Augsburg College - Augsburgian Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

Page 9 text:

I

Page 8 text:

Augsburg begins ... with the teaching of the Truth in a pioneer age . . . a prairie town, the earliest building in Marshall, Wisconsin, the first graduating class of 1879 . . . These are images of Augsburg's past

Page 10 text:

Augsburg's Changing Face: From Seminary To Liberal Arts College Oser a period of -ne hundred years, Augs- burg College has established itself as a cultur- al center in the midst of an ever-growing met- ropolitan area. Augsburg now finds itself con- tributing through service and research to the development of both students and communi- iv. It first began at Augsburg Seminary in 1869 at Marshall Wisconsin, as the first divinity school founded by Norwegian Lutherans in America. Through an arrangement with a pri- vate institution known as Marshall Academy, August Weenaas, first president of Augsburg College, conducted the initial classes that year for the twenty young men enrolled. Be- cause of growing conflict between the acade- my and the seminary, Augsburg Seminary moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in the fall of 1872. There, Weenaas and his theological students occupied new facilities built espe- cially for them on the site where George Sver- drup Library now stands. Two distinguished Norwegian educators, Sven Oftedal and Georg Sverdrup joined the faculty and began shaping the life of Augsburg during some of its most difficult years. These men possessed the capacity to interpret the need of students, recognizing first their duty as teachers to pre- pare ministers for fast developing pioneer Lutheran congregations in the Northwest, but also recognizing the importance of educating young men in areas other than the ministry. While the school emphasized ministerial preparation, curriculum and faculty expan- sion in 1874 provided for three departments: a preparatory department of one year; a four- year college department with education along two lines — a classical course and a sci- entific program; and three years of study in the theological seminary. Augsburg's first col- lege class was graduated in 1879. A thorough revision of the college program occurred dur- ing World War I, and the school became known Agusburg College and Theological Seminary in 1916. Between 1916 and 1922, elective majors were introduced at Augsburg, faculty standards were improved, accreditation was sought and became a reality in later years, co-education was adopted and the school entered intercol- legiate athletic competition. As a result of its early search for academic excellence, Augsburg continues to improve and expand its program until today the school August Weenaas 0