{"id":3209,"date":"2013-08-14T15:41:53","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T15:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=3209"},"modified":"2016-07-28T16:01:58","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T16:01:58","slug":"faithful-and-relevant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2013\/08\/14\/faithful-and-relevant\/","title":{"rendered":"Faithful and Relevant"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"picture<\/a>During the past several months, Augsburg\u2019s Board of Regents has invited the campus community into a strategic mapping process focused on our priorities and aspirations leading up to the College\u2019s sesquicentennial in 2019. Fittingly titled \u201cAugsburg 2019,\u201d the plans emerging from extensive research and conversations are aimed at enabling the College to live into a vision we have stated this way:<\/p>\n

In 2019, Augsburg will be a new kind of student-centered, urban university, small to our students and big for the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

As we have engaged in this important strategic work for Augsburg, I have been struck by the synergy we have found between what it means to remain faithful<\/strong> to our core values\u2014our Lutheran faith, the liberal arts, diversity, and urban life\u2014while at the same time looking for ways to be relevant<\/strong> in the world\u2014equipping students for lives of meaning and purpose in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

Some might note the paradox in such a framework\u2014faithful and relevant\u2014but as good Lutherans, we know well how to live as people centered in the\u00a0gifts of our faith and of service to God\u2019s good creation.<\/p>\n

It seems especially fitting that this issue of Augsburg Now<\/em> includes a meaningful tribute to Charles Anderson, who served as Augsburg\u2019s eighth\u00a0president from 1980 to 1997, and whose legacy is very much the foundation for the College\u2019s work today and in the future.<\/p>\n

Chuck Anderson believed deeply in the College\u2019s Lutheran heritage. He was a tireless advocate for the liberal arts. And he made the College\u2019s urban setting an even more central part of its daily life and work.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Chuck paid close attention to the needs of the world. He championed Augsburg\u2019s ground-breaking Weekend College for adult undergraduates, its Rochester location, the StepUP\u00ae\u00a0program for students recovering from addictions, the CLASS program for students with learning challenges, the Center for Global Education, and the College\u2019s first graduate programs. Chuck also set the stage for Augsburg\u2019s commitment to intentional diversity, a commitment that has been realized in the increasing diversity of our student body during the past several years.<\/p>\n

Chuck Anderson\u2019s legacy of sustaining Augsburg as a faithful and relevant institution may be best captured in our new vision statement. He put students at the center of the College\u2019s life. He cared deeply for the urban neighborhoods around campus and saw them as an extension of the classroom. And he watched over the expansion of Augsburg\u2019s academic programs, leading to the comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs that characterize the College\u2019s academic profile today\u2014the profile of a small university, a new kind of 21st century university.<\/p>\n

As this issue of Augsburg Now<\/em> so powerfully demonstrates, this vision is very much alive and thriving on campus and around the world today: Keeping students at the center of our lives through scholarships made possible by the generosity of remarkable alumni like Milt Kleven \u201946. Students and faculty achieving at the highest level and being recognized nationally and internationally for their work. Innovative new curricula, aimed at sustaining Augsburg\u2019s abiding commitment to face-to-face instruction, while at the same time using technology to enhance student experiences.\u00a0Augsburg\u2019s ground-breaking work to educate teachers for diverse schools, bringing the best of new classroom methods together with the College\u2019s strengths in the sciences and mathematics. And so much more. It is a great time to be an Auggie!<\/p>\n

Augsburg is a new kind of 21st century university. Small to our students\u2014the reasons we exist\u2014and big for the world. Thanks for all you do to help keep Augsburg faithful and relevant.<\/p>\n

PAUL C. PRIBBENOW, PRESIDENT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the past several months, Augsburg\u2019s Board of Regents has invited the campus community into a strategic mapping process focused on our priorities and aspirations leading up to the College\u2019s sesquicentennial in 2019. Fittingly titled \u201cAugsburg 2019,\u201d the plans emerging from extensive research and conversations are aimed at enabling the College to live into a <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":5953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-3209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-presidents-letter","tag-summer-2013"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/297"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3209"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7033,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3209\/revisions\/7033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}