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Building Trust in Divisive Times: Augsburg University to Offer Second Annual Interfaith Symposium

Manu Meel is smiling at the camera against a backdrop of trees and water. He is wearing black glasses, a dark jacket, and blue shirt.Augsburg University will offer its second annual Interfaith Symposium at 11 a.m. on March 7, 2024, featuring keynote speaker Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA. The Interfaith Symposium is an annual invitation to students and community members to learn about religious, spiritual, and worldview diversity; participate in enriching dialogue; and network with exceptional interfaith leaders. 

Meel’s keynote will focus on “Building Trust in Divisive Times,” the symposium’s 2024 theme. BridgeUSA is a youth-led, multi-partisan student movement that creates spaces on high school and college campuses for open discussion between students about differences. By engaging America’s youth in constructive discussions, the nonprofit organization is equipping the next generation of leaders with the skills necessary for navigating conflict, finding solutions across differences and building bridges in their communities.

“We are thrilled to welcome Manu Meel to Augsburg for this year’s Interfaith Symposium,” said Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director of Interfaith at Augsburg. “BridgeUSA’s efforts to help young people resolve conflicts and navigate difficult conversations aligns closely with the work of Augsburg’s Interfaith Institute. His message of building trust across different perspectives will be incredibly valuable during the U.S. election cycle and as conflict continues to play out across the world.”

Following the keynote address, a luncheon and panel discussion will take place at 12:30 p.m., featuring conversation with Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker, Mount Zion Temple; Martha Stortz, professor emerita of religion at Augsburg; and Joffrey Wilson, vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Mortenson Construction. 

For information and to register, visit the 2024 Interfaith Symposium website.

About Interfaith at Augsburg

Situated in a neighborhood home to numerous immigrant communities and with an increasingly diverse student body, Augsburg University is uniquely positioned to facilitate building bridges in a polarized world. Augsburg’s commitment to interfaith engagement is central to its mission, identified as a key outcome of its strategic plan, and rooted in its Lutheran theological heritage. Through interfaith education and intentional opportunities to strengthen interreligious communication, understanding, and relationships, Augsburg’s Interfaith Institute advances peacemaking on campus, in the community, and beyond. Learn more at augsburg.edu/interfaith.

WCCO highlights the “We Are Water MN” exhibit on campus

WCCO logoThe traveling “We Are Water MN” exhibit has moved into Augsburg’s Oren Gateway Center lobby with interactive displays designed to strengthen Minnesotans’ relationship with water. This exhibit is a collaboration between six state partners and is hosted by the Somali Museum of Minnesota. WCCO came to campus to hear about how water issues impact local communities by interviewing Osman Ali, founder and executive director of the Somali Museum of Minnesota, and Britt Gangeness with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Both individuals shared their perspectives on how water connects people, communities, and countries across the world.

“We Are Water MN” will be running at Augsburg’s Oren Gateway Center until August 14. The building will be open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Watch or read the full segment: “We Are Water MN” exhibit connects Minnesota’s cultures through water.”

New Contract Will Enhance Dining Services on Campus

Following a competitive bid process, Augsburg is moving forward with a new dining services contract with Aladdin Campus Dining, the university’s current provider, effective July 1, 2023. The new contract will feature multiple enhancements that reflect student feedback about dining options on campus. These enhancements include:

  • Additional offerings of food selections, including local restaurant features in the Dining Commons, local restaurant rotations in Nabo, and exploration of a dedicated halal station in the Dining Commons.
  • Extended evening service in the Dining Commons to 8:00 p.m.
  • Mobile ordering and pickup from Nabo and Einstein Bros. Bagels.
  • Significant investment in remodeling the Dining Commons, beginning this summer.
  • Addition of a 24/7 micro market on campus in 2024–25.
  • Tracking and management of sustainability commitments around local purchasing and waste management.

Importantly, this new contract maintains the meal plan pricing approved by the Board of Regents last fall; all other bids would have resulted in a noticeable increase in cost to students for the coming year. In addition, Aladdin will continue to serve chef-crafted meals made from scratch in the Dining Commons, sponsorship of Late Night Breakfast in the fall and spring semesters, post-sunset evening meals and breakfast pickups for students during Ramadan, and financial support for food insecurity programs on campus.

The selection process was led by a task force made up of students and staff from across the university, with support from an external food services consultant. Over the course of this academic year, the task force met with and surveyed students and student organizations, engaged college and university dining services providers across the country, received bids, and interviewed finalists in order to secure the best possible contract for the campus community.

Registration Open for The Forum on Workplace Inclusion’s 35th Annual Conference

Logo for 2023 Forum conference reads "Combining Forces (x) 2023" with multicolored hexagons and connecting linesThe last in-person Forum on Workplace Inclusion® conference ended just 24 hours before Minnesota declared a peacetime emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, after two years online, it’s back in-person.

The nation’s premier workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion conference returns to Minneapolis for its 35th anniversary, with a parallel virtual option for global audiences and those who can’t attend in person. “Combining Forces(x): Fueling Our Collective Capacity for Change” will take place March 27-29, 2023, at the Hilton Minneapolis. Registration is open now, including discounted group rates and team meeting packages.

“What happens in society affects the workplace, and what happens in the workplace affects society,” said Steven Humerickhouse, Executive Director of The Forum. “Emerging from the pandemic and racial trauma of the past several years, more leaders and organizations than ever have discovered the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion to their employees, to society, and to their bottom lines.”

Drawing more than 1,000 participants in past years, The Forum’s annual conference is designed to meet people where they are in their DEI development, from beginners to advanced practitioners. Attendees include leaders and managers of diverse workforces; HR and talent acquisition, management, and development practitioners; DEI practitioners; organizational development/effectiveness leaders; and students, teachers, researchers, and scholars.

This year’s conference will open with a 35th anniversary celebration with musical performances at Orchestra Hall. The event will feature Eric Jolly, Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation President and CEO, in conversation with Duchesne Drew, MPR president; Michelle Miller Burns, Minnesota Orchestra CEO; and Paul Pribbenow, Augsburg University president.

More than 90 breakout sessions over three days will tackle topics like religious literacy and inclusion, mitigating organizational biases, why many DEI practitioners are fighting fatigue, and using data to amplify anti-racist practices at work. Other highlights include off-site immersive learning experiences around the Twin Cities, collaborative cross-industry “think tanks” facilitated by innovation expert Ramon Vullings, and popular DEI coaching sessions.

“All of us who lead organizations dedicated to equity and inclusion have benefited from The Forum’s outstanding programming—both at this annual conference and in its innovative ongoing efforts to offer the best thinking and strategies for living out our DEI commitments,” said Augsburg University’s Paul Pribbenow. This conference marks The Forum’s fourth year in residence at Augsburg.

About The Forum on Workplace Inclusion

For 35 years, The Forum on Workplace Inclusion has served as a convening hub for those seeking to grow professional leadership and effectiveness skills in the field of DEI by engaging people, advancing ideas, and igniting change. It is hosted at Augsburg University located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The annual conference is HRCI and SHRM Continuing Education Credit (CEU) eligible. For rates, registration, and full conference information, visit forumworkplaceinclusion.org/2023-conference.

About Augsburg

Augsburg University offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and 11 graduate degrees to approximately 3,200 students of diverse backgrounds at its campus in the vibrant center of the Twin Cities and nearby Rochester, Minnesota, location. Augsburg educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. 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. To learn more, visit Augsburg.edu/about.

Media Contact

Rachel Farris

For media kit, visit forumworkplaceinclusion.org/press/

Great Northern Festival Features New Augsburg Gallery Exhibition

On January 21, the Augsburg Art Galleries will open a new exhibition featuring nine local, Black women and femme designers. TO ILLUMINATE ABUNDANCE, curated by Olivia House ’20 and Silent Fox ’18 of 13.4 Collective, explores what it means to live a life full of love, freedom, and light.

TO ILLUMINATE ABUNDANCE brings together nine Black designers at various stages in their careers. House and Fox invited contributing graphic designers to reflect on and illuminate a text, quote, or lyric that helps imagine what it could look like to move forward and towards more; to help envision what life is like when it feels full. The exhibition features work by Ashley Koudou, Kelsi Sharp, Leeya Rose Jackson, Marcia Rowe ’22, Olivia Anizor, Sabrina Peitz, and Terresa Moses, as well as House and Fox.

“This show is meant to express what our world should be: a world in which Black femmes are able to live a life without pain or suffering; a life full of light,” said House.

An opening reception for TO ILLUMINATE ABUNDANCE will take place on Saturday, January 21. The curators and artists of the show will gather for an artist talk on Thursday, February 2 at the Hagfors Center to contextualize their work and their view of the exhibition within a broader landscape of making, community, politics, and futurism. This event is featured as part of The Great Northern festival, happening January 25–February 5 around the Twin Cities metro area. The Great Northern celebrates Minnesota’s cold, creative winters through 10 days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body.

The exhibition runs through March 24 in Augsburg’s Gage and Christensen galleries.

King Harald V of Norway Receives Honorary Degree from Augsburg

King Harald V of Norway and President Paul Pribbenow smile side-by-side following the conferral of an honorary Augsburg degree on King Harald.
Photo courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway

In a December ceremony in Oslo, President Paul Pribbenow conferred upon King Harald V of Norway the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. 

“We are deeply grateful for Your Majesty’s abiding support of Augsburg University and our sister Norwegian-American colleges and universities throughout the more than three decades of your reign,” said Pribbenow in his ceremonial remarks. “We share both a common heritage and profound commitments to peacemaking and global citizenship.”

His Majesty King Harald V of Norway acceded to the throne January 17, 1991. The future king attended the Norwegian Cavalry Officers’ Training School and went on to finish his military education at the Military Academy in 1959. Upon completion of his military service, he attended Balliol College at Oxford University from 1960 to 1962, studying social science, history, and economics. He holds the rank of general in Norway’s army and air force, and of admiral in the navy. 

King Harald and his wife, Queen Sonja, visited Augsburg in 2011. The recognition—originally scheduled for 2020 but delayed by the pandemic—is part of Augsburg’s sesquicentennial anniversary celebration. 

Soomaal Fellowship Showcases Pandemic Work of Two Emerging Artists

MPLSART.com recently interviewed Khadija Charif and Yasmin Yassin, two Soomaal House of Art fellows whose solo exhibitions are on display through December 14 in the Augsburg Galleries. 

Photographer Yasmin Yassin’s show, “Should Be Good Times,” explores her journey towards motherhood during quarantine, taking viewers physically through a womb-like space with photographs hung from the ceiling. 

“I thought, ‘What if you have to go in and experience the exhibit by using your body and moving through it?’” she told MPLSART.com. “You start at the beginning of this hallway-like gallery space and go all the way down, but you have to move through the pieces as well, and it gets narrower as you go. I wanted to provide that darkness and enclosure, to try and recreate the feeling of spending all that time in my apartment.”

Artist and Poet Khadija Charif’s show, “Strangers of My Sight—In Truth and In Trial” explores “the kindness, love, and short companionship that strangers provide.” The exhibit includes a private space with two chairs and a set of cards which present compelling quotes and questions for visitors to explore. 

“What I hope is that this space allows others to explore conversations with a stranger,” said Charif. “Grab someone you’d like to know, invite them to the table and ask questions. Not the light questions that bore us but the questions that excite us and allow us to deconstruct the barriers we naturally set when we meet strangers.”

The Soomaal Fellowship is a collaboration between Augsburg Galleries and Soomaal House of Art, a Somali artist collective in the Seward neighborhood, that aims to harness the power of art as a tool for intellectual and civic engagement by advocating and advancing the creative development of Somali visual artists. The partnership will continue with new fellows showcasing their work on Augsburg’s campus every 18 months.

Read more on MPLSART.com: Connection/Isolation: Soomaal Fellowship showcases pandemic work of two emerging artists

43rd Annual Advent Vespers Returns In Person

Augsburg's Advent Vespers takes place in the sanctuary of Central Lutheran Church, with choir, orchestra, and packed pews.For more than four decades, Augsburg University has ushered in the Advent and Christmas seasons with Advent Vespers, a magnificent experience of music and liturgy, focusing on the theme of preparation and culminating in the joyful celebration of the Incarnation.

The 43rd Advent Vespers will be held in person at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis, with one livestream option available. 

  • Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 8 p.m. (open dress rehearsal)
  • Friday, December 2, 2022 at 7 p.m.
  • Saturday, December 3, 2022 at 2 p.m. (with livestream) and 5 p.m.

The event is free, with a suggested donation of $30 per person. Seating envelopes are required for entry and are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. They can be requested online, by mail, or in person at the Augsburg Music Office. Seats are going fast—reserve your spot today.

Shuttle service will be available from Augsburg’s Anderson Music Hall to Central Lutheran and back, with limited parking available in lot A on Augsburg’s campus. More information about directions, parking, and shuttle service is available online.

Environmental Advocates “Flip the Switch” on Solar Demonstration Project

Four students pose in front of the solar shed in lot B behind Mortensen Hall. One is pointing to the solar panels on top of the shed.The small crowd gathered by the freeway wall burst into applause as Professor Joe Underhill fired up a handheld sander. Despite the cloudy day, it was powered by the sun. 

The shed at the west end of Lot B attracted plenty of curiosity during its construction in the summer of 2022. On October 6, it was officially unveiled as a solar-powered demonstration project Underhill calls a “Unit of Resistance.” 

Temporarily located at the end of 21st Ave, the shed currently houses tools and supplies for the River Semester, the Center for Global Education and Experience program Underhill also leads. Both projects, he says, are part of an attempt to rethink higher education as something more hands-on and to empower students with a sense of agency.  

“In the face of huge problems like climate change and the student mental health crisis, what small steps can we take to focus on what we can do, instead of what we can’t?” he asks. 

The idea for a solar-powered work shed on campus arose last spring in Underhill’s The City and Environment keystone course. Inspired by the Augsburg Day Student Government’s 2021 resolution calling on Augsburg to explore on-campus solar and reach carbon neutrality by 2030, the class wrote a grant proposal to the ADSG’s Environmental Action Committee to buy solar panels. 

EAC funded the purchase of six 320-watt Renogy Solar panels, a 24-volt battery bank, and a power inverter. Underhill used other grant funds to purchase wood for the 8×8-foot structure, which features a roof slanted at 45 degrees—the average angle of the sun at Augsburg’s latitude. He and students built it over the spring and summer, and electrical work was completed this fall by Aaron Jarson, the Augsburg electrician.

Senior Zoe Barany says that, like the campus solar and carbon neutrality resolution, the shed is a tangible expression of students’ interest in advancing Augsburg’s climate commitments. 

“The funds for the project came from the campus Green Fee,” says junior Maya Merritt, who leads sustainability initiatives as the student government EAC officer. “With the Green Fee, we’re effectively taxing ourselves to support sustainability. If you’re paying the Green Fee, you get a say in where it’s going.”

MPR Highlights Jarabe Mexicano Residency at Augsburg Music Department

Jarabe Mexicano, a “bordeño-soul-folk” band with a passion for teaching and storytelling, will be in residency with the Augsburg Music Department from March 31–April 2. MPR recently explored the group’s roots in the U.S.-Mexico border region and their diverse musical influences, which range from Ritchie Valens to Los Lobos and Chicano rock. David Myers, Augsburg’s department head for music programs, was quoted in the article about the department’s goal to expand students’ appreciation of diverse music beyond western European classical music.

In addition to working with music department students and local high school students, Jarabe Mexicano will perform free public concert at Hoversten Chapel on Saturday, April 2 at 2 p.m.

Listen to the MPR story, “Jarabe Mexicano: Troubadours and teachers come to Minnesota” or view a full schedule of activities.