HAMLINE MISSION STATEMENT

At Hamline University, our mission is to create a diverse and collaborative community of learners dedicated to the development of students’ knowledge, values, and skills for successful lives of leadership, scholarship, and service.

One of the questions asked was in regard to whether respondents felt Hamline is living up to its mission. We continued from page 17

2023 Wesley Award Winners

Wedatala served as president of the Muslim Student Association; a Catalyst service-trip site leader; a programmanagement intern with the Food Resource Center; student leader for Pathways; trainee with Interfaith America; and event leader for the Career Mentor Program.

Caleb Lueders (he/him) is from Houston, Texas, and will graduate in the spring of 2024 from the Hamline School of Business with a BBA in business management and a BA from the College of Liberal Arts in communications. Lueders has served the Hamline community as a new-student mentor, Piper IMpact executive member; Habit for Humanity and Be the Match volunteer; All— Sports campus counselor, and as a member of the Hamline football team.

found a sharp divide in the answers: Staff generally said yes, faculty and alumni generally said no, and students were more divided in response.

So, what does this tell us? For one thing, better communication of Hamline’s mission and values is needed, as well as accountability on how the university is doing on living up to those values. at is one of the purposes of this magazine, and going forward we will place extra emphasis on this core concept.

Secondly, we’ve learned that absolutism is not a worthwhile course of action. To use Hawkins’ words: “ ere is a way in which the conversation has long been had around academic freedom that presumes it is an inviolate principle. And I think that is wrong. I'm pushing back against the accepted notion that it is all or nothing. e concepts can coexist and they need to coexist.”

Note: ese concepts will be discussed in a live panel discussion including Professor Hawkins on Tuesday, September 12 titled “As One: e Hamline University Academic Freedom Forum.” is free event will be held in the Anderson Center Forum and will be webstreamed. Watch hamline.edu for more information on how to access the event.

STAFF:

Gwenn Sherburne (she/her) has worked at Hamline for 25 and a half years, and for the past nine has served as the university registrar. One of her nominators said, “She has not only stayed with Hamline through many challenging times, but she has provided leadership for the institution at many critical points. Gwenn has given countless hours of her time to service that supports all Hamline students through her many committee and service responsibilities.”

Summer Seeger (she/her) has been at Hamline for over eight years and serves the Hamline University community as the medical administrative assistant in the Counseling and Health Services office. She helped organize COVID testing for students and developed new procedures for students to access our services. When the director of Health Services departed, Seeger was part of a lean staff that worked hard to continue to serve students.

FACULTY:

Dr. Kris Norman is an alum of Hamline University. She was tenured in 2008 and promoted to full professor in 2013. She has devoted much time to serving in many ways, including as a department chair and a member of the Faculty Council, the University Academic and Student Affairs Committee, and the Committee on Race and Ethnicity. Norman also has worked on various Higher Learning Commission accreditation efforts, including for our online MPA, the university's first online program.

Dr. Rebecca Neal started as a professor in the Hamline School of Education in 2015. In 2017, she was appointed as the director for the Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching, tenured in 2018 and appointed as the Saunders’ Chair in 2021. Since being hired, she has submitted many journal articles and presented at many conferences. Neal is a dedicated faculty representative to the football program and supportive of all other sports students in general. Our team grade point average has been over 3.0 since she has become the leader of our weekly study table program.