Thanks to all Auggies who shook their tail feathers for the Augsburg Happy video. You’ve created thousands of smiles!
Commencement Speakers & Honorary Degree Recipients
Majora Carter, Urban Revitalization Strategist and Peabody Award-winning Radio Broadcaster
Commencement Speaker & Honorary Degree Recipient, Saturday May 3
Majora Carter is an internationally renowned urban revitalization strategy consultant, real estate developer, and Peabody Award-winning broadcaster. She is responsible for the creation and successful implementation of numerous green-infrastructure projects, policies, and job training and placement systems. After establishing several local and national organizations to carry on that work, Carter built on this foundation with innovative ventures and insights into urban economic developments designed to help move Americans out of poverty.
Carter’s long list of awards and honorary degrees includes accolades from groups as diverse as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, John Podesta’s Center for American Progress, Goldman Sachs, as well as a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. Her 2006 TED talk was one of the first six videos to launch their groundbreaking website.
Lois Quam, Executive Director of Global Health Initiative, U. S. State Department
Commencement Speaker & Honorary Degree Recipient, Saturday May 3
Ms. Lois Quam serves as the Chief Operating Officer at The Nature Conservancy. She was the Executive Director of the Global Health Initiative (GHI), reporting directly to former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The GHI was created by President Obama to “save lives today, and strengthen health systems to build stronger nations tomorrow.” Appointed by Gov. Rudy Perpich in 1989 to chair the Minnesota Health Care Access Commission, later passed, providing health care to tens of thousands of Minnesotans, and the nation’s lowest uninsured rate at that time. She went on to serve as senior advisor to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s task force on health care reform.
Quam served as president and CEO of the Public and Senior Markets segment at UnitedHealth Group, a $30 billion division overseeing Medicare and Medicaid-based businesses. In 2009, she was co-founder and president of Tysvar, LLC, a Minnesota-based New Green Economy (NGE) and health care reform incubator dedicated to universal health care and bringing scale to the NGE. She also served as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Prior to founding Tysvar, Quam was Head of Strategic Investments, Green Economy & Health at Piper Jaffray, a leading international Minneapolis-based investment bank.
In 2006 Quam was named by Fortune magazine as one of America’s “50 Most Powerful Women.” She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Macalester College. As a Rhodes Scholar she went on to complete her master’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford in England.
David Orr, Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, and special assistant to the president of Oberlin College
Commencement Speaker & Honorary Degree Recipient, Sunday May 4
David Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics, and special assistant to the president of Oberlin College. He is also the executive director of the Oberlin Project: an all-encompassing joint venture by the town and College to create a thriving, sustainable and environmentally friendly community in Oberlin.
Orr has been involved in environmental issues for more than 25 years. He is the recipient of six honorary degrees and other awards, including The Millennium Leadership Award from Global Green, the Bioneers Award, the National Wildlife Federation Leadership Award, and a Lyndhurst Prize acknowledging “persons of exceptional moral character, vision, and energy.” He has been a scholar in residence at Ball State University, the University of Washington, and other universities, and has served as a trustee for many organizations, including the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and the Bioneers.
AUGPOST, A Call to Action
Dear alumni and friends,
This fall, I reached out to my fellow Auggies to ask that you support our alma mater on Give to the Max Day by donating to one of 25 different Augsburg fundraising projects. I am grateful to the 837 donors who helped us raise $313,639 in one day and achieve our goals of coming in first place among colleges and universities and fourth place among all Minnesota non-profits! This proves that when Auggies pull together, we can accomplish any goal.
I am often asked, “How, in addition to supporting Augsburg with gifts, can I help the College and the current students?” Here’s an answer: draw upon your experience, expertise, and networks to help students who are looking for jobs and internships.
Our students are bright, ardent, and ambitious. They represent our best hope for the future. Their most immediate challenge in moving on to life after Augsburg is aligning their liberal arts degree with a career path that will be personally rewarding and provide them with financial independence.
I encourage all Augsburg alumni and parents to post internship, job, or volunteer opportunities—for free—on AUGPOST through Augsburg’s Clair and Gladys Strommen Center for Meaningful Work. AUGPOST is an online job posting board used as a resource by alumni and students, and it features posts specifically for Auggies from local and national employers. The next time you or your employer are hiring, consider employing a fellow Auggie.
We have already seen what can happen when Auggies work together—we accomplish great things. I would like to set another goal. Currently, approximately 1,000 alumni are posting jobs on AUGPOST. I would like that to increase to 5,000 alumni submitting internship, job, and volunteer opportunities. Imagine the influence we can make on the current Augsburg students and their future opportunities. Learn more at augsburg.edu/strommen.
Sincerely,
TRACY (ANDERSON) SEVERSON ’95
ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Support for Augsburg Students Honored
At our Pow Wow last Saturday, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) was honored for recently contributing $250,000 to endowed scholarships for American Indian students at the college.
The SMSC’s gift to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Scholarship provides the College with a permanent asset from which American Indian students can receive support. An endowed scholarship fund provides scholarship awards based upon the annual earnings of the fund’s principal. Due to the generosity of SMSC towards students of all American Indian nations, the scholarship has provided 58 awards to more than 40 students since its establishment in 1991. This new gift means the College will be able to award an additional $10,000 per year in scholarships to enrolled American Indian students at Augsburg College.
This event, hosted by the Augsburg Indigenous Student Association and American Indian Student Services, was Augsburg’s 6th annual Pow Wow. This year’s American Indian graduates were honored and Regent Bonnie Wallace thanked the SMSC on behalf of the College.
Loveland Rotary Club honors Earl Sethre ’68
In February, the Loveland Rotary Club honored Earl Sethre ’68 with the Citizen of the Year Award. Marvin Morganti explained that the award “is to honor someone in the community, a non-Rotarian, who demonstrates the four-way test and … who’s got the community in mind.” Mary McCambridge, who presented the award, said this about Earl, “the person we are honoring today is a very humble person, tall in stature and does much for the community but in a very quiet way.” Upon receiving the award Earl said, “I think it’s important to give back… a person who gives something feels good about it.”
Bush Foundation Selects Six Augsburg Alumni
Congratulations to the six Augsburg College alumni who were recognized by the Bush Foundation as leaders in their communities. Four of the six were chosen as Bush Fellows, a program that “provides individuals with opportunities to demonstrate and improve their capacity for leadership as they learn by doing.” Two other Augsburg alumni were recognized by the Bush Foundation as leaders and asked to participate in cohort 5 of the Native Nation Rebuilders program.
Bush Fellows
Syl Jones ’73
Jennifer Waltman ’07
Sue Hakes ’89
Jacquie Berglund ’87
Native Nation Rebuilders
Pamela Johns ’12
Joseph Regguinti ’07
Remembering Ed Saugestad ’59
A Message from President Pribbenow:
Yesterday morning we learned that legendary coach and faculty emeritus Edwin Saugestad passed away Thursday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Ed, 77, served as a coach, teacher, and mentor for hundreds of Auggies during his long and illustrious career.
Ed graduated from Augsburg College in 1959 with a double major in physical education and biology, and continued his connection with Augsburg through a 37-year coaching career—beginning in his senior year when he was both a hockey player and coach for the team. By the time he retired as hockey coach in 1996, Ed ranked second in career wins in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III history, compiling a 503-354-21 record, and that’s just the beginning of his accolades.
Ed’s teams won Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) titles six straight years (1977-82), qualified for national tournament play 10 times, and won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship in 1978, 1981, and 1982. Ed, himself, was inducted into Augsburg’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978, and was named NAIA National Coach of the Year three times and MIAC Coach of the Year six times. The MIAC even christened its playoff championship trophy as the Ed Saugestad Trophy after he retired.
In 2002, Ed was awarded the American Hockey Coaches Association’s John MacInnes Award to honor his contributions in the growth of amateur hockey in the United States, and in 2007, he was named the Hobey Baker Legends of Hockey honoree. In 2010, Augsburg dedicated its main competition ice rink in honor of Ed. The Ed Saugestad Rink is used extensively by Augsburg’s men’s and women’s ice hockey teams, and by a wide range of Twin Cities sports teams, clubs, and organizations.
In addition to his hockey coaching duties, Ed taught in the Health and Physical Education Department throughout his career. He also served as the College’s men’s athletic director and on the Augsburg football coaching staff for many years. Ed earned his master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and was awarded faculty emeritus recognition by the Augsburg Board of Regents in 1998. The Augsburg Athletic Department also named its academic award for male student-athletes the Ed Saugestad Academic Award.
There will be a memorial service for Ed on Thursday, April 3, at 2 p.m. in the Hoversten Chapel.
In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers go out to Ed’s family and all of us whose lives Ed touched. As it says on the mural displayed in the Augsburg Ice Arena in his honor, Ed made us “champions for life.”
Obituary (Star Tribune)
Pioneer Press
Sincerely,
Paul C. Pribbenow
President
Minnesota’s First Varsity Women’s Lacrosse Team
The Augsburg College Auggies made history last month when Minnesota’s first varsity women’s lacrosse team competed under the dome at Edor Nelson Field.
The Augsburg Lacrosse team gained three victories in its first three games! Learn more about the program or the team’s inaugual performance:
Auggie Lacrosse website
Get Social with Auggie Lacrosse: Facebook & Twitter
Honors NOW Newsletter
Honors students Elise Hitchings ’16 and Mary Klecker ’16 are excited to share with you the first edition of Augsburg’s new Honors newsletter, “Honors Now.” Designed and written by current Honors students, the newsletter will provide news of the current Honors Program, with the twofold intent of staying in touch with Auggie Honors alumni, and connecting with prospective Honors students.
Archives
Winter 2014 NOW
Augsburg College Mourns the Loss of Dr Megan Shroat
Dr. Megan Shroat, a long-time adjunct faculty member in the Psychology Department,
passed away unexpectedly late last week.
Megan was a dedicated and talented teacher and an accomplished research psychologist in the area of drug and alcohol dependence. She was a strong advocate of Augsburg’s StepUP® program for students in recovery and shared the College’s commitment to making higher education accessible to diverse groups of students. Megan always took time to give extra support to students who needed it and was passionate about helping her students grow personally as well as academically.
Megan has served as a member of Augsburg’s adjunct faculty since 2005, teaching a variety of courses, including a topics course focused on drugs and behavior. She completed her Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Minnesota and her bachelor’s in psychology at Hamline University. She also completed coursework in the Augsburg MBA program during her time at Augsburg.
Megan’s family has scheduled a Service and Celebration for her on Wednesday, February 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, 511 Groveland, Minneapolis. Another service will be held in Megan’s hometown in western Minnesota this Saturday, February 15, at 10: 30 a.m. at Faith Lutheran Church, 106 8th St., Madison, Minn. The Augsburg community will hold Megan’s colleagues and family in our prayers during our daily chapel services this week.