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Star Tribune Highlights Funding Uncertainty for Federal TRIO Programs

Minnesota Star Tribune logoAugsburg University Assistant Professor of Psychology Gisel Suarez Bonilla ’18 and TRIO McNair Scholars Program Director Maria “Tina” Tavera were recently interviewed by the Minnesota Star Tribune about funding uncertainty for federal TRIO programs. TRIO includes eight programs targeted to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to postbaccalaureate programs.

“Each [program] helps a slightly different population get into college or be successful in college,” Tavera said. “They’re setting an example and they’re guiding the whole family to learn about the academic system.”

Augsburg operates two TRIO programs. TRIO Student Support Services provides comprehensive academic, financial, and personal planning and support for up to 160 students as they progress toward graduation. TRIO McNair Scholars supports 26 juniors and seniors annually in preparing for graduate study.

Read more from the Star Tribune: “Federal funding still in limbo for college access programs for low-income, first-generation students”

From Interpreter to Physician Assistant: Sahan Journal Highlights Muhiyadin Aden ’24

Stylized S in red against a black background above the words "Sahan Journal"Muhiyadin “Mo” Aden ’24 MSPAS worked his way up from a starting position as a casual Somali interpreter to head of Hennepin County Medical Center’s interpreter department before deciding he could make a bigger impact with a medical degree. After graduating from Augsburg’s Master of Science in Physican Assistant Studies program, he returned to HCMC—this time as a provider in the emergency department.

The Sahan Journal recently profiled Aden, who described his work to connect with patients:

“This is a hospital that serves people that are underserved … 20% to 30% of the patients that we see here have limited English proficiency. That’s a huge challenge to provide care for those patients, but I think they do the best they can, and that’s why I came back.”

 

Read more: HCMC staffer’s switch from interpreter to physician assistant bridges gap with Somali patients

Augsburg University Statement on Political Violence in Minnesota

Tall grass against a brick and concrete backgroundThe Augsburg University community mourns the tragic assassination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, as well as the attempted assassination of Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, on June 14. Our prayers are with their families and neighbors in this distressing time. 

Both Representative Hortman and Senator Hoffman have been exemplary public servants who shared our deep commitments to the role of education in Minnesota and beyond. We will miss Speaker Hortman’s keen intellect, calm demeanor, and political savvy, and we wish Senator Hoffman a speedy recovery.

We live in polarized times, which, as we teach our students, require empathy and grace if we are to live together. Violence is never the way forward and we grieve this moment for all of us.

Washington Post Highlights Augsburg’s Experience With Direct Admissions

The Washington Post logoOn March 6, The Washington Post featured Augsburg second-year Anna Miranda and Stephanie Ruckel, director of strategic enrollment management, in an article exploring the movement towards direct admissions across higher education. Augsburg moved to a direct admissions model as part of its Augsburg Applies to You initiative in 2022, and participates in the state Direct Admissions Minnesota program.

“Getting the [direct admissions] letter kind of knocked down a barrier,” Miranda said in the interview. “It made me feel more confident.” Ruckel noted that direct admissions can be particularly helpful to first-generation students, easing the fear of rejection and encouraging students to ask more probing questions about whether the school is a fit.

Read the full article via The Washington Post: “More state colleges are admitting students — before they apply”

Nia-Symonne Gayle’s Senior Capstone Featured by MPR News, Sahan Journal

MPR News logoMPR News and Sahan Journal recently highlighted Nia-Symonne Gayle ’24 and her senior exhibition project “GOOD Hair,” currently displayed in the Christensen Gallery through February 19. Gayle graduated as an art and design major in December, and her capstone project recreates her childhood living room where her mom would do her hair—including TV, magazines, and hair products associated with the Afro-nostalgia Gayle incorporates into her work. She says this project “is a love letter to her mother and to Black people and Black culture. It’s a reminder that all hair is good hair.”  

Read more about the project from MPR News or Sahan Journal and learn more about Augsburg’s Art & Design Senior Showcase Exhibition.

Pribbenow and Private College Presidents Advocate for Financial Aid Fairness

MinnPost logoIn a January 22 opinion piece published in MinnPost, Augsburg University President Paul C. Pribbenow joined the presidents of 16 other private colleges in advocating for need-based financial aid for all Minnesota students. In it, the presidents argued for greater investment in the Minnesota State Grant program and financial aid fairness for low-income students regardless of where in the state they attend college.

“Public colleges alone cannot solve our social and economic challenges, nor should they be expected to do so,” they wrote. “Private nonprofit colleges serve these same public purposes. To meet its workforce development and social mobility goals, the state needs to increase financial investments in all students with demonstrated need and take full advantage of all of Minnesota’s educational assets—including its stellar private colleges.”

Read the full article via MinnPost: “All Minnesota college students deserve financial aid fairness”

Professor Najeeba Syeed Highlights Interfaith Collaboration Following L.A. Fires

El-Hibri Chair Najeeba Syeed wears a pink headscarf, gold earrings, and a purple top against a blue and purple background.Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director of the Interfaith Institute at Augsburg University, was interviewed by national media about the devastating fires in Southern California, which have destroyed at least a dozen houses of worship in the Los Angeles area. 

In a January 11 interview with Religion News Service, Syeed called attention to the long history of interfaith cooperation in Altadena, CA, where religious leaders have banded together to support victims of the fires even as they mourn the loss of sacred spaces. 

“They’re helping their own communities, but they’re also stepping up and stepping beyond and helping each other,” she said. “That’s part of the story—faith communities, even when they are damaged, still show up for the broader community.”

Religion News Service published a January 16 column by Syeed highlighting the ways that local youth have led volunteer recovery efforts across faiths, ethnicities, and languages. “[Our teens’] continued service and their steady moral compass make me excited to see the world they will run,” she wrote. “A world in which we don’t need a litmus test on your beliefs before we offer care, where your story is important to share no matter which income bracket you come from. A world in which the measure of our humanity is how much we show up for each other with an embodied empathy that asks, “What do you need, dear friend, who I may not know? Let me be there for you.””

Syeed was also interviewed for a January 17 Sojourners article about calls from local leaders to focus on equity and justice in rebuilding. In it, she lifted up the long-standing interfaith connections in Pasadena and Altadena. “People knew each other in the neighborhood and worked together before the fires,” she said. “What you’re seeing now is an outpouring of those relationships.”

Scholars, Church Leaders Object to Misuse of Bonhoeffer’s Theology and Life

An international group of scholars has issued a statement denouncing the misuse of the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in support of political violence and Christian nationalism in the U.S. Augsburg faculty member Lori Brandt Hale, an internationally recognized Bonhoeffer scholar, co-authored the statement alongside several members of the International Bonhoeffer Society, where she serves as president of the English Language Section. Brandt Hale was interviewed by Religion News Service about the project.

Bonhoeffer, a German theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, was executed by the Nazi regime in 1945 for his participation in a conspiracy against Hitler. 

“Any attempt to invoke Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his resistance against Hitler as a reason to engage in political violence in our contemporary context must be strongly opposed,” the statement reads. “Dietrich Bonhoeffer himself provides the best defense against these misuses of his life and work. He did not ask, “how far will you go?” He did not ask, “is this a Bonhoeffer moment?” Bonhoeffer’s life was defined by the question, “Who is Christ for us today?” With this question, Bonhoeffer teaches us that Christ is to be found in the presence and suffering of the neighbor, whether across the street or across the border. With this question, he has inspired Christians and non-Christians around the world to work for a society based on solidarity and humanity.”

The statement has been co-signed by prominent scholars and church leaders in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop emeritus, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and former president, Lutheran World Federation; Susan C. Johnson, national bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Karen Georgia Thompson, general minister and president/CEO, United Church of Christ; Konrad Raiser, general secretary emeritus, World Council of Churches; Kirsten Fehrs, acting chair, Council of the Protestant Church in Germany; Christian Krieger, president, Conference of European Churches; and Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Following the release of the statement, 86 of the 100 living descendants of the Bonhoeffer siblings published an open letter, echoing the scholars’ concerns. It is the family’s first public statement about Dietrich Bonhoeffer since 1945. 

Professor Brandt Hale specializes in Bonhoeffer’s life and legacy in her research, teaching, and public scholarship. She is the co-author, with Stephen Haynes, of “Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians” (Westminster John Knox, 2009) and the co-editor, with W. David Hall, of “Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theology, and Political Resistance” (Lexington Books, 2020). She was a keynote panelist at “Democracy and Discipleship—Lessons from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Polarized Times,” a two-day conference hosted at Augsburg in July 2024. Professor Brandt Hale currently also serves as the director of Augsburg’s school of humanities and social sciences and teaches in the department of religion and philosophy.

Pribbenow Advocates for Higher Education’s Public Purposes in the Star Tribune

Minnesota Star Tribune logoIn a guest commentary published by the Minnesota Star Tribune, Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow argued that urban colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to cultivate an inclusive democracy. 

“What does it look like for higher education to be place-based, to settle into urban settings and be good neighbors, and to believe that our academic missions compel us to both educate students and care about the world into which they will graduate?” he wrote. “… It’s not simply a matter of sending individual students out into the city. One-way engagement is not sustainable. Instead, place-making work only succeeds if it is grounded in mutual benefit with community partners.”

The article marks the upcoming annual Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities conference, co-hosted this year in Minneapolis by Augsburg, Metro State University, St. Paul College and the University of Minnesota. 

Read the full article: “In a time of skepticism, higher ed’s public purposes matter”

President Pribbenow, Provost O’Loughlin Interviewed by CNN About Gwen Walz

CNN logo: stylized white text on a red backgroundAugsburg University President Paul Pribbenow and Provost Paula O’Loughlin spoke to national media this week about Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz’s work at Augsburg. Both were interviewed for a CNN feature about Minnesota’s First Lady in the lead-up to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where Governor Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday night. 

Read: Gwen Walz and Tim Walz are known as a team. But Minnesota’s first lady has been a powerful force in her own right (CNN)

Gwen Walz has held appointments at Augsburg as an instructor of education and a special assistant for strategic partnerships in the Office of the President since 2019. “[W]hat she will say all the time, is, ‘I’ll make it happen,’” said O’Loughlin. “She’s very cognizant of how things affect other people all the time.” 

On Thursday morning, Pribbenow appeared on CNN live to discuss Walz’s background, commitments, and connections to Augsburg.