Class Notes
Giving List

Spring 2013

Dear Classmates:

By the time you read this letter, Luther’s Board of Regents may have selected the next president of the College.  As the Rick Torgerson era ends and another chapter in Luther’s history begins, we thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the changes at Luther between our time there and now.  So with the help of the resourceful Development Office staff, we’ve prepped a little pop quiz.  The answers are at the bottom. No peeking!   (Remember the Honor Code!)   Are you ready?  Dust off the rust and here goes:

1.      Luther’s student population is now approximately 2,500.  What was it in the fall of 1972?

2.      More than one-third of Luther students today come from Minnesota.  What state led in percentage of Luther students in 1972?

3.      J-term was a requirement for all four years in our era (1972-1976).  True or false:  Today’s Luther students are still required to participate in four J-terms.

4.      Name one faculty member from our era who retired in 2012.

5.      Name one construction project that has taken place on the campus since Rick Torgerson became president in 1999.

6.      True or false: Luther owns the largest solar energy production facility in Iowa.

7.      True or false:  Among Luther’s sustainability initiatives is the acquisition of electric cars for staff use.

8.      In addition to the fall class letter, name one other college publication that has gone digital.

9.      Today the college’s endowment fund stands at $121 million.  What was the size of Luther’s endowment in 1972?

10.   What was the cost of a Luther education in the fall of 1972?

How’d you do?  Pretty well?  It’s interesting to look at the benign changes—student population, J-term—and the really dramatic ones.  It’s still Luther but so new, improved, and evolved!  Kudos to anyone who was paying attention to the endowment numbers in 1972.  Isn’t that growth impressive?   

While we’re talking funds, thank you to the 21 percent of the class who made gifts to the Annual Fund in 2012.  Your donations to this unrestricted fund are used immediately to help with overall college operations including scholarships for current students.  If you are a member of a Luther couple, you may have wondered how your gift is counted. This is how: If both of you are in the same class, it counts as one gift, but each of you gets credit for the gift, and both of you are figured into the percentage of givers from the class.   If you are in different classes, the gift is “split” and each of you is counted in your respective class.

We hope this letter finds you well and doing good work in your worlds.  Have a beautiful spring.

Chris (Ericksen) Moore
chremoore@charter.net

Julie (Pederson) Knutson
knutson54@charter.net

1.     Did you say 2,000? It seems we all said 2,000 back in the day.  It actually was 2,265.  So no drastic  change here.  Even at 2,500, Luther’s still a small school.

2.      Iowa.  (This was your easy question.) The vast majority of Luther students—87%—still come from the Upper Midwest. But 38 states and 46 countries are also represented in the student profile.

3.      False.  Luther students are required to participate in at least two J-terms:  one must be during the freshman year.  Students may do J-term for all four years if they wish. 

4.      Either of the following is correct:  Dave Judisch, professor of music, or Jim Rhodes, professor of political science.  Both retired in 2012.  Many of the faculty from our era hold the “emeritus” title and reside in the Decorah area.

5.      Wow!  You’ve got a lot of choices:  the new Center for the Arts, Sampson-Hoffland Laboratories, Legends Fitness for Life Center, plus renovations to Valders, Loyalty Hall, Dahl Centennial Union, and the residence halls.  In addition there is Bentdahl Commons—the outdoor plaza between the Union and Preus Library, and the aquatic center, nearing completion.

6.      True.  Did we even know what solar energy was in 1976?

7.      False, but one imagines this might not be far off.  The college has at least eight hybrid vehicles and a compressed natural gas truck.  In addition, there is a bike-share program, where students rent a bicycle for free for a day and then return it. 

8.      Among others, the college newspaper—Chips, the Alumni Magazine, and, as of this year, the yearbook.  For an update on the Sesquicentennial Fund, read the spring issue of the Alumni Magazine at http://www.luther.edu/magazine/

9.      Not that you were paying attention back then, but in 1972 the Endowment Fund was only $2.2 million, less than 2%  of what it is today.

10.   $3,060: $2,110 for tuition plus $950 for room and board.  But some things do change…the cost of a Luther education for Fall 2013 is approximately $44,000.  (Uff da!)  Your donation to the Annual Fund helps make Luther more affordable for this generation of Luther students. 

Class Notes
PEG BRENDEN was featured in Minnesota Women’s Press for the 40^th anniversary of her involvement in the court case that contributed to the creation of Title IX, which prevented the exclusion of athletes from school athletics on the basis of gender. As a high school student athlete, Peg wanted to play competitive tennis at St. Cloud Tech in Minnesota, but there were no women’s athletic teams at her school. Peg’s request became the first court case to challenge the rules that forbade women from playing on boys’ athletic teams. In her senior season, she went 3-2 in five matches for her high school team. Brenden has served as a compensation judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings for the State of Minnesota since 1986.

BETSI (BEAL) KURZAWSKI is the training and documentation manager for Fundtech in Jersey City, N.J.

ALLAN RICHARDS is president of the Iowa Lincoln Highway Association. The highway was the first coast-to-coast highway across the United States.  Allan is an attorney at Richards Law Firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Don't forget your Annual Fund giving!
Each year nearly 9,000 alumni, parents, and friends support the Annual Fund with gifts from $5 to $50,000. Strong support from alumni helps Luther secure additional funds from foundations and corporations, and your gift each year helps us reach our goal of 27% alumni giving.  Here’s how your class—and surrounding classes—did in 2012: