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Oren Gateway Center residence hall
Augsburg University StepUP students have the opportunity to live on campus in Oren Gateway Center, a contemporary residence hall designated for students in recovery.
The residence hall houses other students in recovery, which gives students a unique opportunity to live within a supportive community while meeting other like-minded individuals.
Oren Gateway Center is not a typical residence hall. Students will enjoy skyline views and welcoming common spaces, styled urban lofts, and a unique living space. Residence options include individual rooms, flats, and apartments. See more information about the building and amenities.
Oren Gateway Center also hosts:
- Barnes & Noble Bookstore
- Meeting rooms
- Nabo Café
- Spacious common areas
- Study spaces
- Rotating art gallery
- Meditation rooms
- StepUP collegiate recovery program office and counselors
- Skyways and tunnels that connect to classrooms, the library, and the cafeteria
Program outcomes
As a premier collegiate recovery program, StepUP focuses on helping students sustain their recovery, achieve academic success, and reach a level of thriving within a community. Each year we track these outcomes and are consistently amazed at the transformation in students’ behavior and the successes they achieve in recovery.
The following data illustrates these successes by the numbers.
Sustained recovery success (abstinence rates)
A collegiate recovery program like StepUP is intentionally designed to support recovery in a stereotypically recovery-unfriendly environment. The program allows students to foster a subculture of recovery, which aids in abstinence from alcohol and illicit drugs. The cultural norm in this program is to stay in recovery and protect against relapse.
The average rate of successful abstinence is more than 90% year-to-year with an average of 93%.
Student academic success
Our students arrive at the Augsburg University StepUP collegiate recovery program with varying degrees of readiness for college and its demands. With the academic support and resources available on campus as well as in the community of supportive piers, students achieve what many of them once thought was impossible—a successful college experience toward completion of a degree.
The average GPA in members of 2019’s StepUP collegiate recovery program was 3.26 out of 4.0.
Service and outreach
As a collegiate recovery program, we believe that recovery is more than simply remaining abstinent from alcohol and illicit drugs. Recovery is about growing and thriving as a whole. That’s why we encourage students to participate in service and outreach opportunities as part of their recovery journey.
At Augsburg University, we believe we have a responsibility to make a difference for others beyond our own community. Each semester, the students in our StepUP collegiate recovery program volunteer for off-campus service commitments in the surrounding metro community. They often present as panels to large school groups or speak in small groups at treatment centers or classrooms, addressing the issues of addiction and recovery.
The students in Augsburg University’s StepUP collegiate recovery program are frequently asked to share their personal experiences and stories with various audiences across the Twin Cities. For many, the transformative stories inspire others to seek recovery.
When we educate others, we aim to show them the hope and transformative properties of recovery. This impacts hundreds of individuals and reduces the stigma surrounding addiction and recovery while bringing about understanding, acceptance, and compassion.
Each year, StepUP students engage in more than 175 hours of community service outreach, including presentations at:
- Public schools
- Recovery high schools
- College and university classes
- Community parent groups
- Chemical dependency treatments