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)

The post From a small-town book club to paddling the Mississippi River, learning gets bigger outside the classroom appeared first on Augsburg Now.

Minneapolis native Jack Osberg ’62 played football from the time he was a kid in the alleys and parks of Minneapolis until his college years, and he entered Augsburg’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979. He taught high school biology for 30 years and coached high school and college football for 60. About 22 of those years were at Augsburg, where he compiled a school-record 62 victories and, in 1997, led the team to its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship since 1928. At 81, he continues to assist Augsburg’s defensive line and personally connect with students.

Everyone who knows former Augsburg football coach Jack Osberg has a story:

“This giant offensive lineman got a concussion during practice, and I was doing the evaluation,” said Missy Strauch, Augsburg head athletic trainer and athletics health care administrator. “Jack waited because he wanted to drive the student home, and when I left the building, the two were sitting on the steps. The young man was sobbing. Jack sat there, listening. Come to find out the student was the sole caregiver for his mother, who was dealing with Alzheimer’s. Jack and his wife, Nina, checked on the student every day, and they are still in touch. That’s Jack. He coached these students to become better players, but he guided them—by example—to become even better people.”

“Jack is a lifelong friend, and someone anyone—no matter their age—looks up to because he works so hard and cares so deeply about everyone, whether you are the starting quarterback or the third string,” said Jim Roback ’63, who met Osberg on the first day of classes at Augsburg in 1958. “I’ve played and coached with him, and there isn’t a more genuine, collaborative person who can pull out the best in anyone. You never worked for Jack, you worked with him.”

“He was a father figure to us,” said Augsburg Football Head Coach Derrin Lamker ’97. “I’ll never forget when I was quarterback, and we were getting ready for our championship game. I walked into Jack’s office, and he and Nina were reviewing a list of our parents’ names. I was like, ‘Coach, what are you doing? We’re getting ready to play the game of our lives.’ He said, ‘You worry about the game; we want to be able to greet [the student-athletes’] parents by name.’ Well, we won the championship, and they greeted each parent by name.”

“I’ve been taking notes from Jack since my first day of zoology class when he was a biology teacher at Wayzata High School,” said former Augsburg Women’s Hockey Head Coach Jill Pohtilla. “I recall overhearing him with a recruit. He told the young man, ‘Augsburg is not built with bricks and mortar; it’s built with people,’ and that’s how Jack lived—recognizing that people drive success. So whether it’s athletics or life, you surround yourself with people who make you better.”

“We had just won the [MIAC] championship in 1997. Nearly everyone had left, but four of us were cleaning up the locker room,” said Ted Schultz ’98, the student activities director for Minnetonka Public Schools in Minnesota. “Jack walked in with an old boom box. He pulled out a cassette tape from his back pocket and popped it in. ‘We Are the Champions’ by Queen played out. Jack said, ‘I’ve been waiting to do that my entire life,’ and we all just sat and listened.”

“Jack regularly drove 40 minutes to watch my son’s high school football games. My son, Kyle, was 125 pounds, but he played with heart, like I did, and Jack loves that,” said Michael Weidner ’83, a former defensive end. “Think about that. My college football coach cares enough about me and my family to show that kind of support, and consider the thousands of people he’s coached or taught and showed the same devotion and support.”

“When I heard an 81-year-old was coming to work with our defensive line, a part of me thought, ‘What can this guy teach us? How will we relate?’” said Shaquille Young ’23, a third-year social work major. “Well, I learned you can’t let stereotypes get in the way of learning something new. Coach Osberg is one of the greatest people I have met in my life. He knows football like he invented it, and he makes everyone feel welcome and supported.”

The first quarter

Osberg was born in 1940, when football players wore leather helmets. Football was everything to Osberg and his friends, who passed and blocked in the alleys of Minneapolis. In fifth grade, he entered club sports and church group leagues, which were 15 minutes from Augsburg’s campus. Osberg worshiped with Auggie professors and coaches, so when it came time to attend college, there was no other choice.

“I was the first to go to college in my family,” Osberg said. “My father was a hardworking man, but he disliked his job working in basements as a lithographer. He wanted us to lead a better life, and I saw my future in those professors and coaches. I knew Augsburg was the place to improve my spiritual, athletic, and academic self.”

The graduate of Minneapolis’ Washburn High School became a standout football player at Augsburg from 1958 to 1961, earning induction into the college’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979. A nose guard/offensive guard, Osberg was named All-MIAC twice and selected as MVP, team captain, and Lutheran All-American. He also played baseball his freshman year and wrestled for three years.

Osberg didn’t live on campus—he couldn’t afford it. Commuting, Osberg formed a bond with other students from hardworking city families who put themselves through school sorting mail at the post office or loading shotgun shells onto railcars. The gang of about 12, mostly student-athletes, called themselves “The Syndicate” because they would “sometimes skip required chapel [services] to shoot the bull at Smiley’s Pub,” Osberg said.

Since graduation in 1962, the crew has gathered each year for a fall picnic and holiday party. Jim Roback ’63 is one of the core Syndicate members who played football, baseball (as captain), and track at Augsburg. He also coached with Osberg, serving as Augsburg’s defensive coordinator from 1995 to 2001 and 2006 to 2007, with a 2002 season stint as offensive coordinator.

“I taught and coached for 46 years, and I thought that was a long time. Jack just keeps on going,” said Roback, who taught and coached football, basketball, baseball, track, and women’s tennis in the Anoka-Hennepin School District for 34 years. “Jack worked every minute of the day, and when he wasn’t working, he was having lunch with a group of students in his office or helping them through this or that.”

Another Syndicate member—also a teacher—coached alongside Roback and Osberg. Ron Scott ’62 met Jack during college registration and joined him on the offensive line as a three-year, letter-winning center and blocker. From 1997 to 2002, Scott served as an assistant football coach at Augsburg.

“Jack is not a boss; he is a leader, and he motivates people by example—never yelling, but showing and guiding. Whether you were playing or working for him, you didn’t want to disappoint him,” said Scott, who retired in 1997 after 36 years coaching football and working as a teacher or administrator for the Anoka-Hennepin School District. “Jack never gave up on those Auggies. Whether winning or losing, his attitude never changed.”

The second quarter

Osberg loves football, but he is adamant the sport does not define him. He is equally passionate about teaching. “I’m not sure if I was meant to coach and teach or teach and coach,” he added. “I loved coaching full-time at Augsburg, but the high school science classroom always tugged at me. I love the living world, and there is something about teaching kids at that age and really digging into science with them.”

He loved the challenge of figuring out ways to engage all students in biology, developing activities for all learning styles and covering a range of topics to motivate students beyond grades.

“Teaching helps you appreciate the impact you—as a single human being—can have on a person, and I was OK never knowing my impact because students move on, and you may never reconnect with them. But I’ve had enough students, some of them doctors or scientists, who have reached out to tell me how my classes and outlook helped them find their passionate purpose.”

Osberg began his teaching (and coaching) career immediately after graduation from Augsburg. He served as a biology teacher and assistant football coach at Minneapolis’ Roosevelt High School from 1962 to 1970, taking one year off in 1968 to serve as a graduate assistant on Bob Devaney’s staff at Nebraska University. “That’s where I really learned my x’s and o’s in football,” Osberg said, “but it is where I also learned that I wasn’t made for a large program. I needed a more personal experience with players. For me, coaching is about more than the game.”

In 1971, Osberg was named head coach at Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minnesota, where he served for six seasons. It was in the teacher’s lounge at Wayzata where he overheard a fellow teacher, Nina, talking with the school counselor about alcoholism’s effect on relationships. Alcohol dissolved Osberg’s first marriage, which had left him raising three kids under the age of 5, so he joined the conversation, which eventually developed into a larger support group. Osberg grew close to Nina, who guided Wayzata’s alternative education program for 28 years. In November 1976, the two married and blended their family of six children.

“She is a 4-foot-7-inch spark plug,” Osberg said of Nina. “She dealt with difficult kids all day, then came home to manage our family, then she’d help me with recruitment and other administrative duties. She was a mother to many Augsburg players who needed guidance, and she was a friend to so many of their parents.”

Osberg recalls asking Nina to join him on a recruiting trip after school because she would “always seal the deal,” he said. Osberg realized on the drive that Tomah, Wisconsin, was a bit farther than he thought. The couple drove three hours through a snowstorm to stand on an unheated concrete floor and watch the recruit play hockey. They thawed over snacks and coffee at the recruit’s home. “We didn’t get home until 3 a.m., and it was a school night, but she never complained, and that athlete came to Augsburg,” said Osberg, who taught high school while serving part-time as an assistant football coach at Augsburg from 1977 to 1984. “We were a great team.”

The third quarter

Nina continued to be “his everything” as Osberg transitioned to become Augsburg’s head football coach in 1991. The previous coach had been there five years and won four out of 50 games. “There weren’t many kids in the program, and they knew how to lose and blame someone else,” Osberg said. “It was difficult for them to look within, to find the gumption and confidence to believe they could turn the program around.”

Jack had that energy and belief, and then some. He recruited hard, even recruiting his own son, James “Jamie” Osberg ’95, who was set to play for Gustavus Adolphus College.

“That first year, Concordia was our last game, and they beat us 62-nothing. The next year, they were our last game, and they beat us 58-nothing. The next year, it was 28-nothing. Those kids’ senior year, we played Concordia our first game of the season, and we beat them 10 to seven. We did it. What a triumph.”

“Jack was not afraid to speak about faith and the larger picture of why we come together as a football team, and not many coaches lead with that during a recruitment visit. He was genuine and made the program feel like a family, which it was and continues to be,” said Ted Schultz. “If you break down any transformational coaching, it’s about relationships. Being able to connect with the players and make an impact and build a relationship beyond the field is what separates a good coach from a great one.”

Bob Schultz, the fifth-grade teacher at Kimberly Lane Elementary in the Wayzata School District, said he continues to reflect on Osberg, whether in his parenting, teaching, or coaching. Having been a teacher for 24 years and a high school football coach for 20, he knows both the challenges and the triumphs of the profession.

“Jack approached every day with purpose and energy,” said Bob, who earned conference honors as a linebacker for Augsburg. “He taught me to value every kid, no matter how well they played on the field. And he taught me to be vulnerable, as we saw him balance parenting and football.”

The Schultzes were part of the storied 1997 MIAC championship team along with current Augsburg Football Head Coach Derrin Lamker ’97. The relationship between Lamker and Osberg sounds like a ping-pong match: Osberg coached Lamker in the ’90s, then Lamker worked for Osberg as an assistant coach at Augsburg from 1999 to 2002. When Lamker was football head coach at Osseo High School, Osberg came out of retirement to coach the Osseo line for eight years. In Fall 2020, Lamker recruited Osberg to help guide Augsburg’s defensive line.

“It was so humbling and exciting when Jack came to work for me at Osseo. I’d ask him for advice, and he would give it, but he was never overbearing,” said Lamker, who led Osseo to three conference championships in 11 years. “I was equally thrilled when he agreed to help coach Auggies in 2021. You might think ‘kids these days’ wouldn’t listen to an old guy, but they do. They soak up his energy and knowledge. He has this inspiringly subtle way of uniting coaches and players from different life experiences and backgrounds together for a common purpose.”

The fourth quarter

Auggie defensive lineman Shaquille Young ’23 said “old” doesn’t apply to Coach Osberg.

“He’s exciting to watch on the football field, running back and forth alongside the players, pushing us around, and the few times he yells, he never curses. One of the players knocked him over in practice, but he got right up and cracked a joke about the time his hip popped out of place.

“He has so much knowledge to offer our young minds,” Young said. “He’s one of the greatest individuals I have met in my life, with his ability to make everyone feel welcomed and valued. He brings his best every day, and if he can do it, so can we. He speaks, and we listen.”

But it’s not only what he says, Young said. Each day of practice, Osberg sets up a folding chair on the field for his wife, Nina, 77, who has Alzheimer’s disease. He is her sole caregiver. Lamker said the players and coaches see his devotion to her and are reminded of the fragility of life and the importance of relationships.

“It’s unbelievable how dedicated Jack is to Nina, watching her 24/7 during the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s living out the marriage vows—for better or worse,” Lamker said. “During games, she sits on the bench with players who are injured or not playing. They talk with and cheer alongside her. It’s really neat to see their connection to and love for her as well.”

Augsburg Athletic Director Jeff Swenson ’79 said the Jack-Nina bond is one for the record books, and he would know. Swenson worked alongside the powerhouse couple for more than 45 years: first as a student-athlete when he backed Auggie’s defensive line, as an assistant football coach for 10 years, as a colleague, and finally as a boss, when Swenson transitioned into administration in 2001. The shift in roles never altered their relationship, Swenson said. Jack’s ability to treat everyone with respect, honor, and dignity—regardless of roles—is the greatest lesson Swenson adopted from his coach.

“Jack is a living representation of Augsburg’s mission. He pushes everyone around him to give their best to meaningful pursuits, to be informed about the world and to make a difference where and when you can. He pushes people to lead with faith and value all people and what they bring to the table,” Swenson said. “When you meet someone like that, you want to keep them in your lives.”

Former Auggie defensive end Michael Weidner ’83 also kept in touch with the Osbergs after graduation. They’d talk on the phone or meet for lunch; Jack and Nina came to Weidner’s kid’s games. By Summer 2020, Weidner recognized Jack needed a break from 24-7 caregiving. Weidner emailed former players and friends, asking them to visit with Jack and Nina—outside and distanced—some evening that summer.

“Jack was hurting and struggling during the beginning of the pandemic, when nobody was socializing,” said Weidner, who is a lawyer based in Eagan, Minnesota. “Jack would do anything for one of his players. He’s been there for all of us, through good times and bad, so people came out of the woodwork. A bunch of us rotated going to his house in the evenings to talk about anything for an hour or two.”

Osberg said the chats saved him. “With everything in my life, I’ve been able to hustle to change the program or win the game, I’ve been able to work hard to achieve success or a positive outcome. But this is a game we can’t win. It’s incurable. It’s deadly. I’m getting to the point where I can’t care for her anymore, and it’s killing me. She is my everything,” said Osberg, who received the Legacy of Augsburg Athletic Award during the 2020–21 Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony. “Those chats meant the world to me. To get out and coach or to talk with friends and former players about anything other than this disease was and is a gift.”

But Osberg does not accept defeat. He quickly shifts to the positive, referencing their strong and active circle of friends and family, including 12 grandchildren and six kids—three of whom graduated from Augsburg: Peter Osberg ’93, Jamie Osberg ’95, and Anne “Annie” (Osberg) Moore ’01.

“We all have to play the hand we are dealt,” Osberg said. “I am glad I focused so much of my life on relationships because now, when I need people most, they are there. I’ve been a part of Augsburg all my life, and Nina is an honorary Auggie. It’s reassuring to know that even though she may forget Augsburg, the people who make up that great institution won’t forget her, and they won’t forget us. It’s family.”

Top image: Jack Osberg ’62 (Photo by Courtney Perry)

The post The hustle and heart of Augsburg football coach Jack Osberg ’62 appeared first on Augsburg Now.

Perched atop Augsburg University’s newest and largest academic building—the Norman and Evangeline Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion—a greenhouse fosters a diverse collection of plants whose origins span the globe.

Sustaining such a vibrant space filled with hundreds of plant species requires attentive eyes and careful hands. Between teaching biology courses and managing the Biology Department Plant Growth Facilities (including the greenhouse), Assistant Professor Leon Van Eck discussed Augsburg’s diverse greenhouse collection, noteworthy specimens, and the challenges he and student-workers experience while cultivating so many plants. Plus, don’t miss his advice for plant care at home.

Q: What is the origin story of Augsburg’s greenhouse? How did you get involved?

A: The rooftop greenhouse was already envisioned in the early designs for the Hagfors Center. I was not involved in designing or building these facilities, as I started my position at Augsburg in January 2018, right when the Hagfors Center officially opened. The completed Plant Growth Facilities of the biology department include the 500-square-foot rooftop greenhouse, a headhouse used as general plant maintenance space, as well as two climate-controlled walk-in plant growth rooms and four reach-in plant growth chambers.

It was my vision that the greenhouse be used to support a permanent plant collection, while the growth rooms and chambers be used for labs, research experiments, and plant tissue culture requiring more precise control of growing conditions. The growth chambers also house my plant-pest interaction research program’s aphid colony, so you might say that we also manage the largest animal collection on the Augsburg campus as well!

Q: What are some of the most remarkable plants in the greenhouse? How did they come to be at Augsburg?

A: The majority of the plant collection has been acquired through purchase from specialist growers, using funds from Augsburg donors or from our annual plant sale in collaboration with the Augsburg chapter of the TriBeta Biology Honor Society. I’ve also managed to leverage my connections at botanical institutions for some important additions to the collection. For example, in 2021, the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., kindly gifted us two specimens of the titanarum (Amorphophallus titanum), also sometimes called the corpse flower. This endangered aroid from the island of Sumatra is famous for producing an enormous and strikingly foul-smelling inflorescence that has people lining up at conservatories and botanical institutions around the world during a blooming event. Our specimens are still a few years away from producing their first flowers, but they have adjusted to life in Minnesota and are growing rapidly.

We also recently acquired five rare and endangered species of Central American cycad, thanks to the kind horticulturalists at the Amazon Spheres in Seattle. A colleague who specializes in the study of African carnivorous plants sent me a very nice specimen of Roridula gorgonias, the flycatcher bush. Incidentally, I just returned from a trip to South Africa, where I was able to visit a large colony of these remarkable plants in their marshy habitat, high in the coastal mountains of the Western Cape province.

Q: What are the most challenging plants or issues to deal with when managing a greenhouse’s collection and environment?

A: Even though the greenhouse has computer-controlled climate systems, getting a diverse plant collection to thrive under a single roof remains a challenge. How do the student workers and I maintain tender ferns and arid-adapted succulents all in one place? The answer lies in micro-climates. By carefully observing seasonal variation and individual plant responses, we’ve dialed in the best positions in the greenhouse to give sun-loving species the most light, and protect denizens of the forest floor under a shady canopy of larger plants. Pest outbreaks are unfortunately also a reality when you have a greenhouse in the sky, but we’ve developed a tight rotation of various organic controls to good effect.

As for challenging plants, thus far, the majority of the 400 species grow pretty well for us. Some stapeliads from Somalia succumbed to over-enthusiastic watering early on, so now I caution student workers to keep that group of plants on the dry side. What remains a challenge is to coax some species, such as certain cacti and many of our pelargoniums, into bloom. These plants require significant drops in nighttime temperatures to stimulate flower development, but for the protection of our most tropical species, we keep greenhouse temperatures pretty toasty.

Q: How does Augsburg’s greenhouse fit into the academic and community life at the university? How do students benefit from the greenhouse?

A: The greenhouse is open to visitors on the afternoon of the first Thursday of every month. These events have been very popular with students and staff, particularly when it’s cold and dreary outside!

As curator of the permanent plant collection, it is important to me to be thoughtful about which species are acquired for the collection. The permanent plant collection is used extensively in teaching in the biology department, and to best support this we cultivate species from a wide array of taxonomic groups, from liverworts, clubmosses, and horsetails to conifers and diverse flowering plants. We also have plants that are useful in teaching students about evolutionary biology, such as a passionflower vine that has evolved yellow leaf spots that mimic the eggs of swallowtail butterflies. Since the caterpillars of these butterflies are aggressive and cannibalistic, the butterflies avoid plants with eggs already present when depositing their own, in the hope of giving their offspring the best chance of survival. This egg mimic thus cleverly avoids becoming a meal for hungry insects! Plants that help to tell impactful stories about ecology, adaptation, and diversity are useful tools in the classroom.

It is also important to me that the diversity of our collection reflects something of the diversity of the Augsburg community, so plants native to the Horn of Africa form an important focus. In the case of Somali wild cotton (Gossypium somalense), there is crossover with another focus of the collection, which is the wild or under-domesticated relatives of familiar crop species. Wild barley from Turkmenistan and wild tomatoes from Peru are examples of what we have in the greenhouse. These can often be the source of genes conferring useful traits like disease or drought tolerance, important tools for sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change. Students in our BIO 151 Introductory Biology labs isolate and sequence the DNA of some of our plants, while students in BIO 475 Neurobiology get to extract alkaloids from some of our most toxic nightshade relatives to test their effect on heart muscle cells!

The greenhouse isn’t used exclusively by the biology majors, of course. Art students use the plants for an exercise in understanding negative space, and history students have dropped by for a lesson on the domestication of crops.

Q: For anyone who adopted a plant during the pandemic or just wants to care well for their plants at home, what advice do you offer?

A: Black thumbs don’t exist; even professional growers have killed plants under their care. It’s part of how we learn to grow these amazing organisms. If your plant isn’t doing well, change one parameter at a time, and observe your plant for a few weeks before changing something again. Most plants decline because of overwatering or insufficient light. If you’re unsure about watering, err on the side of watering less. If you’re unsure about light, err on the side of brighter light. And keep your houseplants away from cold draughts and drying furnace vents.

See Augsburg’s greenhouse:

• Visitors are welcome during the afternoon of the first Thursday each month.
• Follow on Instagram.

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In this context, Augsburg defines “American Indian” as an enrolled member of a federally recognized American Indian tribe, Alaskan Native Village, or Canadian First Nation; a direct descendant of a parent or grandparent who is an enrolled member of the above; or a direct descendant of a tribally verified member of the above.

Unlike programs in many public institutions, Augsburg’s program does not limit eligibility to American Indian students who live in the state. In addition, the Augsburg American Indian Recognition Full Tuition Program provides access for both full-time undergraduate students as well as adult learners in any of the university’s degree completion bachelor’s programs. This new program will begin in the Fall 2022 semester for both new and continuing eligible students.

“One of our commitments at Augsburg is to bring an equity lens to affordability,” said Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow. “This program is one step toward recognizing the profound contributions American Indian students and their communities make to the university and within higher education more broadly.”

Regent Eric Jolly described the program as “groundbreaking among private universities nationwide.” He added, “At the same time, it is absolutely in line with Augsburg’s long-standing commitments to intentional diversity and inclusive excellence. I hope this is just the first of many institutions designing creative and equitable paths to education for native and First Nations people.”

Students who apply for the program do not need to be enrolled as an American Indian tribal member, establish residence on trust land, or be Minnesota residents.

Through this program, Augsburg seeks to support and promote American Indians within the Augsburg community.

“My mom and dad told me my whole life, you’re going to college. It was a ‘where’ and not an ‘if.’ What I needed from a school—the main thing that was going to make or break it—was if I could afford it,” said Reuben Kitto Stately ’22, a student from both the Red Lake Nation and Santee Sioux Nation. “But the culture of the campus, the way the Native students support each other, was also a big selling point. This part of the south side of Minneapolis is the most concentrated urban Native population in the whole country.”

“The systemic injustices that have limited access to higher education for many American Indian students need structural solutions,” said Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Joanne Reeck. “This program is one step that we as an institution can take.”

Learn more about the American Indian Recognition Full Tuition Program.

Top image: Reuben Kitto Stately ’22 is an Augsburg student from both the Red Lake Nation and Santee Sioux Nation. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

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My wife, Abigail, and I first met Anne Frame and Bill Frame, Augsburg’s ninth president, some 18 years ago when we were chosen to be part of a new program, sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and designed by Bill, that helped college presidents and their partners to explore the links between their callings or vocations and the missions of the institutions they served. At that point, I was president of Rockford College in Illinois, and of course, Bill and Anne were at Augsburg. It was a remarkable experience for all of us involved, and we remain friends and colleagues with many of those who shared the program with us. It was during this time that we first witnessed the delightful partnership that Anne and Bill had created—in their marriage, in their leadership of the program, and in their work at Augsburg. Those of us in the program came to count on Bill for thoughtful and weighty treatises (one of us once exclaimed, “Give me a thesaurus!” when Bill’s vocabulary got to be a bit much), while Anne’s gracious and calm presence brought us back to the joy of the work at hand.

Little did we know that just a few months after the program concluded, Abigail and I would be elected as Anne and Bill’s successors at Augsburg. It was during the leadership transition and over the past 15 years that I have come to know the many ways in which Anne’s presence and engagement with the Augsburg community during Bill’s presidency have made a lasting impact.

Anne Frame passed away this past summer, but her legacy lives on in the many ways her life and work have graced the Augsburg community. I would highlight just a few:

Anne and Bill made the case for and then created a place of wonderful hospitality and fellowship at Augsburg House, the residence for Augsburg’s president and family, but more importantly a place at which to gather students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends to celebrate and build community. In fact, Anne and Bill set important traditions at the house that we still celebrate, including a festive holiday party for neighbors who are often inconvenienced by all the cars parked along West River Parkway for our gatherings!

Anne loved to engage with students, participating in activities like Late Night Breakfasts at the end of each semester and City Engagement Days at the beginning of each academic year. It was deeply meaningful to students to see the president and family involved in the life of the campus.

Anne also served as a board member for the Augsburg Associates, a group of committed volunteers who organized fundraising events to support student scholarships. The annual Velkommen Yul celebrations remain a highlight of the academic year, lifting up our Norwegian heritage.

Finally, Anne accompanied Bill on many international trips—to Augsburg’s sites in South Africa and Namibia, to Norway as part of our relationship with the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and perhaps most memorably to China with a group of Minnesota private college presidents and partners to explore a relationship with a newly formed liberal arts college on the mainland, now known as United International College.

After Bill and Anne retired from Augsburg in 2006, they continued to be engaged in the Augsburg community, attending events, visiting donors, cheering us on in our various efforts to make Augsburg the remarkably diverse institution it is today. At the same time, it was a joy for me to see the meaning that Anne found in returning to her chosen profession—her calling—as an accountant for various organizations in the Tacoma, Washington, area. In that way, Anne continued to model for all of us what it means to follow the divine call, wherever it leads us—even when the call is surprising and unexpected.

We celebrate the ways in which presidential leadership over 150 years—shared in partnership with remarkable spouses—sets a foundation for the work we do today!

Faithfully yours,

Paul C. Pribbenow, President

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, Augsburg’s provost and senior vice president of academic and student affairs, will retire at the end of 2021–22 academic year. Since Kaivola joined Augsburg in 2013, her leadership of the faculty has consistently reflected unwavering commitments to teaching and learning. In late 2019, Kaivola stepped into an expanded role overseeing both academic affairs and student affairs, seeking new alignments and centering both on a holistic view of student learning and development. A committee chaired by Tim Pippert, Joel Torstenson endowed professor of sociology, is in the midst of a national search to identify her successor.

At its October meeting, the Augsburg University Board of Regents approved faculty emeritus status for Milo Schield, professor of business administration; regent emerita status for Ann Ashton-Piper, who retired from the board after 12 years of service; and staff emeriti status for long-serving employees Nancy Guilbeault, James Trelstad-Porter, and Mary Laurel True.

At its February meeting, the board approved faculty emerita status for Laura Boisen, professor of social work; and staff emeriti status for Dianne Detloff, Ann Garvey, and Mark Lester.

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In Fall 2020, the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship launched Augsburg Local, an effort to leverage Augsburg University’s purchasing power to support local businesses. Through a partnership with Augsburg’s dining services, students and staff involved with Augsburg Local began conversations about reimagining sustainability, representation, cultural competence, and being a good neighbor by serving healthy dishes featuring foods sourced from environmentally sustainable local vendors. A salad creation team was born in an effort to support this transition.

The Sabo Center’s salad creation team includes staff and students from the Environmental Stewardship Committee, Campus Kitchen, and Augsburg Local. The team has drawn on the work of young people from community partners, including Pillsbury United Communities’ Waite House (in the Phillips neighborhood in South Minneapolis) and the local nonprofit Roots for the Home Team, which focuses on mentoring teens through community gardening and hands-on learning with chefs.

Augsburg’s salad creation team researched and developed signature salads that were first sold in The Commons last fall. The development of seasonal, locally sourced salads occurred through a series of workshops during Summer 2021 with participation from students, staff, faculty, and community members with expertise from local vendors, farmers, and dining services staff. Trial ingredients came from The Good Acre (a Twin Cities food hub), the Seward Community Co-op, and other local vendors and farmers to support and develop their capacity to supply Augsburg dining services in the long term.

This co-created salad project serves as a stepping stone toward a greater commitment to local and sustainable food procurement at Augsburg. A shift toward local food purchasing at Augsburg will help build a more sustainable local economy.

Follow and on Instagram to see the project in action.

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Top image: Student-created salads were offered in The Commons for on-campus diners. (Courtesy photo)

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Interfaith at Augsburg: An Institute to Promote Interreligious Leadership was established in 2019 as part of Augsburg’s commitment to interfaith learning and leadership. The newly endowed position will allow the university to hire a strategic leader and distinguished scholar to provide direction for the institute and serve as a member of the faculty. The El-Hibri chair will serve as a national ambassador for the interfaith movement and will partner with campus leaders as a change agent for interreligious learning and living.

The El-Hibris’ gift will help to fulfill one of the goals of Augsburg150, the university’s sesquicentennial strategic plan, to advance the public purposes of an Augsburg education by enhancing interfaith leadership on campus and throughout the nation.

“We live in a world that is religiously diverse, and allowing religions to thrive is a step in the right direction,” said Fuad El-Hibri. “But it is not enough. Interfaith dialogue, learning from one another, and engaging together in meaningful work is what it’s truly all about. The timing now is critical, and we hope this is just the beginning.”

“We have a unique opportunity to build an interfaith learning community that will be a model for all of higher education,” said President Paul Pribbenow. “The combination of Augsburg’s interreligious student body, with Fuad and Nancy’s support and counsel, will create the sort of academic and community leadership the world needs today.”

Top image: [L to R] Nancy and Fuad El-Hibri (Courtesy photo)

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Augsburg’s recent awards and rankings include:

20-Year Top Producer of Gilman Scholars

Augsburg University was recognized by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for having produced the most Gilman recipients over the past 20 years in the small institutions category. Since 2001, 77 Augsburg students have been offered the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which enables students to study abroad.

2021 ​​Top 10 Religious Colleges Living Up to LGBTQ-Inclusive Values by Campus Pride

​​NBC News that Augsburg was one of only three religiously affiliated universities that received the highest score of 5 on the index of schools recognized by Campus Pride for being religious universities that are LGBTQ-friendly.

Top 40 LGBTQ Friendly Colleges and Universities

Augsburg was again named to of the top 40 LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities in 2021. Campus Pride is the leading national organization for creating safer, more LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities.

2021 Best in the Midwest by The Princeton Review

Augsburg was again named to The Princeton Review’s list of the best colleges and universities in the Midwest based on academic excellence.

2021 Best Regional Universities by U.S. News & World Report

• 4th in Best Undergraduate Teaching
• 38th in Support for Veterans

View more of Augsburg’s awards and rankings.

The post Augsburg’s recent awards and rankings—Winter 2021–22 appeared first on Augsburg Now.