As the story explained, “Under President Paul C. Pribbenow‘s leadership, the college has more than tripled the percentage of minorities in the full undergraduate body. In 2006, there were 11 percent compared to 33 percent in 2016.” The traditional undergraduate graduating class of 2016 is comprised of more than 42 percent students of color — a record achievement for the institution.

Pribbenow said Augsburg has been committed to attracting and supporting students from minority populations for more than a decade and has partnered with college readiness programs to achieve its success.

The broadcast report also included an interview with Robert Harper ’16, an alumnus who described why he values his college experience and the diverse makeup of his graduating class.

Read and watch: on the KARE 11 website.

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The Historyapolis Project (�����Ի���) was created when Delegard, a current scholar-in-residence at Augsburg College, realized that her hometown of Minneapolis was blind to its own tumultuous history, more comfortable planning for the future than confronting the past. Augsburg students are deeply involved with the project, which aims to make the city’s history accessible and helps catalyze community dialogue around challenging aspects of local history.

Delegard holds a doctorate in history from Duke University and is the author of “Battling Miss Bolsheviki: The Origins of Female Conservatism in the United States” (Penn, 2012).  Delegard was also the co-editor, with Nancy A. Hewitt, for the two-volume textbook “Women, Families and Communities: Readings in American History“ (Longman Publishing, 2008). As part of the Historyapolis Project, Delegard is at work on a new history of Minneapolis, which is tentatively titled “City of Light and Darkness: The Making of a Progressive Metropolis in Minneapolis.”

Lansing, associate professor and chair of Augsburg’s Department of History, is the project’s principal investigator. Born and raised born in the Twin Cities, Lansing’s current project is “The Mill City: Minneapolis and the Making of America’s Food,” a history of the city’s central role in the creation and propagation of industrial food across the globe. His books include “Insurgent Democracy: The Nonpartisan League in North American Politics” (Chicago, 2015) and the co-authored “The American West: A Concise History” (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008). As a proponent of participatory democratic work, Lansing remains an active public historian. His many experiences include an oral history project with the Minnesota chapter of the Sierra Club, a congregational history, and bringing the Historyapolis Project to Augsburg.

Named after the director of research at the Wisconsin Historical Society from 1947 to 1965 who authored six books and numerous articles on the state’s history, the Alice Smith prize honors a public history project that contributes to broader public reflection and appreciation of the region’s past.

The members of this year’s Smith Prize committee are chair Aaron Shapiro of the University of North Carolina Charlotte, Amy Tyson of DePaul University, and Jeff Manuel of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

“In its first year, nominations for the Smith Prize highlighted the growing strength and vitality of public history work across the region,” said Shapiro. “My fellow committee members Jeff Manuel, Amy Tyson and I found the Historyapolis project’s integration of public history, undergraduate teaching, ability to share authority, effective use of social media and community engagement particularly compelling and acknowledge the vital contribution it makes toward fostering dialogue about the Twin Cities’ past, present and future.”

The Smith Prize committee will open nominations for the 2015 prize before the end of the year.

for more information.

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The segment included several statements by George about his desire to help revitalize the area near Penn Avenue and Golden Valley Road in Minneapolis, which is often cited as an impoverished neighborhood with high crime rates. George also discussed his childhood connection with the neighborhood and the importance of affordable housing.

Watch “” on the WCCO website.

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Matthew Beckman

Beckman, Two Bulls, and Myrbo conducted research during summer 2014 that involved taking a core sample of lake sediment and studying its pollen content as a way to examine the ecological record of an early-19th-century Dakota agricultural village on its shore. This geological study of the lake showed a long history of Native American natural resource stewardship that extended centuries before the arrival of surveyors backed by John C. Calhoun, the lake’s namesake.

Visit the Star Tribune website to read, “.”

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Conrad noted that it can be detrimental for an employee to be overly negative, which potentially could signal that the employee isn’t right for the company.

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The Augsburg College Native American Film Festival and various academic departments are proud to present a three-night film festival celebrating Indigenous film, collaborations across national boundaries, and visual storytelling.

The festival title, Where Condor Meets Eagle, reflects the prophecy that when the Condor (Bolivia) meets the Eagle (North America) the Indigenous continent will be healed. This title also represents our philosophy to promote good health/living well for Indigenous communities through decolonization and self-determination.

The film festival includes documentaries, docudramas, and narrative fiction films representing the work produced by three Indigenous film organization Igloolik Isuma Productions (Canada), CAIB (Bolivia) and Mushkeg Media Inc. (Canada) whose award winning work has been recognized globally at festivals including, the Native American Film + Video Festival (New York), Cannes, Toronto Film Festival, and the American Indigenous People and First Nations Film and Video Festival (Bolivia). The event also will include short films produced in the Summer 2011 by two award winning local youth-producer groups from Minnesota: MIGIZI Youth Producers and Project Reserve Youth Producers. Many of the filmmakers will be present at the screenings to answer your questions and participate in discussions about their films, Indigenous culture, traditional worldviews, and contemporary issues facing Indigenous people. The three evenings will each have a theme: Language and Culture, Contemporary Issues, and Traditional Stories.

Translators will be present at each event. including summaries of the films and start times (summaries are taken from Native Networks website unless otherwise noted). All films will be subtitled in English.

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Backes [pictured left] arrived in Mannheim, Germany on Jan. 13 to attend a two-week German language course at Mannheim University. Following that program, she moved to Mosbach, a small town about two hours from Frankfurt, to begin her studies at Berufsakademie Mosbach.

She is enrolled in a junior business program consisting of 11 one-week courses. “I am in a class of about 35 students, about 20 of which are international students from around the world,” she writes. “The others are Germans that attend the BA (Berufsakademie).”

Backes is sharing an apartment in the Mosbach town square (read more on her ) with a female student from Finland and two male students from the UK and Hungary. She stayed with a host family for a week and says she was glad for the experience. “I learned a lot about German culture and food—I helped cook and ended up enjoying everything!”

Birkhold, [pictured right] who studies international trade at Berufsakademie, wanted to come to the U.S. to experience college life in a new environment. Though his school has partnerships with other U.S. colleges and universities, Birkhold chose Augsburg primarily because of its size. “At my school there are smaller classes like at Augsburg,” he said, “and I heard that I can live on campus.”

Though he is not a fan of the harsh Minnesota winter, Birkhold said he has been enjoying life in Minneapolis and at Augsburg. He has gone to the Mall of America, seen a Timberwolves game, and is participating in intramural sports including soccer.

Birkhold is taking general business courses this semester and says he has been impressed with the friendliness of Augsburg faculty, staff, and students. “I feel like the they care about me.”

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Ashley, a St. Paul native, began working with Admission Possible this summer as a program coordinator. In this role, Ashley supervises six AmeriCorps members, known as Admission Possible coaches, who assist students in three St. Paul area high schools — Arlington High School, Highland Park High School, and Community of Peace Academy. The coaches work with juniors and seniors on ACT preparation and assist with applications for admission, financial aid, and scholarships.

Her passion about achieving equality in education and providing equal access to higher education drew Ashley to Admission Possible. “Some kids have no idea that college is even an option for them, and some want to go to college but have no idea how to navigate the application process,” Ashley said. Admission Possible has made college a reality for many students.

Access to higher education is important to Ashley because she sees it as a way to tighten the racial and socioeconomic gaps in academic achievement and to address the lack of diversity on college campuses. She says she is both angered and saddened by the fact that she is often been the only person of color in many of her college courses. “Until all students have equal access to resources including higher education, I believe the achievement gap will persist,” Ashley said. “Everyone has the right to pursue an education, and I am dedicated to making that process more inclusive.”

Ashley plans to complete her graduate program in 2009 and is interested in a career in educational policy. At Augsburg, Ashley said she has learned the importance of culturally responsive teaching, creating inclusive learning environments, and accommodating learners with special needs. These lessons, she believes, will help guide her work at Admission Possible and as a future policy-maker.

Admission Possible is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping promising low-income high school students prepare for and earn admission to college. Admission Possible works to make college possible by providing their students with ACT and SAT test preparation, intensive assistance with college applications, help in applying for financial aid, and guidance in the transition to college. Admission Possible currently serves 1,300 students at 17 high schools in the metro area, and has helped 98 percent of its students earn admission to college since its founding in 2000.

The newest Augsburg staff members who have made the journey from AP to Augsburg are Justin Nash, an undergraduate admissions counselor, Andy Haug and Steve Fenster in the Enrollment Center, and Kelly Strang, the new Luther Hall director. All four finished their terms of service in June and were quickly hired by Augsburg. Janet Bertok, another undergraduate admissions counselor and Michele Kidwell, Augsburg’s director of retention, were also involved with Admission Possible through the AmeriCorps program. Watch for their stories in an upcoming feature.

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“The Mother Project” was created through a collaborative process lead by Darcey Engen, assistant professor of theatre arts at Augsburg College. The six mothers, Jeany Parks, Nanci Olesen, Darcey Engen, Maria Asp, Sonny Case, and Erin Carlson Sutton, began to create the new work through writing exercises accounting their individual journeys through motherhood.

According to Engen, these women were drawn to “The Mother Project” because they had each grown restless trying to find a place where their experiences were told. Motherhood is seldom described as central narrative in literature, television, dramatic literature or cinema. “The Mother Project” begins to address that deficit.

Tickets are $8. Free parking in the southeast lot at Portland and East 24th St. For more information call: 612-330-1549.

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