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MPR Highlights Growing StepUP Partnerships

MPR News logoA leader in the collegiate recovery movement for more than 25 years, StepUP® at ֱ̲ is now poised to reach more students through new partnerships with Twin Cities-area colleges and universities. Minnesota Public Radio recently featured StepUP Director Ericka Otterson, Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator Nell Hurley, and Ethan Laugen ’24 in a story about the need for recovery support in higher education.

StepUP provides an array of support services for students in recovery, including sober living college experience in Oren Gateway Center, weekly meetings with alcohol and drug counselors, and access to a strong alumni network. With new partnerships forming post-COVID-19, including a formal agreement with the University of St. Thomas, these resources will be available to more students from across the Twin Cities metro.

“There’s no shortage of need, and students time and again will say the community has been the most valuable aspect of participating in this program,” Otterson told MPR. “So the larger the community is each year, the more opportunity there is for that.”

“This is my community,” said Laugen. “Instead of a student group or a frat, it’s StepUP. These are my people who get me, who understand me, who I get along with. And it has given me the college experience in the way that I needed a college experience.”

MPR Highlights Interfaith Director Najeeba Syeed’s Reflections on Ramadan

Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri endowed chair and executive director of Interfaith at ֱ̲, recently shared her perspective of unity during Ramadan with .

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims place extra emphasis on spiritual disciplines such as fasting, prayer, and reciting scripture. Those who are able fast between dawn and dusk and gather after sunset for a communal evening meal called Iftar. “What’s really lovely about Islam in America is that we’re the most ethnically diverse and racially diverse religious community in the U.S.,” Syeed told Jacob Aloi from MPR. She also noted that Ramadan and Iftar meals offer a unique opportunity for hospitality, interfaith work, and peacebuilding, “which is based on food and breaking bread together, for sitting at the same table. It’s really hard to fight afterward.”

Read or listen to the , and learn more about Interfaith at Augsburg.

MPR Highlights Jarabe Mexicano Residency at Augsburg Music Department

Jarabe Mexicano, a “bordeño-soul-folk” band with a passion for teaching and storytelling, will be in residency with the Augsburg Music Department from March 31–April 2. MPR recently explored the group’s roots in the U.S.-Mexico border region and their diverse musical influences, which range fromRitchie Valens to Los Lobos and Chicano rock. David Myers, Augsburg’s department head for music programs, was quoted in the article about the department’s goal to expand students’ appreciation of diverse music beyond western European classical music.

In addition to working with music department students and local high school students, Jarabe Mexicano will perform free public concert at Hoversten Chapel on Saturday, April 2 at 2 p.m.

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MPR talks with President Pribbenow about Auggie Plan

Minnesota Public Radio logoThis month,officials from Augsburg College and Anoka-Ramsey Community College launched the Auggie Plan, a guaranteed pathway to a four-year degree for community collegestudents who meetminimumGPA requirements and who complete general education courseworkon their way to enrolling atAugsburg College.

Students in the program can take a range of liberal arts courseswith the knowledge the courses will be accepted by Augsburg. Listen to Minnesota Public Radio’s story,“,”which included an interview with President Paul Pribbenow.

Auggie earns “Most Promising Young Poet” national honor

Donte Collins, Augsburg College studentDonte Collins ’18 was named the “Most Promising Young Poet” by the Academy of American Poets this fall. His poem, “what the dead know by heart,” previously won Augsburg’s John R. Mitchell Prize, which qualified him for the prestigious award.

Collins is a theater major who is active in the local, regional, and national spoken word and poetry scene.

Collins told that he plans to use his $1,000 prize from the award to self-publish his first collection of poetry, a chapbook called “autopsies.”

Kristin Anderson discusses new football stadium, history of athletic facilities in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Kristin Anderson — asports architecture expert, Augsburg College archivist, and art history professor — recently spoke with Minnesota Public Radio host Cathy Wurzer about the Twin Cities’athletic stadium history.

The Vikings football franchises’ new U.S. Bank Stadium will celebrate its grand opening in approximately onemonth, and Anderson provided context onhow the facility continues some local legacies while innovating in other regards.

Listen to, “” on the MPRwebsite to learn more.

Auggies perform with Barry Manilow at Xcel Energy Center

Auggies sing with Barry Manilow on his well known hit, “Copacabana (At the Copa).”

Members of the Augsburg Choir sang backup for Barry Manilow during the Grammy-award winning performer’s farewell tour.The choir sang three encore songs with Manilow including “I Write the Songs,” “Miracle,” and “Copacabana (At the Copa).”

The Augsburg Choir was selected to perform by Barry Manilow’s choir director, Doug Hollenback.The ensemble is recognized for its high level of musicianship and performs adiverse repertoire under the direction ofPeter Hendrickson’76.

The performance by the students drew media attention from Twin Cities media outlets including:

  • Pioneer Press:
  • Minnesota Public Radio
  • KARE 11
  • KMSP FOX 9
  • WCCO TV

Watch a at the show.

Michael Lansing interview appears on Minnesota Public Radio

Michael Lansing, associate professor of history at Augsburg College, was interviewed by MinnesotaPublic Radio for a segment that comparedpolitical movements fromthe early 1900s with the contemporary political landscape. Lansing is the author of “Insurgent Democracy: The Nonpartisan League in North American Politics,” which presents the history of The Nonpartisan Leagueand describes its continuedinfluence in the upper Midwest.

Lansing describes the League as a grassroots organization started by farmers who were discontent withlarge grain milling and transportation corporations in the region. Hetold MPR News host Tom Weber that The Nonpartisan League is the reason for the large number of co-operatives in North Dakota today, and the party was comprisedof farmers who sought candidates that supported their platforms, regardless of party.

Listen to:(14 minutes) on the MPRsite.

Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly, and Minnesota leaders announce “Minnesota Coalition for Common Sense” at Augsburg-hosted press conference

On February 25, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and retired astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, co-founders ofAmericans for Responsible Solutions, joined Minnesota leaders at Augsburg College to announce a new bipartisan organization, the “Minnesota Coalition for Common Sense.” The coalition’s members – which include leaders from across sectors and parties – will urge their elected officials to advance policies that help keep guns out of the wrong hands.

Giffords was wounded severelyduring a 2011 shooting that resulted in six deaths. She and husband, Kelly, have announced similar coalitions in New Hampshireand Oregon during the past severalmonths.

Augsburg College President Paul Pribbenowwelcomed the event’s guests to campus and offered opening remarks at the press conference.

Media coverage of the eventincludes:

  • Star Tribune –
  • WCCO television –
  • Minnesota Public Radio –
  • Bring Me The News – Giffords visits Minnesota to launch coalition to help prevent gun violence
  • KARE 11 television –
  • KSTP television – Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Twin Cities Discussing Gun Control
  • Christian Science Monitor –

River Semester media attention grows as class travels down-river

Screen Shot 2015-09-02 at 2.35.52 PM[Updated November13] — The Augsburg College River Semester, created and led by Joe Underhill, associate professor of political science, departed from St. Paul’s Harriet Island on September 1. As part of the kickoff, the River Semester class was joined by agroup of nearly 100 students, parents, high schoolstudents and members of the Augsburg College community who paddled ina flotilla of 24-foot voyageur canoes from St. Paul to South St. Paul. Students participating in the semester-long program will earn as many as 16 credits in the arts, humanities, and sciences as they travel nearly 2,000 miles of the 2,350-mile Mississippi River.

The River Semester kickoff garnered a range of attention. Gov. Mark Dayton proclaimed September 1 “Augsburg College River Semester Day” and many media outlets covered the launchof the class.

Since the students and faculty departed on their voyage, print and broadcast media have been sharing the story of this hands-on, interdisciplinary program. In fact, multiple stories have been picked up by the Associated Press and shared through the AP’s member media throughout the nation.

A snapshot of the ongoing media coverage is below. As additional coverage occurs, it will be added to this post.

November 9

  • Shorewood native spending college semester paddling Mississippi River, Shorewood (Wisconsin) Now

October 16

  • The Mississippi River is their classroom, The Hawk Eye, Burlington (Iowa)

October 15

  • College student trekking down the Mississippi, White Bear (Minnesota) Press

October 8

  • , WVIK Public Radio, Quad Cities

September 29

  • College students take their semester to the river, KWWL (NBC) TV in Dubuque, Iowa
  • , Mankato (Minnesota) Free Press

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