{"id":48060,"date":"2021-03-10T19:48:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T19:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/?p=48060"},"modified":"2021-03-10T19:48:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T19:48:01","slug":"supporting-global-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/2021\/03\/10\/supporting-global-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Global Education"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lee<\/a>
Lee ’88 and John Roper-Batker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lee \u201988 and John planned early on in their lives to give back to a program that affected them so dramatically: Augsburg\u2019s Center for Global Education and Experience (CGEE).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where we met and fell in love! John was a student at Pacific Lutheran and I was at Augsburg,\u201d says Lee. “Our experiences in the program allowed us to recognize our shared values and commitment to equity, while enjoying life.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Lee and John made lifelong friends through their CGEE trip to Central America, people who are still their good friends today. Their experience had a major impact on both of their careers. Before the trip, John planned on getting his PhD in plant ecology and doing research. However, he was so drawn to what he learned in Central America that he decided to become a teacher instead. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudying Freire and seeing the impact of liberating education in Mexico and Nicaragua opened my eyes to what education can bring about in a person\u2019s life. CGEE allowed me to see teaching as an impactful, inspiring career,\u201d says John.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Lee, the experience reinforced everything she was already doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was committed to advance gender and racial equity and justice. CGEE helped me realize the importance of listening to communities and centering their wisdom as the foundation of change. I also witnessed the courage to act. I have applied these principles throughout my career,\u201d says Lee.<\/span><\/p>\n

CGEE also impacted how Lee and John would raise their daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a family mission statement! It\u2019s written on a cocktail napkin somewhere\u2026 but basically it\u2019s: create a family that is supportive and provides agency, love, kindness, joy, and growth as we move through the world and do our part to create change,\u201d says Lee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lee and John enrolled their daughter in a global exchange program in Guatemala when she was in high school, where she helped with the local community and learned Spanish. Their daughter, Astia, had such a good experience that she went on to do a semester in Ecuador during college. Both of these experiences impacted her life and career in much the same way as her parents. Lee and John are proud that today Astia provides bilingual medical care as a doctor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents raised me with the practice of tithing. I think that\u2019s part of the reason I have a very comfortable relationship with using money as a resource for change. Philanthropy is just tithing on a macro level,\u201d says Lee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Financially, Lee and John barely made their trip to Central America work. Lee was working full time and going to school full time. The reason they are giving back to Augsburg\u2019s CGEE program today is to make the same experience available to students who might not otherwise be able to go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are scholarships and grants that help with tuition, but things like living expenses, incidental money, airline tickets, and lost income from not working are generally not covered and can present a big barrier. We\u2019re delighted to make this gift in the hope that it will help remove barriers. And we hope others will join us in supporting CGEE,\u201d says Lee.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Roper-Batker family wants to use their resources to create more equitable outcomes in this world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, the question is how do you align your values with your philanthropy. It\u2019s important to John and me that our legacy changes systems in order to multiply opportunities for many people; our wealth is not for family inheritance. It feels great to know that we will have a small part in creating a more level playing field so that any student can enjoy the transformative experience of immersion study abroad.”<\/span><\/p>\n

If you are interested in giving back to Augsburg, please visit our giving page:<\/span> https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/how-to-give\/<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all interconnected. We all need each other to survive and to create a world that\u2019s free of violence, with equal opportunities, and full of love and kindness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee \u201988 and John planned early on in their lives to give back to a program that affected them so dramatically: Augsburg\u2019s Center for Global Education and Experience (CGEE). \u201cIt\u2019s where we met and fell in love! John was a student at Pacific Lutheran and I was at Augsburg,\u201d says Lee. “Our experiences in the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":439,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,6,3],"tags":[20,155,148,38,139,50,58,118,31,19,40],"class_list":["post-48060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-recognition","category-gift-announcements","category-giving","category-giving-to-augsburg","tag-alumni","tag-augsburg-alumni","tag-augsburg-university","tag-cgee","tag-donor","tag-endowed-scholarship","tag-gift-announcement","tag-giving","tag-philanthropy","tag-scholarship","tag-study-abroad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/439"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48062,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48060\/revisions\/48062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}