“Knowing that light will pour through the tall glass of the Hagfors Center, and that��people will pass through the reflected shape of the notes of this stirring hymn, ties the��whole idea of the building together for me. Science, business, and religion, drawn together��in space, time, and rhythm of the ages,” said �鶹�� President Paul C. Pribbenow, who,��with his wife, Abigail Crampton Pribbenow, sponsored the artwork.

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Minasie Theophilos

When members of the team learned that Theophilos’ mother had died in Ethiopia—a home��Theophilos hasn’t seen for nearly 35 years—and that Theophilos missed her funeral because he didn’t��have the money to visit, the team created a fundraiser.

In less than 48 hours, the players and Auggies��worldwide raised thousands of dollars for��Theophilos to use to visit his family. Today, Theophilos and his wife are planning a��trip to see his father and their families, thanks��to a special friendship with the �鶹����athletes he has supported for decades.

“In the category of ‘you raised ’em right,’��we give you the kids of the �鶹�� hockey team.”

—

[Top image]: After a morning practice, goaltender Jordyn Kaufer ’17 and members of the �鶹�� men’s��hockey team presented Theophilos with a check for $5,000. In comments aired on��, Kaufer told Theophilos the sum was, “A token to give you thanks for your��selflessness, your service, your care to the rink and the guys.”

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Visit to find ticket, presenter, and schedule information.

[Top image]:��Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution was a��victory for its people and marked a push��toward a pluralistic government.��Cite El Habib, Tunisia. 2013.��Photo by Amine Ghrabi.

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In the six months since the April 29 groundbreaking, McGough Construction and its subcontractors have completed the concrete work for the partial basement and most of the four floors of the north wing, and the three floors of the west wing. As the cement work has finished, the team has undertaken installation of electrical conduit, plumbing, and framing for interior walls.

The Hagfors Center brings together the study of global business, advanced science and technology, and religious dialogue. It is home to eight academic departments:

• Biology
• Business
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Psychology
• Religion

Structural rendering of the Hagfors Center courtesy of McGough Construction

Web extra

Weekly construction updates are available on the Hagfors Center website.

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President Paul Pribbenow met with leaders of the Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial board to discuss Minnesota’s educational achievement gap among children and youth of diverse backgrounds. The state has one of the largest achievement gaps in the nation, and �鶹�� is working to ensure all students of academic ability have access to higher education. The College’s pledge to this work includes limited debt pathways to graduation, setting aside dedicated housing for homeless students, increasing financial aid literacy, supporting faculty in creating inclusive classrooms, and increasing access to course materials.

The College was applauded for this leadership through a compelling editorial, “�鶹�� College leads the call for campus equity,” written and published by the Star Tribune editorial board on Aug. 30.

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The four-year grant is part of NSF’s work to address the need for a high-quality, diverse workforce. With a traditional undergraduate student body that is more than 35 percent persons of color, �鶹�� is well positioned to support this goal. The program provides direct financial support, delivers hands-on learning, offers research opportunities, and pairs each student with a faculty mentor. Research shows this combination of hands-on learning and close mentorship is highly effective in helping students leave college ready for graduate school and the workplace.

Top image: The AugSTEM Scholars Program, funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation, supports students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The scholars participated in Zyzzogeton, a celebration of student research.

Editor’s Note: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 1565060 and 1154096. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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The reimagined Strommen Engagement Series was created in collaboration with MPR as part of the “Conversations on the Creative Economy” program hosted by Chris Farrell. He is a senior economics contributor at Marketplace, American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio business and personal finance program.

For the 2016-17 academic year, MPR and �鶹�� will explore:

• Living in Recovery—Working in a Culture of Alcohol: A discussion on the health cost to a business when employees are chemically dependent and how professionals in recovery are working to remove the stigma of addiction and the culture of drinking in business.
• Global Food in a Farm-to-Table World: A discussion on how companies are adapting to environmental and consumer demands to be more sustainable and still grow food for 7 billion people.
• Worship in the Workplace: A discussion about the business advantages of accommodating the faith traditions of employees and how leaders navigate these situations.
• Banking on the Unbankable: A discussion on how financial institutions create both a business product and a social good for people who traditionally would not have access to financial tools.

Web extra:

Learn more about upcoming events and get tickets at

Photo by Lee George, assistant director of Corporate and Foundation Relations

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• President’s Interfaith and Community Service Honor Roll—Finalist with Distinction: �鶹�� College was one of five finalists in the United States named to the prestigious President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction in the interfaith community service category. This is the seventh year the College has earned this recognition.
• Best Regional Universities by U.S. News & World Report: U.S. News & World Report named �鶹�� one of the best universities in the Midwest. Rankings are based on factors including average first-year retention rates, graduation rates, class sizes, student-to-faculty ratios, acceptance rates, and more.
• �鶹�� recognized for being student-centered: The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education ranked �鶹�� No. 2 in Minnesota for student engagement in the learning process in their inaugural ranking of U.S. colleges and universities. The student engagement score is based largely on results of a student survey that addressed how challenging classes are, whether they foster critical thinking and prompt students to make connections to the real world, and how much interaction the students have with faculty and other students.
• 50 Best Disability Friendly Colleges and Universities: College Choice ranked �鶹�� No. 13 of the 50 Best Disability Friendly Colleges and Universities in 2016 for having strong programming and solid support services that meet the physical, social, and academic requirements of students with learning disabilities and special needs.
• Best LGBT Friendly Colleges and Universities: College Choice ranked �鶹�� among the 50 Best LGBT Friendly Colleges and Universities in 2016 for having a strong and proven history of creating quality programming for the LGBT community and its allies.

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The work he and his wife, Sylvia, devoted to guiding the , the Sabo Scholars program, and the annual Sabo Symposium—all of which create opportunities for civic experiences and skill-building inside and outside the classroom—will leave a lasting legacy at �鶹��.

�鶹�� College President Paul C. Pribbenow said that Sabo’s “life-long commitment to public service is an inspiration to all of us. The Sabo Center gives �鶹�� the ongoing opportunity to celebrate the life and work of our dear friend.”

One year after graduating from �鶹�� College, Sabo—then 22—was elected to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives. During his tenure, he became the first member of the Democrat-Farmer-Labor party to serve as Speaker of the House—a post he held from 1973-78. He went on to serve for 28 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, retiring in 2007.

At the same time that Sabo served in Congress, he volunteered 12 years to �鶹�� College as a member of the Board of Regents. The College named Sabo a Distinguished Alumnus and awarded him its first-ever honorary degree. Sabo was distinguished in all he undertook and, in 2006, was appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for outstanding work and dedication to Norwegian-American relations.

Congressman Sabo and Sylvia Sabo are parents of Auggies Karin Mantor ’86 and Julie Sabo ’90.

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Certainly, �鶹�� was given a great and generous gift this winter when the College was awarded a prestigious three-year Lilly Endowment Inc. grant of $467,000 for the Youth Theology Institute. This residential summer camp program explores deep and meaningful questions of faith and vocation through classes, service work, and reflection. The competitive grant ensures that this program will continue the work of helping young people discern their vocations.

Kalina’s homily was part of a visit to her home state of Minnesota to pursue the next step in her vocational journey: Attending seminary to become ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The journey of this youth and family ministry graduate, however, started in the the summer of 2010 when she was a junior in high school in Perham, Minnesota. It was then that she attended �鶹��’s Youth Theology Institute at the encouragement of her youth pastor.

“I would grill my youth director about everything. He had heard about the �鶹�� College Youth Theology Institute, and he encouraged me to attend because I just couldn’t stop asking questions,” Kalina said. “At the Institute, I was challenged and pushed to think about and explain what I actually think about faith.”

Diverse experiences��in a diverse ZIP code

The 13-year-old Youth Theology Institute engages young people in grades 10-12 in deep theological questions and vocational discernment through community-based and classroom learning, worship, reflection, and solitude. The program, which has touched more than 200 young people since its inception, is an example of how �鶹�� College lives out its vision to educate people for lives of purpose across disciplines and beyond the classroom.

“This grant supports �鶹��’s continued commitment to intentional diversity and to modeling what it means to be a Lutheran college of the 21st century, located in the heart of one of the nation’s most diverse ZIP codes. It equips young people with theological and vocational skills and helps them learn what it means to practice their faith, with its commitments to education, radical hospitality, and serving your neighbor,” said �鶹�� College

Learn, pray, and play together ��

Since its inception in 2004, the Youth Theology Institute—a program of �鶹��’s Bernhard M. Christensen Center for Vocation—has explored themes germane not only to the College, but also to current events.

�鶹��’s emphasis on interdisciplinary learning shaped the 2015 program, which explored interfaith action, a deeply compelling topic for participants and the College, particularly given �鶹��’s setting in the midst of a neighborhood with a growing Muslim population.

The Lilly grant will allow the �鶹�� College Youth Theology Institute to expand upon its history of success while increasing programmatic goals, including:

• Development of a cohort of youth ministers from regional churches, synods, and multicultural and ethnic-specific congregations, interested in enhancing vocational discernment and theological reflection among youth.
• Growth in the number of participants from 20 in 2016 to 40 by 2019 while also strengthening relationships with attendees, their families, their pastors, and their churches.
• The creation of a mentor program to allow college-age students to help high school students develop practices and skills for theological reflection.
• An increase in connections to the four synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that form �鶹��’s governing structure—Minneapolis, St. Paul, Southeastern Minnesota, and Northwest Wisconsin.
• Continuation of scholarships for Youth Theology Institute alumni to attend �鶹�� College.

Participants in the program are respectfully challenged in every activity to dig deep into their perspectives and biases to uncover their beliefs.

“We learn together, pray together, play together, explore the city together, and discern God’s work in our world together,” said Associate Professor of Religion , the Youth Theology Institute program director.

For her part, Kalina hopes the grant prompts others like her to find their paths.

“Young people are so eager to learn,” Kalina said. “But if there is nothing at home to welcome their questioning or to guide them, it is difficult. Home church congregations have to be involved. Participation from our churches provides a chance for all of us to show young people that abundance exists in Christian community and that abundance is meant to be shared with everyone.”

�鶹�� College will welcome the 2016 class of Youth Theology Institute students to campus from June 19–24. Participants from across the country will explore meaningful questions related to social and environmental justice, the role of the congregation in these questions, and how one can both love and be frustrated by community.

[Top Image]: Amber Kalina ’15 serves Abundant Life Together, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This Alt Year program in Toledo, Ohio, provides young adults a chance to explore in community subjects including vocation through reflection, leadership, relationships, and service.

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