As of fall 2025, news and media updates have been integrated with the Augsburg Now alumni publication. This site archives news stories from before September 16, 2025. Please visit augsburg.edu/now or select "Augsburg Now" from the left navigation for current news.
The multimedia exhibit, “Warrior To Citizen: Stories of Minnesota’s Most Recent Veterans,” will be on Augsburg’s campus through Friday, Feb. 13. The exhibit is on display in the glass room next to the Student Art Gallery in the Christensen Center. This exhibit was designed by Kristin Farrell of the Center for Service, Work, and Learning at Augsburg.
The “Warrior To Citizen” exhibit features personal stories and artifacts gathered from 30 service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The exhibit captures an important piece of Minnesota history and offers a public space for thinking and talking about the ways military service impacts individuals and communities, and what veterans have to contribute. Continue reading “Veterans exhibit in Christensen Center”→
Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord, the first Navajo female surgeon, returns to Augsburg College Feb. 13 and 14 to share the story of her journey from the reservation to become a surgeon and her work to combine Navajo philosophies of healing with western medicine, to create models of healing environments. This convocation is sponsored by the Center for Counseling and Health Promotion, American Indian Student Support Services, and Augsburg for Adults.
In order to encourage attendance at the Saturday convocation, WEC Saturday classes will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m. and will resume at 1:15 p.m.
Lori Arviso Alvord, MD is currently Associate Dean of Student and Multicultural Affairs at Dartmouth Medical School and a member of the Navajo Tribe, of the Tsinnajinne’ clan (Ponderosa Pine) and Ashihii’ Dine’ (Salt People) clan. Continue reading “First Navajo female surgeon speaks at Augsburg”→
Today the world is a small place. The population continues to grow while perceptions of distances and differences are minimized by faster and smarter ways for the world’s citizens to connect. That reality means we are confronted daily with the effects our actions can have on people not just across the table but also across the globe.
As students prepare to live and work in this world, study abroad presents more than a simple opportunity to visit another country. Studying abroad gives students hands-on experiences with other peoples and cultures. It helps students expand their worldview and challenges their perceptions about policies, cultures, and ways of life. And it offers a life-changing experience that can prepare students to be ethical, informed leaders in their neighborhoods, in their careers, and in the world. Continue reading “Studying business in Mexico”→
Augsburg College was recently selected by the Carnegie Foundation to receive the classification for Community Engagement. This classification affirms that a university or college has institutionalized community engagement in its identity, culture, and commitments. It also affirms that the practices of community engagement are aligned with the institution’s identity and form an integral component of the institutional culture.
There are three categories in the classification: curricular engagement, outreach and partnerships, and a category for both curricular engagement and outreach. Augsburg received the classification for both curricular engagement and outreach and partnerships.
In Minnesota, the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas, and Winona State received the same classification in 2006; Metropolitan State University and Augsburg were the only institutions to receive the classification in Minnesota in 2008. Continue reading “Augsburg receives Carnegie Community Engagement classification”→
In early January, an airplane crossed the Atlantic from the U.S. to the E.U. carrying, among other passengers, Shannon Backes, a junior international business major from Augsburg. Another plane flew in the opposite direction bringing Timo Birkhold from Mosbach, Germany to Minneapolis. The two students have effectively traded places as each spends a semester abroad through the International Partners program.
Backes [pictured left] arrived in Mannheim, Germany on Jan. 13 to attend a two-week German language course at Mannheim University. Following that program, she moved to Mosbach, a small town about two hours from Frankfurt, to begin her studies at Berufsakademie Mosbach. Continue reading “The Minneapolis – Mosbach exchange”→
Augsburg will honor the legacy of its 10-time national championship wrestling program with the dedication of the Jeff Swenson Wrestling Wall of Fame prior to the No. 1-ranked Auggies’ dual meet with No. 2-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) on Friday, Jan. 30 at the Si Melby Hall/Kennedy Center complex. The dedication will take place at 6 p.m., with the wrestling dual against Wartburg to follow at 7:30 p.m. There is also a high school dual meet between Albert Lea and Coon Rapids at 6 p.m. at Si Melby Hall.
The Jeff Swenson Wrestling Wall of Fame will contain more than 30 trophies earned by Augsburg wrestling squads from various national tournaments, along with other artifacts celebrating the rich history of Augsburg’s wrestling program, considered one of the elite small-college wrestling programs in the nation. Continue reading “Swenson Wall of Fame dedicated”→
As he listened to the San Francisco Girls and Boys Choruses sing before the inauguration of President Obama, Augsburg music instructor Nancy Grundahl’s husband thought he was hearing his wife’s work.
“My husband heard ‘America the Beautiful’ and recognized it,” Grundahl said, “and then my publisher confirmed that it was my arrangement a few hours later.”
Grundahl, director of the Augsburg Riverside Singers, originally wrote the arrangement of “America the Beautiful” on the day after 9/11. “I needed something uplifting for my children’s choir to sing in rehearsal,” she said. The choir sang the arrangement for the rest of that season, and it was published by Alliance in 2003. Continue reading “Grundahl's "America the Beautiful" shines at inauguration”→
Augsburg’s Eleuthéria by Samuel Beckett with translation by Michael Brodsky opens Jan. 30 and features the directing talents of Barbra Berlovitz, formerly with the Theatre de la Jeune Lune.
Looking for freedom, Victor Krap turns his back on his family, fiancée, and friends and moves into a room furnished with nothing but a bed. His parents and fiancée, Miss Skunk, try desperately to bring him back into the family fold and society. Written in French, Eleuthéria (which means “freedom” in Greek) is Beckett’s first completed work and was written just prior to his best-known piece Waiting for Godot. Eleuthéria is filled with irony and humor, allowing us to laugh at ourselves while examining the inescapable problems of our human existence. Continue reading “Beckett's "Eleuthéria" examines human existence”→
If you want to get in front of the state’s lawmakers, especially during the legislative session, you’ve got to know your way around the system—and around the state Capitol building. Jay Benanav has no problem with either.
Last fall Benanav was hired as Augsburg’s Director of Government Relations, a role his illustrious career helped him fill easily. “One thing that helps me is that I have some credibility. I’ve known these people for more than 20 years.”
Since he completed law school in the late 70s, Benanav has been counsel to the Minnesota Senate, was a practicing attorney, was the deputy commissioner in the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, served as president of a private insurance agency, sat on the St. Paul city council, and manages a consulting agency that helps students and families get into college and avoid unmanageable debt. Continue reading “Getting around at the Capitol”→
Many Augsburg graduates stay connected with the college through the years. They come to events or games on campus. They volunteer. They donate to The Augsburg Fund.
But there are others who kind of drift away. It isn’t like they become anti-Augsburg, they just aren’t connected. That’s something the college—thanks to a nearly $230,000 grant from the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation—hopes to change over the next three years through Project IGNITE. Continue reading “We need you for Project IGNITE”→
The multimedia exhibit, “Warrior To Citizen: Stories of Minnesota’s Most Recent Veterans,” will be on Augsburg’s campus through Friday, Feb. 13. The exhibit is on display in the glass room next to the Student Art Gallery in the Christensen Center. This exhibit was designed by Kristin Farrell of the Center for Service, Work, and Learning at Augsburg.
Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord, the first Navajo female surgeon, returns to Augsburg College Feb. 13 and 14 to share the story of her journey from the reservation to become a surgeon and her work to combine Navajo philosophies of healing with western medicine, to create models of healing environments. This convocation is sponsored by the Center for Counseling and Health Promotion, American Indian Student Support Services, and Augsburg for Adults.
Today the world is a small place. The population continues to grow while perceptions of distances and differences are minimized by faster and smarter ways for the world’s citizens to connect. That reality means we are confronted daily with the effects our actions can have on people not just across the table but also across the globe.
Augsburg College was recently selected by the Carnegie Foundation to receive the classification for Community Engagement. This classification affirms that a university or college has institutionalized community engagement in its identity, culture, and commitments. It also affirms that the practices of community engagement are aligned with the institution’s identity and form an integral component of the institutional culture.
Augsburg will honor the legacy of its 10-time national championship wrestling program with the dedication of the Jeff Swenson Wrestling Wall of Fame prior to the No. 1-ranked Auggies’ dual meet with No. 2-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) on Friday, Jan. 30 at the Si Melby Hall/Kennedy Center complex. The dedication will take place at 6 p.m., with the wrestling dual against Wartburg to follow at 7:30 p.m. There is also a high school dual meet between Albert Lea and Coon Rapids at 6 p.m. at Si Melby Hall.
As he listened to the San Francisco Girls and Boys Choruses sing before the inauguration of President Obama, Augsburg music instructor Nancy Grundahl’s husband thought he was hearing his wife’s work.
Augsburg’s Eleuthéria by Samuel Beckett with translation by Michael Brodsky opens Jan. 30 and features the directing talents of Barbra Berlovitz, formerly with the Theatre de la Jeune Lune.
If you want to get in front of the state’s lawmakers, especially during the legislative session, you’ve got to know your way around the system—and around the state Capitol building. Jay Benanav has no problem with either.
Many Augsburg graduates stay connected with the college through the years. They come to events or games on campus. They volunteer. They donate to The Augsburg Fund.