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.
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.
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.
Winner advances to Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Max Meyer
(MINNEAPOLIS) – Max Meyer, 12, of Minnetonka Middle School East, was named champion of the 7-County Metro Area Regional Spelling Bee held March 21 at Hoversten Chapel at Augsburg College. He won in the 14th round when he correctly spelled “electrolyte” and “transenna.” He is the son of Carey and Dave Meyer of Shorewood.
Meyer will be sent by Augsburg College with a parent or guardian to the Scripps National Spelling Bee scheduled May 24-29 in Washington, D.C. Other top spellers included:
Second place: Mark Kivimaki, 13, of Valley View Middle School, was eliminated during round 13 for misspelling “badigeon.” Kivimaki, who was the 2014 champion, is the son of Mary and Bruce Kivimaki of Edina.
Third place: Elise Weier, 13, Shakopee West Junior High School, was eliminated during round 11 for misspelling “zircon.” She is the daughter of Cara Weier of Shakopee.
Fourth place: Josephine Spanier, 12, of Anthony Middle School, was eliminated during round 10 for misspelling “neritic.” She is the daughter of Kristine Spanier of Minneapolis.
Max Meyer will advance to the National Spelling Bee.
A total of 47 students from 47 schools competed in the spelling bee. Spellers were from elementary, middle and junior high schools, community and magnet schools, private and home schools.
The head judge of the competition was Dennis Bluhm. He has served for 46 years as an elementary school principal and teacher, and 12 years as head judge of the State Spelling Bee. The pronouncer was David Talarico.
Augsburg College is set in a vibrant neighborhood at the heart of the Twin Cities, and offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and nine graduate degrees to more than 4,000 students of diverse backgrounds. Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its life and work. 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.
The Nobel Peace Prize Forum garnered a range of media coverage before and after the event. Some of the coverage is documented below.
March 14
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Nobel Forum explores challenges facing business by Neal St. Anthony
March 7
Associated Press: Former Vice President Mondale hospitalized with flu at Mayo Clinic
KARE 11: Flu keeps Mondale from Jimmy Carter speech
WRCB Chattanooga: Jimmy Carter confirms at Peace Prize Forum Vice President hospitalized
U.S. President Jimmy Carter, an honored Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, spoke at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum on March 6.
March 6
Business Insider: Former Vice President Mondale hospitalized with flu
KARE 11: Former President Carter in Minnesota to talk peace, women’s rights by Jana Shortal
KMSP/Fox 9: Former President Jimmy Carter in Minneapolis for Nobel Peace Prize Forum
Minnesota Public Radio:
Enemies to peacemakers – Nigerian pastor and imam discuss faith with Tom Crann
President Jimmy Carter: There’s a lack of peacemakers among world leaders with Tom Crann
Minneapolis Star Tribune: At age 90, Jimmy Carter working on memoir to be published in July
Pierce County Herald: Minnesota News Round-Up includes Nobel Peace Prize Forum
Pioneer Press: Carter confirms at Forum Mondale hospitalized
WCCO
Former President Jimmy Carter speaks on women, human rights at Nobel Peace Prize Forum by Pat Kessler
4 things to know: Jimmy Carter visit, Harrison Ford’s crash landing, and more
Jimmy Carter Flies into Minneapolis, greets passengers on plane
March 5
Bring Me the News: Former President Jimmy Carter to speak at Nobel Prize event in Minneapolis
March 2
Minnesota Public Radio: A Higgs boson dress? ‘Nobel Creations’ honors laureates through fashion by Marianne Combs
February 27
Star Tribune: Amid world turbulence, a #peaceitforward campaign by John Rash
February 25
MinnPost: Pamela Espeland’s Artscape round up includes briefs about the Nobel Peace Prize Forum as well as Nobel Creations at the American Swedish Institute
February 19
Grand Forks Herald: Former teacher shares harrowing tale of growing up in Nazi Germany by Jennifer Johnson
MPR’s Tom Weber, left, talks with Daniel Wordsworth of the American Refugee Committee.
Minnesota Public Radio aired a presentation from the Nobel Peace Prize Forum by Daniel Wordsworth, director of the American Refugee Committee, about the ARC’s humanitarian programs in 11 countries. After Wordsworth’s presentation, he participated in a question and answer session moderated by MPR’s Tom Weber. Listen to “American Refugee Committee director on the future of refugees” on the MPR website.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
The Nobel Peace Prize Forum garnered a range of media coverage before and after the event. Some of the coverage is documented below.
February 27
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.