Concordia Magazine: Spring 2016 by Concordia College

c o n c o r d i a c o l l e g e // m o o r h e a d , m i n n e s o ta // s p r i n g 2 0 1 6

Beyond the c l a s s ro om

changing d ir ec ti on

hu m a n i ta r ia n missions

cl ass n ote s

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Concordia Fair: 125 Years of Faith and Learning We have the summer to practice saying quasquicentennial, as in 125th anniversary. On April 14, 1891, pastors, farmers, and business leaders met in the Red River Valley to form our first corporation, the Northwestern Lutheran College Association, electing Pastor J.M.O. Ness of Perley, Minnesota, and Lars Christianson, a Fargo pharmacist, their president and secretary. (You can see images of Ness and Christianson now just west of Old Main.) Very early in the morning of the next day, Pastors Ness, J.O. Hougen, and Rasmus Bogstad met in Hougen’s library and chose the name Concordia: “hearts together.” It has been so ever since. Cobbers still come in significant numbers from that same valley – and from all around the region, and the country, and the world. They may well differ in culture or in politics, but they fall in love together with the mission and the life of Concordia College. It’s worth learning how often at odds even the Norwegian Lutherans had been at the time the college was founded. The Rev. Bogstad remembered that “there wasn’t very much cooperation among Lutheran synods” in those days. But in creating a place to shape young people for lives of achievement, of citizenship, and of the faithful service to neighbor that Luther calls the “truly Christian life,” they knew their hearts to be in harmony. And now we can celebrate! We honored our founding this April, 125 years after that long ago assembly when contemporary representatives of our founding congregations gathered not only for corporation business but also to see and hear our students whose active experience of faith and learning in the arts and sciences has made them ready – in the words of our mission statement – to influence the affairs of the world. When the meeting adjourned, we headed over to Ivers and Jones for the formal launch of the integrated science facilities, now under construction. You’ll see a picture of the “big bang” for that happy occasion in this issue of Concordia Magazine. We can’t wait to see you on campus this coming year as we remember our past and plan our future. Faculty will lead events that bring back outstanding graduates whose lives reveal the liberal arts in action. Homecoming will feature digital histories, exhibits, and a StoryCorps project into which you all will be invited. On our official birthday, October 31, we’ll launch the publication of Carroll Englehardt’s Concordia Fair Doth Stand, the next volume of our official history, and we’ll learn about a special facultystudent project on the role of women in life and learning at our college. National thought leaders – Carol Geary Schneider in November and David Brooks in February – will lead us in reflection about what it means to be a Lutheran liberal arts college in our own time. And we will look to the premiere of René Clausen’s music commissioned for the Reformation anniversary, to an exciting Founders’ Day, and then to the visit of ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton in the fall of 2017. Quas-qui-centennial. As we practice, we will remember that our college is always being founded: that the sacred trust of Concordia now depends on us, with God’s help, as it did on those visionary and courageous men and women 125 years ago. Concordia's first 12 students and their teachers.

Dr. William J. Craft

ConcordiaCollege.edu/magazine

On the Cover Tavish Lynch ʼ15 sits at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado. Students camped in the U.S. Southwest and at the Southwestern Research Station as part of a desert ecology course. Photo: Dr. D. Bryan Bishop

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News

Alumni

Class Notes

Pivot What happens when you stop and have to change direction? features

Microscopic Blockbusters Part art, part science. Alex Ritter ’09 films T cells at work.

Growing the Liberal Arts Students apply classroom knowledge to real-life experiences.

Humanitarian Missions Three alumnae work with refugee populations near and far.

ultivating Joy C An excerpt from “Outlaw Christian” by Dr. Jacqueline Bussie

VP for Enrollment and Marketing: Karl A. Stumo '92 // Editor: Joshua Lysne '96 // Managing Editor: Erin Hemme Froslie '96 // Art Direction: Andrea K. White '12 // Editorial and Design Team: Amy J. Aasen '95, Evan Balko '12, Tracey J. Bostick, Laura Caroon '06, James M. Cella, Kim Kappes, Amy E. Kelly '95, Morgan Lewis, Eric Lillehaugen '11, John Phelps, Lori J. Steedsman, Kaylin Walker // Student Assistants: Karis Baerenwald '17, Ali Froslie '18

Concordia Magazine Spring 2016 Volume 54, Number 2 Concordia Magazine is published by the Office of Communications and Marketing, Concordia College, 901 8th St. S., Moorhead, MN 56562 (magazine@cord.edu). To change your address or unsubscribe from the mailing list, contact Alumni Records at 218.299.3743, alumni@cord.edu, or update your record online at ConcordiaCollege.edu/classnotes

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than 300 students presented as part of the Celebration of Student Scholarship in April. Students shared their work on topics as diverse as the history of orphan trains, spinal cord injuries and the role of mental illness in the films of Wes Anderson. The day consisted of oral presentations, poster sessions and performances. ◊ Read more: ConcordiaCollege.edu/coss

PESCHONG HONORED FOR EXCELLENCE

Debra Peschong, administrative assistant, received the Ole and Lucy Flaat Distinguished Service Award for Support Staff in April. As athletics business manager, Peschong tracks financials and student workers for the department. Her gift for community draws together the many students she has mentored over the years and they frequently return to visit. She is also an ambassador and guide for the many guests in Memorial Auditorium, a hub for events. ◊

STUDENT-ATHLETES SUPPORT SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Cobber student-athletes are fierce and competitive but also generous and supportive. These qualities were recognized by the Special Olympics of North Dakota this winter. The organization presented the Concordia Student

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Athletic Advisory Committee with its Outstanding Area Organization Award. The Concordia student-athlete group participates in basketball practices, coach clinics, bowling, the state track and field meet, and more. Students also volunteered at a pancake breakfast that raised money for Special Olympics. ◊

RESEARCH: CHURCH RESPONSE TO DRILLING, MINING

Churches in western North Dakota and South Africa will be the focus of research by Dr. Jan Pranger, associate professor of religion. Pranger received a grant from the Louisville Institute to study how Christian communities in western North Dakota have been affected by changes brought to the region by the extraction industry. His research also explores how congregations are responding socially, morally and theologically to these changes. Pranger will compare the experiences of North Dakota’s churches with those of churches in South Africa facing similar situations. The goal is to prompt an intercultural conversation. ◊

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PRESIDENT APPOINTED SECOND TERM

The Board of Regents reappointed Dr. William J. Craft to a second six-year term as president of Concordia College. Craft is currently serving in the fifth year of an initial six-year term as president. He will begin his second term July 1, 2017. The vote was by unanimous ballot during the board’s winter meeting. Craft’s reappointment follows an initial term highlighted by the opening of the Offutt School of Business with a dedication celebration headlined by Bill Gates, and the development and implementation of the strategic plan, “Whole Self, Whole Life, Whole World.” During Craft’s presidency, Concordia has received $93.6 million in total gifts and pledges to the college, and the endowment has grown to approximately $111 million. During the academic year, Craft also was elected chair of the Lutheran World Relief Board of Directors and named to the board of directors for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. ◊

CONCORDIA LAUNCHES PARTNERSHIP WITH M STATE

Students at Minnesota State Community and Technical College can now easily transfer to Concordia to complete their bachelorʼs degrees. The colleges agreed to partner for a program called up2U. Students must enroll in the up2U program as incoming freshmen at M State, meet academic standards, and demonstrate critical thinking and writing skills. They also must complete an M State degree within three years. Students who successfully complete up2U requirements and transfer to Concordia will be able to earn scholarships up to $18,000 per year for their junior and senior years. The up2U program is open to M State students on campuses in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Wadena. ◊

Jakob stageberg

’18 finished off an AllAmerican season by placing sixth at the NCAA National Wrestling Meet. Stageberg finished the year with an impressive 35-10 record. His 35 victories tied for the fifth most in school history in a single season. Stagebergʼs sixth-place finish marks the 10th time in the last 11 years that the Cobbers have had at least one wrestler place in the top six of a weight class at the NCAA National Meet. Stageberg is the programʼs 26th NCAA All-American and the 14th in the past seven seasons. ◊

BASKETBALL HONORS “The final bow is a great way to describe it … It was a nice cap to my career. I got to wear my Concordia jersey one last time." – Jordan Bolger ’16, after playing in the Reese’s NABC Division III All-Star men’s basketball game

The 6-foot-6 forward became the fourth player in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history to be named to the NABC AllAmerican first team and was a Division III Player of the Year finalist. ◊

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A high tunnel

with cutting-edge solar technology was constructed last fall. This addition to the Cornucopia garden will expand studentsĘź understanding of urban farming, sustainable food cultivation and food justice. â&#x2014;&#x160; Read more: ConcordiaCollege.edu/cornucopia

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AN EXTENDED GROWING SEASON

Fresh, locally grown tomatoes for Thanksgiving – in Minnesota? It’s possible now that Concordia has a high tunnel, or hoop house, warmed with a solar air system that heats air pumped through tile lines underneath the soil extending the growing season from Valentine’s Day to Thanksgiving. The high tunnel garden is an extension of the campus organic garden, Cornucopia, which has served as an experiential learning site since 2010. The region’s short growing season, however, makes it challenging for students to benefit from it during the academic year. Concordia received a grant to build a high tunnel. Research showed a solar air system could extend the growing season even longer and additional funding made it possible. Solar-warmed high tunnels are rare, says BJ Allen, special projects manager for Rural Renewable Energy Alliance in Minnesota. She knows of four – all within the state. “It’s going to be a better experiential site for our students,” says Dr. Ken Foster, chair of the President’s Sustainability Council. “It’s mostly the work of students that started this project. The learning will continue.” ◊

BOOK CONVERSATIONS DIVE DEEP

Water served as a setting for emotional, soul-searching topics explored in books by Neal Shusterman and Sy Montgomery. The authors presented at the 11th annual National Book Awards at Concordia. They spoke at a public event and shared their expertise with students by leading master classes and class visits. Shusterman’s “Challenger Deep” is based on his son Brendan’s struggle with mental illness as a teenager. It received the 2015 “It was cathartic and healing, taking National Book Award for young what happened and … turning it into a people’s literature. Montgomery ray of light to help other people.” is a 2015 National Book Award nonfiction finalist for her book – Neal Shusterman, author of National Book Award “The Soul of an Octopus.” ◊ winner “Challenger Deep”

HONORARY DEGREES CONFERRED

Dr. Richard A. Green ’61 and Margaret M. Wong received the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at Commencement on May 1. Green is interim president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. A first-generation college student, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Concordia in chemistry. After earning a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of Louisville, he returned to Concordia to serve as a chemistry professor and the first director of the Office of Intercultural Affairs. He served on the Concordia Board of Regents from 1972-81. Green has served as provost, academic vice president, and vice president in Lutheran higher education. (Read more about Green on Page 22.) Wong began her career as a Chinese language teacher at Central High School in St. Paul, Minn. In 1979, she joined the Breck School in Minneapolis building a language program spanning preschool through high school. She chaired the committee that planned and launched Sen Lín Hú, Concordia’s Chinese Language Village. She serves on the board of the Minnesota Chapter of the U.S.-China People’s Friendship Association and advisory committees of the Chinese Heritage Foundation and the University of Minnesota China Center. ◊

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CONCORDIA INTRODUCES NEW MAJORS, MINORS, PROGRAMS

Dr. René Clausen

celebrated 30 years as conductor of The Concordia Choir with style. In February, the concert choir was the first to perform in the new Ordway Concert Hall in St. Paul, Minn. A week later, the choir was on its tour of the Eastern U.S., which included performances in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, New York and more. ◊

COMMENCEMENT

More than 500 students crossed the stage and joined the Cobber alumni family May 1. Fay Ferguson ʼ73 was the Commencement speaker. ◊

“Only by stepping outside of your comfort zone do you begin to understand and feel the joy of helping others.” –F erguson, co-CEO of Burrell Communications Group in Chicago

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The interests of students and the needs of the job market are driving some changes to the college’s course offerings. Concordia has added two majors and several minors to its curriculum. Neuroscience and computer science are new majors. Neuroscience had previously been a minor. The computer science program has two concentrations: computing and data analytics. The new minors that students can explore are interfaith studies (religion), church music (music), social activism (interdisciplinary), cross-cultural interactions (global studies) and international affairs (global studies and Offutt School of Business). A new pathways concentration also has been added to global studies. In addition, the college has added programs for students who have already graduated. Concordia now offers an accelerated education degree for students who have a bachelor’s degree. Beginning in fall 2017, the college will offer a dietetic internship combined with a Master of Science degree in nutrition with an emphasis in dietetics leadership. Concordia still offers an accelerated nursing program and a Master of Education in World Language Instruction. ◊

RETIREES HONORED

Eighteen longtime faculty and administrators retired this year. They have a combined total of 486 years of service to the college. They are David Boggs, art, 31 years; Dr. Marilyn Guy, education, 40 years; Dr. Gretchen Harvey, history, 20 years; Linda James, nutrition and dietetics, 19 years; Dr. Linda Johnson, history, 36 years; Connie Jones, library, 16 years; Maggie Jorgenson, Offutt School of Business, 15 years; Dr. Barbara McCauley, classical studies, 20 years; Catherine McMullen, English, 21 years; Dr. Connie Peterson, nursing, 30 years; Dr. Linda Scott, nursing, 16 years; Leonor Valderrama de Sillers, Spanish and Hispanic studies, 29 years; Duane Siverson, athletics, 38 years; Dr. Karla SmartMorstad, education, 30 years; Dr. Scot Stradley, Offutt School of Business, 15 years; Daniel Thureen, Offutt School of Business, 37 years; Henry Tkachuk, communication studies and theatre art, 44 years; and Dr. Michael Wohlfeil, education, 29 years. ◊

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BOOKS BY FACULTY

Demoting Vishnu: Ritual, Politics, and the Unraveling of Nepal's Hindu Monarchy

Kierkegaard and the Paradox of Religious Diversity

The Gift of Theology: The Contributions of Kathryn Tanner

A Moment with Strangers: Photographs and Essays at Home and Abroad

By Dr. Anne Mocko, assistant professor of religion

By Dr. George Connell, professor of philosophy

C0-edited by Dr. Hilda Koster, associate professor of religion

By W. Scott Olsen, professor of English

Mocko argues that Nepal's dramatic political transformation from monarchy to republic was contested – and in key ways accomplished – through ritual performance. She theorizes the role of public ritual in producing Nepal's state ideology.

Connell uses Kierkegaard's thought to explore pressing questions that contemporary religious diversity poses. Connell unpacks an underlying tension in Kierkegaard, revealing both universalistic and particularistic tendencies in his thought.

Kathryn Tanner is one of North America's leading theologians today. This volume celebrates the extraordinary gift of Tanner's theological vision and engages her work in a lively constructive and ecumenical conversation.

"A Moment with Strangers" is a celebration of travel moments where we connect with people we don't know. Olsen uses a series of images and essays to tell the story of these brief but beautiful encounters.

RECORD BREAKERS BASEBALL

Phil Kuball ʼ16 Career games: 140

MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

HUWE EARNS FULBRIGHT TO GERMANY

Taylor Huwe ’16 will be teaching in Germany in the fall through the Fulbright Program. The music education major and German minor received an English Teaching Assistantship for the 2016-17 academic year. Huwe participated in a two-week exchange program in Aalen, Germany, during high school and studied abroad in Mainz, Germany, through the Federation of German-American Clubs during his sophomore year at Concordia. “It was during that year my eyes were opened to the value of seeing the world through another lens by immersing myself in German culture,” Huwe says. After student teaching first- through fifth-grade music in the fall, Huwe determined he wanted to return to Germany to teach. The Fulbright Program is an international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It’s designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries. “I am beyond grateful to receive this honor,” Huwe says. “It is with a thankful heart that I look back on the opportunities that Concordia has given me to make me competitive for something like the Fulbright.” ◊

Dave Supinski ʼ19 600 meters: 1:22.63

SOFTBALL

Abby Haraldson ʼ17 Strikeouts/season: 200 Innings pitched/season: 188.2 Sydney Roberts ʼ19 Home runs/season: 7

WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Hannah Lundstrom ʼ18 200 meters: 25.89

WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Emma Peterson ʼ17 High jump: 5-07.25

WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING

Annie Herkenhoff ʼ17 1650-yard freestyle: 17:47.98 1000-yard freestyle: 10:48.25 Alaina Dehnke ʼ19 200-yard backstroke: 2:12.82

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PIVO Moments of T Charging full steam down the court, the point guard plans to drive the basketball to the hoop when a defender stops her cold. She now has to make a choice. Foot planted, she spins around. Pass to a teammate? Clear a path to take the shot? One thing is for sure – the moment called for her to pivot.

In life, work and community, we all have one foot rooted in our past and another foot exploring what is next – whether that next step is something we choose or is forced upon us.

organized TEDxConcordiaCollege this spring. They posed questions and challenged attendees to think about the choices we make, the risks we take and the reactions we choose.

That point in time – the moment of pivot – is what nine Concordia faculty, students and alumni explored at the inaugural student-

Following are how three of the presenters explained what pivot means to them and how it transforms us.

Cropped & Filtered Reality

from that fancy restaurant because it looks so #delicious.

In a social media driven lifestyle of oversharing, Kylie Windecker ’16, Moorhead, wonders what we are all selectively cutting out of our lives and why.

These are the moments that reflect how we want people to see us.

In the Instagram feed of our lives, we curate the highlights – that new haircut shot from just the right angle, our manicured toes in the sand, glasses raised in a toast to celebrate friendship, and that spectacular sunset over the lake. We photograph our food

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So we crop and filter out the messiness, the imperfections, the missteps and struggles. We push aside the piles of paper and the toys out of the shot so that corner of the living room looks like something out of a magazine. In picking and choosing to share only the best moments, Windecker says we miss the chance to embrace pivotal low points in our lives.

“In our Instagram perfect lives, we are missing opportunities to inspire others and ourselves,” she says. Windecker says it’s often the hard moments, the ones we crop out, that are the ones that change our lives. When we get passed up for the promotion, when relationships end or when life just doesn’t work out like we had hoped. She asks, “When you didn’t know how to proceed … what did you do to keep going? Why is that not something we’re celebrating?” Those are the moments that

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B y l au r a car oon, er i n h em m e f r os l i e & Am y E. K el ly

ransformation

TEDx events aim to spark conversations and connections through short presentations.

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shape us … that show us what we’re really made of. They are our opportunities to be strong, to be innovative or resilient. This year's TEDxConcordiaCollege theme was "PIVOT: Transformative moments that challenge the familiar and inspire action."

For Windecker, her darkest moments include the loss of both of her parents as a young woman. “I don’t know a word to describe ʻmore than the worst,ʼ but I know there’s a feeling for it,” she says. Though it might always be difficult to talk about, no matter how much time passes, Windecker knows it’s important for her to share about her loss instead of hiding those feelings. And because she does so often, she says it is already getting easier. While there’s incredible temptation to hide the moments of hurting and vulnerability, those are our opportunities to make real connections with others – through the messiness of real life, through the pain, and in celebrating the victories. What are you not showing in the Instagram feed of your life?

Toward Justice Oftentimes, pivotal moments in life manifest organically as the cards we’re dealt. But Dr. Corwin Aragon, assistant professor of philosophy, encourages us to actively pivot. “It’s not just about things that happen to us but the things we can do,” he says. Since he was young, Aragon

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has worried about justice and fairness in the situations around him and in the world. He says his feminist philosophy classes in graduate school were especially eyeopening, and changed the way he saw things in the world. As Aragon furthered his philosophical background, he began to see how broader inequalities get reproduced in small scale, everyday interactions. For example, each day when we enjoy our morning coffee, we have an opportunity to support sustainable environmental practices and help coffee bean farmers escape poverty. If those issues are important to us, we can choose to purchase fair trade certified coffee. When we need new clothes, we can choose to buy ethically produced clothing and secondhand garments instead of inexpensive items that may have been sewn in a sweatshop. Aragon says he rarely consumes meat and doesn’t visit zoos or circuses because he believes the enjoyment or entertainment received on his behalf doesn’t justify the suffering involved on the part of the animals. “A big part of our social existence is bound in not seeing the consequences of our actions,” he says. "Sometimes it takes seeing the things you aren’t supposed to see to get you to actually pay attention." Unfortunately, though, it’s not as easy as just putting

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information in front of you. Knowledge requires us to evaluate our daily practices and think more thoroughly about our personal connections to injustice. Does the personal benefit outweigh the potential for inequality, oppression or suffering of others? By doing nothing, Aragon says, it is like we are on a moving sidewalk. We’re neither actively walking forward nor backward, but we are automatically moved toward injustice. A pivot requires us to get off the sidewalk – to change our daily habits and practices that lead to injustice. Each of our individual actions has deep social power and collectively we can make significant change. “I encourage people to know that we don’t have to fix everything as an individual. We’re connected to lots and lots of other people and that’s where we find the power to change things, not in isolation,” he says. As a philosophy professor, Aragon says his job is not to give answers but to help his students get better at questioning things and find their own answers. Through their questioning, he hopes to guide them to what they’re most interested in – so they can locate their own social resources to change, or protect, their practices. “The biggest resource I try to point them to is just themselves,” he says. “When we change ourselves, we change the world.”

Finding Purpose After battling ovarian cancer in 2005, Kristin Geer ’91 thought she’d dealt with the worst life could throw at her.

stalked and shot at. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she attacked it with the passion, daring and dedication that defined her career. After successful treatment, Geer took another risk. She left her 16-year career in television news and established a video production company. She also founded the Cancurables Foundation to raise money for cancer and to educate women about ovarian cancer, a silent and deadly killer. Everything seemed to be falling into place when, in reality, the free fall had just begun. In 2009, Geer’s video production company faced a lawsuit from a former employee, someone she had considered a colleague and friend. As the lawsuit went to court, Geer found herself the topic of a major newspaper gossip column. The lawsuit claims were eventually dropped, but the damage was done. It destroyed what was left of her business following the recession. False accusations and public scrutiny left her hurt and humiliated. She didn’t even want to attend church, a place where she often turned for comfort. “When we don’t know our next step, we look for clues,” Geer says. She looked for hers in a bag of Dove chocolates, whose fortune-cookie-like messages seemed to speak directly to her. Geer began studying resilience as a way to rebuild her own courage, seeking out the stories of women who not only bounced back from adverse life events, but bounced forward. She witnessed the stories of women who lost sisters to murder and sons to accidents. And yet they built something good – scholarship funds, educational nonprofits and more – from the ashes of their ache.

It turned out, the obstacle she struggled most to overcome seemed, on the surface, more benign than a tumor. Her kryptonite was gossip. Good oldfashioned, public gossip about her.

We often don’t recognize our pivotal moments, Geer says. They may not be apparent until we step back and gain perspective. Today, she is pursuing her master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University. Her goal is to incorporate her thesis research into a book she’s writing about the women who have found purpose from pain.

“It was so embarrassing. I didn’t want to leave the house,” she says. “I had to learn to forgive and move on.”

“They couldn’t erase what happened. They had to create something new,” she says. “They had to pivot to find purpose.” ◊

As a three-time Emmy-Award winning investigative reporter, Geer knew how to overcome fear. During her career, she had been

Photos: TEDxConcordiaCollege

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Microscopic

Blockbusters B y er i n h em m e f r os l i e

Alex Ritter â&#x20AC;&#x2122;09 might just be the next Steven Spielberg of the microbiology world. The stars of his films? A specialized part of our immune system called cytotoxic T cells. Cytotoxic T cells play an important role in keeping our bodies healthy. These tiny powerhouses destroy virally infected and cancerous cells that lurk in the body.

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itter has produced live-action movies that allow researchers and the general public to see exactly how these cells zap cancer cells. His combined expertise in microscopy technology, cell biology and immunology could lead to better understanding on how to fight cancer and viral illnesses. But the movies also are pieces of artistry – stunning views into a microscopic, mysterious world. “Because we can see (the T cells at work), we’re learning more about how these cells regulate their function,” Ritter says. “Once we understand this, we can use this information to control them better.” Billions of cytotoxic T cells are on patrol in your body, looking for unwanted intruders. When one of these cells identifies a cancerous cell or virally infected cell, it explores the surface of the target. It then kills the interloper by injecting it with poisonous molecules. In one of Ritter's movies, “Killing Cancer – Cytotoxic T-Cells On Patrol,” this activity is clear. The cellular characters are distinguished by bright colors: cytotoxic T cells are orange; the poison, red; cancer cells, blue. The plot begins with a search and ends with cellular death. Ritter made the movie when the American Society for Cell Biology gave a few member labs funding to tell a cell story. Also provided were post-production support and an original soundtrack by Hollywood composer Ted Masur. Ritter learned his imaging skills at two wellrespected labs as part of the National Institutes of Health Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program. The program is an accelerated doctoral training program for outstanding students who want to do biomedical research. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2015. He trained in the Cambridge University lab of Gillian Griffiths and also did much of the imaging in the NIH lab of Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz. One sequence in the film came from his work at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute lab on the Janelia Farm Research Campus of Dr. Eric Betzig, co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Ritter’s video captured the attention of Dr. Francis Collins, director of NIH. Making a

microscopic drama is not easy, Collins wrote: “To give you an idea of the cinematic challenges that confronted Ritter, consider this: Actor Brad Pitt stands 5 feet 11 inches, while a cytotoxic T cell measures only about 10 microns – roughly 1/10th the width of a human hair.” Ritter’s passion for molecular biology started at Concordia, where he studied biology and chemistry. He expected to go into the medical field or ecology. He changed his mind after participating in a summer research program at Carnegie Mellon University after his junior year. “Once I sat behind the microscope there, I knew I’d found my calling for the rest of my life,” Ritter says. “I knew I had to pursue cellular and molecular biology.” Ritter went on to receive a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, which is designed for college students intending to do research in science, mathematics or engineering. “It was clear when Alex was at Concordia that he was a tremendously gifted student,” says Dr. Mark Jensen, professor of chemistry. “It’s been a lot of fun to follow his career since graduation. He’s just a tremendous representative of Concordia and we couldn’t be more proud of him and what’s he’s accomplished.” Equally important to Ritter’s research is his ability to seek out partnerships. The T cell movies can’t be produced without a team of experts supporting and challenging each other. “As important as it is to do good work, if you’re doing it in a vacuum you’re not going to get far,” he says. “You need to find common ground and find something to work on together.” In February, Ritter began in a new role as a postdoctoral researcher in the Cancer Immunology department of Genentech in San Francisco. Immunotherapy is one of the fastest-evolving fields and one of the most promising approaches to treating cancer. Ritter is using microscopy techniques to examine how interactions between cytotoxic T cells and cancer cells change in the context of new cancer immunotherapy treatments. He’s also looking for new targets on tumor cells that make them less resistant to attacks by these immune cells. ◊ Watch video: ConcordiaCollege.edu/ritter spring 2016

growing the

Liberal Arts B y er i c l i l l eh au gen

Surrounded by wheat, corn and sugar beet fields, an appreciation for growth and renewal is rooted in the Fargo-Moorhead community. Evidence of that natural growth can be found even in our classrooms. Like other liberal arts institutions across the country, Concordia asks: how do we grow to serve the needs of new learners while maintaining the values at the core of our mission? How do we show students their education prepares them well for work and life?

A Hands-On Approach “I’m so tired of learning about all the problems!” That cry from a distressed student struck a chord with Dr. Gretchen Harvey, assistant professor of history. In 2011, she developed a course that focused on finding solutions. It became an interdisciplinary capstone titled “Building Sustainable Communities: Food, Hunger and Climate Change.”

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Institutions of higher education are now turning to integrated learning, a practice that blends in-class instruction with hands-on experience. These experiences soon will become part of every Concordia student’s education. Although the formality is new, integrative learning has long been a part of many Concordia courses.

In some ways, the class operates as a nonprofit where students work on committees, take minutes and meet twice weekly. It’s an example of how the integrated learning that will be a foundational part of Concordia’s future already has roots in the college’s liberal arts tradition. And while there are traditional aspects to the course, students are challenged to apply theory. Part of the course is to educate the community on sustainable growing practices, plant and raise seedlings in the college’s

organic garden, and sell those seedlings at a farmers market. It’s a dynamic formula and one that doesn’t always guarantee success. After a new expansion to the organic garden was completed in the fall, Harvey’s students brought fewer seedlings to market than before as they learned to adapt their growing methods to the environment inside a high tunnel. That freedom to fail has the potential to bring about more powerful learning than

High Impact Learning Trips are an example of integrative learning experiences. On these student-led trips, Cobbers perform field work in sustainability and conservation. Pictured is a group studying water conservation in the Everglades. Photo: Chase Body '15

success, Harvey says. “I could have them sit in the classroom and talk about organic food until the cows come home, but they’re out there actually trying things,” she says.

Integrated Learning Beginning in 2017, firstyear students will be required to complete two college-approved integrated learning experiences before graduation. These are called Pivotal Experiences in Applied Knowledge (PEAK) and may be integrated into program-specific or interdisciplinary courses or they may be designed like an independent study. PEAK represents an effort to broaden and deepen Concordia’s existing commitment to preparing students to become responsibly engaged in the world. Students agree these experiences lead to broader, more practical learning.

Biology major Tanner Knutson ’16 was in charge of managing the subcommittee responsible for taking care of the seedlings grown in Harvey’s course. Farming isn’t a professional aspiration, but he values the experience he gained in the class. “I’m not going to be a farmer. I’m going into physical therapy,” Knutson says. “But we had autonomy to do what we wanted with this project. It was total collaboration with our peers working toward a specific goal that really emulates what we’re going to be doing after college.” And while Harvey’s course offers a look at how PEAK might shape the classroom, other students pursue different experiences that could easily fulfill the same requirement. For Hanna Wallmow ’16, an internship at Clay County Solid Waste provided the perfect opportunity to put into practice the skills she

has developed at Concordia and to develop new skills more closely related to the job market. Wallmow, a political science and global studies double major, spent the semester tackling a very practical issue: how to get rid of plastic shopping bags. By researching how bags end up in landfills and gathering information on consumer habits, she developed a formal presentation that she delivered to the countyʼs Solid Waste Advisory Board. “Being in the classroom and having discussion, that’s important,” she says. “But then getting outside your comfort zone and being hands on and engaged in what you’re doing, that’s really the next step.” Going forward, engaging experiences like the ones that impacted Knutson and Wallmow will be a part of the curriculum for all students. It’s a shift in focus but also a natural evolution. ◊

spring 2016

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spring 2016

The American Refugee Committee is working with people in refugee camps in Somalia and 10 other countries around the world.

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Humanitarian missions B y a m y e. k el ly

On the edge of a Kenyan community there is a complex that has become an oasis. The community is Dadaab, the largest refugee site in the world with nearly 350,000 people living in tents side by side. They came seeking refuge from bordering countries – Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan – and places beyond. Most arrived with little physical baggage, but the emotional toll of their circumstances is great. The calm amid this turmoil is a counseling site for people who have been tortured. A program of Minnesota-based the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), this counseling site is staffed by trained paraprofessional mental health counselors. Dadaab is just one location where CVT is present, says Kristi Rendahl ʼ97, organizational development advisor at CVT. Finding the best strategies to fill the needs is what aid organizations are all trying to do, Rendahl says. “We can’t serve the millions and millions of displaced people around the world, so it’s important to build the capacity of people who are already there, those that are permanent,” Rendahl says. “They are going to be there for the next 10 or 20 years.” While the topic of refugees has been somewhat polarizing in the current political conversation, organizations that assist refugees both in the U.S. and in other countries believe their work serves a need. Following are the stories of three Concordia alumni who are working in different capacities with refugee populations. Their collective hope is to restore dignity and self-sufficiency of marginalized people.

spring 2016

Keeping Hope Alive The journey toward refuge is rarely an easy one. What people find when they arrive at refugee camps depends on organizations like the American Refugee Committee. Beth Schmieg ʼ03 is the director of Development Operations and Results for ARC, which works in 11 countries helping refugees rebuild their lives. The needs often start basic – food, sanitation, medical care – but can become more complex such as offering trauma counseling or microloans.

The Center for Victims of Torture offers counseling in this hut on the edge of the Dadaab refugee complex. Photo: Pablo Traspas

Schmieg says the key to staying positive is community. “As an individual it’s a scary world and a hard place to make change. But when you come together with a committed group of people who all feel personally vested in this kind of work, then we can get things done,” she says. ARC is based in Minnesota. Fifty employees work stateside and approximately 1,600 are overseas working in the communities that need them. “We try to hire local staff,” Schmieg says. “It gives better credibility to have people who know the environment, who are familiar with the community and who can provide the best response for us.” One startup program Schmieg helped develop was addressing childhood mortality in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Schmieg says one in five Congolese children do not make it past their fifth birthday, so ARC talked to the mothers who identified continuity of services as the main challenge. The response from ARC was a bit unusual. It set up a social enterprise system, an organization that uses commercial strategies for human well-being, where people would pay for the services they received. “We’re approaching it from a way that allows people the dignity of being able to choose where to take their kids to the clinic for checkups. To be able to choose a stronger agricultural model where we’re providing access into a cooperative. Choosing their water supply. The people will pay for these services,” she says. Philanthropic investors come in when expansion needs to happen, but otherwise this program is run and paid for locally based on the means of

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the community. Asking people what they need is the newest model for ARC. They are currently working to discover why so many Syrians will risk their lives trying to get to Europe instead of going to refugee camps in Jordan and the surrounding regions. “We need to be nimble enough to say, maybe what we’re doing isn’t good enough,” Schmieg says. “How might we design a better experience for people who are going through this conflict in the Middle East? How might we help them through this journey?”

Partnering for (Inner) Peace Restoring food and shelter for refugees can be challenging, but mental health restoration is equally and sometimes much more difficult. Some have withstood wars, while many have been tortured either physically or mentally. “I was just in Nigeria for the Center for Victims of Torture. The people you meet there share their stories,” Rendahl says. "When people share that with you, you have a duty to use it well and respectfully. It’s quite humbling to walk alongside these people in their efforts to do this work and figure out what small contribution I can make or facilitate their ability to move forward.” While much of Rendahl’s organizational development work takes place at CVT’s sites abroad, the organization also has a clinic in St. Paul and works with agencies throughout the U.S. CVT estimated there are 30,000 torture survivors in Minnesota and each of their stories touches a community. “Torture is very destructive,” Rendahl says. “The point is not to just destroy the person but because you destroy this person you destroy everyone around them and the entire community. Then you control the entire community and eventually a society. And there isn’t a perfect approach (for healing) – you have to go back to the individual level to restore that potential and that’s what motivates me. It’s the restoration.”

A Voice for the Neighbor Restoring dignity and a sense of belonging are also goals of Natalie Ringsmuth ʼ01. She works with her colleague Haji Yussuf to educate about language, culture and religious differences. A music educator turned community activist,

Ringsmuth’s new frontier is building understanding for those who she believes are marginalized in her community of St. Cloud, Minn. She and Yussuf created #unitecloud to give a face and a voice to the disenfranchised, including refugees and immigrants. “I can be a Christian person and Haji can be a Muslim person and still work together for peace,” Ringsmuth says. A large number of refugees have become St. Cloud residents in the past 15 years. Some have been placed there by an agency, while others have migrated on their own. The changing demographic has created some tension in the community that Ringsmuth hopes can be mitigated with more information. “When we hosted a panel in St. Cloud, there was a woman who lived by the mosque who said she was frightened of what happened there,” she says. The panel discussed Muslim faith and culture. “By the end of the talk she said, ‘I just want to say thank you, because I’m not afraid now,’” Ringsmuth says. Ringsmuth knows she isn’t going to change the minds of people who disagree with refugee resettlement. She hopes to equip people to stand with the marginalized. “So when you are in a business and someone is yelling at a Somali woman and her children to go back to their country … what do you do?” she says. “We are trying to build leaders to be community interventionists.” ◊

Beth Schmieg ’03

Director of Development Operations and Results American Refugee Committee

An English literature major, Schmieg worked for Lutheran Volunteer Corps as an education coordinator for at-risk youth. She then took a position with Fraser, a nonprofit that serves people with special needs. She has worked in various capacities for the past nine years for American Refugee Committee.

Kristi Rendahl ’97

Organizational Development Advisor The Center for Victims of Torture

A music and organizational communication major, Rendahl started her work abroad in the Peace Corps in Armenia. She then worked for Habitat for Humanity to begin the first affiliate in Armenia. She earned her doctorate in public administration from Hamline. She has worked as an adjunct instructor for St. Thomas, Hamline and a university in Guadalajara. She has owned her own consulting firm and for the past five years served in her current role at CVT.

Natalie Ringsmuth ’01 Executive Director #unitecloud

A music education major, Ringsmuth headed to inner-city Atlanta to teach music after graduation. It was her first taste of being a minority in a school with very few Caucasian people. She took that experience back to Minnesota with her and worked in various church settings for seven years. She took on the role of full-time community activist with her organization a year ago.

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Q&A Q:

Why did you come to Concordia?

I had a counselor at Central High School in Louisville who encouraged me to be adventuresome. My counselor had a special relationship with several colleges in the North. One of those colleges was Concordia, where the student government was sponsoring a scholarship for a student from the South. It was a window of opportunity for me to learn about life in Minnesota. I had attended all my public school education without having a white classmate, instructor or principal. At Concordia, I was the first black student (from the U.S.). There were two African students: one from Ethiopia and one from Ghana. But probably the biggest culture shock was the weather. I had not ventured far north from home before then.

: What is your

favorite memory from your days as a student at Concordia? One favorite memory is that I think I heard every sermon ever offered by former President Knutson. I ran the

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with Dr. Richard Green

sound system for chapel and memorized a lot of his catch phrases. One memorable phrase was “Render unto Caesar things that are Caesar’s, and unto God things that are God’s.”

What were some of the challenges you faced as a firstgeneration college student? I am the oldest of seven children. My father, who finished sixth grade, was from a farm in Tennessee. My mother was from a farm in Indiana. She finished high school. Still, they encouraged all of us to attend college. They wanted me to stay close to home, but let me and my siblings choose our way. I’m amazed at the support they showed us.

How did Concordia prepare you for your career? I intended to study engineering and work in industry. But I was convinced to pursue chemistry and attend graduate school by my mentors – Dr. Daryl Ostercamp, Dr. Richard Werth and Dr. Gus Dinga. They prepared me well.

I’ve enjoyed my time in education. I taught chemistry at Concordia for three years or so. That was a good experience that led me to administration. My first fulltime administrative job was at SUNY at Buffalo. At 31, I served as the assistant to the president. That led to a full career serving in roles as college president, provost, deanship and more.

You were the first director of the Office of Intercultural Affairs at Concordia. Why was the position important? I was asked to help develop a counseling program at Concordia supported by a grant from the Department of Education. As part of that, I helped develop an exchange program with Virginia Union University, a historically black college, and Colorado Fort Hayes College, which had a large Native American population. This program was an adventurous learning experience in terms of cultural exchange. As a result of that, I put together a proposal for a structural approach to diversity, the Office of Intercultural Affairs.

For 50 years, Dr. Richard Green ’61 has been a teacher and a leader in higher education. This spring, he received an honorary degree from Concordia where he began his academic career in 1957 after a 33-hour train ride from his home and family in Louisville, Ky. Green is now interim president at Lincoln University, a historically black college in Pennsylvania. Concordia Magazine recently asked Green to respond to some questions about his experiences at Concordia and his thoughts on diversity on college campuses.

In 1969, there were seven or eight students of color at Concordia. When I left, there were more than 60 from various parts of the U.S. (Intercultural Affairs) provided an important home for those students – both on campus and off. My wife, Dr. Dorothy Green, and I lived across Eighth Street in a big house and we had room for all of these students to come for special dinners and celebrations. A lot of good things have emanated from the program.

What are you most proud of?

I’m proud of my Cobber background, which provided excellent foundation for my advanced education. I still remember some of the administrative practices at Concordia that I like to use in my work now. Also, the liberal arts education I received has helped inform my life and understanding of the importance of grace and service. My wife, Dorothy, has been my partner in all I’ve done. We’ve been married 52 years. We have a son and a daughter and three grandchildren. I’m proud of them.

What has been the biggest challenge for you?

of the country, we became more productive, creative and better.

Finding time to do all that we try to do and doing it well. We attempt to stay in contact with former students. My wife is quite active in civic organizations and national foundations that encourage women to participate fully in education and business. I’ve tried to find time to do the same and encourage students to take full advantage of education.

We become better people, better communities when we have cultural experiences that are different than our own, whether international or domestic. Integrating those experiences into the classroom and activities of the college makes the educational experience more vibrant.

We do all this while trying to keep up with our grandchildren, which is really important to us. My wife says I haven’t really retired.

Why is diversity important on college campuses? I’m at Lincoln University where about 5 percent of the 2,000 students are white. About 30 faculty and some administrators are white. Diversity is important for us, as well. The U.S. is positioned well because we have diversity. Once the country decided to make everyone full participants in the life, economics and education

We live in a diverse world. We can’t isolate ourselves anymore. We need diverse input all the time, and we must remain vigilant and intentional as possible to reap the benefits of a diverse society.

How should schools encourage diversity on campus? It’s something one must work at whether you’re at Concordia or Lincoln. We all need to become better at it. One way is to be creative, just as we were many years ago. For example, partnerships – exchanges of faculty and students – lead to diversity that would be helpful to all institutions involved. ◊

spring 2016

“ I want every student to benefit like I have from relationships (with alumni).” – Josh Mackner ʼ17

Preserving Tradition B y al i f r os l i e

Ali Froslie '18 is an English major from Dilworth, Minn.

Not only is salt a wonderful preservative, it also makes corn taste a whole lot better. That’s what the founders of SALT – Students and Alumni Linked Together – quip. New this year, the organization has some big goals. Their first is to connect students and alumni in ways that will be mutually beneficial.

Josh Mackner ’17, one of SALT’s student founders, got involved because of his own appreciation for alumni support. Mackner has shadowed and worked for Dr. Casey Bartz ’04, a Moorhead optometrist. Mackner is grateful for the guidance Bartz provides as he begins his own journey toward optometry.

The Office of Alumni Relations wants students to be aware of alumni sooner during their time at Concordia, says Eric Johnson, director. SALT has the potential to provide better ways for alumni to get more directly involved in studentsʼ lives and vice versa. “For many years, we have focused on alumni beginning with the day they graduate. The truth is, students are becoming future alumni the day they arrive,” Johnson says. In raising student awareness of alumni involvement, Johnson believes students will become more engaged with the college after graduation.

Many alumni desire to help students succeed in their careers, Peterson says. This year, SALT assisted with events that help to build these relationships. At the Careers Connecting Cobbers luncheon, students and alumni talked face to face, asked questions and made connections they might not have been able to otherwise.

Paul Peterson ’76, a National Alumni Board member, believes he would have benefited from an organization like SALT. As a student, he was not familiar with the roles of alumni in the success of the college. “The financial contributions that alumni make, along with their never-ending support of Concordia, were things I never appreciated during my time as a student,” he says.

Not only is SALT a way for students to learn from alumni, but Johnson also knows the organization will help alumni stay connected to Concordia and remember their own college experiences. ◊

Cultivate meaningful, supportive relationships between students and alumni.

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In the future, Johnson hopes there will be more opportunities for students and alumni to come together at different networking events, service projects or even student-alumni game nights.

More details: ConcordiaCollege.edu/salt

Provide student leadership opportunities.

Heighten awareness among students of the ways alumni participate in the life of the college.

Teach students the value and tradition of philanthropy/ stewardship.

Enhance existing Cobber traditions.

Family Weekend

125th Anniversary

Homecoming

Friday, Sept. 23-Sunday, Sept. 25

Monday, Oct. 31

Friday, Oct. 7-Sunday, Oct. 9

Visit the Cobber student in your life and have some fun in the process. Family Weekend activities include a pep rally, scavenger hunt, yard games, bouncy houses and more.

Happy birthday, Concordia! To celebrate the college's commitment to the mission, we'll be hosting anniversary events throughout the year. Join us for one or two or more.

Mark your calendars to reconnect with classmates and friends during this weekend filled with reminiscing and fun. Reunions will be scheduled for classes ending in 1 or 6.

ConcordiaCollege.edu/familyweekend

ConcordiaCollege.edu/125

ConcordiaCollege.edu/homecoming

KIRCHER, MCMAHON RECEIVE SENT FORTH AWARDS Amy Kircher '97 and Miquette McMahon '06 are the recipients of the 2016 Sent Forth Award, which recognizes service to Concordia’s mission by young alumni.

Kircher received a Master of Public Health degree from the University of WisconsinLa Crosse and a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She previously worked as an epidemiologist for NORAD – U.S. Northern Command and was an instructor for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Currently, TeacHaiti educates more than 350 students through student scholarships. McMahon oversees every aspect of TeacHaiti and spends much of her time advocating and fundraising for TeacHaiti throughout the United States. ◊

ircher is director of the Food Protection and Defense Institute, a Homeland Security Center of Excellence, where she coordinates a research consortium of experts dedicated to protecting the food system. She is also an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota.

cMahon worked at a nursing home and a hospital in Detroit Lakes, Minn., for a year after graduation before returning to Haiti to work as a school nurse and teacher. She founded TeacHaiti, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to send children to school in Haiti. After Haiti’s earthquake when many schools in Haiti were destroyed, McMahon opened TeacHaiti School of Hope in Port au Prince.

spring 2016

« class notes

CLASS NOTES 1952

1974

Paul Oas, Carlsbad, Calif., was honored with the American College of

Paul Hendrickson, Frazee, Minn., retired after 25 years as a family physician in the

Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Humanitarian Award at its conference in Virginia.

Detroit Lakes/Frazee area.

1958

Larry Dean, Grand Marais, Minn., retired from teaching; he is selling homes for Red Pine Realty.

Nancy (Jenson) Lee, Minneapolis, published a historical novel, “The Island,” (Northstar Press, St. Cloud, Minn.) about the Cloquet fire of 1918.

1976 1979

Robert Nilsen married Janet McCrorie in September; they live in Kalispell, Mont.

Laura Hansen, Little Falls, Minn., won the 2015 Stevens Poetry Manuscript Competition for her book “Midnight River,” published by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.

1971

1980

1959

John Matthews, Apple Valley, Minn., was honored by the Islamic Resource Group of Minnesota with the 2015 Building Bridges Award for Interfaith Activity.

Susan Ebertz, Woodbury, Minn., vice president of Securian Financial Group, was honored as one of the 2015 Top Women in Finance by the Finance & Commerce

A SURPRISE ACROSS THE OCEAN Jim Herhusky '68 (left), Las Vegas, was at the Morgedal Hotel in Morgedal, Norway, where four Americans from Texas and Minnesota were sitting near him and one just happened to be a Cobber, Ron Stow '65.

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newspaper. // Tracy Hagstrom Durant, Buffalo, Minn., a teacher and director of theater at Buffalo High School, was honored with a Dedicated Lifetime Achievement Award for Educational Theater by the Minnesota Educational Theater Association. // Paul Olson, Rochester, Minn., is senior program manager of aerospace and defense for Benchmark Electronics.

1986 Janet (Allen) Gruenberg, Prospect, Ky., is executive vice president of community

Micheal Ginder, Baxter, Minn., is an emergency medicine physician.

engagement for Gilda’s Club Louisville. // Thomas Raedeke, Greenville, N.C., was named a Fellow of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology at its annual conference. // Joy Zimmerman, Fairway, Kan., is a performing singer/ songwriter and workshop leader in the Kansas City area; she recently released her fourth CD of original songs, “Say My Name.”

1982

1988

Ann (Sackreiter) Butt, Boise, Idaho, earned a Doctor of Education degree in curriculum and instruction from Boise State U. // Craig Davenport, Spokane, Wash., is on the Mental Health Advisory Board of the Spokane County Regional Behavioral Health Organization.

Kip Fondrick, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., is a manufactured food field supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, St. Paul. // John Fatino, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, has been named to a three-year term on the executive committee of Whitefield & Eddy Law; the committee is responsible for developing comprehensive strategic direction and leads all initiatives for the firm.

1981

1985 Paul Nelson, Eden Prairie, Minn., earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in mission and leadership from Luther Seminary, St. Paul; he is senior pastor for Immanuel Lutheran Church, Eden Prairie.

1989 Carol (Schotzko) Sylvester, St. Paul, Minn., is a librarian at Regions Hospital, St. Paul. // Cort Sylvester, Rosemount, Minn., was named to the Hall of Fame by the Minnesota State High School League.

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1990

was named after his greatgrandfather.

Miriam (Saathoff) Tobola, Fargo, N.D., earned a doctorate in education from North

1995

Dakota State U.

1991 Claude Cassagne, Roseville, Minn., is a French professor at Macalester College, St. Paul. // Bren Larkin, Middle River, Md., is a fitness and aquatics manager for Roland Park Place, Baltimore. // Ann (Cummings) Mitchell, Ramsey, Minn., is a merchandiser for American Greetings. // Jean (Moore) Vaskey, Great Falls, Mont., is membership/marketing director for Peak Health & Wellness Center.

1992 Shane Burton married Karla Evenson in September; they live in Andover, Minn. // Theodore Kottom, Zumbro Falls, Minn., earned a doctorate in biomedical studies from the U of Iceland, Reykjavik.

1994

Terry Kaiser Borning, Gilbert, Ariz., is systems analyst senior for Arizona State U, Tempe. // Michael Swanson, Hallock, Minn., is head distiller and founding partner of Far North Spirits craft distillery; the company won the 2016 Good Food Award for Gustaf Navy Strength Gin, which

Blair Kiland, Fargo, N.D., earned a Master of Business Administration degree from North Dakota State U; he is financial advisor for Merrill Lynch, Fargo. // A girl, Emersyn, was born to Keani McKenzie and Richard Blake, Seattle, in October.

1996 Amy (Carlson) Baker, Rochester, Minn., is community outreach parent educator for Rochester Public Schools. // Colleen Healy, St. Paul, Minn., was honored with the Best Public Event Planner for 2014 award from Minnesota Meetings and Events, Minneapolis; she is a real estate agent for Kelly William Integrity Realty. // Christine (Ward) Peterson, Broken Arrow, Okla., earned a master’s degree in health informatics and information management from the U of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis.

the Independent Insurance Agents of South Dakota, Pierre.

Larsen, Lake Ridge, Va., in September.

1998

GREAT DAY TO HANG AROUND CAMPUS

Carin Bratlie married Clarence Wethern in July; they live in Minneapolis. // A boy, Alden, was born to Dan and Shawna (Lee) Guinn, Madison, Wis., in

Abigail and Brayden, the children of Shannon and Stacy (Zich) '99 Lovelace, Fargo, N.D., pose under a Concordia flag on campus.

September. // A girl, Quinlin, was born to John and Jamie (Simon)

Linkowitz,

Park

Rapids, Minn., in January. // A girl, Grace, was born to Robert and Sara (Pudas) Schreiber, Minneapolis, in September.

1999 A boy, Thor, was born to David and Andrea (Prink) Botchek, Red Wing, Minn., in June. // A girl, Eleanor, was born to David and Sara (Bettinardi)

2000 Carrie (Martinson) Bjorge, Fargo, N.D., is vice president/ assistant controller for Bell

all smiles The Nyquist boys in their Concordia apparel are (l-r): Maxwell (9 months), Isaak (5½ years) and Liam (9 months), the sons of Blake '00 and Megan (Bodley) '00 Nyquist, Okemos, Mich.

1997 Erin (Egan) Anderson, Excelsior, Minn., is executive consultant for Rodan + Fields Skincare. // Ryan Dokken, Sioux Falls, S.D., was honored with the 2015 South Dakota Agent of the Year award from

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« class notes

State Bank & Trust, Fargo. // Twin boys, Liam and Maxwell, were born to Megan (Bodley) and Blake Nyquist, Okemos, Mich., in June. // A girl, Willa, was born to Tashia Weisenburger Pomroy and Fred Pomroy, Minneapolis, in November.

2003

Krysten Edwards, Rosemount, Minn., in November.

Vanessa (Thompson) Jagim, Onalaska, Wis., in October.

A girl, Caroline, was born to Becky and Joseph Currier, West Fargo, N.D., in October.

2006

2008

Erika Bjerketvedt married Nathan Field in October; they live in Duluth, Minn. // A boy, Parker, was born to Carter and Stephanie (Tinjum) Fong, Dickinson, N.D., in September. // A boy, Grayson, was born to Joshua and Jill (Carlson) Fuller, Richfield, Minn., in January. // Megan Gauthier, St. Louis, is a clinical fellow in pediatric hematology and oncology at St. Louis Children’s Hospital/ Washington U School of Medicine. // A boy, Peyton, was born to Brandon and Erin (Toppen) Kub, Kindred, N.D., in August. // Katherine Ledin married Daniel Harwood in September; they live in Stanley, N.D.

A boy, Elliot, was born to Jon ’06 and Liz (Carlson) Eisert, Fargo, N.D., in October. // Cassandra Lamb, Warner, S.D., is pastor for St. John Lutheran Church. // A girl, Lydia, was born to Shane and Amanda (Emery) Specht, Glenwood, Minn., in September. // A girl, Grace, was born to Amanda (Johnson) and Thomas Suchanek, Champlin, Minn., in October. // A boy, Odin, was born to Anna (Meier) and Kyle Svennungsen, Prairie du Chien, Wis., in July; Kyle is pastor for St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church.

2004 A girl, Celia, was born to Jessica (Walden) ’05 and

Kiersten ronning’s

love of clothing has taken her behind the scenes of film and television to her current role as head costume designer for the CBS TV show “Supergirl.” It’s not the 2001 alumna’s first job as a costume designer – she’s been in the business since 2002 – but it is the largest in terms of scope and budget. She shops for the characters who are wearing “civilian clothing” and creates the concepts for the superhero characters that are part of the DC Comics universe. ◊

2001 Willow Bousu, St. Paul, Minn., is executive assistant for Thrivent Financial. // A boy, Martin, was born to Michael and Martha (Spohr) Hanson, Morris, Minn., in May 2015. // Abigail Mayer married Ryan Vavra in April 2015; they live in Mendota Heights, Minn. // A girl, Grace, was born to Michelle and Mark Yohe, Fargo, N.D., in November.

2002 Christa (Heckman) Sadrzadeh, South Bend, Ind., is a CV surgery physician assistant for Beacon Health System. // Amanda (Hastad) Thompson, Willmar, Minn., is co-author in a clinical study published in the journal Renal Failure.

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Micah Heckman, Savage, Minn., in August. // A boy, Charles, was born to Dustin and Katherine (Meinz) Neibauer, Waconia, Minn., in October. // Micah Westby, Washington, D.C., received a Master of Education degree from the U of Minnesota; he is a visual arts teacher for District of Columbia Public Schools. // A girl, Madison, was born to Nathan and Angela (Bentley) Wood, Jordan, Minn., in September.

2005 A boy, Grady, was born to Angela Gradin-Peterson and Jon Fogel, Fargo, N.D., in January. // A girl, Caroline, was born to Jon and Kristin (Bjella) How, Bozeman, Mont., in January. // A boy, Elliot, was born to Derek Hughes and

2007 Matt Eidem, Moorhead, is director of museum operations for the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County, Moorhead. // Kelly Haagenson, Maple Grove, Minn., is a senior medical affairs specialist for Medtronic. // A girl, Remmy, was born to Andrew and

VISIONS OF CORNCOBS DANCED IN HER HEAD Grace, the daughter of Tom '08 and Amanda (Johnson) '08 Suchanek, models Cobber gear right down to her tiny toes.

ON MY WAY TO … CONCORDIA Future Cobber Selah (with friends) is the daughter of Matthew "Grant" '09 and Petra (Larson) '09 Vanderford, Moorhead.

2009 A girl, Ella, was born to Ben and Jennifer (Young) Bremer, Brooklyn Park, Minn., in January. // A boy, Beckham, was born to Scott and Kristin (Reding) Franks, Black River Falls, Wis., in October. // A boy, Beckett, was born to Katie (Quitney) and Luke Okland, Willmar, Minn., in March 2015. // A girl, Selah, was born to Matthew “Grant” and Petra (Larson) Vanderford, Moorhead, in July.

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2010

look how he's grown

Natasha John, Falls Church, Va., works for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. // Rosie Sauvageau, Minneapolis, had a world premiere of the play she cowrote, “Right, Wrong or Bomb! A Dating Musical,” in January at the Illusion Theater in Minneapolis. // A boy, Bennett, was born to Jonathan ’08 and Kayla (Holverson) Schulz, Lakeville, Minn., in July.

Cobber basketball player Brady Syverson '16, with his parents, Kevin and Jean (Tuckner) '88 Syverson, holds the Cobber shirt the alumni office sent when he was a baby.

2011 Rachel Boyer, Oakdale, Minn., is director of communications for the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party in St. Paul. // A daughter, Amelia, was born to Jenna and Kevin Cronen, Moorhead, in October; he is an employee services representative for Coborn’s Inc., Fargo, N.D. // Ashley Grabowski, Colleyville, Texas, is marketing coordinator/ copywriter for ABP International Inc. // A girl,

Henley, was born to Nathan ’10 and Kristen (Halley) Haase, Thief River Falls, Minn., in February. // A boy, Jackson, was born to Joseph and Kelsey (Nelson) Haukos, Ramsey, Minn., in October; she earned a Master of Education degree in teaching and learning from St. Mary’s U of Minnesota, Winona. // Amber Jackson married Brady Blomberg ’10 in August; they live in Fargo, N.D. //

Jeffrey Marquardt, Bergen, Norway, is second bassoon/ contrabassoon for the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. // Lucy Oehler married Eric Swanson in August; they live in Aitkin, Minn.; she earned a master's degree in curriculum and instruction (Kodaly emphasis) from Minnesota State U Moorhead. // Erik Stenehjem, West Fargo, N.D., was elected to the corporate board of First International Bank and Trust, Watford City. // A girl, Teresa, was born to Doug and Sara (Sonnenberg) Stone, Greenbelt, Md., in January.

2013

2012

she is a medical receptionist for Park Nicollet Clinic. // Colleen Kelly married Matt Moenkedick ’13 in December; they live in Dickinson, N.D.; she is an RN at CHI St. Joseph’s Hospital. // Allison Richards, Minneapolis, is an elementary teacher at Hennepin Elementary School. // A girl, Lisbeth, was born Leap Day to Tanner ’12 and Kayla (Johnson) Sakrismo, Moorhead.

Rachel Campion, Fayetteville, N.C., earned her Columbian parachutist badge as part of an airborne operation with several Allied countries; she is a first lieutenant assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg. // A girl, Millena, was born to Tyler and Miranda (Goraczkowski) Larsen, Blue Earth, Minn., in January.

Jessica Biller married Ryan McAdam ’12 in June; they live in Bloomington, Minn.

2014 Elizabeth Anderson, Roseville, Minn., is an English teacher for St. Paul Public Schools. // Mitch Campion married Setareh Mostofi in October; they live in Grand Forks, N.D. // Kayla Casavant married Tyler Kemp in September; they live in West Fargo, N.D. // Mandi Dahlseng married Chad Roehrich in October; they live in Shakopee, Minn.;

BOUND FOR THE NFL

Former Concordia quarterback Griffin Neal ’14 signed a three-year contract with the New Orleans Saints. His contract is not guaranteed but will be honored if he makes the team. He participated in the rookie minicamp in mid-May and will hopefully keep progressing through off-season and preseason training camps. ◊

spring 2016

« class notes

MEMORIALS 1938: Alpha (Huso) Voiles, 99, Aneta, N.D., in November. 1939: Kermit Piltingsrud, 98, Minneapolis, in November. 1941: Fred Dommer, 97, Ledger, Mont., in December. // Ione (Wallestad) Lindgren, 94, Bloomington, Minn., in September. // Eunice (Estrem) Nedrud, 96, Minneapolis, in November. 1942: Irene (Johnson) Rygg, 95, Seattle, in February. 1943: Opal (Bueide) Pennypacker, 94, Oakton, Va., in October. // Jean (Ahlness) Stebinger, 93, Cromwell, Conn., in December. 1944: Lois (McKenzie) Janecky, 94, Bellevue, Wash., in February.

1945: Archie Otteson, 94, Atlanta, in February. 1946: Doris Gunderson Singleton, 90, Arlington, Va., in December. 1947: Georgene (Nelson) Anderson, 90, Aurora, Ill., in May 2015. // Norma (Lillo) Hansen, 90, Fargo, N.D., in January. // Ila (Youngberg) Nelson, 90, Grove City, Minn., in March; she is survived by her husband, Lester. 1948: DeWayne Bey, 91, Portland, Ore., in November. // Earl Reitan, 90, Bloomington, Ill., in October. // Alice “Betty” (Gilbertson) Sande, 89, Rochester, Minn., in January; she is survived by her husband, Bob ’49. // Norma (Berg) Vanderpan, 89, Brookings, S.D., in October. // Wayne Wagstrom, 91, Moorhead, in December; he is survived by his wife, Loanna (Nysetvold) ’50.

1949: Stanford Stenson, 88, Rapid City, S.D., in December; he is survived by his wife, Doris. // Marvin Thompson, 91, Fosston, Minn., in February. 1950: Swanhild “Swanie” Aalgaard, 90, Minneapolis, in October. // Omar Amundson, 87, Fargo, N.D., in February; he is survived by his wife, Rita. // Ivan Camrud, 88, Moorhead, in March; he is survived by his wife, Juanada (Paulsrud) ’63. // Arland Elton, 89, Pelican Rapids, Minn., in December. // John Gilmore, 88, Issaquah, Wash., in January; he is survived by his wife, Marlice. // Duane Olson, 86, Bloomington, Minn., in December; he is survived by his wife, Constance. // Roland Stenerson, 92, Moorhead, in January. 1951: Alicia (Gelder) Ahrens, 85, Brainerd, Minn., in March. // Minda (Herseth)

Bertilrud, 86, Fargo, N.D., in November; she is survived by her husband, Selvin. // Wilma (Ringen) Loken, 86, Wahpeton, N.D., in January. // Duane Nelson, 85, Kimberly, Wis., in February; he is survived by his wife, Betty. 1952: Erling Kolke, 85, Detroit Lakes, Minn., in December. // Randi (Langfeldt) Oen, 85, Arden Hills, Minn., in February. // Carol (Wammer) Sellie, 84, Cathay, N.D., in February. 1953: Jeanette (Sandness) Carlander, 83, Gig Harbor, Wash., in January; she is survived by her husband, Loren ’52. 1954: Sherman Baarstad, 83, Lake Ann, Mich., in January; he is survived by his wife, Gwen. // Wendell Johnston, 85, Minneapolis, in November; he is survived by

ORCHESTRATING EARLY SUCCESS

JoAnne Harris ’06 was the lead orchestrator and the conductor of a live recording session for the 2016 film “The Infiltrator,” starring Bryan Cranston and Diane Kruger. She says it’s been one of the most rewarding projects of her career, which has included composing music for short films, working as a music associate on a Broadway production, conducting at Lincoln Center, studying at Juilliard and composing music for a theater production in China. “Concordia was a great launching pad for me,” she says. “I was inspired by the professors in the music department; their hunger and passion for reaching a mastery of music themselves created such a wonderful environment for learning and creating.” ◊

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class notes »

his wife, Iris. // Erwin Toso, 86, Pelican Rapids, Minn., in January; he is survived by his wife, Alice (Mathison). 1955: Armand Falk, 82, Clear Lake, Minn., in December. // Delores (Hoium) Strommen, 82, Fargo, N.D., in January; she is survived by her husband, Harold.

1964: Thomas Holverson, 73, Lakeville, Minn., in January; he is survived by his wife, Darlene. // Gail (Larson) Tillotson, 73, Fargo, N.D., in December. 1966: Lorene (Hanson) Lefdahl, 71, Anderson, Ind., in November; she is survived by her husband, Regan ’69.

1956: Janet (Anderson) Amunrud, 81, Billings, Mont., in January; she is survived by her husband, Ronald. // Delbert Rasmussen, 82, Dorking, Surrey, England, in November; he is survived by his wife, Jill.

1968: Elaine (Larsen) Gunderson, 69, Colville, Wash., in January; she is survived by her husband, Loren ’63.

1958: Rebecca (Olson) Appelgren, 79, Minnetonka, Minn., in November; she is survived by her husband, Richard. // Chester Flack, 81, Willmar, Minn., in January; he is survived by his wife, Ramona (Steinley) ’56. // Mary (Jesten) Riedberger, 79, Vista, Calif., in January; she is survived by her husband, Ron ’57.

1970: Marlys (Jensen) Silbaugh, 67, New Hope, Minn., in December; she is survived by her husband, Walt. // Craig Thompson, 68, St. Paul, Minn., in February.

1959: Robert Berge, 89, Cooperstown, N.D., in December; he is survived by his wife, Adeline. // Arlington “Bud” Mitskog, 88, Moorhead, in January; he is survived by his wife, Carol. // Alan Schultz, 78, Tyler, Texas, in November; he is survived by his wife, Sylvia (Hoel) ’61. 1961: C. Rand Elness, 77, San Jose, Calif., in March; he is survived by his wife, Connie (Lian) ’63. // Philip Gjevre, 77, Stevens Point, Wis., in October; he is survived by his wife, Jane (Holland) ’62. // Bruce McCoy, Arden Hills, Minn., in June. 1963: George Fevig, 73, Fargo, N.D., in November; he is survived by his wife, Scheryl.

1969: Nancy (Larsen) Hudoba, 68, Moorhead, in February.

1971: Roger Farsdale, 66, Underwood, Minn., in March.

1972: Carold Ueland, 70, Vonore, Tenn., in December; he is survived by his wife, Linda. 1973: Linda (Wentzel) Sjostrand, 68, Hazen, N.D., in February; she is survived by her husband, Dewayne.

January; he is survived by his wife, Susan (Gabbert) ’81. 1981: Tonia Larson, 56, Twin Valley, Minn., in December. 1992: Jeffrey Logan, 46, Ottumwa, Iowa, in March.

1974: Duane Mickelson, 62, Hawley, Minn., in November; he is survived by his wife, Karla (Florey) ’82.

1993: Tawnya (Conrad) Vad, 44, Phoenix, in January; she is survived by her husband, Tom.

1975: George Gerlach, 65, Granite Falls, Minn., in January; he is survived by his wife, Carol.

1999: Bryan Rud, 39, Fosston, Minn., in December.

1976: James Pearson, 61, Vienna, Austria, in October. // A. Lee Warner, 60, Reno, Nev., in May. 1979: Laurie (Amundson) Brooks, 58, Moorhead, in January; she is survived by her husband, Richard. // Timothy Hunstad, 58, Spicer, Minn., in

2001: Shannon (O’Fallon) Dickey, 37, Wylie, Texas, in February; she is survived by her husband, Brian. 2018: Lucas Anderson, 26, Fargo, N.D., in March. ◊ editor's note: Class notes may be submitted online at ConcordiaCollege. edu/classnotes.

IN MEMORIAM Duane Mickelson, 62, Hawley, Minn., died Nov. 24. Mickelson was a member of the art department faculty at Concordia from 1978-2014 and as department chair from 2002-2005. He graduated from Concordia in 1974 with a degree in art history and art education and with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Dakota in 1982. During his 35 years at Concordia, he taught sculpture, 2-D and 3-D foundations, drawing and elementary art education courses. He also served as director of the Cyrus M. Running Gallery. His art is in both private and public collections around the world. Throughout the years, he received numerous awards and recognition for his sculptures and teaching, including the Ole and Lucy Flaat Distinguished Teaching Award in 2006. He is survived by his wife, Karla (Florey) ’82. Dr. Chester Sautter, 81, Fargo, N.D., died Nov. 10. Sautter served as a member of the physics department faculty at Concordia from 1965-1997. He graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University before attending the University of Nebraska for his doctorate. During his 32 years at Concordia, he taught nearly every course offered in the physics department, including a course on the science of sound for music majors. In 1979, he gathered data surrounding a spill of radioactive waste near Church Rock, New Mexico, and used a sabbatical leave to study the spill and help those affected by it. After his retirement, he continued to serve as the radiation safety officer for the department. He is survived by his wife, Shirley; son, Greg (Jennifer); daughters, Lorraine Teilborg ’87 (John), Britta Cabanos (Greg) and Rachel; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. ◊

spring 2016

Cultivating joy

B y D r . J acqu el i ne B u s s i e

We are created for joy. I believe this. But I also know that joy, like hope, needs to be cultivated and received, which is a struggle through and through in a world filled with so much sadness. … One strategy … to best resist evil, grief, and suffering and to cultivate joy is through the practice of our vocations. The word vocation means calling, and Lutherans like myself grow up believing everyone has one. Luther in the sixteenth century stretched the term out, applying it not just to priests but to everyone – from moms to shoemakers to streetcleaners. In the twentieth century, Frederick Buechner wrote the much-beloved definition, that your vocation is “the place God calls you, the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Taken from “Outlaw Christian” by Jacqueline A. Bussie. Copyright © 2016 by Jacqueline A. Bussie. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.OutlawChristianBook.com. Bussie is director of the Forum on Faith and Life and associate professor of religion at Concordia.

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I like both of these definitions, but I believe we don’t have one vocation but many. We have multiple vocations in a lifetime or even every day, the way we are a student, daughter, accountant, neighbor, and best friend. Each role summons us in its own special way to become more human human beings. I would therefore define vocation as anything you commit to in life that presents you with the chance to give someone’s humanity back to them. This could be anything. The someone could even be yourself. Understanding yourself to have a vocation means looking forward into each day’s endless array of possibilities and thinking, I wonder what will be the moment today when I and only I will have the chance to give someone’s humanity back to her? Your vocations are how you wrestle in the world every day to bring us one percent closer to TheWorld-We-Want-to-Live-In. My vocation of being a teacher has brought me more moments of joy than I could ever describe to you using mere Microsoft Word. I am thinking of when one of my recent graduates Jordan told me about her work doing HIV testing on skid row and counseling fourteen-year-olds scared out of their minds, and I was so proud to know her that my hands shook as I held the phone. I’m thrilled when my liberation theology class was supposed to have ended at 3:15 p.m. and it’s now 3:35 p.m., and nobody, and I do mean nobody, has made a break for the door because time doesn’t matter compared to what Megan is saying now about Fazeel, the Somali refugee whom she is teaching English as part of our class’ weekly community service and who, though dead-broke, baked her food as a thank-you. I am thinking of the day my student Elise … read her lament on the lawn and when she started to cry and I feared she could

not go on, her classmate Eddie reached out and held her hand until she was able to speak again. My students are people I genuinely love, and if my vocation did not let me be around such aweinspiring people all day, much of my joy would vanish from my life. The other day a student interviewed me for a class assignment. The last question she asked me was, “What is one thing you would want everyone to know that you have not yet said?” I want to leave you with the same answer I gave her, because it sums up best all I want to say as an outlaw Christian about vocation, grace, hope, and joy. Every day during the warmer months of the year, I walk to work. My walk is a couple of miles, and it is beautiful. The Red River divides the city where I live – Fargo, North Dakota – from the city where I work – Moorhead, Minnesota. A pedestrian bridge that I have to cross hangs over the Red River. Every time I cross this bridge, I feel as though nature itself helps transition me from work to home or home to work and back again. Whenever my feet hit the bridge’s wood slats, no matter which direction I am headed, my heart sings. Heading east in the morning, I can’t wait to see my students whom I have missed during the evening. Heading west in the evening, I can’t wait to see my husband whom I have missed during the day. And then, one day on the bridge a thought hit me that is the truest thing that I know about my life to date, and the thought was this: Love waits for me on both sides of the river. No matter what you have been through, what you have done or left undone, may you, too, one day know this to be the truest thing about your own life. Love waits for you on both sides of the river. ◊

spring 2016

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New graduate Maria Giorgi '16 celebrates at Jake Christiansen Stadium with her fist held high, a nod to the closing scene of the film "The Breakfast Club." Photo: Maria Giorgi

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