A grand opening celebration will be held Friday, March 28 from 2 – 6 p.m. and Saturday, March 29 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. The lounge will be blessed at 3 p.m. on Friday.

The lounge includes two pool tables, a ping pong table, and two televisions — one for playing games on an Xbox 360, while the other is an HDTV with a Blu-ray player. It will be open all year long during Christensen Center operating hours, but pool and ping pong equipment will be available only when the lounge is staffed.

The renovation was financed with $100,000 from this year’s operating budget, which covered 96% of the costs. The Weekend and Day student senates each contributed $2,000 to help complete the project.

In the future, student groups and organizations may be able to reserve the lounge through the campus activities and orientation office for a group gathering or an open-mic or spoken-word event.

Last year, the Christensen Center Task Force, with the aid of BWBR Architects in St. Paul, developed a plan for a complete renovation of Christensen. The goal was to make the building more student-centered by providing 24-hour access and adding group and individual study rooms, a computer lab, and more informal gathering places. Eventually, the former bookstore will become campus activities and student organizations office and work space as funding becomes available.

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On May 3, 364 Day College students and 26 physician assistant studies students

cross campus for the last time as Augsburg students, marching to Melby

Hall through two long lines of faculty, who are cheering them on and

giving out well-deserved high-fives and hugs. For the weekday students

it’s a different scene than the one they remember on that day in September

when they marched as a class for the first time, to the Opening Ceremony,

timidly, through faculty welcoming them to college. 

The Commencement speaker on May 3 will be Professor Jack Weatherford,

a cultural anthropologist at Macalester College, who became a best-selling

author with his book Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern

World, with research that took him to Mongolia a number of times

over the past several years.

His scholarship focuses on how tribal peoples around the world relate

to the larger societies surrounding them, which he has applied to cultures

as disparate as coca growers in Bolivia, American Indians in the U.S.,

and politicians on Capitol Hill. He has written numerous articles and

several books, and has appeared on such popular news and feature shows

as the Today show, ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, All Things

Considered, and Nightwatch.

Professor Weatherford will receive an honorary degree from Augsburg

College, Doctor of Humane Letters, for his teaching that encourages

students to use their skills in anthropology to understand relationships

in the world around them and to help them prepare for the challenges

of global citizenship.

For information and schedules for the two Commencement weekends, go

to .

Senior class gift

As the semester comes to a close and we prepare say farewell to our graduating seniors, it is time once again to honor them with a donation to the senior class gift. Past gifts have included support for the Augsburg Fund, the Augsburg sign on top of Mortensen Hall, and the clock tower in the quad.

This year, the senior class gift committee has decided to use the money raised for further improvements and renovations of the new student lounge in the Christensen Center. During the last few weeks of the semester, the committee will be fundraising for the gift. They are inviting support from any interested students, faculty, parents, and alumni who want to honor the class of 2008. Gifts of any amount are welcome.

Seniors who donate $20.08 or more will receive a senior class gift T-shirt! Faculty and staff who donate $20.08, and students who donate $10 or more will be able to honor a graduating senior of their choice. Donors and seniors will be recognized at the May commencement reception.

Contact Martha Truax at truaxm@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1652 with questions. To give online, go to and under “Designation” choose “2008 Senior Class Gift.”

Senior gift text by Steve Savstrom

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This year, the senior class gift committee has decided to use the money raised for further improvements and renovations of the new student lounge in the Christensen Center. During the last few weeks of the semester, the committee will be fundraising for the gift. They are inviting support from any interested students, faculty, parents, and alumni who want to honor the class of 2008. Gifts of any amount are welcome.

Seniors who donate $20.08 or more will receive a senior class gift T-shirt! Faculty and staff who donate $20.08, and students who donate $10 or more will be able to honor a graduating senior of their choice. Donors and seniors will be recognized at the May commencement reception.

Contact Martha Truax at truaxm@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1652 with questions. To give online, go to and under “Designation” choose “2008 Senior Class Gift.”

Article by Steve Savstrom

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In December 2006, the Christensen Center Task Force (CCTF) posted an online survey designed to gather the input of the Augsburg community on how to remodel the Christensen Center. Survey questions were developed by the task force with the assistance of Sociology Professor Diane Pike and Liaison-for-Computing Scott Krajewski.

With few exceptions, the survey results showed that the Augsburg community wants Christensen to be a student center providing services and spaces for our student body. Members of all student populations want a center that is open 24 hours a day, offers a variety of food options at different times of the day, provides individual and group study space with computers and printers, and is both safe and accessible. While the focus on students is important, the community also articulated the need for a space

that is flexible and adaptable to all community members including regents, donors, faculty, and staff.

CCTF student representative Sarah Black says, “I hope to see progress in upcoming years towards a centralized space on campus that is inclusive to all members of Augsburg’s diverse community.”

The new student lounge will feature a gaming area, a sitting area, and a media area. In addition, the lounge will be furnished so it can be converted into a performance space. Construction work on the new lounge will take approximate 2-3 months to complete.

For more information about the CCTF’s progress and meetings, visit .

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