This section of the News and Media Services department site tracks stories in print and broadcast media that feature Auggie faculty, students, and staff. The area also is home to material developed for University-related programs, events, and more.
Last Sunday, work by Campus Ministry and Sonja Hagander to connect Pastor Mike Matson ’06 of Bethany Lutheran in the Seward Neighborhood with CAIR-MN, a nonprofit that supports our Muslim neighbors, was featured on the front page of the Metro section of the Star Tribune.
Hagander told the Star Tribune that partnerships such as that between Bethany and CAIR are crucial to building a multifaith community, something Augsburg College long has held a commitment to as a school of the Lutheran church.
Bethany, through Matson, and CAIR, via executive director Jaylani Hussein, are looking forward to continuing to grow their partnership.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — On Monday, January 30, Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow and Provost Karen Kaivola issued a statement to College students, faculty, and staff about recent executive orders issued by President Donald J. Trump related to immigration and to undocumented/DACA students. Below is the statement the President and Provost issued.
Dear Augsburg Community,
We are deeply troubled by the recent Presidential executive orders on immigration: they run counter to the values of this institution and of our nation. We do not accept the intolerance which the new immigration policies promote. Augsburg’s history is rich with the contribution of individuals who came to America; indeed, founded by Norwegian immigrants, Augsburg has an immigrant sensibility and will stand firm in the face of threats to our community and our immigrant neighbors.
We write today to affirm our commitment to provide a safe learning and working environment with equitable access to education for all members of our campus community. We will not back down on that commitment. We will use all the resources at our disposal to ensure that you complete your degrees, can come to and from work safely, and can thrive as valued members of our community. Your well-being is our priority.
Augsburg is a community that cares deeply about our students, staff and faculty. Many members of our campus community are impacted by these actions. We are focused intently on the educational and work experience of our students, staff, and faculty, their lives in the world and their promise. We have a long-standing commitment to hospitality and justice and we will resist changes that run against our values. We will not stand by and allow our values to be trodden upon. It’s a personal commitment we make and it is one shared by all of us at Augsburg. We live it out every day. We don’t step backward, we step forward, and we are proud of this community because of that.
These values are central to how we will respond in support of students who are affected by changes in undocumented and immigration status. We will double down on our commitments to hospitality and justice, to supporting our students’ success and to keeping them safe. We will advocate at the state and federal level for policies that support all of our students.
Augsburg College undergraduate students were named to the 2016 Fall Semester Dean’s List. The Augsburg College Dean’s List recognizes those full-time students who have achieved a grade point average of 3.50 or higher and those part-time students who have achieved a grade point average of 3.75 or higher in a given term.
Previously a Humanist chaplain at Harvard and Yale, Stedman now a Sabo Fellow
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Interfaith activist and author Chris Stedman ‘08 joins Augsburg College as a fellow of the Martin O. Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship where he will facilitate and build new community partnerships for non-religious and interfaith civic engagement. Stedman also will consult on the development of interfaith engagement programs at Augsburg.
“We are excited to welcome Chris back to Augsburg where his interfaith work began nearly a decade ago as an undergraduate,” said Augsburg College President Paul Pribbenow. “Chris returns to us a successful author and a national leader and thinker on the Humanist movement. His work as a Sabo Fellow is testament to our commitment to interfaith dialogue so needed in our ever-diversifying society.”
Stedman’s work with the Sabo Center comes at an important time in Minnesota given the state’s rapidly increasing diversity of faiths combined with the growing number of “nones,” also known as religiously unaffiliated, and the nonreligious. According to Pew Research Center, 23 percent of adults as of 2015 identified as “nones.” Continue reading “Interfaith activist Chris Stedman ’08 returns to Augsburg”→
Augsburg College student Kitana Holland ’19 has been named to the inaugural Student Advisory Board for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Better Make Room campaign, which celebrates education and elevates the voices of Gen-Z students. As one of only five college students selected to the 17-person board, Holland will advise a new public awareness campaign designed to improve college access, college persistence, and college graduation on campuses nationwide.
Holland and her fellow board members traveled to the White House on Friday, January 6, to attend the First Lady’s School Counselor of the Year Ceremony.
Holland is a first generation college sophomore from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, majoring in sociology and a minoring in religion and leadership studies. While at Augsburg she has served as a senator in the Day Student Government, an URGO research assistant, a LEAD Fellow, an Auggie tour guide, and as a member of College Possible and TRIO. Through these experiences, she has used her creativity, relationship-building skills, and process-thinking strengths to positively influence her community.
According to a news release about Better Make Room, Holland is driven by her motto, “If the opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” and aspires to help first generation, low-income, and underrepresented high school and college students push through barriers to attain a college degree.”
This week, Andy Aoki, department chair of political science and Sabo fellow at Augsburg College, was a featured analyst on Political Insider, a weekly news segment broadcast on KSTP.
Aoki joined Larry Jacobs, a University of Minnesota faculty member, and provided input on a variety of local and national political stories including Minnesota’s health care affordability issue and confirmation hearings for President Elect Donald Trump’s cabinet members.
Diverse Public Events Designed to Create Engaging Conversations
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Augsburg College during January and February is hosting a wide range of campus events that are open to the public and designed to create meaningful dialogue among students, faculty, staff and the greater community on issues shaping our world.
Free, public events include:
1 p.m., Jan. 16: Nekima Levy-Pounds on “Renewing King’s Call for Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion, In An Age of Demagoguery”
7 p.m., Jan. 23: Hope Jahren, author of “Lab Girl,” on “Twenty Things that Everyone Should Know About Global Change”
11 a.m., Jan. 24: Hope Jahren, author of “Lab Girl,” on “Be as a Tree Planted by the Waters: The Magic of Roots, Leaves, and Everything in Between”
10 a.m., Feb. 10: Carolyn Finney, author of “Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors”
About Augsburg College: Augsburg College offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and nine graduate degrees to nearly 3,600 students of diverse backgrounds at its campus in the vibrant center of the Twin Cities and its site in Rochester, Minn. Augsburg educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. An Augsburg education is defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values of the Lutheran church, and shaped by its urban and global settings.
Media Contact: Stephanie Weiss, director of news and media services, 612.330.1476
This fall, Augsburg College hosted alumni, faculty, staff, and community members for an international travel experience that took participants to the Czech Republic and Germany, which is in the midst of a tourism boom accompanying the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The travelers visited Wittenberg, the long-time home of Reformation catalyst Martin Luther, and ventured to historic sites to learn about the origins of the Lutheran faith from Augsburg College Religion Department faculty members Hans Wiersma and Lori Brandt Hale.
Star Tribune reporter Jean Hopfensperger and photographer Jerry Holt accompanied the group to chronicle how Minnesotans are observing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in the “Land of Luther” in addition to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” given that religious, arts, and cultural organizations across Minnesota are planning special events and exhibits to mark the occasion.
As Hopfensperger wrote, “Luther’s legacy is particularly deep in Minnesota, and not just because of his followers’ enduring embrace of hymn fests — often followed by Jell-O and hot dish. One in four residents trace their namesake faith to the monk from Wittenberg.”
In a Star Tribune story, Augsburg alumnae Carol Pfleiderer ’64 and Kathleen Johnson ’72 described their excitement with the trip itinerary and the ways it reflects and builds upon their understanding of their faith.
The Rev. Mark Hanson ’68, the College’s Executive Director of the Christensen Center for Vocation, was among other alumni quoted in the article. He described some of the ways the Lutheran church is using the Reformation anniversary to foster Lutheran-Catholic dialogue and to make the church accessible to all people.
Augsburg College Professor of History Bill Green spoke to a crowd at the Rochester Art Center about what he learned while researching Minnesota’s history of race relations. Green is the author of the award-winning book, “Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota.”
KIMT-TV covered the event and interviewed Green, who described similarities and differences between the challenges faced by organizers of the state’s early Civil Rights movement and those involved with the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement.
The Minnesota Center for Book Arts‘ 26th Winter Book features poetry and prose by Heid E. Erdrich that explores the complex conversations between artists and viewers. Erdrich is a poet, writer, filmmaker, and mentor for students in Augsburg College’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.
The Winter Book, “every-blest-thing-seeing-eye,” explores conversations between artists and viewers, imagining the varied experiences of viewing artworks in a gallery, according to a Pioneer Press article published before the book’s launch party.
Augsburg College student Kitana Holland ’19 has been named to the inaugural Student Advisory Board for First Lady Michelle Obama’s 
This week, Andy Aoki, department chair of political science and Sabo fellow at Augsburg College, was a featured analyst on Political Insider, a weekly news segment broadcast on KSTP.
This fall, Augsburg College hosted alumni, faculty, staff, and community members for an international travel experience that took participants to the Czech Republic and Germany, which is in the midst of a tourism boom accompanying the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The travelers visited Wittenberg, the long-time home of Reformation catalyst Martin Luther, and ventured to historic sites to learn about the origins of the Lutheran faith from Augsburg College Religion Department faculty members Hans Wiersma and Lori Brandt Hale.
Augsburg College Professor of History Bill Green spoke to a crowd at the Rochester Art Center about what he learned while researching Minnesota’s history of race relations. Green is the author of the award-winning book, “Degrees of Freedom: The Origins of Civil Rights in Minnesota.”
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