A P U B L I C A T I O N F O R A U G S B U R G C O L L E G E A L U M N I & F R I E N D S

Summer 2006 Vol. 68, No. 4

A S M O O T H T R A N S I T I O N page 2

FEATURES17 The Frame years—

a journey toward visionby Betsey Norgard

22 Augsburg’s original MBAs: The Class of 2006by Bethany Bierman

27 On tour with the Augsburg Choirby Judy Petree

30 Those Lutheran Ladiesby Betsey Norgard

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summer 2006Vol 68, No. 4

DEPARTMENTS2 Around the Quad

7 Sports

8 Commencement 2006

12 Sixth Annual InternationalPrograms Photo Contest

14 Supporting AugsburgAccess to Excellence: The Campaign for Augsburg College

35 Alumni news

37 Class notes

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A college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Augsburg College is an equal education/employment institution.

Auggie Thoughts

EditorBetsey Norgardnorgard@augsburg.edu

Graphic DesignerKathy Rumpzarumpza@augsburg edu

Staff WriterBethany Biermanbierman@augsburg.edu

Staff PhotographerStephen Geffregeffre@augsburg.edu

Media Relations Manager Judy Petreepetree@augsburg.edu

Sports Information DirectorDon Stonerstoner@augsburg.edu

Director of Marketing andCommunicationsChristopher Moquistmoquist@augsburg.edu

Director of Alumni RelationsHeidi Breenbreen@augsburg.edu

www.augsburg.edu

Augsburg Now is published quarterly by AugsburgCollege, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota55454. Opinions expressed in Augsburg Now do notnecessarily reflect official College policy. ISSN 1058–1545

Send address corrections to:Advancement ServicesAugsburg College, CB 1422211 Riverside Ave.Minneapolis, MN 55454healyk@augsburg.edu

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On the cover:

Augsburg President William Frame (right)and President-elect Paul Pribbenow (left)have enthusiastically worked together for asmooth administrative transition.

AROUND THE QUAD

2 Summer 2006

From one president to the next—in smooth transition

Chris Kimball will be chief academicofficer at California Lutheran University

In what President William Frame calls arather remarkable and unusual

occurrence in higher education, both heand President-elect Paul Pribbenowjointly spoke to the spring gathering offaculty and staff in March.

Frame explained what he understandsas a complex relationship betweencontinuity and change, as both he andthe incoming president individually andjointly continue to increase the “clarity ofthe College’s self-definition” as well as“the speed at which it is being realized”during the transition period.

(In a gesture to ease at least the visualtransition, Frame turned just beforeintroducing Pribbenow and donned abow tie, calling reference to the incomingpresident’s signature accessory.)

Pribbenow lauded and affirmed thedefining work that has been carried outby the Augsburg community inarticulating its vision. “I would not be

here,” he commented, “if I did not findyour aspirations inspiring andcompelling.”

Pribbenow takes office on July 1, andhis inauguration has been set for Oct. 20.The next issue of Augsburg Now willoutline his administration’s priorities andintroduce his leadership team.

Around the Quad

William Frame donned a bow tie to signal his“profound regard” for his successor.

Both retiring president William Frame (left)and incoming president Paul Pribbenow(right) spoke to faculty and staff in March.

Christopher Kimball, provost and vicepresident for academic affairs, left

Augsburg May 31 to assume the sameposition at California LutheranUniversity in Thousand Oaks, Calif.,beginning in July.

Kimball, a member of the historyfaculty since 1991, was appointed deanin 2000 and provost in 2004 when thatposition was created. His impact atAugsburg is seen in the areas ofcurricular reform, calendar changes,teaching loads, several new programs,and the “internationalization” of thecampus.

“I have been blessed to work atAugsburg during a time of great change,

especially in the articulation of ourmission and vision,” said Kimball.“California Lutheran University, locatedin an economically vibrant and culturallydiverse region, offers a wonderfulopportunity to continue that work.”

President William Frame stated, “… Chris’ gifts, some of which wereshaped in the process of giving ourCollege new vitality and sharp direction,have been acknowledged by a fineinstitution in current need of them.”

In May, the Department of BusinessAdministration presented Kimball with aplaque recognizing his support of businessstudies and his “entrepreneurial spirit.”

3Summer 2006

1 Bill and Anne Frame enjoy some of thelighter minutes of the “roast” in theirhonor.

2 Campus pastor David Wold reads theproclamation from Mayor R.T. Rybakdeclaring April 30 “Bill and Anne FrameDay” in the City of Minneapolis.

3 President Frame picked up his guitar tojoin Gospel Praise in “I Saw the Light” atCentral Lutheran Church.

4 Assistant director of alumni relations andformer football coach Jack Osberg ’62leans in close to extend his greetingsabove the jazz and gospel music.

Farewell to the Frames—a ‘gentle roast’ and a proper tribute

On April 21, more than 300 faculty andstaff gathered to honor and show

appreciation to Bill and Anne Frame, andto entertain them with some ‘gentle’roasting. Augsburg’s Gospel Praiseprovided music, with returning specialguest artist Jennifer Grimm ’99.

Gift presentations were made and theFrames offered an Augsburg rendition ofWoody Guthrie’s song, “So Long, It’s BeenGood to Know You.”

Frame reflected on his time atAugsburg. “These years have been a greatgift to us … because they’ve given us thepossibility for growth … And newunderstanding about this great business ofeducation—where it comes from, what itchanges, why it’s crucial for the salvationof humankind. …

“This place gave us a chance to thinkthrough [a great calling] more deeply andbetter than ever we would have had achance to do otherwise. So, we’re grateful.We’re grateful to you and we’re grateful to

this place and its great lineage in history.” When asked by Augsburg Echo about

his plans for retirement, he mentioned onespecific project—an old boat with “at leasta year’s worth of work before it’s ready forthe water.”

On April 30, a more proper“Celebration of Music and Worship for thePresidency of Bill and Anne Frame atAugsburg College” was held at CentralLutheran Church.

ELCA presiding bishop Mark Hanson’68 presented the keynote address. Threemusic groups—Augsburg’s Gospel Praise,Masterworks Chorale, and the AugsburgCentennial Singers—each sang severalpieces.

Campus pastor David Wold read aseries of tributes received honoring theFrames, including an ode written byWartburg College president Jack Ohle andhis wife, Kristy, and a proclamation fromthe City of Minneapolis declaring this dayto be “Bill and Anne Frame Day.”

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4 Summer 2006

Honors for distinguishedteaching and learning

Congratulations to the faculty and staffwho received awards for DistinguishedContributions to Teaching and Learningfrom the Center for Teaching andLearning and the Office of the Provostand Dean of the College:

Teaching—Phil Adamo (standing, left),history

Mentoring—Dixie Shafer (seated,center), Undergraduate Research andGraduate Opportunity (URGO)

Service to Students—Heather Feehan(standing, right), Chris Pegg (seated,right), Scott Krajewski (seated, left),Robert Bill (standing, center)—all fromInformation Technology.

Joe Erickson selected fornational networkJoseph Erickson, education, has beennamed to the “100 District Leaders forCitizenship and Service-LearningNetwork.” The network includes schoolboard members and districtsuperintendents across the countryselected by a panel representing theEducation Commission of the States(ECS), the National School Boards

Association, and the AmericanAssociation of School Administrators.

Selection to the network, part of ECS’National Center for Learning andCitizenship (NCLC), commits itsmembers to further service to promotecivic engagement for all students.

Erickson serves as chair of theMinneapolis School Board.

Hannah Dietrich’s researchpaper wins national award

Hannah Dietrich, a 2005 psychologygraduate, has received the AmericanPsychology-Law Society’s 2006 Award forBest Undergraduate Paper. She presentedher research and received the award atthe AP-LS meeting in March in St.Petersburg, Fla.

Her paper, “Predatory SexualOffenders: Post-Treatment RegistrationCompliance and Recidivism” is the resultof research she did in collaboration withpsychology professor Nancy Steblay.

Dietrich became interested instudying disorders after taking anabnormal psychology class. She landedan internship at the Minnesota Bureau ofCriminal Apprehension, working in thePredatory Offender Registration Unit,and connected with a supervisor whoincluded her in many areas of the work.

Dietrich visited the sex offendertreatment program at the Lino LakesCorrectional Facility and learned aboutthe pre-release transition program. Shebecame interested in finding out ifoffenders really understood theregistration process and if they becamemore compliant and submitted betterverification after completing theprogram.

Together with Steblay, she crafted aresearch plan that became her seniorhonors project.

Dietrich is now in the master’s programin experimental psychology at theUniversity of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Orientation leaders receive awardsAugsburg’s student orientation leadersparticipated in the National OrientationDirectors Association RegionalConference in Minneapolis.

In the Undergraduate Case Studycompetition, Greg Hildebrandt ’08 wonthe Best Problem Solving Award, andSarah Black ’09 received the BestCommunication Award. StudentActivities director Marc Skjervempresented on the changing culture ofcollege students using onlinecommunities and the consequencesstudents face with the misuse ofwebsites.

Wrestlers are second in nationin academicsFor the ninth year in a row, Augsburgfinished in the top 10 in the NationalWrestling Coaches Association’s ScholarAll-America team program, finishingsecond among more than 100 NCAADivision III wrestling institutions, with a3.42 team grade point average. The topteam, Messiah College (Pa.), had a teamGPA of 3.47.

Augsburg is the only school in NCAADivision III wrestling to finish in the top10 both in competition on the mat andin the academic team competition ineach of the nine years that the NWCAhas awarded an academic team nationalchampionship. �

Campus News

Hannah Dietrich’s honor project researchwith Professor Nancy Steblay was namedBest Undergraduate Paper.

5Summer 2006

Augsburg launched a new tradition this year with“Zyzzogeton,” a four-day celebration of student

and faculty work—from artistic performances tostudent research posters.

Taking its name from the last entry in Webster’sThird New International dictionary, the celebration ismeant to wrap up and highlight the breadth and depthof scholarship at Augsburg. Art exhibits, faculty andstudent recitals, faculty research roundtables, studentresearch posters, film projects, theatre productions,museum installations, and more filled the calendar of events.

(In the dictionary, “zyzzogeton” is defined as agenus of South American leaf hoppers.)

Visitors to campus during this time included highschool students who came on Drama Day to learnmore about the theatre arts program, and middleschool students with developmental disabilities andpeers taking part in the annual Metro Arts Festivalwith Augsburg’s music therapy students.

A lighter highlight of the celebration was avigorous debate, Lefse vs. Lutefisk, in which fourscholars—President Frame (political science), LoriBrandt Hale (religion), Joan Griffin (English), and KenKaminsky (mathematics)—took sides to argue anddefend the Norwegian delicacies from the viewpointsof their academic disciplines. The judges wereNorwegian bunad-clad members of the AugsburgAssociates, and guests were treated to the delicacies ofeach, including their aromas. (And, yes, the lutefiskside was declared the winner.)

Top left: The spring theatre production, Metamorphoses,by Mary Zimmerman, uses contemporary language andimagery to explore ancient myths.

Center: Biology major Ben Sonquist explains his researchto physics professor Ben Stottrup.

Bottom left: Physics professor Mark Engebretson sharedhis research on geomagnetic pulsations in Earth’s spaceenvironment.

‘Zyzzogeton’—the last word

6 Summer 2006

Larry Ragland retires after 21 years

Professor Larry Ragland wasone of the founding

members of the ComputerScience Department and retiredin May after 21 years teachingin both that department andmathematics.

He has stayed at Augsburg,he says, for the same reason hetells prospective students theyshould come—to be in asupportive environment wherestudents and faculty workclosely together.

While computing haschanged greatly over twodecades, he says, the disciplineof computer science has not.“When I started, we showedstudents the ‘on’ switch andhow to use a mouse … We operated inan entirely different way then,” Raglandsays. Now, with a comprehensive campusnetwork and the global Internet, “wehave changed how we relate to theworld.”

Ragland reflects on the fact that hehas spent his entire career working in adiscipline that didn’t exist when he wentto college. His first degrees were inmathematics, and he started out teachingin public schools.

His interest in computer sciencedeveloped while he worked in the ApolloSpace Program in Houston. During theperiod in which the manned programrecovered from its tragic fire, Raglandworked on computer displays for

unmanned flights. Ragland recalls his first assignment at

Augsburg as chair of the AcademicComputing Committee, with a goal tohire a full-time academic computingdirector. That finally happened in 1990.

At Ragland’s retirement celebration,Professor Karen Sutherland said the

spoke for students, thanking Ragland for“putting up with us and teaching us athing or two along the way.”

Ragland has no definite plans yet forretirement. He says he has room for onebig “yes” for a project, but has no ideayet of what that project will be.

Sandi Lallakleaves Augsburgfor Arizona

Joy Bartlett leaves Education Department

Education professor Joy Bartlett retiredfrom Augsburg in December 2005

and moved to Las Vegas. Since 2001 shehas taught orientation to education,reading methods, and technology in theclassroom.

She fondly recalls the warmth of theAugsburg community and theenthusiasm of her students. Also, sheenjoyed helping students in the McNairprogram and the Undergraduate Researchand Graduate Opportunity office withtheir research.

Professor Larry Ragland served as one of the foundingfaculty of the computer science department and retiredafter 21 years at Augsburg.

After 23 years atAugsburg

working withstudents in theCLASS program,Sandi Lallak retiredin May and movedwith her husband toMesa, Ariz.

When Lallak began working in theCenter for Learning and Adaptive StudentServices (CLASS), she recalls, CLASS hadone computer, little technology, andmostly provided advocacy for studentswith disabilities—about 10 of them.

An endowment from the GrovesFamily in 1988 enabled the program togrow and make the commitment tobecome a premier program. Lallakresearched the field to learn aboutavailable adaptive technology, traveled tovisit programs, and helped create a smalllab on campus. She and colleague SadieCurtis began to tape textbooks.

Within three years, the program grewto provide services and accommodationsto over 100 students. Lallak and Curtisspent nearly a decade developing thesystems, databases, and procedures forCLASS as it is today, including its studentworkers. “I’m so honored to have beenable to make this happen,” she says.

With new technology, Lallak says,“students are reading better, retaining, andcomprehending better.”

Lallak became the firstaccommodations specialist she knowsabout; Curtis is now a physical disabilitiesspecialist in the ACCESS program.

While CLASS currently serves about190 students, past students remain animportant part of Lallak’s life. A doublebulletin board jammed with photos of paststudents—weddings, babies, vacations—covered a corner of her office.

Lallak has no definite plans inretirement, but many ideas for volunteeropportunities in Arizona.

department will miss his “advice, coolideas, ability to keep them calm, andsense of humor.” Junior Cory Nathan

7Summer 2006

I’ve never looked at any part of my job asa ‘job’,” said Carol Enke, who has

coached Augsburg’s softball team for 21seasons and taught in the Health andPhysical Education Department for 19years. “I always say that I’m going to‘school.’ I never say that I’m going to‘work.’

“I’ve looked at this as fun. I get paid tocome in here and do this—interact withstudents and interact with student-athletes.”

Enke left her coaching position at theend of the 2006 season, while continuingto work in the HPE department. In 21seasons at Augsburg, Enke has compiled302 career victories, while coaching sixplayers who have earned NationalFastpitch Coaches Association Division IIIAll-American honors and 28 players whohave earned all-region honors (enteringthe 2006 season).

Along the way, Enke has touched thelives of hundreds of softball players, alongwith hundreds of HPE majors who arecontinuing her legacy in classrooms allover the region. In 2001, the senior classselected her as one of three HonoredFaculty.

“I’ve enjoyed watching the studentsgrow,” Enke said. “I have them in a 200-level class in their first or second years,and I ask myself, ‘Are they really going tomake it in the teaching profession?’ Thenwhen they are in the 300-level classes theirjunior and senior years, you see that thesekids have made a lot of progress andthey’ll be OK.”

Enke was a standout athlete inmultiple sports in her hometown ofJanesville, Wis.—she was inducted intoher hometown’s Athletic Hall of Fame in1995—and played collegiate softball at theUniversity of Minnesota. She coached forthree seasons, two as head coach, atMinneapolis Roosevelt High School beforecoaching her first season at Augsburg in 1986.

Enke initially worked part time atAugsburg, while completing her master’sdegree at Minnesota. And in her early

years, she felt that Division III Augsburgwould be just a step in her career to biggergoals.

“Way back when, I thought thatsomeday I’d move up to coach Division IIor Division I softball. Then, it happenedthat I started to teach more courses in the[HPE] major and I really enjoyed thatalong with coaching. After that, I neverthought about moving up to Division II orDivision I.”

Enke has developed a close-knit, familyatmosphere with her softball teams,encouraging the players’ families to beactive in the program during the shortspring season. In the past, she has takenthe players on off-season adventures andteam-building activities, such as cross-country skiing, winter camping, snowtubing, and rock climbing.

She has also encouraged her student-athletes to be active in multiple activitieson campus. Several of her players competein multiple sports at Augsburg, while alsoserving as members of clubs andorganizations on campus.

“With the softball teams, our athletes

aren’t one-dimensional,” Enke said. “We’vegot them going in all directions, more thanever before. That’s just how well-roundedthey are, and we encourage that. We tellthem that they have four years here, andthey should ‘bite off as much as they canchew.’ If you want to play two or threesports, do it. If you want to be active incampus activities, do it. Take advantage ofwhat you’re getting for your tuition.”

There have been many changes incollege softball during the 21 years ofEnke’s tenure, including in bat technology.“When I started here, a bat was $29.95.Now bats can cost over $200,” she said.

But what hasn’t changed with Enke’sAuggie teams is the fun atmosphere sheencourages, along with the life skills sheteaches, both in the classroom and on thesoftball diamond.

“It keeps me young,” she said. “Justthe relationships with the students andstudent-athletes, getting involved in theirlives. Letting them know that you aresomeone they can come to. I really likethat, and I like to watch them grow in allareas of their lives—not just as student,not just as an athlete, but as the person asa whole.

“I’ve loved the people, the teammatesand the coaches, all the relationshipswe’ve had. Do I remember very manygames? Heck, no. Do I remember the funwe had? Absolutely.” �

For current sports information, scores, and schedules go to <www.augsburg.edu/athletics>.SportsCarol Enke retires from coaching by Don Stoner

“

Softball coach Carol Enke, flanked by players (left to right) Sarah Mueller ’09, Sarah Green ’09,and Katie Johnson ’08, cheers on the team in her last game as coach after 21 seasons. Enke willcontinue teaching in the health and physical education department.

Do I remember very manygames? Heck, no. Do I remember

the fun we had? Absolutely.—Carol Enke, softball coach

Summer 20068

C O M M E N C E M E N T 2006The 137TH YEAR of Augsburg College

PAUL CUMINGS RECEIVESMARINA CHRISTENSEN JUSTICE AWARD

Paul Cumings, an international relationsmajor and student body president, wasselected as the 2006 recipient of the MarinaChristensen Justice Award.

Each year, this honor is presented to thegraduating senior who best exemplifiesAugsburg’s motto, “Education for Service.”

Cumings came to Augsburg fromAmeriCorps, serving at the Brian CoyleCenter on the West Bank in Minneapolis. He worked two years in the college readinessprogram, helping junior high and highschool students first consider going tocollege and then helping them prepare theskills to gain acceptance.

On campus he served in numerousservice and leadership roles—as residentadviser, as director of food and clothingdrives, as a co-sponsor of the “get out thevote” efforts, and as a leader in neighbor-hood Somali programs.

As a Sabo Scholar, Cumings helpedAugsburg make connections between publicpolicy and service, laying groundwork forfuture Sabo Scholars.

The award recipient must havedemonstrated a dedication to communityinvolvement as characterized by the personaland professional life of Marina ChristensenJustice, who reached out to disadvantagedpeople and communities.

Faculty and students grab one more farewell in Augsburg’s longtime traditionof faculty cheering on their students as they process to the ceremony.

Libby Henslin, admissions and operationscoordinator for Augsburg’s Rochester

program, graduated with a major inreligion and shared the day’s excitementwith her daughter, Rebecca, who earned

a degree in social work.

President William Frame congratulatesstudent body president and Sabo Scholar PaulCumings, who was awarded the 2006 Marina Christensen Justice Award.

9Summer 2006

I would like to use this occasion to reflect on my life and share some of the lessons I havelearned. While an Augsburg student I became a die-hard advocate for the liberal artstradition …

I was a student here in the 1960s—an era notable for extreme turmoil in our country.During my years in high school and as an undergraduate, I lived through the assassinationsof John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy. My years herecoincided with unprecedented social disturbances resulting from conflicts between whitesupremacists and civil rights workers, between supporters of the war in Vietnam and anti-war protesters. Despite the consternation experienced elsewhere, those of us at Augsburgenjoyed an island of tranquility where issues and events such as these could be discussedwith respect and civility.

Augsburg College has never been a school for privileged members of the establishment.Augsburg recognized the importance of inclusion at a very early time and has long been aleader in providing educational opportunities for the Native Americans and other ethnicminorities. Augsburg’s commitment to students with physical disabilities had just begun inthe 1960s. Similar to previous generations of Augsburg students, many of my classmateswere from the working class, often the first members of their families to attend college. …

But this is not the tradition prevailing at the so-called “prestige” colleges anduniversities in the United States where it is rare to have first generation students orstudents with parents holding blue-collar jobs. Clearly the working class of America isbeing excluded from many institutions of higher education. This makes me even prouderof the modest roots of Augsburg students, for as the late Kirby Puckett reflected, “It doesn’tmatter where you come from. It only matters how you play the game.”

And I always felt that my classmates at Augsburg learned to play the game extremelywell. This was due in part to the splendid Augsburg faculty—perhaps most outspokenamong them was my father, Courtland Agre, whose unbridled enthusiasm and exuberantencouragement directed many of us into professional and graduate schools. …

While my generation, the “Baby Boomers,” has achieved unprecedented prosperity, Isincerely feel that we have failed to improve the world to a state better than it was whenwe received it from our parents. In fact, I fear that the world is in worse shape now. Ifthis continues, we will be the first generation in memory to fail in such an importantendeavor. We all know what the problems are: damage to the environment, continuedwar, prevalence of famine and untreated disease in the developing world, violent crimeand poverty in our inner cities, the epidemic of drug abuse, failure to provide adequatehealth care to all Americans, and the staggering $9 trillion national debt which will fallon your generation.

Education has never been more important than in the current time of growing anti-intellectualism in America. It is really shocking when you think that less than half of allAmericans read a single book last year.

As Mark Twain informed us, “The man who doesn’t read good books has noadvantage over the man who can’t read them.”

I fear the emphasis in our country has now become one of fixing the blame ratherthan fixing the problem. The polarized special interests have caused gridlock in ournational government where the two major parties can seemingly agree on nothing. Letme suggest that the hour is late and we must stop the face-slapping and join hands andconcentrate all of our attention on fixing the problems. It is often said that “the geniusof this immigrant nation is that we have always found our center,” and I believe that weneed to do so urgently. …

Thank you and congratulations.

The full Commencement Address is at <www.augsburg.edu/president/commencement06.html>.

EXCERPTS FROM THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS“An Augsburg Education: Vocation and the Social Good”

—Peter Agre ’70, M.D.

Proud chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg (left)straightens the hood of his former student,

Dr. Peter Agre ’70, who was the Commencementspeaker and received an honorary Doctor of

Humane Letters degree. The accolade was read byDr. Paul Mueller ’84, a student of Agre’s at

the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Lisa Prytula ’04, ’06 MAN, who completeda bachelor’s degree in nursing and

finished a master’s degree, spoke onbehalf of the graduate students.

The Honorable Walter F. Mondale reads theaccolade for the honorary Doctor of HumaneLetters degree awarded to James A. Johnson,

former executive assistant to Mondale andCEO of Fannie Mae.

10 Summer 2006

[I]n John’s Gospel and the Book of Acts, Jesus is preparing the disciples fortheir new assignment—dispersal, one by one, each on his own, into theworld for the sake of the great commission. He suggests that they cansustain themselves in the midst of their independence only if they rememberbefore leaving that they were transformed from a motley crew of fishermen,tax collectors, and other workaday professionals into a “community.” Butthis recollection will strengthen them for the independent journeys justahead only if they repair the terrible rip in the fabric of their collegiumcaused by Judas’ betrayal. Hence, before the reprise of community can beundertaken, Judas’ empty position must be filled. And it is, by one Mattias,who is called up from the apostolic bench (which appears to have beendeeper than that of the Timberwolves) by a drawing of lots. …

You and I are separating—together—and the good news is that we’reseparating from a place that gave each of us something to be separated from. …[from] a community of learning, in which ideas of the transforming kind,experiences (sometimes of the embarrassing kind—some, entailing success,and some, failure and frustration), gave us new life and, therefore, identity. …

Like us, in the hands of the College, the disciples had been molded intosomething new by their particular course of study, faculty, and classmates.Their capstone course culminated in the resurrection. Yours came to a moreconventional conclusion a week ago. But neither we now, nor the disciplesthen, are yet prepared for separation.

Until we recognize that we were transformed by our time together; untilwe confess that each of us is now becoming someone—not the realization ofsome persona prescribed at or even before birth—but a self created by amillion incidents of concourse, a thousand recollections of experience, a hundred moments of revelation. Until we begin becoming ourselves, weshall lack the independence of the world that vocation requires. To stand inthe midst of the life each of us is about to undertake—either of a job search,employment, or retirement—and to render service to our neighbor, we mustknow who we are and how we got that way. That knowledge is of identity; itconstitutes the protective suit, even though not fully woven, that allows usto live in and serve the world without being wholly fused with it. …

But what we have learned here—about ourselves, the world, and God;what the disciples learned about themselves—remains beyond our grasp andtheirs without the great final examination known as saying goodbye!

Until we address our separation—seriously; until we face the fact that weare leaving people who have meant the world to us—teachers, friends,

C O M M E N C E M E N T2 0 0 6BACCALAUREATE HOMILY (EXCERPTS)WILLIAM V. FRAME, PRESIDENT

Sunny Olise receives his master’s hood from director RobertKramarczuk in Augsburg’s first MBA class.

Physician assistant graduate Tara Rick is the center of attention as she receives hermaster's hood from PA director Dawn Ludwig.

parents (that you now realize you didn’t leave four yearsago but are now, finally going to leave—today!)—we arenot tempered for the new immersion in the world. Untilwe know who and what we have become, we cannotmaintain our independence in the world when we are outthere in it, on our own.

Goodbyes force us each to meet ourselves face to face,as Achilles did in The Iliad. That means that we have putour affairs in order—so that they may be abandoned; wehave to repair the rents in the fabric we knit in theCollege cocoon in order that we might be released fromit—a beautiful butterfly capable of flying into themaelstrom of life without danger to bring a glimpse ofbeauty to a dour and broken world. …

And so—let us, to each other, both now and thisafternoon, say, “Goodbye!” And in so doing, we shalleach bear the College with us, out into the world—ashield and a buckler of the vocational life that fulfills therequirements of the great commission in the kingdom onthe left.

That last great goodbye gives us the capacity and eventhe need for reunion. If done right, it allows us to soonagain say—here, at the intersection of Riverside and22nd—“Hello! It’s good to see you. I’ve missed you!”

To read the full Baccalaureate Homily, go to<www.augsburg.edu/president/baccalaureate06.html>.

“Separating Together”

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THE AUGSBURG COLLEGE CLASS OF 20063,420 Attended the ceremony

3,600 Cookies and petit fours served at the reception

752 Class of 2006—346 traditional day students, 162 weekend students, 39 students in the Rochester program, 13 from United Hospital, 1 from 3M; and 191 graduate students in six programs

580 Graduates marching

490 Enjoyed Commencement Brunch

350 Attended Commencement Dinner

125 Faculty marching in the procession

58 Age of the oldest graduate

20 Age of the youngest graduates

14 Flags representing countries of international graduates

2 Honorary degrees conferred

1 Retiring presidential couple—many thanks to Bill and Anne!

countless Smiles and tears of happiness, gratitude, and appreciation

Audra Johnson, a studio art graduate, has ajubilant smile on graduation day.

The sociology department faculty take a moment to get photos of their graduates.

Summer 2006

Summer 200612

SIXTH ANNUAL International Programs Photo Contest

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1 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT AUGSBURG, second place. “Melting Pot.” Kamilla T. Fossem, Norway.

2 PEOPLE PORTRAITS, first place. “Yo confío.” Kathryn Jones ’08. San Salvador, El Salvador.

3 PEOPLE PORTRAITS, third place. “Begging Musicians.” RichardGarnett ’08. Cuernavaca, Mexico.

4 LOCAL PEOPLE, second place. “Video Games vs. the Acropolis.” Katharine Mahon ’06. Athens, Greece.

5 LOCAL PEOPLE, third place. “A Journey through an African Desert.”Therese DeMay ’06. Swakopmund, Namibia.

6 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT AUGSBURG, first place. “The Old and the New Minneapolis.” Martin Garnes, Norway.

7 CITYSCAPES, third place. “Untitled.” Britta Boyum ’06. Lofoten Islands, Norway.

8 LOCAL PEOPLE, first place. “Bearing the Load.”Kelsey Nolan ’06. Sontule, Nicaragua.

9 PEOPLE PORTRAITS, second place. “Familia.” Megan L. Schiller ’06. Nicaragua.

10 CITYSCAPES, second place. “Cusco by Night.” Joelle Bickel ’07. Cusco, Peru.

11 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT AUGSBURG, third place. “A Frozen Falls.” Martin Garnes, Norway.

12 CITYSCAPES, first place. “Fishing Industry.” Britta Boyum ’06. Harstad, Norway.

13 BEST OF SHOW. “Waca Wasi Wardrobe.” Joelle Bickel ’07. Waca Wasi, Peru.

Summer 2006 13

5 6

1211

4

10

13

Summer 200614

Gift of $4 million gives green light to Gateway by Betsey Norgard

A$4 million naming gift from Donald’53 and Beverly (Halling) Oren ’55

has provided the funding needed forAugsburg to proceed with the $18.5million Gateway Building.

On May 5 the Augsburg Board ofRegents granted approval for the Collegeto pursue the financing needed to beginconstruction this summer. A ceremonialgroundbreaking is scheduled for Sept. 8,with building completion in fall 2007.

Donald Oren ’53, an Augsburg regentemeritus, is chairman of the board of DartTransit Company, founded by his father in1934. The trucking and logistics companyranks 53rd of the Top 100 Carriersnationwide.

Beverly (Halling) Oren ’55 has taughtschool and worked as vice president ofhuman resources at Dart Transit. Sheremains a principal and adviser to thecompany, and currently serves onAugsburg’s Board of Regents.

Three of their children are involvedwith Dart Transit—David, president;Daniel, vice president; and Bradley, generalmanager. Daughter Angela Anderson ismother to one-year-old Samuel.

“We are pleased and honored toparticipate in Augsburg’s growth by beingpart of the Gateway project,” says BeverlyOren. “The business school is of specialinterest as it offers an opportunity forstudents to experience the entrepreneurial

spirit. Also, Augsburg’s commitment topromoting vocation provides a veryworthy goal.”

The Gateway Building will beAugsburg’s link to its surroundingcommunity and city, and a distinctive“front door” on Riverside Ave. It will easilyconnect the College with the Cedar-Riverside area, the University ofMinnesota’s West Bank, and the Fairview-University Medical Center across thestreet.

The building is a four-story combinedadministrative, commercial, and residentialcenter. It will provide new homes for theAlumni Conference Center, the StepUPProgram, the Master of BusinessAdministration program, the Gage FamilyArt Gallery, and offices for InstitutionalAdvancement. Community residents andorganizations will be encouraged to usemeeting space in the new Gateway.

On the first floor, retail stores such as

Barnes and Noble will serve not only thecampus community, but staff and patientsof the hospital across the street and theWest Bank and Cedar-Riversidecommunities as well.

The top three floors will providestudent housing—upperclass students onthe second floor and StepUP students onfloors three and four.

From Riverside Ave., a central Gatewayplaza welcomes visitors to campus.Circling the plaza are Hoversten Chapel,Lindell Library, and the Gateway Building,representing the College's commitments tofaith, reason, and service.

For Augsburg’s StepUP program, whichprovides students in addiction recovery thesupport and skills they need to succeed incollege, the Gateway Building willcentralize their office, counseling, andresidential space.

It’s about “having a home where we’reall together,” says StepUP director PatriceSalmeri, and will give students whocomplete the program the “ability to staylonger and mentor younger students.”

In eight years, StepUP has grown toover 50 students, and they havemaintained an 83% abstinence rate whilein the program and a grade point averageof 3.0. Augsburg is a national leader in therecovery school movement; Salmericurrently serves as president of thenational organization.

The Augsburg MBA program, whichafter only two years is now the state’sthird largest, will gain much needed andmore suitable classroom, technology, andstudy space in Gateway for its small-classlearning.

Supporting Augsburg

Donald ’53 and Beverly (Halling) Oren ’55

Save the date!

GATEWAY BUILDINGCEREMONIAL GROUNDBREAKING

Friday, September 8Noon

Summer 2006 15

A s a non-traditional

student past theusual graduationage, Matt Van Zantseemed just a bittoo old for thetraditional cardwith a moneypocket. So FrankMcKinney, a closefamily friend,called Augsburg

and asked how he could make a gift to theCollege instead, in honor of Van Zant.

Van Zant came to know McKinney, acorporate lawyer, in Ohio where VanZant grew up. “He encouraged me andstressed the importance of ethics,”

Van Zant says. “[He] is a believer ineducation and encouraged me to remainin school and do well.”

McKinney said he was proud of VanZant, that after many years he wouldreturn to school for his degree.

Van Zant works as an operationsanalyst in the healthcare field. Heenrolled in Weekend College in fall 2001to begin a major in managementinformation systems (MIS).

One of the common themes he foundin his classes fits right in with what heremembers learning from McKinney.“People who work with data, whomanage sensitive and confidentialinformation,” says Van Zant, “are andshould be held to higher standards ofperformance and integrity.”

Juggling full-time employment withfull-time study was difficult, and VanZant says he tried to take it just one termat a time. “It helped to work oncoursework almost every day and try toremain current with the material.”

His strategy worked, so much so thathe will begin an MBA degree in the fall,looking forward to “the opportunity todevelop strategic decision-making skills.”

McKinney says he enjoyed making thegift to Augsburg in Van Zant’s name andthat Van Zant also enjoyed it. ToMcKinney, “it just seemed the appropriatething to do.”

He says now he’ll just wait for VanZant’s master’s degree.

Honoring a graduate by honoring the College

Matt Van Zant ’06

Gateway’s ground floor will welcomealumni and visitors, and provide agathering space to meet over coffee andenjoy exhibits in the Gage Family ArtGallery, which will move from LindellLibrary to a more accessible location in thenew building.

“[T]he connection to the widercommunity will be greater than everbefore,” says Kerry Morgan,coordinator of galleries and exhibits.“The easy access from Riverside will bewelcoming to off-campus visitors; andAugsburg students, staff, and facultywill continue to find inspiring andthought-provoking art where theywork, live, and study.”

Planning for the Gateway Buildinghas been carried out in conjunctionwith the Riverside Corridor Projectdevelopment, funded partially with anearly campaign gift from James A.Johnson, former banking administratorand public servant. The project bringstogether West Bank partners—theCedar-Riverside Business Association,the West Bank Community

University of Minnesota, Augsburg,

Fairview-University Medical Center, andothers—to envision a thriving urbanvillage that links to the light rail system.

The City of Minneapolis has begun todevelop a small area plan for the entireCedar-Riverside neighborhood.

“One issue the plan will consider ishow to make Riverside more comfortable

for pedestrians and bicyclists,” says BethElliott, principal city planner. “More retailstores and outdoor seating opportunitieswill also help in adding vibrancy to thatsection of the corridor.” She says theGateway Building can be “an example thatothers can follow if they are thinkingabout redevelopment.”

Development Corporation, the

Summer 200616

On a chilly, cloudy May 5, a crowdgathered on the south side of Melby

Hall to ceremonially mark thegroundbreaking for the $6.1 million newsouth wing, named the Kennedy Sportsand Recreation Complex.

Augsburg regent and emcee MikeFreeman, in describing the expansion,called it “lots of much-needed space toshow our Auggie pride.” He drewattention to the efforts that had made theproject possible, especially noting thatevery coach had put together a plan toreach former students and athletes.

He read a statement from lead namingdonors Dean ’75 and Terry Kennedy, who

weren’t able to be in attendance, sayingthat their “family is proud and excited tobe part of this [project].” Kennedy was anAll-American wrestler and, as co-captainof the team, led Augsburg to a runner-upspot at the NAIA national finals, markingthe beginning of Augsburg’s longtimedominance in small-college wrestling.

President William Frame drewattention to Augsburg student-athletesand the leadership they bring to the lifeof the campus.

Football linebacker Michael Matson’06, speaking on behalf of student-athletes, directed his remarks to leaddonors Alan Rice, Jim Haglund, and the

Kennedys. “Your gift is exciting, and weso appreciate it.”

The Kennedy Sports and RecreationComplex includes the Alan and GloriaRice Wrestling Center and the James andKatherine Haglund Fitness andRecreation Center, as well as other namedspaces: the Lavonne (Johnson) Peterson’50 Conference Suite; Lute Olson ’56 Hallof Champions; “Doc” Johnson ’52 A-ClubOffice; and the Gamma HouseHospitality/Classroom.

Work has already begun on the newsouth wing; construction is expected tobe completed in spring 2007, with theofficial opening in fall 2007.

A$1 million gift has been receivedfrom Norman and Vangie Hagfors for

the renovation of the chapel in Old Mainand the creation of a home for Augsburg’sCenter for Faith and Learning. Read morein the next issue.

Construction begins on Melby Hall addition by Betsey Norgard

Front row (L to R): Major gifts director Donna McLean; regent and lead donor Jim Haglund; Board of Regents chair Jean Taylor '85; assistant deanand head wrestling coach Jeff Swenson ’79; lead donor Alan Rice; regent Mike Freeman; and President William Frame.

When Rev. Clifford M. Johnson, ’34 (’30Acad, ’39 Sem) received his invitation toattend the May 5 ceremonialgroundbreaking for the expansion ofMelby Hall, he remembered that he still

had a 46-year-old photo from the day heheld a shovel to break ground for the newMelby Hall.

Johnson, age 95, has been part of theAugsburg community since 1926 when heentered the Augsburg Academy. He hasbeen a fundraising leader, a regent andboard chair, and a director of developmentover the years. In 1993 he was honored asa Distinguished Alumnus.

He recalls the excitement in 1960 ofconstructing the first athletic facility forAugsburg. Until then, he says, thebasketball team played on the court in thebasement of Old Main. He also remembersthat the invocation that day was given byLutheran Free Church president Rev. T. O.Burntvedt ’12.

Just announced …

Melby groundbreaking—twice!

Johnson was thrilled to be part of thisnew excitement this year and to see thatearlier photo at the ceremony, enlarged toposter size and sitting on an easel.

Summer 2006 17

TheFRAMEyearsa journey toward vision

BY BETSEY NORGARD

Top, left: President Frame (right) and ELCA presiding bishop MarkHanson ’68 (left) find a moment for conversation atCommencement. Staff photo

Middle, left: Bill and Anne Frame enjoy talking with passersby atAugsburg’s State Fair booth. Staff photo

Bottom, left: President Frame occasionally joins the Augsburg JazzEnsemble with his guitar.

WWilliam Frame, the 10th president of Augsburg, is not typical of his ninepredecessors. He is not a Midwesterner, nor is he of Norwegian background or anordained Lutheran minister.

From his nine-year tenure, he leaves a long litany of new programs, partnerships,and much-needed capital improvements. But, much more significant is that he leavesan Augsburg that has renewed its self-identity, and that has crafted and refined avision representing the deepest thinking any college could undertake about its ownmission or “institutional vocation.”

In the foreword to Augsburg’s revised vision document, The Augsburg Vocation:Access and Excellence, Frame describes this vision not as his, but as “drawn from thesoul of the College.” It is an idea—vocation—that “has been calling Augsburg to itswork since the founding.”

Frame points to his time at Augsburg as the continuation of a vocational journeythat began as a young instructor at Kenyon College, that immersed him in the urbanlife of corporate banking and finance, and then took him back into academia. Allalong, the work he did served to shape, nurture, and refine a strong, personal senseof vocation. At Pacific Lutheran University, he came to understand Martin Luther’stwo-dimensional world of faith and reason, one in which students explored vocationas both learning through faith to understand themselves and learning through reasonto prepare for careers and service in the world.

Summer 200618

At Augsburg Frame discovered thetheology of Luther’s close colleague,Philip Melancthon, who authored theAugsburg Confession and advocated the

affairs. This German theological duobecame the basis for Frame’s model ofeducation and the hallmarks ofAugsburg’s vision: vocation, service,civility, diversity, and community.

Remarkably, in retrospect, the agendafor the Frame years seemed set evenbefore he became president. In summer1997, shortly before taking office, he wasinterviewed for Augsburg Now, and wasasked to identify the three most importantagenda items for Augsburg College as itprepared for the 21st century.

Nine years later, his responses at thattime seemed predestined:

1. finding “communal clarity about ourpurpose”—who we are and what we do;

2. determining “how we adapt whatwe’re up to, to what properly servesthe world” … i.e., what we must doto carry out our mission;

3. figuring out “how we do all that” …finding “a form of life on campus thatallows us to do all this thinking in afully civil, candid, ingenious,participative way.”

Clarifying the visionIn the first two years of Frame’spresidency the entire campus engageditself in a highly collaborative process,which included commissions chargedwith producing working papers aroundissues that would form the groundworkfor a vision document.

English professor Joan Griffin,describes that period:

“When Bill Frame became presidentof Augsburg, the College suddenlybecame Lutheran. I’m exaggerating, ofcourse, but despite the required religioncourses and daily chapel, our Lutheranidentity was something that we took forgranted: we did not always connect itwith how we go about doing our work.

“But then Bill arrived, and even theleast theologically sophisticated amongus became familiar with the kingdom onthe right and the kingdom on the left,freedom, paradox, and of course, most ofall, vocation. Bill changed the Augsburglexicon.”

Griffin and physics professor MarkEngebretson were charged with shapingthe 250 pages of discussion into theCollege’s first vision document, Augsburg2004: Extending the Vision, approved bythe Board of Regents in 1999.

Five years later, as 2004 approached,Frame again called the campuscommunity into discussion aboutupdates to the vision. Again, Griffin andEngebretson compiled a revised visiondocument, The Augsburg Vocation: Accessand Excellence, that succeeds in bringingvision and practice closer together.

Tracy Elftmann ’81, vice president forinstitutional advancement and formerregent, commented, “The leadership Billbrought to our visioning work is nothingshort of extraordinary. The clarity ofpurpose in Augsburg’s vision providesbalance, meaning, and motivation to ourdaily work. We know who we are andwhat we are here to do.

“Let’s be clear,” she continued, “this

is not Bill’s vision for Augsburg—it’s ourvision. We wrote it, we work it, we liveit. The collaborative effort to bring thiswork to full fruition was laborious butwell worth the effort.”

Tom Morgan, vice president forplanning and market development,added additional context. “Through Bill’sleadership we have rediscovered who weare and clarified where we need to go.More than simply words on a page, wehave been inspired to rededicateourselves to a course that was charted atthe time of the College’s founding.”

Carrying out the visionThe most significant result of therevisioning process was the launching ofa new general education curriculum toimprint the core values of the vision.Griffin led a faculty team that crafted anew Core Curriculum. Combined withthe depth of study in a major, this wouldprepare students for careers and servicein the world.

Ideas of vocation, citizenship, andengagement are reflected in the signatureelements of the Core Curriculum—Search for Meaning courses to explorevocation; the first-year program that

participation of Christians in civic

19Summer 2006

includes learning about and connecting with the city; experiencegained through internships, research, community service, andglobal study; and a keystone summative seminar. Combined with aliberal arts foundation and skills development, students prepare tobecome effective, informed, and ethical citizens.

Important to Augsburg’s vision are a number of new programs thatprovide access to education for students who lack it for variousreasons: Scholastic Connections, a scholarship program that matchesstudents of color with alumni of color in mentoring relationships;StepUP, a nationally-recognized program that provides support tostudents in addiction recovery to help them succeed academically; andgraduate programs to help students understand the world through alens of vocation.

Augsburg’s vision has taken the College into many new andinnovative partnerships. A program in Rochester now serves 300students, mostly from Mayo Clinic and IBM, who wish to completebaccalaureate and some graduate degrees. An unusual partnershipwith Capella University involves Augsburg faculty developing andteaching online courses.

One of Frame’s key leadership roles was helping to found Faith inthe City, a collaboration of seven urban Lutheran institutions inMinneapolis that together seek to improve the quality of life in thecommunity. Included is the year-old Augsburg Academy for Health

The LEGACY of WILLIAM FRAME’SYEARS at AUGSBURG (1997-2006)

New programs• New general education—Core Curriculum

• Scholastic/Corporate Connections

• New master’s degrees—education, nursing, physicianassistant, and business administration

• Youth and family ministry major

• Finalizing and naming first endowed chair—ChristensenChair in Religion

• Growth of StepUP program

• Degree programs in Rochester

Community partnerships/collaborations:• Nursing degree programs at United Hospital and Rochester

• Augsburg-Capella innovative“brick-click” courses

• Faith in the City—plus the spin-off Augsburg Academy forHealth Careers

• Clinical Lab Science program with Fairview

Capital buildings/improvements:• New Hall—apartment-style residence hall

• Groundbreaking for Melby Hall expansion

• Link between Library and Sverdrup/Memorial— Sverdruprenovation, new atrium

• Christensen Center renovation—welcome and gatheringarea, coffee shop, gallery space

• Purchase and renovation of Augsburg House

• New signage on Mortensen Hall and on I-94

• Upgrading of residence halls

• Replacement of Edor Nelson Field turf

• Overall beautification of grounds

• Sale of Ice Arena to gain lease-back arrangement and capital

• Added two new parking lots and upgraded security

• Purchased additional perimeter properties around campus

Administrative• Creation of Enrollment Center as one-stop shop

• Creation/consolidation of Center for Service, Work, and Learning

• Creation of Undergraduate Research and GraduateOpportunity (URGO) from McNair program

Awards/Recognition • 2006—Augsburg Medal

• 2006—award from Lutheran Educational Council of NorthAmerica

• 2006—Toby LaBelle award from StepUP to Anne and Bill Frame

• 2004-05 chair of Minnesota Private College Council

• 2003-04 president of the ELCA Council of CollegePresidents

• Project director for Council of Independent Colleges’Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission seminars

Left: President Frame poses for a moment with the directors of the ethnicprograms at the annual Scholastic Connections dinner in October 2005. (L to R) Bao Thao, Cindy Peterson, Frame, Emiliano Chagil, and TrenaBolden Fields.

Top: First-year students hear from the president on City Service Projectsday during their Augsburg Seminar.

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20 Summer 2006

collaboration has developed. Frame invitedPribbenow to share the podium with himin March at the College’s all-faculty andall-staff meeting.

Mark Hanson ’68, presiding bishop ofthe Evangelical Lutheran Church inAmerica (ELCA), summarizes the impactof the Frame years, “… Bill draws uponthe great themes of the LutheranReformation and weaves them into themission of a Lutheran urban college in the21st century. When Bill Frame speaks, Iwant to ask him to stop after eachsentence so that we can ponder the depthof his wisdom.”

In every way, the Frame presidency hasbeen one of introspection and distinction,even to his legendary eloquence andpenchant to speak long. Quipped studentbody president Paul Cumings, “He will bemissed. Even his dry humor and lengthylectures.” �

embrace our complexity—and also ourpromise,” she said.

The Frame presidency has been onevery much shared by both Bill and AnneFrame. Anne has been active in a numberof Augsburg programs, contributing herbusiness expertise, hospitality, and muchvolunteer time.

She told faculty and staff that after longconsideration of how to describe her roleat Augsburg, she had recently beenintroduced in a way that seemed verycomfortable to her—“this is Anne Frame,she’s a member of the Augsburgcommunity and happens to be married toour president.”

Hospitality, from the theological senseto a simple friendly welcome, has becomea hallmark of the vision—and one inwhich Anne has played a significant role.Their sharing of Augsburg House as acenter for college hospitality has openednew dimensions in how communitymembers relate to each other.

In March Bill Frame articulatedAugsburg’s vision of hospitality: “[Ourcollege] welcomes the stranger as a gift toa learning community composed ofstudents, many in the guise of faculty andstaff colleagues, who cannot proceed intheir own quests for vitality and hopewithout constant contact with a diversearray of learning styles and even learningcapacities, each one at least beginning tofeel that deep and absorbing hunger to know.”

In an interview with Augsburg Echo,Frame recently reflected on what heconsiders his proudest moment—“havingour envisioning work recognized asdistinctive by candidates and theirsponsors for the 11th presidency of theCollege.”

And, indeed, President-elect PaulPribbenow told faculty and staff in March,“I would not be here if I did not find youraspirations inspiring and compelling.”

Griffin offered an Augsburgcommunity perspective: “I think at leastpart of the excitement of the approachingPribbenow era is that Bill brought us to apoint where we can imagine how muchfarther we can go.”

Since February, when Pribbenow waschosen by Augsburg regents, an unusual

Careers, a joint charter school withFairview Health Services that prepareshigh school students for careers andvocations in health care.

Augsburg, under Frame’s leadership,has gained considerable recognition for itsvisioning work. Elftmann stated, “Collegepresidents across the country consistentlyask Bill how Augsburg was able to captureits essence, its purpose, its wholeness sowell. Bill’s contributions have establishedAugsburg as a national leader in terms ofstrategic direction and future focus. “

The College was recognized by ThePrinceton Review and Campus Compact asa “college with a conscience.” Itconsistently ranks high for service-learningprograms and is one of 12 colleges selectedfor excellence in first-year programs.

Frame has served as president of theELCA Council of College Presidents, aschair of the Minnesota Private CollegeCouncil (MPCC), and as project directorfor the Council on Independent Colleges(CIC) seminars reflecting on vocationand institutional mission. He also hasreceived awards from the LutheranEducational Conference of NorthAmerica (LECNA) and Augsburg’sStepUP program, who selected Anne andBill Frame for the 2006 Toby LaBelleAward for support of its ideals.

Changing the cultureFrame’s third agenda item from his 1997interview was the creation of a campusculture that would support and model themission and vision. His first task wasconfronting what he called “militantmodesty,” the difficulty of the College to“toot its own horn.” He immediately put agreat deal of attention on both tangibleimprovements—fixing up and paintingresidence halls, landscaping, newfacilities—and more deep-seated changes,such as making Augsburg salaries morecompetitive.

Griffin says that Frame has been ableto get Augsburg to “think big aboutourselves”—in both small ways, like thecampus improvements, as well as biggerways, with new programs and initiatives.“I think we’re becoming more willing to

The Frame years in printWilliam Frame has published a collectionof writings and speeches from his yearsas president at Augsburg College. He saysit intends to both “provide a record ofthe principal stops on the faith andreason journey on which I was sent whenelected as Augsburg’s 10th president,”and to share his connection with MartinLuther and Philip Melanchthon.

The book’s preface was written by theRev. Mark Hanson ’68, presiding bishopof the Evangelical Lutheran Church inAmerica.

Published by Lutheran University Press inMinneapolis, the book is available inbookstores, online, and at <www.lutheranUpress.org>. Proceeds from salesof the book will be donated toAugsburg’s annual fund.

I

21Summer 2006

I’ve been asked to think about some ofthe ways my work with Augsburg isapplied to implementing the idea ofhospitality. The Augsburg Vocation, ourvision document, talks about

language that conceived of this Collegeas a welcoming place, where persons areaccepted, perhaps because of theirdifferences, and where a community isdeveloped that contributes to thelearning for all of us.

Much of my work takes place awayfrom this Riverside campus. From thebeginning, Bill and I—ironically, as thenewcomers—took as our job helping thevarious constituents of the campus feel athome here. We have visited alumni andfriends of the College in many locationsto let them know what is going on nowat Augsburg, and specifically toemphasize that they are welcome here.That they, as a part of Augsburg’s history,therefore have a place in its present. And,as we have learned much from theirstories and memories, we hope they havestrengthened or rekindled their bonds tothis place.

We have been privileged both to liveat Augsburg House and to use itfrequently for College events. A plaquein the entry hall—carved by a Norwegianin Iowa—states our purpose:

In this place we extend to our gueststhe friendship and hospitality of theAugsburg Community in lovingmemory of Adeline Marie RasmussenJohnson ’31 and through the

generosity of James and KathleenHaglund and Milton and DorothyKleven.

So we are acting for the community andhave practiced that hospitality to studentgroups, to faculty and staff, to theregents, the parents and alumni andfriends of the College, to neighborhoodand community groups who may notknow Augsburg well. We have done thisin as many different forms as we canthink of: with receptions, breakfasts,lunches, dinners, conversations. Webring these groups together for food andfellowship, for study and discussions. Wefeel that getting to know each otherbetter, spending time together, andtalking about the College together helpsus to be a stronger community.

Frequent remarks I hear as peoplelearn how many groups and events are atAugsburg House each year come in oneof two forms, the first being, “You mustget really tired of having so many peopleat your house.” (The answer is a veryclear “no.”) The other comment is, “Youmust really be a party person!” I don'tthink that’s quite the case, either.

But these two questions have causedme to try to express what it is that I dolike about using Augsburg House in thisway. What do I get out of it?

The answer is … getting to know thewide and diverse constituency that isAugsburg—learning histories andconnections, hearing staff and facultyspeak across their areas of expertise, andlistening and discussing ideas with each other.

What a rare privilege this is. It hasgiven me an appreciation of this placethat is deeper than I could havediscovered elsewhere. It has widened myhorizons, expanded my understandings,and has made this College house truly“home” to me.

What we do at the house isintentional, and I believe it’s consistentwith trying to build our community, asstated in The Augsburg Vocation, “thedevelopment of a sense of connectednessthat leads to lasting relationships.”

The author of the Book of Hebrewsexhorts his readers: “Do not neglect toshow hospitality to strangers, for bydoing that some have entertained angelswithout knowing it.” And I’m convincedthere are at least a few angels hangingaround Augsburg.

HOSPITALITYand the House BY ANNE FRAME

At Augsburg House—since 1998Frequency of events: about twice a week

Events held: 430

People who have attended: 8,600

Catering by Augsburg-Sodexho staff

(as of January 2006)

Bill and Anne Frame welcome the communityto Augsburg House.

In 1998, the Augsburg Board of Regents authorized the purchase of a house forthe home of the president and a gathering place for campus events. In January2006 Anne Frame talked to the Board of Regents about hospitality at AugsburgHouse. Following are excerpts of her talk.

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–community and intentional diversity

Summer 200622

MBAsMBAsAugsburg’s original

The Class of 2006

BY BETHANY BIERMAN

23Summer 2006

A JUMP-START LAUNCHThis May, Augsburg graduated the first four sections, or cohorts, ofits new Master of Business Administration program—a total of 84students.

The 20-month program evolved from eight years of discussion,research, and planning by members of the business department, withProfessor David Schwain serving as the chief designer.

“In the feasibility study, our researcher found that our businessprogram ranked third best business program in the state by thosestudents taking the GMAT,” says John Cerrito, chair of theDepartment of Business Administration. “Of course, we did not havea grad program at that time, which the two programs that rankedhigher did, so we felt we’d have good acceptance in the market.When we introduced the MBA, we met with instant success.”

In fact, recruiting one group to start the program doubled intotwo, as 44 students responded by the time the MBA began in fall2004. The initial goal of four cohorts by the end of three years wasmet within four months of launching the program. It was thesestudents who became Augsburg’s first MBAs in May.

THE CAPTAINSince its launch 20 months ago, under the direction of RobertKramarczuk, the MBA program has grown to over 300 students.

Kramarczuk’s international career had included teaching at theInternational Institute for Management Development (IMD) inSwitzerland, running several successful businesses, and starting upsix other graduate educational programs. He was already enjoyingretirement, but the Augsburg call was too good to pass up.

He was attracted to Augsburg’s commitment to service-learning,

Nathan Appel joined the army right out of high school in Colorado and spent several years in theservice. He eventually came to Minnesota to attend the university but “became tired of rollerbladingfrom Timbuktu to a class where another student taught us.” So he transferred to another college,taking evening classes to finish his undergraduate degree in management. His campus? A hotelconference room in the suburbs. His cohort? Number 327.

Later, with his career at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage well underway, Appel decided to return to schoolfor his Master of Business Administration degree. He was about to choose another program when hereceived an MBA postcard from Augsburg. He came to an information session and was sold. His newcampus? A small, fully functioning campus in the heart of Minneapolis. His cohort? Number 1.

“It’s kind of cool … We are the original,” Appel says.

TheA U G S B U R GM B A

Top: MBA director Robert Kramarczuk places a hood on Kristen Schell, one of84 in the first class of MBA graduates.

Bottom: Sarah Anton offers a comment to her classmates in Cohort 3.

24 Summer 2006

which became an integral component inthe MBA. “The program reflects very wellAugsburg’s mission—service to others,”Kramarczuk says. “It’s a hallmark of ourprogram.”

One group of MBA students spendstime in the Somali community. All areinvolved in field projects where, as ateam, students work with an organizationfor 10 to 11 months. Kramarczuk saysthat these sorts of experiences putAugsburg’s MBA students “ten levelsabove” those in other programs.

“The other key factor is that weconsider really good leaders to differfrom others by being able to thinkcritically … That’s woven into the entireprogram.”

Even with six other successfulprogram starts, Kramarczuk considersAugsburg’s unique. “We look at it from adifferent perspective. We look at it asyour life’s purpose or vocation, with theMBA being a critical leg in this life’sjourney… We tell our students, ‘After

you get this MBA, you’ll say thisis probably one of the mostimportant decisions you’ve madein your life.’”

As a requirement foradmission to the program, eachapplicant must personallyinterview with Kramarczuk. “It’shumbling to hear them share and discusstheir goals and aspirations and how theMBA fits into this process. … I considermyself almost like a peer. I love mystudents, and I think they kind of likeme.”

Like him they do, and at a recentevent they presented Kramarczuk with anaward. Accolades include these wordsfrom Babette Blumenauer of Cohort 4:“He has started this program that willchange my life course. … I am not just anumber or an obscure student here. Dr.Kramarczuk … gives me time, shows hecares, and he knows my name. And thathas meant a lot to me.”

THE CURRICULUMThe intense curriculum includes financeand economics, local and global issues,organizational management, andleadership ethics. Through applicationand research, students learn toimplement ideas and communicate vitalstatistical, financial, and other criticalbusiness-related data in an evolving workenvironment.

The required field project, whichserves as the thesis for the MBA, oftenresponds to real-world requests thatcome to the program from business andindustry.

“Book learning is very different fromreal-life experience,” says ChristineWaggoner of Cohort 2. “It’s that real-lifeexperience that is discussed and studiedin this program.”

Waggoner earned her bachelor’sdegree from Augsburg in 1997. “Givenmy positive experience as anundergraduate, I cannot tell you howexcited I was when I received thepostcard announcing that Augsburg wasstarting an MBA program,” she says. “AtAugsburg, the professors know you.They tailor their teaching methods to thestudents in their class. They share theirpersonal stories … [and] successes andfailures they’ve gone through.”

“When you finish, you will be at ahigher level of leadership and decision-making,” Kramarczuk says. Additionally,because of the liberal arts background, an

“In the real world, you don’t function onyour own. You rely upon other people.”

—CHRISTINE WAGGONER ’97, ’06 MBA

AnnouncingN E W M B AG R A D U A T EC E R T I F I C A T E S

• Finance • Financial planning • Human resource management • International business • Marketing management • Music business management

Graduate certificates provide applied, practical, graduate-leveltraining to enhance skills and advance careers. In addition, theycan later be applied toward a master’s degree. Certificates can beearned in as few as six months with courses meeting one eveningper week for seven weeks. Cohorts will form beginning this fall.

For information, call 612-330-1390.

Jamie Schiller, MBA coordinator, and graduateChristine Waggoner pause from the action of an MBAsoftball game.

Summer 2006 25

Augsburg MBA graduate will be more ofa “cosmopolitan” thinker.

Waggoner confirms this. “I have anew outlook on the way I view myselfand my career. I have a lot moreconfidence in my ability to lead, manage,and make strategic business decisions.”

A significant number of students havebeen offered new jobs and promotions asa result of what they have taken awayfrom the MBA program.

LIFE IN THE COHORTThe cohort model has been critical to thesuccess of the program. It allowsstudents to build relationships andbecome almost like family to each otheras they travel together through thesequence of courses.

“Taking classes as a member of a

cohort has really enriched my learningexperience,” says Waggoner. “Classes aresequentially ordered so that studentsbuild upon learned skills, and thoseskills are continually reinforcedthroughout the program. The program isorganized so students can focus onlearning.”

This even includes providing a warmmeal before each evening class.“[Students] have an opportunity to sittogether,” says Kramarczuk. “They arefrom different professions, different partsof the Twin Cities. They sit down toreally communicate about class work,personal life, professional life.”

“In the real world, you don’t functionon your own,” Waggoner says. “You relyupon other people.”

“You learn a lot from the students,

too,” adds Appel. “There are people ofdiverse backgrounds—professionalbackgrounds, cultural backgrounds, agegroups…”

This group atmosphere extendsbeyond the classroom to social eventsand celebrations. Appel formed andmanaged a softball team with playersrepresenting multiple cohorts. Theyordered Augsburg caps and jerseys andeven won a game. “We were beyondawful, but we had a lot of spirit!”Waggoner says.

“When Cohorts 3 and 4 came onboard, we had a little party atKramarczuk’s Deli,” reminisces Appel.“Bob [Kramarczuk] wrote a ‘Rudolph theRed-Nosed Reindeer’ song and madethem sing it.” The parody was titled“Auggie, the Adult Professional.” Thesekick-off dinners have become a tradition,with older cohorts welcoming new ones.

Other social events have included thestudents’ families, giving them a chanceto meet classmates and professors.

Already, a graduation celebration is inthe planning, where awards will behanded out and, in line with tradition,Kramarczuk’s musical parodies willprobably be sung.

THE CAMPUSThe opportunity to study on a “real”campus also attracts students to theprogram.

“Here, you come to school,” Appelsays. “There’s people with laptops, peoplestudying, there’s the bookstore… When Imeet my cohort outside of class to study,we meet at the library. You feel like you

“[My classmates are]people I respect…very smart people. Just like family.” —SUNNY OLISE ’06 MBA

MBA director Bob Kramarczuk (left) and Auggie Eagle (right) lead Cohorts 3 and 4 in their“initiation” song.

MBA graduate Nathan Appel, originator of theMBA softball team, strikes a pose.

Nigerian-born Sunny Olise came to the U.S. tostudy business and appreciates the small-groupatmosphere in Augsburg's MBA program.

Summer 200626

are in school… Now, actually coming tocampus just feels more like I’m at aninstitution of higher learning and all thatgoes along with that.”

Nigerian-born Sunny Olise beganstudying in Lindell Library while he wasan undergraduate business student atanother school because he found it to bea more calming and productive place forhim to work.

So when he heard the ad forAugsburg’s new MBA program on theradio, he said to himself, “Yeah, it’s agood school.” Olise called Kramarczukand told him the story of how he wokeup one day after working for theNigerian government for 21 yearswanting to “try something new.” The two later met in the coffee center ofChristensen Center. At the end of theirvisit, Kramarczuk said, “Congratulations,Sunny. You’re in!”

“I didn’t even know he wasinterviewing me,” Olise says, laughing.From there, Kramarczuk took Olise tothe bookstore to purchase his books.Less than two years later, Olise is one ofthe Cohort 4 graduates. He describes hisgroup as “people I respect… very smartpeople. Just like family.”

“In addition to the knowledge you getfrom the MBA program, there’s a lot ofprestige attached to it,” says Olise. “I workfull time, I have a full-time family, Iattended school, and I’m a chess addict… I have no regrets whatsoever. None.”

COMING OF AGE Kramarczuk considers the number ofstudents pretty close to the maximumthe College can currently support,although he sees a huge potential forgrowth. In response to a particular need,Augsburg now offers the full MBAprogram at Thrivent Financial’s corporatecenter in downtown Minneapolis. Severalstudents have transferred in from nearbyprograms, and Kramarczuk anticipates aneventual 100 students at the Thriventlocation alone.

Augsburg also launched its first MBAcohort in Rochester in fall 2005, its secondlast winter, and will add its third this fall.

“Augsburg is a very traditionalinstitution, while the MBA is a veryentrepreneurial effort. There’s continualadjustment that’s had to happen on bothends,” Kramarczuk says. “It’s seems to beprogressing well.”

“We want to continue to developgraduate business programs gearedtoward executives. We are alsodeveloping MBA programs in specificconcentration areas such as internationalbusiness,” says Cerrito.

Many MBA students seek out theprogram to help them advance in theircurrent positions. For some students inCohort 3, however, the programprovided the foundation for a newbusiness venture.

One particular group of studentsbegan talking during breaks, afterclass, and, of course, over the pre-classdinners. At these dinners, studentSarah Anton says, “We learn about ourfamilies, our goals, our plans for thefuture.”

These discussions led to the creationof Minnesota Business Consultants, LLP(MBC), a group of five men and Anton.“Each member brings a differentexpertise to the group that comes outof our diverse career paths,” she says.

MBC specializes in strategicplanning and profit maximization for

small- to medium-size businesses.“Guiding businesses that might wish tore-evaluate their current financialpicture” is the mission, according toAnton. “We see using the contactswe’ve gained from Augsburg todevelop a client base and to develop aniche in an industry where smallbusinesses are struggling. We believesmall businesses are an important partof our Minnesota culture.”

MBC is starting out in rental officespace, and each consultant willmaintain his or her current job untilMBC is able to support them fully.

“It’s a natural progression of theexcellent talent pool that Kramarczukputs together,” says Anton. “It wouldsurprise me if there aren’t morebusinesses formed out of the MBAcohorts.”

“It’s kind of scary being the first classof MBAs, but Augsburg’s reputation inthe metro and in the region is solid,”Appel says. “The undergraduate businessprogram has a really good reputation.Hopefully we’ll piggyback off of that. …I’m banking on Augsburg’s reputationcarrying weight. I think it will.” �

For more information about the MBAprogram, go to <www.augsburg.edu/mba>.

Putting their MBA T O W O R K

(L to R): Derek Zielin, Max Boller, DavidSandvig, Matthew Barrett, Sarah Anton,Scott Kretzschmar

27Summer 2006

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW WROTE, “Music is the universal language ofmankind.” As the Augsburg Choir set out on its European concert tour they would come tounderstand the meaning of Longfellow’s words.

From May 8-21, under the direction of Peter Hendrickson ’76, the choir toured Budapest,Hungary; Prague and Kutna Hora, Czech Republic; and Dresden and Leipzig, Germany,where the tour ended at the American Choral Festival.

The 66-voice choir sang in basilicas that took their breaths away, in churches that datedback to the 1300s, and in one of the finest concert halls in Europe. Their audiences includedU. S. citizens living in Europe as well as people who could speak little or no English.

The choir learned that it wasn’t the words they sang, but rather the music they made thattouched hearts and brought smiles—and sometimes even tears—to the people who came tohear them. They also learned how music is indeed a universal language, and that experienceslike these also create bonds among themselves that last across continents and time.

On the return trip home, tenor Hayes Kaufman ’09 said when he joined the choir his dadexpressed his hope that someday he, Hayes, would come to appreciate the opportunity hewas being given.

“I think I already have,” Kaufman told his fellow choir members. “Thanks to everyonefor this great trip, the memories, and opportunity.”

AUGSBURGChoir

on tour with the

H U N G A R Y , C Z E C H R E P U B L I C , A N D G E R M A N Y

STORY AND PHOTOS BY JUDY PETREE

28 Summer 2006

(1) The concert tour began at St. Stephen’s Basilicain Budapest, Hungary, the city’s largest church. Notonly its beauty and magnificence awed the choir,but also the sound of their voices. Tenor TonyWallin ’08 said he couldn’t believe that “we, theAugsburg Choir, would ever have the opportunityto sing in such a place.”

(2) In the small Czech town of Kutna Hora, oncefamous for its silver mines, the choir sang at St.Barbara’s Cathedral. Here, a few choir memberstake a break at intermission to catch a view of thetown at night.

(Front row, L to R) Aleah Tebben, MikeSchmit, Colin Callander, Kathryn Goerges (Backrow, L to R) Stacey Zeutenhorst, Miranda Nelson,Eric Anderson, Adam Krumwiede, Tom Robinsonand Kent Bodurtha.

In Prague, the choir sang at St. Ignatius, an activechurch run by Jesuit monks that was begun in1665 and completed in 1671.

(3) At a stop in Krabcice, another small Czechtown, the choir performed for an audience ofsenior citizens, most of whom knew no English. Ahighlight of the tour for many of the students wasa song they sang in the Czech language, for whichthey received a standing ovation and complimentson their pronunciation.

“This by far has been the best part of the tourfor me,” said soprano Molly Shortall ’07, whoenjoyed talking with one of the senior citizensafter the concert.

“It was better than the larger concerts becauseyou could just feel that it meant so much to thesepeople. These are people who had their culturetaken away from them for so many years, and nowyou can see how much it must mean to them toget it back.”

(4) The audience was sparse but very appreciativeat Annen Kirche in Dresden, Germany, one of theonly churches there to escape bombing duringWorld War II. A woman in the front row was soclearly moved by the choir’s singing, she woulddirect along with Peter and, at times, smile broadlyand cry quietly.

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B U D A P E S T , K U T N A H O R A , P R A G U E , D R E S D E N , L E I P Z I G

29Summer 2006

(5) In Leipzig, Germany—home to such famouscomposers as Bach and Handel—the choir visitedSt. Thomaskirche, where Johann Sebastian Bachwas a cantor and where he is buried. They alsotoured St. Nicholaskirche, founded in 1165.

(6) The choir teamed up with the NorthwesternCollege Choir of St. Paul to perform at theGewandhaus in Leipzig for the American ChoralFestival. They sang several songs as a massedchoir, plus each choir performed on its own.Joining the choir was Augsburg alumna Nicole(Warner) Simml ’01. Simml now lives in Germanyteaching voice and performing frequently.

Performing solos are (L to R) Nicole (Warner)Simml; Krista Costin, Augsburg; Nathan Bird,Northwestern; and Dave Czepa, Augsburg.Directing is Northwestern choir director TimothySawyer, with Augsburg director PeterHendrickson on piano.

What was the most memorable part of the trip—the beautiful churches; the scenery; experiencingdifferent cultures, food, and languages? Notaccording to many of the students. What they willremember most are the bonds and friendshipsthey made with each other. Although the choirhas been singing together all year, they found thatsometimes it takes an experience such as this toget to know each other really well. Alto KellinPray ’08 said she really enjoyed being with otherswho enjoy the same thing. The sad part, sheadded, is now saying goodbye to the seniorswhom they were just starting to really know.

(7) (L to R) Kellin Pray, Bri’Ann Wright, andMicah Erickson.

(8) (L to R) Emily Denstad, Emma Stensvaag, and Adena Berg.

(9) Mother’s Day greetings from Prague were senthome by Brian Halaas and Kari Aanestad.

B U D A P E S T , K U T N A H O R A , K R A B C I C E , D R E S D E N , L E I P Z I G

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“It doesn’t always matter how many people arein the audience, said bass Dave Czepa ’06. Hespoke for many of the choir members as he said,“that one lady and what this obviously meant toher made the whole concert worth it.”

THOSE

Lutheranladies

BY BETSEY NORGARD

Every week more than 2,000people fill the PlymouthPlayhouse in the Twin Cities’suburb for an afternoon orevening of laughter, sharing

the lives of four women and their pastorin the church basement of the EastCornucopia Lutheran Church.

The play, Church Basement Ladies,pays homage to the stalwart women whocooked for and served every churchcongregation. And it strikes a chord withanyone who grew up in the 1950s and’60s across the Midwest, whether they beLutheran, Methodist, or Presbyterian—itwas all part of their own experience.

Church Basement Ladies is based onthe Scandinavian humor books of JanetLetnes Martin and Suzann (Johnson)Nelson, both 1968 Augsburg graduates.On stage the role of the church’smatriarch, Mrs. Lars Snustad, is playedby Janet Paone ’83. For all three of them,their Augsburg experiences play big.

Martin and Nelson came to Augsburgin 1964 as freshmen, each attracted to

the big city and driven by the desire toescape a future as a farm wife. When theyarrived, Augsburg was in the midst ofgreat change, reflecting new collegedirection and leadership—the Collegehad just merged into the AmericanLutheran Church after the demise of theLutheran Free Church, and OscarAnderson had just become president.Students were pushed to explore andunderstand the social and racial issues ofthe city around them, forever changingtheir worldviews.

Nelson aspired to be a homeeconomics teacher, but by the end of her

first semester had switched to politicalscience, and then in her sophomore yearto Scandinavian studies when the newmajor was announced. She studiedNorwegian and was active in theNorwegian Club, which led to manyopportunities, such as meeting thevisiting King Olav V of Norway.

Both Martin and Nelson feltcomfortable at Augsburg. They loved thebig city around them, but appreciated thesmall-town comfort of the campus.

What they discovered was that small-town Scandinavian Lutheran life was thesame everywhere. Nelson recalls themany nights she and classmates fromsmall towns across the Upper Midwestsat around in Gerda Mortensen Hall andtalked about their common backgrounds.“We all grew up the same way,” Martinconfirms.

Students not from rural small townswere commuter students, and Nelsonremembers stunning her city roommatesby talking about eating cream on bread.So much so that she and others wentshopping and demonstrated how it wasmade and eaten.

Paone arrived at Augsburg 15 yearslater. By then Augsburg was less

“God knew that if there were goingto be growing, self-sustaining, activeLutheran Churches in America, hewould have to create a specialspecies of people, so He created theLutheran Church Basement Women.”

—Growing Up Lutheran, Janet Letnes Martin and

Suzann (Johnson) Nelson, 1997

30 Summer 2006

obviously Norwegian Lutheran and farmore diverse, but it was because of theLutheran church that Paone chose it. Hermother was Lutheran and her father wasCatholic. She was raised in AbidingSavior Lutheran Church, but within herfamily she felt the stigma of being thechild of a parent who “turned,” i.e.,married outside the Lutheran faith. Shefeels her father’s family never reallyaccepted her Lutheran mother.

After applying to music schools in NewYork, she decided to stay home for collegeand chose Augsburg because she hadalways respected and enjoyed theAugsburg students who were counselors atLake Wapogassett Lutheran Bible Camp.She had also considered the ministry, butshe ended up in the theatre program.

“There was definitely a NorwegianLutheran influence at Augsburg,” Paonesays. “There was a Scandinavian studiesmajor, and most people’s names ended in–son, -sen, -gard, or –dal.” She alsoremembers the aesthetic influence of the“good” dinnerware with Scandinaviandesign used for special dinners.

Martin and Nelson graduated in1968, but neither returned to her smalltown. On a Norwegian Club trip toDecorah, Iowa, Nelson had met RonaldE. Nelson ’67; in March 1967 they weremarried in Mindekirken, the NorwegianLutheran Memorial Church inMinneapolis. She studied Scandinavianliterature in graduate school and for 10summers directed Skogfjorden, theNorwegian Language Village.

Martin married shortly after collegeand began raising a family. More than adecade later, in 1983, while helping hermother-in-law research family history,she became frustrated at not findingmuch information about life in ruralcommunities and decided to beginwriting down what it was like growingup. Together with Allen Todnem ’64, alsoan Augsburg graduate, she co-authoredCream and Bread, and then SecondHelpings of Cream and Bread.

Martin and Nelson remained closefriends. In 1994, on a whim, Martinsuggested that Nelson should write abook with her, and Nelson quit her jobthe same day.

Sitting around the kitchen table intheir flannel nightgowns enjoying

Top: Janet Letnes Martin ’68 began writingdown her experiences growing up in rural

North Dakota and calls herself a “Norwegian-Lutheran farm girl humorist.”

Bottom: From The Augsburgian, 1968.

Suzann (Johnson) Nelson ’68 used herScandinavian studies to inspire the

characters of rural NorwegianMinnesota in her books.

Bottom: From The Augsburgian, 1968.

Janet Paone ’83 has made a career inacting and voiceover work, and

brings her Augsburg experience tothe stage in Church Basement Ladies

Bottom: From The Augsburgian, 1981.

31Summer 2006

IT WAS THE MID-1980S. I had recently been appointed

book review editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune after a lengthy

stint as English teacher at Augsburg and feature writer for the old

Tribune.

“Dave,” said the receptionist, “There’s an author out here in

the lobby who wants to see you.”

Wow. My first author. Who would it be? I trotted down to the

lobby to discover a woman who looked like a pert middle-aged

housewife from Hastings, Minn., which, in fact, she was.

“Hi,” she said, thrusting an enormous layer cake into my paws.

“I’m Janet Martin. I went to Augsburg back in the ’60s. I’ve

written a book and if you’ll review it the cake is yours.”

Looking back, I sincerely hope I wasn’t too condescending

when I explained to Janet Letnes Martin that Star Tribune policy

prohibited my taking gifts, blah blah blah.

“OK,” she said, unflappable. “I’ll take back the cake. You take

the book.”

So there I was with Janet Letnes Martin’s first literary effort,

Cream on Bread. I gave it a whirl. It was wonderful. As a minor

ethnician of the times, I had read lots of this stuff, like Howard

Mohr’s work, and I think I knew what was good. Janet Martin’s

was excellent. No cheap shots. There were no big yuks in Cream

on Bread, just lots of little ones. That’s because Janet Martin was

smart enough to know that there aren’t a lot of big yuks in

Lutherandom, but lots and lots of little ones. That’s why she

became one of Lutheran humor’s most honest purveyors.

Was I surprised? Yes. But I shouldn’t have been. I had taught

for 10 years at Augsburg, not too many years after she had

graduated. I had taught at four other schools before my arrival

there and was continually surprised at the little college’s vitality

and intellectuality. Sure, there was a streak of inferiority feeling

running through the student body. The University of Minnesota

students across Riverside Ave. called Augsburg “God’s Little Acre.”

We had great music, science, art, and poetry, but the steam heat

system in Old Main on a cold day sounded like the last 15 minutes

before the H.M.S. Titanic went down. Nevertheless we had great

poetry readings, students went off to good

graduate schools.

Best, we all had lots of fun, parked

right in the middle of a seedy old section

of Minneapolis.

But back to Janet Letnes Martin. Her

first book was a success followed by many

more, including one of my favorites, which

involved Hastings housewife/detective

Shirley Holmquist, a direct steal from Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1994,

her Auggie classmate, Suzann Nelson of Grand Rapids, Minn.,

joined her and their books tumbled out, books like their

monumental theological tract about Lutherans and Roman

Catholics entitled They Glorified Mary … We Glorified Rice. They

also performed two-woman shows, filling church basements across

the Midwest.

Ever since the Martin/Nelson success, I’ve been a bit jealous.

I’ve tried my hand with ethnic humor. Like Martin and Nelson I

grew up in a little Norwegian Lutheran town. But my stuff never

lit any fires. Why did theirs?

I’ve come to think that Augsburg College had a lot to do with

it. Augsburg was traditionally on the outer fringe of the Lutheran

establishment. Its supporting synod, the Lutheran Free Church,

was always suspicious of clericalism, authority, big shots. An

immigrant church, it had to survive by its wits. (Janet Letnes

Martin, you see, didn’t actually think her layer cake would

persuade me to review her book. It was just a way of tweaking my

self-satisfaction, cutting me and the Star Tribune down to size.)

And so the two pious girls from small farm towns came to God’s

Little Acre in the heart of the Sinful City and found out one could

love one’s church and have some fun with it, too.

I look back more than a quarter century at the students like

Martin and Nelson and wonder at their successes, many of which

have just a bit of orneriness in common. It’s a wonderful tradition

and the women who made church basements famous are

definitely part of it.

And so now the girls are moving out onto the national scene.

Martin and Nelson are no longer girls, but I can’t help thinking of

them in that way, for their girlish glee and for poking a little fun

at the basements where they both spent hundreds of hours

learning that certain concepts were “most certainly true.”

I have only one bit of advice and that’s for Janet Letnes

Martin. If and when you get to New York City, don’t bring a layer

cake to the offices of the New York Times Book Review.

The editor won’t get it.

Dave Wood is a past vice-president of theNational Book Critics Circle and formerbook review editor of the Minneapolis StarTribune. He taught English and journalismat Augsburg from 1969 to 1981.

32 Summer 2006

REMEMBERINGthose

Lutheran ladiesBY DAVE WOOD

president of his Luther League and theson of a dedicated church basement lady,encouraged Paone to take the part ofmatronly Vivian Snustad, theunequivocal and uncompromising queenof the church basement ladies in hisfictional East Cornucopia LutheranChurch.

Paone, a veteran character actress seenin Tony ’n Tina’s Wedding, pushed forrevisions to the script through a workshopprocess in order to engage Mrs. Snustadmore with the audience. This character is acurmudgeon, but works through herissues and begins to understand whythings must eventually change—beginningwith her consternation over the hymnalschanging from black to red.

Church Basement Ladies previewed atseveral locations before settling into itslong run at the Plymouth Playhouse.Paone recalls opening in Fargo, where

the cast was extremely nervous abouthow it would go over. Once the audiencestarted laughing and didn’t stop, Paoneremembers the “neat moment” betweenacts when the cast suddenly realized that“this thing is going to be huge.”

Audiences react differently to theplay, Paone says, and she can tell by whatthey laugh at whether the crowd (oftencomprised of large church groups) isLutheran or Catholic. And, if they reactmost vividly to the physical comedyaspect, they probably aren’t church-connected at all.

Even if someone is not well versed inthe ways of Martin Luther, she says, theplay is still very accessible. “It’s about a[small] country church … it’s the socialcenter, with many different layers.”

Paone would love to pull morematerial from Martin and Nelson’s booksfor the stage, and Martin and Nelsonwould love to have the current actorsstay involved with the East CornucopiaLutheran Church.

What’s next for Those LutheranLadies? When asked about it, Martinquickly replies, “Oh, ya, there’s lots morein it.” When they get together and startlaughing, she says, “We just run with it… and sometimes we just blurt out thesame thing.”

And, to quote Martin Luther and thechurch basement ladies, “This is mostcertainly true.” �

copious amounts of both coffee andlaughter, the two women began tocapture recollections and memories asthey spilled out. Nelson has said that it’sher job to jog people’s memories andtheir job to laugh. Their intention isnever to make fun of anyone or anything.“There’s a fine line between making funof something and having fun with it,”Martin told an interviewer. “Hopefullywe’ll never cross it.”

Three books came within the first sixmonths. So far, they’ve written ninebooks together, the most popular beingGrowing Up Lutheran: What Does ThisMean?, which won a Minnesota BookAward for humor.

Requests for speaking engagementsalso started coming, and for several yearsMartin and Nelson crisscrossed eachothers’ paths as they spoke to churchgroups, women’s groups, and localorganizations. Then they devised acomedy routine and began appearingtogether as “Those Lutheran Ladies”—nothing more than sharing their ownbackgrounds.

An idea for a play came about whenTroupeAmerica’s president and executiveproducer-director, Curt Wollan, hiredThose Lutheran Ladies to perform forthree weeks at the Medora Musical inNorth Dakota. Wollan invited aplaywright-couple, Jim Stowell andJessica Zuehlke, to pen the script.

Wollan, who had grown up as

“If Scandinavian Lutherans could add one more feast day to the churchcalendar, it would be the feast of fish and flatbread … Unlike the Catholicswho had to eat fish every Friday, Scandinavian Lutherans were only morallyobligated to eat it once a year, and that was at the annual Lutefisk supper.”

—Growing Up Lutheran, Janet Letnes Martin and

Suzann (Johnson) Nelson, 1997

33Summer 2006

“Lutherans attending a Lutherancollege in the ’50s and ’60s did nothave to prepare themselves for anybig culture shock. Some of themeven shared the same last name—but were not related.”

—Growing Up Lutheran, Janet Letnes Martin and

Suzann (Johnson) Nelson, 1997

BY ANY MEASURE, Church Basement Ladies is a monster

hit. It has been running for more than 35 weeks at Plymouth

Playhouse (scheduled through the end of 2006) at 101%

occupancy. It now has a double cast and offers 10 or 11 shows per

week.

Curt Wollan, producer and director, found inspiration for the

play in his own mother. After she died, Wollan was asked if the

gift she left the church could be used for their greatest need, a

new stove for the kitchen. He agreed, and it was named Lorraine

in her honor, a seemingly fitting legacy.

“We’re honoring people who are never honored … and who

are under-appreciated,” says Wollan. “The play has been hugely

popular with women who have worked in church basements, and

with their daughters and granddaughters, who are remembering

mom and grandmother.”

He remembers being a Luther Leaguer in his own church when

they’d sing, “Come out, dear ladies, come out, come out” so the

women could be recognized, and they were always bashful about

it. “They were the unsung heroes of the church—they kept it

clean and fed, and the coffee going.”

He says the play is universal—it doesn’t matter where or what

church you’re in—every church has its basement ladies. The show

just happens to be Norwegian Lutheran because it’s based on

Nelson and Martin’s book, Growing Up Lutheran.

The play is important, he says, because this part of church life

is dying. “As women have started to work, there are fewer

basement ladies and there is more catering,” says Wollan. “This

celebrates the past and its heritage.”

Church Basement Ladies is preparing to embark on a nine-

state, 50-city tour from January-March 2007, in mostly small towns

throughout the Upper Midwest, but reaching as far as New

Mexico, Colorado, and Montana. Then, they’ll wait a year and

tour bigger cities.

Already underway are plans for a second cast to begin

production in Chicago. New York is pending, and there has been

interest in an off-Broadway venue where it would play in a real

Lutheran church basement.

Norwegian Lutheran food is central to the play. One of

Wollan’s favorite lines is “Lutefisk and lefse are directly descended

from the five loaves and two fishes at the Sea of Galilee, and have

since lost their color.”

The music and lyrics were written by Drew Jansen; here are

two samples:

From “Closer to Heaven”—“You’re closer to heaven in the

church basement, Where we do the Good Lord’s work. Everywhere

you look you see spectacular sights; 40 kinds of food to feed some

fierce appetites; Nearly new linoleum and fluorescent lights,

managed by a stalwart squad. Here below the house of God.”

From “Dead Spread”[term for the spreads served on

sandwiches following a funeral]—“Dead spread, a splendid affair,

to celebrate someone who’s no longer there; dead spread, a

wonderful thing, what sweet consolation a hotdish can bring.”

For more information, go to <www.plymouthplayhouse.com>.

CHURCH

BasementLadies—you bet it’s a big hit!

34 Summer 2006

The cast of Church Basement Ladies (L to R): Janet Paone ’83 (Mrs. Lars Snustad—Vivian), GretaGrosch (Mrs. Gilmer Gilmerson—Mavis), Tim Drake (Pastor E. L. Gunderson), Dorian Chalmers(Mrs. Elroy Engelson-Karin) and Ruthie Baker (Signe Engelson—Karin’s daughter).

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LSAT prep for a bargain

35Summer 2006

From the Alumni Board president’s desk…

Serving aspresident of the

Augsburg AlumniBoard the past yearhas in many waysbeen one of the mostrewarding andenriching things Ihave done. I amcontinually inspired

by the many outstanding and diverseaccomplishments of our alumni, and Iam honored and humbled by theopportunity to serve the AugsburgAlumni Association and AugsburgAlumni Board over the past seven years.

My goal this year was to continue thetransformation and forward momentumof the Alumni Board in its journey fromthe role of an advisory board to aworking board. Under discussion hasbeen our advisory member initiative, inwhich we invite representatives ofvarious campus constituencies to attendour committee meetings in order tofoster greater dialogue, e.g. parents,international students, A-Club, theAugsburg Associates, Faculty and StaffSenates. Our Connections Committee,led by Buffie Blesi, undertook an effort toexplore possibilities for offering alumnibenefits. Stay tuned to hear more about

this effort in the coming months.I’m proud to report that Alumni

Board members are well on the way to afourth consecutive year of 100%contribution to the annual fund. Ourintention is to continue to build on thistradition of giving, and I am pleased tosay that the Alumni Board has alsocommitted to a 100% contribution rateamong board members to the Access toExcellence campaign. We are certainlyblessed by these commitments and bythese gifts.

President Frame’s leadership ofAugsburg is finishing with tremendousenergy, solid growth for the College, andrenewal of its vision for the future. Thestrength and constancy of his leadershiphas helped draw Augsburg to new levelsof recognition. In his own words,“Augsburg plays a unique role in theworld of Lutheran education. Its serviceto the city, to the provision ofaccessibility to first-class educationalopportunities, and its regard for faith andreason as interactive and mutuallyreinforcing modes of understanding …gives us a special mission.” Augsburg hasbeen truly blessed by President Frame’sincredible leadership the past nine years.

I had the privilege of speaking atAugsburg’s 137th Commencement on

May 6 and welcoming 752 graduates asthe newest members of the AugsburgAlumni Association. Our AlumniAssociation has grown considerably sincemy Commencement ceremony a littleover 20 years ago, when the WeekendCollege had just been launched andwhen graduate programs, the Rochesterprogram, and many others did not yetexist. The Alumni Association in thosedays numbered around 10-11,000members and now includes around18,000. Congratulations and welcome tothe Class of 2006!

I am excited about Augsburg’s future,the future of the Alumni Association,and the Alumni Board. I hope you willjoin me in welcoming President-electPaul Pribbenow and incoming AlumniBoard president Barry Vornbrock—thenext chapter in our history!

Stay close and stay connected.

Karina Karlén ’83President, Alumni Board

ALUMNI NEWSAlumni News

Don’t take out a loan to pay those expensive test prep companies.Augsburg’s Office of Undergraduate Research and GraduateOpportunity (URGO) is hosting LSAT Prep on campus this fall.

The instructor is Brian Farrell ’95, an attorney and Augsburgalumnus, who scored in the 99th percentile on the exam and taughtLSAT prep for Princeton Review. Four sessions are offered:

TUES., SEPT. 26, 6 TO 9 P.M.—General introduction to the LSAT,analytical reasoning strategy and practice

TUES., OCT. 3, 6 TO 9 P.M.—Homework review, logical reasoningstrategy and practice

TUES., OCT. 10, 6 TO 9 P.M.-—Homework review, readingcomprehension strategy and practice

TUES., OCT. 17, 6 TO 9 P.M.—Homework review, continued practice inall sections, overall test-taking strategies, test-day preparation, classquestions

The cost for the four sessions is $150 for Augsburg alumni,compared to $580 at the University of Minnesota and over $1300 atKaplan or Princeton Review.

To register (limited spaces are available), contact Dixie Shafer,<shafer@augsburg.edu>.

36 Summer 2006

Mon., Sept. 25

4:30-6 p.m. International Student Organization reception

7:30-9 p.m. Student Kick-Off Event, Coronation and Pep Rally

Tues., Sept. 26

11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Counseling and Health Promotion Annual Fair

6:30 p.m. Alumni Baseball game, Parade Stadium

7 p.m. Powder puff football9 p.m. FCA campfire, Murphy Park

Wed., Sept. 27

10:30 a.m. Augsburg Associates annual fall luncheon (off campus)

Noon-1 p.m. Auggie Cup Knowledge Bowl (East Commons)

9:30-10:30 p.m. Homecoming communion

Thurs., Sept. 28

11 a.m.-2 p.m. Student activity—Old Auggiephotos

5:30-8:30 p.m. Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet

Fri., Sept. 29

9-10 a.m. Reunion breakfast10-11 a.m. Homecoming chapel11 a.m.-2 p.m. Student activity12:30-2 p.m. Alumni luncheon

2:15- 3:15 p.m. Campus tour3:30-6 p.m. Hall Crawl3 p.m. Artist Amy Rice ’93, slide

presentation, Marshall Room, Christensen Center

7 p.m. ASAC Variety Show7:30 p.m. Men’s soccer game v.

Macalester

Sat., Sept. 30

11 a.m.-1 p.m. Picnic in the Parknoon Auggie Cup Desk

Hurling1-3 p.m. Football Game v. Concordia-

Moorhead3:30-7 p.m. Auggie Block Party

Homecoming 2006—Watch us SoarSeptember 25-30

Alumni EventsPlease join us for these upcoming alumni events; unless otherwise noted, call 612-330-1085 or 1-800-260-6590 or e-mail<alumni@augburg.edu> for more information.

June20 Alumni Board Meeting,

5:30 p.m.Minneapolis Room, Christensen Center

July11 Auggie Hours, 5:30-7 p.m.

Maynard’s Restaurant, 685 Excelsior Blvd., Excelsior, MN(located in the southeast corner ofExcelsior Bay on LakeMinnetonka), 952-470-1800

August8 Auggie Hours, 5:30-7 p.m.

Campiello, 1320 West Lake St.,Uptown Minneapolis, 612-825-2222

10 Auggie Evening at the RacesCanterbury Park, Shakopee, MN

Gather your friends and family andjoin us for free admission and complimentary hors d’oeuvres.RSVP is required and space is limited.

Please e-mail the followinginformation to <ecs@augsburg.edu>or call 612-330-1104: Total numberin your group, names of you andyour guests, your graduationyear(s), and your contact number.The deadline to register is Friday,August 4.

15 Alumni Board Meeting,5:30 p.m.Minneapolis Room, Christensen Center

16 Auggies attend Lutheran Night at the DomeMinnesota Twins v. ClevelandIndians, with first pitch at 7:10.Lower level seating—$18 perticket(group rate).

Tickets are limited-contact theAlumni Relations Office, 612-330-1613 or send check to: Alumni Relations Office, 2211 Riverside Ave S., CB 146, Minneapolis, MN 55454

Once your payment has beenreceived, the tickets will be mailedto you in August.

37Summer 2006

sort, pack, move, unpack, andsettle in at new locations.

1971Thomas Haas, West St. Paul,Minn., retired last August afterworking 32 years at the State ofMinnesota Department ofEmployment and EconomicDevelopment, helping people findemployment by providing basicskills and resources. He says thatretirement is “almost all I haveheard it can be—WONDERFUL.”He also wonders how he had timeto work and get other thingsdone before. His wife is a geneticsresearcher at the University ofMinnesota.

Jean Holbrook, San Mateo,Calif., has been named San MateoCounty superintendent of schoolsthrough January 2007, tocomplete a vacated term. Shebrings 30 years of experiencewith the San Mateo County Officeof Education to the position.

Charles Maland, Knoxville,Tenn., was awarded theAlexander Prize for his superiorclassroom teaching anddistinguished scholarship at theUniversity of Tennessee. Histeaching and research focuses onAmerican literature and cinema,and he has been named editor ofa volume of James Agee’s filmcriticism.

1975Daniel Swalm, Minneapolis, isan adjunct professor at theUniversity of Wisconsin-RiverFalls in the Graduate College ofEducation and ProfessionalStudies and teaches careercounseling through theDepartment of Counseling andSchool of Psychology. He is theexecutive director of CareerSolutions Inc., a nonprofit careerdevelopment agency in St. Paul.

1986Karl Spring was named chiefmeteorologist at the Northland’s

NewsCenter in Duluth, Minn.,which provides weather news toseveral TV channels andnewspapers in northernMinnesota and northwesternWisconsin.

1988Kiel Christianson, Champaign,Ill., writes a golf equipmentcolumn for travelgolf.com as ahobby, and was recently quotedin an article in CNNMoney.comabout a new Nike golf club.

1989Nnamdi A.Okoronkwo andhis wife, SabrinaK., Minneapolis,announce thebirth of their son,Grayson

Nnamdi, very unexpectedly andquickly, with the help of theMinneapolis Fire Department. Hewas born on his parents’ fifthwedding anniversary and joins

CLASS NOTESClass Notes1956Evelyn (Chanco) Steenberg,Missoula, Mont., and herhusband, Tom ’58, ’61 Sem,celebrated their golden weddinganniversary on June 2, and hopeto be at their 50-year reunion atHomecoming. They’ve spent 45years in the ministry, including35 years as missionaries in Japan.The Steenbergs can be reached at<tasteenberg@aol.com>.

1957Gloria (Grant) Knoblauch,Lake Elmo, Minn., was recentlyrecognized for her service andleadership in forming the Friendsof Lake Elmo Library, whichsucceeded in bringing a branchof the Washington CountyLibrary back to their city.

1958Rev. Gary Turner, San Jacinto,Calif., is an Anglican priest andV.A. Hospital chaplain. Lastsummer, while at the HollywoodBowl to see Garrison Keillor, heending up sitting two rowsahead of Philip Knox ’57.

1965Dwight Olson, San Diego,Calif., was elected president ofthe Licensing Executives Society(LES) of USA & Canada, aprofessional society of over 6,000members engaged in the use,development, manufacture, andmarketing of intellectualproperty. LES is part of aninternational organization, with30 national societies representing12,000 members in 80 countries.He can be reached at<dwight.olson@ironmountain.com>.

1969James Roste, Roseville, Minn.,retired on Dec. 31 after 36 yearsin corrections work. He hasjoined his wife, Lorene(Peterson) ’70, in her business,“Senior Moves,” helping seniors

Joyce (Nelson) Schrader ’64, Friendswood, Texas, is a retiredelementary school teacher who taught second, third, fourth, andfifth grades. Her husband is a retired human resources manager. In the photo are Joyce and her husband, Steve (middle and toprows, right); their daughter Mandy and her husband, Scott (toprow, left and middle), with their children, Haley (3) and Cason (1);and their daughter Julie (bottom row, left) with her dog, Elvis.

older brother, Spencer, 18months. Nnamdi and Sabrinawork for Best Buy and Target.

Steven Torgerud and his wife,in St. Paul, welcomed adaughter, Abigail Mae, onMarch 1.

1992Susan E. (Gehrke) Erdmanand her husband, Shane,Marinette, Wis., announce thebirth of their daughter, WynnLeslie, on Sept. 9. She joins herbrother, Carson.

1993Dana (Ryding)Martin, and herhusband, Jeff,Andover, Minn.,welcomed a son,Caden Joshua,on Dec. 2. He

joins brother Noah, age 2. Shecan be reached at<dana.martin@moundsviewschools.org>.

38 Summer 2006

Class Notes

ALUMNI PROFILE

Targeting cancer as bothphysician and scientistby Sara Holman ’06

Nine years have past since Arlo Miller roamed Augsburg’s campus asa biology and chemistry student. However, this recent M.D./Ph.D.Harvard graduate has not forgotten his Minneapolis alma mater.

“One of the biggest challenges in medical school is just trying tofigure out what is important and what actually matters. It’sessentially very easy to lose the forest for the trees. I think Augsburgscience did very well to emphasize the forest, which provided a goodstarting point,” Miller comments. He also credits the HonorsProgram for its emphasis on critical thinking and communicationskills. After his junior year, Miller worked for the summer with aleading cancer researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, whohelped convince him to seek the dual medical/research degrees.

Entering Harvard after his 1997 graduation was the first step inMiller’s pursuit to study oncology, and his lab work in graduateschool led him to study melanoma. “I’d always been thinking Iwould do hematology-oncology,” says Miller, “but I found thatdermatology is a better fit for me. Dermatologists actually deal withthe most prevalent forms of cancer, but the work primarily occurs inthe clinic rather than in the hospital. This will better enable me tospend a fraction of my time doing research.”

Whether to become a regular doctor or a regular researcher or to split his time doing both has been something Miller has grappled with sincebecoming part of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).

MSTP was founded to bridge the gap between physicians and scientists. “Sometime in the 1970s,” Miller says, “there was a concern that thedivide was widening to the point that effective translation of basic science research to the realm of medicine was in jeopardy. The MSTPprogram sends people to medical school and graduate school with the hope of creating a pool of people who could serve as bridges betweenthese two communities.”

Miller entered the MSTP program with a National Institutes of Health (NIH) training grant, given to about 300 students across the country.The grant pays all medical school costs and provides an annual stipend to compensate for the economic consequences of choosing thelengthy M.D./Ph.D. path.

In this joint medical-research program, Miller’s first two years included the medical school core scientific curriculum—anatomy,biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, pathophysiology, etc. Then he shifted to graduate work and did research for five years in threedifferent laboratories, including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Finally he returned to the last two years of medical school andworked in hospital and clinic settings.

In early June, Miller graduated from the M.D./Ph.D. program and will marry Ileana Howard, also a physcian. For the next year, he has atransition-year internship in Seattle, where Howard is currently a resident in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

In July 2007, Miller will begin a three-year residency in dermatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., a department known for itsexcellence in the research and treatment of unusual problems. He imagines himself ending up at a research university and says he feelsdrawn to the area of cancer biology.

When dealing with the very sensitive subject of cancer, Miller says his Augsburg experience continues to impact his role as a doctor. “Youoften find yourself taking care of people that the rest of society has pretty much given up on and for whom all social support systems havefailed,” he says. “This is a community service aspect of medicine that I hadn’t anticipated or appreciated when I started, but I feel thatAugsburg helped prepare me through informal means, including the Link program and its urban setting.”

Sara Holman graduated in 2006 with majors in communication studies and English.

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Arlo Miller '97 received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2004 onthe same day as his fiancée, Ileana Howard, graduated from HarvardMedical School. In June, he completed the M.D./Ph.D. program andalso received his medical degree.

39Summer 2006

Jessica (Ferrell)and BradZenner ’92,Minneapolis,adopted adaughter,Jasmine Shan,

in November. Jasmine was bornin Hunan, China, in February2005. She joins a happy sister,Lily Jinxiong, 3. Jessica can bereached at <jessicazenner@hotmail.com>.

1994Carrie Kennedyand her husband,Eric Peterson,Hopkins, Minn.,announce thebirth of a son,Kieran Philip, in

January. Carrie is an adjunctprofessor of English at ConcordiaUniversity in St. Paul andteaches fiction writing at the LoftLiterary Center.

1996Anne Lalla married ToddJohnson in March; they live in

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TOASTMASTERS AWARD

Shoreview, Minn. They have oneson, Evan, born in September2002.

1998Brittani (Gross) Filek ’00 PA,Corona, Calif., and her husband,Matt, welcomed their first child,Van Owen, in June 2005. Theywere married in July 2004;Brittani is a surgical physicianassistant at Kaiser PermanenteGeneral and Plastic SurgeryDepartment.

1999Bobby Scala, Eden Prarie,Minn., along with his brother-in-law, has opened Scala’s BeefStands in Maple Grove, arestaurant selling products fromhis family’s Chicago-basedwholesale meat company.

Sarah (Ginkel) Spilman, IowaCity, Iowa, and her husband,Matt, announce the birth of theirson, Alexander Nicholas, onJan. 3. Sarah earned a Master ofArts degree in sociology at theUniversity of Iowa in 2004.

2000

Kai Gudmestad ’06 MBA,Minneapolis, Minn., and hiswife, Amy, welcomed their son,Elijah Douglas, on Jan. 29. Kaigraduated in the first AugsburgMBA class.

2001Kathryn Koch has been namedproduction stage manager for theGlimmerglass Opera 2006 festivalseason in Cooperstown, N.Y. Shewill lead the stage managementstaff and be part of a worldpremiere opera, The Greater Good.The company produces four

operas in repertory during itseight-week season, attracting40,000 people from around the world.

GraduateprogramsDoris Rubenstein ’93 MALwas elected to the Board ofDirectors of Affinity PlusFederal Credit Union. She isprincipal of PDP Services, aconsulting firm specializing incorporate and personalphilanthropy.

In MemoriamIrvin Nerdahl ’40, age 87, Jan.27 in Crystal, Minn. He issurvived by his children,Marsha, Laura, John, and David.

Kelly Roth ’47, age 85, inWheaton, Minn. He is survivedby his wife, Beverly, and threechildren, John “Champ”,Richard, and Janice, who alsoattended Augsburg. Kelly,nicknamed “Smiley,” was amanager at the Smiley’s Pointconfectionary. He retired fromLutheran Brotherhood andCentral Life Insurance. He wasinducted into the AugsburgAthletic Hall of Fame in 1978.

Rev. Philip A. Nelson ’55, ’58Sem, age 72, Dec. 1 in NewLondon, Minn. He is survivedby his wife, Beverly (Omdahl)’55, and three sons, Bruce, Peter,and Blair. Phil had callings toColombia Heights, Morris, NewLondon, and Osakis beforeretiring in 1994 due to healthconcerns.

Edward M. Sabella, professoremeritus of economics, May 5 inMinneapolis. He taught atAugsburg from 1967 until hisretirement in August 2000 andwas chair of the Departments ofBusiness Administration andEconomics from 1968-81.

The Honorable Pamela Alexander ’74, Minneapolis, received theToastmasters International Communication and Leadership awardfor 2006. She was lauded for her community service as a youthmotivational speaker, basketball coach, and teacher, and for themore than 50 community service awards she has received. She isa judge of the Fourth Judicial District Court, Juvenile Division, ofHennepin County.

Leslie Lucas ’00 marriedMatthew Weide in July 2005.She is currently a student inthe Master of Social Workprogram, and he is an accountexecutive for Donaldson inBloomington. They live inMinneapolis.

40 Summer 2006

AUGGIE THOUGHTSAuggie Thoughts

Some look at the journey home as a necessary part of a trip—somethinglogically following going away somewhere. On some level, this is true. Onthe other hand, the opportunity to travel home is one that should not beignored. One does not have an experience, really, until he/she reflects onit, and this is part of going home. So rather than being a burden, this 30-hour bus ride has been a blessing—a chance to continue to get to knowpeople and to process, or try to process, all we have seen and heard.

It seems that more than the work we did during our time in Biloxi, ourgreater service was guarding people’s stories. We heard the great trials andagony of those who worked in the morgue after Katrina. By going home,caring for those around us, and sharing these stories, we will guard thestories of those who suffered through this disaster. More than clearingbrush, painting, or scrubbing, it was crucial that we took the time to valuethe experiences of those who suffered so much. It was a service to hear AJtalk about the importance of his camp. It was a service to hear Jack tell ofthe struggles of those living in FEMA trailers. We heard the stories ofspelling tests and possible “reward movies” by the elementary students wevisited. There is no way we can begin to understand their pain or theirexperiences, but we can listen, and in doing so, we show them they matterjust as they showed us that we mattered by cooking and caring for us withthe utmost hospitality.

On some level, our trip home is when the journey starts. Who aroundus is also suffering, and how do we get to the root of this pain? Whoaround us has a story to tell that no one has listened to? How can we be insolidarity with those on the coast who are trying to rebuild their lives?There is still work to do. We’ve only just begun.

Jeanette Clark ’07 is pursuing a degree in metro-urban studies, and youth andfamily ministry. She is a student leader in Campus Ministry and the CampusKitchen at Augsburg.

Guarding people’s storiesby Jeanette Clark ’07

Over spring break, 35 Augsburg students joined with students from GrandView College in Des Moines, Iowa, for a trip to Biloxi, Miss., to help withhurricane relief sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America(ELCA). Students posted daily journal entries on Augsburg’s website; thefollowing is a portion of Jeanette Clark’s journal from the last day of the trip.

The GoldenFisherman

According to the volunteer coordinators at Lutheran Episcopal

Disaster Relief in Biloxi, Miss., Mondays start slow. So, to quell their

nervous energy, some students got on the bus for a quick tour of the

damage that Hurricane Katrina caused. Even after nine months the

destruction is awe-inspiring. The U.S. Highway 90 bridge, which once

spanned the 1.5 miles between Biloxi and Ocean Springs, looks like a

set of dominos. “The Golden Fisherman,” a sculpture by Harry Reeks,

has only its feet connected to the cement base, with the rest of the

eight-foot brass-and-copper figure thrown 20 feet from its home.

—Stephen Geffre, Staff Photographer

2211 Riverside AvenueMinneapolis, MN 55454

Non—Profit Org.U.S. PostagePAIDMinneapolis, MNPermit No. 2031

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Full name Maiden name Class year or last year attended

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Street address

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________City State Zip

Is this a new address? � Yes � No ________________________________________________________________________________Home telephone E-mail � Okay to publish your e-mail address?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Employer Position Work telephone

Is spouse also a graduate of Augsburg College? � Yes � No If yes, class year_______________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Spouse name Maiden name

Your news: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Send us your newsand photos!Please tell us about the news inyour life, your new job, move,marriage, and births. Don’t forgetto send photos!

For news of a death, printednotice is required, e.g. anobituary, funeral notice, orprogram from a memorial service.

Send your news items, photos, orchange of address by mail to:Augsburg Now Class Notes,Augsburg College, CB 146, 2211 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis,MN, 55454, or e-mail to<alumni@augsburg.edu>.