Through Truth to Freedom

“To read Augsburg University’s Through Truth to Freedom: Reconciling a University’s Past, Present, and Future is both to admire and to be challenged by the integrity—the authentic wholeness—of its purpose. In this vision of 21st-century liberal education there is no separation of learning, citizenship, and neighborly love. Grounded in its Scandinavian Christian origins, its strikingly diverse neighborhood and student body, and its role as an anchor institution in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Augsburg exemplifies the truth that our universities best become national exemplars by embracing their particular place in the world: the land, the people, and diverse traditions that call us to be fully and faithfully human where we live now. By this standard, no other university can be Augsburg, but all of us can learn from its searching, honest, and reconciling commitments.”

William Craft, President Emeritus, Concordia College

“This multi-disciplinary volume shows what is possible when we meet the past with critical yet ultimately loving eyes. The authors uncover a new narrative for Augsburg University that respects its history and its contemporary context. This book will be enjoyed by the Augsburg community but also by anyone with an interest in how institutions get better over time.”

Marjorie Hass, President, Council of Independent Colleges (CIC)

“These essays illustrate Augsburg University’s journey as a community-engaged institution, centering on the land and place that it calls home today. The institution’s commitments to interfaith living, civic and community engagement, freedom of expression, and engaging across differences shine through... and the story reinforces that Augsburg exemplifies the very best of what higher education can be and achieve when values don’t just exist in mission statements and marketing materials but are lived out across every facet of the university community.”

Bobbie Laur, President, Campus Compact

“The voices that are uplifted, the stories told, and the process of reflection serve both as an illustration of Augsburg’s lived mission and a model for how other campuses can explore the intersection of truth and reconciliation as essential pillars of institutional renewal.”

Valerie Holton, Executive Director, Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Through Truth to Freedom: By Way of Reconciliation
Paul C. Pribbenow

What’s in a Word: How We Tell Our Stories and Why it Matters
Katie Bishop

Love Letters From the Past: The Role of an Institution’s Archives
Stewart Van Cleve

Leaning In: Augsburg’s Place and Proximity

Augsburg University Land Acknowledgement: A Case for More Than Mere Words
Eric Buffalohead

Generosity and Faithfulness: A Meditation on Why Place Matters for Higher Education
Paul C. Pribbenow

From Either/Or to Both/And: Augsburg’s Journey to Interfaith Living
Paul C. Pribbenow

Augsburg’s Pedagogical Tradition: Firsthand Experiences, the City as Classroom, and Co-creating an Academic Journey
Babette Chatman and Jenny L. Hanson

Augsburg’s Students: Protest and Loving Reform

One Day in May: Past and Present Struggles for Racial Justice
Berlynn Bitengo and Stewart Van Cleve

Loving Reform and the Fight to Be Seen: LGBTQIA+ Perspectives in Conversation
Stewart Van Cleve, with reflections by Lyra McKnight and Taylor Foster

Augsburg’s Health Commons: Caring for Our Neighbors in a World of Extremes
Muna Abdirahman and Kathleen M. Clark

Holding the Door Open: Access, Alternatives, and Agitation—Who Will Be the Next “First”?
Terrance Kwame-Ross

Authors and Participants in The Saga Project

Index

Paul C. Pribbenow

Paul C. Pribbenow, Ph.D. is the 10th president of Augsburg University, an institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and located in heart of Minneapolis. Since joining Augsburg in 2006, Pribbenow has enhanced the College’s role as an active community partner in its urban setting and has led a comprehensive strategic planning process known as Augsburg150, which names the university’s signature commitments to equity, inclusion, and community engagement. Pribbenow also has led unprecedented fundraising efforts at Augsburg, including $55 million to build the Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion, a signature academic building; and $129 million in the Sesquicentennial “Great Returns” campaign.

Pribbenow serves on the national boards of Campus Compact and the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities. He also is active in the Anchor Institutions Task Force. Locally, he chairs the Cedar-Riverside Partnership and serves on the Executive Committee of the Minnesota Private College Council. Before coming to Augsburg, Pribbenow served as president of Rockford College (now Rockford University) in Rockford, Illinois. He also has served as research fellow for the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College (Indiana); dean for College Advancement and secretary of the Board of Trustees at Wabash College; vice president of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and associate dean of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.

Pribbenow holds a BA from Luther College (Iowa), and an MA (1979) and PhD (1993) in social ethics from the University of Chicago. He received the Distinguished Service Award at Luther College in 2008; the William Burke Award for Presidential Leadership in Experiential Education in 2012; the Professional Fundraiser of the Year from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in 2019; and the University of Chicago Divinity School Alumnus of the Year Award in 2025.

Green Bouzard

Green Bouzard is a freelance musician and editor. She formerly worked at Augsburg University in the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship.