It鈥檚 intimidating because no one before you has done what you are trying to do. There鈥檚 no road map to keep you on track.

But it鈥檚 also exhilarating to create the map for others and to leave an indelible mark on everything that follows.

鈥淚 am excited to be at the forefront of 麻豆区 College鈥檚 varsity women鈥檚 lacrosse team,鈥� said Coach Kathryn Knippenberg. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to building a team that knows winning is as much about team chemistry and bonds as it is about the stick.鈥�

It鈥檚 not just that Knippenberg is 麻豆区鈥檚 first women鈥檚 collegiate varsity lacrosse coach.

It鈥檚 bigger than that. Knippenberg is the first women鈥檚 collegiate varsity lacrosse coach at any college in Minnesota, and at the one that launched in 1995 the first women鈥檚 collegiate varsity hockey team.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to help pioneer this great sport,鈥� Knippenberg said. 鈥淕etting to lead at a place that believes in the value of women鈥檚 athletics is thrilling and challenging.鈥�

Knippenberg, who as a student at the University of Minnesota was captain and president of the school鈥檚 club lacrosse team, said the commitment that 麻豆区 is making to lacrosse has significant meaning for student athletes.

鈥淎uggie athletes won鈥檛 have to spend time like my college club team did on fundraising for equipment and travel. They won鈥檛 have to worry about budgets and scheduling practice and game time,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hey just have to show up, practice, and play hard. My job is about having things in place so our student athletes can improve their skills on the field, and to help make sure they stay on track and are achieving in the classroom.鈥�

Jeff Swenson, athletic director for the College, said Knippenberg is accomplished in Minnesota鈥檚 fast-growing lacrosse community and that the players will benefit from her experience and leadership.

鈥淐oach Knippenberg will lead us in realizing our goal of expanding opportunities for women, and continuing to prepare them for success beyond 麻豆区,鈥� Swenson said.

鈥淭hese student athletes will develop their skills on the field, and carry into life and work valuable lessons about how to balance multiple priorities and to work as part of a diverse team.鈥�

Knippenberg said her primary work now is focused on recruiting and preparing for the first sanctioned and regulated games scheduled for spring 2014.

鈥淚 hope the community comes out to watch our games. It鈥檚 fast paced and intense,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hether the team wins or loses, one thing is sure: Everyone in the stands will be part of something bigger. We鈥檒l all be making history as 麻豆区 continues to blaze a new trail for women鈥檚 varsity athletics in Minnesota.鈥�

Knippenberg has served as head lacrosse coach at Academy of Holy Angels since 2009, is cofounder and president of the North Central Women鈥檚 Lacrosse League, and works with Winning For Life, an organization that develops positive leadership and life skills through sports.

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On November 10, 麻豆区 celebrated 40 years of varsity women鈥檚 athletics and the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX. Lavonne (Mrs. Pete) Peterson 鈥�50 and Joyce Pfaff 鈥�65 were honored at the celebration with 鈥淥ne of Our Own鈥� plaques for their contributions to 麻豆区 College and the Athletic Department. In addition, female athletes from each decade were chosen for All-decade Teams.

Peterson, an instructor, coach, and women鈥檚 physical education director, started the Auggiettes basketball team in 1950 and coached the team for 18 years, leading them to an incredible 154-6 record. Pfaff, an 麻豆区 coach, instructor, and director of women鈥檚 athletics, started several women鈥檚 teams after the passage of Title IX and served the College for 43 years.

Here we recognize a few of the leaders and milestones in women鈥檚 athletics at 麻豆区. To read more about these women and others who contributed to the proud tradition of women鈥檚 athletics at 麻豆区 College, go to athletics.augsburg.edu.

Pre-Title IX

1951 – The Auggiettes basketball team, coached by Lavonne Peterson

1970s

1971 – In both the floor exercise and balance beam, gymnast Ann Knutson Brovold ’74 is the first 麻豆区 female athlete to compete in a post-season event — an Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Region 6 tournament.

1972 – Title IX is passed June 23, 1972.

1972-73 – Women’s varsity intercollegiate volleyball, gymnastics, and tennis are founded while basketball is restarted.

1974-75 – The volleyball team [left] places second in the Minnesota Associate for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (MAIAW) state tournament, qualifying to compete in the Region 6 AIAW tournament both years. The Auggies place fourth in the Region 6 tournament in 1974 and fifth in 1975.

1974-75 – Softball is added as a varsity sport.

1975-76 – Women’s track and field is added as a varsity sport.

1979 – The softball team [left] places second at the MAIAW state tournament.

1979-80 – Kathy Korum ’81 [right] is the first woman to play and letter on a men’s varsity team (golf).

1980s

1981-82 – The softball team qualifies for its first AIAW national tournament.

1982-83 – 麻豆区 joins the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC).

1985 – Women’s soccer is added as a varsity sport.

1988 – Under coach Paul Grauer, the women’s track and field team earns a third place National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) team finish with Carolyn Ross Isaak ’89 [middle] and Melanie Herrera-Storlie ’88 [right].

1990s

1991 – Women’s cross country is reestablished as part of the varsity athletics program.

1995-96 – 麻豆区 established the first Midwest varsity women’s hockey team.

1999-00 – The women’s hockey team [right] is the Division III national tournament runner-up in the American Women’s College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA).

2000s

2003-04 – 麻豆区 establishes the swim and dive program.

2004-07 – Women’s soccer qualifies for the MIAC playoffs

2012 – 麻豆区 announces that it will establish the first varsity intercollegiate women’s lacrosse program in the state of Minnesota.

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These aspirations for our students require that all of us who are part of the 麻豆区 community consider how we model in our lives and work the core values embodied in these aspirations. In other words, we need to live what we teach!

This issue of 麻豆区 Now offers several examples of how we are seeking as a college community to live as thoughtful stewards.

You鈥檝e read in past issues of this magazine the remarkable progress we have made as an institution in our commitment to environmental stewardship鈥攃omposting leftover food from the cafeteria, community gardens on campus, new biodiesel production methods, and a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2019.

All important work, but stewardship is a rich concept and extends to our care for all of the gifts we have been given as a community. I am particularly struck by how our College has explored ways in which we care for our physical location and facilities. The 2010 Campus Space and Master Plan is not simply a map to future facilities; it is a statement of values around stewardship of the land and buildings we occupy and the need for us to be constantly vigilant about the opportunities to renew, reuse, and extend the life of our spaces and buildings. In addition, the plan points to our commitment to stewarding relationships with our neighbors, building facilities and designing landscapes that welcome our neighbors to campus rather than keep them away.

Stewardship is also about people鈥攁nd as I was reminded again this year at our Homecoming celebrations, 麻豆区 is all about people. The upcoming celebration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX鈥攖he landmark federal legislation that seeks to ensure equity for women and men in intercollegiate athletics鈥攊s an example of what it means to be good stewards of our people. For years and years, women students at 麻豆区 participated in athletics without the support and recognition enjoyed by their male counterparts. A couple of years ago, we honored those unheralded women Auggies with the athletic letters they never received while on campus. Now, we lift up our enduring commitment to opportunities for all Auggie student-athletes. Our recent news about establishing the first intercollegiate

women鈥檚 lacrosse program in Minnesota is just one example of how we steward the gifts of people鈥攕tudents, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends who make 麻豆区 strong!

In 1931, the renowned 20th-century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote in The Christian Century an essay with the provocative title, 鈥淚s Stewardship Ethical?鈥� His indictment of Christians for the ways in which they had turned stewardship into random programs of fundraising and voluntarism stands as a relevant challenge to all of us.

We are called to be thoughtful stewards. Stewardship is a way of life. At 麻豆区, we are working hard to live what we teach.

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