Sioux Falls, S.D.
Friday, March 9, 2001
Volume 89, Issue 14
Forum
The Augustana
r
BY KATIE MCKEE
MIRROR CO-EDITOR
A nationwide search for a
key part of Augustana's
future development has
ended. Doug Olson, a 1977
graduate of Augustana Col-lege,
assumed duties as vice
president of advancement on
Jan. 1.
Olson fills the position for-merly
held by Keith Chris-tensen,
who departed July 31
in order to return to his alma
mater, Luther College in
Decorah, Iowa.
Olson comes to the posi-tion
well prepared. Most
recently the vice president of
development for the Nebras-ka
Methodist Hospital Foun-dation
in Omaha, Neb., he
has experience in the fields
of both development and
ministry.
"Keith knew my interest in Augie
and also my background in develop-ment,"
Olson said. "It was kind of a
neat combination of being encour-aged
and having a deep personal
interest in Augustana and its future."
According to Augustana Presi-rr:
dent Bruce Halverson, the college
underwent a national search to fill
the position. Olson was chosen from
a large number of applicants.
"He's dedicated to Augie, and
that's a real important quality,"
Halverson said. "Plus he has great
experience in the advancement area.
All that together made him the right
choice."
Upon graduating from Augus-
Augie alum Doug Olson joins
advancement as vice president
Along with much experi-ence,
Olson also brings a
strong tie to the college. An
active Augie alum, he was a
member of the Augustana
Alumni Council, serving as its
president the past two years.
He was also a member of
Augustana's presidential
search committee. His excel-lent
experience and devotion
to the college proved to be
beneficial factors toward his
future • in development at
Augustana College.
Though two months into
the position, Olson and his
family are still in the process.
of relocating. His wife Kelly,
a 1983 Augie graduate, and
16-year-old son Dan remain in
Omaha. Olson's daughter
1977 Augustana alum Doug Olson began duties Megan is a first-year student
as vice president of advancement on Jan. 1.
tana, Olson attended Luther Semi-nary
in St. Paul, Minn. He then
returned to South Dakota to minister
to his first congregation, Lutheran
Church of Dell Rapids. Olson's
next ministry job took him to Lin-coln,
Neb., where he served as the
pastor of Sheridan Lutheran Church.
After serving as a pastor for six
years, Olson began his work in fund
raising as the development director
of the Lutheran Music Program. He
later worked as a grant maker for
Aid Association for Lutherans in
Appleton, Wis., and also as vice
president for resource development
at the Bethphage Foundation in Doug Olson
Omaha. continued on page 12
Photo by Carrie DeRuyter
at Augustana.
Olson's primary responsi-bility
as vice president of advance-ment
will be fund raising for the col-lege.
His biggest task will be head-ing
the Augustana Sunrise Cam-paign,
the college's new $50 million
renewal campaign.
"Launching a new campaign
takes a tremendous amount of orga-nization,"
Olson said. "I feel like I
have a tremendous amount of help
as I move ahead."
Another area Olson intends to
focus on is involving alumni with
Augustana. He hopes to generate
great interest among alumni about
Celebration of diversity wraps up with
Remember the Titans' Herman Boone
Phil says
show a
little spirit
Variety
Trend 86
members
cut record
deal
Sports
Three
wrestlers
head to
nationals
BY MATT DREKE
MIRROR SPORTS CO-EDITOR
Three hundred Augustana students
gathered last Friday night, March 2, in the
Edith Mortenson Center to listen to hall of
fame coach Herman Boone as Augus-tana's
week-long,Celebration of Diversity
concluded.
Boone is currently living in Alexan-dria,
Va., and was brought to campus by
the Concert and Lecture Committee to
speak about his experiences in 1971 .. His
story prompted Disney to make Remem-ber
the Titans, a film released in the fall of
2000, starring Denzel Washington.
T.C. Williams High School was at the
heart of tough times in 71, a year when
racial tensions were at their highest in Vir 7
ginia. Boone was a black man who had
been an assistant coach in the school dis-trict.
A federally mandated order to inte-grate
the schools propelled Boone into the
head football coaching job at T.C.
Williams High School.
The coaching promotion put Boone
into the center of race relations. He had
the daunting task of trying to bring a
group of young white men and a group of
young black men together on the football
field and make them winners.
"In 1971, I had the opportunity to make
a huge difference," Boone said.
A huge difference is exactly what he
made, uniting a team and a town en route
to a 13-0 perfect season as well as a state
championship.
"I'm just telling the story of what hap-pened
to these guys," Boone said. "I'm not
giving a history."
Boone spoke of the first time he
brought the players of T.C. Williams
together.
"I said anyone who wants to play
offense stand over here, and anyone who
wants to play defense stand over there,"
Boone said. "They didn't know it but right
there at that meeting I integrated the
team."
Boone focused the majority of his
speech on diversity.
. "We must honor and respect diversity,"
Boone said. "Believe it or not, diversity is
here to stay. Diversity is about who we are
as individuals both alike and different."
He also talked about how racism hap-pens
even today, telling a story about an
elementary school in Raleigh, N. CT. he
school had a black history program, and
all the white parents wrote notes excusing
their kids from the program.
He told the audience something that his
illiterate mother had told him years ago:
"'Success only comes in front of work in
the dictionary.' As students you cannot sit
on the bench and watch diversity happen,"
Boone said. "You have to get out on the
field."
"I thought he was great," junior
Andrew Johnson said. "I especially liked
it when he talked about uniting his team."
Photo by Bruce Conley
Herman Boone, the inspiration for the 2000 Disney film Remeber
the Titans, speaks to students at Augie on Friday, March 2.
Janklow
vows to
veto bill
Inclusion of private
colleges threatens
bill's final approval
BY BRIAN ALLEN LIESINGER
MIRROR STAFF WRITER
A modified form of the college
scholarship bill that Governor
Janklow proposed has worked its
way through the legislature to his
desk. Against his wishes, howev-er,
the bill includes private institu-tions,
and, as a result, he vows to
veto it.
The scholarship proposal by
Janklow last December has
passed many trials and has
undergone various amendments
before reaching his desk. In the
final form of Bill 239, private
colleges are included as an
option for students receiving the
scholarships.
The altered form of the bill
does not allow tobacco reim-bursement
funds to be used for
the scholarships. Legislators
would have to discover another
way to fund the scholarships. If
the bill passed and appropriate
funds were garnered, the schol-arship
program would not be
able to begin until July 1, 2002.
The scholarship amount has
also been reduced from $9,000
Scholarship bill
continued on page 8