From where people drive, to what they buy, to where they live, nearly everything in life is connected to the ever-collected, extremely valuable information that is gathered and interpreted through data science.

But beyond giving businesses clues about when a family is ready to replace a refrigerator or take a trip to the Grand Canyon, data science can also be used in ways that bring equity and justice to underserved and marginalized communities.

It’s within that framework that faculty at Augsburg University began piecing together what is now a full-blown data science major. John Zobitz, professor of mathematics and data science, said the new major—officially a Bachelor of Science in data science launched in fall 2022—is a response to requests by alumni and students for more opportunities to expand on what they were already learning in math and computer science classes. Students can now minor in data science, too.

“When we designed this major, we tried to make it as flat as possible, relative to prerequisites,” Zobitz said. “Students can start the major with either an introduction to data science course, a computer science course, or a mathematics course. That makes it open to first-year students and has really helped attract more students.”

The major also draws students with a wide range of interests, Zobitz said. While data science can help consumers get free shipping on their dog’s monthly food delivery, it can also be used to identify societal challenges and inequities. And more importantly, it can help find solutions to specific problems.

Making a difference

There are many ways that data science makes a concrete difference in people’s lives, such as gathering and disseminating information about potentially dangerous weather. The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that since 1997, data collected by aircraft with special storm predicting technology and equipment have improved predictions about hurricane storm and landfall patterns by 20%. Those life-saving early warnings give more people more time to take necessary steps to evacuate or prepare before a storm hits.

And in issues of social justice, data can come right alongside community organizers and other change agents, providing real numbers to bolster their rationale.

“A focus on equity, inclusion, and justice is built throughout the major,” Zobitz said. “How data influences how you see the world—whether it’s algorithmic bias, why some families get picked for a loan and others don’t, or in a pandemic, how one’s pre-existing conditions make them more susceptible to illness.”

Data tells great stories for people paying attention, he said.

In a class that introduces the idea of data science as a tool for social justice, Zobitz has students consider transportation availability in the Twin Cities. Suddenly, historical patterns of racism and injustice leap into stark modern-day relief. Redlining—the discriminatory practice of withholding funding to purchase homes in so-called “at-risk” neighborhoods that began in the U.S. in the 1930s and disproportionately impacted Black families—continues to affect people. The practice ensured that families of color, many of whom were moving into new areas as part of the country’s Great Migration, were relegated to less desirable neighborhoods. As a result, many had to live far away from work, decreasing their quality of life because of the sheer amount of time it took to get to and from their jobs. Despite a 1977 federal law that was intended to quell the practice of redlining, the harmful effects linger today.

“Students start to translate what they’re learning into what they’re living,” Zobitz said. “You start to hear stories like, ‘My mom has to take five buses to get her work done.’ They talk about their experiences, and they start having conversations with each other about what information is needed to make educated recommendations for change.”

Student stories

The intersection of that information is what lured Dijonë Mehmeti ’24 to the major.

“What drew me into data science was the connection between data and social life,” she said. “Applying those two together really made me interested in it—that connection that you see something, and it helps you dig into it even more.

“Learning about redlining, crime, then you dig into more reasons why that happens … that’s why it’s so powerful,” Mehmeti said. “The information could be considered hidden, but it’s not. It’s interconnected in so many different ways.”

Students also learn about the importance of ethics in data collection. In that vein, Ly Xiong ’24 hopes to one day focus her work not necessarily on what the data reveals, but where it’s coming from.

“For me, the most important part is the data itself—who is collecting the data,” Xiong said. “The results would be different if I’m collecting data in my community; they will trust me. But if I’m collecting data in another community, they may not trust me. So, it goes back to: how are we collecting the data?”

A lack of trust can yield incomplete data, Xiong said. Her long-term goal is to educate people about how to create data sets that better represent an issue and communities affected by it.

Those real-world applications are specifically driving Ridwan Abdi ’24.

“I’m Somali,” Abdi said. “I want to use data science to do storytelling. The problems we have in our community are that so many young adults and teens are struggling with drugs. So, maybe I can use data to educate and partner with universities, to create something that could help people take action.”

All three iterations of the major are, in many ways, exactly what Zobitz hoped for.

“I like to say that if you put your whole self in there, and bring your own experiences to it, when you create a visualization and see the power data has, people pick up on that. I think it eliminates some of that ‘I don’t believe you’ that’s bound to come from data,” he said. “Connecting it to people gives it power, instigates change.”

Alumni success

Alumni are responding to the new major with excitement—and a little envy.

Nhu Putnam ’12 graduated with honors in her double-major of finance and mathematics with an emphasis in probability and applied mathematics. She spends her days in data, doing risk analysis and data analytics for WTW, an insurance advisory firm headquartered in London.

“It’s good for Augsburg to launch these programs. I really liked the department of mathematics, and this is the right direction for Augsburg to go,” Putnam said. “Math is good, but applied math is way more powerful. And data science is one of the most powerful ways we can use math in an applied way.”

She said one great example, from a corporate perspective, is that data science can provide the evidence that persuades a company to invest in a particular social movement.

“How can you use data science to help a community? It’s about: here’s a topic, whatever might be important to your community, and here’s what we’ve learned. What can you do with those results? Can you get companies to invest in your project? Data science will be the future. If you’re good at it, and passionate about it, you will be able to effect real change,” Putnam said.

Bjorn Melin ’20 agreed. Like Putnam, he double-majored, splitting his time at Augsburg pretty evenly in the mathematics and computer science departments. Today, he’s a data engineer with 3M.

“I took the data visualization class, and a big focus of it was on the ethics behind it. It’s something I’ve talked about with all my teammates in every professional setting I’ve had. … If someone doesn’t understand the ethical implications behind this, there can be serious repercussions. That’s another reason to support the major, getting people out there who can come in with a solid baseline of knowing how to be safe and ethical,” he said.

“I was so excited when I found out they got this major launched,” Melin said. “I’m hopeful for them to be able to teach the curriculum they’ve wanted to, and what I’m really excited for is the ‘official’ merger between computer science and the math department. It’s exactly what I wish I could have taken back when I was there.”

To learn more about Augsburg’s data science major, visit .

Top image: John Zobitz teaches his data science class. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

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But what happens when the threat isn’t as obvious? When there aren’t many, if any, headlines? When strangers don’t understand, let alone lend support for the cause?

For Auggies working in environmental activism fields, the challenges and work take on many forms.

María Belén Power ’07 is an advocate and organizer for GreenRoots, an environmental justice organization in her Boston-area suburb of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Belén Power’s days are filled with educating fellow community members. That includes helping them question and hold accountable elected leaders and other officials.

“It’s very much a story we see playing out all over the country,” said Belén Power. “Environmental justice is about protecting the most vulnerable residents … it’s crucial to protect the communities where Black and brown and low-income residents live.

“There’s a direct correlation between access to green space and blue space (sky), and health care and quality of life.”

A member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, Belén Power said climate and environmental injustices have been occurring in the United States “ever since Europeans arrived on this land.” But as a modern movement, environmental justice has been present and recognized in some communities much longer than in others.

The Environmental Protection Agency notes that one of the first modern actions of the movement began in Memphis, Tennessee, with the Memphis Sanitation Strike in 1968. Calls for fair pay and better working conditions for the city’s waste workers, most of whom were Black, marked one of the first times people of color formally organized to oppose workplace inequalities.

But the issue extends well beyond the workplace. Redlining, which is the discriminatory, government-sanctioned practice of refusing mortgages or insurance to home buyers in or near African-American neighborhoods, occurred across the country from the mid-1930s until it was outlawed with the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Despite the change in the law, the damage was already done and remains an issue today, Belén Power said.

One of the more infamous examples of a public health emergency was the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. There, starting in 2014 and stretching more than five years, Flint residents—nearly 60 percent of whom were Black—couldn’t care for their pets, bathe, drink, or cook with the water flowing from faucets. It was contaminated with lead and possibly Legionella bacteria.

“The fact that there was intentional mismanagement of public water resources and that it had to do with certain companies saving money, and people living in communities drinking water that was completely polluted, makes it one of the most prominent environmental justice issues,” she said.

Problems facing the Chelsea, Massachusetts, area where Belén Power and her neighbors work and live include things like the fight she and her organization have been involved in for six years and counting about where an electrical substation will be located. Other work includes continuing the organization’s response to COVID-19, creating urban gardens, and other long-term legislative issues like fighting for the right to secure energy from more economical sources. These and other environmental justice issues are not unique to Chelsea; they are the unsung battles being waged across the nation.

Belén Power credits her undergrad experiences, and living in the Twin Cities, for how she landed at GreenRoots.

“The education that I got at Augsburg really shaped who I am and what I do,” Belén Power said. “My political awareness was shaped by my professors and the community—Augsburg has a special place in my heart.”

The work is hard, and success looks different to those who are in the middle of changing how entire cultures and generations consider long-held beliefs.

“There are some really crappy days, really crappy weeks, but you think about the victories,” Belén Power said. “You just stay focused every day, building up power and eventually shifting that power.

“Justice is not really won; every generation has to fight for it. We can have victories, and yet those victories have to be re-won with every generation,” Belén Power said. “My kids are an amazing inspiration for me. I hope we are working toward a society they can build on and make better.”

Consider the why

An eye toward future generations motivates Elan Quezada Hoffman ’22, an environmental inspector for the City of Minneapolis.

Even though Hoffman is one of the youngest and newest in the climate crisis fight, his focus is on who and what is to come.

“The beginnings of the call to urgency for the climate was something I started learning about in high school. The urgency was communicated to me clearly, and I thought there’s no point in doing anything else,” Hoffman said. “If someone doesn’t take responsibility for this and do the work that has to be done, we’re all going to be lost.”

To improve the urban landscape, Hoffman said he and his colleagues respond to any pollution or similar issues that might arise—anything from noise pollution, to water quality testing, to erosion control. His agency also helps protect the environment with tree distribution and pollinator promotion efforts.

But he said much of what he focuses on is education, at his day job and through the volunteer work he continues to do with groups like Augsburg’s Environmental Stewardship Committee.

“Climate education is a massive part of addressing the climate crisis,” Hoffman said. “If you have a population of people who don’t care, nothing will change.”

How that education is offered, Hoffman said, is an important piece to sustainable action.

“When you have a one-on-one conversation with someone, you’re creating a relationship,” he said. “Dialogue is happening and the message hits home. As environmentalists, we need to do a better job of getting into communities—not just preaching (through pamphlets and PSAs)—but having an actual conversation with someone.”

The Environmental Stewardship Committee at Augsburg is an effort near to Hoffman’s heart. Like many things, COVID-19 affected the team’s ability to move some initiatives forward. But Hoffman, who began working with the group as an undergrad, is hopeful the committee’s outreach can begin again, especially on a long-range solar and carbon neutrality plan.

“It’s our responsibility as students, faculty, and staff to say, ‘We need to do better,’” Hoffman said. “It requires a shift in how we think about wellness, our economy, and society.”

Encircling all of those issues is the environment.

“It comes down to awareness, then action. All of us working together.”

Read more:

Sowing seeds for tomorrow

Student-led efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle

Top image: GreenRoots is a community-based organization dedicated to improving and enhancing the urban environment and public health in Chelsea and surrounding communities. It does so through deep community engagement and empowerment, youth leadership, and implementation of innovative projects and campaigns. (Courtesy photo)

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Monica McDaniel, Augsburg’s sustainability officer, said the university community uses a multi-faceted approach to intersectional environmentalism, which challenges advocates to protect people as well as the planet. The university does this work through committees, including the student-led Environmental Action Committee and the Environmental Stewardship Committee, which includes students, faculty, and staff.

How that plays out at Augsburg, McDaniel said, is through holistic programs on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods that consider not only what is needed now, but how needs and protections can be carried out in the future.

Originally developed by Bemidji State University, the university’s “wellness model” derives from ancient Ojibwe teachings that the environment is the foundation that holds wellness, social health, and economic health in place. Think of it like a solar system, with the environment being the sun around which wellness, social health, and economic health orbit.

McDaniel said Augsburg’s focus is on three areas: food sovereignty (making sure people have unimpeded access to healthy nutrition), a mutual aid circular economy, and renewable energy.

Augsburg supports more than 100 community garden plots and an indigenous medicinal garden. These gardens reflect the communities they serve, and every aspect is intentional—from the types of items planted, such as rue, a common herb used in East African cooking and medicine, to the ways each garden is tended.

“It’s one way that we’ve been trying to move beyond just planting food and eating it,” McDaniel said. “We want a space where people can see themselves represented, too.”

On campus, the ShareShop supports the circular economy component. Made by students for students, the shop is a place where small kitchen and other household items can be borrowed, swapped, or taken for use.

Each semester, McDaniel said, the ShareShop saves at least a dumpster’s worth of items from being thrown out. The lasting effect, though, is about changing behaviors.

Some of that lasting impact is in the interest new students have for a living and learning committee that focuses on sustainability. More than 50 students applied for 14 spots in the fall, McDaniel said.

“That demonstrates to me that this generation genuinely cares about these issues,” she said.

Work continues on renewable energy efforts underway at the university. From replacing less-effective light bulbs with LED lighting and upgraded HVAC systems, to major initiatives like studying the possibility of on-campus solar, the renewable energy conversations involve all members of the Augsburg community.

Across all fronts, McDaniel said, she tries to keep one eye on the present and the other on what’s coming.

“Programming helps because it gives us an immediate win,” she said. “The challenge is looking at the systemic change we’re trying to implement.”

Top image: Monica McDaniel and students in Augsburg’s Environmental Stewardship Committee discuss the plants in the community garden plots outside the Hagfors Center. (Photo by Rebecca Slater)

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It’s a collision of energy that delights anyone observing, each drawn to its light for reasons both obvious and intensely personal.

Maybe it’s poetry, or maybe it’s providence.

But the meeting of seemingly opposing forces is creating something spectacular in other parts of this border town, too. The magic is made of one cup of coffee, one shared car ride, one page at a time. Here, a book club brings rural community members and urban college students together, meeting each person wherever they are and challenging them to think differently. The book club is one of a number of experiential learning opportunities offered at Augsburg University that put into practice just what it means to pursue one’s calling and build a meaningful life and career.

Removing obstacles

What’s become known as the Anti-Racist Book Club began as the brainchild of Augsburg alumni and Hallock residents Kristin Eggerling ’89 and Paul Blomquist ’88. For some time, the couple had been hosting a club, welcoming their neighbors into discussions of social justice issues. But the group grew to include current Auggies when Timothy Pippert, the Joel Torstenson Endowed Professor of Sociology, began reminiscing about a pre-pandemic writing retreat that gave him time for thought and reflection.

“I started talking to Darcey [Engen ’88] about it, about how I missed it, and she said, ‘You need to meet two of my friends,’” Pippert said.

Engen, professor and chair of the Augsburg theater department and founder of the theater company Sod House, helped get all the parties involved in conversation. Eggerling—a writer, editor, and community activist—found comfort and friends at the Hallock library when she first moved to the town after working for a time in the Twin Cities. Hallock is where Blomquist grew up, and where he returned after college to run his family’s Ford dealership after his father’s unexpected death. Their Augsburg experience was imprinted on them on an almost cellular level, and it eventually led to them celebrating things in Hallock that some overlook or take for granted, while also asking critical questions and inviting others in the community to engage in challenging conversations.

When Pippert heard of the couple’s work, it wasn’t long before he asked if the group could join them.

The couple said yes. With that, planning began in earnest. What book? When? Who will be involved? How? The cumulative efforts of that organizing came together with a Fall 2021 trip, funded by Board of Regents member Mark S. Johnson ’75, that brought the city-dwelling students to the small country community that sits within 20 miles of the Canadian border.

Welcome to Hallock, population 981.

“One of the things we were trying to do was to focus not just on the anti-racism theme, but to explore the urban and rural divide. Many of our students don’t really have a sense of what it’s like to live in or know many people who come from a town of 900 people,” Pippert said.

Conversely, folks who’ve spent their entire lives in and near a place where Friday night is synonymous with fish fry don’t necessarily understand why someone would want to live in a place where a high school can be larger than their entire community.

“When it comes to this idea between urban and rural, there’s a big divide in lots of ways,” Engen said. “Yes, of course, there are often issues around race, but there are economic issues, too. And in greater Minnesota, there are people who are struggling and need resources, the same as in the Twin Cities.”

What’s more, Engen said, specialty skill sets aren’t simply the purview of urbanites. Visiting a small farming community, and actually communicating with the residents there, is a great reminder that gifts and talents are universally distributed.

“To not forget there are artists, writers, sociologists, lawyers in greater Minnesota, all over the state—people who are born in the Twin Cities don’t think about that,” Engen said.

Being exposed to new ideas affects how a person thinks, maybe just for that moment. But sometimes the experience informs a lifetime.

Lydia Rikkola ’22 grew up in Minnesota’s cities and their suburbs.

There were some stereotypes about rural Minnesota that she expected to see when the book club visitors took a tour of Hallock. Rikkola doubted there would be much racial and ethnic diversity, and she was right: Census data confirms 96% of Hallock residents are white.

“It’s very homogenous,” Rikkola said. “But some of the things that surprised me were how open-minded and aware some of the community members were. The woman who runs the food shelf … just to see her passion about social justice and the need for food, that food insecurity is in more places than just the Twin Cities. That was really cool to see her acknowledge that and do everything in her power to address it. It was incredible to see that kind of attention and care and detail.”

‘It became about the meal’

The evening of the group’s tour in Hallock and conversations with various community members, Eggerling and Blomquist invited the whole book club to their house for dinner.

It’s hard to be intimidating when you’re eating.

“Everyone becomes a little more vulnerable and willing to share themselves,” Eggerling said. “We were sharing food and stories, laughing at our cat. It wasn’t rushed; we were able to talk about a variety of things. Some really great connections did come about.”

Engen agreed.

“Yes, absolutely, it became about the meal.”

People sat on the floor, on the couch—wherever an open space presented itself. And the easy environment meant everyone had a chance to just breathe, relax, and reflect.

“I’ll never forget the dinner we had,” Rikkola said. “There were like 30 people stuffed in this house. It was buffet style, and the hosts were so kind as to pay attention to the fact that some of us are vegan, and it was a real home-cooked meal.

“The conversations were so rich. The adults in the room were so interested in seeing us grow, and we talked about everything—politics, social issues, life issues.” The following morning, the group all returned to the Eggerling-Blomquist home for much-needed coffee and a hot breakfast, before a planned tour of the town’s school.

“During part of that morning conversation, one of the students said, ‘I thought all you folks in small towns were hicks and racists’—they voiced that, they felt comfortable sharing that. And that started some really good conversations,” Pippert said.

Taking students out of the classroom and trying something somewhat unknown takes a bit of a leap of faith, Pippert said.

“There are things you can’t control with it, certainly. One of the things we were really cognizant of was that we didn’t want to put students in a position of teaching; it’s not their responsibility to teach the folks up there, and it’s not those folks’ responsibility to teach the students—it has to be about relationships.

“It took us a while to realize that’s where the real work is and the real opportunity: in those relationships. Meeting people who aren’t anything like yourself, and talking and learning not only on the big issues of race, but on all things: Where do you eat in a town that size? How far away is the nearest hospital? The value of experiential learning is that it can be confusing, and it can be scary, rewarding, fulfilling, and life-changing.”

Rikkola said she’s proof of that.

“Through conversation comes growth. It’s so easy to ‘other’ but going on a trip like this stops the ‘othering,’ because the ‘other’ is feeding you, the ‘other’ is caring for you, the shared humanity breaks down barriers,” Rikkola said. “They explain their perspective, and you explain yours and really listen.

“Getting taken out of your environment is so necessary. If you only have friends with the same opinions you’re never challenged, you can’t really learn; you won’t grow.”

Best-kept secret

Experiential learning has been a core feature of Augsburg’s academic framework for more than 100 years. In the late 1800s Augsburg’s second president, Georg Sverdrup, required students to have pre-ministerial experience with congregations around Minneapolis. Today 100% of undergraduate students participate in some form of experiential learning. It takes shape for many students through internships, study abroad, research, and community engagement, in addition to the hands-on components already built into many academic courses.

Joe Connelly is the principal torchbearer for the practice, serving as experiential education specialist with Augsburg’s Center for Global Education and Experience. Connelly said these types of experiences are essential and always relevant for students. The experiences are also part of the university’s thinking about how a liberal arts education should prepare students for vibrant careers addressing challenges in their communities and around the world.

“If there’s one best-kept secret, it would be just what an important role Augsburg plays to provide experiential learning for their own students and students around the country. This is work that is so closely tied to the mission of Augsburg—and creating vocation—and this is work that has been going on for decades,” Connelly said.

And while the opportunities have always mattered, today’s global uncertainties provide perhaps even more motivation to make sure experiential learning continues, he said.

“We provide students the opportunity to immerse themselves in other peoples’ lives, in other peoples’ realities,” Connelly said. “They share a meal, sit around a table and hear other peoples’ stories about their experiences with war or other hardship. We understand that life is very complicated, very nuanced. Things are not black and white; there are a lot of sides to it, and it’s not cut and dry. Through experiential education, students understand that’s what life is—it’s not easy answers; it’s not a yes or no.”

Science backs what these educators know: Moving out of a traditional classroom setting and into a learning experience can be challenging, but the effort is worth the work. In a 2019 study published by the Lithuanian Science Council in Public Health Magazine, researchers Viktorija Piščalkienė and Hans Ingemann Lottrup found that, “Experiential learning and experience reflection hold a significant role as an educational methodology, and it is a shared value to prepare students for the challenges in a changing world by developing professionals who can think critically and reflectively.”

Having time to reflect is what motivated Pippert to go north. Associate Professor Joe Underhill was moved to go north, and south.

Underhill, Augsburg’s environmental studies director, wanted time and space to put big questions to his students. Specifically, he wanted to engage his students in more than conversation about climate change—he wanted them to find ways to combat it. And since big questions can benefit from having big space to work within, Underhill turned to the Mississippi River.

“The ideas or inspiration behind the program have to do with the value of direct embodied experience as a way to learn, rather than reading about something,” he said. “You are seeing, feeling, smelling, hearing. Seeing the beauty of the river and the challenges, it sticks with people, it hits home, and it is the kind of thing you don’t forget. If you want to learn about something, there’s no better way than to experience it firsthand.”

‘I can do so much more’

Launched in 2015, the most recent River Semester ran for 101 days in Fall 2021. The team started with a trip to the Boundary Waters, where they paddled and camped for several days while they got to know one another a bit better, learned more about what the semester would hold, and came to grips with spending four months away—far away.

There was a mix of rowing, sailing, and making use of shuttle vehicles that occasionally carried the group from one part of their journey into another. And the group camped on islands or in municipal river parks, eating mostly what they made on cookstoves.

It was an experience that Zoe Barany ’23 won’t forget.

“I have never in my life found a community like I did when I was on the river,” Barany said. “People were so generous and kind with their resources and their authentic love for the environment. We had the ability to take agency and get things done. I just found a home out there.”

As an environmental studies major, Barany said they first fell in love with the promise of nature while in high school. But the River Semester opened their mind to so much more.

“I come from a place of privilege. I’m a white environmentalist, but I have still struggled with things to work through,” Barany said. “Being out there, it challenges you. It reveals things you don’t want to see about yourself. It’s just honest.”

Barany said they specifically learned of the power of clear communication.

“In everyday life you can sweep things under the rug, but when you’re outside you have to go through things,” Barany said. “Sometimes I would lash out at people or be upset, or complain instead of enjoying the time we had. It challenged me to step up, be a leader, communicate, and speak on behalf of my needs and what I need to function in a group. Having that knowledge now is so empowering.”

Elias Wirz ’23 prepared for his River Semester with small trips in 2019 and 2020. There was never any question about making the 100-day journey.

“It’s one of the biggest reasons I chose Augsburg. There’s nothing like it that I’ve found. With the River Semester you get to see a part of the world that you would never see if you don’t do something like this. You get to learn about yourself and what you are capable of, on top of learning some super interesting coursework.”

Wirz said with every experience, the group just kept getting stronger.

“My biggest takeaway is that I believe I can do so much more than I ever could because of the River Semester. Being able to do something like this, you feel like you’re capable of so much more. You want to keep going, trying, testing your limits—if I can do this, what other great things can I do now?” Wirz said.

Some of that understanding came not only from the experience overall, but from the hundreds of small, seemingly innocuous moments along the way. It is in the accumulation of those moments—applying academic knowledge in practical ways and engaging with the people present—that experiential education transforms abstract ideas into real-world skills and understanding. That’s how Augsburg students become informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.

“There’s a lot of good happening. In every city we went through, in every experience we had, I’m convinced that people are inherently good,” Barany said. “Now I want to serve, to continue this cycle of goodness.”

Top image: Professor Joe Underhill [back row] and students paddled hand-crafted catamarans during the River Semester. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

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The sounds of service

“The intent, when it started, was to help out on campus where they needed help,” said Eunice Dietrich ’65. “The original Associates were spouses of faculty members and other women who had an ear to what was going on.”

Dietrich, a former Associates board chair who earned a degree in home economics at Augsburg, said assistance was needed across all facets of campus life. From stuffing envelopes for alumni and donor mailings to setting up a “nice meeting space” for the university’s Board of Regents when they gathered, the Associates saw needs and then filled those voids.

But it didn’t take long for the work to morph from occasional events to addressing a situation requiring a sound solution.

“The Associates came out of the Lutheran tradition of ‘We’ll do anything for service,’” said Jerelyn Cobb ’63. So in the 1980s, when an idea began to circulate about bringing an organ to campus, the Associates orchestrated a plan.

“In those days, people still didn’t have a lot of money, but they could give us donations of goods,” Cobb said.

That’s how Trash and Treasure Sales began. Dishes, linens, and other household items were packed into boxes and readied for sale. Sporting goods and games were brought in. And furs, jewelry, and even gowns from the Dayton’s department store’s prestigious Oval Room were cleaned, pressed, and readied for a chance at a new life.

The items were enough to fill a semitrailer, then eventually two.

“Every Wednesday night, I’d have people come over, and we’d sort everything,” Cobb said. “All the dishes in one box, all the clothes in another, the sporting goods in another corner.”

Then when the date of the sale neared, items were transferred from the trucks to the site of the sale.

“The football team would come, and for two blocks we would line up next to each other and pass boxes into the gymnasium.”

The first sale raised $600, Cobb recalled. The next year: $4,000. Then $10,000, $15,000, and $28,000.

When everything was done and counted, the Trash and Treasure Sales netted a quarter of a million dollars. And Augsburg got its organ.

(Archive photo)

Projects funded or supported by Augsburg Associates

• Trash and Treasure Sales
• Welcome party for the 2011 visit of Their Majesties King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway
• Velkommen Jul buffets and boutique sales
• Norwegian coffee at Taste of Augsburg Homecoming events
• Christensen Center’s welcome desk construction
• Foss Center’s Green Room renovation
• Christensen Center’s Augsburg Room and Marshall Room renovations
• Lindell Library’s special collections room creation
• Hoversten Chapel’s Dobson pipe organ purchase
• Christensen Scholars program funding
• Various scholarships

President Paul Pribbenow (center) talks with King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway during their visit to campus in 2011. (Archive photo)

Welcome king, queen, and Christmas

Norwegian words echoed off the walls of classrooms and hallways when Augsburg was founded, so there was little surprise, though great delight, when King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway visited campus in 2011. The Associates were there to mark the day with special care—while wearing traditional Norwegian bunads, the proud folk outfits worn by men, women, and children on such occasions of cultural significance.

But before Their Majesties graced the campus, the Associates had already begun making sure the heritage of the school’s founders was celebrated and remembered.

Velkommen Jul, an annual celebration welcoming the seasons of Advent and Christmas, took hold with attendees donning thick, gorgeous Norwegian sweaters and sampling delicious traditional foods including krumkake cookies. The celebration has become a loved tradition in the Augsburg community, even among students who don’t necessarily have Scandinavian heritage.

Money raised at Velkommen Jul and through estate sales and other efforts ultimately went to fund scholarships as well as the Christensen Scholars, a cohort of students who explore theology, faith, and vocation while engaging in community-based learning experiences.

That, said Augsburg University President Paul Pribbenow, is a lasting legacy for the organization: “Over many years, the Augsburg Associates have been faithful and generous supporters of Augsburg. Through their tireless efforts, the Associates have raised scholarship funds and have helped countless students pursue an Augsburg education.

Augsburg Associates roll lefse, a traditional Norwegian potato flatbread, for Velkommen Jul in 2011. (Archive photo)

“The annual Velkommen Jul celebrations, graciously hosted by the Associates, highlighted our Norwegian roots, even as they welcomed new generations of diverse students, faculty, and staff. Personally, I am deeply grateful for the members of the Associates who have supported me and my family over the past 15 years as we worked together to advance Augsburg’s mission,” Pribbenow said.

Though the time of the Associates’ dugnad has come to a close, some of the group’s members are continuing their volunteerism with another group: Augsburg Women Engaged. Since it was formed by a group of Auggie women in 2009, AWE has strengthened connections in the Augsburg community and encouraged philanthropy to keep the university’s hands-on education accessible to a broad range of students. These overlapping commitments shared by AWE and the Augsburg Associates demonstrate the deep-seated commitment to service that is so emblematic of Auggies of all stripes.

For the women doing the work, the Associates were more than a service organization—they were family.

“You give and you get, you feel good about what you’ve done. You don’t start out for that reason, but oftentimes when you’re volunteering, you get more out of it than what you give,” Dietrich said. “These women were so dedicated and did this work with such joy.”

Anne Frame (left), the late spouse of Augsburg’s ninth president, Bill Frame, was also a member of the Augsburg Associates. Read more about Anne’s life and work. (Archive photo)

Augsburg Associates oversee food and drinks at Velkommen Jul in 1992. (Archive photo)

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Augsburg Associates have raised about $400,000 through their group initiatives.
• Members of the Augsburg Associates and their spouses have given more than $50 million to the university as a whole.
• Within their 600-person membership, there were 38 households that were members of the Sven Oftedal Society, a group of some of Augsburg’s most generous donors.

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On and around the land that today houses Augsburg University’s Minneapolis campus, they celebrated births and mourned deaths. They spoke languages of love and laughter, stress and sorrow. They built families, businesses, and dreams.

They were here and many are gone, at once everywhere and nowhere because in the blistering pace and abundant distractions of the human ecosystem we all inhabit, it’s natural that we forget who came before us.

But what if—even for a moment—we turned our attention to who we were and who we are right now? To who worships next to us, or walks by us in the grocery, or shares an apartment wall?

“On This Spot” and “Each, Together,” bring into focus the history of the campus and the surrounding neighborhood, and the people who are the Augsburg of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

What would we discover if we intentionally took notice of who we are and where we’ve come from?

This idea is at the core of new art and historical exhibits that cover collectively four city blocks on 12 of Augsburg’s building facades and 37 window panes around campus. As part of Augsburg’s sesquicentennial celebration, artists and designers at the university wanted to give the community a chance to reflect on their history and their people. So the works, dubbed respectively “On This Spot” and “Each, Together,” bring into focus the history of the campus and the surrounding neighborhood, and the people who are the Augsburg of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

‘Humans at the center’

“Each, Together,” the larger of the two projects, is a Group Action of the international “Inside Out: The People’s Art Project” initiative that launched in 2011 after a French street artist, known only as JR, won that year’s TED Prize. First awarded in 2005, the TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Prize has become synonymous with visionary thinking meant to spark change throughout the world. Winners of the award—including educators, artists, chefs, journalists, and even former President Bill Clinton—have used the $1 million prize to fuel specific community projects, like healthy food initiatives and educational innovations. The winning projects all have one thing in common: They are designed to make people engage in their communities.

In the case of artist JR’s project, his vision was to create works that “shine a light on the unsung and give everyone the dignity they deserve.” And he hoped that beyond his capacity as one artist, people around the world would join in the celebration of others. To date, more than 260,000 people in 129 countries have participated in different versions of the project featuring faces displayed on billboards, buildings, sidewalks, and in digital collections. Augsburg is one of the latest communities to answer the call.

“We saw that invitation, that there was a related, common ethos to what we have here at Augsburg, and that the project was similar to public works we’ve done here,” said Christopher Houltberg, Augsburg associate professor of art and design. “It’s really about putting humans at the center.”

So a team that included a curator, nine photographers, and three designers—Houltberg, Maggie Royce ’15, and Indra Ramassamy ’18—worked for several months between Fall 2018 and Summer 2019. The photographers attended between 15 and 20 campus events, all working to capture as many faces as possible to best tell the Augsburg story.

“The way we went about it was really organic,” Houltberg said. “We started going to events around campus in Fall 2018 and then in the springtime, trying to get to as many different ones as possible. There’s a really big holiday event called Advent Vespers, and a lot of alumni come to that.” All told, the group took more than 900 photos and gathered about 300 additional images of historic Auggies.

“It’s very democratic; everyone is given the same amount of space,” Houltberg said. “From our president, Paul Pribbenow, to people who work on our janitorial staff, to our students, to our former mayor, R.T. Rybak.

“As we were defining the parameters [of the ‘Each, Together’ project] it was a fun surprise for us to see who self-identified as part of Augsburg.”

Bigger dose of Augsburg

R.T. Rybak, current president of the Minneapolis Foundation, was the mayor of Minneapolis from 2002 to 2014. He said it would be impossible to think of the growth and development of the city without considering the role Augsburg has played in that history.

“I’ve conservatively said 1,000 times in public speeches that the neighborhood where Augsburg is, is our Ellis Island. One wave after the other washes in and the next wave builds on top, and it’s something that no one wave could have created in isolation,” Rybak said.

That’s most certainly the story of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood that surrounds Augsburg and the story of Minneapolis as a whole.

“… I often think we just need a bigger dose of Augsburg. We need to realize that offering that ladder of opportunity to someone else makes all of us able to climb higher. We are better together.

—R.T. Rybak, former Minneapolis mayor

“Augsburg is a shining example of the very best parts of Minneapolis’ history. The university represents opening doors to people with strange names like Johnson or Anderson or Rybak, and keeping those doors open for people with names that come from Africa, Asia, and places across the globe.

“When I get down about what’s fracturing our deeply divided country and world today, I often think we just need a bigger dose of Augsburg. We need to realize that offering that ladder of opportunity to someone else makes all of us able to climb higher. We are better together.”

Houltberg said the “together” ideal is at the heart of the exhibit. “As individuals we are showing up, and collectively we can do something greater than what we can do on our own,” he said. “I loved seeing the portraits blocked together, seeing people stop and take selfies. There are people who say, ‘I recognize who that is!’”

Forward facing, historic reflections

Kristin Anderson, a co-creator of these projects as well as a professor of art history and Augsburg archivist, said she’s only heard good things about the exhibit.

“I have seen emails and tweets—sometimes emotional—with people responding to the wall as a whole, as well as to their individual images,” Anderson said.

The community is responding to the historical revisit that “On This Spot” installations provide, too, she said.

That exhibit features enormous panels that share Augsburg moments that photographers captured decades ago. The campus life of yesteryear includes images of young bobby soxer women from the 1940s in saddle shoes and flowing skirts in contrast with men wearing formal suits while tramping across a snow-covered campus.

“It has been a fun way to bring some old photographs to life and to show how the campus is layered on the site. Those ‘lost’ buildings displayed on the walls of the current buildings help to connect us to our past, reminding us of the imagination and commitment of our predecessors,” Anderson said.

The two exhibits are being admired by community members who see the campus regularly and by those who keep up with Augsburg from a distance.

Killa (Martinez Aleman) Marti ’08 came to Augsburg from her home in Honduras. Marti said she brought her own values with her when she enrolled, “but Augsburg put them to work. The Auggie community showed me that I wasn’t crazy to want a career with meaning.”

“Those ‘lost’ buildings displayed on the walls of the current buildings help to connect us to our past, reminding us of the imagination and commitment of our predecessors.”

—Kristin Anderson, university archivist

For Marti, “Each, Together” perfectly sums up her experience at Augsburg.

“My career is an intersection of what I love to do with the opportunity to serve,” said Marti, an attorney in Atlanta. “To think critically, to be socially and community-minded—all of the things I exercise in my life were supported and further developed at Augsburg.”

Houltberg said it’s difficult not to consider the greater impact that art, especially a work like “Each, Together,” has.

“Having a group of artists, designers, and photographers come together to make something this beautiful and to see it up and fully functioning is pretty great,” he said.

“It has created a tangible thread between all of us, which transcends 150 years and all our history,” said Ramassamy, who worked with the team to design “Each, Together.”

“We live in a visual world yet we can be unaware of each other,” she said. “This project is making us aware of one another, making us pay attention, making us curious about the person in the portrait above or to the left or right of us.”

“I love watching people who are walking down the streets looking at the portraits,” Houltberg said. “There’s an element of surprise to it that’s really fantastic. Sometimes the tendency is to put people in big groups. But if you look at these portraits, look at the eyes, and look at the humans who are represented here, you see just how wide a spectrum of humans we are. Anytime we can show the humans and not the institution, we win.”

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