One of the great misperceptions of American higher education is that colleges and universities are detached from the “real world,” ivory towers not concerned about the communities and neighborhoods that surround their campuses. I am not here to defend all of higher education—though there is plenty of evidence to rebut that misperception. Instead, I want to declare that for ÂÌČèֱȄ, there has never been a question of our commitment to what we call “leaning in” to the pressing and complex issues of our neighborhood, our country, and indeed the world.

It’s a commitment articulated in our Augsburg150 strategic vision, which states: “As a new kind of urban, student-centered university, we are educating Auggies as stewards of an inclusive democracy, engaged in their communities and uniquely equipped to navigate the complex issues of our time.” Leaning in so that our students are educated and equipped for the world that so needs their intellects, their passions, and their skills.

Surely this issue of Augsburg Now powerfully demonstrates an array of ways in which this commitment to “leaning in” is lived out by our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and allies. From Associate Professor Katie Clark ’10 MAN, ’14 DNP and alumna Emily Bastian ’07 MSW, and their groundbreaking work serving those experiencing homelessness; to our new data science major with its strong focus on equity and social justice; to the contributions of our colleague, Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, helping us to prepare more teachers of color for our public schools; to the research of Assistant Professor Kao Nou Moua, shedding light on the experiences of Hmong entrepreneurs.

And the list could go on and on with the daily ways in which the Augsburg community—in its curriculum, community engagement, and public advocacy—is working to be good neighbors, to uncover and address systemic injustices, and to support a more robust democracy.

In 2019, as part of Augsburg’s 150th anniversary celebrations, Auggie alumnus and poet extraordinaire Donte Collins ’18 penned a powerful ode to their alma mater, entitled “We Are Auggies,” which concludes with these lines:

“When shared, when sharpened. Guided. Here a system of roots. Strong. Striving. A system of roots weaving a new world. Auggie, you are called into the world.

Into your wonder. Your why. To wrestle
with reason. To spot the problem. And propose new parts. To walk toward your fears. To find the heart.

We are Called. We are Auggies.”

May we all continue to lean in, to make our world more just, fair, and compassionate, to find the heart. I know we will, because we are called Auggies!

Faithfully yours,

Paul C. Pribbenow, PhD

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Jane Helmke ’83 was named executive editor of in November 2022.

“I’m so honored to be a part of the inspiring team of exceptional journalists at MPR News at this point in my career,” Helmke said. “Every day, we are working to include and inform all of our audiences across Minnesota, including today’s Auggies! I’m excited to learn how we can connect with and serve these thriving young adults with the news they want and need each day.”

Prior to taking on this lead role at MPR, Helmke worked at NBC affiliate KARE 11 News for 35 years. She started there as an intern during her senior year at Augsburg, and she left as the TV station’s news director.

With her move to MPR, Helmke joined two other Auggies in key roles at one of Minnesota’s largest media organizations.

Jean Taylor ’85 was named the CEO of American Public Media Group, the parent company of MPR, in 2021. Before her work with MPR, Taylor was the board chair of Star Tribune Media, an executive consultant for the Platinum Group, and the CEO of Taylor Corporation.

Andre Griffin ’20 is the community engagement specialist for , a new music stream from MPR that launched in June 2022 in partnership with KMOJ radio. Carbon Sound, which also includes a website and app, is dedicated to celebrating the wide-ranging influence of Black musical expression.

For Helmke, joining MPR feels like “a wonderful, full-circle moment.”

“Every day now,” she said, “I carry with me the Auggie pride of serving the greater good in our community. MPR News is a place that allows me to live this important value.”

Top image: Minnesota Public Radio News building, downtown St. Paul (Photo by Minnesota Public Radio)

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For Kao Nou Moua, research is about storytelling. The Augsburg assistant professor of social work spent a year gathering stories from Hmong business owners and entrepreneurs to find trends in their experiences and to help public and financial agencies better serve the Hmong business community. After presenting this research at the first-ever national HMong Economic Advancement, Research, and Equity (HERE) Conference late last year, Moua reflects on what she’s learned and what she’s planning to study next.

Q: Tell us about your latest research, the HMong Economic Advancement and Capacity Building Research Project.
A: For that particular project, I worked with a national organization based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, called HMong American Leadership and Economic Development (HALED). While working at a different institution, I had started to build relationships with people in Eau Claire, particularly in the Hmong community there. They were really interested in looking at economic development among Hmong Americans and trying to understand the barriers to becoming a business owner based on the different organizations, agencies, and financial institutions that were supporting entrepreneurs.

We had all of these anecdotal stories about Hmong business owners not being able to access services, but there wasn’t really any research. Being in the world that we are in, in terms of needing research or data to support these stories, we wanted to be really mindful of being able to go to lawmakers and policymakers and say, “These are the barriers that people are experiencing, and these are the actual numbers of people who are experiencing these things.” And so, that’s what we did. My research partners and I secured a grant from the state of Wisconsin to do this economic project. By that time, I had transitioned to Augsburg, so I hired a social work student to work with me, to mentor them in the social work research process. I was working with students at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire as well.

We interviewed about 20 Hmong entrepreneurs in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We did focus groups with Hmong farmers, women entrepreneurs, and young people who were interested in entrepreneurship. It was a wide range. And the thing is, I’m not a businessperson. I’m a social worker. So, it was really kind of a leap for me to put my mind in this world of economic development. But my particular lens as a social worker was: “What are the barriers in organizations?” It’s always been my work to think about how we can build culturally grounded services—in this case, working with banks and state agencies and organizations.

Q: What were the results of this research?
A: The yearlong project of data collection culminated in the HERE Conference in Eau Claire last September. It was a national conference, the first of its kind, to bring together Hmong entrepreneurs, lawmakers, other business owners, and financial institutions to really think about and look at the data.

There were a couple of important findings. One was that Hmong women entrepreneurs have a very different experience than what we think of when we think about entrepreneurship. Even within the Hmong community, there are cultural barriers that exist for Hmong women entrepreneurs. That’s something we want to explore a little bit more.

Another important finding was that it wasn’t so much about having translated materials or things like that; it really was a need for a sense of belonging in those institutions so people could feel like they were welcomed. Some of the most heartbreaking stories that we heard were people sharing about how they’ve been denied multiple times (for loans) from financial institutions, but once they were able to have a white colleague come and vouch for them, then people at the bank were like, “Okay, I can trust this person because they had a white person vouch for them.” Those were some of the really hard stories.

Q: While you were conducting this research, was there anything that surprised you?
A: One thing that did surprise me, especially when we did the focus group with young people, was that they all talked about the idea of financial literacy. In high school, they learn how to balance a checkbook, but they’re like 15—they don’t have a checkbook. But now, here they are as college students, and they’re like, “I would like to learn that now.” And we had older adults who would say, “I want to learn more about investments or the stock market.” So, we learned that financial literacy is something that needs to happen multigenerationally or intergenerationally. It is something that needs to happen over time.

That was really important learning for the organization that I was working with. HALED was able to shift their programming to be multigenerational. And the great thing was that also aligned with Hmong cultural values. A lot of the community celebrations are also multigenerational. So, this programming became culturally grounded all of a sudden because we centered Hmong values in terms of learning about economic development.

Q: What comes next?
A: We got a really great response from the HERE Conference. Many lawmakers or policymakers were super interested in us coming into their individual agencies to present our data. The next phase is to continue to get more funding so that we can do more. Always in research, there’s more research to be done, and part of that is to continue to really focus on some of our key findings and really expand on them. The other part of it, for me as a social work professor, is to always think about opportunities to mentor student researchers.

And then, we did talk quite a bit about this idea that Hmong have a very entrepreneurial spirit. Because of their experience of being persecuted and having to move from country to country and having to adapt, Hmong people have learned how to be entrepreneurs and business owners. You can go to China and find Hmong people, you can go to Laos and Thailand and Vietnam, and you can go here in St. Paul. Hmong have always figured out ways to be entrepreneurs. So, I think that’s the other line of research that we want to explore—what does a history of trauma and war do to a people? How do they adapt in new spaces? Entrepreneurship is one of those ways that they’ve learned how to make sense of their lives.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Top image: Kao Nou Moua speaks with students during her social work class. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

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Named for Ronald E. McNair, an astronaut and physicist who was among the first African Americans in the U.S. space program, McNair Scholars is one of eight federal TRIO programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education to increase access to higher education for economically disadvantaged students.

McNair Scholars specifically aims to increase graduate degree awards for first-generation college students with financial need and/or members of traditionally underrepresented groups in graduate education, as defined by federal guidelines.

With the $1.3 million grant, Augsburg will continue to support a cohort of 26 McNair Scholars each year. Students apply during their sophomore year to participate in the program as juniors and seniors.

The hallmark of Augsburg’s program is MCN 301: Research in the Disciplines, taught by Associate Professor Amanda Case and McNair Assistant Director Cruz Rodriguez. In this 2-credit course, students complete a research proposal under the guidance of a faculty mentor. They spend 400 hours collecting data, analyzing findings, and preparing a formal presentation for a national McNair research conference in July.

The students also undertake significant preparation for graduate school outside of research, from GRE study to an intensive “boot camp” to develop their application statements.

“McNair is a rigorous commitment,” said “Tina” Maria Tavera, program director. “Each TRIO McNair program is designed for a particular population. We are fortunate our programming is designed specifically for Augsburg students. Our numbers prove that our program at Augsburg works.”

In a highly competitive funding landscape, Augsburg’s program has received continuous federal support since 2007. Many of Augsburg’s McNair alumni have successfully gone on to graduate school. Twenty-one have completed or are enrolled in a PhD program, 58 have completed or are enrolled in a master’s degree program, and 12 have completed or are enrolled in other advanced degree programs (including MD, MBA, PharmD, and PsyD).

Top image: 2022 Fall McNair Scholars: front row (left to right): Hafsa Hassan; Edward Stockard; Cynthia Faber; Logan Bradley; back row (left to right): Ifrah Edow; Jose Orozco Islas; Theo Wayo; Natnael Mulu; Leeroy Doe; Alex Hernandez Olivera; Drew Gross (Courtesy photo)

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Late last year in Oslo, Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow conferred upon King Harald V of Norway the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.

“We are deeply grateful for Your Majesty’s abiding support of ÂÌČèֱȄ and our sister Norwegian-American colleges and universities throughout the more than three decades of your reign,” Pribbenow said in his ceremonial remarks. “We share both a common heritage and profound commitments to peacemaking and global citizenship.”

His Majesty King Harald V of Norway acceded to the throne January 17, 1991. The king and his wife, Queen Sonja, visited Augsburg in 2011. This recognition—originally scheduled for 2020 but delayed by the pandemic—was part of Augsburg’s sesquicentennial anniversary celebration.

Top image: An Augsburg student participating in the Norway Hub wears a Norwegian flag while walking through campus. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

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Augsburg Health Commons has received a $50,000 grant to continue its work in advancing health equity through nursing.

The Health Equity Innovation Fund grant, awarded in early January, came from AARP and the Center to Champion Nursing in America, a joint initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Augsburg Health Commons will use this funding to deepen its work of providing free services to marginalized communities. The grant also allows Health Commons to consider expansion, including a possible new location in North Minneapolis.

“We are moved beyond words to be selected for this opportunity,” said Katie Clark ’10 MAN, ’14 DNP, associate professor of nursing and executive director of Health Commons. “These funds will not only help relieve some of the suffering people are forced to endure in the immediate term, but will also help cultivate ideas and solutions for the long term in caring for people who experience marginalization.”

The first Augsburg Health Commons drop-in center opened at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis in 1992. Most people seeking care there are unhoused or marginally housed. In 2011, a second location opened in Cedar-Riverside in response to a need for accessible health care services identified by members of the East African immigrant community.

Both locations center community voices and are operated by Augsburg nursing faculty, nursing and physician assistant volunteers, students, and community members. Everyone is welcome, and all services are free.

With this grant, Health Commons will continue providing services at both locations as well as at local homeless encampments. Faculty will explore new partnerships at other locations including in North Minneapolis in collaboration with Augsburg’s physician assistant program.

The grant will also support the educational mission of Health Commons by providing paid research and practice internships for graduate nursing students.

Augsburg Health Commons is one of 16 organizations nationally to receive a Health Equity Innovations Fund award for 2022.

or visit the Augsburg Health Commons website.

Read more about the work at Augsburg Health Commons in this issue of Augsburg Now.

Top image: An Augsburg nursing faculty member sorts through donated supplies at Health Commons. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

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StepUP^Âź at ÂÌČèֱȄ is one of the original handful of collegiate recovery programs in the United States. At its 25th anniversary, it’s also one of the largest and most comprehensive.

Several factors account for the program’s success over time, including the residential facility in Oren Gateway Center, on-staff chemical dependency counselors, and strong connections to Minnesota’s recovery networks. But ask students, staff, and supporters what makes StepUP more than the sum of its parts, and one answer comes up every time.

The magic is in the community.

The number of U.S. collegiate recovery programs has grown to nearly 150 in the years since Augsburg joined Rutgers, Texas Tech, and Brown University in starting its own program. But it’s still unusual for an institution of Augsburg’s size to operate a program on the scale of StepUP. Rarer still is the level of financial support donors have provided to ensure the program’s sustainability.

Early on, StepUP leadership set an ambitious goal to raise a $10 million endowment to provide funds for staff salaries and programming costs into the future. Augsburg reached this fundraising milestone in 2022 thanks to the generosity of supporters and alumni. Now, staff are focused on expanding philanthropic support for critical student needs, including tuition and housing.

“For young people in recovery, living in a residential community like StepUP can make all the difference, but it’s a big financial commitment,” said Martha Truax ’16 MAL, director of leadership gifts for StepUP. “Going forward, we want to be able to provide more tuition support and housing stipends so that students don’t have to face a choice between paying for college and staying sober.”

Director Ericka Otterson ’15 MSW returned to Augsburg to lead StepUP in January, having previously worked as a StepUP administrator and chemical dependency counselor from 2007 to 2014. Under her leadership, the program will also explore new partnerships with local colleges and universities—including the University of Minnesota—to reach more students.

“Despite increasing need, not every school can afford to build its own collegiate recovery program from scratch,” Otterson said. “For institutions in the metro area, StepUP can help.”

A recently finalized agreement with the University of St. Thomas allows students to live in Oren Gateway Center and participate in StepUP programming while still attending classes at their home institution. With a caring support network on Augsburg’s campus and more than 800 program alumni, they’ll be in good company.

“A lot has changed in 25 years,” said Nell Hurley, recruitment and outreach manager. “But StepUP is still doing what we set out to do: To create a community of students who are in this together and supporting each other. That’s what makes it work.”

StepUP will hold its 25th anniversary gala with emcee Don Shelby on May 13 at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bloomington. For tickets and more information, visit the StepUP website.

Top image: StepUP students pose in Murphy Square. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

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