Lent is a period of contemplation. As winter ends, we reflect on some of most difficult aspects of the human condition—rejection, disease, and death. Yet, as the days get longer and warmer, we know spring is near along with the joy associated with the meaning of Easter—the gospel fulfilled—when we exclaim, “He is risen!”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

During this Advent season, we ponder the commitment of Mary. Her task must have been laden with anxiety regarding the road before her and Joseph. Yet, in Luke 1:37, the angel provides Mary words of encouragement and hope: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” This simple message reminds us that our faith propels us forward.

It was just over a year ago that Augsburg’s Board of Regents initiated a calibration study to test the feasibility of Augsburg University’s next campaign—Great Returns—a campaign focused on building our endowment. In conversations with generous supporters like you, we heard enthusiastic endorsement of growing Augsburg’s endowment. One benefactor exclaimed, “Augsburg’s endowment is our most vital priority right now and we all need to find our own ways to support it.” Through endowed funds, we can invest in students (e.g., scholarships), faculty and programs in perpetuity and produce Great Returns for generations to come. In October 2017, I shared the results of the calibration study with the Augsburg Board of Regents Advancement Committee.  In January 2018, the committee will present its final recommendations moving forward to the full board.

The Christmas story reminds us about how ordinary people can have extraordinary effects. Mary and Joseph were ordinary people. She delivered a baby in a simple place. Of course, that baby, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, changed the world. Likewise, over the years, people working together have had extraordinary effects on Augsburg. As a Great Returns insider, I want you to know that during the past six months, Augsburg has received more than 200 early campaign gift commitments, three of which are at the 7-figure level. That is an amazing response!

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you as we move into the next phase of Great Returns. As you reflect on this season of joy, please keep Augsburg University and its students, faculty and staff in your thoughts and prayers.

If you would like to have a gift conversation before the end of the year or have any questions about the campaign, please let me (muellerp@augsburg.edu) or Vice President for Advancement Heather Riddle (riddle@augsburg.edu) know.

Warmly,

Paul S. Mueller, M.D. ’84
Chair of Great Returns: Augsburg’s Sesquicentennial Campaign

My wife Nancy ’84 and I recently visited the Augsburg campus—a beautiful oasis in the city! We were thrilled to see the new “Augsburg University” signage and the Hagfors Center nearing completion. It was only 15 months ago that we broke ground for this amazing facility and celebrated the generosity of so many people who gave more than $55 million and believed in the vision to make it a reality. In only a few months, the building will open its doors to facilitate what Augsburg does best: educating students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers and responsible leaders.

Earlier this summer, I wrote you to let you know that Augsburg’s Campaign Calibration Task Force will recommend to the Augsburg Board of Regents at its fall meeting that we move into the most ambitious fundraising campaign in our history.

Knowing this, I looked to Jesus’ parables for insights. In the parable of the talents (Luke 19:12-27), Jesus tells the story of how three different stewards handled their master’s money in his absence. One hid the money in fear resulting in no growth. His master was disappointed. The other two invested the money resulting in growth. Their master was pleased and rewarded them for being “faithful.” Along these lines, Isaiah 55:11 is illuminating: “My word . . . shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” This text suggests that investing our “talents” in the kingdom of God will assure great returns.

In our calibration study, we found great interest among our benefactors in directing our next fundraising campaign to build substantially endowed support of Augsburg’s mission. Through endowed funds, we can invest in students and faculty and produce “great returns” for many generations to come. For example, a gift to an Augsburg endowed fund for scholarships can help ensure that an Augsburg education is affordable in perpetuity.

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you as we move into this next phase of our fundraising efforts. If you have questions or thoughts on our next campaign, please email me at (email)

Warmly,

Paul S. Mueller, M.D. ’84
Chair of Great Returns: Augsburg’s Sesquicentennial Campaign

P.S. Below is a story about an Augsburg alumna whose generosity will make a tremendous difference for students in the StepUP progam.

A Year at Augsburg, and an Impact For Life

It took just one year for Augsburg to make its indelible mark on Marlys Morland ‘54, who has pledged a sizeable increase to the Marlys B. and Robert Backlund Morland Scholarship, established in 2011 as part of the couple’s estate plan.

“I really did like Augsburg. The Christian influence was so sincere, and faith entered into everything,” says Marlys. “I was there when Bernhard Chistensen was president. His wife used to come over to the dorm for an evening talk with us. They were just good, kind people.”

One thing she remembers about her year at Augsburg was a dentist’s visit to her health class, where he had to listen to student complaints about rising dental care costs. Coincidentally, she had to have three wisdom teeth removed that summer. The $150 bill meant that she had to drop out of school, even though she was working 20 hours a week at Swedish Hospital, making 93 cents an hour.

“I found out partway through the year that other college students only got 76 cents an hour, so I was lucky. But I never got a penny from my parents—they couldn’t afford it—and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back to school,” she says. Instead, she took a national Lutheran youth leader’s advice to move to Helena, Montana, where she discovered her love for working with young people and also taught adult Bible classes. She went on to become a parish worker in Portland, Oregon, where she met her husband. The couple settled in Newberg, Oregon, in 1971.

When the youngest of their three children entered school, Marlys finished her degree at Portland State University and taught elementary and junior high school for 25 years. She retired early to travel with her husband, Robert, until he died in 2008.

Thanks to her career and extended family experience, she understands the special challenges and struggles that even the most academically gifted students face. “We designed our Augsburg scholarship to support the StepUP program. We also support students who are majoring in Bible and planning to go on to seminary,” she says. “There is such a need these days. I don’t want them to have a lot of debt when they are ready to start their work.”

Marlys notes how much Augsburg and its student population have changed. She grew up near Alexandria in Holmes City, population 65, where “we went to the Swedish Lutheran Church. We knew people who went to the Norwegian Lutheran Church, and some who went to the Finnish Lutheran Church, but we thought the Germans were really different,” she recalls.

She embraces the Augsburg of today. “We meant well, but we didn’t think about helping the community. We were struggling just to take care of ourselves, and everyone was just like us,” she says. “Today students are reaching out and helping others in the community who aren’t just like them. That is so important.”

Marlys Morland ’54

This time of year, we see overflowing flower and vegetable gardens. This abundance inspired me to consider Augsburg’s growth and reflect on the Parable of the Mustard Seed. In Mark 4:31-32, Jesus shares that the mustard seed is “the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Just as the tiny mustard seed grows into a substantial plant, an endowment gift can support the mission and growth of Augsburg in ways we can hardly imagine today.

I recently shared that Augsburg’s Campaign Calibration Task Force will recommend to the Board of Regents this coming October that we move into the most ambitious fundraising campaign in our history. We will dedicate a substantial portion of our campaign to growing Augsburg’s endowment, which will fuel our capacity to equip our students to make a living, make a life, and make a community.

How does an endowment fuel student success? One means is providing scholarships to promising students who otherwise cannot afford a college education. Another is supporting a professorship so that Augsburg recruits and retains the best faculty. Another is funding student experiences outside of the classroom such as internships and research. Indeed, over the years I have had the opportunity to interact with many Augsburg students who have engaged in summer research—thanks to the generosity of our benefactors—at Mayo Clinic. These students have presented their research at scientific meetings and have published their findings in medical journals. Most, if not all, are now in medical school or graduate school. What began as an idea for students to gain knowledge and experience has grown into a program for Auggies that will favorably change the landscape of healthcare.

We believe the successful fundraising campaign to build the Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion prepared us well to engage people who care about Augsburg and our students. Thank you for your commitment to our shared work and for your generosity.

I hope you will consider supporting our next campaign with a gift to create a scholarship, fund a professorship, invest in a program that facilitates student success, or support another effort at Augsburg that inspires you. For our next campaign to really flourish, it will take all of our mustard seeds!

Warmly,

Paul S. Mueller, M.D. ’84
Chair of Great Returns: Augsburg’s Sesquicentennial Campaign

At the beginning of June, I had the pleasure of participating in the final meeting of Augsburg’s Campaign Calibration Task Force, which, as you know, was created by the Board of Regents to explore the potential for a new fundraising campaign. As we approach our sesquicentennial, our goal is to strengthen Augsburg’s ability to educate students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.

The Calibration Task Force has worked this year to determine carefully the scope and possible priorities for a new fundraising campaign. I’m inspired by all who participated in this work including the Advancement staff, our outside counsel Jim Daniel from Bentz Whaley Flessner, Wayne Jorgenson ’71 and Dennis Meyer ’78 who lead a separate task force on scholarships, and to all members of the Calibration Task Force: Matt and Jeannie Entenza, Mike ’71 and Ann Good, Mark Johnson ’75, Dean ’75 and Terry Kennedy, Karolynn Lestrud ’68, Dennis ’78 and Bev Meyer ’78, my college sweetheart & wife Nancy Mueller ’85, Jeff ’77 and Becky ’79 Nodland, Paul and Abigail Pribbenow, Mike Sime, Dean ’81 and Amy Sundquist, David and Muffy Tiede, and Bob and Jill Thomas. I’m also grateful to the more than 50 individuals from across the nation who were interviewed as part of our work. Thank you!

We are happy to share that Augsburg’s Campaign Calibration Task Force is optimistic about our future. We believe we have a strong case for support, terrific leadership at the College and on the Board, an outstanding pool of potential donors, an Advancement team ready to initiate a campaign, and a healthy economy in which to work. This coming October we will be presenting to the Board of Regents our recommendations for moving into the most ambitious fundraising campaign in Augsburg’s history.

As we move forward, we need your counsel, generosity, prayers, and all other forms of support. I will communicate regularly with you, the people who hold Augsburg most dear and who support it most generously.

Warmly,

Paul S. Mueller, M.D. ’84
Chair of Great Returns: Augsburg’s Sesquicentennial Campaign