Augsburg College alumna and music therapist Sandi Holten ’82 was featured on MPR News in a special piece for Minnesota Sounds & Voices. As a kid, Holten dropped out of piano lessons believing that music wasn’t going to play a large part in her life, but today she uses music to strengthen muscles and spirits for many people living with Parkinson’s in the Twin Cities.
Visit the MPR News website to learn more about Holten’s work in the story, “Music helps keep Parkinson’s patients going.”
In mid-March, Augsburg College won its 12th NCAA Division III wrestling championship and took home a number of awards from the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Head coach Jim Moulsoff was named Division III National Coach of the Year and Division III Rookie Coach of the Year. Tony Valek ’12 was named Assistant Coach of the Year, and Mike Fuenffinger ’15 won his second national title and the Outstanding Wrestler honor. Eric Hensel ’16 won Most Falls in Least Time, and Donny Longendyke ’15 earned his first national title.
Media coverage of Augsburg’s NCAA Championship win includes the following:
Augsburg College was mentioned in the Minneapolis Star Tribune as part of an article about Muslim student associations that boast women in leadership roles.
Augsburg’s Muslim Student Association, led by Muna Mohamed ’16, aims to promote unity among Muslim students and to raise awareness within the Augsburg community about the culture, history, and language of the Muslim community.
To learn more about Augsburg’s Muslim Student Association and similar organizations at other campuses, visit the Star Tribune news site.
Whitney Restemayer ’10 was featured in the Bemidji Pioneer – a northern-Minnesota newspaper – due to her achievement as the first woman to coach a state hockey champion team in Minnesota.
As head coach, Restemayer led the Thief River Falls Prowlers to the state High School Girls Hockey Tournament Class A Championship and to defeat Blake high school 3-1. The accomplishment, Restemayer affirms, will be the first of many to come.
“I know I’m the first to win, but I enjoy knowing that I won’t be the last,” Restemayer said in an interview.
Restemayer holds a bachelor’s degree in health education from Augsburg College. To learn more about Restemayer and her team, visit the Bemidji Pioneer news site.
Curt Rice ’84 was appointed the new rector of the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, the largest institution of its kind in Norway.
“I’ll work to assure that our institution makes its mark both nationally and internationally. And together we will achieve our goal of becoming a university,” Rice said in an interview.
Rice, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Augsburg and a PhD in general linguistics from the University of Texas, currently leads the Committee on Gender Balance and Diversity in Research and is the Board Head of Current Research Information System in Norway.
Kuoth Wiel ’14 appeared in an article by aNewsCafe – a California-based online news magazine – about a screening of the film “The Good Lie” sponsored by Genocide No More-Save Darfur, an organization aimed at bringing awareness of genocide in Sudan and aiding Sudanese refugees.
Wiel, who was a star in the film and continues her own humanitarian efforts, will make an appearance at the screening and partake in a question and answer session after the viewing.
To read about Wiel and learn more about Genocide No More-Save Darfur, visit the aNewsCafe news site.
Bruce Cunningham ’77 was featured by the Pine and Lakes Echo Journal after joining the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby, Minn., as a family physician.
Cunningham, who is a longtime Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree form Augsburg College and earned his Doctor of Osteopathy at the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery in Iowa.
To read the article, visit the Pine and Lakes Echo Journal site.
Minnesota Public Radio’s Tim Post profiled Augsburg College’s East African Student to Teacher (EAST) program, which works to recruit and train teachers of East African descent in an effort to help close the K-12 achievement gap.
The program, directed by Audrey Lensmire, assistant professor of education, told Post that by “having more teachers of color in our K-12 system, their professional voice will be shared by their colleagues.”
Post spoke with two current EAST scholars, Abdiasis Hirsi and Asma Ibrahim. Hirsi, who teaches at Wellstone International High School, was born in Somalia and raised in Kenya. He shared with Post that when he was only 19, Hirsi helped start a school in Nairobi to teach English to Somali refugees. Ibrahim, who shared with Post that she was born in Pakistan to Somali refugees, said she had a difficult time as a student in connecting with her teachers in Owatonna. She hopes to become a teacher to help students who are like her become comfortable enough to learn.
EAST is funded by the Collaborative Urban Educator Program and received $390,000 for two school years including 2013-14 to 2014-15. Additional funding is now being sought from the Minnesota State Legislature. State Sen. Kari Dziedzic has introduced a bill to nearly double funding over the next two years.
Listen or read “East African teachers connect with younger versions of themselves” on the website of MPR News. Learn more about the EAST program.
Assistant Professor of Biology Matt Beckman spoke with the Star Tribune about the work he is doing as an adviser to a Breck School senior doing research on 200-year-old pollen samples.
Grant Two Bulls, a member of the Oglala-Lakota tribe, won the American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s competition through his work and which is providing a look at the lives of his ancestors when they lived near Lake Calhoun.
“Here’s a high school senior doing pretty high-level research and then taking that data and speaking to national audiences about it in a really impressive way,” Beckman said to Kim McGuire, a reporter at the Star Tribune.
Read about the partnership between Beckman and Breck School in “Breck student’s science project is an award-winning mix of American Indian history and science.”
Learn about another Breck School student, Taylor McCanna, who was coached by David Murr, physics professor. McCanna took second place in one of the most prestigious international science fairs for her work with Murr.
Janelle Holte ’14 has been accepted into the Midwest Peace Corps, according to the Aitkin Age.
Through volunteering, Holte will work to identify resources and agriculture projects that can be developed and implemented to generate income. She will also facilitate training in farm management and work with schools to enhance and expand environmental education.
Holte, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and communications, will join 202 Minnesota residents currently serving in the Peace Corps. She will serve in Jamaica.
“As I traveled more, studied abroad in college and volunteered, I realized that I thrive off of new experiences, meeting new people, and giving back to others any way I am able to,” Holte said in an interview.
