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When it comes to community involvement and leadership, Auggies rock.

That’s why Augsburg is the only Minnesota college or university invited to participate in the Bon Jovi Community Service College Campaign when the internationally known rock band stops at the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday, April 7, for its “Because We Can” tour.

This campaign is “a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to partner with Augsburg College on it,” said Xcel Energy Center Vice President and General Manager Jack Larson. “The College’s mission, with a distinct focus on service learning, was a perfect fit for the program.”

Bon Jovi has a firm commitment to community and opened up its 2013 tour production to six Augsburg students [pictured] who champion volunteer efforts and demonstrate exemplary community leadership skills.

In February, Augsburg received extremely strong applications and nominations for the Bon Jovi campaign, and a half dozen students were selected for the program from a highly competitive applicant pool.

A history of community engagement

Augsburg students amplify their college education with opportunities that encourage them to connect with the community in a powerful way, according to Andrea Batt ’13, one of the students selected for the Bon Jovi program.

The Augsburg students chosen to participate in the Bon Jovi program have extensive volunteer, leadership, and community engagement experience that includes participating in the College’s program; planning Alternative Spring Break trips; teaching and tutoring neighborhood youth; founding national recovery organizations; leading co-curricular activities; serving on student government boards, and joining numerous other groups.

Those who “teach, work, and go to school [at Augsburg] are a really special breed of people who are passionate about being involved in the

community,” said James “Bear” Mahowald ’13, another Bon Jovi program participant. “It is definitely an environment that fosters active community members and passionate human beings.”

For international student Alom Martinez Aleman ’13, civic engagement and volunteer work linked to Augsburg has helped her to develop a sense of belonging in a new community, to “feel at home away from home,” and to learn about American culture. “I meet a lot of awesome people,” she said. “And, I feel that being engaged with your community makes your college experience much more rewarding.”

As proof of the College’s commitment to community engagement, Augsburg College last month was named for the fourth time to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and, in 2010, won the , the highest honor possible for service work.

“Augsburg students understand the important links between education and service,” said Augsburg College President Paul Pribbenow. “We are recognized nationally and internationally for this work, and it’s because of the effort of students such as the six who will be at the Bon Jovi concert.”

Students gain career experience

On the day of the concert, Batt, Mahowald, and Martinez Aleman will join Auggies Alex Jamieson ’14, Thu Nguyen ’15, and Morgan Waldorf ’15 to work with the Bon Jovi production team and to gain hands-on experience in public relations, media, management, and ticketing.

“Helping with the Bon Jovi tour will offer me the chance to work with a professional marketing team, which is a great experience for my major,” Nguyen said. “I have been counting down the days to the concert.”

Waldorf is also excited for the chance to help with the Bon Jovi tour. “I’m hoping to have a career in public relations within the music business,” she said. “This is the perfect opportunity to gain experience working with a big band on a huge tour and see everything that goes into it.”

Jamieson said service experience allows her to connect concepts from her classroom education with their application in her future career. And, as a business administration: music business major, she sees the behind-the-scenes Bon Jovi program as an unmatched opportunity.

“I can’t believe I actually get to take part in such a unique program,” Jamieson said. “I’m excited to gain first-hand experience in what I’m studying about the music industry.”

Augsburg students also are learning what it’s like to be interviewed by media professionals assigned to cover their involvement in the Bon Jovi program. The on campus March 29, visited the KARE11 studio April 3, and will appear in other interview segments scheduled to air this week.

Plus, the Auggies will see all the elements of the Bon Jovi’s tour production come together when the band takes the stage for a performance at the Xcel this Sunday and will watch some of the concert from an area designated for local media.

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“Preparing students to participate in our democracy and providing them with opportunities to take on local and global issues in their course work are as central to the mission of education as boosting college completion and closing the achievement gap,” said Eduardo Ochoa, the U.S. Department of Education’s assistant secretary for postsecondary education.

Last year, Augsburg achieved the highest honor possible when it was one of six institutions to earn the Presidential Award for Community Service. Augsburg was the first, and remains the only, Minnesota school to receive the honor.

“Consistently being named to the Honor Roll certainly is gratifying testament to the work of staff, students, and faculty,” said Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow. “We know that learning retention soars to 75 percent when practiced by doing, and so this is an important piece of an Auggie education. We also know it is we who are richer for the experience of educating students not only for professions and careers, but also for lives of meaning and purpose in a city and world marked by urgent need for informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.”

Augsburg College students engaged in programs including the:

• President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge to help students explore and develop roles as public leaders around interfaith literacy and action through community service projects.
• Health Commons at Dar Ul-Quba, a drop-in center dedicated to the Cedar-Riverside community of Minneapolis.
• Bonner Leader program that pairs Augsburg students with nonprofit community organizations.
• Student-led Campus Kitchen that served 23,000 meals to people in need for the year ending in June 2011.
• Augsburg Community Garden, which provides community garden plots, education about nutrition, and support for local farmers through community-supported agriculture.

A total of 642 college and universities applied for the 2012 Honor Roll. Augsburg is one of two Minnesota private colleges named to the Honor Roll with Distinction. The other is the College of St. Benedict.

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The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognizes institutions for their commitment to and achievement in community service. The President’s Honor Roll increases the public’s awareness of the contributions that colleges and their students make to local communities and the nation as a whole.

“Community service is embedded in the very notion of being an Auggie,” said Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow. “Students at Augsburg represent many backgrounds and come from diverse faiths, countries, and life experiences. That richness is bound together in our shared commitment to serving our neighbor in our urban Minneapolis location or around the world.”

The Honor Roll recognizes more than 600 colleges and universities for exemplary, innovative, and effective community service programs. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses. Augsburg was selected for top honors from among more than 850 applicants.

“I’m very proud of the students and faculty of Augsburg and they should be proud of this Presidential Award,” said U.S. Sen. Al Franken. “Their dedication to serving their community stands as an example to other colleges and universities all over the country.”

The other Presidential Awardees are Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.; San Francisco State University; Loyola University in Chicago, Ill.; St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Tex.; and California State University in Monterey Bay, Calif.

Serving the Community

Much of Augsburg’s community service takes place in course-embedded service learning. At Augsburg, deliberate incorporation of experiential education, service-learning and civic engagement significantly enriches the curriculum and learning experiences of students, resulting in learners with broader worldviews and stronger neighboring communities. All incoming freshmen participate in City Service Day on the day before classes begin in the fall. Through City Service Day, course-based service-learning, and other programs, more than 1,700 students contributed nearly 200,000 hours of community service during the 2009-2010 school year.

Every year, more than 35 courses at Augsburg include a course-embedded service-learning component. Students average 25 hours per semester in service-learning experience directly connected to course objectives and learning goals. Augsburg’s service-learning partners are in schools and community organizations in the inner city of Minneapolis. The majority of these sites serve refugee and immigrant populations within a mile of the campus.

As further evidence of the College’s commitment to service, all 570 benefits eligible employees get two days paid leave each year to use for community service.

Student, faculty and staff volunteers (over 300 per year) serve approximately 2,000 meals per month through the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College. This student-run program rescues surplus food from campus food service, food banks, local farmers and farmers’ markets and prepares it into meals for low-income community members. The program provides nutritious, balanced, and free meals to local community partners as well as nutrition education programming to youth organizations. This highly successful program is one of only 20 in the nation.

Augsburg College is in its third year of the Bonner Leaders Program. Through the program, students develop deep community relationships and engage in long-term policy advocacy throughout their four years at Augsburg College. The 40 Bonner Leaders were students with diverse ethnic and geographical backgrounds who took on unique community-leadership roles. Through service placements with non-profit community organizations, each student worked an average of 325 hours over the course of the academic year supporting ELL classrooms, running an employment education computer lab, coordinating a low-income housing program, providing community health outreach, and working with a financial literacy program. The Bonner Leaders have provided 13,000 hours of community service work in the last three years.

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Adam came to the U.S. from Kenya as a refugee in 2004. At the age of 16, he was hired to work as a janitor at a youth drop-in center. “Close to half of the youth had compromised housing,” he says. “Many were African Americans, GLBT, and living below the poverty line.” In a short time, Adam found himself taking on more and more responsibility, helping youth find more permanent housing.

Then he was asked to serve on the center’s board of directors and assist with an effort to pass Minnesota Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. He testified in front of Minnesota Legislature’s Health & Human Services committee, and the act was passed that session. It was the first legislation in Minnesota dedicated to supporting homeless youth.

This past spring, Adam was awarded a Point Foundation scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to undergraduates who are interested in influencing public policy. Adam is one of 25 recipients selected from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants. He is the only awardee attending college in Minnesota.

Adam will work with a mentor to develop a community service project. He says he is interested in creating a project that will combine his passions for education, access to housing, and helping youth who have been marginalized because of their gender or sexuality.

“The Point Foundation is interested in helping people who have potential to do great things,” Adam says. “I am glad they see that potential in me and that I have the opportunity to do this project.”

At Augsburg, Adam is in the TRIO/SSS program and is a McNair scholar, a Sabo scholar, and a North Star STEM scholar. He also received a Soul Essence community leadership award for his work with the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.

As a Sabo Scholar, Adam is working on a project with Sabo Professor Garry Hesser. Their work will culminate in an Oct. 15 panel discussion at Augsburg focused on how recent healthcare legislation will affect the public.

Adam says that his educational and volunteer experiences have taught him that getting involved is sometimes simply a matter of asking. “I asked about the Sabo program, and the next thing I knew I was meeting Martin Sabo. I never thought I could meet with people who have legislative power or that I could get help from people who could make my public policy dreams come true.”

Adam is planning to go to graduate school for statistics or economics. He wants to use quantitative tools to help inform policy making at both the federal and state level.

Sabo Center Public Policy Symposium

Healthcare reform: What will it mean for you and the nation?

Friday, Oct. 15, 2010

4:30 p.m.

Foss Center, Augsburg College

Panelists include:

Donna Zimmerman, Sr. Vice President of Government and Community Relations HealthPartners

Dr. Sanne Magnan, Commissioner Minnesota Dept of Health

Dr. Bruce Amundson, President of Community Health Innovations Inc. and Assistant Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine.

Moderated by Martin Sabo.

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City Service Day has become an Augsburg tradition that not only helps students learn about the community but also introduces them to organizations where they can continue to serve and learn throughout their education.

The Star Tribune’s Jenna Ross followed AugSem X to Matthews Community Center and talked with Auggies including our own President Pribbenow. Read the front-page story: Starting out and giving back.

More than 400 students and student leaders, faculty, and President’s Cabinet members volunteered at 23 schools and community organizations. They contributed more than 1,500 service hours by cleaning, painting, gardening, and more at the following sites:

Simpson Shelter

In the Heart of the Beast Theatre

Korean Peace Garden

Brian Coyle Community Center

Dowling Environmental School

Holy Rosary Church

Matthew’s Park and Recreation Center

Seward Montessori School

People’s Center

Trinity Congregation

Bedlam Theatre

Cedar Cultural Center

Waite House

Rose Ensemble

MN Center for Media Arts

MN Indian Women’s Resource Center

Seward Community Support Program

Bethany Lutheran Church

Midtown Greenway Coalition

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This week, staff and students volunteered their time in four different projects in the community. Thanks to everyone who helped make these community service days a success!

Feed My Starving Children

On Monday, 15 volunteers from Augsburg boxed 109 boxes of pre-packaged food to feed 65 kids for one full year. The food they packaged will be sent to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Gardens

Members of the Augsburg community spent two mornings this week working in gardens. On Monday, the greenhouse in Augsburg’s Community Garden was weeded and new mulch and compost was laid. On Tuesday, additional volunteers headed over to the Korean Community Peace Gardens in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood to weed. There they learned about the history of the garden and the special plantings that are done there from one of the leaders of the Korean community.

Project Linus

On Tuesday afternoon, a group of 10 crafty Auggies cut and stitched quilts for Project Linus, an organization that distributes handmade blankets to children who are hospitalized or in shelters. The completed Augsburg quilts will be sent to Project Linus headquarters in Illinois before being distributed to children.

Books for Africa

Eight Augsburg volunteers spent Wednesday morning at the Books for Africa warehouse in St. Paul sorting books to be sent to schools and libraries in Africa. The books and textbooks are donated from local schools and libraries and volunteers. Books for Africa staff work to organize and pack books for shipments.

Inside Augsburg showcases the experiences of Augsburg College students, alumni, staff, and faculty. Send your story idea to marcomm@augsburg.edu.

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That total is the equivalent of 2,791 24-hour days or 8,375 eight-hour work days, a staggering total for a college with 2,000 Day College undergraduates and 4,000 total students.

That commitment to the community and the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is part of the reason why Augsburg was named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction. While Augsburg is listed by U.S. News and & World Report as one of the top 25 schools in the country for service learning and has received the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement, the President’s Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition an institution can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

Augsburg is the only college or university in Minnesota and one of only four ELCA institutions named to the Distinction list. Institutions were chosen based on a number of factors including the scope and innovation of service projects, the percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service learning courses.

“We are very proud and honored to be included in the Presidential Honor Roll,” Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow said. “Civic work and serving our neighbor are at the core of Augsburg’s efforts to educate students for democracy.”

Last school year, 900 Augsburg students participated in service learning and 1,200 students participated in more than 20 hours of community service per semester. Much of Augsburg’s community service takes place in course-embedded service learning. In addition, Bonner Leaders, who are paired with non-profit community organizations, contributed nearly 5,000 hours of service while students involved in Campus Kitchen volunteered more than 3,000 hours of their time.

Nationally, college students make a significant contribution to the volunteer sector. In 2009, 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according to a study done by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Other ELCA institutions named to the Distinction list were Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.; Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Fourteen other Minnesota institutions were listed on the broader Honor Roll.

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St. Martin’s Table was started in 1984 as the first visible outward ministry of the Community of St. Martin, a worship community that meets now in the Trinity Lutheran Congregation space at the corner of Riverside and 22nd Avenues.

Garry Hesser, professor of sociology and director of Augsburg’s Sabo Center, and his wife were original members of the Community of St. Martin. Hesser says, “No story should ever be written about their 25th without noting that it was Trinity that provided the space at well below market rate as it embraced St. Martin’s mission and service to the West Bank.”

Tom Witt, another of the original members of Community of St. Martin, was also an Augsburg staff member for eight years in the Center for Global Education. Witt served on St. Martin’s Support Group (board) for the first 11 years. “The Table was dreamed up to be a peace education center that represented the values of St. Martin and how people of faith work for peace and justice in their lives,” he says.

The St. Martin’s Table restaurant serves organic, natural foods—tasty homemade soups, breads, spreads, and desserts—Monday through Friday for lunch. Volunteer servers donate their tips to support local and global hunger issues. Over the years, they have raised $660,000 for hunger organizations including Augsburg’s Campus Kitchen program.

“We always saw the proximity to Augsburg as being a plus,” Witt adds. “And I think Augsburg has also seen this as a companion ministry to their work in the community.”

The connections to Augsburg are numerous: Students participate in service learning projects there. Norm Ferguson, a former sociology professor, volunteered every day at The Table as do many current faculty and staff members and their partners. Mary Laurel True of the Sabo Center formerly served on the Support Group, and Michelle Braley, a social work professor, currently serves.

And, of course, many members of the Augsburg community visit St. Martin’s Table daily to enjoy a healthy and delicious lunch.

“Students get to know the community there,” True says. “It’s a wonderful place for our community to gather.”

St. Martin’s Table 25th Anniversary

Friday, December 4 – Free cake when you purchase lunch at the Table, 7:30 p.m. concert featuring Ray Makeever and the Heartland Band

Saturday, December 5 – Peace Pole dedication and performance by Caritas, an a cappella choral music group, 3 p.m.

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Factors considered include the scope and innovation of service projects, the percentage of student who participate and the extent to which service-learning courses are offered.

Of the 528 colleges named, Augsburg was among 127 that were specially honored “with distinction.” In addition, nine colleges received special awards for extraordinary service and special achievement.

At Augsburg, for example, even before starting classes, all first-year students participate in City Service Projects Day. In September, more than 400 students volunteered 1,340 hours at varied locations in the College’s neighborhood and in the city on that day.

Another example is the Campus Kitchen at Augsburg, in which student-led teams transform surplus food into meals that are delivered and served at neighborhood centers. Each year roughly 18,000 meals are served in partnership with 10 community agencies, as students give more than 5,000 volunteer hours.

“Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship in the workforce,” said Margaret Spelling, U.S. secretary of education. “We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic, and economic future of our country.”

The Honor Roll is sponsored jointly by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, Campus Compact and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

For more information on Augsburg’s community service and service-learning programs, go to the Center for Service, Work, and Learning at .

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