Ed Saugestad \u201959 is \u201cplain and simply, a legend,\u201d according to Jeff Swenson \u201979, Augsburg College athletic director. Saugestad led the Auggie men\u2019s hockey team to 503 victories and three national championships. He was football coach and athletic\u00a0director. The ice arena\u2019s main rink carries his name.<\/p>\n
But the legacy of \u201cBig Man,\u201d who died in March of\u00a0pancreatic cancer after serving Augsburg for 39 years and\u00a0retiring in 1996, goes far beyond athletics. As a soft-spoken\u00a0teacher, mentor, and source of courage and inspiration, he made a difference. If Corky Hall \u201971 is any indication, he also\u00a0instilled generosity and gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is the person who kindled the fire in me, and I think he did that for many, many people,\u201d Hall said. He and his wife, Lori, led the charge to name Saugestad Hall in the Center for\u00a0Science, Business, and Religion (CSBR) with their $25,000\u00a0pledge\u2014a first step toward the $150,000 naming goal and a tribute to the CSBR as a visual symbol of strength and\u00a0connection.<\/p>\n
When we build the CSBR, \u201c[Augsburg\u2019s] facilities will grow to match the quality of our faculty,\u201d said Hall. \u201cCoach had a huge effect on all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
A gifted athlete who became both hockey and football\u00a0captain, Hall had few academic expectations when he entered\u00a0Augsburg. His parents hadn\u2019t finished high school, no one in his family had attended college, and homework was a foreign\u00a0concept. Yet, one day, he managed to ace a test in Saugestad\u2019s tough physiology class.<\/p>\n
\u201cEd was the first person to tell me that I was smart,\u201d he recalled. \u201cHe set me on a path I wouldn\u2019t have found\u00a0otherwise.\u201d That path led him to a career that included starting,\u00a0with classmate Bill Urseth \u201971, one of the nation\u2019s leading promotional marketing agencies, U.S. Communications, U.S.\u00a0Restaurants, and U.S. Studios; launching a brand consultancy, Hall Batko; and founding Stellus Consulting, which helps
\ncorporate leaders envision and brand their companies.<\/p>\n
It also led him to realize that great mentoring builds strong\u00a0bridges\u2014between athletics and academics, between teachers\u00a0and students, and between gratitude and giving back.<\/p>\n
\u201cAugsburg needs great facilities for athletes to develop\u00a0their academic side,\u201d he said. \u201cEd made the bridge for me\u00a0between athletics and academics, and if I hadn\u2019t gotten strong\u00a0academics at Augsburg, I wouldn\u2019t be the person I am today. I want to give a gift that says \u2018thank you\u2019 to Ed for making such a\u00a0difference in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hall has found that his fellow\u00a0Augsburg alumni have similar gratitude for\u00a0Saugestad\u2019s commitment and are willing to echo his \u201cthank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorky is so respected by the Augsburg\u00a0community that, when he steps forward, he sets\u00a0a tone with his leadership. That\u2019s the momentum we need,\u201d said Keith Stout, Augsburg College\u00a0director of principal gifts. \u201cHe wants everyone\u00a0involved, participating at any level. If they\u2019re grateful for their\u00a0time with Ed, it\u2019s their chance to honor his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
By May, the initiative had raised $105,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe deserves it,\u201d Hall said. \u201cEd did so much to make our\u00a0lives better. Now it\u2019s our turn.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ed Saugestad \u201959 is \u201cplain and simply, a legend,\u201d according to Jeff Swenson \u201979, Augsburg College athletic director. Saugestad led the Auggie men\u2019s hockey team to 503 victories and three national championships. He was football coach and athletic\u00a0director. The ice arena\u2019s main rink carries his name. But the legacy of \u201cBig Man,\u201d who died in <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[57,58,75,25],"class_list":["post-4586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","tag-football","tag-mens-hockey","tag-norman-and-evangeline-hagfors-center-for-science-business-and-religion","tag-summer-2014"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4587,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4586\/revisions\/4587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}