Greetings from the Alumni Office!
We hope you are well and that you are adjusting to the many changes we are all experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At Luther we are preparing to welcome our fall sports teams beginning this weekend, and our first year students are scheduled to be on campus in September. Also, beginning in September, we are welcoming visitors to Loyalty Hall (with masks and social distancing) by appointment. So if you need to meet with a Development or Alumni staff member, you can call 563-387-1861 to schedule a meeting, or reach out directly to the staff member you need to see.
As odd as it may sound, we are seeing an extraordinary amount of tourist activity in the Decorah area because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It appears that people are taking regional day trips to visit the Chuck Gipp '70 Decorah Fish Hatchery, Dunning’s Spring, Ice Cave, and the many other area outdoor sights in and around town. The Pulpit Rock Campground is always full, and on weekends, cars line the Ice Cave Road from the Dunning’s Spring entrance nearly back into town. A license plate check shows family groups coming from all over the upper Midwest. Hikers are using the trails above Ice Cave and Twin Springs, cyclists are getting miles in on the Trout Run Trail, and the Upper Iowa River is full of canoes, kayaks, and tubes.
We are blessed to have so much open space and beautiful natural sights for people to safely explore, and local businesses are adapting and trying to provide more outdoor space and seating and a more safe environment for visitors. So, if you live nearby, you can safely visit Decorah. But… please bring your masks and practice physical distancing. Be well, be encouraged, and be hope-filled!
Sherry (Braun) Alcock '82, Executive Director of Alumni Relations
Kirk Johnson '82, Associate Director of Alumni Relations
Alyssa Ritter '11, Associate Director of Alumni Relations
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Customers 1st Marketing touts Luther's plan for opening
Customers 1st Marketing is a company that helps businesses “delight their customers and find new ones.” Its CEO and founder is Alex Hultgren, who recently featured Luther’s plan for the coming school year in his blog, in the continuing series on pivots and innovative actions during the health pandemic. We are grateful for the shout-out and thrilled that Alex’s daughter, Cassandra, will be attending Luther this fall! Read more information here.
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American Rivers Conference plans to compete in fall 2020
While NCAA Division III conferences nationwide have cancelled fall sports, the American Rivers Conference plans to continue competition as scheduled. Last week the conference’s Presidents Council committed once again to proceeding with conference competition, using a reduced schedule in football and single round-robin schedules in other sports. The conference sponsors fall sports in men’s and women’s cross country, football, women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s tennis, and volleyball. Click here for more information about fall sports.
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Alumnus Harold Bendicsen '65 "Commentary: How to talk to your grandkids about these turbulent times"
Bendicsen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who sees children, parents, adolescents, and adults in a psychotherapy and consultation practice with a focus on emerging adulthood. Areas of special interest include studying both the processes that challenge adolescents in developmental transitions and the commonalities among theories that foster explanatory usefulness. He is also an author whose books include an emphasis on adolescent clinical case studies organized around linking in-office reflection and insight with out-of-office support that promote healthy adaptation and resilience. He is on the faculty of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute and has taught courses on child and adolescent theory and treatment. His commentary, published in the July 20 edition of the Chicago Tribune, may be helpful to grandparents (and parents) of young children. Read more here.
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Alumnus Michael Ackerman '88 hosts informational videos about genetic heart diseases and Covid-19 for the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation
Michael J. Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D., studies genomics and genotype-phenotype relationships in heritable cardiovascular diseases predisposing to sudden death. In the Mayo Clinic Windland Smith Rice Sudden Death Genomics Laboratory, Dr. Ackerman and his colleagues have research interests that include genomics, mutational analysis, and novel gene discovery related to the cardiac channelopathies such as long QT syndrome, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and sudden unexplained death, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and inherited sarcomere diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He is director of the Windland Smith Rice Genetic Heart Rhythm Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and has active clinical and translational research efforts devoted to identifying individuals at greatest risk of sudden death.
Since March, Ackerman has been hosting SADS Facebook Live presentations and interviews on the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic to keep the public informed, especially as it relates to his patients and families at risk of sudden death. This recent episode on Facebook live features special guest Dr. Stacey Rizza - infectious disease expert at the Mayo Clinic, and one of the leaders in navigating the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic for Mayo. She and Dr. Ackerman bring the latest separating fact from fiction, truth from lies, and evidence from hype. The interview is around 45 minutes long. Click here to view! |
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Black Alumni Association scholarship established
A new scholarship opportunity will soon be available to African American students at Luther. The Black Alumni Association Scholarship was established this summer in memory of slain African Americans who fell victim to racist violence in America. The scholarship will be awarded annually to African American students who are in need of financial assistance, with preference given to those who are active in community engagement. For more information about the Black Alumni Association Scholarship or to make a gift, please click here.
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NEW September/October virtual alumni book club announced - Circe, by Madeline Miller
Human beings are storytelling animals, and the stories we tell throughout time create a sense of belonging and identity, emphasize significant events, and entertain us through dramatic adventures. Madeline Miller’s Circe is the story of the daughter of the Titan, Helios (the sun) and the sea nymph Perse. She is a “strange” child who turns to the world of mortals for companionship. When her actions anger Zeus, she is banished to a desert island where she tames wild beasts, develops potions and crafts that allow her to control her environment through witchcraft. She encounters many of the most significant figures in mythology including the Minotaur, Daedalus, his son Icarus, Medea, and Odysseus. Circe often is seen as an evil sorceress who turned Odysseus’ crew into pigs, but Miller presents an alternative interpretation in which Circe is a woman/goddess who is a hero in her own right in a world of men and monsters. Circe invites us to see the world through a “female-centered lens.”
Moderators are Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies Alan Lerstrom and Professor Emerita of Classics (Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.) M. Jane Borelli (Luther faculty; 1971–82). Circe Book Club will meet by Zoom on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. CST beginning at the end of September and through October (September 30, and October 7, 14, 21, and 28). Register for Circe online here!
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Solar + storage: Luther continues to benefit from solar power, by Professor Jim Martin-Schramm
Another large solar array is being installed on the Luther campus this summer. The motivation remains the same—for Luther to be good stewards of the resources that surround us. This is the third large solar project Luther has developed in partnership with local investors who can utilize state and federal tax incentives the college cannot access as a non-profit. Our first project back in 2012 was leased from Decorah Solar, LLC and is used to power Baker Village, which is now the first part of Luther’s campus that is carbon neutral. Read Dr. Martin-Schramm's latest article about the installation here.
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Alumnus Hemie Collier '07 named senior diversity officer at Cornell College
Cornell College announced the creation of a new position—senior diversity officer—as campus leaders take steps to create lasting change and address systemic racism. Director of Intercultural Life Hemie Collier '07 will take on the challenge. Collier will have institution-wide responsibilities, such as chairing the Diversity Committee and joining the President’s Council, which is a group that is responsible for setting institutional priorities. At the same time, he will continue to devote significant time to the student experience through programming and educational initiatives. For more information click here.
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At Luther College, we learn actively, live purposefully,
and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact.
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