Letter from the editor

Celebrating great achievement

The splash of color on this cover comes from the pomp and circumstance of Commencement—this year all the more glorious under beautiful spring sunshine with trees in a late bloom from the cold early spring.

May celebrations on campus are all about achievement (yes, some senior celebrating may stretch those parameters). Foremost, we celebrate the years of hard work and achievement of the new graduates who are receiving degrees. For many of Augsburg's Weekend College graduates, that achievement comes at a steep price paid in time spent away from families on weekends, in a schedule that included full-time work plus extra-time study. Sometimes the greatest reward for them may not be a diploma, but the achievement of self-confidence and realization that a college degree truly is possible.

We also join with those members of the Augsburg community—faculty and staff—who celebrate the achievements of long careers at the College. The retiring professorial class of 2002 includes three men whose vision and energy during the 1970s and ’80s helped to build the campus facilities and programs that enable Augsburg to be a welcoming place today to all students. Their legacies enable students who were limited in educational choices to achieve an Augsburg education, especially students with physical and learning disabilities, and students in recovery from substance abuse.

Like the saying, "Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life," Commencement Day (as its name denotes) seems to focus on the beginning of a new stage in one's life. I suggest we linger for just a moment to offer congratulations on today's great achievement before moving on.

—Betsey Norgard
Editor