Separated by an Ocean, United by Our Values

Dear Luther Community,

Luther College, the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, and the city of Decorah recently completed a yearlong commemoration of the 200th anniversary of organized emigration from Norway to the United States of America. Working together, we added our voices to the celebration of a story of a people who crossed an ocean to seek a better life. Some of these immigrants found their way to the Midwest region of the United States and founded Luther College.

The commemoration began with the release of the anthology Sagas of Luther College: Norwegian and Lutheran Identities Past, Present, and Future, and it culminated in a visit to Decorah and to Luther by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. Throughout the commemoration, Luther explored questions like: What does it mean to be a college founded by Norwegian immigrants? What values that our founders held dear continue to shape Luther in the 21st century? How does our history translate to student learning and student opportunities today? What does it mean for our diverse campus community—the majority of whom no longer come from a Norwegian or Lutheran background—to live and learn at a college founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants?

This issue of the Luther magazine features articles inspired by the commemoration and its activities. In reading them, I hope you appreciate the enduring connections between Norway and Luther, as well as the close teaching and learning partnership Luther has with the Vesterheim. I hope you learn more of the story of a people separated by an ocean but united by their values and their collective pursuit of the common good. And I hope you better understand how Luther’s Norwegian heritage and its historic immigrant identity equip it to meet the moment and address the changing needs of students and our global society better than other colleges and universities.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Bradley M. Chamberlain
President