Bing tracking

Sam Graves ’16 quoted in Star Tribune article on technology and education

Minneapolis Star Tribune - logoThe Minneapolis Star Tribune recently included a statement by Sam Graves ’16 in an article covering a large donation to the PACER Center, which specializes in creating technology designed for children and young adults with special needs. The $1 million donation was given by the Otto Bremer Trust.

Graves, a recent Augsburg College graduate who lives with cerebral palsy, credits the Center’s library of software and adaptive devices as part of his educational success. “Without technology, I wouldn’t be able to be independent,” he said.

Graves graduated with honors April 30 and was awarded the first-ever Youth Leadership Award by the Otto Bremer Trust later that evening.

Read PACER Center awarded $1 million by Otto Bremer Trust on the Star Tribune site.

Kansas City Star recommends Augsburg Choir concert

Kansas City Star - logoThe Kansas City Star recently included the Augsburg Choir’s upcoming tour stop at Immanuel Lutheran Church in an article detailing their classical music recommendations. The article describes the ensemble as “one of the finest Lutheran choirs in the country.”

Read the article on the Kansas City Star site. For more information on future choir performances, visit the Augsburg Choir Tour site.

Hastings Star Gazette interviews Abby Schultz ’17 on Barry Manilow performance

hastings star gazette - logoThe Hastings Star Gazette newspaper recently interviewed Abby Schultz ’17, a member of the Augsburg Choir who performed with singer Barry Manilow at the Xcel Energy Center last month. In addition to singing in the choir, Schultz also serves as its manager.

“It’s an experience I will always remember, not only because I got to perform with Barry Manilow, but as the choir manager I got to be interviewed by KARE 11 and FOX 9,” Schultz said. “I’m glad it happened when I was in the choir, for sure.”

The article also notes that Schultz will be performing with a mixed choir in Italy this summer. “I don’t know when I’ll get another opportunity to do this,” she said of the trip.

Read Hastings’ Abby Schultz performed with Barry Manilow, Augsburg College Choir on the Hastings Star Gazette site.

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal covers Hagfors donation

Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal - logoThe Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal recently published an article covering the revelation that a previously unidentified $10 million donation toward the naming of the Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion had been given to Augsburg College by Norman and Evangeline Hagfors.

The donation originally was announced in early 2015, with the donors remaining unnamed until the recent groundbreaking ceremony. In a statement Evangeline Hagfors said, “Adding our name signals that we stand with Augsburg. We support the CSBR project and the many benefits it will provide faculty, students, and the Augsburg community.”

Read Augsburg identifies mystery donor who gave $10M cash for new center on the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal site.

Sun Current reports on Augsburg’s involvement in Barry Manilow concert

sun current - logoThe Sun Current newspaper recently covered Augsburg Choir’s performance with Barry Manilow at the singer’s Xcel Energy Center concert on April 7. The article notes that Eden Prairie High School graduate Kaia Markovich ’17 was one of 30 choir members who joined Manilow on stage for his encore. Markovich is a chemistry major who sings alto in the choir.

Read Eden Prairie graduate performs with Barry Manilow on the Sun Current site. For more information about the performance, visit the News and Media blog.

The Post Game includes Lute Olson ’56 in list of notable North Dakota athletes

the post game - logoSports news site The Post Game recently included former Augsburg College basketball player and legendary coach Lute Olson ’56 in an article about notable athletes from North Dakota.

Olson was born and raised near the Minnesota-North Dakota border before attending Augsburg. After graduating, he went on to become the head coach of the University of Arizona men’s basketball team. As the article points out, Olson’s teams made it to the Final Four a total of five times, winning the national title in 1997.

Read 9 Notable Athletes From North Dakota: Carson Wentz, Phil Jackson And More on the Post Game site.

Hudson Star-Observer interviews McKenna Selissen ’18 on performing with Barry Manilow

Hudson Star Observer - logoThe Hudson Star-Observer, a newspaper in Hudson, Wis., recently interviewed Augsburg College student and choir member McKenna Selissen ’18 about her experience performing with the Augsburg Choir as they joined Barry Manilow at the Xcel Energy Center.

“It was unbelievable to share the stage with someone so well respected and well known in the music world,” Selissen said. “I am amazed how many hit songs he’s had and with all the commercial jingles he’s wrote; he is extremely talented.”

The students who performed with Manilow were each given a pair of complimentary tickets to the concert. Selissen, a music therapy major, happily gifted her tickets to two of her clients. One of the clients uses Manilow’s music extensively in his therapy sessions.

“He knows every song and all the words so it was such a coincidence when we were asked to do this. This client was beyond excited to not only go to his first concert, but to see his very favorite singer,” Selissen said.

Read HHS alum performs with Barry Manilow on the Hudson Star-Observer site.

Lillie News spotlights Teacher of the Year finalist Koua Yang ’99

Lillie News - logoSt. Paul-area newspaper Lillie News recently profiled Koua Yang ’99, a social studies teacher and tennis coach at Harding High School. Yang was one of 11 finalists for the 2015 Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award.

Yang was assigned to Harding High School as a student teacher in 1999 while he was an education major at Augsburg College. He was so loved by his students that they petitioned the school’s principal and asked him to hire Yang. The principle told Yang that a job would be waiting for him the following school year.

Yang’s family immigrated to the U.S. in 1980 when he was 4 years old.

“I know what it was like to struggle as a student. I knew what it was like to not be proficient in a language — a foreign language,” Yang said. “Sharing that path, that navigation piece is absolutely crucial. It also gives them hope. Because then they realize, ‘Hey somebody went through it, too; somebody like me went through it and they were pretty successful at it. I can do it, too.'”

Read ‘I’m not afraid to be vulnerable’ on the Lillie News site.

Star Tribune examines history and future of broadcaster
Diana Pierce ’16 MAL

Minneapolis Star Tribune - logoA reporter from the Minneapolis Star Tribune recently was on campus to interview Diana Pierce ’16 MAL, a longtime Twin Cities news anchor whose retirement from KARE 11 News was announced Wednesday. Pierce completed her Master of Art in Leadership at Augsburg College in December, and she will participate in Augsburg’s 2016 Commencement ceremonies.

Although she will be retiring from KARE 11, Pierce has not finished her work of “helping shape stories that provide a voice for the underserved.” She will use her degree to move behind the camera and produce documentaries. “It’s a weird, wonderful transition,” she said.

Read ‘Pure class’: KARE’s Diana Pierce bows out the same way she rose to the top on the Star Tribune site.

Diana Pierce’s plans to use Augsburg graduate degree discussed in Star Tribune column

Minneapolis Star Tribune - logoRetiring KARE 11 anchor Diana Pierce MAL ’16 recently credited the graduate degree she is scheduled to receive at Augsburg College for her optimism toward the future.

“We’ll see what doors are open that weren’t in the past, as a result of getting a master’s. For me, I look at it as an additional set of skills,” Pierce said. “I’m looking into several different opportunities. [The advanced degree] lets me think there is life after broadcasting. Now I feel prepared for it.”

Pierce recently announced her retirement after having worked for the station for more than 32 years.

Read C.J.: Diana Pierce is pleased her KARE11 exit included a little something extra on the Star Tribune site.