lives. I am from the sweet smell of tobacco. From a worn brown pipe laid in the top overall pocket. From tales of Shirley Temple and shiny black shoes. From the canoe as it passes over reeds and the click of a cane keeping time with shuffling shoes. From sterilized rooms and flowers with similarly fated owners. I am from loss and tears. I am from the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, from steam and coal. From concrete jungles and log cabins. I am a piece of the past, I am… The rooms of my mind are wallpapered with snapshots of a younger me. Sayings and phrases are the soundtrack of my life. I carry them with me. Tucked in locked and forgotten rooms they wait patiently, longingly for me to recall. future. I seek not where I am going only exist here, as I am. I am from the past. Shaped by the present I live for the future. I am from wanderlust. An incorrigible desire to explore that cannot be quelled with the stillness between heartbeats. I am from the excitement that teeters on the brink of the inevitable. I am pulled at by the gentle whisper of religions. Called to the beauty of holiness in the world, I am grounded in the church yet growing in the temple and the mosque. I am gentle hands that have learned to be useful—to give back. Well-used fingers taught to survive and protect. I am a collection of places and people that I have encountered. In love with humanity, I exchange comfort for experience. I am at home in the concrete jungles constructed from heat-cracked pavement and in the mudpatched hut of the desert. The mountains and caves call to me like the trees and fields of my youth. I am at home in the grand expanse of a world that knows no limits, understands no boundaries. A world that exists, simply to exist. My feet itch to travel down forgotten paths where the dust of ages can billow out from under me and cloud the clarity of the 33 who am i? ashley waalen 34 2 GRATITUDE: A POEM IN FOUR PARTS D.E. Green 1. Le Chaim 2. In Praise of Delusion Each day, my own sunrise, my own morning star: your red head radiates strange aerial spikes. When he walks down the sloping skyway from Memorial to the Music building on his way to a long evening class, he sees his reflection in the large classroom window at the base of the slope. He loves that mirror. In it, he is about a foot taller than his five-fiveand-a-half and twenty pounds lighter. He is younger than his sixty years. The silver hair is less telling. As he approaches, the Other ways slightly, moves with the elegant gait of an athlete or dancer. This, he imagines, is my Norwegian double—tall and slender and (at least from this distance) good-looking. Of course as man and image converge, his Other shrinks into an eastern-European, Semitic, rather compact, little old man. Perhaps (he wonders) I have seen the inner image of myself. Perhaps (he smiles) I am happy just to have illusions. Our son’s beard and long Hasidic locks on a head never bowed in prayer hover over his guitar and, till he gets it just so, a heavy-metal riff. The picture of Ollie, our old pup,— his face speaks love, love, love. Like the holiday meal you’ll pretend to let me cook. Or when your hand gently strokes my heaving shoulder: I am sobbing silently because the movie has ended well—a good death, timely reconciliation, vows revived, a renewed breath. 36 3. Thanksgiving 4: To My Son This morning, as I drive from Northfield to Hampton past field after barren field, three wild turkeys foraging and gobbling at the edge of the road— their white-splashed wings, black-feathered trunks, It’s Friday, Z—, and (as always) time to say how much I love you (and your mom too, since I don’t say it often enough though I feel it every minute) and how much I miss you and hope you can spend a few hours with us and Grandma the first weekend in November. We worry about you every day, ‘cuz that’s our job, but we also have an abiding sense of how strong you are: How much you have been through, how far you’ve come, and how you face each day with grit—and, I hope, love. The latter is so hard to do: Over breakfast your mom and I sometimes sit around and whine about our work, about grading student papers. But a little later I’ll be walking across campus and the light will be just right and I’ll see a familiar face amid a group of young people and—I don’t know why—I feel love. I think that’s the word. And I felt it last time we picked you up downtown and you were talking to some scruffy stranger on the street. And the fact that you can still be open to such encounters—isn’t that love too?— filled me with wonder. It’s funny: Old people, among whom I am about to number, have proverbially been beyond wonder, such a romantic and old-fashioned word. But I swear that I still feel it—and that you are among the wonders of my world. red combs poking and pecking the gravel and weeds—surprise me. I flinch. The car swerves. I breathe. They range unruffled. 37 work in progress gabriel bergstrom 38 THE FIRE Elisabeth Beam I stood with my back to the crowd watching the house go up in flames. It happened faster than I had expected. It had taken less than a minute for the fire to spread from the kitchen to the living room and even less time for it to make its way upstairs and into the bedrooms where Grandma and the twins had been peacefully sleeping. Joel stood beside me; his face was dark with ash, his mouth tilted upwards in a sickeningly gleeful smile. Momma had never liked Joel. She said he was a troublemaker and I should do my best to stay away from him. Joel hadn’t always been mean. When I first met him he would bring me friends and make me laugh. He gave me my grey tabby cat, Walter, and my small white bunny, Snowy. We used to all run around the garden and play and laugh. I didn’t like it when Walter and Snowy played. Walter always hurt Snowy. Joel loved it. Snowy’s pain filled shrieks always brought a smile to his face. Joel would play tricks on Momma. He’d move the chair she was about to sit in and she’d tumble to the floor with a crash and a scream. He would put dead things in the twins’ crib for Momma to find. Once he brought a live snake into the house and slipped it into the shower when Momma was in it. She screamed something awful and had locked me in my room for a week. I always got blamed for Joel’s wicked tricks. Momma brought a lot of new friends to the house after that. She brought in men wearing long white coats who talked with me and asked questions about Joel and Walter and Snowy. Joel would stand behind them as they questioned me and make faces. I didn’t understand why they didn’t just talk to Joel and grew frustrated with their questions. Once Momma brought home a man in a black suit. He walked around the house mumbling in a strange language, throwing water on the walls and waving his cross around like a baton. I thought he was crazy. I told Momma and she told me to hush and sit down. The man stood in front of me yelling in his strange way and holding his cross on my forehead. It was cold and made me uncomfortable. Joel got upset. He didn’t like the man and the way he was 39 shouting. The next thing I knew the man was on the floor bleeding from a gash in his head and Joel was laughing loudly in my ear. A bunch of police officers showed up and Joel told me not to tell anyone what he’d done. He said I should blame it on Momma and she’d go away for a long time and stop bothering us. Momma shouted and cried and struggled as the police dragged her away to the sound of Joel’s gleeful laughter and the twins’ high pitched screams. Grandma came after Momma. She was mean. She locked me in my room and told me to stay there until I learned my lesson. I watched him stalk around the room at night mumbling darkly to himself. Grandma made me to go church with her every Sunday, she said I had to pray for my soul for what I’d done to that man and to Momma. I didn’t understand why everyone blamed me for Joel’s tricks and was tired of being punished for all the naughty things that he did. One night at supper, Joel made scary faces at the twins who started wailing. Grandma stood up and yelled at me as she tried desperately to calm the twins. She told me to go to my room. I said no. I pointed at Joel and yelled at him with all my might. This was all his fault. Grandma sent me to bed. Joel told me they were going to send me away. They would separate us and I would never be able to see him again. I told him I was fine with that because he was being horrible. That upset him. He got Walter and Snowy and made me watch as Walter ate Snowy. I cried. He laughed. Joel woke me up at midnight. He told me we could stay together. Me, him, and Walter, but we had to do 40 something first. He smelt like gasoline. He led me to the kitchen and pointed to the stove which was covered with a sticky, sweet smelling liquid. He told me to open my hands. I did. He handed me a lighter. I didn’t want to do it but Joel got angry when I tried to say no. He yelled and told me to do it for all the times Momma blamed me for something he did. That if I did this everyone would finally realize it was him doing all the bad things and not me. My hands were shaking so bad it took me five tries to get the lighter to ignite. When it did I froze and stared at the small flame in my hands. It flickered with every shuttering breath that came out of my mouth. Joel grew impatient and slapped the lighter out of my hand and onto the stove. There was a large whooshing noise and a blast of orange light. My arm hair stood on end and sweat trickled down my face. I backed away. Joel stood in front of the fire and laughed. He threw his arms out wide and danced in tune with the flames. He was crazy but his movements were so beautiful and fluid. It was frightening. The fire advanced toward me. I didn’t want to move. I wanted the fire to eat me like it was going to eat Grandma and the twins. Joel grabbed my hand and led me outside. We stood to the side and watched as the fire slowly ate up the house I had grown up in. The house that the priest, the twins, and Grandma had all died in. Sirens and smoke filled the night air. I looked to my side for Joel, but he had disappeared. DESERT DRUMS Abigail Carpenter When my London flatmate, Raoni, suggested we travel to Northern Africa because he was missing the heat of Brazil, we had no intention of visiting the Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains. But we quickly made friends with a generous and hospitable Moroccan man, Raxido, who invited us to a local drum circle at the edge of the Sahara Desert. After traveling on camelback against an orange-rayed sunset, we found ourselves among the sand dunes. We parked our camels single file near our camp, and I realized a place that once only existed in my dreams was now before me. I had to close my eyes for a long while. I opened them over and over again until I was sure of it. I had to reach down and let the sand fall between my fingers slowly. I had to breathe in the crisp, evening air. And when I looked up, the stars speckled in the sky like the summer freckles on my face, thousands and thousands of them. When the drum circle began, I let its music fill me up. It started in my toes and moved higher, tickled my fingers and sent goosebumps up my arms and back. The drums vibrated within my chest and when it reached my mouth, I screamed in laughter. My laugh echoed farther and farther across the desert, not meeting any person or town or house until it was miles and miles away. I wrapped my blanket a little tighter and watched my friends dance around the fire to the beat of the drums. Their legs moved up and down as their hands joined the ashes flying through the night air. For many hours, we sat around the fire, told our stories and spoke aloud our dreams. We danced and sang and took turns pounding the drums. We slept under the stars among the silence of the desert for only a few hours until the sun awoke us on the horizon. And moving through the deep sand, the sunrise at our backs, we rode our camels to the bus to escape the desert heat before it swallowed us up whole. 41 COLORS Hannah Schmit If I am a color call me red The color of passion and love Humanity worn on my sleeve The color of my blood, beating heart. Call me red. If I am a season call me fall With baited chilled breath I speak My words on whirlwind breezes fall An omen of changes to come Call me fall. If I am a sound call me silence. The chaos and stillness of calm My words lost yet encompassing In anticipation of something Call me silence If I am a thought call me hope The desire for something more A yearning call deep within me The need to breathe Call me hope. 42 urban delight jazmin crittenden 43 WHEN DAD WORE COLOGNE A. Tetzlaff “Did Grandpa Mike die?” My small voice broke a quiet that Dad and I carry easily between us. A radio frequency connecting our minds that communicates silently, so we don’t have to. Even at the age of three, I knew our sacred, noiseless space well. Dad took me to a park one day, nearby my childhood home. We rarely visited this park unless we intended to use its snowy slope for adrenaline rushes in our bright plastic sleds in the winter time. But it wasn’t wintertime now. My dad wore a blue t-shirt he’d owned since high school. Summer or spring, the season isn’t particularly distinct. The hills rose nakedly as we quietly approached. I’ve come back to the memory time and again; the images are blurred, like a positive photograph that didn’t come out of the darkroom correctly. I can’t recall how my father responded to my question, though I’m sure he patiently and painfully affirmed my query. In that moment I wasn’t shocked. I wasn’t sad. Presently, I regret that I can’t remember a man who loved me and was so dearly loved by others. I don’t know how he looked aside from the pictures I know. How he talked, laughed, 44 yelled, walked, I don’t recall. Did he wear cologne to work like Dad? When I was young, Dad wore cologne to work. He woke up around five in the morning in order to be at work five-thirty, and he still does, despite the fact that no one expects him in the office till eight. I’d hear his alarm from my bed and wait to smell the mix of dewy summer grass and the spicy knives of cologne in my nostrils. The smell lingered and pulled me back to sleep as Dad left the house. On the day at the park, Dad wasn’t wearing cologne. Dad didn’t wear cologne that day because it was either a weekend or he had the day off or had taken time away to grieve. I don’t remember the call to our corded telephone late one night. It was the hospital telling Mom and Dad that my grandfather died of a heart attack while showering. I don’t know if he died immediately or if the attack was slow, painful, cold, and wet. I will never ask. The thought of breaking the stitches grief so tenuously sewed incites trepidation. Was my young face one of his last images? I’m vain enough to assume so––grandparents always think of the grandbabies first. Was it a comfort? I can only hope. At my Grandfather’s funeral, I can’t remember Mom’s grief. I can’t remember the funeral either.She keeps the remnants of her love tended like a flower garden and tells me of her father often. I have nothing but the cemented walkway leading to the park that summer day deep in my mind. Mom tells me that my grandfather lived as long as he did because he was waiting for me. It was a miracle I was even born, but that’s not my story to tell. She calls me “the sparkle in his eye.” Christopher, my younger and only brother, inherited my grandfather’s bright, Anglo-blue irises. He was born the year after my grandfather died. Christopher joined the Army a few weeks ago; my grandfather was a Marine in the 60s. During his service in Asia, my grandfather collected each country’s currency. Grandma keeps the collection in a red leather box in her bedroom closet. I used to step onto a chair and carefully extract the artifact from the top shelf and touch each coin and each bill. Some of those tenders are much extinct now. The souvenirs of my grandfather’s life are far less valuable to me than those of my travels––those, at least, the mugs and the key chains, those have memories attached of the real thing. I’ve spent most of my life scouring photos and objects, trying to resurrect an authentic memory of my grandfather. Trying to find a sensation that brings him back to me like the early morning scent of Dad’s cologne because I only remember the hills and my words and Dad. The solvents of time washed away my grandfather. 45 SHITTY CHRISTMAS TREES AND SECONDHAND DOLLS Elisabeth Beam When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of money. But we managed to survive. Mom worked a lot at the dingy looking Super 8 Motel just down the street from the elementary school. You know, the kind of motel that charges by the hour instead of night. She hated it but it was close to school and paid just enough. Around November she would start picking up shifts at other hotels in town to save up more money for Christmas. It was hard. The heat bill always went up mid-October when the chill started to set in and the snow began to fall. Presents were always an issue. Getting stuff for just me and Sarah was usually alright, but Mom came from a big family. Six brothers and sisters all of whom had kids. All of whom would be needing presents. That’s a lot of money. Money we just didn’t have. One year there was a huge blizzard and they canceled school for a week. Sarah was only six at the time and she couldn’t be left alone to take care of herself much less a five-year-old as well. So mom had to stay home from work and look after us. She tried to make it seem like she wasn’t stressed out about the money, but I knew she was. She would pace around the kitchen at night and mumble to 46 herself. She’d crouch over her checkbook and shake her head. She tried to hide it from us, but I noticed. I always noticed when she got like that. A week of work missed meant we wouldn’t be able to afford the gas to get to grandma’s house for Christmas. And a week with everyone at home meant that the heat bill was going to be rough. She was too proud to try and get food stamps. So money that would normally go towards presents went to buying our Christmas feast. We didn’t go to my grandma’s house that Christmas but it was probably the best Christmas of my life. The day before school let out our landlord took out all the carpet in the living room. He said it was due to be replaced and that someone would be over before the holiday to put down some new carpet. “Your feet will be so happy and thankful! That’s the best Christmas present you could ask for!” he had happily told us. No one came. The floor was cold and there were nails and sharp staples sticking up at weird angles. It hurt to step on them and small red dots appeared throughout the house as we all made the mistake of stepping in the living room without socks. Mom put down an old ratty green rug, one that our cats liked to pee on. She bought a small fake green tree from the thrift shop downtown. It was the saddest looking tree. Most of the branches were missing so it had random bald spots sporadically around its leaning trunk. A good number of the ornaments that we put on it fell off because it couldn’t support their weight. We made new ones out of paper and glitter. Mom wrapped tinsel she’d taken from work around it and Sarah and I sloppily placed string lights. We put an old family picture at the top of the tree because we were too scared that our expensive Christmas angel would fall and break if we tried to stick her up there. Thinking back on it now it was a pretty shitty looking tree, but back then I thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen in my life. I remember sitting on the floor amongst the nails and staples and looking at it glittering and glistening and thinking that it was a far better tree than anyone else could ever have. I thought that even if we’d spend a million dollars on a tree and all its dressings that it wouldn’t even be able to come close to this masterpiece sitting before me. For Christmas Eve we blasted holiday music and ran around the living room twirling and waving our arms above our heads. Mom had somehow found time to make new flannel pajamas for both me and Sarah and we had immediately put them on. She had also given us each a doll that she’d found at a thrift store. They looked ratty and dirty but I loved them both. Every bit of dust and matted patch of hair was a story waiting to be told. The dolls had character and I loved it.That shitty tree and our thrift store dolls were great but they weren’t what made that night so special. It was that we were all together, making the most out of what we had and not lamenting what we were missing. I think as we grow up we lose the magic in secondhand dolls and shitty Christmas trees. 47 summer nights adam ruff 48 the people united adam ruff 49 after the hike adam ruff 50 CRUMBS Malena Larsen He’s looking for love In the crevices of his couch Like loose change. I saw him lift up the cushions And pull out crumbs His mother’s earring A quarter The spoon he dropped last week After eating ice cream out of the container. It was chocolate cookie dough and he ate the whole thing. I watched him put the quarter in his back pocket and the spoon back in the cushions. I told him I had been in love once And he said I like it when girls call me daddy. I had a dream that night that he was dating somebody and my stomach hurt when I woke up. I became a spoon in the couch cushion Who said words like Daddy And Fuck me And Hard. At the end of every night I was put back with the crumbs, and each day that he came to get me there was more cat hair or lint stuck to me I waited patiently Dirty For him to pick me up. It was 77 degrees the late summer night he stopped getting me from the cushions. He told me that he found somebody to love and we can’t be friends, because if I see you I’ll fuck you. I asked him why he couldn’t control himself if he was in love with somebody. The inside of my ribcage Was being scraped empty 51 Like the chocolate cookie dough ice cream container And my stomach hurt Like it did after the dream Where he wasn’t mine I can’t help it. He told me. I like it when girls call me daddy. When we met he was wearing a suit and it looked like he had spent a lot of time on his hair but I didn’t think he was attractive until the weekend when I was drunk. Across the table On the other side of red cups And puddles of water He stared at me In a grey tank top. His eyes And arms Were strong 52 And dark. Making eye contact felt like sex And he smelled like Fireball And somebody I shouldn’t be alone with And too much cologne. We went swimming at 6 am at the neighbor’s lakefront when everyone else fell asleep. He took off his shirt I kept mine on. The water fell off of him like it didn’t want to keep his body covered for too long. He picked me up and folded me over his right shoulder and threw me into the 6 am summer sweet lake water. He drove me home At 7 am Still drunk and Smitten. It was 88 degrees and my birthday the night I let him kiss me in the back hallway of our friend’s frat. I couldn’t wait anymore He told me In the house that smelled like Liquor and dust And damp wood. The first time we Fucked Was in the front seat of his White Pontiac Grand prix At 11 pm on a Tuesday. I saw him almost As an animal. His fists Were clenched And his eyebrows Like shelves Over his beetle eyes. Do you like fucking daddy? After that night I had to sneak him into my bedroom because he couldn’t do all of the positions he wanted to in his car. He needed to prove to me that he was the best fuck and that he could make me cum and that I should call him Daddy. I had never called fucking, fucking before. Before I was a dirty spoon it had only been called love. His eyes started to remind me Of Tiny Round Black beetles. There’s nobody else anymore We should just keep fucking. And when we fucked It was 66 degrees and almost fall when he came to my house in his white Pontiac Grand Prix and told me I remembered then, the quarter he put in his pants and how he used me to eat his ice cream and then put me back with all the crumbs in the cushions of 53 his couch Where he keeps looking for love Like it’s the loose change In his back pocket. 54 bloomed audrey campbell 55 pruned audrey campbell 56 HERMAN Danny Polaschek Grape juice dribbled down Herman’s chin and landed in scattered droplets down the front of his white T-shirt. He didn’t notice and, after setting down his half-emptied glass, picked up his spoon and started on his bowl of bran flakes. Sitting at the kitchen table, there was nothing in front of Herman —but a bare white wall. It seemed, however, that he wasn’t looking at it, but rather through it like a child looks through a window and, seeing nothing but gray skies and rain, is overwhelmed by disappointment because they will not be outdoors playing that day. As Herman sat there facing the white wall and chomping his cereal, his son entered the kitchen and began his morning ritual. Herman heard the coffee-maker start bubbling from somewhere behind him in the kitchen along with the quick and efficient pitter-pattering of his son’s feet, who Herman assumed had to be walking laps around the center island as some sort of new, trendy morning workout. Once the coffee maker’s burbling came to an end the footsteps stopped as well. Herman focused on the sound of the coffee being poured, the soft sound of liquid filling a ceramic mug. The sound stopped as quickly as it had started and Herman was further drawn from his relaxed, monotonous state by the sound of his son’s voice. “How are the flakes this morning, Dad?” Herman didn’t turn around to face his son, but continued with what he was doing, looking like a cow chewing cud. “Five star quality,” he replied in between spoonfuls. “Flaky as ever.” Herman’s son chuckled a bit and looked up from his fresh cup of coffee but the laugh died away when he noticed that his father was still turned away from him, eyes glued straight ahead. Taking another sip, Herman’s son pondered whether he would keep pursuing his father in conversation or not. He ultimately decided against it and left the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. A sigh escaped Herman’s throat as he set down his spoon, finished with his mushed and soggy cereal. Ain’t this the life, he thought to himself sarcastically. Finally turning away from the wall, Herman scooted himself back from the kitchen table and slowly stood up. He gripped the side of the table for balance and took a few deep breaths in an effort to steady himself. Just a few weeks before, Herman had 57 missed a stair descending to the basement and found himself tumbling clumsily down the rest of the way until crashing to a stop on the last few steps. Herman’s head still felt a bit shaky from time to time, which caused a bit of a tremble in his legs. Instead of walking from place to place, he grew accustomed to maneuvering his way to each destination by leaning on and grabbing anything he could for support and then flinging himself to another sturdy checkpoint, and so on and so forth until he reached his goal. It was much like a monkey swinging from vine to vine, but less precise and much less graceful. With his feet finally under him, legs steady, Herman pushed away from the kitchen table and launched himself to the kitchen counter, which caught him with cold indifference. Hunched over, Herman caught his breath for a few seconds before beginning to shuffle down the length of the marble counter towards the coffeemaker at the other end. “This better be a damn good cup of Joe,” he mumbled to himself, clearly exhausted. Halfway down the counter, Herman stopped. With a steady grip on the counter he reached up to the cupboard above his head and swung it open. He couldn’t see inside but he knew that what he was looking for was in there: his old blue coffee mug— one of the only things worth bringing with when he moved into his son’s house the year before. Feeling around the smooth, wooden interior, Herman eventually got a hold of his mug which distinguished itself by having only half of a handle still attached. With the partial handle hooked onto his ring and middle fingers, Herman pulled out his mug and brought it shakily down over his head, setting it on the counter with a soft “clink.” Herman was beginning to feel dizzy at this 58 point, and wished for a moment that he had listened to the doctor about getting a walker. “Mr. Huckley,” the doctor said, “even if you don’t think you’ll use it, take it anyways. Just in case.” Herman didn’t take the walker, and wouldn’t even let anyone help to walk him out of the hospital, not even his son. “I don’t need your damn help,” he snorted each time someone tried to take his arm to steady him. He was always a stubborn man and old age wasn’t going to change that. Continuing down the counter, Herman felt this same stubborn anger boiling in him. He was almost seventy years old and yet he felt like a child who was just learning to walk. He’d built his own home, and a garage to go with it, and now he could hardly make it to the opposite end of the room without feeling fatigued. Sweat was running hot from Herman’s forehead. He wiped it with a shaky hand and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes as he did so. He only had five or so more steps to go and he braced himself for the final stretch, determined to get there even if it killed him. With a focused balance and patient, shuffling steps Herman managed to get to the end of the counter and the coffee pot. He exhaled in relief, and a satisfied smile tugged the corners of his mouth up ever so slightly. With his blue mug in one hand, Herman picked up the coffeepot in the other, intent on pouring himself a well-deserved cup of coffee after his tiresome journey. His satisfaction was immediately replaced with bitterness as he lifted the pot and felt that it was nearly empty, only a few drops remained rolling around in the bottom. Herman’s minute smile had vanished and his brow hardened, scrunching up his forehead in small, tense knots. Setting the pot back on the counter, Herman hissed repeatedly under his breath, cursing his son for not leaving him any coffee. Herman’s hands were visibly trembling and he was having a difficult time keeping a grip on the edge of the counter. He contemplated making more coffee but dismissed the idea immediately, knowing that he could not remain standing and moving around the kitchen much longer. Herman felt a hot flush come over his face and could feel beads of sweat rolling down his temples and his cheeks. In one swift motion he wound up and threw his coffee mug across the room, where it shattered against the windowless, white wall. Slivers and shards of ceramic bounced all over the kitchen, the blue pieces scattered like shattered glass. Herman heard footsteps drumming down the staircase before his son entered the room,stopping in the doorway to avoid stepping on any of the pieces of blue ceramic. “Dad!” he exclaimed, “What happened? Herman was bent over, hunched with his hands on his knees. He was struggling for breath now, and sweat soaked through his shirt on his back. In between wheezes, Herman said exasperated, “You didn’t leave me any damn coffee, you son of a bitch.” His son stood there eyeing first his father and then the indent in the wall where the mug had hit. He shook his head in disbelief, which quickly turned to anger. With a clenched jaw, he left the room and returned a minute later with broom in hand. He began quietly sweeping the blue bits of coffee mug into a dustpan. After Herman had caught his breath and recomposed himself, he pulled his body back into a standing position, leaning against the counter. He glanced to his son, bent over and sweeping under the kitchen table. “I heard you on the phone last night,” he said. Herman kept his eyes on his son as he stood and turned to face him. His son raised an eyebrow at him but gave no verbal reply. “I heard you,” Herman repeated. His son bit his lip and continued sweeping, eyes trained on the floor. “It’s just not working, dad.” 59 EL BARRIO SUYO Chad Berryman El viento le envolvió al hombre como una manta de hielo. Él andaba por el barrio suyo pero los vecinos no lo saludaron. Caminaba delante de una casa grande con flores y grandes ventanas, y por esas ventanas podía oír una pelea entre dos padres y los lamentos penosos de sus hijos. Él seguía la acera que serpenteaba por un parque lindo donde había un banco solitario. Él Lo saludó con la cabeza. Recordaba unas noches del verano cuando este banco no había ofrecido insultos ni acusaciones, sino un lugar simpático para descansar mientras él le regalaba un uso admirable. Pero en el invierno el banco se congelaba como él, y ambos eran incapaces de ayudarse el uno al otro. Paseaba delante de una casa blanca de arquitectura maravillosa. Un coche altanero llegara la entrada. Un padre sincero apareció mientras acababa de contar los acontecimientos de su día. Su hija miraba su celular, y el silencio suspiró por la expresión herida de la cara del padre. Ellos entraron a la casa sin otra palabra. El hombre nómada seguía caminando, y pronto la nieve dentro de sus venas se derretía por una balada antigua que se tarareaba al ritmo de sus pasos. 60 No pido mucho, no vivo de prisa canto los himnos con risa bendita no tengo nada salvo alma amada y sin despedida no hay la llegada THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD Chad Berryman The frigid air wrapped around the man like a blanket of ice. He was travelling through his own neighborhood, but no neighbors acknowledged him. As he walked in front of a large, picturesque house, complete with flowers and giant windows, he could make out the sound of two parents fighting accompanied by the upsetting cries of their children. The sidewalk snaked its way through a park in which there stood one solitary bench. With a nod of his head, the man greeted it. Nights of summers past filled his mind, nights in which the bench had not offered insults or accusations but rather a consoling place of rest while he presented it with the gift of an honorable purpose. However, the bench froze and shivered in the winter the same as he, and neither could provide the other with any relief. He passed by a white house of grand construction. There, a flashy car had just pulled into the driveway. From it emerged an earnest father finishing the recounting of his day. His daughter, however, simply stared at her phone, and the wounded expression on her father’s face betrayed an unsung sigh. The two entered the house without another word. As the wandering man continued walking, the snow in his veins began to melt due to an old tune he commenced to hum in time with his steps. I don’t ask for much, or live in a rush in my blessed laughter the hymns come alive there’s nothing I own save a soul that is loved for without a farewell one could never arrive 61 ODYSSEY Eve Taft Thank you for the twisted pathways of your mind Which led to the streets and alleyways of Dublin James Joyce, do you understand that you opened floodgates? Your avalanche of babbling sentences, sans punctuation Buck Mulligan tossing form and style into the wind Your catechism, you, Daedalus, gave us sacrament Blood flow to wake up the numb limbs of literature You spoke with your soul to our souls Fearing not the noise in your skull but flinging it down in ink I understand you, “life is many days” I understand you, “god is a shout in the street” I understand you, “I am another now and yet the same” You understand me “everything speaks in its own way” Soon I’ll visit your beloved homeland Walking the streets of Dublin, writing and giving thanks to modernism Now as free of rigid form As Ireland of England 62 postcards from my bedroom audrey campbell 63 postcards from my bedroom audrey campbell 64 COUNTING SHEEP Danny Polaschek What can you do when the world is asleep? Go to sleep too? I’ve counted all my sheep. They jumped through the air gliding for 5 or 6 feet cleared the fence and then flew with not even a bleat. I didn’t focus however on these aerial sheep antics because far away in the distance was a sight oh so fantastic. A blue house, with a single light on in the window sat a girl a beauty no pencil could ever have drawn. I looked up at her and she down at me addicted to the eyesight too distracted to count sheep. 65 3 sky nights keeyonna fox 67 inner self keeyonna fox 68 VICTORY OF THE PEOPLE Petra S. Shaffer-Gottschalk Your worship was my refuge, your clay heart my focal point, your chelsea smile the apple of my eye. We were sick. We poisoned ourselves with amphetamines and pills until we didn’t recognize ourselves in the mirror. We walked miles just to feel accomplished in our space, we turned the cigarettes we shared into sentiments we thought we shared. I must possess the wrong innocence. Souls are fickle things that change when left to die in the cold. ~ He was outrageously tall. He towered over me like the Statue of Liberty and he talked to me as though I was a boat in the harbor. Standing five inches taller than six feet, he was an image of Ukrainian beauty. He stood like someone who knew things you didn’t know and this fascinated me. I was so naive, so optimistic. I saw the lust and want in his eyes and I mistook it for passion.The curve of his jaw and his long eyelashes crept into the screens behind my eyelids and ignited a fire in me that I didn’t know how to put out. I was the new girl in town struggling to keep my loneliness at bay. He was a gleaming light in that summer of darkness. I had just moved to Minnesota months before. After discovering drugs and promiscuous sex I became nothing short of a hurricane. Amphetamines kept me awake, cigarettes kept me skinny, and weed kept me sane. My GPA reflected exactly what they don’t tell you about functional depression: you can feel like a blank page, but as long as you fill it with words people will stop asking questions. He was selling me drugs. He offered me a good price. I had never met him but I figured what the hell, I could stand to meet new people. It was dark, long past sundown. We were meeting in a parking lot by a lake a few blocks away from my house. I was in my mom’s car. I waited and listened to Amy Winehouse until I saw an orange car pull into a parking spot a few yards away from me. The man driving fit the picture I had seen of him before. We 69 made eye contact and he ushered me over to his car. I took a deep breath, grabbed my sweater, and got my money ready. He rolled down the passenger side window. “You Nikita?” I said. He smiled at me. A smile that I would come to know. “You can call me Kita.” ~ He had really good drugs. I’m not sure that they were pure, but at the time I didn’t care. Neither did he. We just wanted to get high. We did his drugs together, sitting in a playground by the lake, talking about life and what we crave. He told me that he was applying to a college in London. I didn’t think anything of it. Before long we saw each other every day. He was a lifeguard who had to be on duty early in the morning, so he would take me out for coffee at eight in the morning. No makeup, sweatpants, my hair in a messy bun. He didn’t care. We would talk about things that we hadn’t shared with anyone else. He told me he struggled with his relationship with his father in Ukraine. I told him that I had struggled with eating disorders since I was thirteen. We would sneak out onto his back porch to smoke cigarettes late at night. His mother hated that we smoked. 70 “You need to quit smoking, love,” she’d tell me. “I smoked for twenty-five years and it took two pregnancies to get me to stop.” His mother loved me. She thought that I was spunky, independent, had a mind of my own. She did not like his last girlfriend. She made that very clear. She, like Nikita, was very tall. She had long curly black hair and eyes so intense that you would lose your appetite. Her Russian accent was thick and powerful. She had run away to the United States when she was twenty-one and seven months pregnant with her first son. Nikita. “Does it mean anything?” I asked him. “Your name.” He smiled when he answered. “My mom told me it means ‘victory of the people,’” he said. Oh Kita, you have no victory. You are the secret I keep from my mother the hidden disease that projectile vomits and digs with fingernails sharpened by teeth. Your fields of sunflowers told me a secret, your secrets so dark and beautiful and I killed myself with your gargantuan sunflowers. His mother was beautiful. She had been a professional figure skater that traveled the world, meeting people as she went. She met Kita’s father in her home country of Ukraine and according to the story, he was immediately drawn to her exuberant personality and her long legs. At twenty-one she was well on her way to continue pursuing a successful skating career until she got pregnant. According to Kita his father did not accompany her to her appointments.He did not send her flowers. He did not ask if she was okay. Instead Kita’s mother made her way to America to create a life of victory and hope. He took me to meet his grandmother. She said hello and came in and that was the last that I understood. The entire time I was there she would ask me questions in Russian and Kita would translate for me. He taught me how to say Hello (Privet) Yes (da) No (net) And thank you, which I don’t remember. We spent almost the entire time we were there trying to help his grandmother set up a new movie streaming program on her computer. I know nothing about computers in English, let alone in Russian. I was overwhelmed. The leather furniture just made my nervous sweat more noticeable. She told me about Ukraine a little bit. She said it was beautiful but troubled. She offered me chocolate and cookies. I sat, sweating, trying my hardest to pay attention. When I said anything to her, Kita would translate for me. I wanted to leave. After we left his grandmother’s house he told me to wait in his car while he talked privately with his grandmother. I thought it was strange but didn’t question it. I played mindless games on my phone while I waited for him. Some part of me knew that they were talking about me, but I continued to deny it. I was hungry, but I wasn’t planning on doing anything about it too soon. I was hungry often then. When he returned to the car I asked what they had talked about and with no hesitation he said, “You.” I paused, then asked him to elaborate. “She likes you,” he said. And that was that. How strange, I thought, to be liked by someone who never explicitly spoke a word to me. ~ Andrevich was Kita’s middle name. Named after his father. Kita’s father was very handsome. In his forties with tan skin and thick hair, he was a heartthrob that would make you look twice. He lived in a nice, expensive apartment in Kiev with his girlfriend who was twenty years younger than him. Apparently that was a theme. Kita had only seen his father a handful of times in his life. He had gone back to Ukraine to spend some time with him as a young boy, but didn’t have too much recollection of it. When he was sixteen he went back to live with his father and his twenty-yearold girlfriend for a while. Kita has always been tall, thin, and handsome. His father noticed this. “So what happened?” I asked him one day. 71 Kita shrugged. “He kicked me out and I came back to the states,” he said without a flinch. He said this as though it was a commonality. “He thought that I fucked his girlfriend,” he said as he lit a cigarette. There was a very long, uncomfortable silence. “Did you?” I asked. He laughed out loud and a cloud of smoke poured out of his mouth. “No, of course not,” he said. “My dad isn’t one to listen to a sixteen year old.” ~ “I’ll take you to Ukraine someday.” “Sunflowers. There are parts of Ukraine where there are endless fields of sunflowers wherever you look. They’re as tall as me and the flowers are bigger than my face.” He pulled me closer as he talked about Ukraine. He insisted that I learn all that I could about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, sending me innumerable articles daily. Through him I learned about the importance of the Ukrainian revolution and fights that had been fought, some as recent as 2011 and 2012. He told me that he wanted to fight for his people if he had to. When my eyes were flushed with concern, he pulled me in close and whispered in my ear, “I’ll survive for you.” His eyes lit up every time he talked about the fields of sunflowers in Ukraine. In the same way, his eyes lit up every time he got angry. Your golden eyes drew miners to starve and fight to abandon their homes. We were in his bed, naked, wrapped up in blankets and speckled by the corner light in his room. It was late, the kind of late that feels early. The air conditioner hummed in the place of our phones which were both off and hidden somewhere in the room. He did no wrong. He could not do any wrong. His eyes were blank but telling like a wall in a foreclosed home. All of his intentions were good. Yes. Good. “Where in Ukraine?” I asked. “Have you been eating?” he asks as he lifts up my shirt. “Kiev, the city squares. And to the huge fields of flowers.” “What kind of flowers?” 72 ~ I squirm away and pull my shirt down. “Yes, I ate just before I came here,” I say. I can still taste the salt in my mouth. “You look skinny,” he tells me with a hint of disdain in his voice. My heart soars. I look skinny. But he’s reaching for my stomach again and once again I’m backing away. We get into the car and drive to the gas station. I say that I need to go use the restroom. While Kita pumps the gas, I make my way into the small Holiday bathroom. I put my sweater on the ground and rest my knees on it, my usual routine. I stick my finger down my throat and vomit into the toilet. As I walk back outside, Kita is getting back into his car. I get in the front seat and sniffle slightly.Kita looks at me quizzically. “You okay?” he asks me. My eyes are watery, my nose is burning, and my breath is putrid. “I’m fine,” I say with a smile. ~ The elevator door was so cold against my cheek. I watched the red numbers blink as they rose. 8...9...10...11. My vision was going fuzzy and grey, my ears started ringing and throbbing. 11...12...13. Ding. The doors opened and my wobbly legs carried me down the seemingly endless hallway. My hands were barely working; as I watched them push my key into my apartment door I could not feel it. The door opened, I could see my living room window. I closed the door behind me and collapsed on the ground. “Why did you faint?” His words echoed behind the screen of my phone. “I just haven’t eaten a lot today.” There was a silence so deafening that it struck fear in my heart. Fear I had not known. “When did you eat last?” He had anger in his voice. I paused. He would know if I lied but he would hate the truth. “I had a little dinner last night,” I said quietly. “What did you eat?” His reply was sharp. I was shaking. “I had a little bit of salad I think,” I said with a quivering voice. I could hear his sigh. I can still hear his sigh. “How many times have we talked about this?” He exclaimed. “I know, I know, I’m sorry…” It didn’t matter. He didn’t listen. I had failed him again. “Do you know what it’s like to have a girlfriend that can’t even take care of herself ?” “What am I going to tell my friends?” “You’re not even trying.” I was sobbing, I was convulsing, I was sweating, all from my bed from which I could not move. My phone was glued to my ear and I had no energy to remove it. “So what are you going to do about this?” There was intense spite in his words. With a shaky voice I said, “I could send you a picture of everything I eat?” He laughed. With his full, angry throat he laughed 73 at my pain. “And do what? Post it on Facebook? Show all my friends that my girlfriend is an anorexic who can’t even feed herself ? You know what, go ahead. Maybe that’ll help you change.” I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to die. My stomach kept whispering “never again, never again, never again.” Opening my mouth made me panic because it reminded me of eating. I hung up my phone and with wobbly legs I walked outside in the snow and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. ~ Months go by. Months. I watched him pack his bag with clothes that I had never seen him wear. He packed light, only a few shirts and two pairs of pants. “My dad will buy me more when I get to Ukraine,” he said. I sat on the edge of his bed and watched him focus on folding his clothes. His visa sat in the center of the bed, staring at me. I started to cry. “Babe, it’s going to be fine,” Kita said without breaking focus. I watched him form a pile of the shirts that I had grown used to him wearing. They looked like wilted flower petals. 74 “Why aren’t you taking those?” I asked, pointing to the wilted pile. “My father won’t like them,” he said. Later that night, we were drinking red wine in his bed. His room was bare and cold. I was curled against his side, my head on his chest. He stroked my bare back and played with my hair. I sighed, but not the kind of sigh that’s followed with kisses. Kita sighed too. “Petra,” he said, a tone of exasperation in his voice. “If I ever treat you like my father treats women, please leave me.” ~ I still remember how to say “I love you” in Russian. “я люблю тебя.” Ya lyublyu tebya. ~ My fingers were bones. Anything beyond mascara was too much, especially lipstick. He hated lipstick. He thought that it brought too much attention to my mouth. He didn’t like when other people noticed me. He stopped smoking cigarettes and instructed me to do so too. “They’ll make you age faster,”he would say. If I had a bad day and smoked a cigarette, he would tell me he was disappointed. I lived with three men at the time, something that Kita would never let me forget. He asked every few days to be sure I wasn’t sleeping with any of my roommates. If I was spending too much time with a friend, he would tell me that I was neglecting him. He sent me articles outlining how to be a better partner. He reminded me that he just wanted me to be the best that I could be. The screaming and hour-long phone calls were footnotes. You stripped me of my dignity and told me, “This is what you have.” Your monstrous arms crawl into my nightmares Your titanic stature collided with my glacier and though you claim I sank you You were a behemoth and I was a stone. At the end, I fell into the ground. His screams surrounded me in my echo chamber and suffocated me. My knees were bruised from kneeling in front of the toilet all night. How apt for the one accused of dropping to her knees for all men. I was free but I did not know it yet. All I knew was the cold floor of my bathroom and the tales of beautiful but troubled Ukraine. My goodbyes have been said, These addictions fed. It’s the cost that comes with the sickness. And your screams won’t be heeded anymore. 75 AN OPEN LETTER TO THE UN-SPECIALS Halle Chambers When we are little, even before we can speak We are told that we’re special and that we’re unique. That we all are made different and that none are the same Which fits quite nicely in a toddler’s mind frame. And we are told we should treasure what’s different inside, That what makes us different is not something to hide. But then quite soon after, things start to change; The word “different” stops meaning “special” and starts meaning “strange.” We’re sectioned off from our average peers In our own little category and told, “you belong here,” And then different is bad and normal is good, And for the different ones, nothing is working the way that it should The way we’ve been taught or the way we’ve been shown All we know is that we do not like being lost on our own. 76 So once again we are taken away To a place where things makes sense again and we’re ok: Where no one hurts us, Where no one can see, Where no one deserts us, Where we can be free. But because the un-specials can’t see what goes on, They decide to make things up and get so much wrong. And it’s happened for years because they can’t see through that door. So long they don’t even know that it’s wrong anymore. It’s so fixed in their heads that these lies are right; They judge each special kid by their stereotype. But today that will end. So you sit there and you wait, cause it’s about time someone set the dang record straight. You probably think that this poem won’t cut it, But today I’m gonna open the door and don’t you dare shut it! To start, let’s be clear: I am...I was in Special Ed. But just because I was in that room doesn’t mean I’m brain dead! So for Pete’s sake, don’t puppy dog guard me! Just give me a break, it isn’t that hard see: If I need your help, I will tell you I do. Just please, Please don’t mock me. In my place, would you want me to mock you? “Oh come on! Let her get it! Go easy on her!” Help, where not needed, is almost as bad as a slur. I’m not invalid So don’t play that card. Yeah, I’m a little quirky and oversensitive, But I’m not, and I quote, “A little retard.” Yeah, I’ve been called names. And those words? They hurt. They catch in the center, In your pit of self worth. And they tear and they rip, And those words are collective. Soon you start to believe that you are defective. I’ve dealt with them all, and surprisingly, I actually prefer the straight up bullies To those who pretend to like me. Fake friends and two-faces Of all genders and races. They’re only my friends so they don’t have to see me cry. Or they use me, abuse me, Oh, how they confuse me! Cause I can’t tell what’s truth and what’s lie. “Hey! He likes you. Go give him a kiss!” And because I don’t know better, I believe this. But soon I find they’re not playing Cupid, They just wanna make me look stupid. For their entertainment, they make me play the 77 fool; They pretend that they care for me When they’re really just cruel. It takes time and takes work to make you forget; Even now, I’m not quite there yet. I mean, here I am, in what’s supposed to be home, And yet here I am, still feeling alone. I’m still paranoid, it doesn’t just end; I still have to ask if someone’s my friend. I say one thing and mean another; I make a mistake, But you take it verbatim. Can’t you cut me a break? If we’re talking and I look like I’m lost, Don’t blow it off like it’s not worth the cost. Sarcasm and subtlety muddle in my brain, So please just take a minute to explain. Do these quirks make me broken? Is there something wrong with me? The way society has spoken, There would seem to be. 78 Stop poisoning the minds of “different” young women and men. I don’t like being defective.... Can I be special again? SOREX PALUSTRIS Emilie Tomas Did they name you for Your wit, pointed Nose of pointed judgement Who brought us fire; five to seven inches of shrewd truth? Or was it your mischief That Inspired them? Your Presence followed by screams And a three inch tail. I saw your likeness on a stage, Dirt in place of your midnight coat Though she is reformed now. Perhaps it was the gleam in your Eyes; whispered fortunes and A summer of silver birth. Maybe you are a messenger Of God, somehow in your Eighteen months you learned to walk On water, the second coming Of Christ. 79 woodsy adam ruff gabriel bergstrom 80 WORDS Malena Larsen The bathroom wall was covered in words. Words like fuck and love and song lyrics and names with hearts around them. His body looked peaceful, somehow, as he sat propped and slumped against the door. His head hung to his right shoulder and his mouth was open like he was about to say something but was interrupted. There was blood running down his left arm like a river and a needle hung loosely out of his skin. The words that he had heard her say several hours earlier were getting quieter and quieter. “It’s not working,” she had told him. “I’m sorry.” They were smoking cigarettes outside her apartment when she said it. She knew he had been trying to fix himself. After twenty-eight days of treatment and one week in a sober house on Lake and Fifth she barely recognized him. He was twenty-five pounds heavier and his skin looked clean and strong; there was no more grey in his cheeks. It wasn’t just his change in appearance that scared her. Lately, he had been telling her the difference between wrong and right and that she should stay in on the weekends. His family couldn’t stop talking about how proud they were of him and they would ask her, “Doesn’t he just seem so much better?” She would answer with yes but feel guilty because she wished he still liked to make mistakes. His family had a party after he got out of treatment and his grandfather kept saying things like, “Men in this family have always been strong!” and, “Now he can take care of you.” His grandfather didn’t care for her much but he felt that she was the least of the boy’s problems. He didn’t like the way she hung on him like a scarf or the way she agreed with everything he said without a second thought. As he sat on the bathroom floor the words she had said were getting quieter and quieter. They were almost gone. He had been sober for thirty-five days and he didn’t know why. He didn’t feel better or stronger or more loved. His hand lay loosely on the floor, palm up and open like he was waiting for somebody to hold it. Everyone was so proud of him but he couldn’t imagine living his life without her. Long after her words had faded completely, the bathroom door opened. He fell back onto the floor. His head hitting hard against the tile. 81 “Oh my gosh!” The man who opened the door yelled. “Can someone help?” He took out his phone to call 911. A crowd of people rushed over to where the man was dialing. A young man pushed past the group of people. “Move!” The boy got on his knees by the body on the floor. He reached into his pocket and took out something that looked like a pen. He stuck it into the arm of the body that was needle free. People gasped and murmured and watched. Sirens rang in the distance. The boy holding the pen looked up at the bathroom wall that had words like fuck and love and song lyrics and names with hearts around them. He looked up at the group of people. “It’s not working,” he said. 82 MALCOLM AND THE BLUE SIDE Danny Polaschek Brown leaves dragged past Malcolm’s feet in the wind. The bench underneath him felt like a rock and he had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. He stared at the empty playground—the tire swing, the slide, the bridge and the fireman’s pole. Nikki rested her head on his shoulder. Each time a breeze swept through, Malcolm could feel her nuzzle slightly closer, her hair scratching and tickling his neck. When he was a kid, Malcolm had sat on this exact same bench many times with his mother. They lived in a little blue house just a few blocks away— “just a hop and a skip,” his mother would say and Malcolm would make it his mission to jump and bunny-hop the whole way there. When they arrived, they’d eat lunch, sitting together on the narrow, wooden bench. After each bite of his sandwich, Malcolm would beg his mother to let him go play, to which she would give in once she herself had finished eating. He always went straight for the slide. Once at the top, he’d yell, “I’m going under!” and swing himself down into the blue plastic tube. He imagined he was a deep-sea diver plunging into an underwater world of sunken pirate ships and forgotten chests of gold. On particularly sunny afternoons, he’d stop halfway down the slide and admire the shadows that moved about on the illuminated, blue plastic. He’d make believe that fish swam all around him as little blotchy shadows hovered whimsically over his head. He eventually got the idea to bring his crayons to the park with him. He’d sit lodged in the blue slide for most of the day, drawing exotic fish with bright oranges, yellows and reds. He knew fish didn’t smile but nevertheless gave them all wide grins and big eyes to match. When it was time to go home, his mother would knock from the bottom of the slide. “Time to come back to shore!” she’d announce. Malcolm would hide his crayons in his back pocket and slide down to his mother who would wait there with open arms grinning at him. The park seemed smaller now. Malcolm was just as tall as the fireman’s pole and half as long as the slide. He wondered if his fabricated underwater universe still existed. Probably not, he guessed. Although it was getting dark, Mal83 colm could see thick graffiti creeping out from the shadows inside the blue slide. Malcolm pulled his sweatshirt tighter around his neck, brushing Nikki away in the process. He felt her eyes on his face but refused to acknowledge her. Inside the slide, he could still make out the words “Bitch Ass” in thick spray paint. His crayon drawings would certainly be gone, he was sure of it now. Nikki picked up Malcolm’s hand and caressed it, her cold skin feeling leathery and smooth. “Malcolm,” she said. Malcolm turned and mustered a smile, taking Nikki’s hands to his face and kissing them awkwardly. “Malcolm, let’s go home.” The streetlights had not yet turned on for the evening. Malcolm noticed the shadows on the sides of the road stretching out and growing bigger as they walked quietly past. He missed the warm sunshine of summer and the hot nights spent lounging in the front yard listening to his mother’s radio; he missed the walks to the park, his mother laughing at him as he crouched and hopped along beside her. He remembered the secret thrill of the crayon box in his back pocket, then realized he’d forgotten his cigarettes on the bench at the park. He was too cold to turn back. He reached out silently for Nikki’s hand and, finding it much warmer than his own, held it stiffly the rest of the walk home. 84 driving at zero one john herbert 85 driving at zero two john herbert 86 PLACEMAKERS Diamonique Walker Near my home, Balloons dance in the wind. I have reconditioned myself — These are not balloons from a party, But they still celebrate a life. I drive by, sometimes I walk. And see a balloon or several With their heads bobbing away Positioned obscurely on the sidewalk. Or on the island in the middle of the highway. Sometimes on no one in particular’s grass. I don’t look for party decorations. At the feet of the balloon’s ribbons, candles, cards and little trinkets sit. Some kind of offering. Looking weathered and dull. His body bled some place close by. Probably killed within ten feet. A dancing, mocking balloon Somehow now gets to sway in his place. 87 NECESSARILY AN EVIL THING CONSIDERED IN ANY LIGHT Jacob J. Miller “You know what I hate about this most of all?” asked the first man. “Nobody’s going to be around to take responsibility. Nobody is going to have to answer for their crime.” “What crime is that?” the other man asked, sitting next to him in the middle of the cul-de-sac, both of them at perfect leisure in lawn chairs as if waiting for a parade to pass by. “Mass-murder, I suppose. Call it, oh, I don’t know. Call it, um, inciting the apocalypse.” “Ha.” “They deserve to be the ones left behind after they obliterate everyone else. They should be the ones who have to reap the aftermath, puke out their guts and feel their bile boil inside their stomachs, fend off marauding cannibals and giant insects. And they should have to live with the new world they created, or destroyed, rather.” Just then, the other man looked down and saw a lonely ant crawling up his pant leg. “Yeah, but I don’t think that giant bug stuff is true. That wouldn’t happen. The bugs’ll die like everything else.” “I mean, what do you think it’ll be like? I 88 know it’ll happen instantaneously, but they say the cerebral cortex functions after everything else has shut down and we linger in a sort of dream-state, which could last for, well, for who knows how long?” “Well, that’s if you’re in a hospital bed, or you have a heart attack or something, when you have time to die with a little bit of peace. Our brains are going to incinerate along with the rest of us. There won’t even be any stuff of thought anymore. I don’t think we have to worry about something like that.” “But what if that moment of pain before we go lasts longer, you know? What if time stands still? Nothing makes sense in a moment of such lunacy. Such catastrophe. What if we feel our tongues liquefying and spilling down our throats and scalding our internal organs? What if, all in that moment, we look down, and before our eyes boil and burst from the heat we see our bones glowing purple through our flesh as it begins dripping off like wax? What if you turn and look at me and the last image you see is my face melting off like those Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark?” “I’m not sure it’s the best time to be thinking like that,” his friend said, as the sirens began to wail their sorrowful last. “Why even bother with that fucking thing?” the man steamed. “It’s inconsiderate, a futile exhortation. We know what’s coming. We’re not going to hide in our basements from it like it’s a fucking tornado.” “Tornadoes aren’t so easy to hide from either.” The first man scanned the horizon for what he knew would be the last time. He took in the sight of the skyline he saw from his window every day and, with lamenting eyes, imaginatively anticipated its supplanting by a fiery mushroom climbing the sky. He closed his eyes and winced, unable to cope with the unthinkable thought, the impossible inevitability. Turning his head toward a neighbor’s yard whose household ran a daycare, he opened his eyes to a post-apocalyptic tableau of children’s toys scattered about the lawn. Nothing needed yet be aflame for the man to resent the picturesque cliché of innocence lost on display before him. “Remember when they used to tell kids to hide under their desks?” he inquired. “All that siren is doing is making sure that we spend our last moments in a panic, instead of dying gracefully, accepting that we’re all in the same sinking ship, in the middle of the ocean, if the ocean were the entire planet, and filled with lava instead of water. We should be spending our time reminiscing, because that’s all we have now.” “Well, we can’t talk about our plans for the future.” “We can’t discuss potential medical advancements.” “The coming cure for cancer.” “And cloning organs. Scholarships our children just received, the singularity and will the Matrix ever become a reality; would we ever make contact with life elsewhere in the universe, intercept an asteroid, mine them for resources? It’s all useless, man, meaningless. Every human achievement since the first spark made from one rock dragging against another, gone within the next hour,” he sighed heavily, draping a ribbon of helplessness over his words of outrage. “Why don’t you open that up?” He suggested, pointing at the bottle of scotch sitting at the leg of his friend’s chair. His friend took a swig before passing it over with a satisfied groan. “Here’s to everything we do being the last time it will ever be done,” the first man began. “That’s the best I can do.” “Yeah,” the other man raised an empty hand, toasting to the end and everything that came before it. “I suppose there’s something beautiful about the entire world—or nearly the entire world—going out the same way. There’s a kind of universal solidarity occurring right now, don’t you think? Some are praying, no doubt, some are exalting their various saviors, certain they will be raptured up any minute, but we’re all still going to be experiencing the same thing, at almost the exact same time; the same heat, the same instantaneous moment of searing pain before any trace of our molecules are imprinted as a shadow on the asphalt beneath us.” He had a complex contraption of a chair, one of the men—it doesn’t really matter which one now that the end was there; the kind of chair that folds upward from all four corners and was nearly 89 impossible to fit back into its cylindrical carrying sack—not that that mattered anymore either— complete with cup holders and a detachable headrest, which he was putting to use as he spoke. His friend’s chair was more old-fashioned, a conventional folding lawn chair with a checkered pattern of flimsy plastic wrapped taut around aluminum pipes, wobbly hard plastic armrests drilled in and not quite parallel to each other. Their chair legs began melting into the tar beneath them. One of the men hummed softly; a beautiful soundtrack to accompany him in the cut to black. The other man closed his eyes and, focusing on the sounds of the encroaching death rattle, heard them as the grunts and whinnies of the four horsemen’s horses as they galloped atop the planet’s rapidly spreading dust. 90
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Title: Murphy Square 2017: Murphy Square Visual Art and Literary Magazine
Collection: Literary Journals
Search Result: MURPHY SQUARE VISUAL ART & LITERARY MAGAZINE ISSUE 42, 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD Malena Larsen, Editor In Chief Abigail Tetzlaff, Associate Editor Audrey Campbell, Art & Layout Editor Cassie Dong, Art Editor Jazmin Crittenden, Art Editor Elisabeth Beam, Prose Editor Abigail Carpenter, Prose Ed...
Show more MURPHY SQUARE VISUAL ART & LITERARY MAGAZINE ISSUE 42, 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD Malena Larsen, Editor In Chief Abigail Tetzlaff, Associate Editor Audrey Campbell, Art & Layout Editor Cassie Dong, Art Editor Jazmin Crittenden, Art Editor Elisabeth Beam, Prose Editor Abigail Carpenter, Prose Editor Ryan Moore, Prose Editor Gabriel Benson, Poetry Editor Danny Polaschek, Poetry Editor Cary Waterman, Advisor 2 WITH THANKS TO Ivy Arts Copy and Print Augsburg College Student Government Augsburg College English Department Augsburg College Art Department The Echo Augsburg Honors Program QPA 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 What Type of Black Girl Are You? Nikkyra Whittaker ........................................................................... 8 Simul Justus et Peccator, Andy Anderson .......................................................................................... 11 Queer, Eve Taft ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Jesus in a Cracker, A.Tetzlaff ................................................................................................................ 14 Grey Cloud Island, David Baboila ......................................................................................................... 17 Saint Paul Airport, David Baboila .......................................................................................................... 18 White Bear Lake, David Baboila ............................................................................................................ 19 Zips Coliseum, David Baboila ............................................................................................................... 20 Bridge, Jacob J. Miller ............................................................................................................................ 21 50 Feet Tall, Emilie Tomas ...................................................................................................................... 25 Meow, Ashley Waalen ............................................................................................................................ 26 Mousetrap, Halle Chambers .................................................................................................................. 27 Faces, Constance Klippen ..................................................................................................................... 29 I Don’t Always Feel Colored, Diamonique Walker ............................................................................... 30 Where I am From, Hannah Schmit ......................................................................................................... 32 Who Am I?, Ashley Waalen .................................................................................................................... 34 2 Gratitude, D.E Green .............................................................................................................................. CSBR, Gabriel Bergstrom ...................................................................................................................... The Fire, Elisabeth Beam ........................................................................................................................ Desert Drums, Abigail Carpenter .......................................................................................................... Colors, Hannah Schmit ........................................................................................................................... Urban Delight, Jazmin Crittenden ......................................................................................................... When Dad Wore Cologne, A. Tetzlaff .................................................................................................... Shitty Christmas Trees, Elisabeth Beam ............................................................................................... Summer Nights, Adam Ruff ................................................................................................................... 36 38 39 41 42 43 44 46 48 The People United, Adam Ruff .............................................................................................................. 49 After the Hike, Adam Ruff ..................................................................................................................... 50 Crumbs, Malena Larsen ......................................................................................................................... 51 Bloomed, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................................................... 55 Pruned, Audrey Campbell ...................................................................................................................... 56 Herman, Danny Polaschek ................................................................................................................... 57 El Barrio Suyo, Chad Berryman ............................................................................................................. 60 The Neighborhood, Chad Berryman ..................................................................................................... 61 Odyssey, Eve Taft .................................................................................................................................... 62 Postcards From My Bedroom, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................. 63 Postcards From My Bedroom, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................. 64 Counting Sheep, Danny Polaschek ...................................................................................................... 65 3 Sky Nights, Keeyonna Fox ...................................................................................................................... 67 Inner Self, Keeyonna Fox ....................................................................................................................... 68 Victory of the People, Petra S. Shaffer-Gottschalk ............................................................................. 69 An Open Letter to the Un-specials, Halle Chambers ...........................................................................76 Sorex Palustris, Emilie Tomas ................................................................................................................. 79 Woodsy Adam Ruff, Gabriel Bergstrom .................................................................................................. 80 Words, Malena Larsen ................................................................................................................................. 81 Malcom, Danny Polaschek ....................................................................................................................... 83 DRIVING AT ZERO ONE, John Herbert ................................................................................................... 85 DRIVING AT ZERO TWO, John Herbert ................................................................................................... 86 Placemakers, Diamonique Walker ........................................................................................................ 87 A Necessary Evil Thing Considered in any Light, Jacob J. Miller ....................................................... 88 1 WHAT TYPE OF BLACK GIRL ARE YOU? Nikkyra Whittaker On the spectrum of being black and female, we can only be what we appear to be. Take this quiz to find out what kind of black girl you really are! 1. You’re listening to the radio on the way to Target. You’re playing… a. Beyonce’s “****Flawless” b. Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” or “You Belong With Me” or “Wildest Dreams” c. Chris Brown’s “Loyal” d. Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock” 2. It’s your day off work. What will you be doing? a. Blowing off steam on Facebook. b. Watching old episodes of One Tree Hill c. Out for drinks and scoping eye candy d. Talking shit with the ladies while drinking Moscato! 3. What’s your dream home like? a. Full of books on systemic oppression b. Beverly Hills penthouse c. Some big shot rapper’s mansion d. Spacious New York Loft 8 4. Your favorite TV show is… a. Docu-series on race b. Sex in the City c. Bad Girls Club d. Love and Hip Hop 5. Finally, who’s your favorite female icon from this list? a. Angela Davis b. Taylor Swift c. New York from I Love New York d. Nicki Minaj Tally up how many of each letter you got and turn the page to find out who you really are! If you got mostly a’s...You’re an Angry Black Girl! Congratulations, you loud-mouthed, anger filled home-girl! I’m guessing there’s always some reason to be mad at someone, isn’t there? Do you just spend your days in a perpetual state of rage, angry at the world for reasons they don’t find important? Do you find yourself constantly snapping your fingers in that z-formation, pursing your lips at anyone who steps in your way? I bet people are telling you to just be quiet, huh? I mean, what issues could you, a black female, possibly have? Why should you care that your high school English teacher gives you a C+ on your essay because she thinks you copied it from the white man online? Why does it matter that your male co-worker at Target constantly teases you about your nappy hair, calling it a “brillo pad,” “cheeto puff,” or some other clever name? None of this should anger you! Be aware, you sassy Sapphire, in this world, your anger means nothing. If you got mostly b’s...You’re an Oreo! You grew up watching Lizzie McGuire and listening to Aaron Carter. You straightened your hair from the moment you were old enough to assert yourself and cried when it wouldn’t lay flat. Your friends were always shocked to see you bring collard greens and jambalaya to lunch so you stopped eating your favorite foods. They didn’t understand why you couldn’t just brush your hair, wash your hair everyday, why it suddenly grew or shrunk inches overnight. I’m certain you’ve heard from many of your friends how they just don’t see you as a black girl. They erase your black skin because it doesn’t fit the images of other black girls they see. You spend most of your time edging away from the loud black girls, the ghetto black girls who ate hot cheetos and drank kool aid and had corn rows and long braids and smelled like a mix of the jungle and your ancestors pain and you wished, maybe for a just a moment, but you did wish that you could be white. But honey, you can never wash off that melanin! It’s a permanent stain. Just because your friends can’t see the black on you, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t. 9 If you got mostly c’s...You’re a Hip Hop Ho! You sexual deviant you! Let me guess—big breasts, small waist, and wide hips? You’ve got that original Betty Boop to you, something in your eyes that say yes to a question no one bothers to ask. You’re the black girl that white guys use as a notch in their belt. You are the exotic sexual being that men love to hate and hate to love. You became a sexual thing at a young age, when your breasts came in at ten years old and became d-cups at fourteen. They started looking at you differently, didn’t they? Your eyes stopped existing. Your words didn’t matter. Your body became the tool used to diminish your worth. How often did you get yelled at in school to put on something less revealing than your shorts? Did you ever wonder why the skinny, flat-assed white girls were never told the same thing? Honey, your wide hips wrapped in chocolate skin were never yours. You will never be yours. 10 If you got mostly d’s...You’re a Ghetto Fabulous Black Girl! You make what little money you can working at Walmart or doing nails. You make people waiting at the bus stop with you uncomfortable with your loud laughter and yellow and pink braids and long, bedazzled nails. You toss your weave around, remove your earrings, and square up to anyone that says shit about you. When you’re out, you are often told to stop yelling, screaming, taking up space. You’ve got baby daddy problems and you’re only 18. You grew up playing double dutch in the middle of the street with old rope. You accept your black, your ghetto, your Ebonics. But you are not supposed to accept yourself, honey! Don’t you see the fashion police spreads in the magazines? You are on all the pages! Don’t show your hips. Put on a shirt that conceals your stomach. Put your breasts away. Don’t wear bright lipstick. Stop standing out, being different. Get smaller, quieter, lesser, as you are supposed to be. You love your black too loudly and it makes others uncomfortable. Your job is to make people comfortable so do your best to limit the loudness of your melanin. simul justus et peccator andy anderson 11 QUEER Eve Taft You think there isn’t a sign on my ribs that says “stonewall inn”? You think Matthew Shepard doesn’t tug at my hair and warn me as I walk the streets of my city? You think I don’t choke on the smoke from the hellfire you spit from your pulpits with sparks that sear and heat branding irons which scar your names on me to mark me as danger? You think my veins don’t shiver when they think of the devastation wracking the cities that some called deliverance while Reagan fiddled as we burned You think that the prisons pink triangles asylums bullets spitting into a nightclub don’t whisper in my head as I make my way through the world? 12 You think that I don’t notice— I kiss her and kiss her —the headline blowing by with a death toll and I kiss her the skyline splashing out behind us the lights on the Washington Avenue bridge flicker on and I kiss her Putin criminalizes us, across the world I kiss her Vigils held too late for young suicides Corrupting, perverted, disgusting, an affront to family values— I kiss her in the rain and the sleet of Minnesota I kiss her, our lips tasting of chants from the protest that shut down I-94 handed down from our grandmothers hearts beating, eyes sparkling, alive I kiss her You think I forget the lists and the candles and the deaths and the pain and all that roars in my ears is a chorus screaming over and over again you were not able to kill us I kiss her and all is still 13 JESUS IN A CRACKER A. Tetzlaff Eucharist I hugged my father’s black, pleated pants while we waited for mass to start. He was beaming proudly and chatting with the rest of our family. I wore the only dress I allowed to touch my body: by then it was a year old and from my uncle’s wedding when I walked down the aisle carrying a bouquet, looking like a blonde deer caught in front of a semi truck. It had a black velvet top connected to a white skirt. All the girls wore white. My parents cut their losses. All the boys, shirt and tie. Eight-year-olds taking their first communion despite the fact that most of us had no idea what was happening. Understanding the sacraments isn’t really necessary when you grow up in a Catholic family. By the time you are aware of your burden, it’s too late anyway. Religion lived at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Between church and home, I lived in a realm of contradiction. I came to visit religion, but it never went home with me. On Sundays when the game was in town, God would not judge you for wearing your Packer jersey to church. Sinning was bad, but you could tailgate and drink and carouse to your heart’s content. We should have taken beer at 14 that first communion. We would have appreciated it more than the wine. We took our places in the ritual that had been performed again and again. The time-worn ritual begins anew as I walk to the altar with my hands folded in front of me. I must remember to raise my hands high enough so the rheumatic priest doesn’t have to bend down. Right hand over left. I’m a blonde deer again. “The body of Christ.” This is the part where I say, “Amen,” whether I mean it or not, then put the communion wafer in my mouth. I must cross myself (right hand touching head, then left shoulder, then right shoulder) as I walk back up the aisle and toward my family. They liked to sit in the middle section, never too close to the altar. They didn’t like making direct eye-contact with the priest during his homily. To this day I skip the wine for fear of communicable diseases. It stuck to the roof of my mouth, this first communion wafer. It was stale. There was no substance. Maybe the parched flour and water, mixed with the lingering incense is actually what Jesus tastes like. The absorbent clump lasted into the next hymn. Saliva rushed into my mouth and eventually the wafer, heavy with mois- ture, fell from the roof of my mouth. I swallowed without chewing. Just go with it, I told myself. All these people believe in this, so one day, you will too. But I wasn’t sure. I didn’t get it. The power that kept me from running back up the aisle wasn’t the love of God gently pushing me along, but the ritual itself, and the expectation of my parents and grandparents watching proud and probably dewy-eyed as I joined their ranks. Hugs and smiles and congratulations as my family comes out of the first communion Mass, but I wasn’t sure what was such cause for celebration; I hadn’t had a great epiphany about God, nor had I felt any change at all. It was just like every Sunday late in October. head and tell me I was forgiven. “Sometimes, I’m not very nice to my mom or my brother,” I told him. Navitity didn’t own a confessional booth like the ones in movies. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a confessional booth at any Catholic church outside the movies. We sat quietly in a tiny room. Being small for my age, I circled the air below me with my feet. I sat facing him directly. He crossed his legs under the cassock he wore, clearly annoyed. After a silence and a slow nod, the priest said, “Sometimes, we hurt the people we love the most.” It was the only part I heard or remember hearing; he started talking about God’s forgiveness, I assume. I didn’t pay attention, because I didn’t feel different after admitting such a pitiful sin. Marriage I had no ill-feeling toward the physical place of church. In fact, the ritual, the sounds, the smell of incense, and the light that filtered through the stained-glass windows from an Easterly rising sun became familiar and comforting over the years. The nave, filled with old pews, had witnessed my parents’ wedding and my grandparents’ weddings. The organ towered over the choir. The smell of old patrons and Sunday cologne too liberally applied became a sensory memory of that place. However, religion has never been an inward practice; the practice and the scene never joined together. Anointing of the Sick When times are bad, I’ve pulled the fragments of ritual from my memory and recite the “Our Father.” I did this in the winter of my eighteenth year in days following my grandfather’s funeral. He died of bladder cancer, worsened by a communicable bacterial infection called C.Difficile. I became familiar with the ritual of funeral; I’d been to three or four for close relatives. But this time, the ritual felt different. Before, I was sad. My grandfather’s funeral confirmed that the only sacred part of my world had been ripped mercilessly from my arms. Reconciliation “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”As the words come out of my mouth, they themselves felt sinful. I hadn’t sinned, I was eleven. I barely knew what sin was. I had to stop a moment to think of a sin I had committed, so the priest could nod his Baptism I sat in the shower until the water hitting my face was colder than I could stand, reciting the “Our Father” over and over, sobbing. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. I hoped, over so many repetitions, that my view 15 of God and heaven would change. Yet, it confused me more. Religion stopped looking like the patron blind to reality and became a place where I didn’t belong. Like I was missing out because I didn’t get that epiphany, and didn’t have that same faith. Confirmation Religion was so stale, that when my Mother would occasionally talk about faith, or God, or divine love at the dinner table I would blush with pity and embarrassment. How can you believe this? I thought, how can you be so blind to the real world? Perhaps, I’m the blind one. I continue to live in an intermediate space between faith and atheism. I can’t commit to either. The fence between atheism and faith is fraught with angst. Most days, I try to laugh away my uncertainty. I tell jokes about my Catholic past, chuckle when I hear of “recovering Catholics,” and tell friends, “It smells like a Catholic church in here,” whenever they burn incense. Religion is still stale to me. Religion has no nutritional value. Stale religion has no holy orders. 16 grey cloud island david baboila 17 saint paul airport david baboila 18 white bear lake david baboila 19 zips coliseum david baboila 20 BRIDGE Jacob J. Miller This was not way back when, as my dad would have you believe. It was more recent than that. If he can’t flat out deny it, which he no longer can, he will at least try to convince you that it was so long ago as to suggest it might have been a different lifetime, and he a different person. He has been, after all, Born Again. Except he was not the only person involved, and to carry along as if he was is an exercise in what I’ve heard philosophers call solipsism. For him, his transgression was between himself and the Holy Ghost: accountable not to those he wronged, only to an invisible spirit. But he doesn’t have sole authority in determining the past’s relevance or irrelevance to our lives today. My mother too pretends the past is only what has happened at a particular point in time, and not a factor in what determines what has happened since then and what is happening now. The slate wiper theory of forgiveness is what allowed them to wear their veneer of innocence and believe in its authenticity, and for that reason I resent their new-leaf turnover. My love for them may not be emergent in my words, I know, but I do love them, regardless of the fucked up traits they passed on to their children, which will become evident as this story unfolds You might be wondering, if you care at all, what could be so terrible. Well, it’s not so terrible, and not even very uncommon, but it happened to me, and my brothers and my sisters, and there was never anything we could really do about it. We watched it unfold almost every night to reveal its rotted pit. What was scariest was not when a half-full beer bottle would be hurled in our direction for us being too noisy, and then being held responsible for wasting the beer, and getting punished even more for that. What was scariest was when they fought with each other, mom and dad, when they were both liquored up. All of us children would be sitting in the living room, on our knees, in a line, with our hands folded and tucked inside our clenched thighs, having hitherto been fulfilling our playful, childish duties who couldn’t expect things to go so suddenly and intensely wrong. They would fight about anything, or nothing, for all we knew or cared. They would yell, swear, slam their fists on various surfaces, throw things across the room at each other as if rehearsed. One time, I remember, and this is what I’m talking about when I talk about how scary things got, my 21 dad had my mom pinned up against the refrigerator—after she threw three or four plates at him, one that hit his arm, but would have hit his face if he hadn’t been blocking, and cut it deep. He had the sharp kitchen knife pressed firmly under her chin. If she gulped too hard in fear, or if dad in his stupor lost balance, she would have been bleeding all over the family pictures held by magnets to the fridge. As we grew older, my big brother and I began working under dad instead of merely living under him. Our prospects in life weren’t substantial at that point. Whatever potential we had, it had never been encouraged, so entering into the family business, if it can even be called that, was the only viable option. I woke dad up most mornings from his typical collapse into a face-down, fetal heap on the kitchen floor, sometimes still wet, sometimes already crusted over. I’d say, “it’s time for work, dad,” and he’d drive me to the site where (drinking coffee with whiskey in it on the way) heavy machinery was waiting to be operated—even though we used hammers and nails whenever we could. Stonehenge-sized slabs of cement, wooden pillars, cinder blocks, and iron rods littered the landscape. It was all so disorderly that if a nomad wandered upon the scene, the indication would be of destruction rather than pre-construction. There were no piles of allocated materials or inventoried supply lists. It could have all been salvaged from past demolitions or by thievery from other project sites. We seemed to accrue it all without any kind of exchange or standard of accountability for use. Everything seemed to just show up wherever and whenever we needed it. Who actually made all this stuff? How did we move it from place to place to use from job to job? Who permitted my sodden father to oversee such potentially hazardous 22 projects? He was a self-made man outside the advent of auditing. What did I care then? I was making my way, fashioning for myself a future out of will power, and holding my breath until I could extricate myself from this grim farce. First day on the job, my dad said to me, don’t fuck up, or he’d make me test the bridge before the support beams were all in place. I believed him. That particular bridge wasn’t connecting two sides over a raging river or anything; more of a convenient pathway over a stream, but it was still a threat coming from dad. Second day on the job, my brother James tore partway through his leg with a chainsaw. I heard him yell, but it sounded more out of frustration than terror and pain. He sat down, ripped his immediately blood-soaked pants from where the initial tear was, delicately unlaced and removed his boot so as not to cause more pain, grunting as if he had done nothing more than step in dog shit, and lifted the nearly severed part of his leg that dangled lifelessly like a tube sock on a clothesline, to close the wound, from which I saw steam rising sacrificially to the wintery heavens. He reached forward to grab the excess of sock which, although bunched up at his toes, had a long, tortuous journey before being completely removed. He screamed as he stretched forward, more circumstantially appropriate this time, and this is when I dropped my— whatever, the thing I was holding, I can’t remember what, but I didn’t hear it land because I couldn’t assimilate anything else that may have been transpiring around me. I almost seemed to float over to him, not even aware of my legs propelling me forward. I saw all the blood, but I wasn’t put off by it as much as I thought I probably should have been, and I thought that as I stared at it pooling out. I observed it dispassionately, coldly, but I may not have been breathing. At first sight, it was just an organic pipe that sprung a leak. I think I asked if he was all right but I meant it more like did he think he was going to die. He said to go get dad and that’s when I became afraid. I stood there for I don’t know how long, until he repeated himself more urgently: “Walt!” he said, “Go! Get! Dad!” I listened that time, but I was still very afraid. I was trembling and began feeling like I might faint, and I almost hoped I wouldn’t find dad, that he’d be off drinking somewhere, but he wasn’t. He was drinking right there, over a small mound of dirt, holding a big piece of wood sturdy for someone to do something with. I saw his breath bellow out into the cold with a cough and evaporate as he took a swig from a bottle before sliding it back into his coat pocket, without so much as a pretense of inconspicuousness.The bottle neck stuck straight out and brushed against his elbow, a cumbersome lump sinking down and throwing off his equilibrium further than the ethanol already had. I slowed my pace, tried to regain some composure, and still hoped he wouldn’t notice me. I could claim an attempt at getting his attention, but he just couldn’t be bothered with me. I tried, I’d tell James, but I’ll carry you. I was sure I could have done that. Part of me still wished I could have avoided involving my dad at all. It was selfish, but I thought I might get slapped with the blame. But I yelled, Dad! Come quick! Dad, I yelled again, skidding on the gravel as I spun around, intent on not letting my dad’s impatient glare lock on me, and from that momentum, nearly ascending at a perfectly horizontal angle in the air before I landed face first on those same tiny rocks, a perfect reenactment of self-humiliation on the school playground at recess. I felt all those multiple points of impact, but wasted no time in catapulting myself back up—no time for embarrassment just yet—clawed off the pebbles that clung gently to the tiny dents they bore into my face and palms, and sped back to my brother who, when I reached the dirt-mound summit again, I could see was lying flat, surrounded by the thick, still-steaming purplish puddle which had, since I left him, at least quadrupled in circumference. Not looking back at all during my return sprint to see how far behind me dad was, or even if he followed me at all, I turned from the sight of my brother completely to see him, Dad, shuffling over the mound, bogged down by beer bottles, which could be heard clanging together in his pockets. He was wheezing inhalations of frozen air. He saw James right away, I know it, but he didn’t say anything until he got right up close to him, planting one clumsy boot in the blood puddle with a squelchy, meager splat, like an old-fashioned letter-sealing stamp on melted wax. He leaned over with outward turned elbows and hands on hips, looked at James’ face. James’ eyes were closed. Dad then scanned down to the butchered leg, grimaced, scanned back up to James’ face. James’ eyes were now open again, frigid with shock, and dad said, “pull yourself together, son,” erupting hysterically at his own clever buffoonery. James turned out to live, no real thanks to our father. I ended up having to run to the nearest phone anyway and call an ambulance. He didn’t even lose his leg. He did require a blood transfusion because he lost gallons of it, or at least it seemed like it when I stood there staring at the mess, but his gristly cheeks had their color restored right in front of me, resupplying and, it almost seemed, re-inflat23 ing him to human shape at the coercion of some stranger’s bodily elixir. It worked like sorcery, but far more astonishing because it was methodologically reliable. The warm fluid surged through his veins, and he was ensconced for a moment in a prodigious glow of newfound vitality. Back then, my dad, laughing, called him a lucky son-of-a-bitch, whereas telling the story now, upon reflection and suspension of rational thought, my brother was “touched by an angel.” Now, whenever this celestial creature of mercy is mentioned, who conveniently remains anonymous for humility’s sake I suppose, instead of our dad drunkenly laughing and mocking the situation, James does. An example of an aforementioned fucked up trait passed on in the family. 24 50 FEET TALL Emilie Tomas I was in 5th grade When my class went To see ‘The Human Body’ and I watched In childhood Horror as A 50 foot grin Unfurled, loomed Large enough To pull me Into orbit Devoured First a sandwich And then my Faith in humanity With deafening Smacks Like thunder If thunder Was made Of jelly and Dismay and I Knew it was a Crime to allow a Person to become This Inflated, With every pore Its own path to Hell and I knew I couldn’t trust Anyone because In our heads We are all 50 feet tall. 25 meow you see ashley waalen 26 MOUSETRAP Halle Chambers Minnie “Mousy” O’Mally knew she was invisible up here on her fire escape. This was her safeplace. With the ladder pulled up as it was now, almost no one could reach her here. Plus, even if someone did make it up here, she could easily get away. If she crawled rough the window, she’d be securely locked in the apartment. There, it was warm and dry and at least sometimes safe when her daddy…no, excuse her, correction, “Father or Sir” wasn’t home. He hated when she called him Daddy. He wasn’t home now, out doing illegal God knows what in the “family business,” but he would be back soon. Hence why she was out here. So, no apartment, not right now. If she dropped the ladder, she could slide down to street level in seconds and be down the block in under a minute. She knew, because she’d practiced and had timed herself. The only way to avoid getting hit in the face was to be quick on your feet. That was the first rule of fighting that Jase, her older brother, had taught her. With the life they lived, it was also a rule of survival. And they didn’t call her “Mousy” for nothing: she was small and fast… very fast. Jase could make a distraction, and Minnie could run. But, Jase was working a job that “Father” had given him out of town till this weekend, and she’d surely get caught if she didn’t have her usual head-start. So,“down” wouldn’t work either. If she scaled up the ladder above her, she’d be on the roof, where their oldest brother, Cobie, had often taken her and Jase to stargaze. She hadn’t known till six years into her still short life that he’d done it to keep his precious baby brother and sister away from their father’s sight when the man would come home satellite high or plastered. She hadn’t known till twelve years in that he’d take their father’s hungover backhand on the mornings after, so she and Jase didn’t. All she’d known as he’d taught her each constellation was that Cobie was braver than Orion and that she and her brothers were more inseparable than the Gemini twins. But, her world went as topsy-turvy as Cassiopeia when her father had sent Cobie away, saying he would not have a queer as a son. When Jase and Minnie hugged him, Cobie swore he’d come back for them in a year or so. Jase had given up when he’d been two years gone. That was two years ago, and now even Minnie 27 was starting to doubt. No, she couldn’t go up to the roo, not alone. She shivered in the October chill as she reviewed her options: “in” would be facing her father’s wrath, “down” would be facing being caught by a cop or a stranger, and “up” would be facing a reminder of the happiness, now heartbreak, brought by a brother who was likely never coming home again. So, maybe she couldn’t escape easily…or at all. She shivered again, this time more in frantic panic than from the frigid, near winter city wind. For not the first time in her life, Mousy felt trapped. 28 faces connie kilppen 29 *I DON’T ALWAYS FEEL COLORED Diamonique Walker Sometimes I find comfort in places I somehow know I don’t belong Never a full day, but hours will pass and I won’t consider my brown skin or kinky hair I’ll let the imminent fear of my black body being made into an example fall back to the depths of my mind My daughter’s safety in mixed company won’t occur to me I won’t juxtapose my blackness with any other’s identity confidence As if one chooses randomly from a pile of stock black girl names when they look at me He asks me if my hair is real I tell him he can’t ask me that He says oh it’s okay, my girlfriend is black I’m a dirty smudge on freshly ironed white linens Trying to blend in, trying to live my life I breathe, momentarily Suddenly, I’ll feel breathless, choked Stabbed in the chest Stung by a white hot micro aggressive slap in the face An unsolicited violation of my personal space A pale hand gently pulls a lock of my hair in white amazement Or a thin pair of lips will say “what’s upppppp” to me and not anyone else I’ll get called a name like Jasmine with such utter 30 *Line borrowed from Claudia Rankine, Citizen WHERE I AM FROM Hannah Schmit I am from the forest. From ruddy Maple and heady Pine. I am from the sunlit dust that refracts the life of the breeze. The rough wood of the trees are my bones, roots firmly planted deep in the depths of the cool black soil. Generations have taught me to live in the sun, tan weathered hands, calloused and worn cover small, break earth and sow seeds. Exhaling with the unfurling of new leaves whose first stretch welcomed life, I learned the importance of patience and nurturing. I am from dirt beneath my nails and gritty sand in my teeth. Sap painted hands and hot tar feet, blackened from short dashes across burning pavement that rippled with summer heat. Sandboxes were my kingdom, the layers of silt and sand familiar to my prodding hands. I climbed turreted towers of twisted bark and branches to survey the world and breath in time with the breeze. Twigs and leaves were my crown and a rusty tractor my carriage. My people were the songbirds and insistent cicadas whose songs filtered lazily together through the woods. Sometimes I called back, matching note for note, melodies and harmonies creating a canopy of familiarity. I am from wildflowers who nodded their velvet, satin, and paintbrush heads as I passed by. From dried grasses whose sweet scent rose from rolling waves that undulated under horse-tail clouds above. The gold-fringed top of the corn is my hair as it turns to brown under the autumn sun. I am from the passing of seasons, each marking the time as brilliant red and orange gave way to pristine white and serene gray. Freckles and sunburn traded for pale skin cold kissed cheeks. My life can be counted in scraped knees and bruises, and band-aids and scars, each a story unique unto itself. I am from the water. Clear and silted, still and rushing it surrounds me. The river courses through my veins, its steady pulse my heartbeat. I am from the muted silence of holding my breath. From letting go in the soft pixelated light that swirls lazily in the haze of a murky river. From the dew that rests in early mists that lay as a blanket over a newly purified earth, protecting the last of the dawn. I am from music. Love-strung tunes of lullabies rock 31 my past to sleep and call forth dog-eared memories. Treasured memories that float fragmented in my mind, I was waltzing with my darling… Goodnight, Irene… Then sings my soul… Black Forest I have come to be in this place. Knit sweaters and hand me downs weave the fabric of my personality. The black ink of the notes is stained on my fingers, the lyrics printed out as a map on my mind. My body is movement, ‘full of grace’ as I danced through recitals and music competitions. My history is composed of the ivory keys of a piano board, the metallic strings of a guitar, and the soft wheeze of a musty accordion. I am from survivors. From broken families and lives I was given the opportunity to begin. Out of the ashes of war and blood, death and pain I was taught compassion. The scars remind me of my privilege. A handful of ink-smeared letters, a fading tattoo, and relentless nightmares that went unspoken. Touched by shadows of heartbreak and longing I have learned the fears of disease and pain, the cruelty of man and the destruction of illness. I am from a legacy. Footsteps preceded my very first and taught me how to stand tall—to walk courageously. When I was tired of walking and needed to fly, strong hands lay behind me as I learned to test my own strength. I am from fading memories. From sweat and ploughs, rough tools and run down sheds. My past is a copper foundation of saved pennies stretched with love and trust. The polished wood of a hunter’s gun and tug of a taut fishing line tie me to the land of a generation gone by. I am from the creaking wood of a ship that ferried dreams. From the fjords and 32 I am from strength. From weary hands that sought to move forward. From songs crooned in different tongues, prayers tucked away from missed lives. I am from the sweet smell of tobacco. From a worn brown pipe laid in the top overall pocket. From tales of Shirley Temple and shiny black shoes. From the canoe as it passes over reeds and the click of a cane keeping time with shuffling shoes. From sterilized rooms and flowers with similarly fated owners. I am from loss and tears. I am from the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, from steam and coal. From concrete jungles and log cabins. I am a piece of the past, I am… The rooms of my mind are wallpapered with snapshots of a younger me. Sayings and phrases are the soundtrack of my life. I carry them with me. Tucked in locked and forgotten rooms they wait patiently, longingly for me to recall. future. I seek not where I am going only exist here, as I am. I am from the past. Shaped by the present I live for the future. I am from wanderlust. An incorrigible desire to explore that cannot be quelled with the stillness between heartbeats. I am from the excitement that teeters on the brink of the inevitable. I am pulled at by the gentle whisper of religions. Called to the beauty of holiness in the world, I am grounded in the church yet growing in the temple and the mosque. I am gentle hands that have learned to be useful—to give back. Well-used fingers taught to survive and protect. I am a collection of places and people that I have encountered. In love with humanity, I exchange comfort for experience. I am at home in the concrete jungles constructed from heat-cracked pavement and in the mudpatched hut of the desert. The mountains and caves call to me like the trees and fields of my youth. I am at home in the grand expanse of a world that knows no limits, understands no boundaries. A world that exists, simply to exist. My feet itch to travel down forgotten paths where the dust of ages can billow out from under me and cloud the clarity of the 33 who am i? ashley waalen 34 2 GRATITUDE: A POEM IN FOUR PARTS D.E. Green 1. Le Chaim 2. In Praise of Delusion Each day, my own sunrise, my own morning star: your red head radiates strange aerial spikes. When he walks down the sloping skyway from Memorial to the Music building on his way to a long evening class, he sees his reflection in the large classroom window at the base of the slope. He loves that mirror. In it, he is about a foot taller than his five-fiveand-a-half and twenty pounds lighter. He is younger than his sixty years. The silver hair is less telling. As he approaches, the Other ways slightly, moves with the elegant gait of an athlete or dancer. This, he imagines, is my Norwegian double—tall and slender and (at least from this distance) good-looking. Of course as man and image converge, his Other shrinks into an eastern-European, Semitic, rather compact, little old man. Perhaps (he wonders) I have seen the inner image of myself. Perhaps (he smiles) I am happy just to have illusions. Our son’s beard and long Hasidic locks on a head never bowed in prayer hover over his guitar and, till he gets it just so, a heavy-metal riff. The picture of Ollie, our old pup,— his face speaks love, love, love. Like the holiday meal you’ll pretend to let me cook. Or when your hand gently strokes my heaving shoulder: I am sobbing silently because the movie has ended well—a good death, timely reconciliation, vows revived, a renewed breath. 36 3. Thanksgiving 4: To My Son This morning, as I drive from Northfield to Hampton past field after barren field, three wild turkeys foraging and gobbling at the edge of the road— their white-splashed wings, black-feathered trunks, It’s Friday, Z—, and (as always) time to say how much I love you (and your mom too, since I don’t say it often enough though I feel it every minute) and how much I miss you and hope you can spend a few hours with us and Grandma the first weekend in November. We worry about you every day, ‘cuz that’s our job, but we also have an abiding sense of how strong you are: How much you have been through, how far you’ve come, and how you face each day with grit—and, I hope, love. The latter is so hard to do: Over breakfast your mom and I sometimes sit around and whine about our work, about grading student papers. But a little later I’ll be walking across campus and the light will be just right and I’ll see a familiar face amid a group of young people and—I don’t know why—I feel love. I think that’s the word. And I felt it last time we picked you up downtown and you were talking to some scruffy stranger on the street. And the fact that you can still be open to such encounters—isn’t that love too?— filled me with wonder. It’s funny: Old people, among whom I am about to number, have proverbially been beyond wonder, such a romantic and old-fashioned word. But I swear that I still feel it—and that you are among the wonders of my world. red combs poking and pecking the gravel and weeds—surprise me. I flinch. The car swerves. I breathe. They range unruffled. 37 work in progress gabriel bergstrom 38 THE FIRE Elisabeth Beam I stood with my back to the crowd watching the house go up in flames. It happened faster than I had expected. It had taken less than a minute for the fire to spread from the kitchen to the living room and even less time for it to make its way upstairs and into the bedrooms where Grandma and the twins had been peacefully sleeping. Joel stood beside me; his face was dark with ash, his mouth tilted upwards in a sickeningly gleeful smile. Momma had never liked Joel. She said he was a troublemaker and I should do my best to stay away from him. Joel hadn’t always been mean. When I first met him he would bring me friends and make me laugh. He gave me my grey tabby cat, Walter, and my small white bunny, Snowy. We used to all run around the garden and play and laugh. I didn’t like it when Walter and Snowy played. Walter always hurt Snowy. Joel loved it. Snowy’s pain filled shrieks always brought a smile to his face. Joel would play tricks on Momma. He’d move the chair she was about to sit in and she’d tumble to the floor with a crash and a scream. He would put dead things in the twins’ crib for Momma to find. Once he brought a live snake into the house and slipped it into the shower when Momma was in it. She screamed something awful and had locked me in my room for a week. I always got blamed for Joel’s wicked tricks. Momma brought a lot of new friends to the house after that. She brought in men wearing long white coats who talked with me and asked questions about Joel and Walter and Snowy. Joel would stand behind them as they questioned me and make faces. I didn’t understand why they didn’t just talk to Joel and grew frustrated with their questions. Once Momma brought home a man in a black suit. He walked around the house mumbling in a strange language, throwing water on the walls and waving his cross around like a baton. I thought he was crazy. I told Momma and she told me to hush and sit down. The man stood in front of me yelling in his strange way and holding his cross on my forehead. It was cold and made me uncomfortable. Joel got upset. He didn’t like the man and the way he was 39 shouting. The next thing I knew the man was on the floor bleeding from a gash in his head and Joel was laughing loudly in my ear. A bunch of police officers showed up and Joel told me not to tell anyone what he’d done. He said I should blame it on Momma and she’d go away for a long time and stop bothering us. Momma shouted and cried and struggled as the police dragged her away to the sound of Joel’s gleeful laughter and the twins’ high pitched screams. Grandma came after Momma. She was mean. She locked me in my room and told me to stay there until I learned my lesson. I watched him stalk around the room at night mumbling darkly to himself. Grandma made me to go church with her every Sunday, she said I had to pray for my soul for what I’d done to that man and to Momma. I didn’t understand why everyone blamed me for Joel’s tricks and was tired of being punished for all the naughty things that he did. One night at supper, Joel made scary faces at the twins who started wailing. Grandma stood up and yelled at me as she tried desperately to calm the twins. She told me to go to my room. I said no. I pointed at Joel and yelled at him with all my might. This was all his fault. Grandma sent me to bed. Joel told me they were going to send me away. They would separate us and I would never be able to see him again. I told him I was fine with that because he was being horrible. That upset him. He got Walter and Snowy and made me watch as Walter ate Snowy. I cried. He laughed. Joel woke me up at midnight. He told me we could stay together. Me, him, and Walter, but we had to do 40 something first. He smelt like gasoline. He led me to the kitchen and pointed to the stove which was covered with a sticky, sweet smelling liquid. He told me to open my hands. I did. He handed me a lighter. I didn’t want to do it but Joel got angry when I tried to say no. He yelled and told me to do it for all the times Momma blamed me for something he did. That if I did this everyone would finally realize it was him doing all the bad things and not me. My hands were shaking so bad it took me five tries to get the lighter to ignite. When it did I froze and stared at the small flame in my hands. It flickered with every shuttering breath that came out of my mouth. Joel grew impatient and slapped the lighter out of my hand and onto the stove. There was a large whooshing noise and a blast of orange light. My arm hair stood on end and sweat trickled down my face. I backed away. Joel stood in front of the fire and laughed. He threw his arms out wide and danced in tune with the flames. He was crazy but his movements were so beautiful and fluid. It was frightening. The fire advanced toward me. I didn’t want to move. I wanted the fire to eat me like it was going to eat Grandma and the twins. Joel grabbed my hand and led me outside. We stood to the side and watched as the fire slowly ate up the house I had grown up in. The house that the priest, the twins, and Grandma had all died in. Sirens and smoke filled the night air. I looked to my side for Joel, but he had disappeared. DESERT DRUMS Abigail Carpenter When my London flatmate, Raoni, suggested we travel to Northern Africa because he was missing the heat of Brazil, we had no intention of visiting the Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains. But we quickly made friends with a generous and hospitable Moroccan man, Raxido, who invited us to a local drum circle at the edge of the Sahara Desert. After traveling on camelback against an orange-rayed sunset, we found ourselves among the sand dunes. We parked our camels single file near our camp, and I realized a place that once only existed in my dreams was now before me. I had to close my eyes for a long while. I opened them over and over again until I was sure of it. I had to reach down and let the sand fall between my fingers slowly. I had to breathe in the crisp, evening air. And when I looked up, the stars speckled in the sky like the summer freckles on my face, thousands and thousands of them. When the drum circle began, I let its music fill me up. It started in my toes and moved higher, tickled my fingers and sent goosebumps up my arms and back. The drums vibrated within my chest and when it reached my mouth, I screamed in laughter. My laugh echoed farther and farther across the desert, not meeting any person or town or house until it was miles and miles away. I wrapped my blanket a little tighter and watched my friends dance around the fire to the beat of the drums. Their legs moved up and down as their hands joined the ashes flying through the night air. For many hours, we sat around the fire, told our stories and spoke aloud our dreams. We danced and sang and took turns pounding the drums. We slept under the stars among the silence of the desert for only a few hours until the sun awoke us on the horizon. And moving through the deep sand, the sunrise at our backs, we rode our camels to the bus to escape the desert heat before it swallowed us up whole. 41 COLORS Hannah Schmit If I am a color call me red The color of passion and love Humanity worn on my sleeve The color of my blood, beating heart. Call me red. If I am a season call me fall With baited chilled breath I speak My words on whirlwind breezes fall An omen of changes to come Call me fall. If I am a sound call me silence. The chaos and stillness of calm My words lost yet encompassing In anticipation of something Call me silence If I am a thought call me hope The desire for something more A yearning call deep within me The need to breathe Call me hope. 42 urban delight jazmin crittenden 43 WHEN DAD WORE COLOGNE A. Tetzlaff “Did Grandpa Mike die?” My small voice broke a quiet that Dad and I carry easily between us. A radio frequency connecting our minds that communicates silently, so we don’t have to. Even at the age of three, I knew our sacred, noiseless space well. Dad took me to a park one day, nearby my childhood home. We rarely visited this park unless we intended to use its snowy slope for adrenaline rushes in our bright plastic sleds in the winter time. But it wasn’t wintertime now. My dad wore a blue t-shirt he’d owned since high school. Summer or spring, the season isn’t particularly distinct. The hills rose nakedly as we quietly approached. I’ve come back to the memory time and again; the images are blurred, like a positive photograph that didn’t come out of the darkroom correctly. I can’t recall how my father responded to my question, though I’m sure he patiently and painfully affirmed my query. In that moment I wasn’t shocked. I wasn’t sad. Presently, I regret that I can’t remember a man who loved me and was so dearly loved by others. I don’t know how he looked aside from the pictures I know. How he talked, laughed, 44 yelled, walked, I don’t recall. Did he wear cologne to work like Dad? When I was young, Dad wore cologne to work. He woke up around five in the morning in order to be at work five-thirty, and he still does, despite the fact that no one expects him in the office till eight. I’d hear his alarm from my bed and wait to smell the mix of dewy summer grass and the spicy knives of cologne in my nostrils. The smell lingered and pulled me back to sleep as Dad left the house. On the day at the park, Dad wasn’t wearing cologne. Dad didn’t wear cologne that day because it was either a weekend or he had the day off or had taken time away to grieve. I don’t remember the call to our corded telephone late one night. It was the hospital telling Mom and Dad that my grandfather died of a heart attack while showering. I don’t know if he died immediately or if the attack was slow, painful, cold, and wet. I will never ask. The thought of breaking the stitches grief so tenuously sewed incites trepidation. Was my young face one of his last images? I’m vain enough to assume so––grandparents always think of the grandbabies first. Was it a comfort? I can only hope. At my Grandfather’s funeral, I can’t remember Mom’s grief. I can’t remember the funeral either.She keeps the remnants of her love tended like a flower garden and tells me of her father often. I have nothing but the cemented walkway leading to the park that summer day deep in my mind. Mom tells me that my grandfather lived as long as he did because he was waiting for me. It was a miracle I was even born, but that’s not my story to tell. She calls me “the sparkle in his eye.” Christopher, my younger and only brother, inherited my grandfather’s bright, Anglo-blue irises. He was born the year after my grandfather died. Christopher joined the Army a few weeks ago; my grandfather was a Marine in the 60s. During his service in Asia, my grandfather collected each country’s currency. Grandma keeps the collection in a red leather box in her bedroom closet. I used to step onto a chair and carefully extract the artifact from the top shelf and touch each coin and each bill. Some of those tenders are much extinct now. The souvenirs of my grandfather’s life are far less valuable to me than those of my travels––those, at least, the mugs and the key chains, those have memories attached of the real thing. I’ve spent most of my life scouring photos and objects, trying to resurrect an authentic memory of my grandfather. Trying to find a sensation that brings him back to me like the early morning scent of Dad’s cologne because I only remember the hills and my words and Dad. The solvents of time washed away my grandfather. 45 SHITTY CHRISTMAS TREES AND SECONDHAND DOLLS Elisabeth Beam When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of money. But we managed to survive. Mom worked a lot at the dingy looking Super 8 Motel just down the street from the elementary school. You know, the kind of motel that charges by the hour instead of night. She hated it but it was close to school and paid just enough. Around November she would start picking up shifts at other hotels in town to save up more money for Christmas. It was hard. The heat bill always went up mid-October when the chill started to set in and the snow began to fall. Presents were always an issue. Getting stuff for just me and Sarah was usually alright, but Mom came from a big family. Six brothers and sisters all of whom had kids. All of whom would be needing presents. That’s a lot of money. Money we just didn’t have. One year there was a huge blizzard and they canceled school for a week. Sarah was only six at the time and she couldn’t be left alone to take care of herself much less a five-year-old as well. So mom had to stay home from work and look after us. She tried to make it seem like she wasn’t stressed out about the money, but I knew she was. She would pace around the kitchen at night and mumble to 46 herself. She’d crouch over her checkbook and shake her head. She tried to hide it from us, but I noticed. I always noticed when she got like that. A week of work missed meant we wouldn’t be able to afford the gas to get to grandma’s house for Christmas. And a week with everyone at home meant that the heat bill was going to be rough. She was too proud to try and get food stamps. So money that would normally go towards presents went to buying our Christmas feast. We didn’t go to my grandma’s house that Christmas but it was probably the best Christmas of my life. The day before school let out our landlord took out all the carpet in the living room. He said it was due to be replaced and that someone would be over before the holiday to put down some new carpet. “Your feet will be so happy and thankful! That’s the best Christmas present you could ask for!” he had happily told us. No one came. The floor was cold and there were nails and sharp staples sticking up at weird angles. It hurt to step on them and small red dots appeared throughout the house as we all made the mistake of stepping in the living room without socks. Mom put down an old ratty green rug, one that our cats liked to pee on. She bought a small fake green tree from the thrift shop downtown. It was the saddest looking tree. Most of the branches were missing so it had random bald spots sporadically around its leaning trunk. A good number of the ornaments that we put on it fell off because it couldn’t support their weight. We made new ones out of paper and glitter. Mom wrapped tinsel she’d taken from work around it and Sarah and I sloppily placed string lights. We put an old family picture at the top of the tree because we were too scared that our expensive Christmas angel would fall and break if we tried to stick her up there. Thinking back on it now it was a pretty shitty looking tree, but back then I thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen in my life. I remember sitting on the floor amongst the nails and staples and looking at it glittering and glistening and thinking that it was a far better tree than anyone else could ever have. I thought that even if we’d spend a million dollars on a tree and all its dressings that it wouldn’t even be able to come close to this masterpiece sitting before me. For Christmas Eve we blasted holiday music and ran around the living room twirling and waving our arms above our heads. Mom had somehow found time to make new flannel pajamas for both me and Sarah and we had immediately put them on. She had also given us each a doll that she’d found at a thrift store. They looked ratty and dirty but I loved them both. Every bit of dust and matted patch of hair was a story waiting to be told. The dolls had character and I loved it.That shitty tree and our thrift store dolls were great but they weren’t what made that night so special. It was that we were all together, making the most out of what we had and not lamenting what we were missing. I think as we grow up we lose the magic in secondhand dolls and shitty Christmas trees. 47 summer nights adam ruff 48 the people united adam ruff 49 after the hike adam ruff 50 CRUMBS Malena Larsen He’s looking for love In the crevices of his couch Like loose change. I saw him lift up the cushions And pull out crumbs His mother’s earring A quarter The spoon he dropped last week After eating ice cream out of the container. It was chocolate cookie dough and he ate the whole thing. I watched him put the quarter in his back pocket and the spoon back in the cushions. I told him I had been in love once And he said I like it when girls call me daddy. I had a dream that night that he was dating somebody and my stomach hurt when I woke up. I became a spoon in the couch cushion Who said words like Daddy And Fuck me And Hard. At the end of every night I was put back with the crumbs, and each day that he came to get me there was more cat hair or lint stuck to me I waited patiently Dirty For him to pick me up. It was 77 degrees the late summer night he stopped getting me from the cushions. He told me that he found somebody to love and we can’t be friends, because if I see you I’ll fuck you. I asked him why he couldn’t control himself if he was in love with somebody. The inside of my ribcage Was being scraped empty 51 Like the chocolate cookie dough ice cream container And my stomach hurt Like it did after the dream Where he wasn’t mine I can’t help it. He told me. I like it when girls call me daddy. When we met he was wearing a suit and it looked like he had spent a lot of time on his hair but I didn’t think he was attractive until the weekend when I was drunk. Across the table On the other side of red cups And puddles of water He stared at me In a grey tank top. His eyes And arms Were strong 52 And dark. Making eye contact felt like sex And he smelled like Fireball And somebody I shouldn’t be alone with And too much cologne. We went swimming at 6 am at the neighbor’s lakefront when everyone else fell asleep. He took off his shirt I kept mine on. The water fell off of him like it didn’t want to keep his body covered for too long. He picked me up and folded me over his right shoulder and threw me into the 6 am summer sweet lake water. He drove me home At 7 am Still drunk and Smitten. It was 88 degrees and my birthday the night I let him kiss me in the back hallway of our friend’s frat. I couldn’t wait anymore He told me In the house that smelled like Liquor and dust And damp wood. The first time we Fucked Was in the front seat of his White Pontiac Grand prix At 11 pm on a Tuesday. I saw him almost As an animal. His fists Were clenched And his eyebrows Like shelves Over his beetle eyes. Do you like fucking daddy? After that night I had to sneak him into my bedroom because he couldn’t do all of the positions he wanted to in his car. He needed to prove to me that he was the best fuck and that he could make me cum and that I should call him Daddy. I had never called fucking, fucking before. Before I was a dirty spoon it had only been called love. His eyes started to remind me Of Tiny Round Black beetles. There’s nobody else anymore We should just keep fucking. And when we fucked It was 66 degrees and almost fall when he came to my house in his white Pontiac Grand Prix and told me I remembered then, the quarter he put in his pants and how he used me to eat his ice cream and then put me back with all the crumbs in the cushions of 53 his couch Where he keeps looking for love Like it’s the loose change In his back pocket. 54 bloomed audrey campbell 55 pruned audrey campbell 56 HERMAN Danny Polaschek Grape juice dribbled down Herman’s chin and landed in scattered droplets down the front of his white T-shirt. He didn’t notice and, after setting down his half-emptied glass, picked up his spoon and started on his bowl of bran flakes. Sitting at the kitchen table, there was nothing in front of Herman —but a bare white wall. It seemed, however, that he wasn’t looking at it, but rather through it like a child looks through a window and, seeing nothing but gray skies and rain, is overwhelmed by disappointment because they will not be outdoors playing that day. As Herman sat there facing the white wall and chomping his cereal, his son entered the kitchen and began his morning ritual. Herman heard the coffee-maker start bubbling from somewhere behind him in the kitchen along with the quick and efficient pitter-pattering of his son’s feet, who Herman assumed had to be walking laps around the center island as some sort of new, trendy morning workout. Once the coffee maker’s burbling came to an end the footsteps stopped as well. Herman focused on the sound of the coffee being poured, the soft sound of liquid filling a ceramic mug. The sound stopped as quickly as it had started and Herman was further drawn from his relaxed, monotonous state by the sound of his son’s voice. “How are the flakes this morning, Dad?” Herman didn’t turn around to face his son, but continued with what he was doing, looking like a cow chewing cud. “Five star quality,” he replied in between spoonfuls. “Flaky as ever.” Herman’s son chuckled a bit and looked up from his fresh cup of coffee but the laugh died away when he noticed that his father was still turned away from him, eyes glued straight ahead. Taking another sip, Herman’s son pondered whether he would keep pursuing his father in conversation or not. He ultimately decided against it and left the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. A sigh escaped Herman’s throat as he set down his spoon, finished with his mushed and soggy cereal. Ain’t this the life, he thought to himself sarcastically. Finally turning away from the wall, Herman scooted himself back from the kitchen table and slowly stood up. He gripped the side of the table for balance and took a few deep breaths in an effort to steady himself. Just a few weeks before, Herman had 57 missed a stair descending to the basement and found himself tumbling clumsily down the rest of the way until crashing to a stop on the last few steps. Herman’s head still felt a bit shaky from time to time, which caused a bit of a tremble in his legs. Instead of walking from place to place, he grew accustomed to maneuvering his way to each destination by leaning on and grabbing anything he could for support and then flinging himself to another sturdy checkpoint, and so on and so forth until he reached his goal. It was much like a monkey swinging from vine to vine, but less precise and much less graceful. With his feet finally under him, legs steady, Herman pushed away from the kitchen table and launched himself to the kitchen counter, which caught him with cold indifference. Hunched over, Herman caught his breath for a few seconds before beginning to shuffle down the length of the marble counter towards the coffeemaker at the other end. “This better be a damn good cup of Joe,” he mumbled to himself, clearly exhausted. Halfway down the counter, Herman stopped. With a steady grip on the counter he reached up to the cupboard above his head and swung it open. He couldn’t see inside but he knew that what he was looking for was in there: his old blue coffee mug— one of the only things worth bringing with when he moved into his son’s house the year before. Feeling around the smooth, wooden interior, Herman eventually got a hold of his mug which distinguished itself by having only half of a handle still attached. With the partial handle hooked onto his ring and middle fingers, Herman pulled out his mug and brought it shakily down over his head, setting it on the counter with a soft “clink.” Herman was beginning to feel dizzy at this 58 point, and wished for a moment that he had listened to the doctor about getting a walker. “Mr. Huckley,” the doctor said, “even if you don’t think you’ll use it, take it anyways. Just in case.” Herman didn’t take the walker, and wouldn’t even let anyone help to walk him out of the hospital, not even his son. “I don’t need your damn help,” he snorted each time someone tried to take his arm to steady him. He was always a stubborn man and old age wasn’t going to change that. Continuing down the counter, Herman felt this same stubborn anger boiling in him. He was almost seventy years old and yet he felt like a child who was just learning to walk. He’d built his own home, and a garage to go with it, and now he could hardly make it to the opposite end of the room without feeling fatigued. Sweat was running hot from Herman’s forehead. He wiped it with a shaky hand and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes as he did so. He only had five or so more steps to go and he braced himself for the final stretch, determined to get there even if it killed him. With a focused balance and patient, shuffling steps Herman managed to get to the end of the counter and the coffee pot. He exhaled in relief, and a satisfied smile tugged the corners of his mouth up ever so slightly. With his blue mug in one hand, Herman picked up the coffeepot in the other, intent on pouring himself a well-deserved cup of coffee after his tiresome journey. His satisfaction was immediately replaced with bitterness as he lifted the pot and felt that it was nearly empty, only a few drops remained rolling around in the bottom. Herman’s minute smile had vanished and his brow hardened, scrunching up his forehead in small, tense knots. Setting the pot back on the counter, Herman hissed repeatedly under his breath, cursing his son for not leaving him any coffee. Herman’s hands were visibly trembling and he was having a difficult time keeping a grip on the edge of the counter. He contemplated making more coffee but dismissed the idea immediately, knowing that he could not remain standing and moving around the kitchen much longer. Herman felt a hot flush come over his face and could feel beads of sweat rolling down his temples and his cheeks. In one swift motion he wound up and threw his coffee mug across the room, where it shattered against the windowless, white wall. Slivers and shards of ceramic bounced all over the kitchen, the blue pieces scattered like shattered glass. Herman heard footsteps drumming down the staircase before his son entered the room,stopping in the doorway to avoid stepping on any of the pieces of blue ceramic. “Dad!” he exclaimed, “What happened? Herman was bent over, hunched with his hands on his knees. He was struggling for breath now, and sweat soaked through his shirt on his back. In between wheezes, Herman said exasperated, “You didn’t leave me any damn coffee, you son of a bitch.” His son stood there eyeing first his father and then the indent in the wall where the mug had hit. He shook his head in disbelief, which quickly turned to anger. With a clenched jaw, he left the room and returned a minute later with broom in hand. He began quietly sweeping the blue bits of coffee mug into a dustpan. After Herman had caught his breath and recomposed himself, he pulled his body back into a standing position, leaning against the counter. He glanced to his son, bent over and sweeping under the kitchen table. “I heard you on the phone last night,” he said. Herman kept his eyes on his son as he stood and turned to face him. His son raised an eyebrow at him but gave no verbal reply. “I heard you,” Herman repeated. His son bit his lip and continued sweeping, eyes trained on the floor. “It’s just not working, dad.” 59 EL BARRIO SUYO Chad Berryman El viento le envolvió al hombre como una manta de hielo. Él andaba por el barrio suyo pero los vecinos no lo saludaron. Caminaba delante de una casa grande con flores y grandes ventanas, y por esas ventanas podía oír una pelea entre dos padres y los lamentos penosos de sus hijos. Él seguía la acera que serpenteaba por un parque lindo donde había un banco solitario. Él Lo saludó con la cabeza. Recordaba unas noches del verano cuando este banco no había ofrecido insultos ni acusaciones, sino un lugar simpático para descansar mientras él le regalaba un uso admirable. Pero en el invierno el banco se congelaba como él, y ambos eran incapaces de ayudarse el uno al otro. Paseaba delante de una casa blanca de arquitectura maravillosa. Un coche altanero llegara la entrada. Un padre sincero apareció mientras acababa de contar los acontecimientos de su día. Su hija miraba su celular, y el silencio suspiró por la expresión herida de la cara del padre. Ellos entraron a la casa sin otra palabra. El hombre nómada seguía caminando, y pronto la nieve dentro de sus venas se derretía por una balada antigua que se tarareaba al ritmo de sus pasos. 60 No pido mucho, no vivo de prisa canto los himnos con risa bendita no tengo nada salvo alma amada y sin despedida no hay la llegada THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD Chad Berryman The frigid air wrapped around the man like a blanket of ice. He was travelling through his own neighborhood, but no neighbors acknowledged him. As he walked in front of a large, picturesque house, complete with flowers and giant windows, he could make out the sound of two parents fighting accompanied by the upsetting cries of their children. The sidewalk snaked its way through a park in which there stood one solitary bench. With a nod of his head, the man greeted it. Nights of summers past filled his mind, nights in which the bench had not offered insults or accusations but rather a consoling place of rest while he presented it with the gift of an honorable purpose. However, the bench froze and shivered in the winter the same as he, and neither could provide the other with any relief. He passed by a white house of grand construction. There, a flashy car had just pulled into the driveway. From it emerged an earnest father finishing the recounting of his day. His daughter, however, simply stared at her phone, and the wounded expression on her father’s face betrayed an unsung sigh. The two entered the house without another word. As the wandering man continued walking, the snow in his veins began to melt due to an old tune he commenced to hum in time with his steps. I don’t ask for much, or live in a rush in my blessed laughter the hymns come alive there’s nothing I own save a soul that is loved for without a farewell one could never arrive 61 ODYSSEY Eve Taft Thank you for the twisted pathways of your mind Which led to the streets and alleyways of Dublin James Joyce, do you understand that you opened floodgates? Your avalanche of babbling sentences, sans punctuation Buck Mulligan tossing form and style into the wind Your catechism, you, Daedalus, gave us sacrament Blood flow to wake up the numb limbs of literature You spoke with your soul to our souls Fearing not the noise in your skull but flinging it down in ink I understand you, “life is many days” I understand you, “god is a shout in the street” I understand you, “I am another now and yet the same” You understand me “everything speaks in its own way” Soon I’ll visit your beloved homeland Walking the streets of Dublin, writing and giving thanks to modernism Now as free of rigid form As Ireland of England 62 postcards from my bedroom audrey campbell 63 postcards from my bedroom audrey campbell 64 COUNTING SHEEP Danny Polaschek What can you do when the world is asleep? Go to sleep too? I’ve counted all my sheep. They jumped through the air gliding for 5 or 6 feet cleared the fence and then flew with not even a bleat. I didn’t focus however on these aerial sheep antics because far away in the distance was a sight oh so fantastic. A blue house, with a single light on in the window sat a girl a beauty no pencil could ever have drawn. I looked up at her and she down at me addicted to the eyesight too distracted to count sheep. 65 3 sky nights keeyonna fox 67 inner self keeyonna fox 68 VICTORY OF THE PEOPLE Petra S. Shaffer-Gottschalk Your worship was my refuge, your clay heart my focal point, your chelsea smile the apple of my eye. We were sick. We poisoned ourselves with amphetamines and pills until we didn’t recognize ourselves in the mirror. We walked miles just to feel accomplished in our space, we turned the cigarettes we shared into sentiments we thought we shared. I must possess the wrong innocence. Souls are fickle things that change when left to die in the cold. ~ He was outrageously tall. He towered over me like the Statue of Liberty and he talked to me as though I was a boat in the harbor. Standing five inches taller than six feet, he was an image of Ukrainian beauty. He stood like someone who knew things you didn’t know and this fascinated me. I was so naive, so optimistic. I saw the lust and want in his eyes and I mistook it for passion.The curve of his jaw and his long eyelashes crept into the screens behind my eyelids and ignited a fire in me that I didn’t know how to put out. I was the new girl in town struggling to keep my loneliness at bay. He was a gleaming light in that summer of darkness. I had just moved to Minnesota months before. After discovering drugs and promiscuous sex I became nothing short of a hurricane. Amphetamines kept me awake, cigarettes kept me skinny, and weed kept me sane. My GPA reflected exactly what they don’t tell you about functional depression: you can feel like a blank page, but as long as you fill it with words people will stop asking questions. He was selling me drugs. He offered me a good price. I had never met him but I figured what the hell, I could stand to meet new people. It was dark, long past sundown. We were meeting in a parking lot by a lake a few blocks away from my house. I was in my mom’s car. I waited and listened to Amy Winehouse until I saw an orange car pull into a parking spot a few yards away from me. The man driving fit the picture I had seen of him before. We 69 made eye contact and he ushered me over to his car. I took a deep breath, grabbed my sweater, and got my money ready. He rolled down the passenger side window. “You Nikita?” I said. He smiled at me. A smile that I would come to know. “You can call me Kita.” ~ He had really good drugs. I’m not sure that they were pure, but at the time I didn’t care. Neither did he. We just wanted to get high. We did his drugs together, sitting in a playground by the lake, talking about life and what we crave. He told me that he was applying to a college in London. I didn’t think anything of it. Before long we saw each other every day. He was a lifeguard who had to be on duty early in the morning, so he would take me out for coffee at eight in the morning. No makeup, sweatpants, my hair in a messy bun. He didn’t care. We would talk about things that we hadn’t shared with anyone else. He told me he struggled with his relationship with his father in Ukraine. I told him that I had struggled with eating disorders since I was thirteen. We would sneak out onto his back porch to smoke cigarettes late at night. His mother hated that we smoked. 70 “You need to quit smoking, love,” she’d tell me. “I smoked for twenty-five years and it took two pregnancies to get me to stop.” His mother loved me. She thought that I was spunky, independent, had a mind of my own. She did not like his last girlfriend. She made that very clear. She, like Nikita, was very tall. She had long curly black hair and eyes so intense that you would lose your appetite. Her Russian accent was thick and powerful. She had run away to the United States when she was twenty-one and seven months pregnant with her first son. Nikita. “Does it mean anything?” I asked him. “Your name.” He smiled when he answered. “My mom told me it means ‘victory of the people,’” he said. Oh Kita, you have no victory. You are the secret I keep from my mother the hidden disease that projectile vomits and digs with fingernails sharpened by teeth. Your fields of sunflowers told me a secret, your secrets so dark and beautiful and I killed myself with your gargantuan sunflowers. His mother was beautiful. She had been a professional figure skater that traveled the world, meeting people as she went. She met Kita’s father in her home country of Ukraine and according to the story, he was immediately drawn to her exuberant personality and her long legs. At twenty-one she was well on her way to continue pursuing a successful skating career until she got pregnant. According to Kita his father did not accompany her to her appointments.He did not send her flowers. He did not ask if she was okay. Instead Kita’s mother made her way to America to create a life of victory and hope. He took me to meet his grandmother. She said hello and came in and that was the last that I understood. The entire time I was there she would ask me questions in Russian and Kita would translate for me. He taught me how to say Hello (Privet) Yes (da) No (net) And thank you, which I don’t remember. We spent almost the entire time we were there trying to help his grandmother set up a new movie streaming program on her computer. I know nothing about computers in English, let alone in Russian. I was overwhelmed. The leather furniture just made my nervous sweat more noticeable. She told me about Ukraine a little bit. She said it was beautiful but troubled. She offered me chocolate and cookies. I sat, sweating, trying my hardest to pay attention. When I said anything to her, Kita would translate for me. I wanted to leave. After we left his grandmother’s house he told me to wait in his car while he talked privately with his grandmother. I thought it was strange but didn’t question it. I played mindless games on my phone while I waited for him. Some part of me knew that they were talking about me, but I continued to deny it. I was hungry, but I wasn’t planning on doing anything about it too soon. I was hungry often then. When he returned to the car I asked what they had talked about and with no hesitation he said, “You.” I paused, then asked him to elaborate. “She likes you,” he said. And that was that. How strange, I thought, to be liked by someone who never explicitly spoke a word to me. ~ Andrevich was Kita’s middle name. Named after his father. Kita’s father was very handsome. In his forties with tan skin and thick hair, he was a heartthrob that would make you look twice. He lived in a nice, expensive apartment in Kiev with his girlfriend who was twenty years younger than him. Apparently that was a theme. Kita had only seen his father a handful of times in his life. He had gone back to Ukraine to spend some time with him as a young boy, but didn’t have too much recollection of it. When he was sixteen he went back to live with his father and his twenty-yearold girlfriend for a while. Kita has always been tall, thin, and handsome. His father noticed this. “So what happened?” I asked him one day. 71 Kita shrugged. “He kicked me out and I came back to the states,” he said without a flinch. He said this as though it was a commonality. “He thought that I fucked his girlfriend,” he said as he lit a cigarette. There was a very long, uncomfortable silence. “Did you?” I asked. He laughed out loud and a cloud of smoke poured out of his mouth. “No, of course not,” he said. “My dad isn’t one to listen to a sixteen year old.” ~ “I’ll take you to Ukraine someday.” “Sunflowers. There are parts of Ukraine where there are endless fields of sunflowers wherever you look. They’re as tall as me and the flowers are bigger than my face.” He pulled me closer as he talked about Ukraine. He insisted that I learn all that I could about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, sending me innumerable articles daily. Through him I learned about the importance of the Ukrainian revolution and fights that had been fought, some as recent as 2011 and 2012. He told me that he wanted to fight for his people if he had to. When my eyes were flushed with concern, he pulled me in close and whispered in my ear, “I’ll survive for you.” His eyes lit up every time he talked about the fields of sunflowers in Ukraine. In the same way, his eyes lit up every time he got angry. Your golden eyes drew miners to starve and fight to abandon their homes. We were in his bed, naked, wrapped up in blankets and speckled by the corner light in his room. It was late, the kind of late that feels early. The air conditioner hummed in the place of our phones which were both off and hidden somewhere in the room. He did no wrong. He could not do any wrong. His eyes were blank but telling like a wall in a foreclosed home. All of his intentions were good. Yes. Good. “Where in Ukraine?” I asked. “Have you been eating?” he asks as he lifts up my shirt. “Kiev, the city squares. And to the huge fields of flowers.” “What kind of flowers?” 72 ~ I squirm away and pull my shirt down. “Yes, I ate just before I came here,” I say. I can still taste the salt in my mouth. “You look skinny,” he tells me with a hint of disdain in his voice. My heart soars. I look skinny. But he’s reaching for my stomach again and once again I’m backing away. We get into the car and drive to the gas station. I say that I need to go use the restroom. While Kita pumps the gas, I make my way into the small Holiday bathroom. I put my sweater on the ground and rest my knees on it, my usual routine. I stick my finger down my throat and vomit into the toilet. As I walk back outside, Kita is getting back into his car. I get in the front seat and sniffle slightly.Kita looks at me quizzically. “You okay?” he asks me. My eyes are watery, my nose is burning, and my breath is putrid. “I’m fine,” I say with a smile. ~ The elevator door was so cold against my cheek. I watched the red numbers blink as they rose. 8...9...10...11. My vision was going fuzzy and grey, my ears started ringing and throbbing. 11...12...13. Ding. The doors opened and my wobbly legs carried me down the seemingly endless hallway. My hands were barely working; as I watched them push my key into my apartment door I could not feel it. The door opened, I could see my living room window. I closed the door behind me and collapsed on the ground. “Why did you faint?” His words echoed behind the screen of my phone. “I just haven’t eaten a lot today.” There was a silence so deafening that it struck fear in my heart. Fear I had not known. “When did you eat last?” He had anger in his voice. I paused. He would know if I lied but he would hate the truth. “I had a little dinner last night,” I said quietly. “What did you eat?” His reply was sharp. I was shaking. “I had a little bit of salad I think,” I said with a quivering voice. I could hear his sigh. I can still hear his sigh. “How many times have we talked about this?” He exclaimed. “I know, I know, I’m sorry…” It didn’t matter. He didn’t listen. I had failed him again. “Do you know what it’s like to have a girlfriend that can’t even take care of herself ?” “What am I going to tell my friends?” “You’re not even trying.” I was sobbing, I was convulsing, I was sweating, all from my bed from which I could not move. My phone was glued to my ear and I had no energy to remove it. “So what are you going to do about this?” There was intense spite in his words. With a shaky voice I said, “I could send you a picture of everything I eat?” He laughed. With his full, angry throat he laughed 73 at my pain. “And do what? Post it on Facebook? Show all my friends that my girlfriend is an anorexic who can’t even feed herself ? You know what, go ahead. Maybe that’ll help you change.” I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to die. My stomach kept whispering “never again, never again, never again.” Opening my mouth made me panic because it reminded me of eating. I hung up my phone and with wobbly legs I walked outside in the snow and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. ~ Months go by. Months. I watched him pack his bag with clothes that I had never seen him wear. He packed light, only a few shirts and two pairs of pants. “My dad will buy me more when I get to Ukraine,” he said. I sat on the edge of his bed and watched him focus on folding his clothes. His visa sat in the center of the bed, staring at me. I started to cry. “Babe, it’s going to be fine,” Kita said without breaking focus. I watched him form a pile of the shirts that I had grown used to him wearing. They looked like wilted flower petals. 74 “Why aren’t you taking those?” I asked, pointing to the wilted pile. “My father won’t like them,” he said. Later that night, we were drinking red wine in his bed. His room was bare and cold. I was curled against his side, my head on his chest. He stroked my bare back and played with my hair. I sighed, but not the kind of sigh that’s followed with kisses. Kita sighed too. “Petra,” he said, a tone of exasperation in his voice. “If I ever treat you like my father treats women, please leave me.” ~ I still remember how to say “I love you” in Russian. “я люблю тебя.” Ya lyublyu tebya. ~ My fingers were bones. Anything beyond mascara was too much, especially lipstick. He hated lipstick. He thought that it brought too much attention to my mouth. He didn’t like when other people noticed me. He stopped smoking cigarettes and instructed me to do so too. “They’ll make you age faster,”he would say. If I had a bad day and smoked a cigarette, he would tell me he was disappointed. I lived with three men at the time, something that Kita would never let me forget. He asked every few days to be sure I wasn’t sleeping with any of my roommates. If I was spending too much time with a friend, he would tell me that I was neglecting him. He sent me articles outlining how to be a better partner. He reminded me that he just wanted me to be the best that I could be. The screaming and hour-long phone calls were footnotes. You stripped me of my dignity and told me, “This is what you have.” Your monstrous arms crawl into my nightmares Your titanic stature collided with my glacier and though you claim I sank you You were a behemoth and I was a stone. At the end, I fell into the ground. His screams surrounded me in my echo chamber and suffocated me. My knees were bruised from kneeling in front of the toilet all night. How apt for the one accused of dropping to her knees for all men. I was free but I did not know it yet. All I knew was the cold floor of my bathroom and the tales of beautiful but troubled Ukraine. My goodbyes have been said, These addictions fed. It’s the cost that comes with the sickness. And your screams won’t be heeded anymore. 75 AN OPEN LETTER TO THE UN-SPECIALS Halle Chambers When we are little, even before we can speak We are told that we’re special and that we’re unique. That we all are made different and that none are the same Which fits quite nicely in a toddler’s mind frame. And we are told we should treasure what’s different inside, That what makes us different is not something to hide. But then quite soon after, things start to change; The word “different” stops meaning “special” and starts meaning “strange.” We’re sectioned off from our average peers In our own little category and told, “you belong here,” And then different is bad and normal is good, And for the different ones, nothing is working the way that it should The way we’ve been taught or the way we’ve been shown All we know is that we do not like being lost on our own. 76 So once again we are taken away To a place where things makes sense again and we’re ok: Where no one hurts us, Where no one can see, Where no one deserts us, Where we can be free. But because the un-specials can’t see what goes on, They decide to make things up and get so much wrong. And it’s happened for years because they can’t see through that door. So long they don’t even know that it’s wrong anymore. It’s so fixed in their heads that these lies are right; They judge each special kid by their stereotype. But today that will end. So you sit there and you wait, cause it’s about time someone set the dang record straight. You probably think that this poem won’t cut it, But today I’m gonna open the door and don’t you dare shut it! To start, let’s be clear: I am...I was in Special Ed. But just because I was in that room doesn’t mean I’m brain dead! So for Pete’s sake, don’t puppy dog guard me! Just give me a break, it isn’t that hard see: If I need your help, I will tell you I do. Just please, Please don’t mock me. In my place, would you want me to mock you? “Oh come on! Let her get it! Go easy on her!” Help, where not needed, is almost as bad as a slur. I’m not invalid So don’t play that card. Yeah, I’m a little quirky and oversensitive, But I’m not, and I quote, “A little retard.” Yeah, I’ve been called names. And those words? They hurt. They catch in the center, In your pit of self worth. And they tear and they rip, And those words are collective. Soon you start to believe that you are defective. I’ve dealt with them all, and surprisingly, I actually prefer the straight up bullies To those who pretend to like me. Fake friends and two-faces Of all genders and races. They’re only my friends so they don’t have to see me cry. Or they use me, abuse me, Oh, how they confuse me! Cause I can’t tell what’s truth and what’s lie. “Hey! He likes you. Go give him a kiss!” And because I don’t know better, I believe this. But soon I find they’re not playing Cupid, They just wanna make me look stupid. For their entertainment, they make me play the 77 fool; They pretend that they care for me When they’re really just cruel. It takes time and takes work to make you forget; Even now, I’m not quite there yet. I mean, here I am, in what’s supposed to be home, And yet here I am, still feeling alone. I’m still paranoid, it doesn’t just end; I still have to ask if someone’s my friend. I say one thing and mean another; I make a mistake, But you take it verbatim. Can’t you cut me a break? If we’re talking and I look like I’m lost, Don’t blow it off like it’s not worth the cost. Sarcasm and subtlety muddle in my brain, So please just take a minute to explain. Do these quirks make me broken? Is there something wrong with me? The way society has spoken, There would seem to be. 78 Stop poisoning the minds of “different” young women and men. I don’t like being defective.... Can I be special again? SOREX PALUSTRIS Emilie Tomas Did they name you for Your wit, pointed Nose of pointed judgement Who brought us fire; five to seven inches of shrewd truth? Or was it your mischief That Inspired them? Your Presence followed by screams And a three inch tail. I saw your likeness on a stage, Dirt in place of your midnight coat Though she is reformed now. Perhaps it was the gleam in your Eyes; whispered fortunes and A summer of silver birth. Maybe you are a messenger Of God, somehow in your Eighteen months you learned to walk On water, the second coming Of Christ. 79 woodsy adam ruff gabriel bergstrom 80 WORDS Malena Larsen The bathroom wall was covered in words. Words like fuck and love and song lyrics and names with hearts around them. His body looked peaceful, somehow, as he sat propped and slumped against the door. His head hung to his right shoulder and his mouth was open like he was about to say something but was interrupted. There was blood running down his left arm like a river and a needle hung loosely out of his skin. The words that he had heard her say several hours earlier were getting quieter and quieter. “It’s not working,” she had told him. “I’m sorry.” They were smoking cigarettes outside her apartment when she said it. She knew he had been trying to fix himself. After twenty-eight days of treatment and one week in a sober house on Lake and Fifth she barely recognized him. He was twenty-five pounds heavier and his skin looked clean and strong; there was no more grey in his cheeks. It wasn’t just his change in appearance that scared her. Lately, he had been telling her the difference between wrong and right and that she should stay in on the weekends. His family couldn’t stop talking about how proud they were of him and they would ask her, “Doesn’t he just seem so much better?” She would answer with yes but feel guilty because she wished he still liked to make mistakes. His family had a party after he got out of treatment and his grandfather kept saying things like, “Men in this family have always been strong!” and, “Now he can take care of you.” His grandfather didn’t care for her much but he felt that she was the least of the boy’s problems. He didn’t like the way she hung on him like a scarf or the way she agreed with everything he said without a second thought. As he sat on the bathroom floor the words she had said were getting quieter and quieter. They were almost gone. He had been sober for thirty-five days and he didn’t know why. He didn’t feel better or stronger or more loved. His hand lay loosely on the floor, palm up and open like he was waiting for somebody to hold it. Everyone was so proud of him but he couldn’t imagine living his life without her. Long after her words had faded completely, the bathroom door opened. He fell back onto the floor. His head hitting hard against the tile. 81 “Oh my gosh!” The man who opened the door yelled. “Can someone help?” He took out his phone to call 911. A crowd of people rushed over to where the man was dialing. A young man pushed past the group of people. “Move!” The boy got on his knees by the body on the floor. He reached into his pocket and took out something that looked like a pen. He stuck it into the arm of the body that was needle free. People gasped and murmured and watched. Sirens rang in the distance. The boy holding the pen looked up at the bathroom wall that had words like fuck and love and song lyrics and names with hearts around them. He looked up at the group of people. “It’s not working,” he said. 82 MALCOLM AND THE BLUE SIDE Danny Polaschek Brown leaves dragged past Malcolm’s feet in the wind. The bench underneath him felt like a rock and he had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. He stared at the empty playground—the tire swing, the slide, the bridge and the fireman’s pole. Nikki rested her head on his shoulder. Each time a breeze swept through, Malcolm could feel her nuzzle slightly closer, her hair scratching and tickling his neck. When he was a kid, Malcolm had sat on this exact same bench many times with his mother. They lived in a little blue house just a few blocks away— “just a hop and a skip,” his mother would say and Malcolm would make it his mission to jump and bunny-hop the whole way there. When they arrived, they’d eat lunch, sitting together on the narrow, wooden bench. After each bite of his sandwich, Malcolm would beg his mother to let him go play, to which she would give in once she herself had finished eating. He always went straight for the slide. Once at the top, he’d yell, “I’m going under!” and swing himself down into the blue plastic tube. He imagined he was a deep-sea diver plunging into an underwater world of sunken pirate ships and forgotten chests of gold. On particularly sunny afternoons, he’d stop halfway down the slide and admire the shadows that moved about on the illuminated, blue plastic. He’d make believe that fish swam all around him as little blotchy shadows hovered whimsically over his head. He eventually got the idea to bring his crayons to the park with him. He’d sit lodged in the blue slide for most of the day, drawing exotic fish with bright oranges, yellows and reds. He knew fish didn’t smile but nevertheless gave them all wide grins and big eyes to match. When it was time to go home, his mother would knock from the bottom of the slide. “Time to come back to shore!” she’d announce. Malcolm would hide his crayons in his back pocket and slide down to his mother who would wait there with open arms grinning at him. The park seemed smaller now. Malcolm was just as tall as the fireman’s pole and half as long as the slide. He wondered if his fabricated underwater universe still existed. Probably not, he guessed. Although it was getting dark, Mal83 colm could see thick graffiti creeping out from the shadows inside the blue slide. Malcolm pulled his sweatshirt tighter around his neck, brushing Nikki away in the process. He felt her eyes on his face but refused to acknowledge her. Inside the slide, he could still make out the words “Bitch Ass” in thick spray paint. His crayon drawings would certainly be gone, he was sure of it now. Nikki picked up Malcolm’s hand and caressed it, her cold skin feeling leathery and smooth. “Malcolm,” she said. Malcolm turned and mustered a smile, taking Nikki’s hands to his face and kissing them awkwardly. “Malcolm, let’s go home.” The streetlights had not yet turned on for the evening. Malcolm noticed the shadows on the sides of the road stretching out and growing bigger as they walked quietly past. He missed the warm sunshine of summer and the hot nights spent lounging in the front yard listening to his mother’s radio; he missed the walks to the park, his mother laughing at him as he crouched and hopped along beside her. He remembered the secret thrill of the crayon box in his back pocket, then realized he’d forgotten his cigarettes on the bench at the park. He was too cold to turn back. He reached out silently for Nikki’s hand and, finding it much warmer than his own, held it stiffly the rest of the walk home. 84 driving at zero one john herbert 85 driving at zero two john herbert 86 PLACEMAKERS Diamonique Walker Near my home, Balloons dance in the wind. I have reconditioned myself — These are not balloons from a party, But they still celebrate a life. I drive by, sometimes I walk. And see a balloon or several With their heads bobbing away Positioned obscurely on the sidewalk. Or on the island in the middle of the highway. Sometimes on no one in particular’s grass. I don’t look for party decorations. At the feet of the balloon’s ribbons, candles, cards and little trinkets sit. Some kind of offering. Looking weathered and dull. His body bled some place close by. Probably killed within ten feet. A dancing, mocking balloon Somehow now gets to sway in his place. 87 NECESSARILY AN EVIL THING CONSIDERED IN ANY LIGHT Jacob J. Miller “You know what I hate about this most of all?” asked the first man. “Nobody’s going to be around to take responsibility. Nobody is going to have to answer for their crime.” “What crime is that?” the other man asked, sitting next to him in the middle of the cul-de-sac, both of them at perfect leisure in lawn chairs as if waiting for a parade to pass by. “Mass-murder, I suppose. Call it, oh, I don’t know. Call it, um, inciting the apocalypse.” “Ha.” “They deserve to be the ones left behind after they obliterate everyone else. They should be the ones who have to reap the aftermath, puke out their guts and feel their bile boil inside their stomachs, fend off marauding cannibals and giant insects. And they should have to live with the new world they created, or destroyed, rather.” Just then, the other man looked down and saw a lonely ant crawling up his pant leg. “Yeah, but I don’t think that giant bug stuff is true. That wouldn’t happen. The bugs’ll die like everything else.” “I mean, what do you think it’ll be like? I 88 know it’ll happen instantaneously, but they say the cerebral cortex functions after everything else has shut down and we linger in a sort of dream-state, which could last for, well, for who knows how long?” “Well, that’s if you’re in a hospital bed, or you have a heart attack or something, when you have time to die with a little bit of peace. Our brains are going to incinerate along with the rest of us. There won’t even be any stuff of thought anymore. I don’t think we have to worry about something like that.” “But what if that moment of pain before we go lasts longer, you know? What if time stands still? Nothing makes sense in a moment of such lunacy. Such catastrophe. What if we feel our tongues liquefying and spilling down our throats and scalding our internal organs? What if, all in that moment, we look down, and before our eyes boil and burst from the heat we see our bones glowing purple through our flesh as it begins dripping off like wax? What if you turn and look at me and the last image you see is my face melting off like those Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark?” “I’m not sure it’s the best time to be thinking like that,” his friend said, as the sirens began to wail their sorrowful last. “Why even bother with that fucking thing?” the man steamed. “It’s inconsiderate, a futile exhortation. We know what’s coming. We’re not going to hide in our basements from it like it’s a fucking tornado.” “Tornadoes aren’t so easy to hide from either.” The first man scanned the horizon for what he knew would be the last time. He took in the sight of the skyline he saw from his window every day and, with lamenting eyes, imaginatively anticipated its supplanting by a fiery mushroom climbing the sky. He closed his eyes and winced, unable to cope with the unthinkable thought, the impossible inevitability. Turning his head toward a neighbor’s yard whose household ran a daycare, he opened his eyes to a post-apocalyptic tableau of children’s toys scattered about the lawn. Nothing needed yet be aflame for the man to resent the picturesque cliché of innocence lost on display before him. “Remember when they used to tell kids to hide under their desks?” he inquired. “All that siren is doing is making sure that we spend our last moments in a panic, instead of dying gracefully, accepting that we’re all in the same sinking ship, in the middle of the ocean, if the ocean were the entire planet, and filled with lava instead of water. We should be spending our time reminiscing, because that’s all we have now.” “Well, we can’t talk about our plans for the future.” “We can’t discuss potential medical advancements.” “The coming cure for cancer.” “And cloning organs. Scholarships our children just received, the singularity and will the Matrix ever become a reality; would we ever make contact with life elsewhere in the universe, intercept an asteroid, mine them for resources? It’s all useless, man, meaningless. Every human achievement since the first spark made from one rock dragging against another, gone within the next hour,” he sighed heavily, draping a ribbon of helplessness over his words of outrage. “Why don’t you open that up?” He suggested, pointing at the bottle of scotch sitting at the leg of his friend’s chair. His friend took a swig before passing it over with a satisfied groan. “Here’s to everything we do being the last time it will ever be done,” the first man began. “That’s the best I can do.” “Yeah,” the other man raised an empty hand, toasting to the end and everything that came before it. “I suppose there’s something beautiful about the entire world—or nearly the entire world—going out the same way. There’s a kind of universal solidarity occurring right now, don’t you think? Some are praying, no doubt, some are exalting their various saviors, certain they will be raptured up any minute, but we’re all still going to be experiencing the same thing, at almost the exact same time; the same heat, the same instantaneous moment of searing pain before any trace of our molecules are imprinted as a shadow on the asphalt beneath us.” He had a complex contraption of a chair, one of the men—it doesn’t really matter which one now that the end was there; the kind of chair that folds upward from all four corners and was nearly 89 impossible to fit back into its cylindrical carrying sack—not that that mattered anymore either— complete with cup holders and a detachable headrest, which he was putting to use as he spoke. His friend’s chair was more old-fashioned, a conventional folding lawn chair with a checkered pattern of flimsy plastic wrapped taut around aluminum pipes, wobbly hard plastic armrests drilled in and not quite parallel to each other. Their chair legs began melting into the tar beneath them. One of the men hummed softly; a beautiful soundtrack to accompany him in the cut to black. The other man closed his eyes and, focusing on the sounds of the encroaching death rattle, heard them as the grunts and whinnies of the four horsemen’s horses as they galloped atop the planet’s rapidly spreading dust. 90
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Title: Murphy Square 2017: Murphy Square Visual Art and Literary Magazine
Collection: Literary Journals
Search Result: MURPHY SQUARE VISUAL ART & LITERARY MAGAZINE ISSUE 42, 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD Malena Larsen, Editor In Chief Abigail Tetzlaff, Associate Editor Audrey Campbell, Art & Layout Editor Cassie Dong, Art Editor Jazmin Crittenden, Art Editor Elisabeth Beam, Prose Editor Abigail Carpenter, Prose Ed...
Show more MURPHY SQUARE VISUAL ART & LITERARY MAGAZINE ISSUE 42, 2017 EDITORIAL BOARD Malena Larsen, Editor In Chief Abigail Tetzlaff, Associate Editor Audrey Campbell, Art & Layout Editor Cassie Dong, Art Editor Jazmin Crittenden, Art Editor Elisabeth Beam, Prose Editor Abigail Carpenter, Prose Editor Ryan Moore, Prose Editor Gabriel Benson, Poetry Editor Danny Polaschek, Poetry Editor Cary Waterman, Advisor 2 WITH THANKS TO Ivy Arts Copy and Print Augsburg College Student Government Augsburg College English Department Augsburg College Art Department The Echo Augsburg Honors Program QPA 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 What Type of Black Girl Are You? Nikkyra Whittaker ........................................................................... 8 Simul Justus et Peccator, Andy Anderson .......................................................................................... 11 Queer, Eve Taft ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Jesus in a Cracker, A.Tetzlaff ................................................................................................................ 14 Grey Cloud Island, David Baboila ......................................................................................................... 17 Saint Paul Airport, David Baboila .......................................................................................................... 18 White Bear Lake, David Baboila ............................................................................................................ 19 Zips Coliseum, David Baboila ............................................................................................................... 20 Bridge, Jacob J. Miller ............................................................................................................................ 21 50 Feet Tall, Emilie Tomas ...................................................................................................................... 25 Meow, Ashley Waalen ............................................................................................................................ 26 Mousetrap, Halle Chambers .................................................................................................................. 27 Faces, Constance Klippen ..................................................................................................................... 29 I Don’t Always Feel Colored, Diamonique Walker ............................................................................... 30 Where I am From, Hannah Schmit ......................................................................................................... 32 Who Am I?, Ashley Waalen .................................................................................................................... 34 2 Gratitude, D.E Green .............................................................................................................................. CSBR, Gabriel Bergstrom ...................................................................................................................... The Fire, Elisabeth Beam ........................................................................................................................ Desert Drums, Abigail Carpenter .......................................................................................................... Colors, Hannah Schmit ........................................................................................................................... Urban Delight, Jazmin Crittenden ......................................................................................................... When Dad Wore Cologne, A. Tetzlaff .................................................................................................... Shitty Christmas Trees, Elisabeth Beam ............................................................................................... Summer Nights, Adam Ruff ................................................................................................................... 36 38 39 41 42 43 44 46 48 The People United, Adam Ruff .............................................................................................................. 49 After the Hike, Adam Ruff ..................................................................................................................... 50 Crumbs, Malena Larsen ......................................................................................................................... 51 Bloomed, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................................................... 55 Pruned, Audrey Campbell ...................................................................................................................... 56 Herman, Danny Polaschek ................................................................................................................... 57 El Barrio Suyo, Chad Berryman ............................................................................................................. 60 The Neighborhood, Chad Berryman ..................................................................................................... 61 Odyssey, Eve Taft .................................................................................................................................... 62 Postcards From My Bedroom, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................. 63 Postcards From My Bedroom, Audrey Campbell ................................................................................. 64 Counting Sheep, Danny Polaschek ...................................................................................................... 65 3 Sky Nights, Keeyonna Fox ...................................................................................................................... 67 Inner Self, Keeyonna Fox ....................................................................................................................... 68 Victory of the People, Petra S. Shaffer-Gottschalk ............................................................................. 69 An Open Letter to the Un-specials, Halle Chambers ...........................................................................76 Sorex Palustris, Emilie Tomas ................................................................................................................. 79 Woodsy Adam Ruff, Gabriel Bergstrom .................................................................................................. 80 Words, Malena Larsen ................................................................................................................................. 81 Malcom, Danny Polaschek ....................................................................................................................... 83 DRIVING AT ZERO ONE, John Herbert ................................................................................................... 85 DRIVING AT ZERO TWO, John Herbert ................................................................................................... 86 Placemakers, Diamonique Walker ........................................................................................................ 87 A Necessary Evil Thing Considered in any Light, Jacob J. Miller ....................................................... 88 1 WHAT TYPE OF BLACK GIRL ARE YOU? Nikkyra Whittaker On the spectrum of being black and female, we can only be what we appear to be. Take this quiz to find out what kind of black girl you really are! 1. You’re listening to the radio on the way to Target. You’re playing… a. Beyonce’s “****Flawless” b. Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” or “You Belong With Me” or “Wildest Dreams” c. Chris Brown’s “Loyal” d. Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock” 2. It’s your day off work. What will you be doing? a. Blowing off steam on Facebook. b. Watching old episodes of One Tree Hill c. Out for drinks and scoping eye candy d. Talking shit with the ladies while drinking Moscato! 3. What’s your dream home like? a. Full of books on systemic oppression b. Beverly Hills penthouse c. Some big shot rapper’s mansion d. Spacious New York Loft 8 4. Your favorite TV show is… a. Docu-series on race b. Sex in the City c. Bad Girls Club d. Love and Hip Hop 5. Finally, who’s your favorite female icon from this list? a. Angela Davis b. Taylor Swift c. New York from I Love New York d. Nicki Minaj Tally up how many of each letter you got and turn the page to find out who you really are! If you got mostly a’s...You’re an Angry Black Girl! Congratulations, you loud-mouthed, anger filled home-girl! I’m guessing there’s always some reason to be mad at someone, isn’t there? Do you just spend your days in a perpetual state of rage, angry at the world for reasons they don’t find important? Do you find yourself constantly snapping your fingers in that z-formation, pursing your lips at anyone who steps in your way? I bet people are telling you to just be quiet, huh? I mean, what issues could you, a black female, possibly have? Why should you care that your high school English teacher gives you a C+ on your essay because she thinks you copied it from the white man online? Why does it matter that your male co-worker at Target constantly teases you about your nappy hair, calling it a “brillo pad,” “cheeto puff,” or some other clever name? None of this should anger you! Be aware, you sassy Sapphire, in this world, your anger means nothing. If you got mostly b’s...You’re an Oreo! You grew up watching Lizzie McGuire and listening to Aaron Carter. You straightened your hair from the moment you were old enough to assert yourself and cried when it wouldn’t lay flat. Your friends were always shocked to see you bring collard greens and jambalaya to lunch so you stopped eating your favorite foods. They didn’t understand why you couldn’t just brush your hair, wash your hair everyday, why it suddenly grew or shrunk inches overnight. I’m certain you’ve heard from many of your friends how they just don’t see you as a black girl. They erase your black skin because it doesn’t fit the images of other black girls they see. You spend most of your time edging away from the loud black girls, the ghetto black girls who ate hot cheetos and drank kool aid and had corn rows and long braids and smelled like a mix of the jungle and your ancestors pain and you wished, maybe for a just a moment, but you did wish that you could be white. But honey, you can never wash off that melanin! It’s a permanent stain. Just because your friends can’t see the black on you, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t. 9 If you got mostly c’s...You’re a Hip Hop Ho! You sexual deviant you! Let me guess—big breasts, small waist, and wide hips? You’ve got that original Betty Boop to you, something in your eyes that say yes to a question no one bothers to ask. You’re the black girl that white guys use as a notch in their belt. You are the exotic sexual being that men love to hate and hate to love. You became a sexual thing at a young age, when your breasts came in at ten years old and became d-cups at fourteen. They started looking at you differently, didn’t they? Your eyes stopped existing. Your words didn’t matter. Your body became the tool used to diminish your worth. How often did you get yelled at in school to put on something less revealing than your shorts? Did you ever wonder why the skinny, flat-assed white girls were never told the same thing? Honey, your wide hips wrapped in chocolate skin were never yours. You will never be yours. 10 If you got mostly d’s...You’re a Ghetto Fabulous Black Girl! You make what little money you can working at Walmart or doing nails. You make people waiting at the bus stop with you uncomfortable with your loud laughter and yellow and pink braids and long, bedazzled nails. You toss your weave around, remove your earrings, and square up to anyone that says shit about you. When you’re out, you are often told to stop yelling, screaming, taking up space. You’ve got baby daddy problems and you’re only 18. You grew up playing double dutch in the middle of the street with old rope. You accept your black, your ghetto, your Ebonics. But you are not supposed to accept yourself, honey! Don’t you see the fashion police spreads in the magazines? You are on all the pages! Don’t show your hips. Put on a shirt that conceals your stomach. Put your breasts away. Don’t wear bright lipstick. Stop standing out, being different. Get smaller, quieter, lesser, as you are supposed to be. You love your black too loudly and it makes others uncomfortable. Your job is to make people comfortable so do your best to limit the loudness of your melanin. simul justus et peccator andy anderson 11 QUEER Eve Taft You think there isn’t a sign on my ribs that says “stonewall inn”? You think Matthew Shepard doesn’t tug at my hair and warn me as I walk the streets of my city? You think I don’t choke on the smoke from the hellfire you spit from your pulpits with sparks that sear and heat branding irons which scar your names on me to mark me as danger? You think my veins don’t shiver when they think of the devastation wracking the cities that some called deliverance while Reagan fiddled as we burned You think that the prisons pink triangles asylums bullets spitting into a nightclub don’t whisper in my head as I make my way through the world? 12 You think that I don’t notice— I kiss her and kiss her —the headline blowing by with a death toll and I kiss her the skyline splashing out behind us the lights on the Washington Avenue bridge flicker on and I kiss her Putin criminalizes us, across the world I kiss her Vigils held too late for young suicides Corrupting, perverted, disgusting, an affront to family values— I kiss her in the rain and the sleet of Minnesota I kiss her, our lips tasting of chants from the protest that shut down I-94 handed down from our grandmothers hearts beating, eyes sparkling, alive I kiss her You think I forget the lists and the candles and the deaths and the pain and all that roars in my ears is a chorus screaming over and over again you were not able to kill us I kiss her and all is still 13 JESUS IN A CRACKER A. Tetzlaff Eucharist I hugged my father’s black, pleated pants while we waited for mass to start. He was beaming proudly and chatting with the rest of our family. I wore the only dress I allowed to touch my body: by then it was a year old and from my uncle’s wedding when I walked down the aisle carrying a bouquet, looking like a blonde deer caught in front of a semi truck. It had a black velvet top connected to a white skirt. All the girls wore white. My parents cut their losses. All the boys, shirt and tie. Eight-year-olds taking their first communion despite the fact that most of us had no idea what was happening. Understanding the sacraments isn’t really necessary when you grow up in a Catholic family. By the time you are aware of your burden, it’s too late anyway. Religion lived at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Between church and home, I lived in a realm of contradiction. I came to visit religion, but it never went home with me. On Sundays when the game was in town, God would not judge you for wearing your Packer jersey to church. Sinning was bad, but you could tailgate and drink and carouse to your heart’s content. We should have taken beer at 14 that first communion. We would have appreciated it more than the wine. We took our places in the ritual that had been performed again and again. The time-worn ritual begins anew as I walk to the altar with my hands folded in front of me. I must remember to raise my hands high enough so the rheumatic priest doesn’t have to bend down. Right hand over left. I’m a blonde deer again. “The body of Christ.” This is the part where I say, “Amen,” whether I mean it or not, then put the communion wafer in my mouth. I must cross myself (right hand touching head, then left shoulder, then right shoulder) as I walk back up the aisle and toward my family. They liked to sit in the middle section, never too close to the altar. They didn’t like making direct eye-contact with the priest during his homily. To this day I skip the wine for fear of communicable diseases. It stuck to the roof of my mouth, this first communion wafer. It was stale. There was no substance. Maybe the parched flour and water, mixed with the lingering incense is actually what Jesus tastes like. The absorbent clump lasted into the next hymn. Saliva rushed into my mouth and eventually the wafer, heavy with mois- ture, fell from the roof of my mouth. I swallowed without chewing. Just go with it, I told myself. All these people believe in this, so one day, you will too. But I wasn’t sure. I didn’t get it. The power that kept me from running back up the aisle wasn’t the love of God gently pushing me along, but the ritual itself, and the expectation of my parents and grandparents watching proud and probably dewy-eyed as I joined their ranks. Hugs and smiles and congratulations as my family comes out of the first communion Mass, but I wasn’t sure what was such cause for celebration; I hadn’t had a great epiphany about God, nor had I felt any change at all. It was just like every Sunday late in October. head and tell me I was forgiven. “Sometimes, I’m not very nice to my mom or my brother,” I told him. Navitity didn’t own a confessional booth like the ones in movies. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a confessional booth at any Catholic church outside the movies. We sat quietly in a tiny room. Being small for my age, I circled the air below me with my feet. I sat facing him directly. He crossed his legs under the cassock he wore, clearly annoyed. After a silence and a slow nod, the priest said, “Sometimes, we hurt the people we love the most.” It was the only part I heard or remember hearing; he started talking about God’s forgiveness, I assume. I didn’t pay attention, because I didn’t feel different after admitting such a pitiful sin. Marriage I had no ill-feeling toward the physical place of church. In fact, the ritual, the sounds, the smell of incense, and the light that filtered through the stained-glass windows from an Easterly rising sun became familiar and comforting over the years. The nave, filled with old pews, had witnessed my parents’ wedding and my grandparents’ weddings. The organ towered over the choir. The smell of old patrons and Sunday cologne too liberally applied became a sensory memory of that place. However, religion has never been an inward practice; the practice and the scene never joined together. Anointing of the Sick When times are bad, I’ve pulled the fragments of ritual from my memory and recite the “Our Father.” I did this in the winter of my eighteenth year in days following my grandfather’s funeral. He died of bladder cancer, worsened by a communicable bacterial infection called C.Difficile. I became familiar with the ritual of funeral; I’d been to three or four for close relatives. But this time, the ritual felt different. Before, I was sad. My grandfather’s funeral confirmed that the only sacred part of my world had been ripped mercilessly from my arms. Reconciliation “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”As the words come out of my mouth, they themselves felt sinful. I hadn’t sinned, I was eleven. I barely knew what sin was. I had to stop a moment to think of a sin I had committed, so the priest could nod his Baptism I sat in the shower until the water hitting my face was colder than I could stand, reciting the “Our Father” over and over, sobbing. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. I hoped, over so many repetitions, that my view 15 of God and heaven would change. Yet, it confused me more. Religion stopped looking like the patron blind to reality and became a place where I didn’t belong. Like I was missing out because I didn’t get that epiphany, and didn’t have that same faith. Confirmation Religion was so stale, that when my Mother would occasionally talk about faith, or God, or divine love at the dinner table I would blush with pity and embarrassment. How can you believe this? I thought, how can you be so blind to the real world? Perhaps, I’m the blind one. I continue to live in an intermediate space between faith and atheism. I can’t commit to either. The fence between atheism and faith is fraught with angst. Most days, I try to laugh away my uncertainty. I tell jokes about my Catholic past, chuckle when I hear of “recovering Catholics,” and tell friends, “It smells like a Catholic church in here,” whenever they burn incense. Religion is still stale to me. Religion has no nutritional value. Stale religion has no holy orders. 16 grey cloud island david baboila 17 saint paul airport david baboila 18 white bear lake david baboila 19 zips coliseum david baboila 20 BRIDGE Jacob J. Miller This was not way back when, as my dad would have you believe. It was more recent than that. If he can’t flat out deny it, which he no longer can, he will at least try to convince you that it was so long ago as to suggest it might have been a different lifetime, and he a different person. He has been, after all, Born Again. Except he was not the only person involved, and to carry along as if he was is an exercise in what I’ve heard philosophers call solipsism. For him, his transgression was between himself and the Holy Ghost: accountable not to those he wronged, only to an invisible spirit. But he doesn’t have sole authority in determining the past’s relevance or irrelevance to our lives today. My mother too pretends the past is only what has happened at a particular point in time, and not a factor in what determines what has happened since then and what is happening now. The slate wiper theory of forgiveness is what allowed them to wear their veneer of innocence and believe in its authenticity, and for that reason I resent their new-leaf turnover. My love for them may not be emergent in my words, I know, but I do love them, regardless of the fucked up traits they passed on to their children, which will become evident as this story unfolds You might be wondering, if you care at all, what could be so terrible. Well, it’s not so terrible, and not even very uncommon, but it happened to me, and my brothers and my sisters, and there was never anything we could really do about it. We watched it unfold almost every night to reveal its rotted pit. What was scariest was not when a half-full beer bottle would be hurled in our direction for us being too noisy, and then being held responsible for wasting the beer, and getting punished even more for that. What was scariest was when they fought with each other, mom and dad, when they were both liquored up. All of us children would be sitting in the living room, on our knees, in a line, with our hands folded and tucked inside our clenched thighs, having hitherto been fulfilling our playful, childish duties who couldn’t expect things to go so suddenly and intensely wrong. They would fight about anything, or nothing, for all we knew or cared. They would yell, swear, slam their fists on various surfaces, throw things across the room at each other as if rehearsed. One time, I remember, and this is what I’m talking about when I talk about how scary things got, my 21 dad had my mom pinned up against the refrigerator—after she threw three or four plates at him, one that hit his arm, but would have hit his face if he hadn’t been blocking, and cut it deep. He had the sharp kitchen knife pressed firmly under her chin. If she gulped too hard in fear, or if dad in his stupor lost balance, she would have been bleeding all over the family pictures held by magnets to the fridge. As we grew older, my big brother and I began working under dad instead of merely living under him. Our prospects in life weren’t substantial at that point. Whatever potential we had, it had never been encouraged, so entering into the family business, if it can even be called that, was the only viable option. I woke dad up most mornings from his typical collapse into a face-down, fetal heap on the kitchen floor, sometimes still wet, sometimes already crusted over. I’d say, “it’s time for work, dad,” and he’d drive me to the site where (drinking coffee with whiskey in it on the way) heavy machinery was waiting to be operated—even though we used hammers and nails whenever we could. Stonehenge-sized slabs of cement, wooden pillars, cinder blocks, and iron rods littered the landscape. It was all so disorderly that if a nomad wandered upon the scene, the indication would be of destruction rather than pre-construction. There were no piles of allocated materials or inventoried supply lists. It could have all been salvaged from past demolitions or by thievery from other project sites. We seemed to accrue it all without any kind of exchange or standard of accountability for use. Everything seemed to just show up wherever and whenever we needed it. Who actually made all this stuff? How did we move it from place to place to use from job to job? Who permitted my sodden father to oversee such potentially hazardous 22 projects? He was a self-made man outside the advent of auditing. What did I care then? I was making my way, fashioning for myself a future out of will power, and holding my breath until I could extricate myself from this grim farce. First day on the job, my dad said to me, don’t fuck up, or he’d make me test the bridge before the support beams were all in place. I believed him. That particular bridge wasn’t connecting two sides over a raging river or anything; more of a convenient pathway over a stream, but it was still a threat coming from dad. Second day on the job, my brother James tore partway through his leg with a chainsaw. I heard him yell, but it sounded more out of frustration than terror and pain. He sat down, ripped his immediately blood-soaked pants from where the initial tear was, delicately unlaced and removed his boot so as not to cause more pain, grunting as if he had done nothing more than step in dog shit, and lifted the nearly severed part of his leg that dangled lifelessly like a tube sock on a clothesline, to close the wound, from which I saw steam rising sacrificially to the wintery heavens. He reached forward to grab the excess of sock which, although bunched up at his toes, had a long, tortuous journey before being completely removed. He screamed as he stretched forward, more circumstantially appropriate this time, and this is when I dropped my— whatever, the thing I was holding, I can’t remember what, but I didn’t hear it land because I couldn’t assimilate anything else that may have been transpiring around me. I almost seemed to float over to him, not even aware of my legs propelling me forward. I saw all the blood, but I wasn’t put off by it as much as I thought I probably should have been, and I thought that as I stared at it pooling out. I observed it dispassionately, coldly, but I may not have been breathing. At first sight, it was just an organic pipe that sprung a leak. I think I asked if he was all right but I meant it more like did he think he was going to die. He said to go get dad and that’s when I became afraid. I stood there for I don’t know how long, until he repeated himself more urgently: “Walt!” he said, “Go! Get! Dad!” I listened that time, but I was still very afraid. I was trembling and began feeling like I might faint, and I almost hoped I wouldn’t find dad, that he’d be off drinking somewhere, but he wasn’t. He was drinking right there, over a small mound of dirt, holding a big piece of wood sturdy for someone to do something with. I saw his breath bellow out into the cold with a cough and evaporate as he took a swig from a bottle before sliding it back into his coat pocket, without so much as a pretense of inconspicuousness.The bottle neck stuck straight out and brushed against his elbow, a cumbersome lump sinking down and throwing off his equilibrium further than the ethanol already had. I slowed my pace, tried to regain some composure, and still hoped he wouldn’t notice me. I could claim an attempt at getting his attention, but he just couldn’t be bothered with me. I tried, I’d tell James, but I’ll carry you. I was sure I could have done that. Part of me still wished I could have avoided involving my dad at all. It was selfish, but I thought I might get slapped with the blame. But I yelled, Dad! Come quick! Dad, I yelled again, skidding on the gravel as I spun around, intent on not letting my dad’s impatient glare lock on me, and from that momentum, nearly ascending at a perfectly horizontal angle in the air before I landed face first on those same tiny rocks, a perfect reenactment of self-humiliation on the school playground at recess. I felt all those multiple points of impact, but wasted no time in catapulting myself back up—no time for embarrassment just yet—clawed off the pebbles that clung gently to the tiny dents they bore into my face and palms, and sped back to my brother who, when I reached the dirt-mound summit again, I could see was lying flat, surrounded by the thick, still-steaming purplish puddle which had, since I left him, at least quadrupled in circumference. Not looking back at all during my return sprint to see how far behind me dad was, or even if he followed me at all, I turned from the sight of my brother completely to see him, Dad, shuffling over the mound, bogged down by beer bottles, which could be heard clanging together in his pockets. He was wheezing inhalations of frozen air. He saw James right away, I know it, but he didn’t say anything until he got right up close to him, planting one clumsy boot in the blood puddle with a squelchy, meager splat, like an old-fashioned letter-sealing stamp on melted wax. He leaned over with outward turned elbows and hands on hips, looked at James’ face. James’ eyes were closed. Dad then scanned down to the butchered leg, grimaced, scanned back up to James’ face. James’ eyes were now open again, frigid with shock, and dad said, “pull yourself together, son,” erupting hysterically at his own clever buffoonery. James turned out to live, no real thanks to our father. I ended up having to run to the nearest phone anyway and call an ambulance. He didn’t even lose his leg. He did require a blood transfusion because he lost gallons of it, or at least it seemed like it when I stood there staring at the mess, but his gristly cheeks had their color restored right in front of me, resupplying and, it almost seemed, re-inflat23 ing him to human shape at the coercion of some stranger’s bodily elixir. It worked like sorcery, but far more astonishing because it was methodologically reliable. The warm fluid surged through his veins, and he was ensconced for a moment in a prodigious glow of newfound vitality. Back then, my dad, laughing, called him a lucky son-of-a-bitch, whereas telling the story now, upon reflection and suspension of rational thought, my brother was “touched by an angel.” Now, whenever this celestial creature of mercy is mentioned, who conveniently remains anonymous for humility’s sake I suppose, instead of our dad drunkenly laughing and mocking the situation, James does. An example of an aforementioned fucked up trait passed on in the family. 24 50 FEET TALL Emilie Tomas I was in 5th grade When my class went To see ‘The Human Body’ and I watched In childhood Horror as A 50 foot grin Unfurled, loomed Large enough To pull me Into orbit Devoured First a sandwich And then my Faith in humanity With deafening Smacks Like thunder If thunder Was made Of jelly and Dismay and I Knew it was a Crime to allow a Person to become This Inflated, With every pore Its own path to Hell and I knew I couldn’t trust Anyone because In our heads We are all 50 feet tall. 25 meow you see ashley waalen 26 MOUSETRAP Halle Chambers Minnie “Mousy” O’Mally knew she was invisible up here on her fire escape. This was her safeplace. With the ladder pulled up as it was now, almost no one could reach her here. Plus, even if someone did make it up here, she could easily get away. If she crawled rough the window, she’d be securely locked in the apartment. There, it was warm and dry and at least sometimes safe when her daddy…no, excuse her, correction, “Father or Sir” wasn’t home. He hated when she called him Daddy. He wasn’t home now, out doing illegal God knows what in the “family business,” but he would be back soon. Hence why she was out here. So, no apartment, not right now. If she dropped the ladder, she could slide down to street level in seconds and be down the block in under a minute. She knew, because she’d practiced and had timed herself. The only way to avoid getting hit in the face was to be quick on your feet. That was the first rule of fighting that Jase, her older brother, had taught her. With the life they lived, it was also a rule of survival. And they didn’t call her “Mousy” for nothing: she was small and fast… very fast. Jase could make a distraction, and Minnie could run. But, Jase was working a job that “Father” had given him out of town till this weekend, and she’d surely get caught if she didn’t have her usual head-start. So,“down” wouldn’t work either. If she scaled up the ladder above her, she’d be on the roof, where their oldest brother, Cobie, had often taken her and Jase to stargaze. She hadn’t known till six years into her still short life that he’d done it to keep his precious baby brother and sister away from their father’s sight when the man would come home satellite high or plastered. She hadn’t known till twelve years in that he’d take their father’s hungover backhand on the mornings after, so she and Jase didn’t. All she’d known as he’d taught her each constellation was that Cobie was braver than Orion and that she and her brothers were more inseparable than the Gemini twins. But, her world went as topsy-turvy as Cassiopeia when her father had sent Cobie away, saying he would not have a queer as a son. When Jase and Minnie hugged him, Cobie swore he’d come back for them in a year or so. Jase had given up when he’d been two years gone. That was two years ago, and now even Minnie 27 was starting to doubt. No, she couldn’t go up to the roo, not alone. She shivered in the October chill as she reviewed her options: “in” would be facing her father’s wrath, “down” would be facing being caught by a cop or a stranger, and “up” would be facing a reminder of the happiness, now heartbreak, brought by a brother who was likely never coming home again. So, maybe she couldn’t escape easily…or at all. She shivered again, this time more in frantic panic than from the frigid, near winter city wind. For not the first time in her life, Mousy felt trapped. 28 faces connie kilppen 29 *I DON’T ALWAYS FEEL COLORED Diamonique Walker Sometimes I find comfort in places I somehow know I don’t belong Never a full day, but hours will pass and I won’t consider my brown skin or kinky hair I’ll let the imminent fear of my black body being made into an example fall back to the depths of my mind My daughter’s safety in mixed company won’t occur to me I won’t juxtapose my blackness with any other’s identity confidence As if one chooses randomly from a pile of stock black girl names when they look at me He asks me if my hair is real I tell him he can’t ask me that He says oh it’s okay, my girlfriend is black I’m a dirty smudge on freshly ironed white linens Trying to blend in, trying to live my life I breathe, momentarily Suddenly, I’ll feel breathless, choked Stabbed in the chest Stung by a white hot micro aggressive slap in the face An unsolicited violation of my personal space A pale hand gently pulls a lock of my hair in white amazement Or a thin pair of lips will say “what’s upppppp” to me and not anyone else I’ll get called a name like Jasmine with such utter 30 *Line borrowed from Claudia Rankine, Citizen WHERE I AM FROM Hannah Schmit I am from the forest. From ruddy Maple and heady Pine. I am from the sunlit dust that refracts the life of the breeze. The rough wood of the trees are my bones, roots firmly planted deep in the depths of the cool black soil. Generations have taught me to live in the sun, tan weathered hands, calloused and worn cover small, break earth and sow seeds. Exhaling with the unfurling of new leaves whose first stretch welcomed life, I learned the importance of patience and nurturing. I am from dirt beneath my nails and gritty sand in my teeth. Sap painted hands and hot tar feet, blackened from short dashes across burning pavement that rippled with summer heat. Sandboxes were my kingdom, the layers of silt and sand familiar to my prodding hands. I climbed turreted towers of twisted bark and branches to survey the world and breath in time with the breeze. Twigs and leaves were my crown and a rusty tractor my carriage. My people were the songbirds and insistent cicadas whose songs filtered lazily together through the woods. Sometimes I called back, matching note for note, melodies and harmonies creating a canopy of familiarity. I am from wildflowers who nodded their velvet, satin, and paintbrush heads as I passed by. From dried grasses whose sweet scent rose from rolling waves that undulated under horse-tail clouds above. The gold-fringed top of the corn is my hair as it turns to brown under the autumn sun. I am from the passing of seasons, each marking the time as brilliant red and orange gave way to pristine white and serene gray. Freckles and sunburn traded for pale skin cold kissed cheeks. My life can be counted in scraped knees and bruises, and band-aids and scars, each a story unique unto itself. I am from the water. Clear and silted, still and rushing it surrounds me. The river courses through my veins, its steady pulse my heartbeat. I am from the muted silence of holding my breath. From letting go in the soft pixelated light that swirls lazily in the haze of a murky river. From the dew that rests in early mists that lay as a blanket over a newly purified earth, protecting the last of the dawn. I am from music. Love-strung tunes of lullabies rock 31 my past to sleep and call forth dog-eared memories. Treasured memories that float fragmented in my mind, I was waltzing with my darling… Goodnight, Irene… Then sings my soul… Black Forest I have come to be in this place. Knit sweaters and hand me downs weave the fabric of my personality. The black ink of the notes is stained on my fingers, the lyrics printed out as a map on my mind. My body is movement, ‘full of grace’ as I danced through recitals and music competitions. My history is composed of the ivory keys of a piano board, the metallic strings of a guitar, and the soft wheeze of a musty accordion. I am from survivors. From broken families and lives I was given the opportunity to begin. Out of the ashes of war and blood, death and pain I was taught compassion. The scars remind me of my privilege. A handful of ink-smeared letters, a fading tattoo, and relentless nightmares that went unspoken. Touched by shadows of heartbreak and longing I have learned the fears of disease and pain, the cruelty of man and the destruction of illness. I am from a legacy. Footsteps preceded my very first and taught me how to stand tall—to walk courageously. When I was tired of walking and needed to fly, strong hands lay behind me as I learned to test my own strength. I am from fading memories. From sweat and ploughs, rough tools and run down sheds. My past is a copper foundation of saved pennies stretched with love and trust. The polished wood of a hunter’s gun and tug of a taut fishing line tie me to the land of a generation gone by. I am from the creaking wood of a ship that ferried dreams. From the fjords and 32 I am from strength. From weary hands that sought to move forward. From songs crooned in different tongues, prayers tucked away from missed lives. I am from the sweet smell of tobacco. From a worn brown pipe laid in the top overall pocket. From tales of Shirley Temple and shiny black shoes. From the canoe as it passes over reeds and the click of a cane keeping time with shuffling shoes. From sterilized rooms and flowers with similarly fated owners. I am from loss and tears. I am from the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, from steam and coal. From concrete jungles and log cabins. I am a piece of the past, I am… The rooms of my mind are wallpapered with snapshots of a younger me. Sayings and phrases are the soundtrack of my life. I carry them with me. Tucked in locked and forgotten rooms they wait patiently, longingly for me to recall. future. I seek not where I am going only exist here, as I am. I am from the past. Shaped by the present I live for the future. I am from wanderlust. An incorrigible desire to explore that cannot be quelled with the stillness between heartbeats. I am from the excitement that teeters on the brink of the inevitable. I am pulled at by the gentle whisper of religions. Called to the beauty of holiness in the world, I am grounded in the church yet growing in the temple and the mosque. I am gentle hands that have learned to be useful—to give back. Well-used fingers taught to survive and protect. I am a collection of places and people that I have encountered. In love with humanity, I exchange comfort for experience. I am at home in the concrete jungles constructed from heat-cracked pavement and in the mudpatched hut of the desert. The mountains and caves call to me like the trees and fields of my youth. I am at home in the grand expanse of a world that knows no limits, understands no boundaries. A world that exists, simply to exist. My feet itch to travel down forgotten paths where the dust of ages can billow out from under me and cloud the clarity of the 33 who am i? ashley waalen 34 2 GRATITUDE: A POEM IN FOUR PARTS D.E. Green 1. Le Chaim 2. In Praise of Delusion Each day, my own sunrise, my own morning star: your red head radiates strange aerial spikes. When he walks down the sloping skyway from Memorial to the Music building on his way to a long evening class, he sees his reflection in the large classroom window at the base of the slope. He loves that mirror. In it, he is about a foot taller than his five-fiveand-a-half and twenty pounds lighter. He is younger than his sixty years. The silver hair is less telling. As he approaches, the Other ways slightly, moves with the elegant gait of an athlete or dancer. This, he imagines, is my Norwegian double—tall and slender and (at least from this distance) good-looking. Of course as man and image converge, his Other shrinks into an eastern-European, Semitic, rather compact, little old man. Perhaps (he wonders) I have seen the inner image of myself. Perhaps (he smiles) I am happy just to have illusions. Our son’s beard and long Hasidic locks on a head never bowed in prayer hover over his guitar and, till he gets it just so, a heavy-metal riff. The picture of Ollie, our old pup,— his face speaks love, love, love. Like the holiday meal you’ll pretend to let me cook. Or when your hand gently strokes my heaving shoulder: I am sobbing silently because the movie has ended well—a good death, timely reconciliation, vows revived, a renewed breath. 36 3. Thanksgiving 4: To My Son This morning, as I drive from Northfield to Hampton past field after barren field, three wild turkeys foraging and gobbling at the edge of the road— their white-splashed wings, black-feathered trunks, It’s Friday, Z—, and (as always) time to say how much I love you (and your mom too, since I don’t say it often enough though I feel it every minute) and how much I miss you and hope you can spend a few hours with us and Grandma the first weekend in November. We worry about you every day, ‘cuz that’s our job, but we also have an abiding sense of how strong you are: How much you have been through, how far you’ve come, and how you face each day with grit—and, I hope, love. The latter is so hard to do: Over breakfast your mom and I sometimes sit around and whine about our work, about grading student papers. But a little later I’ll be walking across campus and the light will be just right and I’ll see a familiar face amid a group of young people and—I don’t know why—I feel love. I think that’s the word. And I felt it last time we picked you up downtown and you were talking to some scruffy stranger on the street. And the fact that you can still be open to such encounters—isn’t that love too?— filled me with wonder. It’s funny: Old people, among whom I am about to number, have proverbially been beyond wonder, such a romantic and old-fashioned word. But I swear that I still feel it—and that you are among the wonders of my world. red combs poking and pecking the gravel and weeds—surprise me. I flinch. The car swerves. I breathe. They range unruffled. 37 work in progress gabriel bergstrom 38 THE FIRE Elisabeth Beam I stood with my back to the crowd watching the house go up in flames. It happened faster than I had expected. It had taken less than a minute for the fire to spread from the kitchen to the living room and even less time for it to make its way upstairs and into the bedrooms where Grandma and the twins had been peacefully sleeping. Joel stood beside me; his face was dark with ash, his mouth tilted upwards in a sickeningly gleeful smile. Momma had never liked Joel. She said he was a troublemaker and I should do my best to stay away from him. Joel hadn’t always been mean. When I first met him he would bring me friends and make me laugh. He gave me my grey tabby cat, Walter, and my small white bunny, Snowy. We used to all run around the garden and play and laugh. I didn’t like it when Walter and Snowy played. Walter always hurt Snowy. Joel loved it. Snowy’s pain filled shrieks always brought a smile to his face. Joel would play tricks on Momma. He’d move the chair she was about to sit in and she’d tumble to the floor with a crash and a scream. He would put dead things in the twins’ crib for Momma to find. Once he brought a live snake into the house and slipped it into the shower when Momma was in it. She screamed something awful and had locked me in my room for a week. I always got blamed for Joel’s wicked tricks. Momma brought a lot of new friends to the house after that. She brought in men wearing long white coats who talked with me and asked questions about Joel and Walter and Snowy. Joel would stand behind them as they questioned me and make faces. I didn’t understand why they didn’t just talk to Joel and grew frustrated with their questions. Once Momma brought home a man in a black suit. He walked around the house mumbling in a strange language, throwing water on the walls and waving his cross around like a baton. I thought he was crazy. I told Momma and she told me to hush and sit down. The man stood in front of me yelling in his strange way and holding his cross on my forehead. It was cold and made me uncomfortable. Joel got upset. He didn’t like the man and the way he was 39 shouting. The next thing I knew the man was on the floor bleeding from a gash in his head and Joel was laughing loudly in my ear. A bunch of police officers showed up and Joel told me not to tell anyone what he’d done. He said I should blame it on Momma and she’d go away for a long time and stop bothering us. Momma shouted and cried and struggled as the police dragged her away to the sound of Joel’s gleeful laughter and the twins’ high pitched screams. Grandma came after Momma. She was mean. She locked me in my room and told me to stay there until I learned my lesson. I watched him stalk around the room at night mumbling darkly to himself. Grandma made me to go church with her every Sunday, she said I had to pray for my soul for what I’d done to that man and to Momma. I didn’t understand why everyone blamed me for Joel’s tricks and was tired of being punished for all the naughty things that he did. One night at supper, Joel made scary faces at the twins who started wailing. Grandma stood up and yelled at me as she tried desperately to calm the twins. She told me to go to my room. I said no. I pointed at Joel and yelled at him with all my might. This was all his fault. Grandma sent me to bed. Joel told me they were going to send me away. They would separate us and I would never be able to see him again. I told him I was fine with that because he was being horrible. That upset him. He got Walter and Snowy and made me watch as Walter ate Snowy. I cried. He laughed. Joel woke me up at midnight. He told me we could stay together. Me, him, and Walter, but we had to do 40 something first. He smelt like gasoline. He led me to the kitchen and pointed to the stove which was covered with a sticky, sweet smelling liquid. He told me to open my hands. I did. He handed me a lighter. I didn’t want to do it but Joel got angry when I tried to say no. He yelled and told me to do it for all the times Momma blamed me for something he did. That if I did this everyone would finally realize it was him doing all the bad things and not me. My hands were shaking so bad it took me five tries to get the lighter to ignite. When it did I froze and stared at the small flame in my hands. It flickered with every shuttering breath that came out of my mouth. Joel grew impatient and slapped the lighter out of my hand and onto the stove. There was a large whooshing noise and a blast of orange light. My arm hair stood on end and sweat trickled down my face. I backed away. Joel stood in front of the fire and laughed. He threw his arms out wide and danced in tune with the flames. He was crazy but his movements were so beautiful and fluid. It was frightening. The fire advanced toward me. I didn’t want to move. I wanted the fire to eat me like it was going to eat Grandma and the twins. Joel grabbed my hand and led me outside. We stood to the side and watched as the fire slowly ate up the house I had grown up in. The house that the priest, the twins, and Grandma had all died in. Sirens and smoke filled the night air. I looked to my side for Joel, but he had disappeared. DESERT DRUMS Abigail Carpenter When my London flatmate, Raoni, suggested we travel to Northern Africa because he was missing the heat of Brazil, we had no intention of visiting the Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains. But we quickly made friends with a generous and hospitable Moroccan man, Raxido, who invited us to a local drum circle at the edge of the Sahara Desert. After traveling on camelback against an orange-rayed sunset, we found ourselves among the sand dunes. We parked our camels single file near our camp, and I realized a place that once only existed in my dreams was now before me. I had to close my eyes for a long while. I opened them over and over again until I was sure of it. I had to reach down and let the sand fall between my fingers slowly. I had to breathe in the crisp, evening air. And when I looked up, the stars speckled in the sky like the summer freckles on my face, thousands and thousands of them. When the drum circle began, I let its music fill me up. It started in my toes and moved higher, tickled my fingers and sent goosebumps up my arms and back. The drums vibrated within my chest and when it reached my mouth, I screamed in laughter. My laugh echoed farther and farther across the desert, not meeting any person or town or house until it was miles and miles away. I wrapped my blanket a little tighter and watched my friends dance around the fire to the beat of the drums. Their legs moved up and down as their hands joined the ashes flying through the night air. For many hours, we sat around the fire, told our stories and spoke aloud our dreams. We danced and sang and took turns pounding the drums. We slept under the stars among the silence of the desert for only a few hours until the sun awoke us on the horizon. And moving through the deep sand, the sunrise at our backs, we rode our camels to the bus to escape the desert heat before it swallowed us up whole. 41 COLORS Hannah Schmit If I am a color call me red The color of passion and love Humanity worn on my sleeve The color of my blood, beating heart. Call me red. If I am a season call me fall With baited chilled breath I speak My words on whirlwind breezes fall An omen of changes to come Call me fall. If I am a sound call me silence. The chaos and stillness of calm My words lost yet encompassing In anticipation of something Call me silence If I am a thought call me hope The desire for something more A yearning call deep within me The need to breathe Call me hope. 42 urban delight jazmin crittenden 43 WHEN DAD WORE COLOGNE A. Tetzlaff “Did Grandpa Mike die?” My small voice broke a quiet that Dad and I carry easily between us. A radio frequency connecting our minds that communicates silently, so we don’t have to. Even at the age of three, I knew our sacred, noiseless space well. Dad took me to a park one day, nearby my childhood home. We rarely visited this park unless we intended to use its snowy slope for adrenaline rushes in our bright plastic sleds in the winter time. But it wasn’t wintertime now. My dad wore a blue t-shirt he’d owned since high school. Summer or spring, the season isn’t particularly distinct. The hills rose nakedly as we quietly approached. I’ve come back to the memory time and again; the images are blurred, like a positive photograph that didn’t come out of the darkroom correctly. I can’t recall how my father responded to my question, though I’m sure he patiently and painfully affirmed my query. In that moment I wasn’t shocked. I wasn’t sad. Presently, I regret that I can’t remember a man who loved me and was so dearly loved by others. I don’t know how he looked aside from the pictures I know. How he talked, laughed, 44 yelled, walked, I don’t recall. Did he wear cologne to work like Dad? When I was young, Dad wore cologne to work. He woke up around five in the morning in order to be at work five-thirty, and he still does, despite the fact that no one expects him in the office till eight. I’d hear his alarm from my bed and wait to smell the mix of dewy summer grass and the spicy knives of cologne in my nostrils. The smell lingered and pulled me back to sleep as Dad left the house. On the day at the park, Dad wasn’t wearing cologne. Dad didn’t wear cologne that day because it was either a weekend or he had the day off or had taken time away to grieve. I don’t remember the call to our corded telephone late one night. It was the hospital telling Mom and Dad that my grandfather died of a heart attack while showering. I don’t know if he died immediately or if the attack was slow, painful, cold, and wet. I will never ask. The thought of breaking the stitches grief so tenuously sewed incites trepidation. Was my young face one of his last images? I’m vain enough to assume so––grandparents always think of the grandbabies first. Was it a comfort? I can only hope. At my Grandfather’s funeral, I can’t remember Mom’s grief. I can’t remember the funeral either.She keeps the remnants of her love tended like a flower garden and tells me of her father often. I have nothing but the cemented walkway leading to the park that summer day deep in my mind. Mom tells me that my grandfather lived as long as he did because he was waiting for me. It was a miracle I was even born, but that’s not my story to tell. She calls me “the sparkle in his eye.” Christopher, my younger and only brother, inherited my grandfather’s bright, Anglo-blue irises. He was born the year after my grandfather died. Christopher joined the Army a few weeks ago; my grandfather was a Marine in the 60s. During his service in Asia, my grandfather collected each country’s currency. Grandma keeps the collection in a red leather box in her bedroom closet. I used to step onto a chair and carefully extract the artifact from the top shelf and touch each coin and each bill. Some of those tenders are much extinct now. The souvenirs of my grandfather’s life are far less valuable to me than those of my travels––those, at least, the mugs and the key chains, those have memories attached of the real thing. I’ve spent most of my life scouring photos and objects, trying to resurrect an authentic memory of my grandfather. Trying to find a sensation that brings him back to me like the early morning scent of Dad’s cologne because I only remember the hills and my words and Dad. The solvents of time washed away my grandfather. 45 SHITTY CHRISTMAS TREES AND SECONDHAND DOLLS Elisabeth Beam When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of money. But we managed to survive. Mom worked a lot at the dingy looking Super 8 Motel just down the street from the elementary school. You know, the kind of motel that charges by the hour instead of night. She hated it but it was close to school and paid just enough. Around November she would start picking up shifts at other hotels in town to save up more money for Christmas. It was hard. The heat bill always went up mid-October when the chill started to set in and the snow began to fall. Presents were always an issue. Getting stuff for just me and Sarah was usually alright, but Mom came from a big family. Six brothers and sisters all of whom had kids. All of whom would be needing presents. That’s a lot of money. Money we just didn’t have. One year there was a huge blizzard and they canceled school for a week. Sarah was only six at the time and she couldn’t be left alone to take care of herself much less a five-year-old as well. So mom had to stay home from work and look after us. She tried to make it seem like she wasn’t stressed out about the money, but I knew she was. She would pace around the kitchen at night and mumble to 46 herself. She’d crouch over her checkbook and shake her head. She tried to hide it from us, but I noticed. I always noticed when she got like that. A week of work missed meant we wouldn’t be able to afford the gas to get to grandma’s house for Christmas. And a week with everyone at home meant that the heat bill was going to be rough. She was too proud to try and get food stamps. So money that would normally go towards presents went to buying our Christmas feast. We didn’t go to my grandma’s house that Christmas but it was probably the best Christmas of my life. The day before school let out our landlord took out all the carpet in the living room. He said it was due to be replaced and that someone would be over before the holiday to put down some new carpet. “Your feet will be so happy and thankful! That’s the best Christmas present you could ask for!” he had happily told us. No one came. The floor was cold and there were nails and sharp staples sticking up at weird angles. It hurt to step on them and small red dots appeared throughout the house as we all made the mistake of stepping in the living room without socks. Mom put down an old ratty green rug, one that our cats liked to pee on. She bought a small fake green tree from the thrift shop downtown. It was the saddest looking tree. Most of the branches were missing so it had random bald spots sporadically around its leaning trunk. A good number of the ornaments that we put on it fell off because it couldn’t support their weight. We made new ones out of paper and glitter. Mom wrapped tinsel she’d taken from work around it and Sarah and I sloppily placed string lights. We put an old family picture at the top of the tree because we were too scared that our expensive Christmas angel would fall and break if we tried to stick her up there. Thinking back on it now it was a pretty shitty looking tree, but back then I thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen in my life. I remember sitting on the floor amongst the nails and staples and looking at it glittering and glistening and thinking that it was a far better tree than anyone else could ever have. I thought that even if we’d spend a million dollars on a tree and all its dressings that it wouldn’t even be able to come close to this masterpiece sitting before me. For Christmas Eve we blasted holiday music and ran around the living room twirling and waving our arms above our heads. Mom had somehow found time to make new flannel pajamas for both me and Sarah and we had immediately put them on. She had also given us each a doll that she’d found at a thrift store. They looked ratty and dirty but I loved them both. Every bit of dust and matted patch of hair was a story waiting to be told. The dolls had character and I loved it.That shitty tree and our thrift store dolls were great but they weren’t what made that night so special. It was that we were all together, making the most out of what we had and not lamenting what we were missing. I think as we grow up we lose the magic in secondhand dolls and shitty Christmas trees. 47 summer nights adam ruff 48 the people united adam ruff 49 after the hike adam ruff 50 CRUMBS Malena Larsen He’s looking for love In the crevices of his couch Like loose change. I saw him lift up the cushions And pull out crumbs His mother’s earring A quarter The spoon he dropped last week After eating ice cream out of the container. It was chocolate cookie dough and he ate the whole thing. I watched him put the quarter in his back pocket and the spoon back in the cushions. I told him I had been in love once And he said I like it when girls call me daddy. I had a dream that night that he was dating somebody and my stomach hurt when I woke up. I became a spoon in the couch cushion Who said words like Daddy And Fuck me And Hard. At the end of every night I was put back with the crumbs, and each day that he came to get me there was more cat hair or lint stuck to me I waited patiently Dirty For him to pick me up. It was 77 degrees the late summer night he stopped getting me from the cushions. He told me that he found somebody to love and we can’t be friends, because if I see you I’ll fuck you. I asked him why he couldn’t control himself if he was in love with somebody. The inside of my ribcage Was being scraped empty 51 Like the chocolate cookie dough ice cream container And my stomach hurt Like it did after the dream Where he wasn’t mine I can’t help it. He told me. I like it when girls call me daddy. When we met he was wearing a suit and it looked like he had spent a lot of time on his hair but I didn’t think he was attractive until the weekend when I was drunk. Across the table On the other side of red cups And puddles of water He stared at me In a grey tank top. His eyes And arms Were strong 52 And dark. Making eye contact felt like sex And he smelled like Fireball And somebody I shouldn’t be alone with And too much cologne. We went swimming at 6 am at the neighbor’s lakefront when everyone else fell asleep. He took off his shirt I kept mine on. The water fell off of him like it didn’t want to keep his body covered for too long. He picked me up and folded me over his right shoulder and threw me into the 6 am summer sweet lake water. He drove me home At 7 am Still drunk and Smitten. It was 88 degrees and my birthday the night I let him kiss me in the back hallway of our friend’s frat. I couldn’t wait anymore He told me In the house that smelled like Liquor and dust And damp wood. The first time we Fucked Was in the front seat of his White Pontiac Grand prix At 11 pm on a Tuesday. I saw him almost As an animal. His fists Were clenched And his eyebrows Like shelves Over his beetle eyes. Do you like fucking daddy? After that night I had to sneak him into my bedroom because he couldn’t do all of the positions he wanted to in his car. He needed to prove to me that he was the best fuck and that he could make me cum and that I should call him Daddy. I had never called fucking, fucking before. Before I was a dirty spoon it had only been called love. His eyes started to remind me Of Tiny Round Black beetles. There’s nobody else anymore We should just keep fucking. And when we fucked It was 66 degrees and almost fall when he came to my house in his white Pontiac Grand Prix and told me I remembered then, the quarter he put in his pants and how he used me to eat his ice cream and then put me back with all the crumbs in the cushions of 53 his couch Where he keeps looking for love Like it’s the loose change In his back pocket. 54 bloomed audrey campbell 55 pruned audrey campbell 56 HERMAN Danny Polaschek Grape juice dribbled down Herman’s chin and landed in scattered droplets down the front of his white T-shirt. He didn’t notice and, after setting down his half-emptied glass, picked up his spoon and started on his bowl of bran flakes. Sitting at the kitchen table, there was nothing in front of Herman —but a bare white wall. It seemed, however, that he wasn’t looking at it, but rather through it like a child looks through a window and, seeing nothing but gray skies and rain, is overwhelmed by disappointment because they will not be outdoors playing that day. As Herman sat there facing the white wall and chomping his cereal, his son entered the kitchen and began his morning ritual. Herman heard the coffee-maker start bubbling from somewhere behind him in the kitchen along with the quick and efficient pitter-pattering of his son’s feet, who Herman assumed had to be walking laps around the center island as some sort of new, trendy morning workout. Once the coffee maker’s burbling came to an end the footsteps stopped as well. Herman focused on the sound of the coffee being poured, the soft sound of liquid filling a ceramic mug. The sound stopped as quickly as it had started and Herman was further drawn from his relaxed, monotonous state by the sound of his son’s voice. “How are the flakes this morning, Dad?” Herman didn’t turn around to face his son, but continued with what he was doing, looking like a cow chewing cud. “Five star quality,” he replied in between spoonfuls. “Flaky as ever.” Herman’s son chuckled a bit and looked up from his fresh cup of coffee but the laugh died away when he noticed that his father was still turned away from him, eyes glued straight ahead. Taking another sip, Herman’s son pondered whether he would keep pursuing his father in conversation or not. He ultimately decided against it and left the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. A sigh escaped Herman’s throat as he set down his spoon, finished with his mushed and soggy cereal. Ain’t this the life, he thought to himself sarcastically. Finally turning away from the wall, Herman scooted himself back from the kitchen table and slowly stood up. He gripped the side of the table for balance and took a few deep breaths in an effort to steady himself. Just a few weeks before, Herman had 57 missed a stair descending to the basement and found himself tumbling clumsily down the rest of the way until crashing to a stop on the last few steps. Herman’s head still felt a bit shaky from time to time, which caused a bit of a tremble in his legs. Instead of walking from place to place, he grew accustomed to maneuvering his way to each destination by leaning on and grabbing anything he could for support and then flinging himself to another sturdy checkpoint, and so on and so forth until he reached his goal. It was much like a monkey swinging from vine to vine, but less precise and much less graceful. With his feet finally under him, legs steady, Herman pushed away from the kitchen table and launched himself to the kitchen counter, which caught him with cold indifference. Hunched over, Herman caught his breath for a few seconds before beginning to shuffle down the length of the marble counter towards the coffeemaker at the other end. “This better be a damn good cup of Joe,” he mumbled to himself, clearly exhausted. Halfway down the counter, Herman stopped. With a steady grip on the counter he reached up to the cupboard above his head and swung it open. He couldn’t see inside but he knew that what he was looking for was in there: his old blue coffee mug— one of the only things worth bringing with when he moved into his son’s house the year before. Feeling around the smooth, wooden interior, Herman eventually got a hold of his mug which distinguished itself by having only half of a handle still attached. With the partial handle hooked onto his ring and middle fingers, Herman pulled out his mug and brought it shakily down over his head, setting it on the counter with a soft “clink.” Herman was beginning to feel dizzy at this 58 point, and wished for a moment that he had listened to the doctor about getting a walker. “Mr. Huckley,” the doctor said, “even if you don’t think you’ll use it, take it anyways. Just in case.” Herman didn’t take the walker, and wouldn’t even let anyone help to walk him out of the hospital, not even his son. “I don’t need your damn help,” he snorted each time someone tried to take his arm to steady him. He was always a stubborn man and old age wasn’t going to change that. Continuing down the counter, Herman felt this same stubborn anger boiling in him. He was almost seventy years old and yet he felt like a child who was just learning to walk. He’d built his own home, and a garage to go with it, and now he could hardly make it to the opposite end of the room without feeling fatigued. Sweat was running hot from Herman’s forehead. He wiped it with a shaky hand and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes as he did so. He only had five or so more steps to go and he braced himself for the final stretch, determined to get there even if it killed him. With a focused balance and patient, shuffling steps Herman managed to get to the end of the counter and the coffee pot. He exhaled in relief, and a satisfied smile tugged the corners of his mouth up ever so slightly. With his blue mug in one hand, Herman picked up the coffeepot in the other, intent on pouring himself a well-deserved cup of coffee after his tiresome journey. His satisfaction was immediately replaced with bitterness as he lifted the pot and felt that it was nearly empty, only a few drops remained rolling around in the bottom. Herman’s minute smile had vanished and his brow hardened, scrunching up his forehead in small, tense knots. Setting the pot back on the counter, Herman hissed repeatedly under his breath, cursing his son for not leaving him any coffee. Herman’s hands were visibly trembling and he was having a difficult time keeping a grip on the edge of the counter. He contemplated making more coffee but dismissed the idea immediately, knowing that he could not remain standing and moving around the kitchen much longer. Herman felt a hot flush come over his face and could feel beads of sweat rolling down his temples and his cheeks. In one swift motion he wound up and threw his coffee mug across the room, where it shattered against the windowless, white wall. Slivers and shards of ceramic bounced all over the kitchen, the blue pieces scattered like shattered glass. Herman heard footsteps drumming down the staircase before his son entered the room,stopping in the doorway to avoid stepping on any of the pieces of blue ceramic. “Dad!” he exclaimed, “What happened? Herman was bent over, hunched with his hands on his knees. He was struggling for breath now, and sweat soaked through his shirt on his back. In between wheezes, Herman said exasperated, “You didn’t leave me any damn coffee, you son of a bitch.” His son stood there eyeing first his father and then the indent in the wall where the mug had hit. He shook his head in disbelief, which quickly turned to anger. With a clenched jaw, he left the room and returned a minute later with broom in hand. He began quietly sweeping the blue bits of coffee mug into a dustpan. After Herman had caught his breath and recomposed himself, he pulled his body back into a standing position, leaning against the counter. He glanced to his son, bent over and sweeping under the kitchen table. “I heard you on the phone last night,” he said. Herman kept his eyes on his son as he stood and turned to face him. His son raised an eyebrow at him but gave no verbal reply. “I heard you,” Herman repeated. His son bit his lip and continued sweeping, eyes trained on the floor. “It’s just not working, dad.” 59 EL BARRIO SUYO Chad Berryman El viento le envolvió al hombre como una manta de hielo. Él andaba por el barrio suyo pero los vecinos no lo saludaron. Caminaba delante de una casa grande con flores y grandes ventanas, y por esas ventanas podía oír una pelea entre dos padres y los lamentos penosos de sus hijos. Él seguía la acera que serpenteaba por un parque lindo donde había un banco solitario. Él Lo saludó con la cabeza. Recordaba unas noches del verano cuando este banco no había ofrecido insultos ni acusaciones, sino un lugar simpático para descansar mientras él le regalaba un uso admirable. Pero en el invierno el banco se congelaba como él, y ambos eran incapaces de ayudarse el uno al otro. Paseaba delante de una casa blanca de arquitectura maravillosa. Un coche altanero llegara la entrada. Un padre sincero apareció mientras acababa de contar los acontecimientos de su día. Su hija miraba su celular, y el silencio suspiró por la expresión herida de la cara del padre. Ellos entraron a la casa sin otra palabra. El hombre nómada seguía caminando, y pronto la nieve dentro de sus venas se derretía por una balada antigua que se tarareaba al ritmo de sus pasos. 60 No pido mucho, no vivo de prisa canto los himnos con risa bendita no tengo nada salvo alma amada y sin despedida no hay la llegada THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD Chad Berryman The frigid air wrapped around the man like a blanket of ice. He was travelling through his own neighborhood, but no neighbors acknowledged him. As he walked in front of a large, picturesque house, complete with flowers and giant windows, he could make out the sound of two parents fighting accompanied by the upsetting cries of their children. The sidewalk snaked its way through a park in which there stood one solitary bench. With a nod of his head, the man greeted it. Nights of summers past filled his mind, nights in which the bench had not offered insults or accusations but rather a consoling place of rest while he presented it with the gift of an honorable purpose. However, the bench froze and shivered in the winter the same as he, and neither could provide the other with any relief. He passed by a white house of grand construction. There, a flashy car had just pulled into the driveway. From it emerged an earnest father finishing the recounting of his day. His daughter, however, simply stared at her phone, and the wounded expression on her father’s face betrayed an unsung sigh. The two entered the house without another word. As the wandering man continued walking, the snow in his veins began to melt due to an old tune he commenced to hum in time with his steps. I don’t ask for much, or live in a rush in my blessed laughter the hymns come alive there’s nothing I own save a soul that is loved for without a farewell one could never arrive 61 ODYSSEY Eve Taft Thank you for the twisted pathways of your mind Which led to the streets and alleyways of Dublin James Joyce, do you understand that you opened floodgates? Your avalanche of babbling sentences, sans punctuation Buck Mulligan tossing form and style into the wind Your catechism, you, Daedalus, gave us sacrament Blood flow to wake up the numb limbs of literature You spoke with your soul to our souls Fearing not the noise in your skull but flinging it down in ink I understand you, “life is many days” I understand you, “god is a shout in the street” I understand you, “I am another now and yet the same” You understand me “everything speaks in its own way” Soon I’ll visit your beloved homeland Walking the streets of Dublin, writing and giving thanks to modernism Now as free of rigid form As Ireland of England 62 postcards from my bedroom audrey campbell 63 postcards from my bedroom audrey campbell 64 COUNTING SHEEP Danny Polaschek What can you do when the world is asleep? Go to sleep too? I’ve counted all my sheep. They jumped through the air gliding for 5 or 6 feet cleared the fence and then flew with not even a bleat. I didn’t focus however on these aerial sheep antics because far away in the distance was a sight oh so fantastic. A blue house, with a single light on in the window sat a girl a beauty no pencil could ever have drawn. I looked up at her and she down at me addicted to the eyesight too distracted to count sheep. 65 3 sky nights keeyonna fox 67 inner self keeyonna fox 68 VICTORY OF THE PEOPLE Petra S. Shaffer-Gottschalk Your worship was my refuge, your clay heart my focal point, your chelsea smile the apple of my eye. We were sick. We poisoned ourselves with amphetamines and pills until we didn’t recognize ourselves in the mirror. We walked miles just to feel accomplished in our space, we turned the cigarettes we shared into sentiments we thought we shared. I must possess the wrong innocence. Souls are fickle things that change when left to die in the cold. ~ He was outrageously tall. He towered over me like the Statue of Liberty and he talked to me as though I was a boat in the harbor. Standing five inches taller than six feet, he was an image of Ukrainian beauty. He stood like someone who knew things you didn’t know and this fascinated me. I was so naive, so optimistic. I saw the lust and want in his eyes and I mistook it for passion.The curve of his jaw and his long eyelashes crept into the screens behind my eyelids and ignited a fire in me that I didn’t know how to put out. I was the new girl in town struggling to keep my loneliness at bay. He was a gleaming light in that summer of darkness. I had just moved to Minnesota months before. After discovering drugs and promiscuous sex I became nothing short of a hurricane. Amphetamines kept me awake, cigarettes kept me skinny, and weed kept me sane. My GPA reflected exactly what they don’t tell you about functional depression: you can feel like a blank page, but as long as you fill it with words people will stop asking questions. He was selling me drugs. He offered me a good price. I had never met him but I figured what the hell, I could stand to meet new people. It was dark, long past sundown. We were meeting in a parking lot by a lake a few blocks away from my house. I was in my mom’s car. I waited and listened to Amy Winehouse until I saw an orange car pull into a parking spot a few yards away from me. The man driving fit the picture I had seen of him before. We 69 made eye contact and he ushered me over to his car. I took a deep breath, grabbed my sweater, and got my money ready. He rolled down the passenger side window. “You Nikita?” I said. He smiled at me. A smile that I would come to know. “You can call me Kita.” ~ He had really good drugs. I’m not sure that they were pure, but at the time I didn’t care. Neither did he. We just wanted to get high. We did his drugs together, sitting in a playground by the lake, talking about life and what we crave. He told me that he was applying to a college in London. I didn’t think anything of it. Before long we saw each other every day. He was a lifeguard who had to be on duty early in the morning, so he would take me out for coffee at eight in the morning. No makeup, sweatpants, my hair in a messy bun. He didn’t care. We would talk about things that we hadn’t shared with anyone else. He told me he struggled with his relationship with his father in Ukraine. I told him that I had struggled with eating disorders since I was thirteen. We would sneak out onto his back porch to smoke cigarettes late at night. His mother hated that we smoked. 70 “You need to quit smoking, love,” she’d tell me. “I smoked for twenty-five years and it took two pregnancies to get me to stop.” His mother loved me. She thought that I was spunky, independent, had a mind of my own. She did not like his last girlfriend. She made that very clear. She, like Nikita, was very tall. She had long curly black hair and eyes so intense that you would lose your appetite. Her Russian accent was thick and powerful. She had run away to the United States when she was twenty-one and seven months pregnant with her first son. Nikita. “Does it mean anything?” I asked him. “Your name.” He smiled when he answered. “My mom told me it means ‘victory of the people,’” he said. Oh Kita, you have no victory. You are the secret I keep from my mother the hidden disease that projectile vomits and digs with fingernails sharpened by teeth. Your fields of sunflowers told me a secret, your secrets so dark and beautiful and I killed myself with your gargantuan sunflowers. His mother was beautiful. She had been a professional figure skater that traveled the world, meeting people as she went. She met Kita’s father in her home country of Ukraine and according to the story, he was immediately drawn to her exuberant personality and her long legs. At twenty-one she was well on her way to continue pursuing a successful skating career until she got pregnant. According to Kita his father did not accompany her to her appointments.He did not send her flowers. He did not ask if she was okay. Instead Kita’s mother made her way to America to create a life of victory and hope. He took me to meet his grandmother. She said hello and came in and that was the last that I understood. The entire time I was there she would ask me questions in Russian and Kita would translate for me. He taught me how to say Hello (Privet) Yes (da) No (net) And thank you, which I don’t remember. We spent almost the entire time we were there trying to help his grandmother set up a new movie streaming program on her computer. I know nothing about computers in English, let alone in Russian. I was overwhelmed. The leather furniture just made my nervous sweat more noticeable. She told me about Ukraine a little bit. She said it was beautiful but troubled. She offered me chocolate and cookies. I sat, sweating, trying my hardest to pay attention. When I said anything to her, Kita would translate for me. I wanted to leave. After we left his grandmother’s house he told me to wait in his car while he talked privately with his grandmother. I thought it was strange but didn’t question it. I played mindless games on my phone while I waited for him. Some part of me knew that they were talking about me, but I continued to deny it. I was hungry, but I wasn’t planning on doing anything about it too soon. I was hungry often then. When he returned to the car I asked what they had talked about and with no hesitation he said, “You.” I paused, then asked him to elaborate. “She likes you,” he said. And that was that. How strange, I thought, to be liked by someone who never explicitly spoke a word to me. ~ Andrevich was Kita’s middle name. Named after his father. Kita’s father was very handsome. In his forties with tan skin and thick hair, he was a heartthrob that would make you look twice. He lived in a nice, expensive apartment in Kiev with his girlfriend who was twenty years younger than him. Apparently that was a theme. Kita had only seen his father a handful of times in his life. He had gone back to Ukraine to spend some time with him as a young boy, but didn’t have too much recollection of it. When he was sixteen he went back to live with his father and his twenty-yearold girlfriend for a while. Kita has always been tall, thin, and handsome. His father noticed this. “So what happened?” I asked him one day. 71 Kita shrugged. “He kicked me out and I came back to the states,” he said without a flinch. He said this as though it was a commonality. “He thought that I fucked his girlfriend,” he said as he lit a cigarette. There was a very long, uncomfortable silence. “Did you?” I asked. He laughed out loud and a cloud of smoke poured out of his mouth. “No, of course not,” he said. “My dad isn’t one to listen to a sixteen year old.” ~ “I’ll take you to Ukraine someday.” “Sunflowers. There are parts of Ukraine where there are endless fields of sunflowers wherever you look. They’re as tall as me and the flowers are bigger than my face.” He pulled me closer as he talked about Ukraine. He insisted that I learn all that I could about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, sending me innumerable articles daily. Through him I learned about the importance of the Ukrainian revolution and fights that had been fought, some as recent as 2011 and 2012. He told me that he wanted to fight for his people if he had to. When my eyes were flushed with concern, he pulled me in close and whispered in my ear, “I’ll survive for you.” His eyes lit up every time he talked about the fields of sunflowers in Ukraine. In the same way, his eyes lit up every time he got angry. Your golden eyes drew miners to starve and fight to abandon their homes. We were in his bed, naked, wrapped up in blankets and speckled by the corner light in his room. It was late, the kind of late that feels early. The air conditioner hummed in the place of our phones which were both off and hidden somewhere in the room. He did no wrong. He could not do any wrong. His eyes were blank but telling like a wall in a foreclosed home. All of his intentions were good. Yes. Good. “Where in Ukraine?” I asked. “Have you been eating?” he asks as he lifts up my shirt. “Kiev, the city squares. And to the huge fields of flowers.” “What kind of flowers?” 72 ~ I squirm away and pull my shirt down. “Yes, I ate just before I came here,” I say. I can still taste the salt in my mouth. “You look skinny,” he tells me with a hint of disdain in his voice. My heart soars. I look skinny. But he’s reaching for my stomach again and once again I’m backing away. We get into the car and drive to the gas station. I say that I need to go use the restroom. While Kita pumps the gas, I make my way into the small Holiday bathroom. I put my sweater on the ground and rest my knees on it, my usual routine. I stick my finger down my throat and vomit into the toilet. As I walk back outside, Kita is getting back into his car. I get in the front seat and sniffle slightly.Kita looks at me quizzically. “You okay?” he asks me. My eyes are watery, my nose is burning, and my breath is putrid. “I’m fine,” I say with a smile. ~ The elevator door was so cold against my cheek. I watched the red numbers blink as they rose. 8...9...10...11. My vision was going fuzzy and grey, my ears started ringing and throbbing. 11...12...13. Ding. The doors opened and my wobbly legs carried me down the seemingly endless hallway. My hands were barely working; as I watched them push my key into my apartment door I could not feel it. The door opened, I could see my living room window. I closed the door behind me and collapsed on the ground. “Why did you faint?” His words echoed behind the screen of my phone. “I just haven’t eaten a lot today.” There was a silence so deafening that it struck fear in my heart. Fear I had not known. “When did you eat last?” He had anger in his voice. I paused. He would know if I lied but he would hate the truth. “I had a little dinner last night,” I said quietly. “What did you eat?” His reply was sharp. I was shaking. “I had a little bit of salad I think,” I said with a quivering voice. I could hear his sigh. I can still hear his sigh. “How many times have we talked about this?” He exclaimed. “I know, I know, I’m sorry…” It didn’t matter. He didn’t listen. I had failed him again. “Do you know what it’s like to have a girlfriend that can’t even take care of herself ?” “What am I going to tell my friends?” “You’re not even trying.” I was sobbing, I was convulsing, I was sweating, all from my bed from which I could not move. My phone was glued to my ear and I had no energy to remove it. “So what are you going to do about this?” There was intense spite in his words. With a shaky voice I said, “I could send you a picture of everything I eat?” He laughed. With his full, angry throat he laughed 73 at my pain. “And do what? Post it on Facebook? Show all my friends that my girlfriend is an anorexic who can’t even feed herself ? You know what, go ahead. Maybe that’ll help you change.” I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to die. My stomach kept whispering “never again, never again, never again.” Opening my mouth made me panic because it reminded me of eating. I hung up my phone and with wobbly legs I walked outside in the snow and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. ~ Months go by. Months. I watched him pack his bag with clothes that I had never seen him wear. He packed light, only a few shirts and two pairs of pants. “My dad will buy me more when I get to Ukraine,” he said. I sat on the edge of his bed and watched him focus on folding his clothes. His visa sat in the center of the bed, staring at me. I started to cry. “Babe, it’s going to be fine,” Kita said without breaking focus. I watched him form a pile of the shirts that I had grown used to him wearing. They looked like wilted flower petals. 74 “Why aren’t you taking those?” I asked, pointing to the wilted pile. “My father won’t like them,” he said. Later that night, we were drinking red wine in his bed. His room was bare and cold. I was curled against his side, my head on his chest. He stroked my bare back and played with my hair. I sighed, but not the kind of sigh that’s followed with kisses. Kita sighed too. “Petra,” he said, a tone of exasperation in his voice. “If I ever treat you like my father treats women, please leave me.” ~ I still remember how to say “I love you” in Russian. “я люблю тебя.” Ya lyublyu tebya. ~ My fingers were bones. Anything beyond mascara was too much, especially lipstick. He hated lipstick. He thought that it brought too much attention to my mouth. He didn’t like when other people noticed me. He stopped smoking cigarettes and instructed me to do so too. “They’ll make you age faster,”he would say. If I had a bad day and smoked a cigarette, he would tell me he was disappointed. I lived with three men at the time, something that Kita would never let me forget. He asked every few days to be sure I wasn’t sleeping with any of my roommates. If I was spending too much time with a friend, he would tell me that I was neglecting him. He sent me articles outlining how to be a better partner. He reminded me that he just wanted me to be the best that I could be. The screaming and hour-long phone calls were footnotes. You stripped me of my dignity and told me, “This is what you have.” Your monstrous arms crawl into my nightmares Your titanic stature collided with my glacier and though you claim I sank you You were a behemoth and I was a stone. At the end, I fell into the ground. His screams surrounded me in my echo chamber and suffocated me. My knees were bruised from kneeling in front of the toilet all night. How apt for the one accused of dropping to her knees for all men. I was free but I did not know it yet. All I knew was the cold floor of my bathroom and the tales of beautiful but troubled Ukraine. My goodbyes have been said, These addictions fed. It’s the cost that comes with the sickness. And your screams won’t be heeded anymore. 75 AN OPEN LETTER TO THE UN-SPECIALS Halle Chambers When we are little, even before we can speak We are told that we’re special and that we’re unique. That we all are made different and that none are the same Which fits quite nicely in a toddler’s mind frame. And we are told we should treasure what’s different inside, That what makes us different is not something to hide. But then quite soon after, things start to change; The word “different” stops meaning “special” and starts meaning “strange.” We’re sectioned off from our average peers In our own little category and told, “you belong here,” And then different is bad and normal is good, And for the different ones, nothing is working the way that it should The way we’ve been taught or the way we’ve been shown All we know is that we do not like being lost on our own. 76 So once again we are taken away To a place where things makes sense again and we’re ok: Where no one hurts us, Where no one can see, Where no one deserts us, Where we can be free. But because the un-specials can’t see what goes on, They decide to make things up and get so much wrong. And it’s happened for years because they can’t see through that door. So long they don’t even know that it’s wrong anymore. It’s so fixed in their heads that these lies are right; They judge each special kid by their stereotype. But today that will end. So you sit there and you wait, cause it’s about time someone set the dang record straight. You probably think that this poem won’t cut it, But today I’m gonna open the door and don’t you dare shut it! To start, let’s be clear: I am...I was in Special Ed. But just because I was in that room doesn’t mean I’m brain dead! So for Pete’s sake, don’t puppy dog guard me! Just give me a break, it isn’t that hard see: If I need your help, I will tell you I do. Just please, Please don’t mock me. In my place, would you want me to mock you? “Oh come on! Let her get it! Go easy on her!” Help, where not needed, is almost as bad as a slur. I’m not invalid So don’t play that card. Yeah, I’m a little quirky and oversensitive, But I’m not, and I quote, “A little retard.” Yeah, I’ve been called names. And those words? They hurt. They catch in the center, In your pit of self worth. And they tear and they rip, And those words are collective. Soon you start to believe that you are defective. I’ve dealt with them all, and surprisingly, I actually prefer the straight up bullies To those who pretend to like me. Fake friends and two-faces Of all genders and races. They’re only my friends so they don’t have to see me cry. Or they use me, abuse me, Oh, how they confuse me! Cause I can’t tell what’s truth and what’s lie. “Hey! He likes you. Go give him a kiss!” And because I don’t know better, I believe this. But soon I find they’re not playing Cupid, They just wanna make me look stupid. For their entertainment, they make me play the 77 fool; They pretend that they care for me When they’re really just cruel. It takes time and takes work to make you forget; Even now, I’m not quite there yet. I mean, here I am, in what’s supposed to be home, And yet here I am, still feeling alone. I’m still paranoid, it doesn’t just end; I still have to ask if someone’s my friend. I say one thing and mean another; I make a mistake, But you take it verbatim. Can’t you cut me a break? If we’re talking and I look like I’m lost, Don’t blow it off like it’s not worth the cost. Sarcasm and subtlety muddle in my brain, So please just take a minute to explain. Do these quirks make me broken? Is there something wrong with me? The way society has spoken, There would seem to be. 78 Stop poisoning the minds of “different” young women and men. I don’t like being defective.... Can I be special again? SOREX PALUSTRIS Emilie Tomas Did they name you for Your wit, pointed Nose of pointed judgement Who brought us fire; five to seven inches of shrewd truth? Or was it your mischief That Inspired them? Your Presence followed by screams And a three inch tail. I saw your likeness on a stage, Dirt in place of your midnight coat Though she is reformed now. Perhaps it was the gleam in your Eyes; whispered fortunes and A summer of silver birth. Maybe you are a messenger Of God, somehow in your Eighteen months you learned to walk On water, the second coming Of Christ. 79 woodsy adam ruff gabriel bergstrom 80 WORDS Malena Larsen The bathroom wall was covered in words. Words like fuck and love and song lyrics and names with hearts around them. His body looked peaceful, somehow, as he sat propped and slumped against the door. His head hung to his right shoulder and his mouth was open like he was about to say something but was interrupted. There was blood running down his left arm like a river and a needle hung loosely out of his skin. The words that he had heard her say several hours earlier were getting quieter and quieter. “It’s not working,” she had told him. “I’m sorry.” They were smoking cigarettes outside her apartment when she said it. She knew he had been trying to fix himself. After twenty-eight days of treatment and one week in a sober house on Lake and Fifth she barely recognized him. He was twenty-five pounds heavier and his skin looked clean and strong; there was no more grey in his cheeks. It wasn’t just his change in appearance that scared her. Lately, he had been telling her the difference between wrong and right and that she should stay in on the weekends. His family couldn’t stop talking about how proud they were of him and they would ask her, “Doesn’t he just seem so much better?” She would answer with yes but feel guilty because she wished he still liked to make mistakes. His family had a party after he got out of treatment and his grandfather kept saying things like, “Men in this family have always been strong!” and, “Now he can take care of you.” His grandfather didn’t care for her much but he felt that she was the least of the boy’s problems. He didn’t like the way she hung on him like a scarf or the way she agreed with everything he said without a second thought. As he sat on the bathroom floor the words she had said were getting quieter and quieter. They were almost gone. He had been sober for thirty-five days and he didn’t know why. He didn’t feel better or stronger or more loved. His hand lay loosely on the floor, palm up and open like he was waiting for somebody to hold it. Everyone was so proud of him but he couldn’t imagine living his life without her. Long after her words had faded completely, the bathroom door opened. He fell back onto the floor. His head hitting hard against the tile. 81 “Oh my gosh!” The man who opened the door yelled. “Can someone help?” He took out his phone to call 911. A crowd of people rushed over to where the man was dialing. A young man pushed past the group of people. “Move!” The boy got on his knees by the body on the floor. He reached into his pocket and took out something that looked like a pen. He stuck it into the arm of the body that was needle free. People gasped and murmured and watched. Sirens rang in the distance. The boy holding the pen looked up at the bathroom wall that had words like fuck and love and song lyrics and names with hearts around them. He looked up at the group of people. “It’s not working,” he said. 82 MALCOLM AND THE BLUE SIDE Danny Polaschek Brown leaves dragged past Malcolm’s feet in the wind. The bench underneath him felt like a rock and he had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. He stared at the empty playground—the tire swing, the slide, the bridge and the fireman’s pole. Nikki rested her head on his shoulder. Each time a breeze swept through, Malcolm could feel her nuzzle slightly closer, her hair scratching and tickling his neck. When he was a kid, Malcolm had sat on this exact same bench many times with his mother. They lived in a little blue house just a few blocks away— “just a hop and a skip,” his mother would say and Malcolm would make it his mission to jump and bunny-hop the whole way there. When they arrived, they’d eat lunch, sitting together on the narrow, wooden bench. After each bite of his sandwich, Malcolm would beg his mother to let him go play, to which she would give in once she herself had finished eating. He always went straight for the slide. Once at the top, he’d yell, “I’m going under!” and swing himself down into the blue plastic tube. He imagined he was a deep-sea diver plunging into an underwater world of sunken pirate ships and forgotten chests of gold. On particularly sunny afternoons, he’d stop halfway down the slide and admire the shadows that moved about on the illuminated, blue plastic. He’d make believe that fish swam all around him as little blotchy shadows hovered whimsically over his head. He eventually got the idea to bring his crayons to the park with him. He’d sit lodged in the blue slide for most of the day, drawing exotic fish with bright oranges, yellows and reds. He knew fish didn’t smile but nevertheless gave them all wide grins and big eyes to match. When it was time to go home, his mother would knock from the bottom of the slide. “Time to come back to shore!” she’d announce. Malcolm would hide his crayons in his back pocket and slide down to his mother who would wait there with open arms grinning at him. The park seemed smaller now. Malcolm was just as tall as the fireman’s pole and half as long as the slide. He wondered if his fabricated underwater universe still existed. Probably not, he guessed. Although it was getting dark, Mal83 colm could see thick graffiti creeping out from the shadows inside the blue slide. Malcolm pulled his sweatshirt tighter around his neck, brushing Nikki away in the process. He felt her eyes on his face but refused to acknowledge her. Inside the slide, he could still make out the words “Bitch Ass” in thick spray paint. His crayon drawings would certainly be gone, he was sure of it now. Nikki picked up Malcolm’s hand and caressed it, her cold skin feeling leathery and smooth. “Malcolm,” she said. Malcolm turned and mustered a smile, taking Nikki’s hands to his face and kissing them awkwardly. “Malcolm, let’s go home.” The streetlights had not yet turned on for the evening. Malcolm noticed the shadows on the sides of the road stretching out and growing bigger as they walked quietly past. He missed the warm sunshine of summer and the hot nights spent lounging in the front yard listening to his mother’s radio; he missed the walks to the park, his mother laughing at him as he crouched and hopped along beside her. He remembered the secret thrill of the crayon box in his back pocket, then realized he’d forgotten his cigarettes on the bench at the park. He was too cold to turn back. He reached out silently for Nikki’s hand and, finding it much warmer than his own, held it stiffly the rest of the walk home. 84 driving at zero one john herbert 85 driving at zero two john herbert 86 PLACEMAKERS Diamonique Walker Near my home, Balloons dance in the wind. I have reconditioned myself — These are not balloons from a party, But they still celebrate a life. I drive by, sometimes I walk. And see a balloon or several With their heads bobbing away Positioned obscurely on the sidewalk. Or on the island in the middle of the highway. Sometimes on no one in particular’s grass. I don’t look for party decorations. At the feet of the balloon’s ribbons, candles, cards and little trinkets sit. Some kind of offering. Looking weathered and dull. His body bled some place close by. Probably killed within ten feet. A dancing, mocking balloon Somehow now gets to sway in his place. 87 NECESSARILY AN EVIL THING CONSIDERED IN ANY LIGHT Jacob J. Miller “You know what I hate about this most of all?” asked the first man. “Nobody’s going to be around to take responsibility. Nobody is going to have to answer for their crime.” “What crime is that?” the other man asked, sitting next to him in the middle of the cul-de-sac, both of them at perfect leisure in lawn chairs as if waiting for a parade to pass by. “Mass-murder, I suppose. Call it, oh, I don’t know. Call it, um, inciting the apocalypse.” “Ha.” “They deserve to be the ones left behind after they obliterate everyone else. They should be the ones who have to reap the aftermath, puke out their guts and feel their bile boil inside their stomachs, fend off marauding cannibals and giant insects. And they should have to live with the new world they created, or destroyed, rather.” Just then, the other man looked down and saw a lonely ant crawling up his pant leg. “Yeah, but I don’t think that giant bug stuff is true. That wouldn’t happen. The bugs’ll die like everything else.” “I mean, what do you think it’ll be like? I 88 know it’ll happen instantaneously, but they say the cerebral cortex functions after everything else has shut down and we linger in a sort of dream-state, which could last for, well, for who knows how long?” “Well, that’s if you’re in a hospital bed, or you have a heart attack or something, when you have time to die with a little bit of peace. Our brains are going to incinerate along with the rest of us. There won’t even be any stuff of thought anymore. I don’t think we have to worry about something like that.” “But what if that moment of pain before we go lasts longer, you know? What if time stands still? Nothing makes sense in a moment of such lunacy. Such catastrophe. What if we feel our tongues liquefying and spilling down our throats and scalding our internal organs? What if, all in that moment, we look down, and before our eyes boil and burst from the heat we see our bones glowing purple through our flesh as it begins dripping off like wax? What if you turn and look at me and the last image you see is my face melting off like those Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark?” “I’m not sure it’s the best time to be thinking like that,” his friend said, as the sirens began to wail their sorrowful last. “Why even bother with that fucking thing?” the man steamed. “It’s inconsiderate, a futile exhortation. We know what’s coming. We’re not going to hide in our basements from it like it’s a fucking tornado.” “Tornadoes aren’t so easy to hide from either.” The first man scanned the horizon for what he knew would be the last time. He took in the sight of the skyline he saw from his window every day and, with lamenting eyes, imaginatively anticipated its supplanting by a fiery mushroom climbing the sky. He closed his eyes and winced, unable to cope with the unthinkable thought, the impossible inevitability. Turning his head toward a neighbor’s yard whose household ran a daycare, he opened his eyes to a post-apocalyptic tableau of children’s toys scattered about the lawn. Nothing needed yet be aflame for the man to resent the picturesque cliché of innocence lost on display before him. “Remember when they used to tell kids to hide under their desks?” he inquired. “All that siren is doing is making sure that we spend our last moments in a panic, instead of dying gracefully, accepting that we’re all in the same sinking ship, in the middle of the ocean, if the ocean were the entire planet, and filled with lava instead of water. We should be spending our time reminiscing, because that’s all we have now.” “Well, we can’t talk about our plans for the future.” “We can’t discuss potential medical advancements.” “The coming cure for cancer.” “And cloning organs. Scholarships our children just received, the singularity and will the Matrix ever become a reality; would we ever make contact with life elsewhere in the universe, intercept an asteroid, mine them for resources? It’s all useless, man, meaningless. Every human achievement since the first spark made from one rock dragging against another, gone within the next hour,” he sighed heavily, draping a ribbon of helplessness over his words of outrage. “Why don’t you open that up?” He suggested, pointing at the bottle of scotch sitting at the leg of his friend’s chair. His friend took a swig before passing it over with a satisfied groan. “Here’s to everything we do being the last time it will ever be done,” the first man began. “That’s the best I can do.” “Yeah,” the other man raised an empty hand, toasting to the end and everything that came before it. “I suppose there’s something beautiful about the entire world—or nearly the entire world—going out the same way. There’s a kind of universal solidarity occurring right now, don’t you think? Some are praying, no doubt, some are exalting their various saviors, certain they will be raptured up any minute, but we’re all still going to be experiencing the same thing, at almost the exact same time; the same heat, the same instantaneous moment of searing pain before any trace of our molecules are imprinted as a shadow on the asphalt beneath us.” He had a complex contraption of a chair, one of the men—it doesn’t really matter which one now that the end was there; the kind of chair that folds upward from all four corners and was nearly 89 impossible to fit back into its cylindrical carrying sack—not that that mattered anymore either— complete with cup holders and a detachable headrest, which he was putting to use as he spoke. His friend’s chair was more old-fashioned, a conventional folding lawn chair with a checkered pattern of flimsy plastic wrapped taut around aluminum pipes, wobbly hard plastic armrests drilled in and not quite parallel to each other. Their chair legs began melting into the tar beneath them. One of the men hummed softly; a beautiful soundtrack to accompany him in the cut to black. The other man closed his eyes and, focusing on the sounds of the encroaching death rattle, heard them as the grunts and whinnies of the four horsemen’s horses as they galloped atop the planet’s rapidly spreading dust. 90
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Title: Augsburg Now Spring-Summer 2017: Augsburg Now Spring-Summer 2017
Collection: Alumni Magazine Collection
Search Result: AUGSBURG NOW AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY SPRING–SUMMER 2017 | VOL. 79, NO. 2 COMING SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTO BY STEPHEN GEFFRE Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu NOTES FROM PRESIDENT PRIBBENOW On the power of both/and I am writing these notes on c...
Show more AUGSBURG NOW AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY SPRING–SUMMER 2017 | VOL. 79, NO. 2 COMING SEPTEMBER 2017 PHOTO BY STEPHEN GEFFRE Vice President of Marketing and Communication Rebecca John ’13 MBA rjohn@augsburg.edu NOTES FROM PRESIDENT PRIBBENOW On the power of both/and I am writing these notes on commencement weekend when we have just sent the final graduates of Augsburg College into the world, full of promise and aspiration—as has been the case for almost 150 years. As you will read in this issue of Augsburg Now, the change of our name to Augsburg University will become official in September, and we will welcome the incoming class on Labor Day weekend. We are busy preparing for this exciting new era for Augsburg! For some, the name change may reflect a break with Augsburg’s past. For others, perhaps this is a welcome acceptance of the need to embrace the future. For the Augsburg community, however, the change is a remarkable opportunity to re-present Augsburg to the world—to tell a story that is about an abiding mission and identity shaped by faith, and academic and civic values, and at the same time to point to innovative and urgently needed responses to our dynamic environment. In other words, this change is about the pivot from “either/or” to “both/and.” This is about embracing the best of past, present, and future. This is about Augsburg University. The almost 1,000 Auggies who commenced into the world this spring reflect in their achievements and aspirations the foundation for embracing this change. Across undergraduate and graduate programs, the Class of 2017 achieved academic excellence of the highest order, excellence that defines a university: national and international honors for scholarship and service; exemplary undergraduate research that equips students for graduate work and professional opportunities; innovative community building that strengthens democratic engagement; and a commitment to equity in education that promises to change the world. At the same time, our newest graduates reflect the diversity that we expect in a university—diversity of ethnicity, thinking, life experience, identity, and ability—diversity not for its own sake but for the promise of a more robust, healthy, and just world. As I watched our diverse graduates cross the stage, I could not help but be filled with hope in our future leaders who already have learned to navigate difference in ways that unite rather than divide. In a final way, these newest Augsburg graduates offer a perhaps countercultural lesson about what makes for a great university. Though some imagine a university as big and bureaucratic and faceless, Augsburg has a vision to be a new kind of student-centered, urban university—small to our students and big for the world. The sense of community was palpable in our commencement ceremonies as graduates cheered each other and celebrated the relationships they have forged at Augsburg, lifelong relationships that engendered achievement and success. And propelled by those relationships, our graduates will indeed be “big for the world,” as they live Augsburg’s mission as “informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.” Here’s to the power of “both/and” and the promise of Augsburg University! Director of News and Media Services Stephanie Weiss weisss@augsburg.edu Director of Marketing Communication Stephen Jendraszak jendra@augsburg.edu Communication Copywriter and Editorial Coordinator Laura Swanson Lindahl ’15 MBA swansonl@augsburg.edu Senior Creative Associate, Design Denielle Johnson ’11 johnsod@augsburg.edu Production Manager Mark Chamberlain chamberm@augsburg.edu Marketing Copywriter Jessica Mueller muellerj@augsburg.edu Contributing Writers Kate H. Elliott Jen Lowman Day augsburg.edu Augsburg Now is published by Augsburg College 2211 Riverside Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55454 Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do not necessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058-1545 Faithfully yours, Send address corrections to: alumniupdate@augsburg.edu. Send comments to: now@augsburg.edu PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT AUGSBURG NOW Spring–Summer 2017 02 Around the quad 08 Preserving Norway’s treasures 12 Augsburg University name change 18 Winning the long game 24 Auggies connect 28 Class notes 33 In memoriam PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY On the cover Augsburg College will become Augsburg University effective September 1. Learn more about this historic transition on page 12. An Auggie passes by the first art installation in the Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion. This new academic building, which will open in January 2018, celebrates Augsburg’s commitment to learning at the intersection of disciplines. Glass fritting on the lobby curtainwall depicts the pattern of Martin Luther’s handwritten score of “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” overlaid with the cell structure of elm wood. “Knowing that light will pour through the tall glass of the Hagfors Center, and that people will pass through the reflected shape of the notes of this stirring hymn, ties the whole idea of the building together for me. Science, business, and religion, drawn together in space, time, and rhythm of the ages,” said Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow, who, with his wife, Abigail Crampton Pribbenow, sponsored the artwork. AROUND THE QUAD HONORING PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY Retiring Faculty RALPH BUTKOWSKI MAGDA PALECZNY-ZAPP Assistant Professor, Department of Biology—with the College since 2001 Associate Professor, Department of Business Administration—with the College since 1986 CASS DALGLISH NOEL PETIT Professor, Department of English— with the College since 1986 Professor, Department of Computer Science—with the College since 1984 PETER HENDRICKSON ’76 Associate Professor, Department of Music—with the College since 1994 BOYD KOEHLER Associate Professor, Library—with the College since 1967 SANDRA OLMSTED ’69 Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry—with the College since 1978 DEBORAH REDMOND Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Studies—with the College since 1981 STUART STOLLER Professor, Department of Business Administration—with the College since 1986 TARA SWEENEY Associate Professor, Department of Art—with the College since 1990 Auggies advocate at STATE CAPITOL The Augsburg community celebrated the Class of 2017 on Saturday, April 29. In a morning ceremony, 503 traditional undergraduate students were conferred their degrees. In the afternoon, the school recognized 469 adult undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students—50 of whom studied at Augsburg’s Rochester site. [Pictured]: Fatimah Kinaphone ’15, ’17 MBA receives her master’s degree hood. 2 AUGSBURG NOW PHOTO BY STEPHEN GEFFRE COMMENCEMENT Augsburg College students recently visited the Minnesota State Capitol to participate in advocacy events hosted by the Minnesota Private College Council. First, in February, two of Augsburg’s TRIO McNair Scholars took part in a Private College Scholars at the Capitol event that promoted the role undergraduate research plays in students’ educational and professional development. Then, in April, Auggies met with Minnesota representatives and senators for Day at the Capitol. These students advocated for several programs, including Minnesota State Grants, that help undergraduates afford higher education. [L to R]: Professor of Sociology Diane Pike advised McNair Scholar Devin Wiggs ’17, who was invited to present his undergraduate research project at Scholars at the Capitol. AROUND THE QUAD TICKETS ON SALE: NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FORUM Visit nobelpeaceprizeforum.org to find ticket, presenter, and schedule information. PHOTO BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 COURTESY PHOTO September 15-16 Each year, the Nobel Peace Prize Forum offers opportunities to learn from the world’s most celebrated, innovative, and dedicated peacemakers. Hosted and presented by Augsburg, the Forum invites attendees to turn abstract ideas into the skills our world needs for fostering better relationships and for building peace. In September, international guests from leading organizations will explore the theme “Dialogue in Divided Societies” and honor the work of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, for its decisive contribution to building a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia after the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. Electronics lab is electrifying!! Building the circuits of tomorrow, today. #MaroonMilestone @AugsburgCollege FUEL FINISH THERE IS, PERHAPS, NO GREATER CURE FOR STRESS than taking a moment to acknowledge the good. As Augsburg students soldiered through the last week of classes this spring—turning in final papers and finishing projects—they also made time to reflect on their achievements in 2016-17. Students posted, tweeted, and shared #MaroonMilestones on social media, and soon a powerful collective story came together. Whether it was winning athletic championships, landing job interviews, or beating cancer, Auggies finished strong. FOR THE CELEBRATING STUDENT SUCCESS FUEL E FOR TH FINISH For those who posted #MaroonMilestones, Augsburg partnered with its food service provider, A’viands, to provide handdelivered treats and cheerful notes that offered additional fuel for the end of the term, though physics students kept their beverages safely stationed outside the lab (pictured above)! Read about the scope of prestigious academic achievements, awards, and honors earned by Auggies during the 2016-17 year at augsburg.edu/now. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 3 PHOTO BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 AROUND THE QUAD After a morning practice, goaltender Jordyn Kaufer ’17 and members of the Augsburg men’s hockey team presented Minasie Theophilos with a check for $5,000. In comments aired on KARE 11 news, Kaufer told Theophilos the sum was, “A token to give you thanks for your selflessness, your service, your care to the rink and the guys.” Honoring Luther’s legacy To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Augsburg is hosting a series of events this fall. Visit augsburg.edu/ccv/events for dates and details. 4 AUGSBURG NOW A SEASON OF REFORMATION CELEBRATIONS! In September, Augsburg will welcome the fourth presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, as an honored speaker for the Bernhard M. Christensen Symposium. To mark Augsburg College Heritage Day in October, Associate Professor of Religion Mary Lowe will lead a discussion on the revolutionary life of Martin Luther. In November, award-winning musical group The Rose Ensemble will present “Welcome the People: The Musical Legacy of the Reformation.” To kick off the holiday season in December, Augsburg will host Advent Vespers with the theme “Welcome, Noble Guest,” inspired by Martin Luther’s hymn “From Heaven Above.” AROUND THE QUAD MINASIE THEOPHILOS has cared for Augsburg’s athletic facilities—most notably the ice arena— during his more than 25 years of service on the College’s custodial staff. Theophilos and the men’s hockey team developed a life-changing relationship that was shared by media outlets across the United States and around the globe. When members of the team learned that Theophilos’ mother had died in Ethiopia—a home Theophilos hasn’t seen for nearly 35 years—and that Theophilos missed her funeral because he didn’t have the money to visit, the team created a fundraiser. In less than 48 hours, the players and Auggies worldwide raised thousands of dollars for Theophilos to use to visit his family. Today, Theophilos and his wife are planning a trip to see his father and their families, thanks to a special friendship with the Augsburg athletes he has supported for decades. PHOTO BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 FRIENDSHIP ON ICE … AND OFF right,’ ou raised ’em ‘y of y or g te ca “In the y team.” Augsburg hocke e th of s d ki e we give you th —Bob Collins, Minnesota Public Radio News Cut COURTESY PHOTO Who’s on first? Auggies are! This spring, the Augsburg baseball team kicked off its season at U.S. Bank Stadium, competing in four nonconference doubleheaders. The new Minnesota Vikings venue is only a stone’s throw (or a really strong pitch) from Augsburg’s campus. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 5 PHOTO BY STEPHEN GEFFRE ON THE SPOT IT’S SIMPLE MATH: Fewer people are entering the teaching profession, more are leaving it, and many educators lack the qualifications required to teach Minnesota’s increasingly diverse student body. These factors have prompted teacher preparation programs—including those at Augsburg—to adapt in support of more inclusive, flexible learning environments that accommodate a spectrum of needs and abilities. As the director of education programs at Augsburg’s Rochester location, Kaycee Rogers is working alongside colleagues and legislators to better support and retain teachers and to inspire a more diverse workforce. She is driven to ensure the next generation of Minnesotans experience a meaningful education through hands-on, relevant learning. Q: How does educating, training, and employing K-12 teachers with specialty backgrounds improve our schools? A: The demographics of our student population have changed given the influx of new populations into our welcoming state and education’s shift to incorporate students with special needs into the general classroom. Because of this, teachers with specialty licenses are in demand, and these positions are often tough to fill. Augsburg is leading the charge to offer broader licensures, which prepare teachers to succeed in today’s classrooms and qualify them for a wide range of teaching positions. Exposure to more teaching strategies and more specializations helps teacher 6 AUGSBURG NOW candidates adapt and innovate so they can offer students multiple access points for understanding. Q: A: What’s an example of an innovative teaching strategy? Students learn best when they’re engaged in experiences that matter to them. We’ve been incorporating real-world, student-led experiences into the classroom, and the results are impressive. Augsburg teacher candidates, for instance, are helping fourth- and fifth-graders write grants, speak to community groups, navigate teamwork, and participate in democracy. It’s been amazing to watch our teachers transition to more of a coaching role, while students PHOTO BY BRENDAN BUSH Education expert Kaycee Rogers describes how an inclusive, agile K-12 model can help Minnesota classrooms make the grade take the lead to apply classroom learning to issues and situations of meaning to them. Q: A: How do teachers recognize students’ home cultures and diverse experiences? Although “English as a Second Language” is a widely used term, we say, “English learners,” because it’s more accurate given that some students learn English as a third or fourth language. We also celebrate home culture and language rather than asking students to check their heritage at the door. In special education, we try to be more inclusive. It used to be that educators relied on what was called a medical model of diagnosis and treatment. Today, AROUND THE QUAD Outstanding EDUCATORS Share your ideas for Each year, Augsburg recognizes individuals who have made exemplary contributions to creating an engaging academic learning environment. The 2017 recipients of the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning awards are: AUGSBURG’S 150TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 1869-2019 Visit augsburg.edu/150 to submit your suggestions. Alumni, parents, friends, faculty, and staff are invited to celebrate Augsburg’s 150th anniversary in 2019. What aspect of your Augsburg experience would you like to highlight during the sesquicentennial year? Were you connected to a team, an organization, or a department that made a difference? Would you like to see a reunion for your favorite activity—whether it was campus ministry, KAUG radio, student government, or a music ensemble? Let us know how to best honor Augsburg’s past, present, and future. Teaching Full-time faculty Joyce Miller ’02, ’05 MAN, ’11 DNP, assistant professor and Nursing Department chair Part-time faculty Alyssa Hanson ’01, mathematics and statistics instructor Scholarship William Green, professor of history Service Q: A: David Crowe, associate professor of biology How do we inspire a workforce that is more reflective of diverse classrooms? It’s well documented that students retain more information and have a positive view of education when they relate to teachers. We want to reach out to people who look like our students and come from the same backgrounds, particularly those already working as teacher aides or in other supporting roles. Growing teachers from within each community’s diverse population will beget more teachers of color and inspire some to remain in their community to make a lasting difference. Stella Hofrenning, associate professor of economics Dixie Shafer, director of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity PHOTO BY BOB STACKE ’71 we recognize that our role isn’t as much about changing someone as it is about using an approach that welcomes learners of different styles, that encourages support networks to address, adapt to, and respond to each young person. We seek to accept, listen, and innovate as we help students gain as much as possible to prepare them for a fulfilling life. Both approaches fall under an umbrella of universal design that can be applied to all students, regardless of ability. If our goal is understanding, then we must create multiple access points for students. We urge teacher candidates to get to know students, their families, and the community to appreciate the backgrounds coming together in each classroom. [L to R]: Stella Hofrenning, Dixie Shafer, William Green, Joyce Miller, David Crowe, and Alyssa Hanson. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 7 PHOTO BY ANNAR BJØRGLI 8 AUGSBURG NOW Juliane Derry ’00 works on an artifact from Norway’s national collection. As an objects conservator, she studies and preserves historical materials. BY LAURA SWANSON LINDAHL ’15 MBA “As you can see, I’m not in my office,” says Juliane Derry ’00 answering a video call and gazing toward the cell phone resting in her outstretched palm. “It’s kind of a little crisis.” Behind her, a warehouse complex comes into focus. It looks tidy—for the most part—but there’s chaos emerging in what otherwise would be a meticulously organized space. Derry is standing in one of the storage facilities for Norway’s Nasjonalmuseet, the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, and she is responding to an immediate, all-hands-on-deck plea to mitigate an unnerving discovery in the archive: water. “Oxygen, light, and variations in humidity are the things that cause damage,” Derry said, hours later, offering a primer on the fundamental culprits in the degradation of historical materials. As a conservator for the national museum in Oslo, she plays a multifaceted role in the institution’s efforts to hold, preserve, exhibit, and promote public knowledge about Norway’s most extensive collections. Vestbanen – Downtown Oslo Future home of the Nasjonalmuseet Norway’s new national museum will open in 2020. Juliane Derry ’00 is working to prepare hundreds of objects for public display. Oslo, Norway SPRING–SUMMER 2017 9 PHOTO BY ANNAR BJØRGLI During her career, Derry has restored furniture, objects, frames, and gilded surfaces. 10 AUGSBURG NOW “There are so many different materials in our collection that we have textile, paintings, paper, and book conservators,” said Derry, who is an objects conservator specializing in furniture, frames, and gilded surfaces. She has studied restoration on three continents and has become an expert in both preserving national treasures and making new creations shine. Derry is someone who excels at finding connections between seemingly disparate areas. Her conservation work blends science with artistry, research with intuition, and the practical with the theoretical. Derry’s personal life has been filled with complementary relationships as well. She was born in Norway, and she lived there until age 15 when she, her sister, and her American mother moved from the tiny alpine town of Ål to the densely populated Twin Cities lying on the edge of Minnesota’s prairie. Later, as an Augsburg student, she focused on women’s studies, international relations, religion, and studio arts. “I took classes based on what interested me,” Derry said, shrugging her shoulders. “When you get out into the real world and meet new people you begin to realize that [some of them] followed a very narrow path. I’m not looking down on that in any way, but I appreciate the fact that I was able to experience so many different things.” As her former faculty advisor, History Professor and Director of General Education Jacqueline deVries acknowledges that Derry is the type of person who thrives in interdisciplinary programs like women’s studies. Now known as “gender, sexuality, and women’s studies,” the major includes courses in biology, English, history, political science, sociology, and other disciplines. And it seems Derry’s inclination toward diverse opportunities only increases with time. “Juliane’s path is fantastic. She totally wandered,” said deVries, who now counts Derry among her friends. “I think she’d laugh that I said that, but along the way she discovered a true passion.” Derry’s career in restoration and conservation began because misdirected mail literally came across her desk. Shortly after graduating from Augsburg, Derry worked as an assistant to buyers at Dayton’s, Minneapolis’ storied hometown department store chain. Even though she didn’t support staff in the furniture division, she received heaps of catalogs for that area. Eventually, a thoughtful colleague noticed her growing interest in woodworking and encouraged her to pursue her calling. After some networking and introspection, Derry signed up for a wood finishing program at a technical college—an experience that ultimately led to her launching a small business, obtaining an advanced degree, and developing industry contacts around the world. One of those connections is Don Williams, an author, educator, scholar, and furniture conservator who retired after serving the Smithsonian Institution for 29 years. Williams was a guest lecturer who instructed Derry during her Minnesotabased finishing program, and he became a mentor as she took her education and career to new levels. Williams has taught hundreds of students, and he’s noticed that those who succeed often have similar predispositions. “How many people do you know who are both scientists and artists?” he asked. “That’s what we are. If you are not consumed by creativity, this is going to be a miserable path for you. People need not only creativity but also curiosity.” For Derry, an eagerness to experiment and to learn has triggered some of her most defining life events. After working a handful of day jobs and operating an independent business in the U.S. for three years, Derry enrolled in an immersive, full-time restoration program near Florence, Italy. There she gained studio experience and new skillsets, including the ability to speak Italian through a crash course lasting a single month. After completing the restoration program, Derry moved with her wife, Jody Scholz ’97, to Norway. Derry was armed with a portfolio of recent work and ambition to relaunch her business in the Land of the Midnight Sun. “I ended up making a CD full of pictures of various restoration projects, and I made the rounds in town,” she said. “I looked up people in the yellow pages and then handed out my pictures. In the beginning I worked a little bit at a frame shop, and then I got a job in a gallery where I restored frames.” During the years since, Derry’s workload has grown to match her expertise, and sometimes her expertise has grown due to Derry prepares an Oslo city model from the 1930s for display in an architectural exhibit. PHOTO BY ANNAR BJØRGLI the requirements of her work. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Oslo’s Institute of Archeology, Conservation, and History by completing a project-based thesis that examined shellac, a sealant created using a resin secreted by insects. For this project, Derry conducted fieldwork in the rural Jharkhand region of India where villagers harvest stick lac—the key ingredient that becomes shellac and its by-products—and she analyzed the chemical characteristics of several samples at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute where Williams served as her internship sponsor. “Investigative problem-solving” is one of the aspects Derry said she most enjoys about her field, and her liberal arts experience at Augsburg informs the way she approaches her assignments. She uses traditional techniques and materials in her conservation projects whenever possible, and her ability to think critically is paramount. While employed at a furniture restoration company, she was tasked with repairing beloved pieces used by the Oscarshall Summer Palace, the Office of the Prime Minister, and private clients. She also has served Fortidsminneforeningen, a nonprofit that preserves and protects monuments, including 40 of the stave churches located throughout Norway. “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust is not only a homily, it is an inexorable law of the universe,” said Williams, describing the vital role individuals like Derry play in preserving cultural heritage for future generations. “Everything is going back to dust. As conservators, it is our job—to the extent that is rational—to slow that process down and concurrently enjoy and extract the most utility from an artifact on its path.” Today Derry’s workdays primarily are devoted to making internationally important materials accessible to the general public. At the national museum, she has completed assignments that range from applying gold leaf on the frames of masterworks to cleaning a plaster-of-Paris city model measuring more than 100 square feet. And still, her current undertaking is the largest one yet. The Norwegian government is building a joint “all-arts” museum, which is slated to open in Oslo in 2020. Intended to be a dynamic arena for people to interact with the visual arts, the space requires new exhibits so curators and conservators are working hand-in-hand to select and prepare pieces for display. Derry is in the midst of locating, evaluating, cataloguing, and potentially repairing 400 pieces of furniture for the museum. It’s a process that requires passion and persistence—two words that also perfectly describe the manner in which Derry has shaped her career. She’s prepared to address new challenges if issues arise in a workshop, at a laboratory bench, or during the process of managing complex projects. Even in a soggy situation at a storage venue, Derry sees the annoyance of rewrapping objects impacted by a minor cooling system leak as an opportunity to formulate a plan for the future should staff ever need to address a true disaster. “She can pursue something with intelligence and diligence and still with a smile on her face,” Williams said. “That’s an unusual gift.” SPRING–SUMMER 2017 11 AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY: SMALL TO OUR STUDENTS AND BIG FOR THE WORLD BY REBECCA JOHN ’13 MBA O n September 1, “Augsburg College” officially will become “Augsburg University”—a change approved by both the Board of Regents and the Augsburg Corporation. For generations of Augsburg alumni and friends, it may seem like the place always has been called “Augsburg College.” That’s been the formal name of the school for the past 54 years. Over the course of the school’s history, nearly 24,000 people have completed degrees at Augsburg. With so many Auggie alumni accustomed to thinking of Augsburg as a college, why change the name? In short, the term “university” illustrates the breadth of Augsburg’s current reality and goals for the future. And, “while our name is changing,” said Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow, “the essence of who we are is not.” As the first seminary created by Norwegian Lutherans in America, the name Augsburg—chosen by the school’s founders in 1869 to honor the Augsburg Confession—always has defined the ethos of this institution and its mission to support those called to service in the world. Since its founding, Augsburg has been known by at least four different names. The name has shifted as the school has grown, but our commitment to an accessible, quality education has never wavered. Likewise, our dedication to the Lutheran principles of hospitality, service to the neighbor, and social justice is as steadfast today as ever. 12 AUGSBURG NOW In announcing the name change, Pribbenow affirmed that becoming Augsburg University “does not alter our dedication to integrating the liberal arts and professional studies or our commitment to being small to our students and big for the world.” Rather than moving Augsburg away from its roots, the name change helps Augsburg remain both faithful to its heritage and relevant to the educational needs of students in the 21st century. Ever evolving, always Augsburg: Growth in graduate programs From its early years, Augsburg stressed that a good education is practical and focused on educating ministerial candidates and theological students as well as farmers, workers, and businesspeople. So, it’s no surprise that Augsburg today offers a number of professional master’s and doctoral degrees — a mix of programs that makes Augsburg already more like a university than a college. While there is no fixed definition outlining the distinction between a “college” and a “university,” offering post-baccalaureate degrees commonly is associated with institutions named as universities. Augsburg’s first advanced degree program, the Master of Arts in Leadership, launched 30 years ago. Since then, 3,700 people have earned master’s or doctoral degrees from Augsburg. This past fall, Augsburg’s graduate enrollment reached a record high — representing 28 percent of total enrollment — and continued growth in Augsburg graduate programs is anticipated in the coming years. An international perspective Today, Auggies live and work all over the world. In many countries and cultures, the word “college” is associated with a high school-level education. Alumni who work in international settings have noted that they already refer to their alma mater as “Augsburg University” in order to avoid confusion. For the same reason, the name change also will help Augsburg be more attractive as a destination for international students, which represents a potential growth area for Augsburg. A view from the outside in With nearly 150 years of history, it’s no surprise that Augsburg is well known in the region—even among people who haven’t (or haven’t yet) studied here. What impact would a name change have on their perceptions of Augsburg? We asked the following groups to share their thoughts: • high school students, • parents of high school students, • high school counselors, • people considering getting an advanced degree, and • people who didn’t finish an undergraduate degree right after high school and are thinking about going back to school to earn a bachelor’s. These conversations generated several important insights, but the core takeaway is that Augsburg’s reality, reputation, and promise are aligned with the name change. Our reality and reputation. Conversations with members of the general community demonstrated that people associate the word “university” with a number of attributes that clearly apply to Augsburg. Specifically, people view universities as having high academic standards, a commitment to research, strong international programs, and diverse student populations. Augsburg has robust programs for scholarly research and global study, and is recognized nationally for its leadership in inclusion and equity. In many ways, Augsburg already embodies much of what people expect of a university. The promise of a student-centered university. We also learned from these conversations that Augsburg has a strong reputation for direct student-faculty engagement. We already know how important this is to our alumni, students, faculty, and staff, but it was gratifying to hear that members of the broader community also value Augsburg as a student-centered organization. This is something Augsburg needs to ensure does not change. Augsburg University will not become an institution marked by big campuses or large studentto-faculty ratios. Instead, as is articulated in our Augsburg2019 strategic vision, Augsburg will be a new kind of student-centered university, and just as we have done for decades, Augsburg will remain committed to educating students for lives of purpose in a vibrant, engaged learning community. Learn about the visual identity of Augsburg University on the following pages. Learn more about the Augsburg2019 strategic vision, the name change, and the logo update at augsburg.edu/now. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 13 AUGSBURG NAME CHANGE HISTORY 1869 1872 1892 1942 AUGSBURG SEMINARIUM THE NORWEGIAN DANISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN AUGSBURG SEMINARY AUGSBURG SEMINARY AUGSBURG COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY EMBRACING OUR LEGACY AND OUR FUTURE When Samuel Gross ’03 was a student at Augsburg, he designed the original Auggie eagle-head symbol as an assignment for one of his graphic design courses. The design was so good, Augsburg ended up buying the rights to the image and has used the eagle symbol for campus life, student organizations, and athletics for the past 15 years. During that time, Gross became an award-winning designer and creative director who founded his own graphic design firm, 144design, with a specialty in developing logos for clients. So, when Augsburg needed to update its logo as part of the transition to the Augsburg University name, it was a perfect opportunity to re-engage with Gross to envision and design the next-generation Augsburg logo. “Early on, our conversation about the logo confirmed that this project should be an evolution of the Augsburg brand, not a revolution,“ Gross said. “We wanted to preserve the strong recognition that has been built for Augsburg over time. “Our goal was to preserve and respect the historic nature of Augsburg’s logo — especially since it already has strong 14 AUGSBURG NOW [Top Left]: The Augsburg “A” shape is reimagined. [Top Right]: Samuel Gross ’03 works on Augsburg University’s visual identity in April 2017. [Left]: Gross shows off merchandise displaying the first eagle-head symbol shortly after he created it for Augsburg in 2003. energy and good familiarity — while at the same time creating a treatment that also embraces the future,” he said. The results, including the updated Augsburg logo, “A” icon, and eagle-head symbol are shown on the next page. Separately, the Augsburg seal — which is used on transcripts, diplomas, and other official documents — was updated by Augsburg staff Mark Chamberlain and Denielle Johnson ’11 and is shown on pages 16-17. 1963 2017 AUGSBURG COLLEGE AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE Augsburg marks: honoring the legacy Augsburg logo Augsburg “A” icon Eagle-head symbol The Augsburg University logo is designed to feel familiar to people who are already acquainted with the College logo, connecting the new design with Augsburg’s legacy. In the new logo, the word “Augsburg” is more bold than the word “University.” This approach was informed by research suggesting that people’s strong associations are with the name, “Augsburg,” whether or not it is followed by “College” or “University.” The font selected for “Augsburg” conveys an established, academic feel, while the font for “University” provides a sleek, contemporary balance. The contrast of the two words creates a dynamic energy. By strengthening the design of the “A” icon — broadening its base and making the vertical strokes bolder — Augsburg will be able to use the “A” icon as a standalone graphic element much more frequently and effectively going forward. For example, current plans call for the “A” icon to be installed on the shorter ends of the sign on top of Mortensen Hall. This is one of the most visible signs in the region and will be updated this summer as part of the transition to “Augsburg University.” The eagle-head symbol is stronger and bolder with this evolution. Whereas the original design lost detail and contrast when translated to black-and-white treatments, the updated design is much more effective across a broader range of uses. Currently, designs using the updated eagle-head symbol are under development for an array of installations—from the Si Melby gym floor and the Edor Nelson athletic field scoreboard to the Christensen Center student lounge and merchandise sold in the Augsburg bookstore. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 15 AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY SEAL: HISTORY AND MEANING Past seals T he seal conservation process began as Augsburg College explored the steps involved in changing its institutional name to Augsburg University. The seal enhances an original centennial symbol design and aligns with the institution’s current reality, reputation, and promise. THE AUGSBURG COLLEGE SEAL WAS BASED ON A CENTENNIAL SYMBOL CREATED BY PAUL KONSTERLIE ’50. THE LION REPRESENTS AUGSBURG’S NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE. AUGSBURG’S CENTENNIAL SYMBOL, CREATED BY KONSTERLIE. THE LAMP OF LEARNING DEPICTS SOUND SCHOLARSHIP. THE FONT WAS INSPIRED BY THE CENTENNIAL SYMBOL. THE SEAL FOR AUGSBURG COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY FEATURED MARTIN LUTHER. 16 AUGSBURG NOW AUGSBURG WAS FOUNDED IN 1869 IN MARSHALL, WISCONSIN, AND MOVED TO MINNEAPOLIS IN 1872. THE CROSS DEPICTS THE SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND HIGHER EDUCATION. THE SILHOUETTE OF THE MINNEAPOLIS SKYLINE EMPHASIZES AUGSBURG’S METROPOLITAN RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES. THE DEEPLY THEOLOGICAL STATEMENT, “THROUGH TRUTH TO FREEDOM,” SUMMARIZES THE BELIEF THAT THE TRUTH SETS US FREE TO BE EDUCATED AND TO SERVE. THE EAGLE REPRESENTS U.S. DEMOCRACY. THE FOSHAY TOWER RETURNS TO THE CENTER OF THE SEAL AS A NOD TO AUGSBURG’S CENTENNIAL SYMBOL. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 17 PHOTO BY DON STONER PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY [L to R]: At an Auggie Compass event, panelists Mike Gallagher ’12, Katie Jacobson ’11, and Dan Brandt ’11 spoke to students about the journey from college to their careers. PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY [Left]: This fall, student-athletes engaged in team-building exercises led by U.S. Marines. 18 AUGSBURG NOW [Above]: Student-athletes kicked off evening workshops by dining together. WINNING THE LONG GAME BY KATE H. ELLIOTT Meaningful, relevant workshops equip students to excel in the classroom, competition, and their careers S tudent-athletes file past tables, stacking breadsticks on mounds of pasta, but this crew isn’t carb-loading for the next matchup. The nearly 550 students from Augsburg’s 19 sports teams are preparing to tackle Auggie Compass—a series of workshops and team-building exercises designed to inspire personal and professional success. After piloting the program in 2014-15, Augsburg Athletics recruited this year’s lineup of on- and off-campus partners to engage each class in issues relevant to each stage of their undergraduate lives. Associate Athletic Director Kelly Anderson Diercks said the biannual series starts a conversation with studentathletes, then builds upon those themes each year as Auggies develop the confidence, expertise, and support networks they need to navigate known and unknown challenges during college and after graduation. For instance, first-year students discussed study skills, time management, and wellness, while seniors learned about financial planning, living their values, and networking techniques. “When I moved into my first house, I didn’t know furnaces had filters, and that’s just one example of the many things I should’ve known—but didn’t—before graduation,” said Anderson Diercks, who spearheaded the program. “We developed Auggie Compass from the best aspects of similar programs and from conversations with our coaches, student-athletes, and alumni. Our students seem more aware of campus and community resources and better prepared to excel in the real world.” Panel of alumni shares lessons from ‘professional lumps’ Among the spring event’s most popular sessions was a student-athlete alumni panel, “Not Where They Thought They’d Be,” which—as the title suggests—invited alumni to share lessons from their not-so-straight-orsmooth paths to personal and professional fulfillment. Mike Gallagher ’12 was among the four panelists asked “not to sugar coat” their transitions to the workforce. “My first paid job out of college lasted 21 months before I was laid off with 25 SPRING–SUMMER 2017 19 PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY Auggie Compass workshops target needs and issues specific to the phases in student-athletes’ academic and personal journeys. Each session builds upon the previous event, equipping Auggies with a deeper understanding of their values, career preparation, and wellness practices. percent of the company’s workforce, and that’s just one example of the professional lumps we shared,” said Gallagher, an academic advisor at Walden University and the on-air host/ producer of Gopher Sports Update and MIAC Weekly. “Our stories reinforced that new graduates likely will have to do things they don’t enjoy as they work toward goals. But we encouraged them to channel the persistence and dedication they gained as athletes toward new challenges and to say ‘yes’ to any opportunity to better themselves or gain new skills.” Gallagher, also a freelance sports broadcaster and emcee, talked openly about his path, which is a fairly common one: going to college with hopes of playing professional baseball, then realizing he wasn’t any better than his teammates. Then, struggling to find balance within the fun, demanding routine of workouts, competitions, classes, and life until he walked across the commencement stage and into a 9-to-5 job without the sport, the people, and the routine he’d always known. “It is, indeed, a huge wakeup call,” he said. Women’s golfer Wendy Anderson ’17 was among the seniors who rotated through the panel discussion. The double major in music business and accounting said she valued sessions about financial planning and interviews, but the alumni 20 AUGSBURG NOW panel resonated with her the most. “I’m a type-A, perfectionist planner. Hearing their stories reassured me that I may not end up where I thought I might, but because of these types of sessions and my Augsburg experience, I’ll survive and hopefully have a fulfilling career,” she said. “I’m glad I attended sessions about fiscal responsibility, but workshops that encouraged us to consider our values and worth and to step outside our comfort zones were the most rewarding. Guidance from Auggie Compass sessions paired with the entirety of our experiences prepares us to achieve.” Athletic Director Jeff Swenson ’79 is glad to hear student-athletes position Auggie Compass within the greater framework of their Augsburg education and athletic experience. The lessons and skills are interconnected, he said, strengthening one another. “Our athletes learn to win and lose with class, to embrace leadership, and to play their role—whatever that may be—to achieve a shared goal,” said Swenson, who has been a member of the Augsburg community for more than 30 years as a student, coach, and administrator. “These are all great lessons for life after sports, and Auggie Compass builds upon what teams and coaches are already instilling. At our core, we are about community and supporting these fine student-athletes on their journey. Auggie Compass prepares them to carry that legacy out to the world.” Building skills to navigate a complex environment Mike Matson ’07 knows all about Augsburg’s core principles. They guided him through his time as one of the College’s top linebackers, then through seminary, and now in his role as an assistant director of leadership gifts at the College. Matson said Augsburg’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and community outfits students with empathy and poise to respectfully engage in meaningful conversations and authentic relationships. He talked with juniors about how to lead difficult conversations. “We live in a complicated world with complex people and issues, and those who are able to have difficult conversations in a respectful manner advance progress and understanding,” said Matson, who also serves in the Navy Reserves and as chaplain for the Minneapolis Police Department. “Instead of talking at the students, we challenged them to work through case studies. I can’t say I was all that surprised at how well they handled themselves, but I was impressed with how willing they were to share PHOTO BY DON STONER PHOTO BY COURTNEY PERRY This spring, members of the junior class headed to the gym for basketball and bean bag competitions with Special Olympics athletes, and in September, first-year students learned techniques to manage stress and practice mindfulness. vulnerabilities, speak about biases, and view situations through alternate perspectives. It was amazing to watch ‘community’ happen.” Unified tournament puts principles to practice Student-athletes didn’t only talk about ideals, they practiced them. Juniors headed to the Si Melby gymnasium to compete alongside 40 Special Olympics athletes in basketball and bean bag toss competitions. Jennifer Jacobs, who organized the volunteer effort, said the tournament underscored Augsburg’s commitment to service and inclusion. “We added [the unified competition] because civic engagement is one of the college’s co-curricular learning outcomes,” said Jacobs, then-assistant athletic director and assistant volleyball coach. “We decided to collaborate with Special Olympics because of an NCAA Division III partnership with the organization and because our ongoing involvement with the area chapter continually inspires our students.” Student-athlete Cody Pirkl ’18 had never interacted with Special Olympics athletes before the Auggie Compass event this spring. Initially, the baseball player had not been excited about the obligation on what otherwise would have been a free night. But as he said goodbye to Special Olympics teammates, the social work major said it felt like parting with dear friends. “We, as college athletes, become so focused on our own goals and everyday lives that we forget how rewarding it is to give back to others,” Pirkl said. “Our involvement with Special Olympics shines Augsburg’s positive light on our broader community, but it also gives us meaningful perspective. Watching the Special Olympics athletes’ pure love of the game reminded me how lucky I am and how much I love to play.” Pirkl said he and his teammates took a lot away from the mix of formats and engaging activities. That active structure was intentional, Anderson Diercks explained, as presenters played to student-athletes’ competitive nature. “For years, we had brought wonderful, inspiring speakers to campus once or twice a year to talk with students about hot topics or enduring life-aftercollege lessons,” Anderson Diercks said. “Although these experts offered great perspective and information, the format was a challenge, and we were never able to cover as many of the topics as we would have liked. The new Auggie Compass format allows us to engage each class in specific topics to prepare them for the next year and beyond. We can more easily adjust based on student feedback, and it’s a nice way to highlight our alumni and campus experts as well as celebrate community partnerships and resources.” Celebrating mindfulness and meditation One such resource is Jermaine Nelson, a meditation and mindfulness coach and yoga instructor. The former athlete urged students to seek mind-body connections as they strive to be more present. He also reminded them to give themselves grace during transitions and various phases of life. “It’s so easy for student-athletes to continue to eat and sleep how they did in college without the same level of activity, and then they look up one day and realize they are out of shape and out of sync,” Nelson said. “It’s important to anticipate, on the field and in life, so that you avoid injury and prepare for the next phase of your life.” Nelson wasn’t expecting to, but looking out at the dozens of student-athletes reminded him of his nephew, and Nelson got personal. His nephew was a promising college recruit, with plans to play in the NBA, but he broke down from all the pressure. “I wish he would have had a program like this when he was in school,” Nelson said. “Imagine all the heartache and recovery he would have avoided had he been offered the tools to cope and achieve without grinding himself into the ground. I worked with him, and he’s on a good path now, but it took a while. If Auggies can practice these techniques now, they’ll succeed.” SPRING–SUMMER 2017 21 Nelson’s talk reinforced some of the themes presented by Augsburg’s Center for Wellness and Counseling. For example, counselor Jon Vaughan-Fier and Beth Carlson, the center’s assistant director, co-facilitated “Becoming Resilient to Stress,” which challenged student-athletes to assess what drains them and to identify ways to recharge. In addition to discussing the importance of sleep, nutrition, and meaningful relationships—among other topics—students engaged in yoga, mindful breathing, and relaxation strategies. As a senior, Chuckie Smith ’17 took part in Auggie Compass workshops on financial planning, job search strategies, living authentically, and a variety of other topics. During the Compass program’s pilot year, the entire CWC staff also presented on a range of topics related to wellbeing, including body image, depression, healthy choices, and stress management, which Vaughan-Fier said is critically important for today’s overly busy student-athletes. “To emphasize the connection to sports and improved performance, we showed testimonials from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russel Wilson about his ‘one play at a time’ mindset and New York Knicks President Phil Jackson’s philosophy of ‘one breath, one mind,’” Vaughan-Fier said. “We hope these tools help student-athletes as they strive to incorporate self-care practices into daily life.” According to a 2015 health survey, the top stressors among Augsburg students are: a death or serious illness of someone close, conflicts with roommates, parental conflict, and the end of a personal relationship. Director of the counseling center, Nancy Guilbeault, said the opportunity to interact with student-athletes about these and other topics is a proactive way to introduce the center’s role and resources. “Mental health and GPA are linked, and they affect your performance,” she said. “We want to make sure these studentathletes are working on their physical, mental, and spiritual health and wellbeing. These sessions provide an overview and tips, but we also encourage them to follow up with one-on-one or group support.” 22 AUGSBURG NOW Financial stressors, professional communications among top concerns A key barrier to wellness, Guilbeault said, is stress related to finances—a worry that plagues many students, particularly studentathletes who might not have the time to hold a job or internship. To build upon the counseling center’s session, Auggie Compass introduced a practical question-and-answer session with Tommy Redae ’09 MBA, a treasury management sales consultant and vice president of Middle Market Banking for Wells Fargo in Minneapolis. “Talking with upper-class students, I focused on the importance of budgeting and managing credit for a healthy financial future,” Redae said. “I shared several of the many online tools and apps to help them stick to a budget and monitor credit for suspicious or fraudulent activities.” Also in the category of practical and purposeful guidance, Auggie Compass enlisted faculty mentors Carol Enke and Shana Watters to offer best practices for professional communications. The pair broke student-athletes into groups to review and assess emails students sent professors, many of them lacking clarity, starting with an informal “hey,” or displaying accusatory language. “Research shows that people read emails more negatively than intended, and therefore, communicating effectively in this medium reduces ambiguity and negative perceptions,” Watters said. “The students did a great job of improving the emails, and we hope they will apply the guidance we shared to communicate with professionals now and in the future.” Program reinforces Augsburg’s mission, commitment to students The blend of practical knowledge and conceptual, creative exploration reflects Augsburg’s care for and commitment to student-athletes, and it supports community-building across teams and among coaches, said Swenson. This year, the program added a track for coaches that focused on situational leadership, social media training, and a DiSC® behavioral assessment inventory. “We’re not offering Auggie Compass to check off the ‘personal development box,’” Swenson said. “The program was developed by former collegiate players, thinking about what they wished they would have known, so that our student-athletes can have more tools to reach for as they strive for success.” The creation and evolution of Auggie Compass embodies some of the innovation, self-reflection, and grit the program aims to instill. Anderson Diercks said organizers continue to have conversations with student-athletes, alumni, and experts to align sessions with players’ needs and to reflect the latest trends and topics. As a former athlete turned furnace-filter-changing adult, she knows greatness doesn’t come from perfection but from the drive to keep playing until you get it right. HOMECOMING THOUSANDS OF AUGGIES. ONE AUGSBURG. Celebrate the first Augsburg University Homecoming NEW NAME. SAME SCHOOL SPIRIT. Gather among friends to celebrate the memories and milestones that define your Augsburg experience. Whether it’s to participate in a reunion, see campus updates firsthand, or cheer on a favorite team, it’s time to register for this year’s historic Homecoming—the first as Augsburg University. Interested in organizing your reunion? October 13-14 Call the Office of Alumni and Constituent Relations at 612-330-1085 or email alumni@augsburg.edu. Find accommodation information, the event schedule, and more at: augsburg.edu/homecoming FROM THE ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT Dear alumni and friends, s my second year as Alumni Board President comes to a close, I look back on the past several months with gratitude for what the Alumni Board has accomplished. We hope you have enjoyed recent alumni events, both on campus and off. At the start of my tenure, when I challenged the Alumni Board to change, not a little, but a lot, everyone stepped up to the plate and went to work. Today the board maintains more committees with fewer people on each, operates with clearly defined goals for each committee, and sustains a high level of engagement. We’ve also partnered with staff throughout the College to increase the board’s effectiveness and relevance. The Alumni Board continues to seek new pathways to connect with students, whether through mentoring, visiting classrooms, or simply sharing tips on LinkedIn. Students have said they enjoyed taking part in a Homecoming lunch last fall where they had the chance to share a table with distinguished alumni who pursued similar fields of study. We also held another successful Auggie Networking Experience in February, and if you couldn’t make it to campus, you’ll find some tips for reluctant networkers on page 27. In June, we transition board leadership. I’d like to welcome Nick Rathmann ’03 as Alumni Board President for the 2017-19 term. He is full of energy, has a passion for Augsburg, and is a dynamic leader with innovative ideas to take the Alumni Board even further. He is the athletic director at The Blake School, a longtime supporter of Augsburg as a member of the A-Club, and an all-around amazing volunteer. The Alumni Board is in great hands under his leadership. I’d also like to recognize Greg Schnagl ’91, who has led our Networking Committee for the past two years. His passion for creating meaningful connections between students and alumni has helped make the Auggie Networking Experience event bigger and better. I recently moved away from the Twin Cities for work, and I am so pleased to see alumni events scheduled across the U.S. more often. In the past two years, alumni gatherings have occurred in Denver, Las Vegas, Raleigh, Washington, D.C., and other cities. If you’re in the Minneapolis area, we hope to see you at some of this summer’s exciting alumni events! JILL WATSON ’10 MBA, ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT SUMMER ALUMNI EVENTS Minnesota United Soccer Night June 21 | 7 p.m. Republic 420 SE 23rd Ave., Minneapolis Meet for an alumni reception at Republic from 4:30–6:30 p.m. before taking the light rail to TCF Bank Stadium for a game. 7 People. 7 Passions. 7 Minutes. July 7 | 7–9 p.m. Sisyphus Brewing 712 Ontario Ave. W., Minneapolis Hear idea-stirring talks from seven passionate Auggies. $10 covers your first beverage and light appetizers. Auggie Night at Canterbury Park July 21 | 5:30–7 p.m. 1100 Canterbury Road, Shakopee, MN $5 reservation covers a buffet meal, $5 of Canterbury Currency, and reserved seating. Happy Hour Squared URBAN ARBORETUM Join the Alumni Board to sponsor a tree You can help transform Augsburg into an urban arboretum that serves as an educational and community resource in harmony with the environment. Join the Alumni Board’s effort to sponsor a tree in the urban arboretum planned for Augsburg’s campus. The trees selected for this plan will surround the Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion and include species native to Minnesota. All gift levels are welcome. The total cost to sponsor a tree is $25,000, which includes long-term care and maintenance. Help us reach this goal by December 2018! Visit augsburg.edu/giving for more information or contact Amanda Scherer, assistant director of leadership gifts, at scherera@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1720. 24 AUGSBURG NOW September 5 | 5–7 p.m. Brave New Workshop 824 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis Join alumnae business owners Jenni Lilledahl ’87 and Jacquie Berglund ’87 for a happy hour with a purpose. Make sandwiches for a good cause and enjoy a FINNEGANS® as part of Augsburg’s annual City Service Day. For more information and registration, visit augsburg.edu/alumni. COURTESY PHOTOS AUGGIES CONNECT [Top]: Travelers pose at Wat Chedi Luang Temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. TRAVELING WITH [Far Left–L to R]: Hans Wiersma and Lori Brandt Hale, Department of Religion faculty members and trip leaders, pose with Katie (Koch) Code ’01, director of alumni and constituent relations. AUGGIES This winter, 15 Auggies traveled to Thailand and Cambodia with Augsburg College Professor of English Kathy Swanson and her husband, Jack, as their hosts. “The trip was beyond amazing,” said traveler and Alumni Board President Jill Watson ’10 MBA. “Our hosts, Jack and Kathy Swanson, have a passion for the people and culture of Thailand that was contagious throughout the trip. They were always willing to share insights, recommend food (such as sticky rice and mango at a floating market) and go out of their way to help others and ensure everyone was having a great trip. “Memories that stand out include the elephant camp in Chiang Mai, Thai cooking school, Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Light for Kids orphanage, and the food ... all the foods! “Traveling with fellow Auggies meant I [Near Right]: Travelers stand in front of the Castle Church in Germany where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door. had at least one thing in common with so many people I had never met before. By the end of the trip, I had developed new friendships, and I will be keeping in touch.” Celebrating Lutheran heritage in Germany and the Czech Republic Last fall, another group of Auggies traveled to the land of Luther to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Religion Department faculty members Hans Wiersma and Lori Brandt Hale led a group of 30 Augsburg alumni and friends on a multi-city tour that included Dresden, Prague, and Wittenberg—the long-time home of Reformation catalyst Martin Luther. One of the highlights for Augsburg Alumni Director Katie (Koch) Code ’01 was the opportunity to be in Wittenberg on Reformation Day. The town marked the occasion with a festival, and the Augsburg group visited Castle Church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door. “At worship that morning we sang, ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God,’ which took me back to my Augsburg days enrolled in the Luther and the Reformers class with Religion Professor Mark Tranvik,” Code said. Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Jean Hopfensperger and photographer Jerry Holt accompanied the group to chronicle how Minnesotans observed the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In a story published after the group’s return home, Augsburg alumnae Carol Pfleiderer ’64 and Kathleen Johnson ’72 described how the trip itinerary offered participants opportunities to build and reflect on their faith. To view trip photos, visit augsburg.edu/now. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 25 A GIFT FOR AUGSBURG IN ROCHESTER Louise and Regent Emeritus Leland “Lee” Sundet will help Augsburg’s Rochester site grow thanks to a generous $1.5 million gift. The Rochester location attracts more than 350 working professionals to undergraduate and graduate programs in business, education, health care, and nursing. As longtime supporters of Augsburg, including the Weekend College and Youth and Family Ministry programs, the Sundets have used their frugality to benefit others and to raise the profile of Augsburg. Several years ago, in an effort to better communicate Augsburg’s identity locally, Sundet helped form a marketing committee and was instrumental in choosing a new logo with a cross embedded in the “A.” He remains steadfast in his commitment to religion and religious freedom as essential to education. In his 88 years, Lee has never lost sight of the basics: thrift, generosity, and faith. “I also believe in old-fashioned discipline—‘don’t spend it till you’ve earned it,’” he said. Lee learned these principles early, growing up in Spring Grove, Minnesota, where most Norwegian-American community members attended the big Lutheran church. “My father died when I was six months old, and my mother PHOTO BY BRENDAN BUSH PHOTO BY BRENDAN BUSH AUGGIES CONNECT was quite ill so she had to sell everything she had to pay the bills. She got $7.43 a month, and of that, 74 cents went to the church,” said Lee, who has embraced tithing ever since. A retired industrialist and manufacturer, Lee owned several companies, including Century Manufacturing, Goodall Manufacturing, Britt Manufacturing, and Fountain Industries. His business acumen earned him such honors as Minnesota’s Small Business Man of the Year and the University of Minnesota’s Outstanding Achievement Award. The couple has sponsored a business scholarship at Augsburg since 1992. Overall, the Sundets are impressed by the potential of Augsburg’s programs in Rochester and by the work of another community anchor, Mayo Clinic, which the couple believes shares their values. “Augsburg has come a long way, and I would love to see it grow in Rochester.” 26 AUGSBURG NOW “I have met people at Mayo who have gone through the Augsburg program, and I’ve seen what it’s done for them. It’s a wonderful thing,” Lee said. “It wasn’t easy to get it started, but it’s fun to look back on. Augsburg has come a long way, and I would love to see it grow in Rochester.” tips for the reluctant networker Augsburg College alumna Jenni Lilledahl ’87 was a featured speaker at the Auggie Networking Experience in February. As co-owner of the sketch and improvisational comedy theater Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, Lilledahl brought insight from the improv world to the crowd of nearly 300 alumni and students meeting to exchange career advice. No matter their personality or career, Lilledahl said, all people have anxiety about jumping into new conversations or taking new career paths. Here she shares tips for individuals to jump-start meaningful conversations and say “yes” to new experiences. 1. We all get uncomfortable, yet we cannot let this feeling control us. Instead, we must face our fears and immerse ourselves in new experiences. 2. Sometimes saying “yes” is easier than we think. Don’t rattle off 20 excuses; jump in with an open mind. 3. PHOTOS BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 Stop yourself from using the word “but.” Instead, use the reframing mindset of “yesand” to add something positive to each situation you are in. Don’t use excuses to squash new ideas, possibilities, or adventures. Rather, embrace them. 4. Be intentional about your communication. Don’t just be there. Be awake, aware, and connected to the other people in the room. 5. Have gratitude for the chance to develop relationships, share ideas, and try new things. People who create authentic connections with others are often more successful than those who possess only technical skills. Augsburg alumni and students participated in short improvisational exercises at the event. with the Young Alumni Council Auggies who have graduated from any Augsburg degree program in the past 10 years are invited to join the Young Alumni Council and help plan year-round activities for recent alumni. In the past, the Young Alumni Council has organized a Twins game outing, a financial planning talk and social hour at Summit Brewery, and an afternoon of ice skating at The Depot in Minneapolis. For Young Alumni Council Vice President Evan Decker ’12, taking part in the group provides opportunities to practice valuable life and business skills that he doesn’t necessarily hone in his day- to-day work, such as planning meetings and events, communicating with fellow alumni, speaking to groups, and networking. Serving the council also is a way to stay engaged with the College. “Some people feel there aren’t resources for them after graduation, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Decker said. “This group is here to help bridge that gap.” To join the Young Alumni Council, visit augsburg.edu/alumni. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 27 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES 1961 Last year, First Lutheran Church in Red Wing, Minnesota, recognized Arlan Johnson ’61 for 50 years of service to its choir as a singer and director. While a student at Augsburg, Johnson played in the band for four years and sang in the choir for two years. He enjoyed tours with the band and choir in the Pacific Northwest, and in 1960 he participated in an extended Alaskan band trip to the Anchorage Music Festival. After graduating from Augsburg, he completed his education requirements, student taught at Braham (Minnesota) Area High School with Herman Aune ’50, and finished a second major in biology. Johnson taught band and vocal music in Stewart, Minnesota, and elementary, junior high, and middle school band in Red Wing until his retirement. He and his wife, Phyllis, continue to live in Red Wing. 1967 5 0-Y E AR RE UNI ON HOMECOMING 2017 Associate Professor of Chemistry Sandra Olmsted ’69 retires after serving Augsburg since 1978. See page 2. 1971 Darrell Skogen ’71 retired after teaching for 46 years. He spent the past 41 years at St. MichaelAlbertville High School in Minnesota. Skogen is the longest-tenured employee in the history of the school district. He taught classes such as AP World History and AP U.S. History. Skogen continues to instruct part-time at the high school and records stats for its football program. He says that the school’s Class 5A football state championship victory in 2015 was the first in his 50 years walking the sidelines. 1974 Dr. Subhashchandra “Pat” Patel ’74 and Annette (Hanson) Patel ’73 donated their dental clinics in Clarkfield and Cottonwood, Minnesota, to Open Door Health Center of Mankato. Open Door will run satellite dental clinics in the towns. Pat retired in June 2016. Associate Professor of Music Peter Hendrickson ’76 retires after teaching at Augsburg for more than two decades. See page 2. 1977 40- YE A R R E U N I O N HOMECOMING 2017 In August, Neil Paulson ’77 was elected state committeeman for the Republican Party in Orange County, Florida. for Advanced Science and Technology. 1979 1990 Walter Ohrbom ’79 earned a doctorate in chemistry from North Dakota State University after graduating from Augsburg. He retired from BASF as a senior research associate with more than 120 U.S. patents. Over the years, he and his wife, Patricia, have traveled around the world to backpack, bike, canoe, and scuba dive. Athletic Director Jeff Swenson ’79 draws connections between student athletes’ time on campus and leadership roles after graduation. See page 18. 1988 Kiel Christianson ’88 was promoted to full professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he conducts research on language processing, reading, and bilingualism. He is associate chair of the department, as well as leader of the Educational Psychology Psycholinguistics Lab and co-chair of the Illinois Language and Literacy Initiative, both in the Beckman Institute In July, Karen Jean Reed ’90, a music therapy major, was honored with the President’s Award at the Southern California First Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Church Of God in Christ 50th State Women’s Convention, held in Palm Desert, California. She also was nominated for the 50 Women of Excellence honor for her exemplary service and outstanding achievement in music and administrative service in local, church, district, regional, and state positions. Reed has excelled in music as a gospel saxophonist and in women’s ministry. She was recognized for exemplary service by Barbara McCoo Lewis, the assistant general supervisor of the Church of God in Christ International. Reed serves as the assistant regional missionary for the Santa Barbara region and also works with youth. Professionally, she is a program director at the Department of State HospitalsCoalinga, overseeing the treatment of sexually violent predators. She is the author of “Music is the Master Key.” AUGGIES NEAR AND FAR [L to R]: Sociology Professor Tim Pippert and Torstenson Scholars Ellen Sachs ’17, Emily Campbell ’17, and Jen Kochaver ’19 meet with Mark Johnson ’75 on campus. [Not pictured]: Torstenson Scholar Mark Daniels ’17. 28 AUGSBURG NOW Last fall, metro-urban studies alumnus Mark Johnson ’75 invited Sociology Professor Tim Pippert to the remote country of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. The pair distributed solar lights donated by Johnson to villages on the island of Tanna, which in 2015 suffered widespread destruction due to Hurricane Pam. For Pippert, the trip was an adventure of a lifetime and an opportunity to observe the relationships Johnson has developed with local people over the course of several previous trips. The connection between Johnson and Pippert was built, in part, through their involvement with Augsburg’s Torstenson Community Scholars program that supports undergraduate research. Since 2015, Johnson has funded research opportunities for Auggies engaged in the program, which is named in memory of Professor Joel Torstenson ’38, a founder of Augsburg’s Department of Sociology. This February, four Torstenson Scholars traveled with Pippert to North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield region to assess how residents have been impacted by oil exploration. From the Auggie Connections blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. 1992 2 5-Y EA R RE UNI ON HOMECOMING 2017 Scott Peterson ’92 has accepted a call to be the pastor at Lutheran Church in the Foothills in La Cañada, California. After living in Canada for more than 17 years, Peterson has returned to the U.S. to continue ministry within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 1993 Chad Shilson ’93 is the Minnesota women’s wrestling director for USA Wrestling. He has completed his 100th marathon and qualified for his fourth Boston Marathon. Marathon running has taken him to 36 states, including 29 states in the past two years. A dedicated daily runner, Shilson has run at least one mile per day for more than six years. 1996 Stephanie Harms ’96 and Kristin (Young) Miller ’91 are helping change the nation’s response to vulnerable individuals and families through their work in the supportive housing movement. Both Auggies work at CSH, a national nonprofit organization that connects housing with services for vulnerable populations. Based in New York City, Miller leads a successful CSH program that assists communities throughout New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Harms serves as chief operating officer and leads CSH’s communications, administrative, talent, and human resource efforts. CSH has ended veteran homelessness in several communities throughout the U.S., created more than 100,000 homes for individuals and families, and changed public systems to address the root conditions that create turmoil in the lives of vulnerable individuals and families. ’05 ’03 1999 Peter Durow ’99 has been commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota for the 2018 ACDA-MN State 4-5-6 Girls’ Honor Choir. ACDA-MN has been committed to commissioning new choral works for all-state and honor choirs from Minnesota composers each year since 1975. Durow serves as visiting director of choral activities at St. Cloud State University. ’67 Juliane Derry ’00 blends science with artistry and research with intuition as a historic materials conservator. See page 8. AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS Andrea (Carlson) Conway ’05 and Riley Conway ’05 welcomed a son, Soren Jon, in December. Soren is the grandson of Jon Carlson ’79 and great-grandson of Jeroy Carlson ’48. Golf Association and president of Women in the Golf Industry. She also wrote an e-book titled, “Hit It, Alice! A Woman’s Golf Guide to Everything But the Swing.” Barb (Walen) Hanson ’67 became president of the Minnesota Golf Association at its annual meeting in November. She is the first woman to serve in this role. Since retiring from her teaching career, Hanson has been actively involved in the golf world, having served as president of the Minnesota Women’s Paul Putt ’03, ’15 MAE and his wife, Katie, celebrated the birth of a son, Theodore Howard, in October. ’05 ’67 ’03 Pete Pfeffer ’87, who holds a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, and his daughter, Maggie, served on a chiropractic and medical ’87 ’87 mission team in Kimana, Kenya. The team provided care and education to hundreds of Maasai villagers living in bomas and orphanages in an underserved area. Pete and his brother, Mike Pfeffer ’92, jointly own and serve as chiropractors for a HealthSource Chiropractic and Progressive Rehabilitation Clinic in Alexandria, Minnesota. In addition to private practice, Pete has taken on a national role with the HealthSource Corporation to provide training in technique and rehabilitation procedures for new franchises. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 29 ALUMNI CLASS NOTES Mathematics and Statistics Instructor Alyssa Hanson ’01 is honored with a Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning award. See page 7. 2002 JCI Minnesota (formerly Minnesota Jaycees) selected Katie Lindenfelser ’02, founder of Crescent Cove, as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans for 2016. The mission of Crescent Cove is to offer care and support to young people with a shortened life expectancy and their families. The vision of Crescent Cove is to build and operate the first residential children’s hospice and respite care home in the Midwest. Started in 1950, the Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans honor is Minnesota’s only statewide recognition program for outstanding young leaders ages 18-40 who have devoted themselves to improving their communities. The program acknowledges the efforts and accomplishments of young adults who contribute to Minnesota through their service, thought and influence, community involvement, or entrepreneurship. 2003 Reginaldo HaslettMarroquin ’03 published “In the Shadow of Green Man.” The book, published by Acres USA, chronicles Haslett-Marroquin’s upbringing in revolution-torn Guatemala and how he built his vision to develop a regenerative farming model that uplifts individuals and communities. Throughout the book, he shares the fable of the Green Man, a tiny and wise Guatemalan folk character whose stories teach the importance of respecting the natural world. HaslettMarroquin is chief strategy officer for Main Street Project, based in Northfield, Minnesota. Haslett-Marroquin has served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Latin America and as an advisor to the World Council of Indigenous People. He was a founding member of the Fair Trade Federation, and was Director of the Fair Trade Program for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy from 1995 to 1998. He also led the creation, strategic positioning, startup, and launch of Peace Coffee, a Minnesota-based fair-trade coffee company. Samuel Gross ’03 designs new university logo. See page 12. 2007 10-YEAR REUNION HOMECOMING 2017 Mike Matson ’07 helps teach student-athletes how to engage in difficult conversations. See page 18. Jenessa Payano Stark ’07 began a Master of Science in Nursing program at Yale University this past fall. She is studying in Yale’s Nurse-Midwifery/Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner program. She received a prestigious National Health Service Corps Scholarship that pays her tuition and fees, and defrays her living expenses for three years in exchange for future service in an area with a shortage of health professionals. 2011 Dan Skaarup ’11 and Casey (Ernst) Skaarup ’11 welcomed a daughter, Eowyn River, to the world in December. Laura Schmidt ’11 and Sarah Witte ’12 launched a nonprofit, spiritually based community called Intertwine Northeast. The group’s mission is to be “made and moved by story, convinced by compassion, always in process, and about questions, not answers.” Mike Gallagher ’12 shares life lessons with current students. See page 18. 2014 Composer and percussionist Zack Baltich ’14 was featured in the 2017 Cedar Commissions. Baltich’s piece “ingress/passage” used contact microphones and uncommon performance techniques on marimba, glass bottles, and other found objects. The Cedar Commissions (formerly the 416 Commissions) is a flagship program for emerging artists made possible with a grant from the Jerome Foundation and has showcased new work by more than 30 emerging composers and musicians. Catherine Colsrud ’14 was one of 25 leaders who participated in the eighth cohort of the Native Nation Rebuilders Program sponsored by the Native Governance Center and the Bush Foundation. Representatives from 12 Native nations from Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota were selected for the Rebuilders AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS Kathleen (Watson) Bradbury ’12 and Krissy Bradbury ’12 welcomed Peter Gene to their family. ’12 Beckie Jackson ’10 received a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching and is one of approximately 45 U.S. citizens traveling abroad through the program in 2016-17. In January, she headed to Botswana to spend five months conducting educational research. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected ’10 30 AUGSBURG NOW on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential. Jackson teaches at Moose Lake High School in Moose Lake, Minnesota. Nick Rathmann ’03 and wife, Shannon, welcomed a daughter, Finley Grace, in November. ’03 ’11 Several Augsburg College alumni serve as tutors and coaches with Minnesota Reading Corps and Minnesota Math Corps. Tutors pledge one year of service in schools to help children become proficient readers by the end of third grade and proficient in math by the end of eighth grade. [L to R]: Charmaine Bell ’11, Kathleen Abel ’76, Joaquin Vences ’16, Kacie Carlsted ’15, Christine Fankhanel ’02, Amy Riebs ’18 MAE, and Alicia (Oppelt) Musselman ’14. ’91 Nancy Palmer ’91 joined the Minnesota Reading Corps September Program as a leadership component of a larger initiative to support tribes as they strengthen their governing capabilities. Colsrud serves the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe as the commissioner of administration, chief of staff, and acting commissioner of natural resources. Native Governance Center and Bush Foundation Rebuilders convened for four structured sessions during which they developed action plans to share knowledge with peers and their respective tribal governments. ’12 ’10 GRADUATE PROGRAMS Nursing Department Chair Joyce Miller ’02, ’05 MAN, ’11 DNP earns a Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning award. See page 7. Tommy Redae ’09 MBA helps Auggies prepare for a healthy financial future. See page 18. Rochelle Fischer ’14 MSW became a hospital administrator at Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center in January. For the past four years, she has been an assistant program director at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, Minnesota, providing day-to-day operational and administrative leadership for persons with complex behavioral health symptoms. ’03 ’11 Dan Klein ’15 MBA and Kaitlin (Astleford) Klein were married February 25 in Hollywood, Florida. Nicole (Egly) Olson ’15 MBA and Mark Olson were married February 24 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Institute and tutors students in kindergarten through third grade. ’91 Chris Stedman ’08, an interfaith activist and author, is joining Augsburg this spring as a fellow serving the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship where he will facilitate and build new community partnerships for non-religious and interfaith civic engagement. Stedman also will consult on the development of interfaith engagement programs at Augsburg. ’08 ’08 31 HEALING WATERS ’68 Jason Kusiak ’08 spends late winter and early spring long-lining for cod and haddock, and most of the year catching lobster. Fishing in long-established seaports near Gloucester, Massachusetts, gives Kusiak an appreciation for the area’s rich history and a healthy respect for those who made a living fishing the Atlantic in earlier times. “With fishing,” he said, “you can see the direct result of your work ethic.” Today Kusiak recognizes that his entrepreneurial inclination was shaped by Assistant Professor of Business John Cerrito and former staff member Peggy Cerrito, and that his drive for continual personal growth was influenced by his involvement in StepUP®, the College’s residential collegiate recovery community. While at Augsburg, Kusiak found that the College’s commitment to building strong community connections and emphasis on learning through experience resonated with him. He now seeks out opportunities to interact with new people, to give back, and to offer hope to individuals and families who struggle with substance abuse. He’s driven to invest in the future of his business and his community. ’78 From the Auggie Connections blog. Visit augsburg.edu/alumni/blog to read more. AUGGIE SNAPSHOTS ’83 [L to R]: This fall, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service President Linda Hartke met with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Rev. Mark Hanson ’68, former presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, at the LIRS Walk of Courage Award Gala. Albright and Hanson were honored at the event for their commitments to furthering equity for all people. ’68 ’71 Actor and performing arts educator Luverne Seifert ’83 won a $25,000 fellowship from the William and Eva Fox Foundation. He is part of a national cohort of artists supported by the foundation, which underwrites training and career development for performers. The support will enable Seifert to deeply explore his art and travel to France and Switzerland. In the past 25 years, he has acted at theaters in the Twin Cities and across the U.S. ’83 ’05 [L to R]: Margaret Marx ’78, Margo Casey ’78, and Cathy (Kaiser) Bloomquist ’78, all members of the original second step Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at ’78 ’06 32 AUGSBURG NOW Augsburg, continue their friendship today. The women gathered in Scandia, Minnesota, in September, and they share this photo as a reminder of the second step program’s impact on the nursing profession in Minnesota. Bob Stacke ’71 received an award from the Somali Museum of Minnesota on the occasion of the museum’s third anniversary last October. Stacke has provided music and photography services to the museum since its inception. ’71 Janeece (Adams) Oatman ’05, an Augsburg Alumni Board member, and Jim Gross, associate provost for academic innovation and strategic initiatives, were part of the Auggie team at the Rochester, Minnesota, Tour de Cure in October. ’05 Missy (Gaulke) Wilson ’06 completed her first Ragnar trail race and ’06 her third Ragnar overall race in September. She ran 15.2 miles on the Ragnar Trail Northwoods - WI in the Ragnar relay. Helen M. (Anderson) Johnson ’40, Hallock, Minnesota, age 96, on September 4. Eleanor C. (Christenson) Kline ’44, Minneapolis, age 93, on May 31. Marvin W. Johnson ’45, Rochester, Minnesota, age 93, on November 28. Olav Overold ’45, Cando, North Dakota, age 103, on January 23. Bonnie J. (Sorem) Anderson ’46, Cedar Falls, Iowa, age 92, on December 7. Delpha M. (Randklev) Berg ’47, Grand Forks, North Dakota, age 91, on September 12. Ray E. Gerlinger ’49, Overland Park, Minnesota, age 93, on December 4. Theodore C. Nystuen ’49, Altoona, Wisconsin, age 94, on January 19. Lorraine G. V. (Lundh) Qual ’49, Lisbon, North Dakota, age 93, on October 4. Joan L. (Sears) Ryden ’49, Cedar Hill, Texas, age 91, on October 18. Phebe D. (Dale) Hanson ’50, Minneapolis, age 88, on December 16. Evelyn I. (Shelstad) Kriesel ’50, Alamo, Texas, age 88, on September 21. Rhonda M. (Hektner) Lybeck ’50, Fargo, North Dakota, age 88, on January 29. Daniel Nelson ’50, Spicer, Minnesota, age 90, on February 14. Melvin E. Vigen ’50, Irving, Texas, age 88, on September 26. Arvild T. Jacobson ’51, Sun City, Arizona, age 93, on November 26. Donald H. Olson ’51, Henderson, Nevada, age 87, on December 19. Robert “Bob” R. Hage ’52, Hector, Minnesota, age 88, on December 16. William “Bill” J. Kuross ’52, Hopkins, Minnesota, age 87, on January 31. Charlotte M. (Kleven) Rimmereid ’52, St. Paul, age 86, on December 29. Roger V. Anderson ’53, Ottawa, Ontario, age 86, on February 11. Joan J. (Johnson) Kuder ’53, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, age 86, on December 19. Harry E. Olson ’53, Apopka, Florida, age 84, on October 7. Nola E. (Bengtson) Studer ’53, Bemidji, Minnesota, age 85, on September 5. Donna R. (Osland) Gaines ’54, Laguna Hills, California, age 84, on September 17. Ruth M. (Pousi) Ollila ’54, Minneapolis, age 84, on February 14. Betty J. (Dyrud) Oudal ’54, Rochester, Minnesota, age 85, on December 31. Arlene V. (Tollefson) Paulson ’54, Lake Oswego, Oregon, age 89, on September 20. Gary R. Rust ’54, Burnsville, Minnesota, age 85, on October 12. Robert “Bob” E. Twiton ’54, Brainerd, Minnesota, age 84, on February 26. Theodore “Ted” S. Berkas ’56, Minneapolis, age 88, on January 15. Robert A. Fundingsland ’65, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, age 73, on September 19. Sanford E. Egesdal ’56, Minneapolis, age 82, on October 3. Marie D. (Hafie) MacNally ’65, Minneapolis, on November 7. Robert A. Roos ’56, Robbinsdale, Minnesota, age 86, on September 3. Dale H. Peterson ’69, Sapulpa, Oklahoma, age 69, on November 27. Merlin J. White ’56, Fridley, Minnesota, age 86, on September 8. Anita M. (Lindquist) King ’70, Pella, Iowa, age 68, on September 1. Raymond Seaver ’57, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, age 82, on December 5. Chuck S. Marsh ’73, Puyallup, Washington, age 65, on November 14. Robert H. Gustafson ’59, Cambridge, Minnesota, age 84, on January 28. Colleen M. (Brown) Olson ’74, Shakopee, Minnesota, age 63, on August 20. John P. Martisen ’59, Minneapolis, age 81, on August 30. Sheila M. (Conway) Kortuem ’84, St. Peter, Minnesota, age 76, on August 26. Lloyd H. Reichstadt ’59, Flagstaff, Arizona, age 84, on November 21. Paul C. Casperson ’60, Dallas, Texas, age 77, on January 31. Wayne R. Juntunen ’60, Esko, Minnesota, age 83, on December 5. Karen O. (Egesdal) Trelstad ’61, Red Wing, Minnesota, age 79, on November 30. Coralyn J. (Lunsted) Bryan ’62, Minneapolis, age 77, on October 25. Joshua B. Lerman ’08, Louisville, Kentucky, age 33, on November 18. Angel G. Rodriguez ’15, Minneapolis, age 25, on January 3. Tyler G. Kotewa ’17, Fairmont, Minnesota, age 25, on December 7. Mark A. DiCastri ’18, Minneapolis, age 29, on February 27. Clair A. Johannsen ’62, Hagerstown, Maryland, age 79, on February 10. Paul W. Anderson ’63, Moorhead, Minnesota, age 77, on January 31. Gaylen K. Heggen ’63, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, age 75, on October 26. The “In memoriam” listings in this publication include notifications received before March 15. SPRING–SUMMER 2017 33 PHOTO BY RICKY TAYLOR ’17 IN MEMORIAM PHOTOS BY COURTNEY PERRY 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454 Steve Wozniak inspires Auggies to ‘Learn Different’ Apple, Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak engaged the Augsburg community in a conversation that emphasized the importance of creativity, education, and innovation in an increasingly connected world. Wozniak launched Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976, revolutionizing the personal computer industry. Wozniak’s visit took place this winter during Scholarship Weekend, an opportunity for prospective students to compete for Fine Arts and Honors scholarships. Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 2031
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Title: Dr. Kenneth C. Bailey, Dean of Augsburg College, circa 1968
Collection: Photographs

Title: Dr. Kenneth C. Bailey, Dean of Augsburg College, circa 1968
Collection: Photographs