2009-2010 All College

2009-2010 All College

It was FORE a great cause...

The 2010 Luther College Golf Classic once again enjoyed strong support from golfers and sponsors alike. Over 100 golfers participated in the event, and they were treated to a variety of goods and services provided by 20 hole sponsors and over 45 prize sponsors. Major sponsors of the event included Graham Construction, O&T Farms, and PFM Capital, and the “Hole-in-One” sponsors were RBC and Bennett Dunlop Ford

The event raised $11 000, with two thirds of the proceeds supporting the refurbishment of the girls dormitory washrooms at the high school campus and the other third supporting student scholarships and awards at the university campus. Golfers enjoyed a miraculous reprieve from June’s near-constant rains, playing instead under bright blue skies.

 

Looking e-sharp

 In 2009, Luther College’s website received a major facelift. The website was completely redesigned using an open-source content management system. The project involved a complete rewriting of website content and incorporated updated visual identity at both the high school and university campuses. It was also part of a major realignment of communications activities as marketing and recruitment efforts at both campuses increasingly integrate electronic media into their outreach.

As part of the website redesign project, several multimedia projects, all housed online, were undertaken in 2009-2010. These included new marketing videos for the university campus and a new online component of The Luther Story. Also part of the redesign was an intranet site designed to enhance internal communication at the university campus.

 

Celebrating our founders

On 14 November 2009, Luther College celebrated several important supporters at a Founders’ Day reception in the Blue Room of Luther College High School. Founders were inducted into the following giving circles:

Founders' Circle

Bill Barlow
Ben & Darlene Freitag
Joann McIIIwrick
Don & Lydia Olafson
Milbert & Naomi Schneider
Karl & Kathy Tiefenbach
Ken Stepenoff

Heritage Society

Steve & Audrey Haddad

Founders' Society

Soren & Caroline Oberg
Bruce & Cherry Perlson
The late Arnold Tiefenbach

Attendees of the Founders' Day were treated to performances by the cast of the 2009 high school musical, Anne of Green Gables.

 

Seeking our next leader

In 2009, Luther College began a search for someone to take up the leadership work of retiring president Dr Bruce Perlson. An extensive search was conducted by a committee comprising members of the Board of Regents and faculty and staff representatives from the university and high school campuses.

On 10 December 2009, Dr Bryan Hillis was named as the eighth president of Luther College.Dr Hillis is a professor of religious studies at Luther College at the University of Regina. He graduated from the University of Regina in 1978, through Luther College, with a Bachelor of Arts (great distinction) in religious studies, received his Master of Arts in theology from Oxford University in 1981, and earned his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1988. Dr Hillis received the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship from 1979 to 1981, and he has received numerous high‐profile grants for his research.

Luther College bade farewell to outgoing president Perlson and his wife Cherry in June 2010 at a dinner and reception. Students, faculty, staff and friends shared memories from Dr Perlson’s five-year presidency and celebrated the successes and future promise of Luther College.

 

Keeping the faith

 At Luther College, the Christian faith as expressed in the Lutheran tradition lies at the heart of who we are and what we do. Both campuses have active chaplaincies that seek to support students in their spiritual development.

At the high school campus, Pastor Larry Fry brought numerous guest speakers into chapel in 2009-10. Special guests included representatives from Amnesty International. Chapel also featured an Advent focus on the Kapasseni Project, a community development initiative in Mozambique that originated with Lutheran Church in Canada congregations in British Columbia. The project was proposed by Luther students and adopted by the Student Representative Council (SRC), and it has been supported in the past by both Canadian Lutheran World Relief and the Stephen Lewis Foundation. The students raised a total of $1 350 in support of this worthwhile project.

At the university campus, chaplaincy serves to deepen the spiritual life of the College, working with students, staff, faculty and the wider community; worship, education, pastoral care and community building are key components of the ministry. The chaplaincy, under the continuing leadership of Pastor Cheryl Toth, also continued its focus on social justice, promoting activities such as a Haiti Relief Lunch and a “Chili for Chile” Relief Lunch, both in support of regions ravaged by earthquakes in 2009-2010. Luther also partnered with Campion College to provide services during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Once again, the chaplaincy collaborated with alternative trade organisations to bring fair trade goods to the campus. The Fair Trade Fair before Christmas partnered with Canadian Luther World Relief’s Four Corners,and a Fair Trade Chocolate Sale before Valentine’s day was a joint enterprise with Ten Thousand Villages. Since 2003, the first of Luther’s fall Fair Trade Fairs, Luther has sold over $85 000 worth of alternative and fair trade goods for Four Corners and in so doing helped to raise awareness of this important social justice issue on campus.

 

Welcome alumni home

The High School hosted its annual alumni Homecoming Weekend in September. Alumni from the “nines” (1919, 1929, 1939, 1949, and so-on) gathered for a come-and-go reception at Zest Restaurant on the Friday evening, and then took a trip down memory lane at a special Chapel service and barbeque lunch. Alumni and their families enjoyed a stroll through the halls of their alma mater, reliving their “high school days.” Over 75 guests gathered for a formal banquet on the Saturday evening. Kelly Butz (HS’99) served as the master of ceremonies for the evening, while fellow alumni Gary Fitz (HS’59) said grace and Keith Walton (HS’59) gave a heartfelt toast to the College. It was a wonderful weekend for everyone involved.