MPR news host Angela Davis interviewed Terrance Kwame-Ross, associate professor of education, and Margaret Finders, retired professor of education, as part of an episode on bias, “The end of bias: Is it possible?” They discussed their work together, examples of bias, and their belief in the hard work of unlearning bias.

Augsburg University has received recognition for its undergraduate teaching in U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 Best Colleges rankings. The publisher placed Augsburg fourth for its commitment to teaching undergraduates among Midwest regional universities. It also ranked #24 among best regional universities in the Midwest and #38 among best colleges for veterans.

Star Tribune recently published in their business forum section a joint commentary written by Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow and Fairview CEO James Hereford, who also serves in Augsburg’s Board of Regents. The publication focuses on how both Augsburg University and Fairview Health Services, while focused on their specific missions through the pandemic, have also continued to embrace their responsibilities as the anchor institutions that their communities rely on, specifically in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

Read the publication at the Star Tribune website.

On August 31, NBC reported on schools recognized by Campus Pride for being LGBTQ-friendly campuses. Augsburg received a perfect score of 5 on the Campus Pride Index. The NBC story, “These 10 religious universities earn high marks for LGBTQ inclusivity,” noted that Augsburg was one of only three religiously affiliated universities that received a score of 5 on the index.

KSTP aired a story on August 23 about potential holiday toy shortages.

Jeanne Boeh, chair and Sundquist endowed professor of Augsburg’s Department of Business Administration, was quoted about the role of the pandemic in inventory problems.

View the story: “Toy stores prepare for possible shortages.”

Smithsonian Magazine on July 26 published “How Wheaties Became the ‘Breakfast of Champions,” a story on the history of Wheaties cereal and its ties to athletics. Professor Michael J. Lansing, chair of Augsburg University’s Department of History, was one of the primary sources for the story. Lansing, who is working on a book on the history of the milling industry in Minnesota, spoke about the product development and marketing behind the cereal. He also noted that Major League Baseball first began broadcasting games on television, thanks to the influence of Wheaties, which was a major advertiser during both radio and television sports broadcasts.

William Green, M. Anita Gay Hawthorne professor of critical race and ethnic studies, is featured prominently in the Spring 2021 Middle West Review, a special issue on the African American Midwest. Not only did he contribute an article, “An Ever-Present Impulse: The Legacy of Anti-Black Violence and the Paradox of Minnesota Exceptionalism,” but his books were also the subject of another article, “The Long History of Black Political and Identity Struggles in Minnesota: A Consideration of the Work of William D. Green” by Jacob Bruggeman. 

The guest editor of this issue, Brie Arnold, served as visiting assistant professor of history at Augsburg in 2008-09.

Augsburg Professor Terrance Kwame-Ross and retired Education Department chairwoman Margaret “Peg” Finders noticed their department meetings would get tense at times, the Star Tribune reported July 24.

Kwame-Ross, a Black man in the mostly white and female department, was convinced his race was the reason that his opinions got pushed aside, according to the Star Tribune story. Finders, a white woman leading the department, struggled to navigate the racial tension in their department meetings. They both came together to examine the discomfort with academic rigor. The result is a framework they call “White Talk Moves”, a workshop to address the moves white people make that tend to silence and discount people of color.

Read their interview with the  Star Tribune here.