Luther College News

On May 4, Luther College dedicated a new space for outdoor informal gatherings on campus. The Davidson Møteplass (Norwegian for “gathering space”) was made possible by a gift from Luther alumni Thor Davidson, class of 1993, and Wendy (Jaycox) Davidson, class of 1992. It supports Luther’s strategic framework and campus master plan, and highlights Luther’s roots in Nordic culture, as the first college in the U.S. founded by Norwegian immigrants. 

With the 2024 Commencement just around the corner, we’re celebrating the graduating class with Senior Spotlights.

The gray fox population is declining across the Midwest; Dawn Reding, associate professor of biology at Luther College, is trying to understand why. She’s leading part of the lab work of a multi-state study, which includes Iowa, Indiana and Illinois, on gray foxes. 

Fulbright awards allow a senior and a 2023 grad to spend a year immersing themselves in German culture while teaching abroad.

Five Luther College seniors attended the annual Sigma Tau Delta Convention in St. Louis from April 3–6. The students, all English majors or minors and members of the Sigma Tau Delta English honor society, presented work on topics like George Eliot’s “Middlemarch” and queer identity in literature, in addition to original fiction and poetry. 

President Jenifer K. Ward announced to the Luther College community today her intention to retire as president at the end of June 2025. Ward became president of Luther on July 1, 2019, and at the time of her retirement, she will have served in the role for six years. 

Two Luther students received $10,000 grants for innovative community-centered projects. 

Beginning with the cohort entering in fall 2024, Luther College nursing students will spend their senior year working at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, rather than their junior year, to ease the transition into professional nursing after graduation. 

Junior Kamina Gager is one of two students interning as a processing and reference archivist in the Archives Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH). Part of her job is helping to evaluate boxes of historical items, and processing and cataloging them for the museum as part of a large-scale processing project. 

Small Island Big Song, a collective of renowned First Nation musicians from across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, will perform for Luther College’s Center Stage Series at 7:30 p.m Tuesday, April 23, in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall.