Augsburg alumna Maureen (Conroy) Kurtz ’80 cultivated her life’s calling at Augsburg through the intersection of English and theater.

Since graduating in 1980 with her bachelor’s degree studying children’s theatre, Maureen has written, directed, and produced over 80 plays and movies. She also served five years on the Bloomington Art Center Board and was involved with over 50 productions at the Bloomington Art Center, the Capri Theater, the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company, and various other locations.

But Maureen hasn’t only worked her magic behind the scenes; she’s also spent a lot of time on the stage, going by the name Rina Kurtz. A highlight of her career was in 2014 when she had the opportunity to go to Hollywood and walk on the red carpet for the premiere of Matthew 18, in which she portrayed Miss Hillshire. She also acted in Thunderbird and The Coffee Shop Wars, along with a handful of short films and many plays.

A graduate of Mahtomedi High School, Maureen discovered her love of theater in her youth and worked on and off stage in her high school’s theater productions. When she came to Augsburg in 1975, Maureen had the chance to work with two professors whom she credits as important mentors on her journey to what would become a full life in theater and film: English professor Toni Clark and legendary Theater professor Ailene Cole, who is recognized for her work building Augsburg’s theater department into what it is today and for whom the Green Room in the Foss Center is named.

Ailene Cole played a special role in Maureen’s career at Augsburg by creating a new major that was not only uniquely tailored to Maureen but was also the only one of its kind in the state at that time: Children’s Theater.

“I loved Augsburg because Ailene Cole developed a special major for me in Children’s Theater,” says Maureen. “It was the only school to have a Children’s Theater program.” When asked what made her want to pursue that degree, Maureen said, “I love kids; it was my idea, and Ailene put together independent studies for me.”

Maureen was busy while at Augsburg. She enjoyed Women’s Literature, joined the gymnastics team, served on the English Board for one year, and formed a liturgical dance group. Maureen also studied abroad in London, where she was able to attend 28 plays, 6 of them Shakespeare plays. Her favorite production was Equus, a drama by Peter Shaffer about a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a boy with a pathological religious fascination with horses. It won the Tony Award for best play in 1975.

Maureen continued her love of theatrical work on and off stage for Augsburg productions. She directed Talk to Me Like The Rain and Let Me Listen, a Tennessee Williams short play, in 1978. Maureen also acted in the plays Abia Da Capo in 1976, Two by Two in 1977, and The Crucible in 1979. And with a smile, Maureen says she even made her own costumes.

When asked what something people would be surprised to learn about her, Maureen said, “I wrote a couple of puppetry productions.” The productions were called Twink and Charlie Goes to Market. Both were put on at elementary schools. Maureen didn’t plan on doing the puppet production herself, but a last-minute cancellation changed her plans. “I didn’t want to be the puppeteer, but the guy [who was supposed to puppeteer] chickened out! I was nervous!”

Maureen says she is most proud of the 5 years she served on the Bloomington Art Center board, followed by 27 years acting on their stage while working on so many of their productions at the Black Box and Schneider Theaters. And she’s raised two boys in between it all.

This past year, Maureen was diagnosed with ALS. It has greatly limited her mobility and requires her to communicate through text-to-speech computer software using Tobii, an eye-tracking device. She selects characters to form words by looking at them, then the computer speaks the words aloud.

But this has not stifled her creative mind. Earlier this year, Maureen won a “Most Inspirational” award for her poem about ALS in a walk her sister completed in her honor in Missouri. She is also currently producing a movie, Christmas Slasher.

“I have a full life,” Maureen says.

— By Jayne Carlson MFA ‘16 and Amanda Symes MFA ‘15

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What Does ALS Stand For?

By Maureen Kurtz, 2019

A.L.S. is:

Acknowledging the Lord’s Sacrifice

Always Listening to Silence

Ability to Laugh at Self

Accepting Life’s Setbacks

Adoring every Little Second

Awestruck by the Light of the Stars

Adhering to the Lessons of the Soul

Appreciating the Luxury of the Sun

Avoiding Lucifer’s Sin

Adoring the Land and the Sea

Awareness of Life’s Seasons

Allowing for Love to Soar

Assuring that you are the Lord’s Servant

Attaining the Loyalty to the Senses

Aiming for Loving Service

Admitting to the Lord you have Sinned

Always Learning Something

Accepting Loss and Spoil

Another Likely Story

Apples Lemons Spinach

Acorns Lakes Streams

Art Leisure Singing

Acceptance of Loss and Self Control

Oh yea, and I almost forgot. A.L.S. stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis- but that is only in VERY RARE CASES. Let me tell you A.L.S. stands for so much more. Be sure to read between the lines. It goes to show:

You are Always Learning Something.

Kathy Kuross and the IT Evolution

If you want to get a sense of the “electronic evolution” at Augsburg since computers wormed their way into our lives, you would be well advised to ask Kathy Kuross ’85, Senior Programmer/Analyst for IT (Information Technology). She has quite an Auggie history!

When she began her employment in Admissions in 1986, it was the beginning of a relationship with printers, computers, and IT machinery that has continued for over 33 years. Since those early days, when she did word processing for Admissions–followed by work in institutional research, programming, and analysis–she has had a front-row seat from which to observe—and experience—this electronic evolution at Augsburg.

When Arthur Met Bev

And how did Kathy’s 33-year commitment to Augsburg evolve? Kuross has said that she “owes her existence to Augsburg” since her parents met on campus. Her father, Arthur Kuross, arrived at Augsburg as a first-generation college student in the early ‘50s, after having served in World War II. On campus, a certain young secretary in the Teacher Placement Office caught his eye—Beverly Eckman. Before long, he asked her for a date, and she sought advice from Millie Nelson, then the switchboard operator. Millie (who subsequently served Augsburg for decades, most notably as College Center manager) thought the date was a good idea, granted her approval, and the following year, she was present at their wedding.

Arthur, who had emigrated from Norway as a small boy, stayed connected to Augsburg as the years unfolded, particularly through sports. Several of his college buddies would join him at football and hockey games, and Kathy relished the invitations to join her father and his friends at many of the games. Arthur became very active in the A-Club and served as its president for a number of years.

Still Connected

When Kathy accepted a position as word processor in the Admissions office in 1986, just months after having completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, she worked in the Science building—the same building in which her mother had worked 36 years earlier. Certainly, there had been changes in how office work got done over those 36 years, but those changes would likely pale by comparison with those that Kathy has observed in the 33 years since then.

Kathy began her work when there was only one printer on campus and most people were still using typewriters. At that time, she would carry all the students’ admissions folders in a metal bin from the Admissions office (then located in a house) to the basement of the Science building, where the Administrative Computing office was located.

She recalls the Registrar’s office using punch cards to process registrations and pasting labels for each term’s data onto students’ transcripts. Eventually, the campus moved on to using a mainframe computer system, with green-screen computer terminals at people’s desks. Larger reports were printed on a giant green bar printer. (Remember the wide perforated continuous-feed green-and-white sheets with holes along both margins?)

As Kuross reflects on the many changes in electronics and campus life, she notes that in 1985, the top five names of students attending Augsburg were Johnson, Anderson, Peterson, Olson, and Nelson. Today, the top five names are Vang, Johnson, Yang, Lee, and Mohamed. Kuross is proud to work at a university that has expanded its reach and willingly changes, adapts, and grows.

When she started at Augsburg, there was a room in the Christensen Center that played MTV videos all day. The name of the cafeteria was the Chin Wag, and it was located at the base of the current stairway in Christensen Center. Employees could smoke at their desks. Parking was free. At registration time, students waited in long lines in the gym.

By contrast, Kuross can now sit at her IT desk and watch thousands of registrations happen in minutes. We now have lactation rooms, foot-washing stations, and gender-neutral restrooms. Whereas faculty advisors once did all the advising, we now have the Gage Center, with a whole floor of the library designated to assist students. There is an Academic Advising office, TRIO, CLASS, StepUP, and Multi-cultural Student Services, just to name a few.

Throughout her 14-year stint in IT, plus 13 years of institutional research and earlier admissions work, Kuross has not been lured to other workplaces. When asked why, she responded that she values the quality work environment, the friendships, and the challenges, both personal and professional.

She has found particular fulfillment through her role in helping Augsburg students graduate. Over 33 years, that’s a lot of students!

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-by Cheryl Crockett ‘89