Rich Jensen '74 and Beth Goodrich: Endowed scholarship honors parents

(Generosity Matters is a series of spotlight stories about alumni who give back to Augustana College.)

A public, state-funded college played the admission lottery with Rich Jensen '74. It lost.

In the late 1960s, Jensen attended a Lutheran high school in Chicago. His default plan for college was to attend a public, state college and join several older friends from his school. At that time, he also applied to other schools, including Augustana College. He didn’t know much about the college, but several of his high school classmates were applying, and recruiters from Augustana had visited his school.

Augustana was by far the most welcoming of the schools he was considering.  He remembers his acceptance letter came by special delivery, and was followed up by a scholarship offer. Later, the public, state college that he originally vied for surprised him with a letter explaining that he had not made the final cut for admission, which had been made by a lottery. He did not find this welcoming. 

Although this college eventually admitted him, he had already decided to come to Augustana. He never regretted it.

Since he was a small child, Jensen knew that giving back to your alma mater was something college graduates were expected to do. This was reinforced by his years on campus where alumni generosity was evident. When he graduated from Augustana and had his first permanent job out of law school, giving back became a priority.

For a number of years, Jensen and his wife, Beth Goodrich, focused on supporting Augustana’s capital campaigns. They understood that being regular supporters would help strengthen the college. 

Then, about 20 years ago, they began funding an endowed scholarship geared toward supporting first-generation students from underrepresented populations — the Lorraine (Byttner) and Earl Jensen Scholarship, in memory of Jensen’s parents. Their giving primarily goes to this memorial scholarship, but they also continue to support other initiatives of the college. 

The Jensens have been married for almost 40 years. Jensen says Goodrich has supported giving to Augustana all along the way, but especially so since they first visited the campus together and after they established an endowed scholarship. 

They live in Washington, D.C., across the street from the National Zoo, and enjoy being able to walk to almost all of their day-to-day destinations. They especially enjoy live theatre and dance performances.

Jensen spent his 30-year legal career with the U.S. Postal Service. For the last 15 years of his tenure, he was responsible for coordinating the agency’s legal work related to buildings and grounds: real-estate transactions, construction contracting, historic preservation, regulation of conduct (e.g., speech and political activity) on postal premises, and some aspects of environmental compliance. 

Since retiring in 2007, he’s enjoyed a number of activities, from walking for recreation and fitness to mentoring a small group studying theology.

When asked what he tells others about Augustana, Jensen said, “I often say, more than half seriously, that my education at Augustana helped keep me sane through law school, and 30 years of work as a lawyer. In a more serious vein, I came away with an appreciation of the importance of exploring other perspectives, and challenging myself to frame better questions.”