Luther College News

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that from 2016 to 2026, employment in the health education sector will grow 16 percent and healthcare occupations generally will grow 18 percent – both much faster than the national average for all occupations. With this growth in mind, the Luther College Board of Regents unanimously approved multiple changes to the college’s Health and Physical Education Department, including renaming the department to Health Promotion and Exercise Science to better reflect changes to the program.

Award winning historian, author, professor and founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, Ibram X. Kendi will present the Humanities Distinguished Lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 28 in the Main Hall of the Center for Faith and Life on the Luther College campus. This event is open to the public with no charge for admission.

As a long-time friend, supporter, athlete and coach for Luther College, Bob Naslund received the Spirit of Luther Award at spring semester opening convocation. Luther President Paula Carlson recognized Naslund and presented him the award.

As part of Luther College’s Dorian Orchestra Festival weekend, high school string players participating in Luther’s Dorian Chamber Ensemble Intensive will present a recital at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, in Luther’s Noble Recital Hall in Jenson-Noble Hall of Music.

Area musicians are now invited to enroll for the second semester of the Luther College Community Music School. Luther’s music education students are gearing up for the spring session of LCCMS which is open to anyone in the Decorah area.

Luther College Admissions will host a Scholar Recognition Day on Saturday, Feb. 9 and Saturday Feb. 23 in order to recognize the highest achieving admitted students at Luther, and allow those students the chance to interact with faculty and current students.

Luther College’s fall 2018 Dean’s List includes 739 students; 169 first-years, 137 sophomores, 162 juniors and 272 seniors. To be named to the Dean’s List, a student must earn a semester grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale and must complete at least 12 credit hours with 10 hours of conventional grades (A, B, C, D).

The American Psychological Association journal, Health Psychology, recently published the empirical article, “Hostility, Forgiveness, and Cognitive Impairment Over 10 Years in a National Sample of American Adults.” The research was conducted by Luther College Professors Loren Toussaint and Stephanie Travers with Luther graduates Emily Green and Kelly Kennedy, and all members of the Laboratory for the Investigation of Mind, Body, and Spirit.

With the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, students across the country staged sit-ins and challenged discriminatory practices in an attempt to create more minority representation on college campuses. Roger Pulliam, who witnessed the formation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Scholars Academy at Western Michigan University, will give the 2019 Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Lecture at Luther College.

For the past two years, Luther College adjunct faculty Philip Iversen and Iowa State University professor emeritus Jim Iversen have been compiling information about the science and measurement of climate change and will present a lecture on their research at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, in the Mott Room of the Dahl Centennial Union.