At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12, the Luther College Center Stage Series presents Goitse. Pronounced “gwi-cha,” Goitse is hailed as the leader of the new generation of traditional Irish ensembles. From classic countryside tunes to their own delightful compositions, the group delivers “music that is brimming with energy and creative zeal” (“Irish Music” magazine).
“I’m so excited to have Goitse back at Luther College,” said Kristen Underwood, director of campus programming. “From the fiddle to the banjo and bodhrán, these musicians are hailed as masters of their craft with good reason. This is the kind of concert that puts a jig in your step and a song in your heart. I can’t wait.”
Goitse’s name comes from an informal Gaelic Irish greeting meaning “come here” which speaks to their enticing and welcoming music. The group’s hallmark may be the sweet, charismatic, voice of their vocalist Áine McGeeney who was named the 2016 Best Female Vocalist by the Irish American News.
Goitse has released five critically acclaimed recordings and maintains a year-round touring schedule that includes performances throughout Ireland and the UK, Germany, France and the United States.
The performance is sponsored in part by Winneshiek Medical Center and the Mayo Clinic Health System. For the safety of the community, guests will be asked to remain masked throughout the performance.
Arrive early to enjoy the Sip and Shop in the Luther College Book Shop from 6-7:15 p.m. Present a “Goitse” ticket and enjoy a complimentary glass of wine while you browse.
The highly creative and talented chefs on the Norse Culinary Team invite you to partake in the Center Stage Dinner Series before the show. The dinners feature a multi-course menu to complement each performance. A separate ticket is required. All meals begin at 5:30 p.m. in Peace Dining Room on the second floor of Dahl Centennial Union.
Both dinner and show tickets are on sale through Luther’s Ticket Office and online at tickets.luther.edu, by emailing [email protected], or by calling (563) 387-1357.
About Luther College
Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our 60+ academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.
Luther College President Jenifer K. Ward and Provost Lynda Szymanski have announced promotions and grants of tenure for current faculty members.
At its February meeting, the Board of Regents granted tenure to Melanie Batoff, music; Laurie Bouska, nursing; Mike Garcia, English; and Susan Schmidt, social work. Batoff, Bouska, Garcia, and Schmidt were also promoted to associate professor.
The tenure process occurs in the sixth year of a faculty member’s service. The process involves student evaluations, department evaluation, evaluation by a faculty committee, and approval by the provost, the president, and the Board of Regents.
The Board of Regents also announced the promotions of Carly Hayden Foster, political science; Rob Larson, management; Laura Peterson, environmental studies and chemistry; and Michael Smith, music, to full professor. The promotion to full professor involves student, department, faculty committee, provost, and president review.
“Each one of these faculty members has contributed to Luther College through their teaching, scholarship, and service,” said Provost Lynda Szymanski. “They are extraordinary teachers and mentors, innovative and accomplished scholars, and dedicated members of the Luther College community. We celebrate the well-deserved tenure and promotions of these faculty and thank them for their commitment to their students, disciplines, and Luther College.”
Melanie Batoff
Melanie Batoff has taught at Luther College since 2015. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Queen’s University, her M.A. in musicology from the University of Western Ontario, and her Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Michigan. Batoff teaches courses in music history and ethnomusicology and coordinates the senior projects for music majors. A specialist in medieval chant and liturgy, Batoff’s research centers on the Visitatio sepulchri (a sung enactment of the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection), exegesis, medieval religious experience, and the materiality of medieval manuscripts.
Laurie Bouska ’08
Laurie Bouska has been teaching in the Luther College nursing department since 2014. After graduating from Luther in 2008, Bouska went on to earn her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Clarke University with a primary focus in nursing education and organizational leadership. Before teaching at Luther, she accumulated nursing experience at Mayo Clinic, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and Central Dupage Hospital. Bouska currently teaches the foundational-level courses in the nursing major. Her research examines the experiences of newly graduated nurses and workplace interruptions. She is also interested in nursing education research focused on integrating clinical judgment across the nursing curriculum.
Mike Garcia
Mike Garcia began teaching at Luther College in 2015. He received his Ph.D. in English, with a focus on composition studies, from the University of New Hampshire. Mike teaches Paideia, rhetoric, and professional writing, as well as the occasional literature course or first-year seminar. He is the writing director at Luther College; he directs the Nancy K. Barry Writing Center and collaborates with faculty who teach writing across disciplines. His scholarship focuses mostly on writing assessment and writing program administration.
Susan Schmidt
Susan Schmidt began teaching social work at Luther College in 2016. She studied philosophy, psychology, and Spanish at Houghton College before going on to pursue master’s degrees from Columbia University School of Social Work and from Boston University School of Theology. She earned her Doctorate in social work from the University of St. Thomas. Schmidt’s research focuses on unaccompanied minors traveling from Central America and Mexico and their reasons for migration. Prior to teaching, Schmidt worked for organizations such as the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Carly Hayden Foster
Carly Hayden Foster joined the political science department at Luther College in 2015. She earned her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Kansas in 2005. Foster teaches courses on a variety of topics including law, social policy, health policy, gender, political theory, and the Iowa Caucuses. She also leads several courses in the Paideia program. Foster recently published a chapter in the textbook “Getting Real about Inequality: Intersections in Real Life” (Sage Publishers, 2021), which explores the ways that political rhetoric influences social policy toward Black and Latina women. She is currently the head of the political science department, as well as being an active member in both the Luther and greater Decorah communities.
Rob Larson
Rob Larson came to Luther College in 2003. He earned his B.A. from Concordia College and went on to achieve his Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas. Larson’s teaching experience has included courses in marketing, investments, management, and accounting, as well as leading courses abroad in Australia. Larson’s research focuses on the relationships between the price of attending college, student debt upon graduation, and college enrollment. While at Luther, he served in an administrative role as executive director and later as vice president for communications and marketing from 2008 to 2017. Larson is also very involved in the Decorah community, serving on multiple boards and engaging in volunteer work.
Laura Peterson
Laura Peterson has been at Luther College since 2008; she teaches in the environmental studies program. She graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in geology and went on to earn her Ph.D. in geosciences from Brown University. Peterson’s teaching interests include the climate system, Earth history, and the Anthropocene. She has conducted research on past climate change and soil health.
Michael Smith
Michael Smith has been teaching at Luther College since 2001. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Stephen F. Austin State University, a Master of Music Education from McNeese State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Smith currently teaches applied low brass (trombone, euphonium, and tuba) and brass techniques for music education majors. He also conducts the trombone choir and tuba-euphonium ensembles and has performed recitals throughout the U.S. on euphonium and alto, tenor, and bass trombones. Smith has served as the bass trombonist with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra since 2007 and has published more than 50 original music compositions and arrangements for brass.
About Luther College
Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our 60+ academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.
Luther College will celebrate the class of 2022 at Commencement at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 22. Addressing the in-person class and audience will be descendants of the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson landmark decision, Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson.
The 1892 arrest of Homer Plessy, an African American New Orleanian, seated in a ‘whites only’ train car led to the Supreme Court case. The higher court upheld Judge John Ferguson’s ruling that Mr. Plessy had violated the Separate Car Act of Louisiana and that his constitutional rights had not been violated. As a result, legalizing Jim Crow ‘separate but equal’ laws for the next 58 years.
Today, rather than Plessy VERSUS Ferguson, Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson have established the Plessy AND Ferguson Foundation. Their mission is to educate the public about the legacy of the Plessy decision and its impact on African American life because “by understanding the past we are better able to work together and create a more just and equitable future.”
“Plessy and Ferguson have been steadfast in their work to seek justice for Homer Plessy,” said Luther College President Jenifer K. Ward. “Their work resulted in the November 2021 recommendation by the Louisiana Board of Pardons to clear Plessy’s name posthumously and in January of this year, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed an official pardon in a public ceremony. We are fortunate to have these two descendants of the key figures in a landmark case, as well as current champions for racial reconciliation join us at Luther as they celebrate this historic milestone, and as we ask our graduates to live out our mission to be enlivened and transformed by encounters with one another in the world.”
One encounter brought these two living legacies together and now, through their foundation, Plessy and Ferguson travel to spread their message that their mutual history can be a tool to create unity and understanding.
“We boil the case down for [students] to right and wrong. We have an amazing legacy to share, and we tell students that they, too, will have a legacy, and that it’s important to think about that while you’re young—that in your life you contribute your spirit, effort, and service in order to help make change, and that they, too, can be history makers,” said Phoebe Ferguson.
Commencement will take place in Carlson Stadium and will be a ticketed event. The event will be livestreamed and will be accessible to the public online at commencement.luther.edu.
About Luther College
Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our 60+ academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.
When you sign up with Signup Genius, you will receive emails telling you what you have signed up for. You can change your assignments, if you need to. You will receive reminders before the day of your volunteer job.
Volunteer Coordinator: Brenda Ramlo 563-419-6765.
There will not be a training meeting this year. If you are new to volunteering, please come to OFF Headquarters about 15 minutes early to learn what you need to do.
OFF Headquarters will be at Lingonberry Event Center, 218 W. Water St., Decorah
As a newly approved reconciling ministry, the Decorah First United Methodist Church happily celebrates the stance of offering Christ’s Love to all regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We wish to proclaim our affiliation with the other churches who are seeking to resist evil and oppression in whatever (any) form they present themselves.
We’ve heard the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is suggested that a way to move beyond thinking about how we’d like to be treated is to use the more empathetic Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as they would have us do unto them.” The further suggestion is for us to utilize the highest level of treating others, the Titanium Rule: “Jesus says, “Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another more.”
As followers of Jesus, we acknowledge our human frailty sometimes causes us to pause in being the strongholds of uncompromising love that our Lord exemplifies. With our newly acquired status as reconcilers, we now step forward to proclaim the message of God’s Love and Peace being meant for ALL.
Our congregation recently voted overwhelmingly to accept the following statement, therefore becoming a Reconciling Church: We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed. In this effort we stand in solidarity with other Reconciling churches, groups, and individuals seeking to change UMC discriminatory practices.
Our congregation is planning a service of celebration and recognition of becoming a Reconciling Church on Sunday, March 20 at 9:00 AM. As always, our doors are open to anyone wanting to celebrate God’s Love with open hearts and open minds.
At their February board meeting, the Luther College Board of Regents approved two new academic programs. Beginning in the fall of 2022, students will be able to major in law and values and minor in counseling.
“These new interdisciplinary academic programs demonstrate our faculty’s innovative spirit and steadfast commitment to offering majors and minors that prepare students to meet the demands of today’s complex society,” said Provost Lynda Szymanski. “These offerings are distinct among our peers and will make students more competitive when applying for graduate schools and jobs. The law and values major will ground students in both theory and application and will empower students to become leaders in law, business, politics, civil service, and the nonprofit sector, while the counseling minor is designed to complement majors associated with helping professions.”
The law and values major
The new law and values program at Luther College is rooted in the fact that most social problems have moral, legal, political, and economic factors. Luther’s experienced and knowledgeable faculty members in the areas of economics, political science, and philosophy will teach courses designed to help students understand the systems that shape society so they may effectively engage in important conversations of law, policy, and the common good.
“I am really looking forward to the launch of this new major,” said Steve Holland, professor of economics. “My colleagues and I are excited about building a community of curious students interested in wrestling with big questions. While it is often easy to get discouraged by the current state of the world, this is the perfect time to start a new major that encourages our students to find creative ways to solve problems.”
Students majoring in law and values will be well-equipped for law school, graduate programs in public policy and similar fields, and for the workplace.
The counseling minor
Luther College’s mission is deeply rooted in helping others. This new counseling minor was designed to complement a number of majors, specifically those that lead students into helping professions, medical careers, or graduate school.
“I am thrilled that we have been able to create a minor that is attractive to students in various majors at the college!” said Britt Rhodes, professor of social work. “The counseling minor will provide students with important knowledge and skill sets for advanced degrees in social work or counseling to meet the ever-growing need for practitioners to provide mental health services. At the same time, the counseling minor will also provide basic knowledge and skills to students in other majors for career success even if you aren’t planning to work directly in the counseling field.”
The counseling minor is unique to Luther in that no other college or university in the region offers a similar minor. Faculty members from Luther’s psychology and social work departments teach the courses for this interdisciplinary program.
About Luther College
Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our 60+ academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.
Decorah Parks and Recreation Spring Soccer program is open for registration. Soccer is open to children ages 3 thru 7th grade and is held Saturday mornings at Will Baker Athletic Fields. Registration for all soccer leagues must be completed by Monday, March 7.
Pee Wee Coed Soccer League (ages 3 & 4) is held Saturday mornings, April 23 thru May 14. Cost is $20 per child and includes a t-shirt. 5 year old thru 7th grade soccer is held Saturday mornings, April 2 thru May 14 (no soccer April 16). Participants are divided according to age and grade level. Cost is $25 per participant and includes a t-shirt. All players are required to wear shin guards, which Decorah Park-Rec provides at the fields.
Registration can be completed online or in the Park-Rec Office. Credit and Debit cards are accepted online, registration in the Park-Rec Office must be paid by cash or check.
Registration is open for two youth Spanish class offerings lasting 8 weeks. “Adventuras” is a class for elementary-aged students of all experience levels offered on Mondays from 4:10-5:00.”Middle School Exploratory Spanish” takes place at my home within walking distance of Decorah Middle School, comes with an after-school snack, and lasts from 3:20-4:00. Please contact Jenn Kost (jennkost@gmail.com) for more information.
The Decorah FFA will celebrate National FFA Week from February 19 through . Throughout the week, FFA members, alumni, sponsors, and chapters sraise awareness about the FFA organization and the daily impact it has on its members. Agricultural education allows FFA members to achieve premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.
Decorah chapter members will engage in four dress-up days throughout the week to promote FFA. These days are as follows: Tuesday, Feb. 22 – USA Day, Wednesday, Feb. 23 – FFA Shirt Day, Thursday, Feb. 24 – Hat Day, and Friday, Feb. 25 – Farmer Day. To promote FFA and encourage others to join, the organization is inviting all Decorah High School students to participate. “We’re constantly searching for new members to join our chapter, and we encourage everyone to participate in FFA week and understand that FFA is about more than agriculture and farming,” said chapter sentinel Brendan Hunter.
There are currently sixty-six members in the Decorah FFA. The chapter organizes programs all year to help grow leaders, build communities, and strengthen agriculture. The Decorah FFA will have its annual FFA Awards Program on Thursday, , to honor all the year’s accomplishments. The general public is invited to attend. Tickets and further information can be obtained by contacting any Decorah FFA member or the high school FFA advisor, Joni Bruvold.
The Decorah FFA will also be hosting the Northeast District FFA Convention on Saturday, , at Decorah High School. Forty FFA chapters from Northeast Iowa will be competing in these events as students showcase their agricultural, communication, and leadership skills. FFA contests will begin at 9 am and are open to the general public to attend.
Decorah FFA Chapter 2021-2022 – Members and Advisor Photo
Row 1: 2021-2022 Decorah FFA Officer Team (l-r): Brendan Hunter, Kaia Franzen, Grace Gerleman, Dalton Hemesath (represented by FFA jacket), Karter Einck (represented by FFA jacket), Sage Wedmann, David Kreitzer
Decorah High School is pleased to announce that nine fall sport student-athletes have been recognized by the respective coaches’ associations of their sports for earning academic all-state honors. Below is information on each of the students recognized.
Academic All-State for Cross Country
Izaak Eichinger – Son of Mark and Michelle Eichinger
Larsson Shockey – Son of Ben Shockey and Julie Simiele
Requirements
Senior Cross Country Athlete
Cumulative GPA of 3.8 or higher
Composite Score of 28 or higher on the ACT Exam
Outstanding runner who has been a state qualifier or placed in the top 30 at their State Qualifying Meet
Academic All-State for Volleyball
Allison Pavlovec – Daughter of Shelley Pavlovec and Curt Jacobs
Requirements
Senior Volleyball Athlete
Cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher
Composite Score of 27 or higher on the ACT Exam
Be involved in other Extra-Curricular Activities
Academic All-State for Football
Joe Hjelle – Son of John and Tracy Hjelle
David Johanningmeier – Son of Scott and Kerri Johanningmeier
Thomas Ostlie – Son of Paul and Lori Ostlie
Jacob Pipho – Son of Jon and Amy Pipho
Brayden Reiser – Son of Rich and Erica Reiser
Brody Young – Son of Jon and Shawn Young
Requirements
Senior Football Starter
Cumulative GPA of 3.7 or higher
Be involved in other extra-curricular activities
Coach Holthaus and Allison PavlovedJoe Hjelle, Thomas Ostlie, Brody Young, Ryan Johanningmeier, Brayden Reiser, Jocob Pipho, and Coach TrewinLarrson Shockey, Coach Johansen, Izaak Eichinger
