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Campus update: Major time!
Feb. 16, 2023
It's a major time of year
First-year students will be eligible to declare a major starting Friday! Plan now to attend the open house for your major or program. You'll find helpful information from faculty and students in that major. And often there will be snacks!
→ List of departmental open houses
(Students who began at Augustana this semester or in J-term are not eligible to declare a major until fall 2023.)
Music will be hitting the road this spring
Our music ensembles will be packing their bags to go on tour:
The Symphonic Band will perform concerts in Japan. Originally scheduled for spring 2020, the tour was postponed due to COVID-19. This tour is especially important to current seniors as they will embark on their first tour abroad.
The 52-voice Augustana Choir will tour in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. The choir has a tradition of touring abroad and throughout the United States.
And the Jenny Lind Vocal Ensemble will perform in Missouri and Iowa.
Why a liberal arts education is more impactful today than ever
Kent Barnds, Augustana vice president of external relations, says that Nelly Cheboi '16, CNN Hero of the Year, has a super power: her liberal arts education.
"Nelly’s liberal arts education develops the professional skills, ethical citizenship and independent judgment that society needs today," he writes in the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal.
• Contest season approaches! If you have a piece of writing you're proud of, be on the lookout for the Ethics Essay Contest, Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award, Audre Lorde Writing Prize, Tredway Library Prize, Geifman Prize and more.
• Housing alert: March 7 is the deadline to apply for two special housing selections — ALIVE: Augustana Leaders in Vocational Exploration, and International House.
• The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation offers eight-week summer internships in Washington, D.C. Apply through the Office of International and Off-Campus Programs by March 2. (Isabella Gmitrovic '23 offers some insight.)
Reminder: smoking and vaping are prohibited on the campus. This includes cigarettes, vapes and similar products that involve the burning or vaporizing of tobacco.
Randy Heisch, retired police officer and Augustana parent, facilitated an emergency tabletop drill on campus recently. About 50 employees took part, and he gave us an A! "I was impressed with the communications that the campus has for any type of situation and the knowledge they brought forward," he said. "I have a high amount of confidence in Augustana's Public Safety, along with the staff, as the folks that make the campus safe."
(The college will have a large-scale emergency drill April 20.)
Ken Brill, director of the Office of Student Life and Leadership, won the National Association for Campus Activities Founders Award, the association’s highest honor. It is awarded to those who have contributed significantly to the NACA.
Thanks to everyone who made Step Afrika! such a success. There was a standing-room-only crowd in Centennial Hall for this performance Saturday night.
Special thanks to senior Andrew Leon Sanchez, who had the idea to bring the group here. He’d been a fan of Step Afrika! since high school, and felt Black History Month was the perfect time to host their performance. You can read about him in the Quad City Times and Dispatch-Argus.
• $100,000 grant boosts community impact of two college centers
• Augustana esports steps up its game with biometrics
• Shockingly Modern Saxophone Festival Feb. 25 brings guest artist, world premiere
The Vikings' baseball season starts Friday with a game in Memphis, so the team figured President Andrea Talentino should have some gear, presented by senior Jake Reusch. The first home game is March 17.