AUGSBURG HAS LONG been recognized as a leader in providing support for students with physical disabilities. In 1971, before federal legislation mandated access, Augsburg began making its campus accessible to everyone. By 1978, which was the implementation deadline for Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Augsburg already had more than a dozen physically-disabled students living and studying on campus, and had a college and community task force on track with plans to make the campus fully accessible by mid-1980.

Augsburg's programs are significant because they began not solely as service programs but as an aspect of "co-learning." In 1969 social work adjunct professor Cal Appleby took his Crime and Community class to visit Stillwater prison. Appleby then suggested that the class meet there regularly and arranged to include not only Augsburg students, but Stillwater inmates, and—to satisfy the apprehensions of correctional officials—prison guards. With this succeeding, Appleby then took his Introduction to Social Work class to meet at Trevilla of Robbinsdale, a home for severely physically-disabled adults.

In a paper written by Professor Vern Bloom on the growth of programs like these during the 1970s and ’80s, Bloom quotes Appleby, "It was quite an experience for everyone, including myself. We not only studied social work principles and concepts from books, we now had a rich environment in which to learn from each other. And we did!" This concept is the heart and hallmark of Augsburg's education today—the combination of learning and experience.

Students from these diverse populations then came to Augsburg and found a welcoming community. By the late 1990s, Augsburg was already serving over 200 students with physical, learning, and emotional disabilities.

The end of this academic year marks the retirement of three longtime professors and staff who played key roles in developing these early programs and access for students with few other educational opportunities, especially students with physical disabilities. These faculty members also led the way in recognizing needs of other student populations, including those with learning disabilities and, most recently, students in recovery from alcohol and drug abuse.