Augustana College South Dakota - Edda Yearbook (Sioux Falls, SD)

Page 24 text:

I HE PRESIDENT REFLECTS ON A CLEAR DAY 1 Being President of Augustana College for ten years has been an exhilarating experience! In that time, I have been constantly reassured by students, faculty, and staff who have adopted the stance, consciously or not, of standing tall, looking around for new opportunities to learn, to teach, and to serve. Despite vagaries of these times, including some uncertainty and retrenchment in higher education, Augustana has never been more successful in fulfilling its mission. In short, these are clear days on this campus. We are thankful for our traditional liberal arts strength which forms an essential and humanizing base for all our students. Yet we look around our- selves constantly to add new professional and career programs to a curriculum already well balanced, in order that the Augustana student may apply his liberal arts knowledge and va- lues in a practical way to better serve God, na- ture, and his or her fellow man. Each member of the Augustana community must strive to keep open the lines of commun- ication with his or her God. The psychologist, William James, had a favorite quotation from the Bible. It was from the book of Ezekiel. Eze- kiel was having .his trouble with the Israelites of his time, who were as the Bible says, a rebel- lious house, impudent children and stiff- hearted. They were not interested in spiritual ytm M.fi ■

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ON A CLEAR DAY RISE AND LOOK AROUND YOU . . . YOU ' LL SEE WHO YOU ARE .. . THE GLOW OF YOUR BEING ■ ■:mm OUTSHINES EV ' RY STAR... YOU FEEL PART OF EV ' RY MOUNTAIN, SEA, AND SHORE... YOU CAN HEAR, FROM FAR AND NEAR, A WORLD YOU ' VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE . . . YOU CAN SEE FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVERMORE

Page 25 text:

warnings and Ezekiel sought counsel from his God, and as he prayed he fell on his face . And then in the Second Chapter of Ezekiel it says the Lord said to Ezekiel, Son of Man, stand on thy feet and I will speak to you. In other words according to William James, the Truth will be revealed only if one has the cour- age to seek it and to face it. This posture is encouraged at Augustana when we ask stu- dents to Rise and look around you . . . Reli- gious life at Augustana is not an isolated part- of learning or experience, but is an integral aspect of our total college environment. No matter what form it takes, the intent is always to communicate the basic Christian faith in ways that are relevant to contemporary times. The need is there: I think Augustana is trying to answer it creatively and responsibly.