Category: Luther College and Decorah Schools

Luther College is pleased to announce that a total of $394,356 from more than 1,000 donors was received during the fifth annual One Team Day on Thursday, Nov. 21. The monetary gifts will help to support the college’s 22 intercollegiate athletic teams and 550 student-athletes.

More than $349,000 was raised to support Luther College’s 22 intercollegiate athletic teams and 550 student-athletes during the fifth annual One Team Day on Nov. 21, 2024.

“Thanks to our generous supporters, One Team Day was extremely successful,” said Renae Hartl, director of intercollegiate athletics at Luther. “We are grateful for everyone who participated in One Team Day, and thankful for our dedicated fans who cheer on and celebrate Norse athletes throughout the year.”

Donors had the option of supporting a specific team, more than one team or the Norse Athletic Association. Even Luther’s newest varsity sport, women’s wrestling, received donations on One Team Day. In September, Luther College President Jenifer K. Ward announced the addition of women’s wrestling for the 2025-26 academic year.

The funds raised on One Team Day provide critical operating support, such as advanced technologies for training, conditioning and recovery, top-tier equipment and uniforms, quality travel and training experiences, and high-caliber coach and student-athlete recruitment.

“One Team Day is a special event for alumni, coaches and student-athletes,” said Yarrow Pasche, director of women’s track and field and cross country.

During One Team Day, student-athletes from each sport reached out to alumni, family members and other supporters of Norse athletics through text messages. Senior Kaitlyn Dailey, a member of the track and field team and a social work major, sent more than 100 text messages and received many positive responses to the invitation to share “a memory from your time on the track and field team.”

“I like seeing their responses,” she said. “Many times the person that you texted on One Team Day will seek you out at the Luther Track and Field Alumni Meet in January and you’ll get to meet them. It’s nice to put a name with a face after connecting on One Team Day.”

Launched in 2020, One Team Day highlights the importance of athletics and student-athletes within the Luther community. This year’s One Team Day campaign officially ended on Friday, Nov. 22.

Luther College, home to one of the largest undergraduate music programs in the nation, is proud to announce that its Cathedral Choir and Norskkor were each selected by blind audition for special performances at upcoming professional conferences in Minnesota.

Cathedral Choir is the only choir from outside of Minnesota selected to perform at the concert on Saturday, Nov. 23.

For the first time, Cathedral Choir was selected to perform at the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota conference. Cathedral Choir will perform at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. The public is invited to attend and may purchase concert tickets online. Cathedral Choir is the only choir from outside of Minnesota selected to perform at the concert.

“For a non-Minnesota school to be selected to perform at a state conference is a major coup,” said Mark Potvin, conductor of Cathedral Choir and Norskkor. “Since we were offered a premium Saturday morning performance slot, I expect the audience to be filled with supportive yet discerning fans of choral music.”

Cathedral Choir is one of five auditioned choirs at Luther. The ensemble is made up of singers from all voice parts, drawn from the sophomore through senior classes.

Cathedral Choir isn’t the only Luther vocal ensemble chosen to perform at a statewide event in Minnesota.

Norskkor will perform at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 at the Minneapolis Convention Center as part of the Minnesota Music Educators Association’s Midwinter Conference in Minneapolis. The annual professional conference is Minnesota’s largest gathering of music educators.

Potvin noted it is very rare for a choir outside of the North Star State to perform at a Minnesota professional conference. He served as a public school teacher in Minnesota for 16 years.

“Yet, here we are! Norskkor members are flattered to have secured a performance berth and excited to share the stage with a choir from Gustavus Adolphus,” Potvin said.

Roughly half of the Norskkor choir attended high school in Minnesota, so this performance is a bit of a homecoming for the singers. In addition to the special performance, Norskkor will interact with high school singers of Minnesota’s All State Choirs during the conference.

“We’re grateful to the Minnesota Music Educators Association for allowing an Iowa choir to share our program with dear friends to the north,” Potvin said.

Established in 1981, Norskkor is made up of first-year students who sing tenor and bass selected each fall and spring by audition. The word Norskkor is a portmanteau of the words Norsk and Kor from the Norwegian language. This translates to “Norwegian Choir.”

It’s time to celebrate and support Luther College’s 22 intercollegiate teams and 500 Norse student-athletes both in the classroom and on the field through Luther’s fifth annual One Team Day event on Thursday, Nov. 21.

The Luther men’s soccer team won their first American Rivers Conference regular season title since 2017 with a 3-0 victory over the University of Dubuque on Oct. 29, 2024.

“The athletics department looks forward to this day each year,” said Renae Hartl, director of intercollegiate athletics. “These 30 hours are full of meaningful connections that leave us feeling an astounding amount of support.”

During One Team Day, student-athletes invite alumni, family members and other Norse athletic supporters to designate their monetary gifts for specific teams at Luther. Through their shared experiences, past and present student-athletes make connections, inspire one another and build upon the legacy of Luther.

Funds raised provide critical operating support, such as advanced technologies for training, conditioning and recovery, top-tier equipment and uniforms, quality travel and training experiences, and high-caliber coach and student-athlete recruitment.

“We want our coaches to be able to create competitive schedules and provide cutting-edge training equipment for our student-athletes,” Hartl said. “The outcome on One Team Day ensures that we can do so. Your gifts will make a great impact in our programs.”

Launched in 2020, One Team Day highlights the importance of athletics and student-athletes within the Luther community.

Supporters may give online at Luther.edu/one-team-day or by calling 563-387-1862. They are also encouraged to share their support and what they love about Norse athletics using the #OneTeamDay on Facebook and other social media platforms. Contributions on Nov. 21 will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $125,000 by One Team Day sponsors.

The daylong event concludes with light refreshments and a cash bar at the One Team Day Celebration from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at T-Bock’s. Luther alumni, parents, coaches, and fans of Norse athletics are invited to attend the celebratory event sponsored by T-Bock’s Sports Bar and Grill.

Launched in 2020, One Team Day highlights the importance of athletics and student-athletes within the Luther community. In 2023, Luther raised $367,000 from more than 1,100 donors on One Team Day, which was the largest-ever One Team Day on record.

Luther College continues to excel in a wide range of national rankings issued this fall. Notably, the college was named one of the top 50 in WalletHub’s 2025 best U.S. colleges ranking; in addition, Luther placed best among its peers in key criteria evaluated in the Wall Street Journal / College Pulse 2025 best colleges ranking. Luther also garnered sustainability and quality-of-life accolades.

Luther is one of only 10 higher education institutions in the state of Iowa to have a chemistry program approved by the American Chemical Society.

WalletHub Best U.S. Colleges

In WalletHub’s best colleges list, rankings were weighted most heavily by student selectivity, cost and financing, educational outcomes and career outcomes of graduates. Metrics included the student-faculty ratio, graduation rates and salaries after graduation.

Luther was ranked 42nd in the country among all colleges (which award only bachelor’s degrees); it ranked second in the state of Iowa among all colleges and universities (institutions that award both undergraduate and graduate degrees).

WalletHub is a personal finance company that empowers consumers to lead financially healthy lives.

Wall Street Journal / College Pulse Best Colleges

According to College Pulse, which collects data about college student opinions, this is the second year that the Wall Street Journal has worked with College Pulse and Statista to rank the top 500 universities in the country.

“Rather than focusing on colleges’ wealth or reputation, these rankings expand the importance of student outcomes: graduation rates and graduate salaries,” said College Pulse in a news release. “Critically, we emphasized measuring the value added by colleges — not simply measuring their students’ success, but focusing on the contribution the college makes to that success.”

In the criteria that determined the Wall Street Journal / College Pulse top 500 universities ranking, Luther was ranked top three in several key areas relative to three peer groups: Iowa private colleges, the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) and the Network of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Colleges and Universities (NECU). The top 500 ranking included five Iowa private colleges, nine of the 13 ACM members, and nine of the 26 NECU members.

The areas in which Luther ranked highly were learning opportunities, character development, career preparation, community and social life, learning facilities and campus facilities.

• Learning opportunities: Luther ranked first among Iowa private colleges, the ACM and the NECU.
• Character development: Luther ranked first in the ACM and second among Iowa private colleges and the NECU.
• Career preparation: Luther tied for first in the ACM and third among Iowa private colleges and the NECU.
• Community and social life: Luther ranked first among Iowa private colleges and the ACM and second in the NECU.
• Learning facilities: Luther ranked first among Iowa private colleges, second in the ACM and tied for third in the NECU
• Campus facilities: Luther ranked first in the ACM and NECU and second among Iowa private colleges.

Princeton Review Green Colleges, Bicycle Friendly University

Echoing earlier national rankings for sustainability in college operations, Luther was ranked 21st in America in the Princeton Review’s Top 50 Green Colleges, scoring 97 out of 99 points in the ranking.

In a major national recognition of Luther and Decorah’s quality of life, the League of American Bicyclists recently awarded Luther a silver rating in its first application for the Bicycle Friendly University designation. Luther is one of three BFU campuses in Iowa. It joined the University of Iowa at the silver level; Grinnell College also entered the ranking this year at the bronze level.

Luther College is proud to earn a Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) silver award after completing a comprehensive assessment conducted by the League of American Bicyclists.

Bicycling is a main component of Luther’s long-standing sustainability strategy.

“We’re thrilled to earn a silver-level designation,” said Jon Jensen, director of Luther’s Center for Sustainable Communities. “It’s great to see the efforts of our students recognized by the League of American Bicyclists. I’m particularly proud of the work the students did in last year’s environmental studies course ‘Sustainability, Systems, and Solutions.’ Their project paved the way for this recognition.”

Senior Madison Major and juniors Evan Hansen and Sophie Chadima, in association with Luther’s Center for Sustainable Communities, evaluated campus parking and bicycle storage systems. They surveyed Luther students and employees about bicycle use. The students also assisted in gathering data required for the BFU application.

“It feels amazing to see our hard work pay off. I can not wait to see where this award can take us in the future,” Major said.

Luther is listed in the elite group of 209 colleges and universities in 44 states and the District of Columbia to earn BFU awards. The University of Iowa is the only other silver-level BFU campus in the Hawkeye State. Grinnell received a bronze-level award.

More than 500 higher education institutions have applied for an BFU award during the program’s history. Notably, Luther College received a silver award in the college’s first-ever application. Five other campuses received bronze-level recognition on their first-time applications this year, and three campuses received honorable mentions.

In its Oct. 24, 2024 announcement, the League of American Bicyclists highlighted Luther College and its efforts to empower students and staff to make choices that benefit their health, their environment and their communities.

“Luther College’s commitment to bicycling is grounded within a deep commitment to sustainability and community,” the league said.

Bicycling is a main component of Luther’s long-standing sustainability strategy and goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. Luther ranks seventh among baccalaureate institutions nationally on the Sustainable Campus Index (AASHE 2024 Sustainable Campus Index).

Luther’s Center for Sustainable Communities has been the home for the college’s bicycle share program and its Bicycle Advisory Committee, which includes students, faculty, staff and administrators working to improve biking safety and awareness.

“Biking reduces our need for cars, but it’s also a great way to experience the beauty that is all around Luther and throughout the Driftless Region,” Jensen said.