Alumni Relations
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Snow falling on Hoversten Chapel during the Christmas season.
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Auggies give more than $26,000 on Give to the Max Day 2011
November 16 marked Give to the Max Day in Minnesota, a chance for donors to support Minnesota nonprofits they care about. This year, 150 donors gave $26,775 to Augsburg College, putting Augsburg in eighth place among Minnesota higher education institutions. That’s a Give to the Max Day record for Augsburg! It’s also a 49% increase in dollars and a 58% increase in the number of donors over Augsburg’s Give to the Max Day 2010.
Thank you to those generous donors who gave on Give to the Max Day and throughout the year. It’s thanks to donors that Augsburg is able to provide an affordable college education for more than 4,000 students. Augsburg is proud of the fact that this year, more than 40% of our first-year day program class is made up of first-generation college students. Augsburg’s commitment to access is a proud tradition. It’s made possible by support from our donors, whose generosity keeps an Augsburg education affordable.
Martha Truax
Assistant Director, The Augsburg Fund
Upcoming Auggie Events
Young Alumni Holiday Reception
Friday, December 9, 2011
8:30 p.m. –12:00 a.m., Chambers Hotel, Rooftop Lounge
Join the Young Alumni Council and recent alumni for a swanky holiday party at this downtown hot spot and experience the Ice Chamber (the first outdoor urban ice bar in the United States). Enjoy complimentary delicious desserts and your first drink provided by Alumni Relations, and as always, reconnecting with other Auggies.
Le Meridien Chambers Minneapolis hotel is located at 901 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis 55403. Register at augsburg.edu/alumnievents or by calling 612-330-1178.
Florida Augsburg Reception and Student Symphony Orchestra Concert
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 304 Druid Hills Rd., Temple Terrace, FL
6 p.m., Reception; 7 p.m., Student Orchestra Concert
Join President Paul C. Pribbenow and Augsburg alumni, parents, and friends for a pre-concert reception, followed by a student symphony orchestra concert. Conducted by Douglas Diamond, the group has performed masterworks including Beethoven’s 1st and 8th symphonies, Schubert’s 3rd, 5th, and 8th symphonies, Dvorak’s 7th, and a host of smaller works.
Refreshments will be served. RSVP by Tuesday, January 3 to alumni@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1085.
Eye-opener Breakfast, featuring Pat Peterson, VP of Research & Development for Aveda Corporation
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Town and Country Club, 300 North Mississippi River Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55104
7 a.m.
Cost: $5; includes breakfast
Pat Peterson joined Aveda Corporation in 1989 with an academic background in chemistry and business. She has played a leading role in the company’s commitment to natural ingredients and sustainable business practices. This corporate commitment has led to a collaborative project with a local alumni-owned business and Augsburg College students. Join us to learn more about this unique collaboration.
Eye-Opener Breakfasts give Auggies an opportunity to network with one another, grow professionally, and reconnect with the College. RSVP by Friday, January 20, at www.augsburg.edu/alumnievents. Reservations and pre-payment are required. Space is limited.
Strommen Speaker Series featuring Keith Wyche, CEO of Cub Foods
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Sateren Auditorium, Music Hall
5:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
The Strommen Executive Speakers Series brings top executive leaders to campus to share their experience with alumni and students. Keither Wyche has been honored as a “Man of Distinction” by the National Urban League and named “MBA of the Year” by the National Black MBA Association. He has been profiled by Black Enterprise Magazine, Ebony Magazine, and Diversity MBA.
A question-and-answer period will follow, and light refreshments will be available prior to the event. Latecomers are welcome, so join us after class or work! The event is free; we ask that you let us know you’ll attend. RSVP to roller@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1720.
After the event, you may wish to cross the street to attend the 6:00 Alumni/Student Networking Event in the lobby of the Oren Gateway Center. It’s a great way to hone your networking skills, while providing valuable assistance to students as they begin navigating their new careers.
Alumni/Student Networking Event
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Oren Gateway Center Lobby
6–8 p.m.
Connect with alumni from a variety of professions and help Augsburg students hone their professional networking skills as they prepare to venture out into the working world. More information will be available soon.
Whole Leaders See Things Whole, Tom Morgan
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Kennedy Center, Room 303
5:30 p.m.—Social time with refreshments
6:00–8:00 p.m.—Presentation
Cost: Free
This workshop, first presented in our series last winter, is back by popular demand in an expanded version that allows more time for exploration and discussion. Tom Morgan will introduce a framework for thinking about our lives as a set of relationships among three dimensions—identity, purpose, and stewardship—each with its own needs, desires, and preoccupations. While these dimensions can pull us in different directions, when we are at our best, they offer us complementary perspectives that allow us to see things whole.
In this workshop, you will complete the Seeing Things Whole Profile, a 39-question survey designed to take a multi-dimensional snapshot of your life and well-being. The profile helps you explore your strengths within the three dimensions and can give you perspective around challenges you face.
You will also receive a workbook, WholeLife Aspirations and Goals, to help examine how your life purpose connects to your life choices. The workbook offers a powerful exercise for clarifying what is important to you and what you plan to do to make your dreams a reality.
About the Speaker: Tom Morgan is the executive director of the Augsburg Center for Faith and Learning and professor of business at Augsburg College. He holds a PhD in educational policy from the University of Minnesota, a MS in economics from the University of Oregon, and a MBA in finance and operations research from the University of Denver. He has served as a member of the steering committee for the Faith in the City Collaborative since its inception and serves on the boards of the Augsburg-Fairview Academy, Seeing Things Whole, and Select Learning Resources. Morgan has over 25 years of teaching experience and has extensive experience in institutional planning, design, and implementation of new programs. Prior to working in higher education, he worked doing research and grant-writing in health care.
For more information, or to reserve a space in this free workshop, contact Patty Park at parkp@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1150.
MAE Tribal Special Education Program Information Sessions
Beginning in fall 2012, Augsburg and the University of Minnesota-Duluth will begin a third cohort offering a post-baccalaureate special education license with a focus on tribal communities and learning styles. This program will be offered in an online format, and courses will follow a semester schedule. For information, go to http://www.augsburg.edu/mae/academics/ais_focus.html.
Information sessions are:
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 6-7 p.m., Oren Gateway Center, Room 103
Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 6-7 p.m., Oren Gateway Center, Room 103
Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 6-7 p.m., Oren Gateway Center, Room 103
Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 6-7 p.m., Oren Gateway Center, Room 103
Called to Lead 2012: A Path from Success to Significance to Fulfillment
Four-session Workshop
April 17, 24, May 1, 8
Total cost: $200 (includes books, weekly breakfast, and tuition for all sessions)
If you are wondering where you are going in your professional and personal life and feel that you could be doing something more significant, you are invited to explore “Called to Lead,” a four-week intensive experience for Augsburg alumni and friends of the College. Together you will explore:
- the challenges of leadership
- the nature of servant leadership
- the centered life
- the myth of a balanced life
- seeing things whole
- development of your own strategic game plan
Join in for four mornings in the spring of 2012 (7:30–9:00 a.m., on April 17, April 24, May 1, and May 8) and emerge energized and renewed for new challenges in your life. Facilitators include Professors Tom Morgan, Jack Fortin, and Norma Noonan. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Augsburg Center for Faith and Learning and the Augsburg Center for Leadership Studies. For more information, contact Norma Noonan at noonan@augsburg.edu. Registration closes April 1, 2012.
Auggie Travel
A Journey to the Holy Land with Religion Professor Philip A. Quanbeck II and Dr. Ruth Johnson ’74, January 3-14, 2012
A community of 26 Augsburg alumni and friends will be traveling to the Holy Land in January under the leadership of Religion professor Philip Quanbeck II and Dr. Ruth Johnson ’74, and accompanied by Alumni staff member Sally Daniels ‘79. Together, they will discover the geography, places, and people of the Holy Land, and will visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Caesarea, Capernaum, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, and much more. Woven into the itinerary are several opportunities to share in dialogue with local community leaders who give voice to the complex history and geopolitical issues of the region, so the group will return home with a broader and deeper understanding of a land holy for the world’s three monotheistic religions.Alumni Spotlight
Squashing Hunger
When he decided to plant squash again last spring for the local food bank, retired pastor Dan Faust ’57 thought he would plant an entire acre of it. He already knew it would grow well on his farm, and that it could be stored for months. But having contributed produce to the Great Plains Food Bank in previous years, he was aware that North Dakota food pantries were experiencing especially high demand this year. So he decided to check with the food bank to find out if there was a limit to how much they could handle. He found out there was none, so, with a commitment from the local university to help with harvest, he planted two acres instead of one.
All the squash he raised—28 tons of it—was harvested in less than two hours, thanks to the volunteer efforts of 200+ students from Valley City State University and other volunteers. With bobcats to load the 1,100-pound boxes into three trucks, the produce was harvested in no time, and on its way to nearly 300 agencies in North Dakota, with enough to share with Minnesota as well.
The entire volunteer effort reached well beyond the harvest itself, involving help from a community volunteer coordinator, as well as from organizations that donated food for the student-harvesters (hotdogs, pop, cookies, etc.), neighbors who cut back their elderberry bushes in order to make roasting sticks, and a friend who brought in loads of wood and built about 20 fires for roasting.
Faust, who volunteers 15 hours a week as chaplain at a local nursing home, continues to preach at a small church 10 miles west of Valley City. He obviously believes in living out his faith—and helping others to do the same!
(Some information was gleaned from an article in the Fargo Forum)
Lynx Team Makes Minnesota and Auggies Proud
It was an exciting day for Minnesota Lynx fans and Roger Griffith ‘84 when the Lynx won the WNBA Championship on October 7 by defeating the Atlanta Dream. Since the team’s inception in 1999, Griffith has overseen the building of the Lynx roster for the past 13 seasons. Through draft choices, trades, and free agent signings, Griffith and his staff constructed a talented team in 2011—a team that compiled a 27-7 regular-season record and went on to win its first WNBA title.
In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Lynx, Griffith also serves as executive vice-president and chief financial officer for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Griffith, who graduated magna cum laude from Augsburg in 1984 and earned his MBA from the University of Minnesota, has pursued a variety of challenges in both private and public industry, including serving as division manager for an ad specialty direct mail corporation (Taymark, part of Taylor Corporation), and as director of internal audit for Northwest Airlines.
(Some information written by Dan Bell, Lynx PR)
Music like Rich Chocolate
One of the Auggies who was selected to perform at the Hognander Music Scholars Reunion Concert at this year’s Homecoming festivities was mezzo-soprano Nicole Warner ’01, who sang selections from the Vietnamese song-cycle, Spring Reverberations, given to her in 2001 by the composer himself, Cung Tien. The poetry was created by Thanh Tham Tuyen, who had been a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese “re-education camp” after the Vietnam War and eventually made his way to the United States. Warner, whose voice has been compared to rich chocolate, was the first singer ever to perform the entire song-cycle, and when she first sang it (entirely in Vietnamese), the composer was in the audience.
A year ago, Warner made her Midwestern-region debut with the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, singing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Shortly after that debut, her first commercial recordings were released on iTunes® and CDBaby®, including Fly with Me, Maybe So, and Siana. More information about Nicole can be found at www.nicolewarner.com.
With singing skills that span a multitude of genres, Warner performs internationally, recently having sung in Uruguay and Argentina at sold-out performances of Mozart’s Requiem, plus a large set of Americana. She has earned a reputation for making an unforgettable and emotional engagement with her audiences—which she certainly did at the Hognander concert.
Around Augsburg
Augsburg Sponsors International Broadcast of Rose Ensemble Christmas Concert
Augsburg’s nationally recognized program in Medieval studies is this year’s corporate sponsor for the Rose Ensemble’s Christmas concert, “La Noche Buena: A Spanish Renaissance Christmas.”
The internationally acclaimed Rose Ensemble http://www.roseensemble.org/ reawakens the ancient with vocal music that stirs the emotions, challenges the mind, and lifts the spirit. The Saint Paul, MN, group tours internationally with repertoire spanning 1,000 years and 25 languages.
What better group for the Augsburg’s Medieval Studies Program http://www.augsburg.edu/medievalstudies/ to sponsor! Listen for our spots advertising Medieval Minnesota http://www.augsburg.edu/medievalminnesota/, the summer camp at Augsburg College, or Mardi Gras Madrigals http://web.augsburg.edu/~adamo/medieval/MGM.html, our pre-Lenten medieval feast that will feature a performance by the Rose Ensemble.
Check your local classical/public radio station for listings. Here are just a few (all times are local):
Minnesota Public Radio
99.5 Classical
December 13 & 22, 8 p.m.New York, NY
WSKG
December 20, 8 p.m.Bloomington, IN
103.7 WFIU
December 19, 9 p.m.Miami, FL
Classical South Florida, 89.7
December 13 at 12 noon & 9 p.m.
Charlotte, NC
89.9 WDAV
December 24, 11 p.m.
Ireland, nationwide
RTE/Lyric FM
December 25, 6 p.m.
An “In the City” Event with Augsburg College’s Graduate and Weekend Program--
Information Session at the Mill City Museum
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Mill City Museum, 704 South 2nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55401
5:00-5:45 p.m. Arrival and check-in at the Mill City Museum’s main door;
pick up a bistro box dinner
5:45-6:45 p.m. Information sessions on your choice of Augsburg’s undergraduate (17 majors) or graduate programs (MBA, MAL, MAE, MAN/DNP)
6:45-8:00 p.m. Tour the Mill City Museum and experience the Flour Tower and the video, “Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat”
Enjoy an informative evening and earn how you could earn a bachelor’s degree (17 different majors) or a graduate degree in business (MBA), leadership (MAL), education (MAE), or nursing (MAN/DNP). Information sessions on each degree program will last one hour, complete with an executive bistro Box dinner.
Programs are geared toward working adults, with convenient weeknight or weekend schedules. Many programs can be completed in a two-year timeframe. .
After the information session of your choice, tour the Mill City Museum and see their two main attractions. The Flour Tower is an 8-story elevator journey through time with historical flour mill highlights on every floor. View the Mill City Museum’s entertaining video “Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat” for interesting insights into Minneapolis’ history and development.
RSVP by Wednesday, February 1, to gradinfo@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1101. The Mill City Museum event is for adults only. We will again be collecting tube socks as a donation for the Augsburg Central Health Commons. The Health Commons is a place where Augsburg nursing students work with people in need. All donations are greatly appreciated!
Upcoming Music Performances
Saturday, December 10, at 3 p.m.
Fall Performance by the Augsburg Symphony Orchestra
Hoversten Chapel
Upcoming Theater Performances
365 Plays/365 Days, by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Martha Johnson
February 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 at 7 p.m.; February 5, 12 at 3 p.m.
Tjornhom-Nelson Theater
Cost: (see details at http://www.augsburg.edu/theater/tickets.html)
In the fall of 2002, Suzan-Lori Parks (Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright) decided to take on the challenge of writing one play a day for a full year. 365 Days/365 Plays is the successful result, featuring 365 short plays whimsically exploring such divergent topics as sex, war, fairy tales, Indian mythology, American historical figures, love, politics, race, contemporary celebrities—and numerous other issues from American life. The world premiere of these plays was an extraordinary event: In 2006 and 2007 more than 700 theaters in major cities across America performed various pieces or sections from Parks’ cycle.
For our production we will stage selections from this body of work to create an entertaining, thought-provoking, and imaginative assortment of contemporary theater pieces.
Athletics
Cross-country runner Jennifer Pulscher named to All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team
http://athletics.augsburg.edu/news/2011/11/3/wcc110311.aspx
Tyler Heaps named to Capital One Academic All-District 6 soccer squad
http://augnet.augsburg.edu/amail/?issuedate=20111108#31907
Emily McCourt named to All-MIAC volleyball team
http://augnet.augsburg.edu/amail/?issuedate=20111110#31963
Cross-country runners Joe Arnold and Micheale Tesema earn MIAC honors
http://athletics.augsburg.edu/news/2011/11/3/mcc110311.aspx
Football tight end Adam Carl named to D3football.com national Team of the Week
http://athletics.augsburg.edu/news/2011/11/3/fb110311.aspx?path=football
