ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM - The History of Dr. Martin Luther College from 1984 to 1995

J. Lance Hartzell

one Lord, one faith, one baptism The History of Dr. Martin Luther College from 1984 to 1995

By John Isch

Authorized by the Martin Luther College Archives Committee, 2017 Stephen R. Balza, Chair

Copyright © 2019 by Martin Luther College

Printed by Martin Luther College Graphic Arts, New Ulm, MN Old Main drawing copyright J. Lance Hartzell, used by permission Cover design by John Lester Ring ISBN: 978-1-890600-05-1 Isch, John

one Lord, one faith, one baptism / John Isch

Old Main is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

CONTENTS Preface ix

Centennial and Accreditation: 1984-1985 1 The Centennial ������������������������������������������������������������������ 2 Accreditation ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 The Library ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 13 Campus ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 15 Other ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 18 Events and Sports ������������������������������������������������������������ 19 Shout-Outs ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 22 Tenured Faculty Changes ������������������������������������������������ 23 Numbers �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24 Expansion: 1985-1986 25 Expanding the Programs ������������������������������������������������� 25 Spanish Language and Culture ��������������������������������������� 25 Secondary Teacher Education Program ��������������������������� 26 The Lutheran Educator ����������������������������������������������������� 33 Special Services, Summer School ������������������������������������ 35 The Library Moves ���������������������������������������������������������� 37 Feedback Effect on Curriculum and Programs ���������������� 38 Other ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 41 Student Housing ������������������������������������������������������������� 42 Events and Sports ������������������������������������������������������������ 42 Shout-Outs ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 45 Tenured Faculty Changes ������������������������������������������������ 46 Numbers �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 46 Recruitment: 1986-1987 47 Recruitment ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 47 Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) ���������������������������������������� 50 Attrition �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 52 Other ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 52 Student Housing ������������������������������������������������������������� 56 Events and Sports ������������������������������������������������������������ 59

Shout-Outs ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 61 Tenured Faculty Changes ������������������������������������������������ 61 Numbers �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 62

Reduction in Faculty: 1987-1988 63 Reduction in Faculty ������������������������������������������������������� 63 EFE (Early Field Experience) ����������������������������������������� 69 Other Curriculum Changes ��������������������������������������������� 70 Board Actions ������������������������������������������������������������������ 71 Other ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 71 Student Housing ������������������������������������������������������������� 73 Events and Sports ������������������������������������������������������������ 74 Tenured Faculty Changes ������������������������������������������������ 77 Numbers �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 78 Prep Schools: 1988-1989 79 Prep School Study ����������������������������������������������������������� 79 Other Curriculum Changes ��������������������������������������������� 85 Recruitment ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 86 Maintenance �������������������������������������������������������������������� 87 Other ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 87 Student Housing ������������������������������������������������������������� 89 Events and Sports ������������������������������������������������������������ 90 Tenured Faculty Changes ������������������������������������������������ 92 Numbers �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 92 Enrollment: 1989-1990 93 Decline in Enrollment ����������������������������������������������������� 93 Curriculum ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 99 Review ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 100 Other ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 102 Student Housing ����������������������������������������������������������� 103 Events and Sports ���������������������������������������������������������� 104 Maintenance ������������������������������������������������������������������ 106 Sound-Out: The Amazing First-Year Students ������������� 106 Shout-Outs ������������������������������������������������������������������� 107 Tenured Faculty Changes ���������������������������������������������� 108 Numbers ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 108 vi

Finances: 1990-1991 109 A Lawsuit ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 116 Staff Ministry ���������������������������������������������������������������� 117 The Christmas Concert ������������������������������������������������� 118 Licensure ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 119 Real World �������������������������������������������������������������������� 119 Other ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 120 Student Housing ����������������������������������������������������������� 121 Events and Sports ���������������������������������������������������������� 121 Tenured Faculty Changes ���������������������������������������������� 123 Numbers ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 123 Accreditation: 1991-1992 125 Accreditation ����������������������������������������������������������������� 126 Amalgamation ��������������������������������������������������������������� 129 Other Curriculum Changes ������������������������������������������� 132 Other ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 133 Student Housing ����������������������������������������������������������� 135 Events and Sports ���������������������������������������������������������� 136 Shout-Out ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 137 Tenured Faculty Changes ���������������������������������������������� 138 Numbers ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 138 Assignments: 1992-1993 139 Assignments ������������������������������������������������������������������ 139 Curriculum �������������������������������������������������������������������� 144 Role of Women ������������������������������������������������������������� 146 State Licensure �������������������������������������������������������������� 147 Student Assessment ������������������������������������������������������� 147 Calls ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 148 Other Committee Reports �������������������������������������������� 148 Other ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 150 Student Housing ����������������������������������������������������������� 152 Events and Sports ���������������������������������������������������������� 153 Shout-Outs ������������������������������������������������������������������� 155 Tenured Faculty Changes ���������������������������������������������� 155 Numbers ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 156 vii

Amalgamation 1: 1993-1994 157 Amalgamation ��������������������������������������������������������������� 157 The School Year ������������������������������������������������������������� 166 Curriculum at DMLC ��������������������������������������������������� 186 Other ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 188 Student Housing ����������������������������������������������������������� 189 Events and Sports ���������������������������������������������������������� 190 Shout-Outs ������������������������������������������������������������������� 191 Tenured Faculty Changes ���������������������������������������������� 193 Numbers ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 194 Amalgamation 2: 1994-1995 195 Amalgamation ��������������������������������������������������������������� 195 Other Curriculum Changes ������������������������������������������� 200 Construction ������������������������������������������������������������������ 201 A Bit of History and the President �������������������������������� 204 Other ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 205 Student Housing ����������������������������������������������������������� 213 Events and Sports ���������������������������������������������������������� 213 Shout-Outs ������������������������������������������������������������������� 216 Tenured Faculty Changes ���������������������������������������������� 217 Numbers ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 218 Fini �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 218 Fini, Fini ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 220

1994–1995 Tenured Faculty 222

Appendix 226 Picture Credits 227 About the Author 229

viii

PREFACE When Morton A. Schroeder wrote the preface to his A Time to Remember, he began with Old Main. Old Main is a good start. It stands looking over the Minnesota River valley, two miles from the other side and 250 feet down to the river. When it was built in 1884, it didn’t really have a name; it was “the College.” When other buildings went up, it briefly got the name Annex, but it was the Main. As it grew older, just like people, it got the name “Old Main,” which is what it is called today.

On a sunny morning Old Main has a glow about it that can be seen everywhere in New Ulm. Old Main was a landmark for Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC), for the town, and for thousands of graduates and hundreds of instructors. Sometimes it is good to begin a history of a school with a building because, as Winston Churchill observed, “We shape our buildings, but afterwards, our buildings shape us.”

Old Main is still here, shaping us, but Dr. Martin Luther College no longer exists. It ended at midnight, June 30, 1995.

That was 11 years after Schroeder wrote his book and after the Dr. Martin Luther College centennial celebration.

Those 11 years seemed lost. The Archives Committee of Martin Luther College, the new college, thought these years should be found. The current administration of Martin Luther College agreed that this lacuna should be filled. Thus, this book is an 11 year history, something quite rare in histories of institutions. It could be called the Undecim of Dr. Martin Luther College or Dr. Martin Luther College XI, but those titles would result in long, tedious academic explanations. The best title comes from the last president of Dr. Martin Luther College, Dr. John C. Lawrenz—one Lord, one faith, one baptism. You will have to read the book to understand the title. ix

The 11 years described herein are interesting of themselves in several dimensions. There was an “amalgamation,” a good word for metals and science things, but rarely applied to a human institution. Two colleges—their boards, their instructors, their students, and their support staff—worked very hard at closing their schools in an orderly manner. That focused effort by colleges is quite rare. Intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate, committed people disagreed on the reason and the means for amalgamation. That passionate discussion without rancor is also rare today. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the synod that owned, financed, and governed the two schools, sincerely sought and was committed to solutions to a number of difficult issues of the two schools. That is rare also. Two colleges, which had noble, interesting, and instructive histories, carried their culture, their history, and their purpose into the school that came out of the amalgamation. That is rare.

However, the rarest of all was that the amalgamation actually succeeded. God’s grace and guidance brought that about, and the outcome was truly a miracle.

But this history stops at midnight, June 30, 1995, so you, the reader, cannot see how well that miracle worked. For that, you should visit the college, talk with students, talk with staff, talk with alumni, talk with faculty, and be sure to talk with Old Main.

A Note about the Content Most of the content of this history is from secondary sources because primary sources are not always available or are difficult to find. Existing histories of the various campuses were consulted, including those by Morton A. Schroeder, A Time to Remember (1984); Edmund R. Bliefernicht, A Brief History of Dr. Martin Luther College (1934); Elmer C. Kiessling, Our Church: Its Life and Mission (1990); and Roger W. Kobleske, Lives Prepared for Service (2015). Histories of the synod included Continuing in His Word (1950), published by the x

Centennial Committee of the Joint Synod; John Philipp Koehler’s The History of the Wisconsin Synod (1970); and the Golden Jubilee History of the Minnesota District (1969), published by the Minnesota District of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Also consulted for the 11 years of this history were the board of control minutes, the faculty minutes and reports, and the president’s annual reports. In addition, relevant synod convention proceedings, reports, and memorials were examined.

The student paper, the DMLC Messenger; the alumni publication, Tower Topics; and catalogs for the relevant years were studied. The Northwestern Lutheran was reviewed. Accreditation self-studies and reports, essays on topics germane to the college such as the role of women, synod statistical reports, state licensure, amalgamation, and prep schools were consulted.

Dozens of people who were in the college during those years— students, faculty, and non-called staff—commented, criticized, and suggested additions before, during, and after the first draft.

Several read the manuscripts and also commented, criticized, suggested additions, downright rejected conclusions, and occasionally fell asleep. Various letters and notes from the archives were perused as well as a bunch of other stuff.

This history has no bibliography, no footnotes, no endnotes, and no style sheet. Not everything is defined. Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886), one of the greatest historians of his time and the founder of modern history writing, would be very upset with this kind of history writing. His most famous quote was, “Wie es eigenlich gewesen,” history is how things actually were.

Nevertheless, that fine German historian was wrong. Historians can have the same documents and archival material, but they differ on how things actually were. The classic modern example is the assassination of President John Kennedy. What you read in this account may differ from others’ accounts.

This history is organized by the 11 academic years from 1984 to 1995. Each chapter includes a moderately lengthy essay on a particular topic that affected those years. Other sections are xi

brief descriptions of events or situations during that year. There are also “shout-outs,” which are a random selection of people who did something notable. The chapters end with brief data on enrollment, staff, school costs, and synod subsidy. On some of this data, diverse sources have different numbers. The number of faculty is generally the number that is allowed minus the vacancies. The synod subsidy was computed in some cases and came from synod documents in others.

Final note: Just about everything in here is factual and supported by something. An alert reader should be able to identify what is more suggestive and sort of made-up. Old Main is probably not alive; you can’t carry on a conversation with the building, but it has been around for many years.

1. Old Main 2. Academic Center 3. Luther Memorial Union 4. Library 5. Music Center 6. Practice Hall

8. Hillview Hall 9. Highland Hall 10. Summit Hall 11. Summit Hall Annex

12. West Hall 13. Faculty 14. Central Heating Plant

PIC=001

The Dr. Martin Luther College campus in 1984.

xii

CENTENNIAL and ACCREDITATION 1984-1985 Think about this most unusual event: An entire faculty jumps out of their chairs, cheers, and does high-fives when Vice President for Academic Affairs Arthur J. Schulz informs them that a renewal of accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (North Central) is due. Moreover, the faculty will have nine months to do an exhaustive self-study before the North Central team arrives on campus.

The vice president for academic affairs informed the faculty on April 9, 1984, of the coming self-study, the visit, and the deadline for the self-study, which was December 1984. The 68 men and women sat quietly in their chairs.

But something new appeared in the list of purposes the vice president laid out for the self-study. Everyone knew that the self-study and visit by North Central were for continued accreditation. The faculty also knew the self-study was a response to the synod’s Commission on Higher Education request for institutional self-evaluation. Additionally, one of the purposes of the self-study would “serve as an encouragement for the campus community to cross the threshold of the college’s second century with a renewed sense of commitment to its mission and purpose." That was a good reason. After 100 years 1

Centennial and Accreditation it would be good for the college family to look at what had been done, what is now done, and what could be done in the future to carry out the mission of Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC). The faculty did not jump up and do high-fives, but they shyly nodded their heads.

Before that accreditation visit the college paused in its selfstudy for the Dr. Martin Luther College Centennial celebration in the fall of 1984. The college used “Quietness and Trust in God; 100 Years of Strength” as the focus of the centennial.

The Centennial Dr. Martin Luther College had done some previous historical celebrations. Edmund R. Bliefernicht, the president of the college, wrote a history of the college for its 50th anniversary in 1934. At the 100th anniversary Morton A. Schroeder, an English professor at the college, wrote another history of the college. It spanned the years from 1884 to 1984.

Children's Literature Reading Room, DMLC Library.

A - Noteworthy Children’s Books B - Projection Room C - Art Print Desk D - Reference and Bibliography E - Storytelling Center

2

1984-1985 The planning for the centennial began in 1982 with Bruce R. Backer chairing the centennial committee. One of the goals was to raise a minimum of $50,000 to transform a room in the library into a Children’s Literature Reading Room and establish an endowment that would enlarge and enhance the children’s literature library.

Materials published for the centennial included a Centennial Organ Collection containing works by Friedrich O. (Fritz) Reuter, a faculty member who taught at DMLC from 1908 to 1924, and compositions by music professors Bruce R. Backer, James E. Engel, Charles H. Luedtke, Edward H. Meyer, Otto H. Schenk, and Ronald L. Shilling.

A second production was a booklet of 11 Essays to Mark the Centennial of Dr. Martin Luther College. The foreword, written by the compiler, Richard E. Buss, pointed out that the essays “reveal [the authors’] thinking and doing, their teaching and practice, in this centennial year of 1984. The methods and means of teaching may have changed since 1884, but the content of that teaching remains the same: the absolute truths and ultimate values of God’s eternally unchangeable Word."

The authors were from the various academic divisions of the college. Each author would generally relate his essay on Christian education to his particular discipline.

Dr. Edward H. Meyer compiled a collection of choral music, past and present, by music division members. DMLC published a CD of a Centennial Choir album by the DMLC choirs. A “Monograph on Children’s Literature,” written by Dr. Arthur J. Schulz, was the opening of the fundraising for the children’s literature library.

Morton A. Schroeder’s book, A Time to Remember, was the center of the college’s publications and an important part of the anniversary celebration in November 1984. Professor Schroeder finished his book in good time; it was printed and ready for distribution at the beginning of the 1984-1985 school year.

3

Centennial and Accreditation

Morton Schroeder signs his book A Time to Remember.

During the week preceding the observance on November 10 and 11, there were various activities on the campus: music, lectures, performances, and various faculty members playing the parts of past teachers.

The Centennial weekend began with a performance of Oklahoma! on Friday evening, followed by two Saturday performances. Saturday’s schedule brought other events, including Professor Morton A. Schroeder signing his book, a faculty-alumni social, and music performances. There were historical displays in several buildings, including the library. On Sunday, November 11, Professor Schroeder signed copies in the bookstore, and the Wind Ensemble presented a concert in the Luther Memorial Union. There were two Centennial festival services in the Luther Memorial Union at 2:00 and 4:00 pm.

Carl H. Mischke, president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), preached. The DMLC choir and a special Centennial Festival Choir provided music.

4

1984-1985

Werner H. Franzmann

Werner H. Franzmann, an emeritus of Northwestern College (NWC), wrote a hymn for the Centennial. His Let Trumpets Peal! Let Cymbals Ring! was sung at the opening service of the college on August 26, 1984, and in the Monday morning chapel services for the first semester.

Centennial Hymn

Let Trumpets Peal! Let Cymbals Ring!

Let trumpets peal! Let cymbals ring!

Let ev’ry voice be raised to sing!

To You, our God, this year belongs The homage of a thousand songs!

A century of purest grace

To You, our Father, now we trace.

You drew our fathers to Your Son, The blessed race of faith to run. †

We see these pass in long review:

Instructors who but taught for You

And students whom you set aflame

To teach the young our Savior’s name.

Great God of grace, receive our prayer; Oh, keep our college in Your care!

Yes, keep us all until our song

Shall blend with that of heaven’s throng.

Werner H. Franzmann 5

Centennial and Accreditation

Junior Mark K. Koelpin and sophomore Laurie F. Gauger star as Curly and Laurey in Oklahoma!

6

1984-1985 The musical Oklahoma! closed with a Sunday evening performance in the auditorium. An estimated 4000 people came to the college on the Centennial weekend, and 3000 attended the two services. The New Ulm Journal printed a special edition on the Centennial and the college’s history; the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce named Dr. Martin Luther College its Industry of the Year.

The weather in Minnesota did not cooperate that weekend, but most visitors understood Minnesota weather. The Centennial events were impressive, well-received, and in keeping with the mission of the college. There were academic books and events, music, worship, tours, and social get-togethers. It was a fine time to reflect and thank God for his blessings over the 100 years.

Committee chair Bruce R. Backer had these closing words: “…The centennial celebration has no end. Repentance, quietness, confidence, renewed service to God and our fellowman—this is the stuff of which the enduring centennial celebration is made. …The umbrella of the Lord will protect Dr. Martin Luther College, as it has during the past century, as it did during the days of celebration, until the great and glorious coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Two days after Sunday’s final centennial events, Schroeder was at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, to receive an Award of Commendation from the Concordia Historical Institute for his book.

On Monday the faculty returned to do what they do well— teach. The students returned to their classes, also to do what they do well—learn.

Accreditation The faculty also returned to the self-study and the visit by North Central. The report to North Central had to be submitted 7

Centennial and Accreditation

by January 18, 1985. On Saturday, December 8, the administration invited the faculty to a free continental breakfast at 7:40 am in the faculty lounge. There was a catch—from 8:00 to noon the faculty would review the various reports of the committees on the self-study. They would also convene on Monday for additional reports.

The years between 1984 and 1995 were years that DMLC grew in its involvement in the world outside the college. Over the 11 years of this history, the DMLC faculty, DMLC Board of Control (the board), and synodical conventions discussed the issue of licensure or certification of teachers by the state of Minnesota in their meetings. There were two North Central reviews of the college, one in 1984-1985 and one in 1992-1993.

The accreditation by North Central became something that the college grew to respect, and the nervousness of an accreditation visit settled down to a sort of routine. The college expanded its programs to include secondary education teacher training, staff ministry, and early childhood education. The challenges the college faced in funding and enrollment directed it into areas such as development (fundraising) and recruitment of students, new areas for the college.

A brief historical point: When John P. Meyer took over as president of DMLC after the forced resignation of Adolph Ackermann, he confronted the issue of accreditation by an outside source in 1919. In a brief essay Meyer said, “As it [accreditation] works out practically, the accreditation school is ultimately absorbed into the educational system of the state.” Some remembered what Meyer said, and some felt the same. But history informs the present; it does not define it. In the 111 years of Dr. Martin John P. Meyer Luther College and the many years in the future of Martin Luther College, there were and will be this 8

1984-1985 dichotomy. “In the world but not of the world” will be discussed, debated, and tested by the synod, staff, faculty, and students of the college, all of whom are human and fallible.

North Central accreditation was and is an interesting study of this “looking outside." The history of accreditation by an outside agency began in 1962 when the college went to the University of Minnesota to receive accreditation. The college needed this as a means to overcome some of the problems teachers had in obtaining licensure or certification in certain states that required that of any teacher, public or private.

The federal government and the states began to provide more funding and loans with the stipulation that the recipient college meet certain criteria. This pushed the college a bit further, and it looked to North Central for national accreditation status. In 1972 the college filed a status study and a formal application to North Central to be a “Recognized Candidate for Accreditation." The association suggested a delay in order for the college to prepare itself for a visit.

The college submitted a second request in 1973, and a team from North Central received the self-study. They came on campus in 1974. After their visit the college received a Candidate for Accreditation status. The team encouraged the college to work on its library, curriculum, and faculty development.

North Central also suggested biennial visits, which occurred in 1975 and 1977. The college made a final application in 1979 that involved a self-study and a visit by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, which granted a five-year accreditation status to the college in 1980. Dr. Martin Luther College thus not only had a centennial celebration in the fall of 1984 but also a North Central accreditation visit in February 1985.

The 1984 self-study focused on the challenges raised by the North Central visit in 1979. Some challenges: 9

Centennial and Accreditation • limited amount of experience in classroom teaching • absence of formal faculty evaluation • limited faculty development • lack of faculty academic qualifications • little or no assessment of the college’s success in meeting its stated objectives The faculty did its self-study in the spring, summer, and fall of 1984. All faculty, except those on leave, received an assignment to one of seven committees: 1. steering 2. curriculum and instruction 3. faculty 4. students and student services 5. educational support services 6. financial and physical resources 7. institutional dynamics The concern about a lack of assessment prompted the college to develop a survey on the stated objectives of the college. The 1984 graduates, a group of WELS teachers who visit elementary schools in the synod (school visitors), and the college faculty received the survey. The results were quite positive. The selfstudy concluded that the college was meeting its objectives. The survey provided specific recommendations: • Increase student-teaching time.

• Add or improve education courses that relate to management and classroom discipline.

• Add or revise courses that focus on the “real world,” such as congregational and family life.

10

1984-1985 • Strengthen piano requirements.

• Eliminate the area of concentration, a curriculum modification that had recently been put into place.

Curriculum change was one of the concerns of the previous self-study, and it remained a concern. The college had made some changes. The college added a “microcomputer center."

The administration, at the request of the faculty, added a Developmental Education Center to help incoming students improve study skills and time management and to fill in background weaknesses that some students had in certain areas. Arlen L. Koestler, a faculty member, became director of the center, and a room was set aside in the Academic Center. Seventy-nine students made use of the center in the 1984-1985 school year.

The college recognized that more changes were necessary and appointed a standing committee called the Curriculum Committee to review and recommend curriculum issues in the coming years. That committee’s review and recommendations guided the college for the next 10 years.

The self-study showed an increase in doctorates and master's degrees among the faculty, but more were needed. The college committed itself to increased funding and academic leaves for continuing education. The self-study made an interesting conclusion regarding the careful line between professional development and ministry in a college such as DMLC. “The temptation on the one hand to let professional interests narrow one’s life so it becomes less than ministry of service, and on the other hand the equally harmful temptation that for seemingly pious reasons one slights the secular knowledge which the Christian teacher needs to perform his or her everyday work."

That difficult line remained throughout the years of this history, and it continues in the new college.

Since additional faculty evaluation was needed, the selfstudy agreed to develop an appropriate evaluation system.

11

Centennial and Accreditation The self-study was an honest and objective study of the college. It listed strengths, concerns, and the assessments the college used to support the conclusions of the self-study. It went for nearly 100 pages in small type. There was a quiet sigh and a controlled rejoicing when the college mailed the self-study to North Central on January 18, 1985.

The team of four from North Central came onto campus for three days in February. They talked with everyone: students, board, faculty, support staff, and synod officials. The size of the college allowed the team to “explore the institution in some depth." The team’s introduction “found the school to be extraordinary in so many ways." They recognized the single purpose of the school and its commitment to a clear mission.

The team recommended to North Central that DMLC should have continued accreditation. The team listed a dozen strengths including these: • a stated single purpose efficiently fulfilled • financial stability from the synod • a strong commitment among student, administration, faculty, and staff • a strong music department The concerns of the team involved issues that the college would face over the next 10 years and even into the new college after 1995. Four of their concerns: 1. declining enrollment without an efficient plan for improving recruitment 2. excessive resistance to change 3. unbalanced curriculum: certain areas had few courses 4. under-credentialed, overworked faculty The first concern would trouble the college for 10 years, but the college did develop a strong recruitment program.

12

1984-1985 The second concern is always an issue, partly because the college differs from other colleges in its approach to curriculum, funding, and staffing. However, in 1996, important changes came about in amalgamation, and some of that resistance to change was perhaps overcome.

The third concern, the unbalanced curriculum, has improved with additional programs and the addition of a program for preparing high school teachers.

Finally, the under-credentialed faculty has changed considerably with the large number of faculty members who have continued their post-graduate education. Some might dismiss the concern that faculty are overworked.

The team made one additional observation, and such a comment might come only from the outside: “Since the majority of the student body is female, the catalog should be rewritten to remove the consistent, exclusive reference to ‘men.’”

A brief story: During one North Central visit, a team member struck up a conversation with one of the DMLC professors. They traded personal issues—family, children, hobbies, recreation, and the joy of teaching. It was a pleasant exchange. The North Central visitor said that he had read the salary scale listed in the self-study. He looked at his new friend and asked, “How do you make it and support your family with that salary?" The professor replied, “Big garden.”

The Library The library suffered from a number of problems. The building, built in 1971, suffered from a leaky roof, non-functioning air-conditioning, and a lack of insulation on the outer walls that caused condensation inside the building. A double ramp served as the entry to the front door. When winter came and snow and ice covered the ramp, one of the idle ways to waste time in the faculty room was to watch students and faculty fall and slide 13

Centennial and Accreditation

The library ramp proved treacherous in winter and tempting to students who could not resist the challenge of driving a vehicle up the ramp.

down the ramp. At least one student did the obvious—she drove her car up the ramp in the middle of the night.

The college recommended to the synod’s Board for Working Training (BWT) that something be done with the library. It was too small for the modern needs of a library. The synod agreed, and the college made plans for an addition of 13,200 square feet of space, which included a new entrance, a rebuilding of the air-handling system, and an underground tunnel between the library and the Academic Center. Finances and some practical issues prevented construction of the tunnel.

The proposed addition to the library also meant that a mall could replace the parking lot between the library and the Academic Center. A plan for that mall and rerouting the road around the library and Centennial Hall was part of the proposal. The synod approved $1,198,000 for the addition to the library, the mall, and the changing of the road.

14

1984-1985

Campus Waldheim Drive enters the campus from Summit Avenue.

It passes the tennis courts and ends in the chapel parking lot.

In the late 1950s five faculty houses were built along Waldheim Drive. The brick homes on Waldheim divided the campus.

People crossed the yards to get to the football or baseball fields.

Some years later the faculty moved out and the houses became student housing. In 1989 the board chose to sell and move the brick homes for the cost of moving them, which was from $10,000 to $20,000. They moved to various places in New Ulm. One ended up south of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.

The decline in enrollment allowed some changes to student housing: • Women lived in the lower three floors of Hillview Hall and Highland Hall. The fourth floor remained empty. • Men moved into Centennial Hall, closed the previous year because of the decline in enrollment. • Summit Hall closed.

College-owned homes on Waldheim Drive provided housing for professors until their conversion to student housing. Later they were sold and moved. Tennis courts and a parking lot replaced them. Many oaks were cut down.

15

Centennial and Accreditation

Waldheim Hall housed students in addition to a faculty member and his family until 1985 when the building was demolished.

The administration concluded that it made more financial sense to close Summit Hall, the larger dormitory, and put students into Centennial Hall, a smaller dormitory.

On the east end of Waldheim Drive, a building called Waldheim Hall overlooked the city. It housed men. The college purchased the land and building in 1951 when the college increased the campus size and purchased three outlots on Summit Avenue from A. E. Gerlach. The building stood just to the south of the present entry to the campus near Summit Hall. Over the years it was used for faculty and as a small dormitory for women. In 1984-1985 it housed men. In June 1985 16

1984-1985 it was torn down. A volleyball court took its place. Later the land became a parking lot.

After World War II, there had been a need for additional housing for female students. The synod recommended that DMLC construct a low-cost building for the female students.

The college contacted the War Production Board. The army allowed the college to construct a temporary barracks on the campus in 1945. The building stood just west of the Academic Center where the student union now stands. It held 36 women.

At that time it was the building farthest west on the campus—thus the name West Hall. The “temporary� building was moved south in 1962 to where the chapel now stands. It continued to be a dormitory, alternating between men and women until 1980. In 1981-1982 West Hall housed men. The next year the college closed the building because it was unsuitable for a dormitory and was a fire hazard.

One might erroneously conclude that if the college ever wanted a dormitory destroyed, men should be housed in that

West Hall stood for 40 years. It was empty when an undetermined cause ignited a fire.

17

Centennial and Accreditation building. Not so. Both Waldheim and West Hall had deteriorated to the point that they were no longer suitable for housing students. Nonetheless, the college, in need of dormitory space, believed that men were more amenable to a marginal dormitory than were women.

The following year even the men declined to live in West Hall. It stood empty for two years as the college tried to find a use for it. Finally, the board instructed the college to tear the building down in a low-cost manner. The building caught on fire in the winter of 1985. In June 1985 the college took the remains away. No commemorative gathering took place for the 40 years the building serviced the college. Insurance the college had on the building paid for the removal of the remains and the cost of a new 43-car parking lot.

At the beginning of the 1984-1985 school year, the Academic Center was fitted with new windows. The windows had screens after 56 years without screens. The screens allowed the students and instructor to use the room without bees, hornets, birds, and strange bugs. Now students focused more on the instructor, although the strange bugs may have served in the biology classes.

Other The Children’s Theatre, in six performances, held the attention of hundreds of grade school children with Charlotte’s Web. Wilbur was outstanding, as was Charlotte. The entire production was ready for Broadway.

The registrar informed the faculty that many incoming students had considerable computer experience and skills. A large number used word processing for their assignments. Faculty and students were moving into the digital age.

18

1984-1985

Judith E. Anderson, a sophomore, performs as Wilbur the Pig in Charlotte’s Web.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Hawaiian Luau • Musical: Oklahoma!

• Snow Carnival: Cinema in the Snow • Children’s Theatre: Charlotte’s Web 19

Centennial and Accreditation • Spring Play: Rebecca • Spring Activities Banquet: Pirates of the Caribbean Sports The big southern Minnesota football event, modeled after the Packers and Vikings, was the annual game between the Lancers of Dr. Martin Luther College and the Trojans of Northwestern Lutheran College, Watertown, Wisconsin. It was also Homecoming week. The DMLC students brought Hawaii onto the campus with leis, grass skirts, and Hawaiian shirts. The entertainment and enthusiasm were unexcelled.

The game, however, ended badly. DMLC lost 21 to 0. The rest of the football season was ok. Perhaps this was not one of the great sports years for DMLC. The college held membership in the National Little College Athletic Association (NLCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Collegiate Conference) Volleyball : Working to become the great team it would be in a couple of years. 11-16 record.

Cross Country: Fourth at conference meet.

Basketball: 7 wins out of 22 games.

Softball: 8-12 record. Conference standing: fourth.

Tennis: 5-9 record. Conference tournament: third.

Track: 2 first; 1 fourth; 2 fifth; 1 ninth; 1 tenth.

Men (Upper Midwest Collegiate Conference) Football: 4 wins, 4 losses, 1 tie. Best record in DMLC’s history to that point. Head coach Dennis D. Gorsline received Coach of the Year award.

Golf: No wins. Conference standing: third.

20

1984-1985

Edward E. “Skip” Noon, a junior, contributes to the team’s outstanding record.

21

Centennial and Accreditation

Color Guard football squad. First row: Naomi R. Rapp, Marlene M. Wittig, Martha A. Schaible, Kelly E. O’Connell. Second row: Rachel E. Borgwardt, Susan M. Hillmer, Roxanne M. Risen, Robyn L. Gerbing, Amy B. Guenther.

Basketball: Disappointing 6 wins out of 19 games.

Baseball: 10-10 record.

Tennis: 7-1 record. Conference tournament: second.

The Pom-Pons and Color Guard football and basketball squads were excellent at promoting school spirit and patriotism.

Shout-Outs Professors Paul R. Boehlke and Martin P. Sponholz, in April 1985, served as Tornado Spotter Instructors for four classes of Brown County residents, including local law enforcement.

Some 100 persons attended these classes, and the college received a letter from the Civil Defense Director acknowledging and thanking the two men for their work. Boehlke and Sponholz had homes on the far west side of town; their backyards were excellent sites for observing storms coming from the 22

1984-1985 southwest. On wild spring days they would stand in their backyards watching the rolling weather, thunder and lightning, coming toward New Ulm. Those stalwart men never flinched; they never walked Paul R. Boehlke Martin P. Sponholz away, although they did tell their children to go into the house. Fortunately, there were no tornadoes in New Ulm that year.

The college held its first annual Talent Night in the auditorium on March 22, 1985. Sophomore Philip M. Zahn and junior Paula Y. Robinson received the $50 Grand Prize in the poo-pourri [sic] contest. They performed “Axel F. Duo,” a breakdance routine to music with their own words to the melody. It was something that probably was never repeated on the DMLC campus.

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: None Instructors leaving: • Dennis D. Gorsline (education, accepted a call)

Dennis D. Gorsline

23

Centennial and Accreditation

Numbers • Students: 555 • Tenured Faculty: 61 • Tuition: $770 / semester • Board & Room: $775 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 41 percent

24

EXPANSION 1985-1986 Expanding the Programs The drop in enrollment prodded the administration and the faculty to look at a broader constituency by expanding current programs and adding new programs. Perhaps the changing times also encouraged the college to look outside the present curriculum and student body. The observation of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (North Central) that Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) had difficulty dealing with the new also prodded the college.

Spanish Language and Culture

Paul A. Bases

The Board for Worker Training (BWT) directed both Northwestern College (NWC) at Watertown, Wisconsin, and DMLC to study the addition of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture to their programs. On September 17, 1985, DMLC hosted a Hispanic Mission Work Day. The daylong symposium included Pastor Thomas H. 25

Expansion Horner, serving Guayama, Puerto Rico; Pastor James R. Connell, missionary in Medellin, Colombia; Pastor Roger J. Sprain; Tomás J. Gomez; and Paul A. Bases. The wives of Pastors Horner and Connell spoke to the students about adjustments and joys while living and working in the Hispanic culture.

This was probably the first organized presentation on the Hispanic culture and the Spanish language at DMLC; it took 10 more years and the amalgamation to include Spanish language and culture in the Martin Luther College (MLC) curriculum. When the Spanish program opened, MLC called Bases as a professor in that program. The student newspaper summarized the symposium well: “The presentations were discussed in classes, and it made a remarkable day. Surely the learning that took place will stay with many for a long time to come.”

Secondary Teacher Education Program The synod again asked the college to consider the feasibility of expanding the curriculum to include a secondary teacher education program. The synod, in its 1967 convention, had proposed the secondary teacher education program (STEP).

The DMLC Board of Control asked for specific directives for this program and the money to support it. The faculty studied the proposal and presented their findings to the synod in its 1969 Synod Convention. Their report said the money was not available for this program and the need for a secondary education program was not there because there weren’t enough Lutheran high schools that needed teachers.

In 1967 there were three prep schools, which were funded by the synod, and seven area Lutheran high schools. These various schools had 154 teachers. The high schools, particularly the prep schools, preferred to call teachers who had classroom experience. In most cases that would have been experience in an 26

1985-1986 elementary school classroom. The high schools felt good classroom management and an interest in a specific academic area were sufficient for teaching in a high school. Some believed that in certain academic areas such as religion, English, and history, pastors had a better background and training than teachers who came through the elementary teacher training program. Based on these findings DMLC said a secondary education program was not feasible or needed.

Thirteen years later the feasibility and need changed. In 1985, the three prep schools had 77 teachers. The 17 area Lutheran high schools had 312 teachers, of whom 38 were uncertified by the synod. That meant they did not have religion or Christian education courses. Administrators and high school boards had a growing understanding that being a good classroom manager may not be the only thing high school teachers needed.

College-bound graduates from those area Lutheran high schools needed a strong academic background for college coursework. Some of the high schools may not have provided that academic background. High school teachers needed stronger and deeper content courses than did elementary school teachers. Public schools were asking for a master’s degree for high school teaching. The content preparation in the education program at DMLC did not provide that depth.

The decisive factor for a secondary education program was that Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC) was already training secondary teachers. Area Lutheran high schools were calling WLC graduates directly. DMLC was faced with the choice to do it or lose it. A DMLC secondary school teacher program was determined to be both feasible and necessary.

The college administration and the faculty moved promptly.

In the spring of 1985, a task force, the Secondary Teacher Education Feasibility Study, was organized. Two questions came before the committee: 27

Expansion 1. Where are the additional faculty DMLC would need for that secondary education program?

2. Would area Lutheran high schools and prep schools prefer these secondary education graduates rather than experienced elementary school teachers?

The committee presented their proposal to the faculty in September 1986. Each of the academic divisions of the college looked at their present staff to determine additional instructor needs. Over seven months of study, the divisions concluded that their current staff was sufficient to begin the program, with two exceptions. Six divisions could begin the program in the 1988-1989 academic year. Projections of a moderate enrollment increase at the college predicated the basis for this proposal: • Music majors would need additional staffing.

• Physical education majors would need additional staffing.

• The education division would need one additional professor for the professional semester course, which included student teaching.

• Majors in English, mathematics, science, and social studies could begin without additional staff; current division instructors had the academic background for those advanced courses.

• The science department would need some funding to expand the laboratories.

• Some sharing across the divisions would provide for the additional courses in the secondary education program.

The college sent the positive report on the secondary program to the BWT. The BWT provided a digest of the report to the synod in the 1987 convention but gave no recommendation. Instead, the BWT gave the pros and cons of the report and pointed out that they had requested DMLC to develop the report. The BWT also reminded the delegates that 28

1985-1986 the administrators of the high schools said they needed high school teachers who had been educated “under the influence of Christ-centered principles.” But these same administrators said they preferred teachers “with about five years of elementary school experience rather than going through the assignment committee for their teachers.”

With these mixed messages, the convention committee presented the delegates with a resolution that the synod not authorize the start of a secondary teacher education program.

The resolution also included that “all current and potential secondary school teachers [should] continue to improve their teacher skills." This resolution was defeated. The synod delegates passed a subsequent motion from the floor authorizing a secondary teacher education program.

Despite that less-than-enthusiastic directive for a secondary teacher education program, the DMLC faculty began developing the program. They gave it a name, Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP). The faculty worked out a set of 129 new courses for the six majors, including student teaching. The faculty made no changes in the elementary teacher program; STEP would extend a student's program to five years with a dual elementary program and secondary program of 174-182 credits.

In 1992 the school added the professors needed for STEP in physical education, music, and education. In 1993 11 men and five women graduated from the dual five-year program.

One of the men and three of the women were assigned to a high school. Ten men and one woman were assigned to elementary schools.

The STEP program’s development and application is an interesting study of the history of how programs and expansions were made at DMLC. Three groups pull the cords:

29

Expansion

The STEP logo.

1. The faculty together with the college administration and the board of control. This group is cautious—they understand the operation of the school, where its money comes from, enrollment fluctuations, and the observation of the North Central team that there is a disinclination for new things. They are the reality group with a touch of conservatism.

2. The constituency—pastors, teachers, congregations, schools, lay people, and all those people who see DMLC’s end products. They provide feedback, richly, sometimes positive and sometimes negative. For example, “The college isn’t providing enough musicians because their current and only organist is 80 years old and has trouble reading the notes. The third-grade teacher can’t control 30

1985-1986 his classroom. The principal can’t find the front door, but the first-grade teacher is the best in the world, and Christian education is the most important thing this congregation has.” Using a survey often results in different and sometimes contradictory advice. The faculty and administration understand that caveat. Using a survey to improve the preparation of teachers is very difficult, but it is necessary to seek that advice.

3. The synod administration and the committees established by the synod. These groups are generally settled in Milwaukee. Their focus is on the forest, and DMLC is only one tree in that forest. The synod administration has to monitor “Kingdom Balance” so that distribution of the synod’s resources is equitable across all its programs and the needs of the synod. A bit of animosity occurs at times, and the Ausländers think the folks in Milwaukee put their thumb on that balance scale.

Generally, everyone in this triumvirate gets along well, although group one often does not understand group three, and group three often thinks group one lives in a crystal sphere.

Group two usually doesn’t know group three exists, and they like to share their ideas with group one. Operating and working in a Lutheran college is sort of fun.

The astute reader probably has recognized two groups that are not included. The first—the students. Students came to DMLC because this college offered what they wanted, and they made their decision about DMLC when they enrolled.

They didn’t come to change the college; there has never been a real student riot on this campus in its 111 years of existence.

Students didn’t always like the policies, procedures, and courses, but—except for a few—they wanted to go to school here because the college trained and taught them to do what they fervently wanted to do: be a teacher in a Lutheran school. They also liked the small size of the college, the low teacher-student ratio, and teachers who knew them.

31

Expansion

Professor Mark J. Lenz, left, helps first-year students Heather K. Diehm and Emalyn J. Dashner register for classes.

Students liked a faculty that joined them in chapel, and students believed they had great teachers who were sincerely helpful. In addition, the tuition was cheap. What more would students want—an open weekday once a month?

The faculty often conducts surveys of students and seeks feedback for their classes. The overwhelming response is positive; the college may not be Norway, recently found to be the happiest place on earth, but it is close.

The unspoken second group is the government—state andfederal—with all its regulations and laws. The First Amendment moderates these laws and regulations for religious colleges. The college complies and accepts, but as the college moves outside the synod in its programs, the government has a greater bearing on the college. That is more for the future.

The future also held the possibility of ending one or all of these program expansions. When the synod faced a major financial crisis in 2004, one proposal for dealing with a 20 percent cut in the college budget was to cut programs. Every program—STEP, Staff Ministry, Early Childhood—was on the block.

32

1985-1986 STEP was probably the major change in the focus of DMLC, and it perhaps opened up an interest in such alternate programs. The Staff Ministry program with its different facets, the Early Childhood Education program, teacher licensure, and the amalgamation itself all stirred new curriculum, new policies, new constituency, and new students looking for something other than elementary school teaching. Each of those new programs followed the path of STEP. Perhaps the North Central observation that the college has difficulty in dealing with the new no longer really applies.

The Lutheran Educator The synodical Board for Parish Education in 1986 asked the college administration and the DMLC Board of Control to take on the responsibility for editing and publishing the Lutheran Educator, a professional journal for teachers in WELS. A brief history: • In 1876 the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod began publishing the Schulzeitung (school paper) as a professional journal in German for Lutheran teachers.

• In 1893 the synod turned the journal over to the DMLC faculty. The journal stopped publishing in 1905.

• In 1930 the Minnesota District began publishing the Lutheran School Bulletin.

• In 1934 WELS took over the publication.

• In 1960 the journal was renamed the Lutheran Educator and published by the Board of Education of the synod.

• In 1986 the Board for Parish Education asked DMLC to edit and publish the Lutheran Educator.

• In 1987 DMLC took over responsibility for the journal after the synod resolved that the college should publish the Lutheran Educator.

33

Expansion

DMLC first published the Lutheran Educator in October 1988.

The board appointed the editor. He and the college president appointed an editorial board of three faculty members with four-year terms for the editor and the board. At the time of the turnover, there were 2871 subscribers. DMLC published the Lutheran Educator four times a year using authors from the college faculty, WELS teachers and pastors, and others.

The number of subscribers declined, particularly when the subscription prices were no longer part of the fees for the district teachers’ conventions. No longer self-supporting, the Lutheran Educator ceased publication in May 2009.

34

1985-1986 Some wood beetles have a 25-year cycle, and 25 years stood between the demise of the Schulzeitung and the coming out of the Lutheran School Bulletin. Perhaps some professional journal for Lutheran teachers will appear in 2024. Even as there is an unfair perspective as to how the college can rid itself of useless dorms, there is an unfair perspective that, if anyone wants to end a professional journal, turn it over to the college. But the Lutheran Educator was one of the better publications the synod ever turned out.

Special Services, Summer School At times the question was raised as to who was responsible for providing continuing education for elementary school teachers. The college had operated a five-week summer session since the early 1940s. The program allowed undergraduates to take classes, either to reduce their classroom load during the academic year or to allow teachers who were teaching on an emergency arrangement to take courses to complete their program or receive synod certification. The summer session also included workshops, study tours, courses in the Advanced Study Program, and correspondence courses.

The 1985 summer session was typical for the 1980s and 1990s. The five-week on-campus session contained…

• 19 regular 3-credit courses, most of which were courses in the regular curriculum taken by undergraduates or teachers seeking synod certification.

• eight courses, such as Archaeology and Bible History, in the Advanced Study Program (ASP), developed for teachers or others looking for something beyond the undergraduate curriculum.

• two three-week courses in the supervision of instruction, directed to principals in elementary schools.

35

Expansion • nine workshops developed for elementary classroom teachers.

• two tours, one in Europe and one in the Southwestern United States.

• several seminars in church music in off-campus locations.

• private piano, organ, and choir directing lessons.

The summer session programs and courses had expanded considerably, with the most emphasis on providing professional development for teachers and principals. The summer session offered the ability to quickly modify and structure courses and programs to meet the needs and interests of WELS teachers.

The summer session more than paid for itself, and it provided money for the general operation of the college and for projects that were not budgeted, such as providing air conditioners in classrooms.

These 1985 summer session students enrolled in Ethology (Animal Behavior).

They learned the imprinting mechanism whereby goslings attach to the first large object they meet.

36

1985-1986

DMLC dismissed classes the day a chain of students using donated Schell’s Brewery beer boxes moved the library books to Hillview Hall’s basement.

The Library Moves The $1.2 million renovation of the library began in the spring of 1986. The renovation would add 13,200 square feet of room and a reworking of the air-handling system. The contractor told the college that in order for the work to be completed, the college must close off the library. The library had to move.

The Hillview Hall basement floor was determined to be strong enough to hold the weight of the books. Dehumidifiers and fans would control humidity. The committee organizing the move checked the numbers and determined not to require the faculty and the staff to help, although many did. Student workers carried over 100,000 pieces from the library to the basement of Hillview Hall. The move involved 50,000 books, 14,000 bound periodicals, 10,000 children’s literature books, 6000 curriculum textbooks, 4000 vertical file envelopes, and thousands of other things.

On May 1, 1986, the work began. The students were organized similar to Arbor Day, and there were no classes. The 423 on-campus students were assigned to various groups. Schell’s 37

Expansion Brewery provided 1020 beer cases (empty) to carry and stack the books in Hillview Hall. Students were assigned to particular stacks in the library. They packed those books into the beer cases and labeled the boxes. Chains of 65 and 80 students moved the boxes out of the library and into trucks that carried the boxes to Hillview Hall. Once there, another chain of 58 students took over and placed the boxes in specific places in Hillview’s basement. The food service provided a mid-morning snack, a lunch at noon, and a special picnic in the evening. Everything went smoothly and the library was empty.

A temporary library in room 113, a large classroom on the first floor of the Academic Center, contained reserved books that each faculty member had selected for his or her classes.

Several librarians worked in that room. A librarian was available for limited service of the books in Hillview’s basement.

Construction of the library began on May 19, 1986. The library remained empty until its May 15, 1987, dedication.

Feedback Effect on Curriculum and Programs Congregations, pastors, principals, and sometimes districts in convention provided the college feedback as to what they believed a DMLC graduate should know. In the 1985-1986 school year, the college addressed two requests.

The synod’s Special Ministries Board asked the college to provide counseling for graduates in “real life” issues such as time and money management, tax preparation, skills for guidance and counseling, and even guidance in selecting a spouse. Some faculty members wondered what that last would even look like in a course syllabus.

A faculty committee reviewed the request and determined the college should not provide a course or a series of courses to address these issues. Such courses would increase a student’s credit load, and a “course” was not a preferred way to provide that information and skills. The college later arranged for 38

1985-1986 personnel from the synod’s office to speak to the graduates in an orientation program before graduation. The orientation did not include guidelines for finding a spouse.

The other feedback from the constituency was the perceived lack of singing ability and keyboard skills on the part of the graduates. Pastors and principals claimed graduates could not teach music to grade school children, play the piano for classroom devotions, rehearse and conduct a church choir, or play the organ for church services. One pastor wrote that none of the seven teachers in the church’s elementary school could play the piano adequately to accompany the children’s choir. These concerns and criticisms in the area of music were sort of an annual cry to the college to “shape up.”

With a quiet sigh, the college administration and the music division crafted their usual thoughtful and data-driven reply.

They began by pointing out that those bygone days in the Garden of Eden regarding musical training no longer existed.

Senior Tami V. Engel prepares to play the Memorial Organ.

39

Expansion At one time the college required incoming first-year students to have a third grade or longer piano training; that would allow the students to take organ lessons in their first college year. In the same bygone days, male graduates were required, and female graduates were encouraged, to play organ for a church service. Graduates were not required to play Bach’s Toccata in F Major (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis or BWV 540) for the pre-service music in their rural congregation in Nebraska, but anyone who could do that got a standing ovation by the congregation. By graduation the requirement was for men to be able to rehearse and direct a church choir. They were not expected to have their 20-voice church choir perform J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor, but it would surely knock the socks off their pastor if they did.

The college dropped these arcane requirements of all students in the 1950s because requiring those entry skills would substantially reduce the enrollment. In addition, forcing all male graduates to reach that level of musical ability would cause serious social, mental, and physical harm.

The college administration and the music division pointed out that those students had seven semesters to improve or develop their keyboard skills and that three-fourths of the student body were in a college choir, where they saw skillful rehearsing and conducting of a choir. In the 1985-1986 academic year, 40 percent of the students took piano lessons and 43 percent took organ lessons. Surely, the administration affirmed, such percentages must result in a sufficient number of graduates with music training, regardless of what they thought of J. S. Bach.

In concluding their letter, the college administration pointed out the many opportunities for teachers to take keyboard lessons and other classes after graduation and that any profession expected to have opportunities for professional growth.

The congregations perhaps were not encouraging or funding such continuing education. Qualified teachers are not just the 40

1985-1986 responsibility of the college; congregations also have a part in helping teachers to grow in their ministry.

Despite the well-drafted response to feedback relating to music skills, the administration also understood this issue would continue to be raised as long as the college existed. Somewhere, some time, perhaps a small congregation and an MLC-trained teacher will rehearse and conduct 20 children and 15 choir members in a stirring rendition of the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach. Never doubt that anything can happen in a WELS elementary school.

The DMLC Board of Control also received correspondence regarding the large number of graduates who did not receive a call. Some of those letters asked the college to once again investigate the possibility of providing a Minnesota licensure or certification.

Other The college Homecoming weekend is always interesting.

This year senior Laurie F. Gauger and junior Brian A. Maurice hosted the Homecoming banquet and the entertainment that followed the evening meal. The theme was “Fright Night." The first-year women carried their books in wastebaskets. First-year student Andrew P. Willems won the Muscle Man Contest. The Children’s Theatre put on The Hobbit, a sure winner for the children attending. The College Choir toured Florida, singing at 21 congregations. Roger A. Hermanson conducted.

As the college struggled with enrollment decline, the registrar compiled data regarding attrition rates. The registrar defined attrition as students who interrupted their studies between the first year and the senior year. The graduation class of 1986 had 45 percent of its students interrupt their college program. This was a seven-year high in attrition rates. Reasons given were:

41

Expansion 1. Goal change: The largest percentage dropped out because they changed their goals—they were unsure about being a teacher or they identified with a different profession.

2. Personal: The second highest percentage left for personal reasons such as “tired of being a student,” a desire to be closer to home, depression because of outside factors, or financial difficulty.

3. Academic issues: The third reason included academic issues—a sense they were not achieving academically, they were dissatisfied with the curriculum, or the college made unrealistic requirements in certain areas.

4. College environment: The lowest category included the perception that the college lacked confidence in student maturity, campus life was too restrictive, and a lack of Christian principles on the part of many students.

Based on the results the registrar suggested the college look more closely into categories one and two, goal change and personal reasons.

Student Housing Student housing remained the same as the previous year.

• Women lived in the lower three floors of Hillview Hall and Highland Hall.

• Men: 120 in Centennial Hall; 26 in the former faculty homes on Waldheim Drive.

• Summit Hall remained empty with the temperature set at 55°.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Fright Night 42

1985-1986

Hosts Dawn M. Ristow and Laury A. Schumacher, juniors, dress for the Spring Activities Banquet’s “Out of the Orient” theme.

• Drama: Little Johnny Jones • Snow Carnival: European Vacation • Children’s Theatre: The Hobbit • Spring Play: Three one-act plays - Gift of the Magi, Two Bottles of Relish, Old Detectives Never Die • Spring Activities Banquet: Out of the Orient Sports The college held membership in the National Little College Athletic Association (NLCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Collegiate Conference) Volleyball: The team led in sports this year. They won the regional and national tournaments in the NLCAA. 43

Expansion They had a 21-5 overall record under coach Drew M. Buck.

Cross Country: Eight women competed with mixed results in 6 meets.

Golf: Two women and seven men; 2-2 record. Conference tournament: third.

Basketball: 7-5 record.

Softball: 4-4 record. Conference standing: third.

Tennis: 3-1 record. Conference standing: second.

Track: 1 first; 2 third; 3 fifth places.

Men (Upper Midwest Collegiate Conference) Football: 6-2 record. Conference standing: tied for second.

First row: Coach Drew M. Buck, Yvonda R. Beaudin, Maria M. Habben, Carol G. Reichow, Lynn L. Stobb, Martha M. Klockziem, Manager Vicki L. Humann. Second row: Laureen B. Jaeger, Michelle K. Lindemann, Rebecca L. Huhn, Heidi C. Shuster, Joan C. Carter, Lisa J. Zimmermann, Faith Biebert. Third row: Manager Patty J. Bintz, Julie L. Detjen, Elijabeth J. Carter, Carol A. Helwig, Julie A. Zeamer, Susan K. Carter, Rebecca S. Valleskey.

44

1985-1986

First row: Philip L. Stern, Daniel L. Plath, Kevin M. Buch, Clayton W. Raasch, David N. Retzlaff. Second row: Coach Arlen L. Koestler, Nathan J. Kieselhorst, Paul H. Kelm, Mark A. Ohr, David J. Kolander, Thomas J. Plath, Michael Koestler.

Tennis: 6-1 record. Conference standing: first. Seven out of 11 players were seniors.

Basketball: 2-10 record. Lost 5 games by a mere 1 or 2 points.

Baseball: 9-3 record. Conference standing: first.

Golf: Two women and seven men; 2-2 record. Conference tournament: third.

Track Club: Nine men ran for fun.

Shout-Outs Randy P. Bode, a senior, presented an organ recital on the Memorial Organ in the auditorium on Sunday, October 29, 1985. The program included composers from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including such greats as Bach, Mendelssohn, and DuprĂŠ.

45

Randy P. Bode

Expansion Drew M. Buck coached the women’s volleyball team to the top of the Northern District and won the NLCAA championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: • John ( Jack) H. Gronholz (education) • Drew M. Buck (education) Instructors leaving: • Waldemar H. Nolte (music, retirement) • Marjorie Rau (music, retirement) • Clara E. Wichmann (music, retirement)

Waldemar H. Nolte

Marjorie Rau

Numbers • Students: 516 • Tenured Faculty: 62 • Tuition: $805 / semester • Board & Room: $810 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 58 percent

46

Clara E. Wichmann

RECRUITMENT 1986-1987 Recruitment For the first 78 years of Dr. Martin Luther College, recruitment occurred informally. Pastors encouraged confirmands to enroll in the high school at Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) and become a teacher. Parents encouraged their daughters and sons to go to New Ulm. The College Choir made tours and sang in churches. As part of each concert, a choir member or a faculty member gave a talk to the congregation about the high school and college at New Ulm. Elementary school or high school graduates who were interested in becoming a teacher convinced their parents to send them to New Ulm. In addition, teachers “sort of � pushed their sons and daughters into the profession they enjoyed.

That informal recruitment worked for 78 years. DMLC graduates were sufficient to meet the need for teachers in the elementary schools. After World War II enrollment in Lutheran elementary and high schools grew, and the need for teachers increased. Public and private colleges competed for students, and prospective college students had more choices for a college 47

Recruitment

Most of Recruitment Director Delmar C. Brick’s recruitment visits were in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

education. That meant colleges had to hire recruitment directors. Recruitment became more formal and direct.

In 1954 DMLC called Professor Delmar C. Brick to teach religion and history in the high school and college. He was also the College Choir tour manager. That gave him opportunities to speak to congregations when the choir was on tour. In 1970 he accepted the board’s call to be the recruitment director. He served in that position until he retired from recruitment in 1985. In his letter to the board, he “felt very strongly that a new person is needed in the area [recruitment] who can provide new approaches, produce new materials in keeping with the new technology of our age, and use new methods.”

The board, however, faced a tight budget, and the Board for Worker Training (BWT) was not inclined to authorize a replacement for Professor Brick. The board realized it would be difficult to find someone who could do recruitment and had a background and experience with the college. The board put the call for a replacement for Professor Brick on hold, and the administration recommended that the recruitment 48

1986-1987 committee—three faculty members—take over the responsibility for recruitment, with the president of the college serving as the recruitment director. This was the arrangement for 19851986. It was not a good idea; all three of these committee members had teaching duties and the president had a full schedule serving as president.

That year, 1986-1987, DMLC’s board asked Arlen L. Koestler to take on the work of recruitment, even though he also was the Developmental Education Center director and had classroom responsibilities. He was relieved of his classroom duties for one semester and was then free to do recruitment. During the Arlen L. Koestler other semester, he taught classes and worked in the Developmental Education Center. It brought back to mind the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools’ observation about overworked faculty.

Despite the faculty overload and the financial problems, Professor Koestler developed a variety of recruitment materials and strategies. Some of the faculty members wrote letters and made phone calls to prospective students. The college encouraged and arranged campus visits for students from area Lutheran high schools and prep schools. A printed campus guide was upgraded. Koestler and other faculty visited schools and spoke to students about DMLC and its programs, including music and sports. Production of new, attractive, and informative brochures for elementary schools and high schools commenced. Pastors received News from the Hill, a newsletter written by faculty.

Faculty members also produced a video cassette about DMLC. This was the arrangement for the next four years, still without a full-time recruitment director.

The budget improved, and the board identified persons who could serve as a recruitment director. In 1991 the board sent out several calls. In August of that year John A. Sebald accepted the 49

Recruitment call. The college learned the importance of recruitment and the need for persons who can work full-time encouraging men and women to enroll. This became more serious during the discussions of amalgamation of Northwestern College (NWC) and DMLC. Amalgamation would add the responsibility of recruiting men for the pastoral ministry program.

John A. Sebald

Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) In 1987 the BWT requested that the synodical school faculties develop full-time equivalency (FTE) standards for their instructors. The board wanted a common standard used for the preparatory schools, colleges, and the seminary. The enrollment fluctuation raised the question as to the number of instructors needed. The board also wanted guidelines regarding administrators’ FTEs, extra-curricular responsibilities, and teaching staff. The task eventually focused only on NWC and DMLC. They filed their joint report in April 1987.

The committee began by pointing out that their response would be guidelines, not standards, applied to the schools. The two college administrations agreed that an instructor‌ 1. would teach 15 class hours, with six to nine preparations a week, as a full time load.

2. would not have more than three courses per semester or five to six per year.

3. would be responsible for no more than eight or nine college curriculum courses.

4. in music and education could not be compared with instructors at NWC. 5. should not have enrollments less than 10 in elective courses except in special circumstances.

50

1986-1987 The committee accepted that giving keyboard lessons in music and supervising student teaching are not comparable with other classes. Determining a common FTE for such classes was difficult. The committee also saw a difference between essential and desirable out-of-class responsibilities. There was also a distinction between the responsibilities of an administrator and a classroom teacher. Determining the FTE equivalent for an administrator was difficult.

The committee found there are several possible responses to enrollment drops. An instructor could add or increase administrative responsibilities when his or her classroom load declined.

The committee stated such a move was not an attempt to cover an instructor’s position. This applied to leaves of absence or taking on non-college work such as composing music, writing, or creating artwork requested by the synod or other organizations. Finally, a workload reduction due to enrollment declines might be an honest and fair response to instructors and administrators frequently overloaded in the past.

In sum, the committee concluded that a common FTE between NWC and DMLC was not feasible because of the differences between the two colleges. Moreover, there certainly was no useful FTE between the colleges and the preparatory schools. The committee mostly articulated well-known but unwritten descriptions and policies. Thus, the study and discussion of the FTE was interesting because everyone on the staff had experiences and opinions regarding a “logical” and “fair” FTE. Such discussions serve as a catharsis missing a conclusion.

The report did not completely convince the BWT. Over the coming years the loads of the called staff remained an issue as enrollment dropped and financial support from WELS declined.

51

Recruitment

Attrition A related issue in enrollment was attrition at DMLC. The registrar did an analysis of the years from 1980 to 1987 to determine the number of students who had a change in enrollment. He looked at the numbers, by gender, from the college first-year to the senior year in a cohort of students. • Class of 1980: 146 first-year students • Seniors in 1987: 114, a drop of 22 percent for the class, with a 5 percent drop for men and 28 percent drop for women • Average total attrition for those eight years: 29 percent.

(Some of these students may have returned after dropping out, which would change the percentages.)

The national average is difficult to determine given the different kinds of colleges, but the national rate for graduation was around 50 percent, and the dropout rate between the first year and sophomore year was about 25 percent. Attrition affected the number of graduates available for calls and the ability of DMLC to provide sufficient graduates to meet the need for elementary school teachers. It was, therefore, a critical issue for the college.

Other The loss of trees on the college campus has always been a concern. Construction of new buildings, such as Centennial Hall, the Academic Center, gymnasium, and Hillview and Highland Halls, necessitated the removal of more trees. When only Old Main, the Music Hall, and the Summit Hall dormitory were on the campus, the campus was a real forest. The predominant tree was the bur oak, a large, slow-growing, beautiful tree. These trees covered the campus in fall with their large acorns and colorful leaves.

52

1986-1987

Many trees, most of them oak, forested the campus.

A story is told about these bur oaks. The tree grows in the Midwest on the edge of the prairie near waterways. It is fire-resistant and can survive droughts. The bur oak is the natural tree for the heights over New Ulm. Before the Germans settled the land, the tree served as a barrier for the prairie fires.

The fire would stop where the oaks stood on the hill. Animals retreating from the fire would find refuge by the guardian bur oak trees. Unfortunately, there never was a children’s book written about these kind protectors of small animals.

The closest to fame for the trees was when the new Martin Luther College was looking for a new seal for the college. The president at that time, who knew the story of the guardian bur oak, featured the tree in one of his drafts for the new college seal. It did not make the final cut but was a nice thought. Some bur oaks remain, mostly on the south side of the campus near the softball field. Perhaps they are still protecting little bunnies.

In July 1986 a violent storm hit the New Ulm area. It tore down many trees on campus and in Flandrau State Park. The storm also tore the shingles off and bent the Old Main steeple.

53

Recruitment It flooded the art room in the basement of the Academic Center and destroyed some drawings, paintings, and art material.

The staff of the Messenger, the student newspaper, sent out a survey to the students, asking them to list the recent positive changes in the college and campus. The response was thin, but the results were interesting.

At the top of the list of positive changes was the dedication of the new library in May 1987. The completion was, for the most part, in February, during which time the return of the books and materials and placement onto the shelves occurred.

The maintenance and library staffs did this moving and shelving. The library opened in April. Several small study rooms were new to the library. The students were not sure what they were for and assumed they were not for student use. The librarians convinced the students that they were student study areas.

The idea caught on quickly.

Naturally, the students listed good changes in the cafeteria: • soft-serve ice cream machine • scrambled eggs for breakfast once a week

The library addition was completed in the spring of 1987.

54

1986-1987 • improved salad bar • newly added draft root beer in the soda dispenser • music provided DMLC President Lloyd O. Huebner suggested the salad bar, and the collegiate council sent him a letter expressing the gratitude of the student body for that improvement. The students were clearly living high.

It became possible to install individual phones in the dormitory rooms. The students paid for the installation and the monthly charge. They now could call Mom and Dad from their own room and even their special friend in another dormitory. Things were looking up. The cool thing about the salad bar and the telephones was that they did not cost the college anything.

Students on the first floors of Karis R. Westendorf didn’t need to use the hall phone to make a call.

Centennial Hall and Hillview Hall could also have television in their rooms. The college had cable installed, but only on the first floor. The cost was $90 for nine months for each room.

The college had to reduce its budget for 1986-1987 by $363,000, 10 percent of the total budget. The 1987-1988 budget required an equal reduction. These budget revisions followed enrollment declines and lower funds available from the synod.

The budget cuts raised serious concerns regarding maintenance and facilities, and the long-term effect these cuts would have.

55

Recruitment Mrs. Vera Siegler, after 35 years as housemother, retired in the spring of 1987. On May 6 there was a dinner provided with a special thanksgiving service. She was 85 at her retirement. No instructor at DMLC ever lasted that long.

In April 1987 the education division organized a symposium on the topic The Lutheran Vera Siegler Elementary School and Evangelism. The meeting took place in a conference center in Madison, Wisconsin, and drew over 200 people. Essays, roundtable discussions, panels, and devotions filled two days. The proceedings were published and distributed.

During these years the administration distributed a roster of the entire faculty. The roster included…

• the faculty member's birthday.

• his or her current age.

• the year he or she began teaching.

• the year he or she began teaching at DMLC. • the years in which he or she would celebrate a 25th, 40th, and 50th anniversary.

• the year he or she would turn 65.

It was indeed sobering, particularly for those moving close to 65. It also was a picture of their lives, such as it was.

Student Housing The housing for students was the same as the previous year.

• Women were in the lower three floors of Hillview Hall and Highland Hall.

56

1986-1987

The 1987 faculty jubilarians celebrating an anniversary of service to WELS were Theodore J. Hartwig (40 years), Rolland R. Menk (25 years), Gerhard C. Bauer (40 years), and George E. LaGrow (25 years).

• Men were in Centennial Hall and the former faculty homes on Waldheim Drive.

• Centennial Hall had eight vacant rooms.

• Summit Hall remained vacant with the temperature set at 55°.

Dean of Students Thomas F. Zarling reported to the Board of Control that, to his knowledge, no students were using mind-altering drugs such as cocaine or marijuana. The misuse of alcohol was a problem among some students. An informal survey by the residential assistants resulted in an estimate of 14 students, out of 455, who might have a drinking problem as defined by “using alcohol two or more times a week." The dean dealt with those persons in an individual counseling process.

The dean noted that a recent law setting 21 as the legal age for purchasing alcohol had helped.

57

Recruitment

Eugene G. Martens, a junior, plays the Young Man who begins to solve the mystery in the spring play, The Jury Room.

58

1986-1987

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Comics on Campus • Musical: The King and I • Snow Carnival: Wonderful World of Disney • Children’s Theatre: Winnie the Pooh • Spring Play: The Jury Room • Spring Activities Banquet: An Evening in Paris Sports The college held membership in the National Little College Athletic Association (NLCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Collegiate Conference) Volleyball: 13-7 record. Once again won the NLCAA tournament.

Cross Country: Eight women ran well.

Golf: No women golfers.

Basketball: Had a 13-9 record. NLCAA: placed third.

Softball: 14-10 record. Conference tournament: first.

Tennis: 5-3 record. Did well. Met tougher teams because they did not play in a conference.

Track: Successful. Beat three larger teams at the Winona State meet.

Men (Upper Midwest Collegiate Conference) Football: 2-6 record. Played most games in mud.

Cross Country: Five men ran well.

59

Recruitment Golf: Described as “clubbing away.�

Basketball: A young team ended with a 7-15 record.

Baseball: 14-6 record.

Tennis: 6-2 record. A good season.

Track Club: Ten men competed for fun in eight meets.

Dale A. Witte, a junior, plays the king in the popular musical, The King and I.

60

1986-1987

Shout-Outs Skip (Steven B.) Bremer, from Gretner, Nebraska, was recognized as the football linebacker who broke something in his body every year for six years of football. This included two years at Nebraska Lutheran High School and four years at DMLC. His injuries included collarbone, separated shoulder, knee surgery, and assorted bumps and bruises. When asked by a reporter from the Messenger why he played football, Skip’s reply was, “I like to play.”

“Skip” Bremer

The students put on The King and I for their fall performance.

Young performers from St. Paul’s Lutheran School, New Ulm, delighted the audience. All four performances sold out. Many who were in the audience still remember that performance.

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: • John P. Nolte (music) • Gwendolyn A. Tjernagel (music) Instructors leaving: • Delmar C. Brick (religion/social studies, retirement) • Erich H. Sievert (education, retirement)

Delmar C. Brick

Erich H. Sievert

61

Recruitment

Numbers • Students: 483 • Tenured Faculty: 60 • Tuition: $840 / semester • Board & Room: $850 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 57 percent

62

REDUCTION in FACULTY 1987-1988 Reduction in Facult y The effect of an increased focus on recruitment did not show results immediately. The enrollment dropped again in 19861987 and stayed about the same in 1987-1988. The smaller enrollments reduced tuition income and forced the synod to increase its support. That subsidy rose to 57 percent of the college budget in 1986-1987. The synod could not support the college to that degree while meeting the requirements of other synod schools and its commitment to evangelism and outreach.

It instructed Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) to reduce its budget by 10 percent during the 1986-1987 school year. The synod mandated a similar budget cut the following year, 19871988. The Board for Worker Training (BWT) suggested 13 areas in which to reduce the budget. These included: • largest cut: freeze faculty salaries • second largest cut: reduce the number of non-called personnel • reduce the faculty • cut back staff fringe benefits 63

Reduction in Faculty • reduce or omit grounds and dormitory maintenance • reduce capital expenditures (new purchases) A perception that the DMLC faculty was overstaffed began to develop. That was not necessarily the view of the DMLC faculty or administration, but President Lloyd O. Huebner suggested in his report to the board that the “faculty was somewhat overstaffed.” In previous years the number of faculty members had been reduced through retirement or accepting calls out of the college, but that attrition was not sufficient at this time, and other steps had to be explored. In the spring of 1987, the BWT requested a paper on “Reducing Faculty at Our Worker Training Schools” (Richard E. Lauersdorf ). The BWT also distributed the paper to the Conference of Presidents and the Boards of Control of the five worker training schools the synod supported. The BWT requested feedback from these groups by October 1987.

This essay was read to the faculty at its 1987 August orientation. It presented the faculty with the possibility of a revoked call because the school no longer needed his or her service. The persons at that meeting knew that this sometimes happened at Lutheran elementary schools and congregations. An elementary school’s enrollment dropped and there was no longer need for the same number of teachers. The school closed and no longer needed any teachers, or the congregation merged with another congregation and no longer needed one of the pastors.

In these cases, the teacher’s or the pastor’s name was put on call lists to allow them to receive another call and serve in a different congregation or school. Area Lutheran high schools carried out the same process.

But the dismissal of a college faculty member from a synodical school for other than the causes outlined in Scripture was very rare. There were the cases of Adolph Ackermann at DMLC (1918) and J. P. Koehler at the Seminary (1929).

However, there were different circumstances in those cases, and 64

1987-1988 the way the dismissal was done was hardly a model for future cases.

The author of the essay acknowledged these difficulties, particularly when it involved a school. The essayist described a faculty to be like a body whose members are interdependent. Removing one person creates difficulty for the others.

Teachers in Lutheran schools have lifetime tenures from the moment they accept a call. In reality that is not always the case.

However, teachers do have the impression that the only way in which they would no longer teach in their schools is if they die, retire, or take a call. It is difficult to explain that tenure policy in a Lutheran school to lay people who can lose their jobs quite quickly and for many reasons.

The essayist pointed out the frequent overload of large numbers of students for teachers in the past. A drop in enrollment and a smaller class size were something they deserved.

Teaching now required greater professional skills and broader knowledge. Thus, teachers needed time to prepare their lessons and develop those skills and knowledge through leave time and sabbaticals. Smaller enrollments facilitate that professional development.

As the faculty followed the line of the essayist, they likely understood and agreed thus far. All of them recalled extra courses they taught beyond the 15 FTE standard. They knew large class sizes. They knew the new content they had to gather and assimilate before teaching it to others. This smaller enrollment enabled them to be better prepared and be a better teacher.

The essayist brought the group to a different context where not all these explanations can deal with the reality of overstaffing and excessive financial support from the synod. There comes a time when the boards of control of synodical schools have to revoke a divine call, not because of a moral failure or gross incompetence, but because there are too many teachers.

The essayist had some difficulty finding a term that described 65

Reduction in Faculty such dismissal of a teacher; he used the word “termination,” which came to be the accepted term.

WELS has a careful and well-honed process for calling a person to a synodical school. The administration and faculty demonstrate to the Board of Control that a need exists. If the board agrees with the case, it sends the request to the BWT for a replacement or for an additional teacher. The BWT’s review of the request involves the school’s budget and the finances available to support a new or replacement faculty member.

Unfortunately, no protocol for “terminating” a call was in place. The essayist turned to the Lutheran elementary school, which had a history of reducing faculty. The district president guided the congregation’s development of a process for reducing faculty. A congregation was to consider three factors: 1. Identify a decrease in enrollment.

2. Review the gifts of the current teachers.

3. Determine out-of-classroom responsibilities such as being a church organist.

Colleges added a fourth consideration. They regarded the needs of a specific college department and therefore how valuable the professor was to that department. For example, can a different professor teach the course or the subject? If this criterion were combined with the gifts of the current teacher, the explanation would be whether the professor had a specific skill or knowledge in the classroom or outside the classroom, such as administrative responsibilities, coaching, or counseling. The essayist concluded that enrollment and a particular need the school or department might have were the decisive factors in terminating a call.

The essayist dismissed as too subjective a rating of the professor’s teaching ability in determining a decision to terminate a call. Also dismissed were student rankings of professors, 66

1987-1988 because such student rankings seemed inappropriate for a synodical school.

The essay went into the process by which these decisions were made. The synod supplied substantial support to the college and informed the school of the reduction in the provided subsidy. It was the task of the school’s Board of Control to determine how to accomplish the reduction. If the BWT concluded that the teacher-student ratio was lower than that of other synodical schools, they advised a school board to reduce the faculty to cover the cut in the budget, but the BWT did not demand this. The board of control had the sole responsibility for making the decision to reduce staff. Because faculty salaries are the largest part of a college budget, a reduction in faculty was the quickest way to adjust the budget. Other solutions: • Delay maintenance of the building or grounds.

• Reduce the number of non-called staffed.

• Freeze salaries.

• Increase tuition.

• Reduce non-salary benefits.

A rumor that DMLC kept staff by reducing building and grounds maintenance and Northwestern College (NWC) maintained its grounds by reducing faculty was unsubstantiated, but it floated around for many years. In any case, the board of control made its decision after consulting with the administration and the faculty. The board was also to decide which faculty member should have his or her call revoked.

Using the board to make decisions as to reducing faculty and determining which faculty member should be dismissed was in keeping with the guide from Scripture that a group of Christians, a congregation or a school, should call someone to service in the ministry. This same group, therefore, should decide when a call ends. The process should not involve a synodical board or 67

Reduction in Faculty a representative of the synod, such as the synod president. The Protéstant Controversy was a good model as to why the synod should not be involved in the calling or dismissing process.

The essay included some things to do and not do when the board made its decisions. The board should communicate and be transparent in this process. In one scenario, the board actions would include: • February: Inform a faculty member that his or her name would be put onto a call list.

• March or April: Inform the professor that his or her call would end on July 1 if he or she had not received a call.

• Arrange to provide a full salary and housing for three months beginning with July 1.

• Three months later: Reduce the salary if the professor still did not receive a call. If he or she lived in a synod house, he or she would have to move.

• Gradually reduce the salary.

Termination resulted if the calling process did not result in a new call. The non-transparency part of this process was that the professor did not learn of this. Only in March or April did the professor know the call would be terminated. Even worse, the process contained a private ranking of the faculty members to allow others to be moved onto the call list.

Not surprising, the essay received considerable feedback, most of it negative. The faculty and administration of DMLC objected to the ranking and putting names on a call list without telling the professor that his or her call was to be terminated.

Other responses included questions about using teacher-student ratios or FTE to determine faculty needs. There was a suggestion to provide career counseling to those whose calls were terminated. The response suggested providing incentives for early retirement. The feedback also raised the basic question 68

1987-1988 of whether finances should be the criteria when making such a difficult decision. Nevertheless, DMLC accepted the Board of Control’s right, both scriptural and legal, to dismiss faculty on the basis of enrollment.

That August orientation meeting was one that was well remembered. It inspired quiet discussions as to the essay’s implications. Moreover, it probably woke some of the faculty regarding the college’s financial situation. In April 1988 the faculty heard another essay that examined the scriptural basis for terminating calls. The essay, read by author Richard E. Lauersdorf, was entitled “The Doctrine of the Call with Special Reference to the Question of Its Permanence under Changed Circumstances.”

As God intended, the result of all this was that the faculty reflected on the blessing of their ministry and found new trust that God would guide them and the school for the best interest of the church, and that this was a time to be patient and wait.

The synod did not carry out the “termination” option during the last years of DMLC. The financial issues were resolved in a different way. But the understanding of the possibility remained. Sixteen years later Martin Luther College applied it.

That was a hard time, and those essays in 1987-1988 may have helped.

EFE (Early Field Experience) The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (North Central), in their accreditation visit, encouraged the college to increase the time students would have in contact with schoolchildren. DMLC already had four non-credit programs for students to visit an elementary school classroom, observe, and work with children. They needed longer, more direct, and carefully monitored experiences.

69

Reduction in Faculty The education division proposed that one week before spring break would be set aside for first-year students, sophomores, and juniors to have an Early Field Experience (EFE). During that week the first-year students would remain on campus.

Sophomores and juniors would observe and teach in one of the 134 Lutheran elementary schools or 8 area Lutheran high school classrooms in their hometown or elsewhere.

First-year women model t-shirts referring to DMLC’s first Early Field Experience, held March 12 to 16, 1990. They called themselves The Guinea Pigs.

Other Curriculum Changes The religion/social studies division proposed alternate religion classes for incoming students who graduated from a preparatory school or an area Lutheran high school. Some would receive a more advanced religion course than that given to other first-year students, based on the students’ backgrounds.

The faculty discussed a finding that 10 percent of 1987-1988 first-year students did not meet the minimum requirements for DMLC enrollment as outlined in the catalog. The faculty recommended to the board that a three-credit course in study skills be available to all first-year students but particularly to 70

1987-1988 first-year students who needed such a course. The credits would not apply to graduation.

The faculty presented to the board a listing of 123 courses to support the secondary education program. Many of the courses were already in the curriculum as electives. A set of methods courses for the various subject areas was also developed. The faculty, in its report to the board, said the elementary program would not change and the secondary program would take five years and be a dual program of elementary and secondary. All students in the five-year track would have two academic areas: a major in the chosen subject and a minor in social studies.

Students entering in the fall of 1988 would be the first group to choose either the regular four-year elementary teacher program or the five-year elementary and secondary teacher program.

Board Actions Proceeds of $5433.79 from the sale of the publications created for the DMLC Centennial went for music scholarships.

The board resolved that the school should “make use of women instructors as academic faculty advisors,� in response to a question by the staff.

Other The college took on the responsibility of publishing the Lutheran Educator. The journal was published four times a year in a 9x6 magazine format with 32 pages.

The faculty worked out a new attendance policy for students.

The faculty tended to revise this process every five years or so as they found that the current practice did not work. The faculty, always hoping, designed a different policy, only to find five years later the need to design something new. The 1987 policy was self-reporting, with nine specific directives for doing this 71

Reduction in Faculty

President Huebner at the Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, during the 1990 choir tour.

self-reporting. Instead, the faculty voted to keep the current process and turn in attendance slips.

The college finally had an address after 104 years of being located in just “New Ulm." The Post Office gave the college 1884 College Heights, which lasted until the amalgamation six years later when it became 1995 Luther Court.

The college sold a large parcel of land on the west side of New Ulm. This plot was part of the original plan to locate a high school elsewhere to reduce the number of students on the college campus. Part of the land was used for sports activities, and part was used for faculty housing. In July 1988 the college sold fifty-four acres of that land for $40,000. The college retained the right for students to use a wooded ravine for science research projects.

72

1987-1988 One of the more pleasant activities for Lloyd O. Huebner, the college president, was to accompany the College Choir on its biennial tour. In March 1987 the choir toured 2500 miles through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. President Huebner gave a lengthy report to the board and wrote an article for the Messenger on that tour. He spoke of the beauty of the songs and the fine impression made by the men and women in the choir. He also spoke of how the presence of the choir in those 27 congregations was excellent recruitment for students. A student, as part of the concert, talked about DMLC, the campus, the students, and the curriculum. Brochures and posters of the college were distributed. The dedicated students studying for the teaching ministry were the best recruitment however. President Huebner was not always able to travel with the choir, but when he did, he was at his best—meeting people and hearing the choir, not as a president but as a dedicated servant who loved this college and its students—and he would never stop talking about it.

Student Housing The student housing remained the same as the previous year.

• Women lived in the lower three floors of Hillview Hall and Highland Hall. The fourth floors in both dormitories were unused.

• Men were in Centennial Hall.

• Off-campus housing: 25 students.

• Summit Hall remained vacant.

A discussion about whether Summit would ever be reopened for students transpired. The basement had suffered severe water damage, plumbing and heating needed work, and the rooms and halls needed painting. No decisions were made.

73

Reduction in Faculty

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Sock Hop ’87 • Musical: The Music Man • Snow Carnival: Olympics

For the homecoming parade the seniors created the first ever inflatable float, a jukebox that played 1950s music.

74

1987-1988

Sophomores Donna L. Indermuehle and Deanna C. Holsen play Raggedy Andy (left) & Ann in the popular children’s play, Raggedy Ann and Andy.

• Children’s Theatre: Raggedy Ann & Andy • Spring Play: Pride and Prejudice Sports The college held membership in the National Little College Athletic Association (NLCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Collegiate Conference) Volleyball: 10-2 record.

Cross Country: Very successful season.

Golf: Ten men and one woman played a successful season.

Basketball: Showed impressive promise.

75

Reduction in Faculty Softball: A rebuilding year.

Tennis: A winning season.

Track: Set many personal and school records.

Men (Upper Midwest Collegiate Conference) Football: 3-5 record. Suffered untimely injuries.

Cross Country: Won the conference championship.

Golf: Ten men and one woman played a successful season.

The men’s cross country team marked their second year of running by winning the UMCC championship. First row: Bradley A. Nommensen, Timothy D. Kuehl, Harmon R. Butler. Second row: Coach Paul R. Boehlke, Dyann R. King, Deric D. Pohlman, Mark A. Renner, Timothy Niedfeldt.

76

1987-1988

Mark R. Eisenmann, in 1986, on his way to scoring 1000 career points.

Basketball: Finished above .500.

Baseball: A successful season.

Tennis: A winning season.

Track Club: Six participated for fun.

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: None Instructors leaving: • A. [Adolph] Kurt Grams (registrar, retirement) • George H. Heckmann (religion/social studies, retirement) 77

Reduction in Faculty • Thomas F. Zarling (Dean of Students, religion/social studies, accepted a call)

A. Kurt Grams

George H. Heckmann

Numbers • Students: 439 • Tenured Faculty: 58 • Tuition: $900 / semester • Room & Board: $865 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 61 percent

78

Thomas F. Zarling

PREP SCHOOLS 1988-1989 The beginning of the 1988-1989 academic year nearly became the end of Old Main. On opening day, Sunday, August 28, 1988, an electrical fire started in the basement. Fortunately, its early discovery allowed the fire department to put out the fire quickly. Police cars and fire trucks blocked traffic even more so than the usual opening service gridlock. No serious damage occurred, but it was an interesting way to begin the school year.

Prep School Study This section is a bit complicated, but it all started with a study of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) preparatory schools. The amalgamation of Northwestern College (NWC) and Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) began with a committee authorized by the Board for Worker Training (BWT).

There had been at least a half-dozen such studies: 1. The 1927 Moussa Report 2. The 1962 Keller Report 3. The 1965 Blue Ribbon Report 79

Prep Schools 4. The 1977 Synod Convention 5. The 1978 Special Synod Convention 6. The 1983 Synod Convention The prep schools were not the only subjects studied. The various reports and conventions generally took into account all the schools—high schools, colleges, and seminary. The intent was to review the purpose and function of each school and whether changes should be made. The push for these studies included…

• financial issues, including kingdom balance.

• dropping enrollment in the schools.

• a long-term perception that there would be a shortage of pastors and teachers.

• overcrowding on some campuses.

• whether the changing times required a changing school system.

When World War I prompted schools that had a German foundation to look American, the school dropped the German Gymnasium with its six Latin-named classes. The outstanding issue that was clear and present was the growing realization that the synod could not support the current school system of two colleges, three prep schools, and one seminary.

The Preparatory School Study Commission (PSSC) was appointed to answer to the BWT. The three schools that were the subjects of the committee were Martin Luther Preparatory School, established in 1979 in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; Northwestern Preparatory School, established in 1865 in Watertown, Wisconsin; and Michigan Lutheran Seminary, established in 1885 in Saginaw, Michigan. The committee began its work in February 1987. The report was ready for the 1989 Synod Convention. The committee worked in three areas: 80

1988-1989 1. history and background of WELS prep schools 2. purpose of the prep schools, then and now 3. data that informs whether the prep schools are meeting their goals The PSSC examined previous studies of the synodical school system. Pastor Hans Moussa, the head of the committee, wrote “The Moussa Report” of 1927, which the synod requested. One of the conclusions of the committee was that a prep school should not be on a college campus. Both the NWC and DMLC campuses had prep schools. The committee stated that removing the prep schools would allow the college administration to “escape the insoluble problem of administrating dormitory discipline for a group that varies eight years and more in age."

The committee’s report also pointed out that removing the prep schools would allow the colleges to expand their enrollment.

The 1987 PSSC came to the same conclusion: prep schools prevent the colleges from expanding and using their resources efficiently. This campus crowding was particularly evident at DMLC before its prep school moved to Prairie du Chien in 1979. The move allowed the college to increase its enrollment.

NWC demurred from the Moussa Report about prep schools.

The prep school only separated from the college campus at the amalgamation in 1995. In this case, the college moved, and the prep school remained on the campus.

Northwestern Preparatory School remained on the Northwestern College campus until amalgamation, at which time it became Luther Preparatory School on the same campus. This is East Hall, a dormitory.

81

Prep Schools In its study of the purpose of the prep schools, the PSSC made a strong case for the necessity of the prep schools. The synod needed those schools to provide pastors and teachers.

The data the committee accumulated showed that a third of the students at DMLC came from prep schools and nearly twothirds of the students at NWC came from prep schools. This data came from the 1971-1978 enrollments at the two colleges.

The committee, however, did not find any attrition rate advantages at the two colleges. The attrition rate at DMLC was lowest for area Lutheran high school students compared with prep school and public school students. The attrition rates at NWC varied too much over this span to conclude whether any of the three types of high schools made a difference.

The predominance of students from prep schools enrolling in the two colleges was convincing for the importance of prep schools. The committee offered the historical reason used in reference to prep schools—the prep schools provided a Christian education that was focused on the ministry. The prep school held the young men who were looking forward to becoming pastors and convinced doubting young men to go into the ministry. That conclusion as to the ability of a prep school to focus or change attitudes was always based on anecdotal accounts, not empirical evidence. However, the PSSC and every other prep school study believed that finding empirical data by closing the prep schools was a risk no one wanted to take.

The PSSC further concluded that the prep school on the Watertown campus hampered the college, which was landlocked, from enrolling enough students to provide for the needed number of pastors. The need for the prep school was there, but it should be in a different place.

The committee also examined Martin Luther Preparatory School (MLPS) at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Here was a prep school that was not crowding out a college. Unfortunately, MLPS’s enrollment was half what had been predicted when 82

1988-1989

Northwestern Preparatory School operated on the Northwestern College campus in Watertown, WI.

the school was started in 1979. The school was using only 40 percent of the facilities of this purchased campus. The student cost at MLPS was twice that at the other two prep schools.

The school’s location made recruitment difficult, and it was very unlikely that the school would increase enrollment to fill the campus. The school was a financial drain on the synod. Something needed to be done with the school.

It was at this point that the committee could have closed their folders and sent their report to the synod. They had done what had been asked of them. Instead, this committee “boldly went where no man (or woman) had gone before." They decided to rearrange the entire WELS school system. They looked at the colleges and studied their arrangements, which was not their job. They made a series of recommendations addressing the prep school issues, which was not their job. They provided five solutions: 1. Keep the prep school system as it is.

2. Close all prep schools.

3. Amalgamate MLPS and NWP on the Watertown campus, amalgamate DMLC and NWC on the New Ulm campus, and keep MLS as it is.

83

Prep Schools 4. Amalgamate two prep schools and two colleges, as per option 3, but sell MLS to the Michigan District.

5. Amalgamate, as per options 3 and 4, but let the Michigan District operate MLS as an area Lutheran high school.

The third solution was recommended to the 1989 Synod Convention.

In the summer of 1989, the synod met, of all places, at Martin Luther Preparatory School. The BWT presented the delegates with the entire report and the committee’s recommendations.

The convention had another major issue to consider—a new Mission, Objectives, and Vision statement, which was to guide the synod for the next 10 years. The PSSC did not have access to that statement when they worked on their proposals, so the question came up as to how this school system rearrangement fit the new vision statement. Because the recommendations might affect where the schools would be located, recruitment was confusing and uncertain.

The synod, in convention, thanked the PSSC for their report.

The delegates then accepted the timetable for further study, discussion, and reaction to the report. They directed the BWT to provide an explanation and recommendations for discussion at the following year’s district conventions, and to explore the implications of the recommendations. The Northwestern Lutheran was to provide information to the synod members as to these proposals. The issue was tabled until the 1991 convention.

Two concluding points: The delegates rejected a name change for WELS, and they were introduced to the term “amalgamation.” Not a merger. Not a joining. Not a combining of the schools. The committee used the term “amalgamation." They may have picked that term up from 1892 when the Joint Synod of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Other States became a synod.

Although this name sort of buried Michigan and Nebraska in the “other” group, this new church body was an amalgamation, not a merger. The descriptions at that time used the term 84

1988-1989 “amalgamation." The synods of Wisconsin and Minnesota became semi-independent districts in a new organization, the Joint Synod. The parts remained complete and visible, but they were parts in a larger setting.

That is amalgamation, a mixture or a union of two metals or—its original meaning—the softening of a metal by union with mercury. It’s a pleasant metaphor: Northwestern College and Dr. Martin Luther College, two hard metals now softened with mercury (the faculty? students? BWT?). The two go together but remain individuals. Another part of the metaphor is that amalgamation occurs under pressure. The amalgamation of the synods in 1892 came about after the fight against the Bennett law, which required the use of English (no German) to teach major subjects in all public and private elementary and high schools in Wisconsin. The amalgamation of the schools in 1995 would also occur under pressure.

There is a poem waiting to be written by one of the great poets of WELS. Actually, one of our poets, John C. Lawrenz, made a good shot at that. Mergers and combinations are simple, but the committee and probably everyone who worked on the amalgamation in the coming years were sensitive to what that word meant. They knew it was more than just gluing two things together or throwing an apple and a banana into a blender and hitting the switch, which is also an interesting metaphor agreed by some.

The second concluding point was communication—educating everyone on the implications and reasons for this significant change in the synod’s school system. This would not be easy, and full understanding probably waited for 20 years.

Other Curriculum Changes The first-year class of 1988 was the first group to choose between the regular four-year program for elementary school teachers or STEP, the five-year program for secondary school 85

Prep Schools teachers. Forty-six of the 131 first-year students indicated a preference for the five-year program.

The first EFE week was in March 1990. First-year students remained on campus for presentations, discussions, and practice teaching; the entire faculty participated as discussion leaders or presenters. Experienced elementary Lisa L. Sturm was among school teachers made presentations. the first 15 graduates from STEP. Videos, small group discussions, and question-and-answer sessions were part of the program. The culminating activity put each first-year student into a small classroom to teach a lesson. The students were children from St. Paul’s Lutheran School, New Ulm. Turning the campus over to first-year students for focused discussions and activities was an excellent orientation to elementary school teaching. The student response was very positive.

The sophomores observed elementary classrooms and participated in congregation activities for one week. The juniors spent a week in a classroom observing and teaching. Both levels were to spend 30 hours during the week in a classroom and complete a log of their experiences. Some faculty tried to arrange a vacation in Florida but failed.

Recruitment Professor Arlen L. Koestler still served as the recruitment director and the director of the Developmental Education Center. From September to November, he visited and made presentations at 25 sites, including area Lutheran high schools, colleges, prep schools, and conferences.

86

1988-1989

Maintenance The “new” library still had problems: • air leaks and drafts • condensation in the building • an overambitious air conditioning system • a large circulation fan that was losing its bolts • leaking valves • short-lived light bulbs • computer chairs grinding up the linoleum It was not a good year for the librarian.

The faculty again worked to plant trees and shrubs in the spring. The Dutch elm disease was taking out the elm trees, so the need for new trees was great. The college added an outside volleyball court near the tennis courts. Several faculty members designed a college flag with the college seal to fly on the new flagpole at the end of the mall. Summit Hall, still closed, needed new shingles, and the interior needed considerable work. The question again came up whether saving Summit Hall was worth the expense. The business manager asked the Campus Planning Committee to look into the expense of making Summit habitable. Installation of several handicapped access places took place in the Academic Center and Luther Memorial Union.

Other DMLC and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary organized a workshop on the teacher as minister to children and parents.

Some 22 persons attended, including teachers from elementary schools, high schools, the seminary, NWC, and DMLC. Pastors, social workers, judges, and other laypersons also attended. The intent was to explore the opportunities teachers in our Lutheran schools have for helping families. DMLC had 87

Prep Schools received queries from congregations and individuals regarding the training teachers receive for counseling. The workshop was a means of examining the issue. It was held on two days in October 1988.

The business manager was responsible for providing the Board of Control with the outstanding student account balances. The board then decided which accounts were uncollectable.

The board generally wrote off accounts beyond five years. In the previous three years (1985-1986, 1986-1987, 1987-1988) there were five accounts totaling $8247.13; 15 accounts totaling $11,519.77; and nine accounts totaling $6311.98. The business office had increased its collection efforts.

The college resumed examining the requirements of Minnesota state licensure for DMLC students.

Director Roger A. Hermanson and the College Choir toured the Southwest. The 56 voices traveled 5000 miles over 16 days.

In the spring of 1989, the college president announced that budget cuts necessitated the dropping of six of the 12 sports the college sponsored. Over the summer the college reRoger A. Hermanson ceived gifts to support the athletic program.

Several student athletes also contributed, and, through those efforts, saved the six sports.

In April 1989, just before the end of the 1988-1989 school year, the BWT informed the synodical school presidents that each should appoint a faculty strategic planning committee and should develop its own strategic plan during the 1989-1990 school year. This planning could include a summer retreat in 1990. August 1991 brought its completion. This apparently was the BWT’s response to the report and recommendations of the Preparatory School Study Commission.

88

1988-1989 Because of budget cuts, the college discontinued the Pinkerton Security Service in May 1988. The college believed students could provide some of the service.

The food service reported that during the 1988-1989 school year they served 197,070 meals in the cafeteria at a total cost of $368,982. That would average out to $1.8723397 per meal.

Bon appĂŠtit.

The academic dean concluded his annual report to the president with a hymn stanza. The academic year 1988-1989 was not particularly challenging, but he knew that issues would be coming up, including amalgamation, staff reduction, budget cuts, and maintenance issues. These challenges would enlighten the coming years. He closed his report with‌ Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

Student Housing Centennial Hall had received a badly needed facelift. The dingy yellow walls now had a softer tan look with contrasting stripes of dark brown and blue racing around the inside, a brilliant design and set of colors for men. Three three-seat couches, two two-seat loveseats, and three chairs replaced the worn-out furniture. This may not have been a good choice for men. The response of the men was that the brighter colors made a big difference. Nothing was said about the furniture. Nothing was changed in Highland Hall or Hillview Hall. The women lost again. • Women: 304 in the lower three floors of Hillview Hall and Highland Hall.

89

Prep Schools • Men: 110 in Centennial Hall and some in the former faculty homes on Waldheim Drive.

• All three dormitories had empty rooms.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Hippy Homecoming • Musical: The Mikado • Snow Carnival: Under the Big Top • Children’s Theatre: The Plain Princess • Spring Play: Barefoot in the Park • Spring Activities Banquet: A Night In New York Sports The college held membership in the National Little College Athletic Association (NLCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Collegiate Conference) Volleyball: 16-15 record. Second place in the NLCAA District Tournament.

Cross Country: Nine women. Susan (Sue) M. Quandt took the NLCAA championship.

Basketball: A winning season.

Softball: A building year.

Tennis: 5-3 season with 2 rain cancellations.

Track: Twenty women ran a positive season.

90

1988-1989

Sophomore Kristin L. Schaser plays the spoiled Princess Esmeralda in The Plain Princess.

Men (Upper Midwest Collegiate Conference) Football: “A team of almosts. Almost 1000 yards. Almost 8 wins. Almost a UMCC championship.”

Cross Country: Seven men. DMLC hosted its first NLCAA National Cross Country Meet. The route included an infamous monstrosity called “the hill.”

Golf: “Improved slices, hooks, putts, and chips.”

Basketball: Young and enthusiastic. 7-14 record.

Baseball: Disappointing season for a hard-working team.

Tennis: 5-3 season with 2 rain cancellations.

Track: Four men. DMLC hosted the NLCAA track meet.

91

Prep Schools

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: • Michael A. Woldt (Dean of Students, religion/social studies) Instructors leaving: • James E. Engel (music, deceased)

James E. Engel

Numbers • Students: 447 • Tenured Faculty: 58 • Tuition: $1130 / semester • Board & Room: $832.50 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 57 percent

92

ENROLLMENT 1989-1990 Decline in Enrollment During the years covered by this history, the college’s enrollment dropped. The enrollment for 1989-1990 was 435, with 134 first-year students, the lowest during the decade. Ten years previous, the enrollment was nearly twice that size, 804, with 233 first-year students. This was a 46 percent drop in total enrollment and a 43 percent drop in first-year student enrollment.

Northwestern College (NWC) in Watertown, Wisconsin, also experienced enrollment declines. The U.S. economy was stagnant. The birth rate, after the boom of the '50s and '60s, had declined. Unfortunately, in the '70s and '80s, a number of graduates did not receive a call at Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC). There was a growing perception that it would not be wise for a student to enroll at DMLC or NWC because there would be no place for them when they graduated from DMLC or Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

As the enrollment dropped, the number of sections needed for courses declined. Faculty teaching loads became smaller.

This allowed the administration to provide a generous program 93

Enrollment of academic leaves. These leaves provided the faculty opportunity to earn graduate degrees or to study in their academic area.

The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (North Central) accreditation visit raised the need for faculty development. The academic leaves also allowed faculty to use their skills in producing curriculum material, books, and other publications for the school or the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Some faculty moved into other divisions, such as an English professor teaching religion.

The college administration worried this drop in enrollment would result in a shortage of graduates in a few years. The college would not be able to provide the number of teachers needed by WELS elementary schools. Some synodical administrators in Milwaukee took a different perspective. They asked the college whether there was a feasible way to reduce the number of professors so that the ratio of instructors to students would be similar across all synodical schools. They also asked whether the academic leaves and the curriculum additions, such as the Advanced Study Program in Christian Ministry, were the college’s way of retaining teaching staff, despite the low teacher-to-student ratio of 16 to 1. DMLC’s administration strongly rejected that interpretation.

A drop in enrollment, particularly when it includes a drop in first-year student admissions, is serious for any college, private or public. The college receives less tuition from the smaller enrollment, and the morale of the college declines as the staff and administration struggle to find reasons for the decline, which may include poor teaching or administrative failure. A drop in admissions continues as students and parents come to believe the college is not a good place to enroll and perceive the faculty and the administration to be overstaffed.

The college made layoffs in non-called staff and cut some programs, including some sports. Things could become more serious—the college might lose its accreditation or have its ranking dropped. In a situation like this, some colleges will 94

1989-1990 desperately cut tuition to get more students, and then take even more desperate steps to find money, including selling part of the campus or merging with a college that has a larger endowment.

Finally, if the trend does not reverse, the college will just close. A depressing study at this time from Harvard, which never is in danger of closing, estimated that half of the 4000 colleges and universities in the United States would fail in the following 15 years, primarily because online classes do not require a campus.

The drop in enrollment had a special meaning for the DMLC faculty and administration. They knew their history and had a particular focus on the possible effects of an enrollment drop. Since its founding in 1884, DMLC had struggled with its single-purpose function. It was an elementary teacher college and nothing else. Single-purpose schools had disappeared in public education in the early part of the 20th century.

The WELS Seal as carved by Mr. Wayne Boldt.

95

Enrollment In addition, the continued existence of the college was dependent on one organization—the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. That church body provided major financing, and nearly all the enrolled students were from that church body.

In return, the synod wanted one thing from the college—a sufficient number of qualified teachers for its schools.

At times, outside agencies looked at DMLC and saw it as another West Point, which gets its money from one organization, the United States, and provides one service—graduating men and women to serve in the army. There are important differences between West Point and DMLC, aside from the fact that DMLC students do not have guns on the campus. The United States Treasury never runs out of money, it guarantees the funding for West Point, and the potential enrollment at West Point runs into the thousands. West Point also has a better dress code.

In 1893, when the Joint Synod of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Other States took over management of the college from the Minnesota Synod, DMLC embraced a single-purpose focus. The school began dropping other functions, such as the academic program with a college curriculum, the practical theological seminary, and the commercial program.

The synod constituency began to recognize that their sons and daughters would go to DMLC for one reason, to be teachers in Lutheran schools. The synod would provide financial support, and the school would provide teachers.

Things worked out well for a long time. There were bumps, such as the Great Depression and two World Wars, when enrollment fluctuated, but the college adapted and continued to provide teachers. Ironically, as the college enrollment dropped during the Depression, the need for teachers also dropped.

Then the perfect storm came. In the 1950s and 1960s, the baby boom increased the number of children attending school.

From 1950 to 1965, WELS elementary school enrollment 96

1989-1990 increased by 60 percent. The number of schools went from 184 to 228, and the number of teachers nearly doubled. The college, with a total enrollment of 211 in 1955, was unable to meet that demand. The elementary schools in WELS needed at least 100 teacher graduates that year. The college graduated 31 four-year graduates and 19 three-year graduates.

The synod, believing that DMLC could not provide the teachers, began looking for other ways to acquire qualified Lutheran teachers. The synod provided a program of two years and summer school for female teachers at Winnebago Lutheran Academy in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

In 1960 a new two-year college opened, Milwaukee Lutheran Teachers College. After two years, the students of this junior college were to transfer to DMLC, but that didn’t always happen. Some voices suggested: • DMLC should close and the teacher education program move to Watertown or Milwaukee.

• New Ulm was not located in the center of the synod’s churches.

• Minnesota was too far to go for schooling.

• Two teacher colleges would tax the finances of the synod, so it would be best to close New Ulm and make a fouryear college at Milwaukee.

• DMLC and the college in Milwaukee should move to Watertown and be added to NWC. Combining the three schools on the Northwestern campus would centralize teacher education, and it would have teacher training and pastor training on the same campus. This would provide a more harmonious relationship between teachers and pastors. Ironically, this statement became important in the 1994 discussions about amalgamation.

97

Enrollment Pushing the envelope, in 1962 WELS contracted Robert Keller of the University of Minnesota to conduct a study of the synodical school system. This report by an outside agency predicted an elementary school enrollment of 35,000 in 1969, meaning DMLC would need an enrollment of 600 students to provide enough teachers for that increase. That increase seemed possible in 1962, but those predictions ended up being very wrong. In 1969, the elementary school enrollment was 25,775.

The 1969 Synod Convention ended the debate when the delegates resolved, in a close vote, to merge Wisconsin Lutheran College, formerly called Milwaukee Lutheran Teachers College, with DMLC at New Ulm. (This Wisconsin Lutheran College was a different entity than the Wisconsin Lutheran College founded in 1973 and referenced later in this book.)

The synod also directed DMLC’s administration to “begin an intensive student recruitment program.”

That was the background as the DMLC Board of Control and the faculty watched the first-year student enrollment very carefully in the late 1980s and early 1990s. First-year student admissions and the school enrollment continued to drop, reaching the bottom in 1990. The enrollment then slowly grew to the year of amalgamation when the enrollment in DMLC was 563, about where it was in 1984.

In those years from 1984 to 1995, decisions, reports, policies, and staffing were part of the attempt to increase the enrollment.

A college can reach a point where a small enrollment is insufficient to finance the operation of the college, no matter how many trucks drive out into the farmland around New Ulm to get donations of potatoes and squash. There were also serious discussions about what the college needed to do to provide sufficient teachers and to remain the sole institution for training elementary school teachers. If anyone wanted to perk up the administration, the faculty, and the DMLC board, suggesting the synod needed another or a new teacher training college was the way to do it.

98

1989-1990 After the 1995 amalgamation the enrollment contained the pre-seminary students. Concern about the feasibility of the college remaining in New Ulm decreased.

Curriculum With the introduction of the Early Field Experience for first-year students, sophomores, and juniors, the need for additional classroom experiences became less important.

St. Paul’s Lutheran School in New Ulm had been a convenient school for students to gain experience in an elementary school and to do their student teaching. As part of this cooperative arrangement, the college provided the salaries for four teachers. In addition, the college paid $4800 annually to the school. In 1984 the college reduced the number of teachers it paid to three, after the death of one of the staff.

A Cooperative Program Committee was set up in December 1989 to review the program and work with the college administration and the St. Paul’s Lutheran school board. After discussions with St. Paul’s, the committee recommended reducing the college staff to two teachers, but St. Paul’s school board and faculty preferred retaining the third teacher. The DMLC Board of Control reaffirmed the payment of $4800 to St. Paul’s Lutheran School. In the following year the board resolved to

St. Paul’s Lutheran School.

99

Enrollment reduce the college staff at St. Paul’s to two when one of the teachers came to teach at the college.

The college began a new venture in the summer of 1990, Midsummer Adventure, a program of activities and learning experiences for 10- to 12-year old students. The limit of 25 children was quickly met. The camp continued for several years.

Review In its 1989 convention the synod adopted Vision 2000+, which provided goals for the future. The document’s goal was to focus, prioritize, and coordinate planning among the various synod departments. The delegates also stipulated that the divisions of the synod should report their progress in 1991.

The synodical colleges and prep schools received this document, together with the report of the Preparatory Synodical School Committee. The Board for Worker Training (BWT) asked the schools to respond to that report. In January, their faculties, as individuals, gave views with written responses and collated the responses into three categories: 1. “I am pleased the synod adopted this statement because…”

2. “When I reflect on the statement, I have serious concerns with this statement because…”

3. “When I reflect on the statement, I have this vision for the future…”

Responses to category 1 commended the authors for the statement’s foundation in Scripture, the consensus evident in the statement, the specific goals of the statement, and the recognition of other forms of ministry beyond pastors and teachers.

The concerns in category 2 included the difficulty of viewing the future when the reality of the present confronts us. The greatest concern was the use of percentages and numbers that gave an impression of a “business mentality” and that such 100

1989-1990 a mentality might shame pastors and teachers when they have not lived up to those expectations. Some of the faculty members were concerned that the commitment to numerical goals for expansion might lead to further reduction in support for education at all levels. One of the objectives called for “new programs,” but the faculty felt those programs went unsupported in the past. In addition, “new” programs might be attractive because they reduce the cost of current programs. Such new programs and new forms of ministry sometimes start without careful study. Another concern was what place Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC) had in these objectives and the synod’s school system.

Category 3 related specifically to DMLC. The respondents asserted that the college (and the synod) needed to make wiser use of their resources. The college should develop a variety of programs for teacher preparation that are in agreement with state requirements. The college (and the synod) should have a full-scale study of the forms of ministry. Finally, the college should maintain the Christ-centered focus in all its programs and decisions.

This response to the third question suggests some long-term concerns between the college and the synod. The response asked for “mutual encouragement” on the campus and in synod. The synod and the college should have a more cordial view toward change and innovation. The synod should have a wider perspective of what faculty and staff need to support their work.

As the faculty viewed the future, as the document encouraged, they were concerned that proposed programs would not come to fruition. The future plans for the Early Childhood Education program, the master’s degree program, and continual professional development for teachers would be lost because of budget constraints or disinterest.

After seven pages of discussions and responses, the faculty report ended, sadly, on a negative note, which they did not want to say but which they felt necessary considering the last several 101

Enrollment years. It read, “It is unfortunate that so much of DMLC’s future hinges on getting the money to make the necessary adjustments in our programs. If we, at this critical time, do not move forward, the demise of our college might not be too far off. We should read the signs out there already—recruitment problems, certification problems, competition from WLC, lack of curricular innovation, hiding behind ‘There is no money.’”

In whatever way the reader of today judges this response of the DMLC faculty, the point remains that the men and women who were teaching at this college and the non-called staff at this college were truly afraid that the college would end with a whimper. Their fear was not for themselves but for the institution they loved.

Other Shirley Dickey retired after 23 years in the business office.

Jeffery P. Wiechman, a junior, plays King Absent-minded in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of the Black Forest.

102

1989-1990 A cast of more than 30 students put on The Sound of Music.

The staging and the performance were memorable.

The Children’s Theatre put on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of the Black Forest to over 5000 children. The production was excellent and, in particular, five students—four women and one man—did fine acting as trees.

Student Housing • Women: 299 women in the three lower floors of Hillview Hall and Highland Hall.

• Men: 124 men in Centennial Hall and two houses on Waldheim Drive.

• Summit Hall had been vacant for five years. The basement had water problems, and now the roof needed replacement.

The Campus Planning Committee suggested three possibilities to the administration regarding Summit Hall: 1. Make the building habitable with minimal refurbishing.

Plaster where needed. Reshingle the roof. Replace the windows. Repair plumbing problems. Add a new heating system. Update the electrical wiring. The estimated cost was $450,000.

2. Completely refurbish the dormitory. In addition to option 1, remove asbestos and provide handicapped ramps, a sprinkler fire system, an elevator, and a rebuilt entrance.

Estimated cost for this option was $775,270.

3. Demolish Summit Hall and build a new dormitory. Cost for demolition: $82,458. Cost for new dormitory, two floors accommodating 130 students: $998,000.

The Campus Planning Committee recommended option three.

The Board of Control accepted the report and recommended 103

Enrollment to the BWT that Summit Hall be demolished. The board’s recommendation made no mention of a new dormitory.

Although the college had dropped the Pinkerton service, there were no major incidents of vandalism or personal injury this year. The dean of students remarked on the maturing process that takes place as students move toward graduation.

The seniors complained about “those rowdy freshmen” who were noisy and stayed up all hours of the night. How quickly those seniors forgot their first year on campus.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Farm America • Musical: The Sound of Music

First-year student Amy E. Jungemann produced Wait Until Dark and junior Kathleen M. Brandt directed.

104

1989-1990 • Snow Carnival: Popular Pairs, Past and Present • Children’s Theatre: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of the Black Forest • Spring Play: Wait Until Dark • Spring Activities Banquet: Land of the Rising Sun Sports The college held membership in the National Little College Athletic Association (NLCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Athletic Conference) Volleyball: For the fifth straight time, went to the NLCAA nationals. They took third place.

Cross Country: Placed second at nationals in Michigan.

Basketball: 9-10 overall; 3-4 conference record.

Softball: A building season.

Tennis: 5-3 overall record.

Track: Impressive season.

Men (Upper Midwest Collegiate Conference) Football: 4-4 record. The games were exciting, and Nathan W. Veach made a record 171 tackles in the season.

Cross Country: Placed second at nationals in Michigan.

Golf: Four players.

Nathan W. Veach

Basketball: 7-14 record. The men played better than the final record would indicate.

Baseball: Worked hard. 2-8 conference; 2-10 overall.

105

Enrollment Tennis: 7-5 record.

Track: Met personal goals.

Maintenance In the summer of 1990, the City of New Ulm designated the DMLC campus as the “Yard of the Week." The Alumni and Friends Association provided funds for campus beautification.

The faculty and staff planted additional trees on the mall and in other places on the campus. A local pastor planted marigolds that spelled “DMLC” near the flagpole. New trees replaced the numerous dead elm trees and the oak wilt-infected oak trees.

Rain again flooded the art room in the Academic Center.

The solution was a concrete dike around the window wells.

The science department built an observation deck, made from cedar, on the roof of the Academic Center near the greenhouse. The deck included telescope mounts and a weather station.

The campus had not been made more accessible to the handicapped.

The maintenance staff noted that because of budget cuts and a reduction in staff, 27 needed projects went undone; 10,000 man-hours didn’t happen.

Sound-Out: The Amazing First-Year Students The college surveyed the first-year students. One of the items on the survey asked if they liked the ratio of men to women in the first-year class, which was three women to one man. One hundred percent of the men liked the ratio.

Sixty percent of the first-year students had ordered pizza from Domino’s in the first week of school.

106

1989-1990 One of the new learning experiences for first-year students was meeting the “laminator.”

When the survey asked first-year women whether they would be making frequent trips to NWC, the majority said “no,” but one said she would be going there—to see her brother.

They were also “cued in” about the “COS," The Collegiate Organization for Socializing, based in Watertown. “It throws quarterly ballroom and formal dances. It is known for their culture and etiquette; the proprietors of the activity show good taste by inviting the students of our beloved campus to join in the grand festivities.” (This quotation was by a staff member of the Messenger; no data supported the author’s description of the “culture and etiquette” of the COS.)

Shout-Outs In 1989 the annual alumni basketball game took place against the DMLC team. Four brothers played on the alumni

Jeremy, Paul, Steve, and Greg Thiesfeldt. Back: Jackson Thiesfeldt (’04), son of Greg.

107

Enrollment team: Jeremy J. Thiesfeldt (1989), Paul A. Thiesfeldt (1982), Steven R. Thiesfeldt (1974), and Gregory D. Thiesfeldt (1977).

Ronald C. Wintrone (1989) also started on the alumni team.

The team had 11 players. The strategy was to keep rotating their players and thus wear down the DMLC team. This worked, and the alumni won decisively.

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: None Instructors leaving: • Fred A. Bartel (music, retirement) • Morton A. Schroeder (English, retirement) • James H. Wandersee (mathematics/science, resigned)

Fred A. Bartel

Morton A. Schroeder

Numbers • Students: 435 • Tenured Faculty: 54 • Tuition: $1350 / semester • Board & Room: $790 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 53 percent 108

James H. Wandersee

FINANCES 1990-1991 The 1990-1991 academic year began ominously. The first three weeks were great weather for beans and corn, but not for students. The heat and humidity took its toll on the students.

The dormitories were ovens all day, and sleeping was almost impossible—until the student went to class. Some classrooms had window air conditioners, but they drowned out whatever the professor tried to say. The library was the only refuge on campus, and there were students who hid when the library closed and then slept there. There was also more homesickness than usual. Two students left in the first week, probably because of a combination of heat/humidity and homesickness. The weather changed, as it always does in Minnesota, and a couple months later the students probably looked back to August and wished for some of that warmth.

When the faculty reviewed the new Vision 2000+ document in 1989-1990, they regretted that finances had become the primary consideration for new programs, faculty staffing, non-called staffing, and maintenance. From one perspective the faculty unfairly criticized the synod for making decisions based on money. But that was reality, particularly during the nationwide rising cost of living in the 1980s and 1990s. Nearly 109

Finances everyone in the country was making decisions based on the amount of money each had.

For many years the synod faced insufficient Congregation Mission Offerings (CMO) to fund all their responsibilities.

A congregation can use its collection plate offerings in several ways.

• The congregation decides which of its various programs receives what portion of the collection. The general operation of the congregation comprises the largest portion.

• After that they may designate monies for CMO, capital expenses, debt reduction, an elementary school, or an area Lutheran high school. Some congregations make a budget that includes these directions for the money the members donate.

• The money designated by a budget or by a category on an offering envelope goes directly to the synod.

In 1989-1990, congregational gifts to the synod, the CMO, constituted 80 percent of the income the synod received. That money supported home missions, world missions, ministerial education, congregation and district ministry, ministry support, and debt retirement.

In the 1990–1991 academic year, ministerial education (synodical schools) received 32 percent of the synod budget, not sufficient to operate its five campuses: 1. Northwestern College (NWC) and Northwestern Preparatory School (NWP) in Watertown, Wisconsin 2. Michigan Lutheran Seminary (MLS) in Saginaw, Michigan 3. Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) in New Ulm, Minnesota 4. Martin Luther Preparatory School (MLPS) in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin 5. Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS) in Mequon, Wisconsin 110

1990-1991 The presidents of those schools met in November 1990 to present a report to the Coordinating Council of the synod. The report is interesting because it was a sort of tipping point for synod funding of the school system.

Several issues came together. The U.S. inflation rate from 1970 to 1990 was the highest since World War I (1917). The inflation rate for the 1980s was nearly 6 percent. During the 1980s the synod increased the subsidy for the synodical schools by nearly two million dollars. When inflation in those years is figured in, the subsidy for the synodical schools actually decreased by $444,000.

Second, the dollars of the congregations going outside the local congregation now included new area Lutheran high schools and Wisconsin Lutheran College. That parallel school system, neither funded by the synod nor controlled by the synod, was taking prospective students and money from the synodical school system. This school system also had the advantage of being able to solicit directly from the members and congregations. During that time the synodical schools could not do that. Only the synod as a whole could solicit. Development was not on a level playing field.

Third, the synodical school budget had remained stable for several years, and inflation had driven the schools to a Scylla-or-Charybdis decision: drop programs and staff, or defer maintenance on the buildings and grounds. Doing the first would result in a lack of qualified staff in certain areas and a demoralized faculty. Doing the second would result in an enormous payback in the future. In their report, the presidents pleaded that something had to be done. They suggested some very desperate cuts: • Cancel the secondary teacher education program that had just begun at DMLC, along with instrumental music training. These two choices would reduce the DMLC budget by $500,000.

111

Finances • Close MLPS for a savings of $700,000.

• Provide only partial synodical funding of MLS, with the remainder coming from the Michigan District or some kind of a local association.

• Allow the Board for Working Training to call synodical school professors, but not to a specific school. This would provide flexibility by allowing the BWT to move professors around the synodical schools as needed.

• Close some of the area Lutheran high schools so the students and the money would go into synodical schools.

• Drop the elective courses at NWC and DMLC. • End college staffing at St. Paul’s Lutheran School, New Ulm, Minnesota.

• Prohibit WLS and DMLC professors from serving on synodical commissions or committees, making presentations at conferences, and producing published material for the synod. These measures would reduce the faculties by two professors, one at WLS and one at DMLC. These were desperate suggestions and only two, closing MLPS and ending the use of professors at St. Paul’s Lutheran School, took place. We could assume that the options provided by the presidents in this document were to paint a desperate picture of the finances of the schools.

The synodical school presidents’ suggestions became one factor in the amalgamation of the colleges and the eventual closure of MLPS. But the report also brought about other changes whereby each school could do its own fundraising events. Tuition rates increased. College scholarships increased in size and number. Government funding became more available. In addition, the 50 percent synod subsidy and the synod tuition rebates ended.

112

1990-1991 In this year, 1990-1991, DMLC received $750,000 in tuition charges from students. This amount was 17 percent of the college's operating expenses of $3,710,000. The synod provided $2,102,000 as a subsidy to the college, 57 percent of the college budget. That year each student had a synod subsidy of $4843.

The principle of subsidy was the understanding when the synodical schools were established. The schools were to provide pastors and teachers for the congregations of the synod. These men and women would provide guidance and a Christian education to the congregations, which, in turn, would reach out to the souls outside the synod. That is why the synod and the congregations existed. The prep schools, the colleges, and the seminary had that focus. The synod had the responsibility for those schools, particularly after 1917 when the semi-independent districts became part of the Joint Synod and turned their schools over to the Joint Synod.

When the Joint Synod took over the responsibility of DMLC in that 1917 arrangement, there were two groups of students—those enrolled in the divinity school for preparing teachers and those enrolled in a Christian education program in the high school or college. The charge for board for both groups was $120 a year. Women paid $180 (no explanation was given, but the reader is invited to wonder) but nothing for the room. Considering the accommodations and the requirement of a fee for wood for the stove, the zero charge was fair. Students who were in the general education program had to pay about $100 a year in tuition. Students in the divinity (teacher) program did not pay tuition. That arrangement of a tuition charge for general education students and no tuition charge for students preparing to be teachers continued until 1963-1964.

By that time, very few students actually enrolled in either the college or the high school seeking only a Christian education; those students paid $250 a year for tuition. But in the 1963-1964 academic year, for the first time, students in the teacher-training program or the high school and intending to 113

Finances continue at DMLC (teacher) or NWC (pastor) were charged an “educational fee” of $75 a year. In 1972-1973, the college no longer used a subterfuge; the catalog listed an annual “tuition” of $515 for students in the teacher program, including high school students who were planning to attend DMLC or NWC. Calling the tuition what it was rather than some kind of “educational fee” was a major change in the principle that had guided the synod in funding the synodical schools since 1860.

When tuition was called tuition, the college or the synod softened the tuition by adding a rebate. When a student graduated from DMLC and began teaching in a Lutheran elementary or secondary school, that student received a $100 rebate. For the next four years, with the condition that the graduate continued teaching in a Lutheran school, he or she would receive a $200 rebate. The graduate received back about half of his or her tuition. (The wife who stayed home and raised children did not receive a rebate; again, no reason was given, but the reader is free to wonder.)

This rebate, in its varying forms, continued until 1995-1996 when it was abruptly dropped. For 20 years the rebate was a charming gift from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) to poor men and women. In the fall a check, perhaps for $200, would come from an unknown person in WELS offices in Milwaukee. That rebate became a down payment for a car, a wedding gown, a kitchen table set, or some other thing every beginning teacher needed. It was sort of Pennies from Heaven, but it was not from Bing Crosby.

That rebate and financial aid provided through the college helped with the increasing tuition charges. In the 1990-1991 academic year, when tuition rose to $2820, grants, scholarships, and loans were available to students. Ninety percent of the 434 students enrolled that year received some kind of financial aid that added up to $1,078,000 for those students. Twenty percent 114

1990-1991 of that aid came from grants and scholarships from the college or synod funds, 10 percent came from private sources such as congregations or businesses, 31 percent from government grants and scholarships, 29 percent from government or institutional loans, and 10 percent from work-study programs.

During these years the college provided a scholarship that was awarded at the beginning of the school year to students based on their grade point average (GPA). Thirty of the incoming first-year students received $500 based on their high school senior GPA. The GPA for sophomores was based on their firstyear GPA, and they received $300. Fourteen juniors and nine seniors also received scholarships of $300. These scholarships were from the college funds and were unrelated to any other financial aid the student received.

Those funds helped the students deal with the tuition. The students at DMLC, from the early years when tuition began to be charged, were faithful in meeting their debts, particularly those loans. The college wrote off a debt after five years when there was no payment, but the annual sum of those student accounts was around $1000, a modest amount compared with other colleges. The 1990-1991 academic year, however, had a sharp rise in student accounts receivable.

Most students graduated with an average debt of around $5000. A question in the survey of MLC graduates from 1995 to 1999 asked about the debt they had when they left college.

The survey included 337 graduates with a survey return rate of 79 percent. The results: • 80 percent received scholarships or grants.

• 37 percent had no debt upon graduation.

• 10 percent had a debt of $15,000 upon graduation.

• 50 percent viewed their debt as “small and not concerned.”

115

Finances • 22 percent viewed their debt as “manageable and not overly worried.”

• About 25 percent viewed their debt as “overwhelming” or of “major concern.”

The federal government publishes the loan failures of students by the college they attended. DMLC had zero percent loan failures.

When the synod dropped the rebate, the catalog published a statement pointing out that the amount of tuition was only about half what the college actually needed and the other half was from the synod. This note or a similar note was printed in the catalogs until 2007. Since then the catalog has published a statement that the tuition was subsidized by funds from the synod with no amount or percent listed. In the last years of DMLC, the synod subsidy fell back to 45 percent and the tuition charges for students increased about 5 percent per year.

These numbers were not included in the catalog.

Ending the rebate and increasing the tuition allowed the college to develop a somewhat workable budget for the final two years of DMLC, 1993-1994 and 1994-1995. The cost of amalgamation, which was larger than first estimated, messed up the budget, and the new college again had difficulty meeting the budget. Despite what most of the synod believed, the amalgamation did not solve the financial issues of DMLC or Martin Luther College (MLC).

Harvard University has an endowment fund of $34 billion; the University of Minnesota has $3 billion. MLC has about 350,000 people for whom MLC is their college; they own it, and that is a better endowment than Harvard has.

A Lawsuit The budget constraints the college struggled with caused the layoff of three maintenance staff workers in the spring of 1990.

116

1990-1991 Two of the men filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights claiming discrimination. The synod provided counsel for the claimants. The litigation and negotiation went on until September 1991. The college denied the claim of discrimination, but a negotiated agreement decided the case, which included a payment to the claimants.

President Lloyd O. Huebner, a man of kindness and concern for all staff of the college, was bothered and sad by all the litigation and the discrimination charge. That year was not one of his more pleasant years at the college.

Staff Ministry In February 1991 the college received the report of the committee directed by the synod to examine the function and preparation of staff ministers. The committee consisted of members of the Conference of Presidents, the Board for Parish Service, and the Board for Worker Training. They examined the role of, the ministerial description of, and the preparation of staff ministers. The report was thorough and long. It covered…

• biblical considerations.

• practical issues.

• what to name this person.

• various staff minister position descriptions.

• relationships among the staff ministers.

• curriculum on the college level for different kinds of staff ministers and certification in a post-college program.

The committee concluded that four types of staff ministry would be feasible: evangelism, family and youth ministry, deaconess, and administration.

The committee presented their report to the 1991 Synod Convention. The synod adopted a recommendation to institute 117

Finances a staff ministry position and to develop a program at DMLC for staff ministry.

The Christmas Concert The year 1990 was the end of a long tradition at DMLC. The college had always presented a Christmas concert on the last day of school in December. The last class was held, and in the evening the entire student body gathered in the auditorium or the gymnasium—all cleaned up, all happy because they would soon be going home for Christmas, all looking for their parents who had come to the concert, and all exceptionally well rehearsed for the concert.

But the college had changed its academic calendar in 19801981. The first semester now ended in December rather than in January, and the final week of the school term was semester finals. The students now finished those finals at various times.

If weather threatened, the students left the campus before the concert. The choirs lost members. Very few parents now came to the concert; the students had their own cars. There were fewer in the choirs and fewer in the audience. The solution was to have the concert the Sunday before the week of finals.

There were some problems with having choir practice in the gymnasium and putting up decorations during a basketball game. Eventually, after consultation with arbitrators and with extensive negotiations during the entire school year, the college found a consensus.

The Norman Rockwell painting depicts moms and dads hugging their son or daughter after a wonderful concert where everyone, including “Gramma,� attended; the car was warming up outside, and the luggage was in the trunk. The snow quietly fell as the car drove out of New Ulm with their son or daughter singing Christmas carols. The reality in the 2000s is that the student, after the final exam, dashes out of the Academic Center, jumps into his or her car, which was also warming up, 118

1990-1991 and she or he and several friends drive out of New Ulm in a raging blizzard.

Licensure The issue of Minnesota state approval of the program for teachers and licensure of those teachers came up again. In the 1970s DMLC had contacted the Minnesota Board of Teaching about the licensure of teachers. The 1989 Synod Convention again directed the college to explore licensure. The academic dean brought the issue up in January 1990. The issue divided the faculty. Faculty members presented and discussed documents for and against licensure. The Academic Council presented a motion that the president should pursue approval from the Minnesota Board of Teaching for DMLC’s teacher education program “until such time as approval is granted or it is determined that to continue would compromise our principles.”

The motion passed the faculty, but the vote was not unanimous. Additional discussions were held with the Minnesota Board of Teaching, but certain issues, such as student teaching, remained unresolved. Amalgamation overran other issues, and licensure was put on the back burner until after amalgamation.

Real World In spring the college began a series of presentations on the “real world” for graduates. In 1992 this orientation went for two days. Representatives present: • Northwestern Publishing House (NPH): publications • WELS Planned Giving Counselor: estate planning • Board for Evangelism: outreach • WELS Commission on Youth Ministry • Lutheran Pioneers 119

Finances • WELS Special Ministries Board • WELS Group Medical and Pension Plan • WELS Fiscal Office • Board of Trustees: WELS Tuition Refund Plan and Tax Matters • Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Family Service The two days certainly covered everything you needed to know about teaching in WELS schools.

Other The religion/social studies division sponsored and arranged a symposium for “Equipping the Saints for Citizenship through the Social Studies.” A professor and an elementary school teacher coordinated 10 workshop sessions scheduled for three days in October 1990. The symposium explored and reaffirmed the value of the social studies in the curriculum.

The education division proposed an Early Childhood Education program. The 1991 Synod Convention held the recommendation in abeyance. The summer session contained more early childhood workshops and classes.

Highland Hall.

120

1990-1991

Student Housing • Women were housed in the lower three floors of Highland Hall and Hillview Hall.

• Men were housed in Centennial Hall.

• Some men stayed in a vacant house on Hollywood Avenue, surrounded by faculty homes.

• Former faculty homes along Waldheim Drive housed 28 men.

• Summit Hall: The steam and water were shut off. The assumption was that the building would be torn down.

The Campus Planning Committee examined all the campus buildings to determine the effect of deferred maintenance. The committee summarized their report stating that in periods of zero or negative changes in funding, the recommendation was to put almost all projects on hold, and the college was nearing the point where maintenance would be unmanageable.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Under the Sea • Musical: Bye Bye Birdie • Snow Carnival: Fairytales • Children’s Theatre: The Golden Goose • Winter Play: A Fate Worse Than Death • Spring Activities Banquet: The Roaring 20s Sports The college held membership in the National Small College Athletic Association (NSCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

121

Finances Women (Midwestern Women’s Athletic Conference) Volleyball: 22-12 record. Sixth straight year at playoffs.

Cross Country: Won nationals. Susan A. Quandt retires as 4-time NSCAA champion.

Basketball: 7-15 record. “Gained a lot of confidence.”

Susan A. Quandt

Softball: 3-18-1 record. Played all but 2 games during a cool, wet spring.

Tennis: 5 practices. 5 games. Bad weather. No wins.

Track: An 8-woman team found competition stiffer as small meets closed.

Men (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) Football: 4-4 record. Final game won in last 40 seconds.

Cross Country: Tiebreaker: second at nationals. Douglas J. Gurgel captured NSCAA National Championship.

Golf: Five players. 1 victory.

Basketball: 10-17 record. Used new “run and gun” style.

Baseball: 3-9 record. Rain and wind disrupted season.

Douglas J. Gurgel

Tennis: The young team improved over a rainy season.

Track: A three-man team faced stiffer competition as small meets closed.

122

1990-1991

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: None Instructors leaving: • Thomas A. Kuster (English, accepted a call) • George E. LaGrow (education, accepted a call)

Thomas A. Kuster

George E. LaGrow

Numbers • Students: 434 • Tenured Faculty: 54 • Tuition: $1410 / semester • Board & Room: $825 / semester • Synod Subsidy: about 52 percent

123

Finances

Dr. Martin Luther College in 1990.

124

ACCREDITATION 1991-1992 As the 1991-1992 academic year began, some quietly speculated that this year would be a renewal of spirit for the faculty and administration. There were no reasons supplied for this, but perhaps it was because the faculty had talked through both the money issues and state licensure, even though those issues did not go away. Enrollment jumped significantly. The first-year student class of 170 was 32 more than the previous year. The administration at the Board for Worker Training (BWT) indicated that faculty vacancies would be filled and new staff would be called for the secondary education program. In addition, the faculty had resolved, after considerable discussion, how to arrange the Christmas concert. Everyone seemed perked-up after a bad year.

However, this year was also the beginning of two years of endless meetings that dragged up to amalgamation. There were 21 faculty meetings and dozens of committee meetings during this academic year. There were meetings at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm and every time between.

One faculty group was more relaxed. The faculty voluntarily organized themselves into small groups of three to five to read and discuss books. The program was RRIOT—Reading 125

Accreditation Roundtable for Improvement of Teaching. Likeminded faculty would get together to discuss journal articles or books on a particular topic pertinent to their academic area. The group would inform the academic dean, and a posting would encourage others to join. The college provided funds for the purchase of the book or journal. After the discussion, the group wrote a brief summary. This non-pressure activity continued until the amalgamation. Burying yourself in a book appears to be a geeky approach to relaxation. But for these college instructors it was very relaxing.

Accreditation In the spring of 1991, the faculty received a timeline and the organization for the self-study required by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (North Central) for the coming on-site visit in April 1992. Most of the reports from the meetings in 1991-1992 would result in the formation of the various committees in that self-study. This time the administration included several surveys and small-group discussions. One of the early discussions had the faculty identify the stakeholders of the college and the criteria these stakeholders would apply to the college. The faculty identified 16 different stakeholders.

The top four: • the students • the congregations with schools • the synod as a whole • the college faculty The faculty groups then listed the criteria the 16 groups of stakeholders would use to assess the college. The groups concluded by identifying the critical issues of the future, one of which was the amalgamation. The missing part of this process was the actual stakeholders; other than the faculty, no stakeholder group was consulted.

126

1991-1992 The faculty then assessed the students. They identified 14 different aspects of the students, from academic to general teaching skills to writing ability. This listing was put on a timeline over several years during which they used and analyzed these particular assessments. Most of these assessments were already in use, such as ACT scores, classroom observation by faculty, course tests, Early Field Experience observations, and assignments. The assessment went only one way—there were no formal procedures for student assessment of the faculty. In this exercise the faculty assessed themselves.

North Central provided four broad criteria the college had to address in their self-study such as “the institution is accomplishing its purpose." The four criteria produced 15 faculty committees. They focused on specific topics such as faculty, finances, students, and STEP. These committees met during the year and produced about 170 pages of very small type. Each report incorporated a profile of the particular topic, lengthy subparts, a summary, and recommendations. All the committees then presented their reports to the faculty for discussion. This was concluded by February 1992 when the 170 pages were somewhat distilled into 130 pages in larger type. This was also presented to the faculty.

This, as described above, was probably the most thorough self-study the college provided in its 111 years of existence.

In the cover letter to North Central, President Huebner said, “each member of the faculty found this study to be stimulating and challenging and at the same time rewarding and of benefit to them personally and to the college.”

The report to North Central listed the college’s concerns and resolutions to the issues they found. Their study would focus on…

• a review of the administrative structure of the college.

127

Accreditation • the addition of study skills courses for incoming students who had been admitted on consideration.

• the future direction of church music and the college’s responsibility for that training.

• a program for continuing education for the faculty.

• a structure for a thorough curriculum study.

• greater use of telecommunications and distance learning.

• a process to develop classroom evaluation.

• a plan for identifying campus physical resource needs.

• alternate ways of gathering assessments.

In April the North Central team arrived and spent three days on campus. All members were from private, religious colleges—Baptist, Nazarene, and Catholic. The college received the team’s very positive report in summer. The team did have concerns regarding the financial issues of the college and a lack of long-term planning. They felt the Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP) lacked the academic rigor such a program should have and its five-year length would raise the student cost. They felt the length of the student teaching was not sufficient. They pointed out the need for a more comprehensive assessment, particularly from stakeholders other than students.

They understood the synod’s ongoing discussion on the role of women, but still pointed out the low number of women on the faculty. In the end the team recommended, and North Central agreed, that Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC) receive continued accreditation for the next seven years, which was good news to everyone.

Examining this particular accreditation exercise has value.

This was the sixth self-study done by the college for accreditation since 1962. As the college continued this process, the administration and faculty grew less nervous over this examination by persons other than our own Lutherans. The paperwork 128

1991-1992 had not declined, and the time spent was probably the same.

After this study generated 170 pages, the faculty and administration felt they knew how to do this. Future applications to North Central for the combined colleges, the graduate program, licensure, and continued accreditation and licensure were almost routine. It is like a child who realizes he or she can ride a twowheel bicycle—confident and proud. The attitude toward accreditation was also helped when one of the DMLC college faculty, David O. Wendler, became one of the leaders of on-site visits for other colleges in North David O. Wendler Central. Accreditation: a piece of cake.

Amalgamation Another factor for the meetings was the synod resolution in the 1991 convention, held at DMLC, to change the synodical school system. The BWT had recommended the delegates close Martin Luther Preparatory School (MLPS), Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and sell the campus. The students would attend Northwestern Preparatory School (NWP), Watertown, Wisconsin. The rest of the synod’s schools would remain at their present locations.

Instead, the delegates passed, on a divided vote, that MLPS would close and Northwestern College (NWC) and DMLC would amalgamate. The delegates also resolved that the synod should form an independent study committee with advisory representatives from the BWT that would study the feasibility of the amalgamation. The committee would present its findings to the district conventions in 1992, and in the 1993 Synod Convention, the committee would give their report on the feasibility and the timeline for the amalgamation. The synod would then make a final decision. Adoption of the plan meant the synod would sell MLPS. The committee’s name was the Feasibility Study Committee (FSC). It was formed in September 129

Accreditation

Martin Luther Academy left the DMLC campus in 1979 and became Martin Luther Preparatory School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. This is the chapel on the Prairie du Chien campus.

1991. It consisted of two parish pastors, two elementary school teachers, and three laypersons.

President Huebner, concerned that the college had not expressed its views on this issue, felt there should be a report from the college to the FSC. He appointed the Amalgamation Committee, who then reported in February 1992 to the FSC. DMLC took a neutral ground as to where this amalgamated college should be located—New Ulm, Watertown, or some other Midwestern town. The committee rejected one proposal called the one-one-one plan: one prep school, one college, and one seminary.

Lloyd O. Huebner The report affirmed the 1991 Synod Convention decision and gave the reasons why there should be an amalgamated 130

1991-1992 college. These reasons reflected beliefs and opinions for the amalgamated college. The committee believed…

1. one college would better serve the synod by providing the richest possible education for the varied forms of ministry taught at the new college.

2. one college would be the best financial stewardship.

3. one college would provide future workers with an academic and social milieu that included female students.

4. one college would enable future students to transition from one program to another, and the students would learn to understand and appreciate others’ goals and talents.

There was one particularly interesting suggested outcome: bringing the two schools together would also “jolt the faculties into unheard-of creativity once they overcame the initial trauma.” Jolting Lutheran college faculties into a trauma that would result in creativity and perhaps a Nobel Prize sounds extreme. When the faculties saw that suggestion, they stared like a deer in a headlight.

When the president gave his report to the Board of Control in September 1991, he included 16 reasons why the amalgamated college should be in New Ulm. Two of his reasons were: 1. The cost of living would be less in New Ulm because it was not close to a metropolitan area. This probably was directed to suggestions that a new college should be located in Milwaukee.

2. The initial costs of the move would be less in New Ulm because only one college would have to move.

The board favored keeping the college in New Ulm, and the reasons the president gave became the reasons for many others who believed there should be only one college.

131

Accreditation

Other Curriculum Changes The registrar, Glenn R. Barnes, reported to the faculty on the ACT scores of the 1990 first-year students in relation to their academic success. The ACT scores for that class were very predictive of college first-year student grades in English, mathematics, and social studies. The ACT scores were better than the national averages for colleges similar to DMLC. Women scored higher than men did, which was typical for other colleges. The type of high school the first-year student attended affected the ACT scores. First-year students who went to public high schools scored slightly lower than first-year students who had attended prep schools or area Lutheran high schools. The registrar, however, noted that the public school students “possessed determination and motivation as great as or greater than first-year students from prep and area Lutheran high schools.�

The Music Hall, originally built in 1911 and remodeled over the years, still held practice rooms and classroom space.

132

1991-1992

Other In fall, one of the custodians went into the Music Hall, the second oldest building on campus, and smelled smoke; one of the electric receptacles was hot and nearly on fire. The custodians cut the circuit and used a nearby fire extinguisher to put out the fire. The original wiring in the building had been inadequate for a number of years. This prompted the college to rewire the building. One piece of maintenance was carried out.

The music division organized a consultation on church music involving 36 persons of varying backgrounds who could articulate a variety of viewpoints for music education at DMLC. The meeting was held on campus in February 1993. Pastors, elementary and secondary school teachers, board members, and one district president made up the invited group. Principals of 100 Lutheran elementary schools received a survey on parish music. The consultation included a history of the music program at DMLC, a set of current challenges to the music program, and the results of the survey. The conclusion was that the music school of WELS is DMLC, and it is essential that considerable training must remain an essential part of the DMLC curriculum.

The college sent out five calls in the spring, some to fill vacancies. Most were for the addition of STEP. The BWT provided information on gifts, memorials, and grants allocated to DMLC over the past 10 years. Those monies were kept in the synod account. Every year the synod credited the college with those gifts, memorials, and grants but did not consider them a part of the synod’s regular allocation. The largest annual payment was in 1989-1990 for the total amount of $251,324.

In the summer of 1992, the districts had a chance to give their views of the amalgamation, as directed by the 1991 Synod 133

Accreditation Convention. The FSC presented their conclusions. The districts, by resolution, gave their views.

There were usually two choices: 1. Accept the FSC recommendation to close MLPS and amalgamate DMLC and NWC on the New Ulm campus.

2. Change nothing; keep the status quo.

The districts voted as follows: • The North Atlantic, Dakota-Montana, and Pacific Northwest Districts were in favor of the FSC recommendation.

• The Southeastern Wisconsin District defeated both motions: to keep the status quo (150-184) and to accept the FSC recommendation (143-168).

• The Northern Wisconsin District defeated the FSC recommendation.

• The Minnesota, South Central, Western Wisconsin, and Nebraska Districts voted for the status quo.

• The Michigan District voted that the FSC recommendation was unfeasible.

• The Arizona-California District voted to defer amalgamation.

• The South Atlantic District drew a tie.

This was certainly the time to “jolt” a number of groups “to a level of trauma” so that creativity would result.

In the summer of 1992, the college hosted the WELS National Literacy Convention from June 30 to July 3. Faculty members David O. Wendler and Rolland R. Menk arranged the convention. Mae Tacke was the assistant coordinator. The WELS Commission on Parish Schools sponsored the convention, and an Aid Association for Lutherans grant supported it. The attendance overran the available dormitory rooms. An 134

1991-1992 estimated 1200 attended. More than 100 speakers presented some 300 workshops and small group sessions. Presenters came from the Dunedin College of Education in New Zealand, San Bernardino School in Redlands, California, and the University of Illinois. Some were published authors. Topics included understanding the writing process, lifelong reading, Bible reading, and cross-age literature. The convention was probably one of the largest ever held on the DMLC campus.

A second National Literacy Convention was held in the summer of 1994, with the title Reading Is a World of Adventure, for teachers of children from Pre-K to grade 12. Notable presenters came from Columbia University and the University of Washington. Topics covered reading, writing, assessment, parent involvement, and religious writing and telling. There was also a secondary foreign language symposium. About 1000 attended.

A third convention, held in the summer of 1996, included science. The attendance was around 700.

Student Housing Student housing was the same as the previous year. • Women lived in the lower three floors of Highland Hall and Hillview Hall. • Men lived in Centennial Hall.

Centennial Hall, shown in the late 1970s, housed men from 1984 to 1994.

135

Accreditation

Danielle D. Stein plays teacher Irena Synkova in I Never Saw Another Butterfly. The spring play depicted Jewish living conditions in a concentration camp.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: 50’s Sock Hop • Musical: George M • Snow Carnival: Live from New Ulm!!! It’s 2025!!

• Children’s Theatre: Alice In Wonderland • Spring Play: Two one-act plays- Crossings; I Never Saw Another Butterfly • Spring Activities Banquet: Anchors Aweigh Sports The college held membership in the National Small College Athletic Association (NSCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

136

1991-1992 Women (Midwestern Women’s Athletic Conference) Volleyball: 24-6 record.

Cross Country: Won the NSCAA and conference titles.

Basketball: 6-14 record. Team plagued by injury.

Softball: 9-16 record. MWAC tournament: second place.

Tennis: 4-3 record in rain, wind, snow, and hail.

Track: Achieved success despite snow and winds.

Men (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) Football: 0-8 record. Played at the Metrodome.

Cross Country: “Quality. Not quantity.” 3 medals at Nationals.

Golf: 75 percent winning percentage.

Basketball: 8-14 record. Mark T. Heckendorf scored 1000th career point.

Baseball: 10-8 record. Mark T. Heckendorf ’s batting average: .545.

Mark T. Heckendorf

Tennis: 3-6 record beneath rain, wind, snow, and hail.

Shout-Out Professor Joyce C. Schubkegel’s composition “O Magnify the Lord” was the winning entry in a Children’s Anthem Competition.

Its performance was at a Children’s Choral Festival in May at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

Joyce C. Schubkegel

137

Accreditation

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: • Thomas N. Hunter (English) • John A. Sebald (recruitment) Instructors leaving: • Robert L. Averbeck (education, accepted a call) • Glenn R. Barnes (education, retirement) • Martin D. Schroeder (English, retirement)

Robert L. Averbeck

Glenn R. Barnes

Numbers • Students: 506 • Tenured Faculty: 58 • Tuition: $885 / semester • Board & Room: $1485 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 45 percent

138

Martin D. Schroeder

ASSIGNMENTS 1992-1993 The 1992-1993 academic year began well with 182 first-year students enrolled. The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (North Central) had renewed the college’s accreditation, and their recommendations were modest and feasible.

Ten new faculty members were installed in August. They were all young and enthusiastic—just what the faculty needed. The weather was good, and students and faculty believed this was,

by God’s grace, going to be a good year.

It was a good year because the faculty and the administration had time to look at a number of issues, not necessarily to resolve them but to move them forward. The impending amalgamation was always in the air, but for this year, it was in the hands of others, and the college could try new things and talk about old things. There was no slacking in committee meetings, with 26 faculty meetings that year.

Assignments In 1993 the Assignment Committee was no longer able to assign all the graduates. There were more potential teachers than calls. Neither the college nor the committee had an 139

Assignments obligation to assure all graduates receive an assignment. Neither guaranteed a call or was at fault when a graduate did not receive a call.

Most students took the situation well, but the entire class felt hurt when some remained unassigned. Sometimes graduates assigned in July rather than May were seen (usually by the person him/herself ) as less capable. When the shortage of calls became more frequent, the arrangements for informing those not receiving a call were handled badly. Graduates who did not

1992 graduate Lynn M. Schultz holds her divine call.

140

1992-1993 receive a call only found that out when their name was not announced in the call list. Some students expressed themselves with cheers or groans when the names and locations were read.

The sense of a worship service was sometimes lost.

In the 11 years covered in this history, 1100 men and women graduated from the Elementary Teacher Education Program and the combined elementary and Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP). Another 300 received a limited call in some previous year or had deferred assignment. These were included in the current roster of persons eligible for a call.

The process for determining assignments followed a set pattern. Before the Assignment Committee met, the district presidents received requests from congregations and other calling bodies that wished to have a graduate assigned to them.

They indicated the classroom levels required, and what skills and abilities they needed in a graduate. The director of student teaching would compile a booklet that included a biography of each graduate. December graduates had a similar, but smaller, booklet. The booklet was sent to the district presidents. It contained…

• each graduate’s GPA. • areas where the graduate had demonstrated ability and skills including choir, organ, and physical education.

• classroom teaching and classroom discipline ratings compiled by the classroom and college supervisors.

• the graduate's strengths and weaknesses.

• the graduate's marital status.

• a paragraph describing the graduate in student teaching.

• his or her college years.

The graduate also listed areas of his or her interest. College representatives attended the assignment meeting to provide additional information when asked by the committee. A 141

Assignments graduate’s personal information from the booklet was available to him or her. In 1932, as the number of graduates increased, the first booklet, consisting of four pages, came into existence.

The Assignment Committee saw the information as essential to meeting the first principle of the committee—to provide the congregation with a candidate who best meets the requirements of the congregation or calling body.

The graduates were placed into one of six categories— Lutherans like to place things into boxes: 1. assignable candidates 2. candidates who had been given a limited call in a previous year 3. candidates who had not been assigned previously 4. candidates who had deferred a call with the faculty’s consent in a previous year 5. candidates whom the faculty did not recommend for assignment, including those few who refused assignment 6. women who were married or planned to marry Assignments took place in December, May, and after summer school.

Each year the booklet listed an average of 110 men and women plus those who had returned to the Assignment Committee from deferred or other special status. Those numbers varied considerably from 76 to 134. Eight of the years had fewer than 100 graduates. During those years there were 267 calls with limited assignments, which continued a trend begun in the 1970s.

A limited call is extended in situations where it is better if a person remains only one year, such as a dorm monitor or some non-teaching position. Assignment of one-year calls occurs when the specifics of the call don’t meet the graduate’s training or gifts. The committee then assigns, with the knowledge and 142

1992-1993 consent of the congregation, a person to fill in for the coming year. There are times when a graduate from the elementary program fills a vacancy in an area Lutheran high school for one year. That assignee returns to the Assignment Committee the following year. Some of these temporary calls do become permanent. Sometimes the person receives another limited call.

This use of the temporary call increases the number of persons who need to be assigned at the May meeting. During this time period, an average of 23 persons returned each year for assignment by the Assignment Committee. Also over those years, 162 men and women received no assignment in May, July, August, or December. Some had graduated that year; others sought reassignment. The 267 returnees were not 267 unique individuals; they might have been persons with assignments in two or even more consecutive years. The 162 unassigned might also have been duplicates who remained unassigned a second time. Some of these dropped out of the program and sought employment in some other area.

About two-thirds of eligible graduates received a call during the 1993 May call assignments. The July assignments raised the percentage to 90 percent.

1993 Call Assignments In-4-year program

In-5-year program

In a limited call or unassigned previous year

Given a May assignment

Given a July assignment

Men

32

11

10

28

11

Women

48

5

12

36

17

Of the STEP graduates, 11 (10 men and one woman) were assigned to an elementary school. Three women and one man were assigned to a high school. One STEP graduate went unassigned.

143

Assignments At this time the dual STEP prepared the students for either elementary or secondary schools.

There was a solution. The synod recognized this when the delegates passed the resolution in 2006 urging the synod, the districts, and congregations to look for “alternate forms of ministry that went beyond the traditional roles.� John C. Lawrenz, the president at the end of Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC), opened that possibility in 1993. Teacher-trained graduates from DMLC could go to China to teach English and to be Christian models to their students. Ironically, in probably the worst year for assignments, when a fourth of the persons seeking a call did not receive one, eight graduates received an assignment, with their eager assent, to a Travel/Canvas/Ministry program.

Such a change or addition requires considerable thought and discussion. The realization grew that a synodical Lutheran college could do more than one thing. There are other ways to bring the gift of salvation to others. The students of today fit into that flexibility. Not surprisingly, God also wants this solution.

Curriculum The threatened wholesale curriculum overhaul was held back, and the faculty did a number of activities in preparation for the curriculum study the following year. At the August faculty orientation, the Faculty Development Committee presented a program for faculty assessment, as suggested in the self-study and the North Central on-site visit. The committee recommended that SIR (Student Instructional Report) be used; the assessment of classroom teaching would be done by the students and peers using a form that ranks certain aspects of successful teaching. The faculty adopted the report.

The faculty held an open forum where everything was discussed: 144

1992-1993 • improving communication • helping students feel less like high school students • helping students orient themselves to the college • improving the quality of college graduates • finding ways to be innovative in teaching • reviewing the attendance policy Subsequent faculty meetings covered these issues at greater length.

As part of that general discussion, the faculty responded to questions regarding the current curriculum. These included whether the current curriculum addressed the realities that the graduates would meet in teaching and serving a congregation.

The faculty considered what the connection was between the general education core, the area of concentration, and the professional education courses. They pondered whether the area of concentration developed scholarship. They also discussed whether the professional education teachers received promoted the mission and goals of the synod. The topics were quite broad and the responses tended to be lengthy. It was good preparation for a curriculum review.

There was also a lengthy report on the follow-up from the 1992 self-study and the recommendations of North Central.

That 17-page document covered all parts of the self-study, with some 40 assignments addressing the concerns raised in the selfstudy. Some assignments were directed to an individual or a division; others were to the faculty as a whole or to the administration.

The faculty presented the board of control with a revised statement of philosophy and purpose of DMLC. Most of it was a reworking of the previous statement, but it did include the Staff Ministry Program, which was not part of the former 145

Assignments statement. The self-study noted the omission, as did the on-site North Central reviewers.

Role of Women In 1991 the synod in convention had adopted a statement: “Scriptural Principles of Man and Woman Roles." The resolution asked “that any suggestions for refinement in wording of the statement be forwarded to the Conference of Presidents for consideration.� After the faculty discussed the document, they asked the Academic Council to prepare a report.

Several members of the Academic Council wrote the report, focusing on the application of those principles to DMLC. The result was a lengthy document with an annex of Bible references. The authors presented the report to the faculty, the board, and the district presidium. Copies were sent to the Conference of Presidents. The authors asked to keep the report in house because it was a study document. The report included a study of the social culture at the time the apostles wrote the New Testament. The issues at this time were: 1. whether called women in the faculty could teach classes that contained men.

2. whether women could supervise men in student teaching.

3. whether women could be class advisors to men.

The report did not speak to those particular applications, but the tenor of the report suggested the college could use women in those situations.

Later that year, in March, the board discussed two education calls to be sent out. The board resolved to allow for the calling of a woman for one of those positions with the specifications that she would only supervise 146

Cynthia E. Whaley

1992-1993 women, only teach women students, and only supervise in a classroom taught by a woman teacher. Cynthia E. Whaley, who received and accepted the call, functioned in the three areas above.

State Licensure A committee, formed at the beginning of the year, reviewed the situation of Minnesota recognizing the teacher education program of the college and giving licenses to the teachers who graduate. The synod had directed the college to review the issue.

The February committee report recommended that the college include in its curriculum study the following year the requirements of the state for approval. The college would also examine the staffing needed and the financial effect of those changes.

The final recommendation was that the college oppose having DMLC students teach in a public school. An earlier motion recommended that the college discontinue its attempt to have state licensure for graduates. The faculty referred the motion back to the committee. The committee altered the resolution, but no action by the faculty took place. The board received no resolution. The issue remained until after the amalgamation.

Student Assessment The faculty voted to institute a Junior Writing Assessment ( JWA), a means to determine the abilities of juniors to write clearly on a given specific topic.

The juniors reported to the Academic Center on a Saturday. They wrote a 500-word essay on a provided topic, such as a familiar social issue. After the stipulated two hours, faculty members, in groups of three, read each essay. They used holistic grading that included organization, content, and writing mechanics.

147

Assignments All juniors had to pass the assessment before they entered student teaching. Students who did not pass received another chance. The assessment continued for several years until other forms of assessment, some for licensure, replaced the JWA.

Calls President Lloyd O. Huebner told the faculty and the board that he would retire at the end of the 1992-1993 academic year.

At the January 1993 meeting, the board called John C. Lawrenz, president of Michigan Lutheran Seminary, to be DMLC’s president. He accepted in March. The board also called for an education division vacancy in that meeting. In March, the board called instructors for religion and music plus two more for education. At a second March meeting, an April meeting, and two May meetings, the school extended calls again, most of them by teleconference. Of the nine calls sent out, only two accepted. In June the board asked for a new set of nominations. Uncertainty John C. Lawrenz because of the impending amalgamation may have affected the ones who declined the calls.

Other Committee Reports Lawrence O. Olson became the Staff Ministry Program director in January 1993. The program was to begin the following academic year, 1993-1994. He recommended some changes to the program, particularly having just one program with different emphases. The program would include a liberal arts component, a major in religion, and “professional courses designed to equip candidates with the practical skills necessary to serve as staff ministers.� Students entering the program Lawrence O. Olson 148

1992-1993 could take a five-year program that included staff ministry and elementary education.

The Academic Council presented a proposal for an Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program. The proposal included the option of having a dual program: five-year ECE and elementary or four-year ECE. The report covered staffing and financial impacts and listed the ECE courses and the philosophy, principles, and guidelines for the program. The faculty approved the proposal and sent it to the board. They estimated the staffing would require one full-time professor and one parttime professor. The cost would be around $75,000 to start and maintain the program and about 12 students would enroll in the five-year program.

The Academic Council recommended to the faculty and the board that the college should cooperate with Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School (MVL) in the Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program. This would allow MVL students to earn college credits for courses taken at the college while they were in high school.

One of the committees examined the professional education curriculum. After 15 meetings that included visits to other colleges and discussions of recent publications on professional education, the committee posed 10 questions to address during their curriculum review in 1993-1994. They also recommended surveying DMLC graduates and WELS constituency.

Other committees studied and reported on the general education curriculum, admission of students from area Lutheran high schools, and integrity and coherence in teaching.

A committee from the music division met 13 times to review concerns about chapel. They made five recommendations: 1. consistency in services 2. appropriate pre-service and post-service music 149

Assignments 3. entering and leaving chapel reverently 4. allowing students to remain in the chapel for the post-service music 5. providing a carefully worded announcement informing the students to refrain from applause Although these were some good ideas, little resulted from them.

Finally, local doctors who were part of the Dr. Martin Luther College Wellness Program, which assessed the health risk of the staff, gave a report. Fifty-four persons from the faculty and the non-called staff participated. Some questions gathered personal information, such as weight, hypertension, cholesterol levels, exercise, and nutrition. The doctors carried out the examinations at the beginning of the year before the overwhelming reports and meetings.

• The average blood pressure was a fine 128/80.

• None of the faculty drove a car while drunk.

• None smoked.

• Only 7 percent had high blood pressure, but that likely went up by the end of the year as the plethora of committee meetings filled the year.

Other Midsummer Adventure, the summer camp for children age 10 to 12, was in its fourth year. The camp was limited to 24 children and filled quickly. This summer the children focused on reading activities and spent an evening at Walnut Grove for a dramatization of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life and writing.

The drama club put on West Side Story, a first for DMLC. Excellent actors and singers made it a long-remembered performance.

150

1992-1993

Andrew G. Mildebrandt, Andrew J. Hermanson, John S. Hinds, Daniel M. Vogel, unknown student, and Jason H. Lowrey, members of the Jets gang in West Side Story, make their point.

Students received an ID card that let them into meals.

Pockets suddenly became important.

Some older students listened carefully to first-year students to get their take on this school. One female said, “When I am in the shower I get scald marks on my posterior whenever someone flushes the toilet." The first-year male students said, “There’s so many girls,” and the first-year female students said, “Where are all the boys?” First-year students looking for something beyond the school asked, “Is there anything else in Minnesota besides cows and corn?” or “Where is the mall?”

151

Assignments

Student Housing All students who needed housing were able to live on campus.

• Women: Of the 379 women, 354 lived on the first three floors of Hillview Hall and all four floors of Highland Hall.

• Men: Of the 191 men, 123 were in Centennial Hall, and 56 were on the fourth floor of Hillview Hall.

• Summit Hall was still empty. Uncertainty whether to use it or demolish it remained. Now there surfaced suggestions to use the building for office space and build a new men’s dormitory.

The men were given permission to use the laundry facilities in the basement of Hillview Hall between noon and midnight.

Centennial Hall went through considerable remodeling of the basement kitchen, the heating system, replacement of nearly all the windows, tuck-pointing the outside of the building, and installing air-handling systems in the washrooms to prevent mildew. The maintenance department reported the need for considerably more work. The administration allowed men in Centennial Hall to construct “lofts” in their rooms. A $30 charge covered any damage the lofts might cause.

All dormitories were smoke-free. Open-dorm hours were established, allowing students to be in dorm rooms of the opposite sex providing the door remained open. The Collegiate Council suggested that those who violated the rules of the open-dorm policy be assessed fines. The funds raised from these fines would go into a dorm fund and be used to purchase an ice machine in Centennial Hall.

A parking problem arose when the space for student cars filled. Students began parking along Highland Avenue, and the residents on that street complained.

152

1992-1993 A pleasant and romantic picture of the laundry room in the basement of Hillview Hall transpires. It is near midnight, and a young man and a young woman are alone in the laundry room.

They are standing by two churning dryers, carrying on a spirited discussion as to whether a whole language program is the best way to develop literacy in young children. They come to a consensus, pick up their dried clothing, say goodnight, and head off to their rooms. Those who cannot see the romance in that picture do not understand young people in the 1990s.

Seeing 51 men move into Hillview Hall caused some women to stand in awe, and some parents to stand in puzzlement and start looking for the dean of students. As one noted, “This is not the WELS way!”

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: The Magical World of DMLC • Musical: West Side Story • Snow Carnival: TV Comedies

During the Snow Carnival, King Scott R. Sievert and Queen Patricia R. Schimmel won the skit competition with their take-off on The Love Boat television comedy.

153

Assignments • Children’s Theatre: The Great Cross Country Race • Spring Play: Tom Sawyer • Spring Activities Banquet: Under the Big Top Sports The college held membership in the National Small College Athletic Association (NSCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Athletic Conference) Volleyball: 19-20 record. Had its peaks and valleys. A strong schedule and some injuries. Conference finish: second. District finish: second.

Cross Country: 4-3 record. Won the MWAC championship by 3 points. The women also won the championship at the NSCAA meet for the third time in a row.

Basketball: 7-15 record. They filled the bleachers at every game. A group of first-year students wearing everything from bathrobes to togas cheered them on— very appropriate, considering almost the entire team was also first-year students.

Softball: 15-6-1 record. MWAC champions.

Tennis: 5-2 record.

Track: Nine members worked hard.

Men (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) Football: The program had a young team, similar, as the coach said, to the puppies in 101 Dalmatians. The coach continued with Snow White and Peter Pan to describe the 1-8 record.

Cross Country: Conference and Nationals: second place.

154

1992-1993

Women's Softball Team. First row: Tammy A. Nickel, Stacey L. Walker, Nicole N. Wilson, Jennifer D. Baeckl, Amy L. Markgraf, Jennifer K. Hermanson, Lisa A. Kobleske. Second row: Manager Greg T. Obermiller, Debra L. Keller, Reneé B. Humann, Heidi S. Hellwig, Kathy M. Dobrunz, Victoria L. Hoffman, Jody K. Tjernagel, Laura A. Pontow, Stephanie L. Marten, Coach Barbara L. Leopold.

Golf: 3-9 overall record. Finished third in the league.

Basketball: One of the best seasons in many years, but the season ended with a 10-14 record.

Baseball: 4-9 record. Rain canceled a few games.

Tennis: 2-7 record.

Shout-Outs The unknown student who, noticing 51 men move into the fourth floor of Hillview Hall, the women’s dormitory, said, “DMLC: on the fast track to the 20th century.”

The entire DMLC faculty, who—being told they all would be jolted to the level of trauma—came through this year with many suggestions, new programs, fresh ideas, and review of previous programs, but no Nobel Prize.

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: • Lawrence J. Czer (English) 155

Assignments • Earl R. Heidtke (education, religion/social studies) • Charles E. Hussman (education) • Jack N. Minch (education) • Lawrence O. Olson (staff ministry) • John H. Schibbelhut (education) • Timothy J. Schroeder (English) • Alan M. Spurgin (education) • Larry Zimmerman (music) Instructors leaving: • Gerhard C. Bauer (education, retirement) • Lloyd O. Huebner (president, retirement)

Lloyd O. Huebner

Gerhard C. Bauer

Numbers • Students: 562 • Tenured Faculty: 61 • Tuition: $1485 / semester • Board & Room: $885 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 46 percent

156

AMALGAMATION 1 1993-1994 Amalgamation On August 2, 1993, the 52nd biennial convention of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) met at Michigan Lutheran Seminary (MLS) in Saginaw, Michigan.

The choice of this location was brilliant. A key decision had to be made at this convention—whether to restructure the worker training system of schools. In that proposal MLS was the only school unaffected by any change. Every other school— Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC), Northwestern College (NWC), Northwestern Preparatory School (NWP), and Martin Luther Preparatory School (MLPS)—could be closed, moved, or repurposed. Saginaw was 441 miles from the nearest up-for-grabs synodical school; sometimes it is best to get out of town when a critical decision has to be made.

There were 388 voting delegates, all men, and 102 advisory delegates in attendance. Seventeen convention committees studied and formed resolutions for the delegates to vote on.

Those 17 committees produced 86 resolutions for the delegates.

Two of those resolutions related to the worker training school 157

Amalgamation 1

Michigan Lutheran Seminary was the only school unaffected by changes during the amalgamation process.

system and came from Committee 5, Worker Training. That committee consisted of 13 pastors, 11 teachers, and 13 laymen.

In forming those resolutions, the committee had the complete report of the Feasibility Study Committee (FSC.) The committee also had statements from the ten districts and from congregations, church councils, boards of control, individuals, and groups of concerned people. The authors of these statements gave their views regarding the amalgamation. Committee 5 also had the adopted resolution from the 1991 convention that proposed closing MLPS and amalgamating DMLC and 158

1993-1994 NWC. Two memorials agreed with the 1991 resolution. Others opposed the 1991 resolution directly, asked for a delay in the decision, or sought a two-thirds vote on any resolution. One requested that any decision be made by a referendum of the entire synod.

Committee 5 had a difficult task. The 1991 convention wanted something done with the synodical school system. A considerable number of WELS members felt the system was working fine and nothing should be done. Most of the others, however, believed there should be changes because the synod could no longer finance the five schools as they were doing now.

The committee also had almost a dozen ways to change the school system. Their primary source of information was the report of the FSC. The FSC had prepared their report for the district conventions in the summer of 1992. In their report the committee had examined whether the 1991 resolution—close MLPS, move the students to Watertown, and amalgamate NWC and DMLC into a new college—was feasible. The FSC believed the 1991 resolution was the basis of their report, but most of the districts disagreed. Only three districts were in favor, six opposed the resolution at some part, and three wanted a different alternative. The larger districts opposed the change.

The FSC conducted an “exit poll” in each district after the vote. The delegates to those district conventions divided themselves mostly half-and-half on the proposal. New Ulm, in the view of most delegates, was the wrong place for a consolidated college. One-third of the delegates said their opinion had changed as a result of the information provided them in the district conventions. Although the district votes suggested that the vote in Saginaw would be difficult, the information from the FSC did change the minds of many delegates at the district conventions. That finding suggested at least two things when the convention met in Saginaw, namely, amalgamation in New Ulm and the combining of two prep schools in Watertown, 159

Amalgamation 1 Wisconsin. There would be spirited discussions. Many made up their minds based on those spirited discussions and information provided them.

The bell tower on the Northwestern College (NWC) campus was a gift from the NWC Alumni Society marking the college's 1979 centennial. It calls students to morning chapel.

160

1993-1994 The FSC also surveyed the faculties and some of the students at the schools. The statements about amalgamation and the location of the college produced opposite responses from the NWC and DMLC faculties.

• Amalgamation would be a good idea.

DMLC: 77 percent agree.

NWC: 74 percent disagree.

• Amalgamation would improve relationships between pastor-track and teacher-track students.

DMLC: 77 percent agree.

NWC: 74 percent disagree.

• New Ulm is a good place for the college.

DMLC: 80 percent agree.

NWC: 100 percent disagree.

• Amalgamation would reduce the number of graduates in the pastor track.

DMLC: 87 percent disagree.

NWC: 84 percent agree.

The faculties agreed on at least one point, the most important point: 61 percent of the NWC faculty and 81 percent of the DMLC faculty believed that the faculties would work together successfully at an amalgamated college.

Before the convention the delegates received the FSC report in the Book of Reports and Memorials (BORAM). It contained the work the committee did at the district conventions and in the year prior to the Saginaw delegate meeting. Most of the districts held conference meetings within their districts to discuss the upcoming synod convention. The persons chosen or elected as delegates to the synod convention had another 161

Amalgamation 1 opportunity to hear and participate in a discussion of the issues for the convention. The complete FSC report covered 109 pages with 34 tables in the BORAM. It may have been overwhelming to some, but that report was a model of thoroughness that carefully and objectively combined the data needed and the logic behind the conclusions, and it was actually readable.

Using their report as a basis, the FSC recommended to Committee 5 the two points of the 1991 resolution, amalgamation in New Ulm and the combining of the two prep schools (NWP and MLPS) on the Watertown campus. The FSC committee objectively presented the eight alternate plans showing the pros and cons of each. One plan was the purchase of an army base in Indianapolis.

The FSC examined the cost of a new campus, using several methods to calculate that amount. They concluded that a new campus somewhere in the triangle of Green Bay, Chicago, and Watertown would cost between 40 and 50 million dollars. The report gave a projection, as good as any projection, of the savings of amalgamation, the future needs of teachers and pastors, the enrollment and capacities of the synod schools now and in the future, and current and future costs at the prep schools and an amalgamated school in New Ulm. The report estimated the costs of amalgamation, including new or redone facilities, at the two campuses. The cost estimate for moving the NWC faculty and library to New Ulm was $568,000. The New Ulm campus would need $1,150,000 for upgrades and renovations. If a new men’s dormitory were built, the complete cost would be $4,350,000. The long-term 20-year cost for the amalgamation would be $20,780,000. The 20-year cost would be $33,370,000 without amalgamation.

These estimates were careful and fair. However, decisions as to what to do with the New Ulm campus changed: • no new men’s dormitory • Summit Hall restored, not demolished 162

1993-1994 • major Old Main restructuring • construction of a link between Old Main and the academic building The FSC also discussed amalgamation issues that were not financial projections. They boldly went where no synod publication had gone before. Some were concerned that a joining of the student bodies of the two schools would negatively affect the students in the pastoral track. The presence of these two programs on the same campus would encourage students in the pastoral track to “move over" to the “easier tracks,” education and staff ministry. Alternatively, the courses in the educational program, which were considered easier, would water down the rigor of the pastoral track courses and there would be very few courses in the educational track that would be suitable to the students in the pastoral track.

The FSC committee dismissed those concerns as erroneous and noted that the different programs currently at DMLC, such as secondary education and staff ministry, all managed to maintain their identity and integrity. The FSC also pointed out that crossovers among students can work both ways; education program students could move over to the pastoral track.

Some opposed amalgamation because it would erase the wholesome culture and history engendered in the students of NWC. The committee said the current arrangement of synod schools was not a system; rather it was more of a commonwealth where each school was isolated from the other, which tended to disrupt the unity of spirit. The history of a school is not erased when it is moved. Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary moved three times. Its history remains. Some traditions would carry over into amalgamation, and some would not. Others would be best laid to rest.

Then the FSC got serious—they went after sports, the holy ground. Without hesitation the committee said, “The current competition in athletics . . . fosters something more than a 163

Amalgamation 1 friendly rivalry between DMLC and NWC students. Less of that ‘more’ is needed because it consists of some resentment and feeling of superiority/inferiority between students of the two colleges. If those feelings carried over into parish ministry (and human nature has a tendency to do that), where the team concept is so important, parish ministry and members suffer. Again, there is no simple, single solution, but a combined college will make teammates instead of rivals. Students from the various training tracks will not only play and cheer on the same side and develop loyalty to the same college, but they will live on the same campus. In and out of the classrooms, they will see, hear, and realize they can learn from each other. They will also hear, learn about, and have the opportunity to grow in their appreciation of other forms of ministry in chapel devotions and simple conversation.”

In the end the FSC had come to only one conclusion—the amalgamation of NWC and DMLC on the New Ulm campus and the combination of MLPS and NWP on the Watertown campus was feasible and beneficial. The majority of Committee 5 agreed and the committee presented three resolutions to the delegates: 1. The worker training system should have one seminary, one ministerial school with “a pastor-training college and a teacher-training college with several programs,” one preparatory school in Wisconsin, and MLS remaining as a synod prep school. This meant that DMLC and NWC colleges should amalgamate and NWP and MLPS should combine on one campus. After considerable discussion, a division was called for in the voting. The resolution passed 195 in favor and 176 opposed. A minority report of Committee 5 was read to the delegates, but no action was taken.

2. The amalgamated college should be in New Ulm; the students at MLPS should move to Watertown and combine with NWP. The MLPS campus should be sold. The synod 164

1993-1994 should provide funding for the moves and the necessary capital improvements on the New Ulm and Watertown campuses. After discussion, a division was called for. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 199 in favor and 150 opposed. A substitute motion was presented that the location of the amalgamated college should be further studied by the FSC and its recommendation brought to the 1995 convention. The motion lost, 257 against and 85 in favor.

3. A timeline for the implementation of the worker training restructuring, which would allow the new schools to open in August 1995, was passed.

A different committee developed a resolution regarding the Board for Worker Training (BWT). The board requested, and the convention agreed, that the BWT should have a new name, although this sounds as if the BWT, faced with this amalgamation, tried to hide itself by going anonymous with a new name.

The new name was Board for Ministerial Education (BME).

This is not a case of ducking out, however. The “training” in BWT sounded a bit like the training rats and football players receive; “education” is a better term. The resolution passed without comment or sarcastic remarks.

And so it was done. What would follow were two faculties working together in 1993-1994 to construct a new college.

Such a school would abate, in time, the concerns of those who opposed the change. Such a school would join, in time, two groups of somewhat differing students into a common perception of ministry with identifiable programs. Such a school, in time, would maintain programs with integrity and meaning.

No one predicted how long this would take.

Committee 5 made one other resolution. It caused no fuss.

The Committee was relaxed, and most, if not all, delegates voted for it. Perhaps there was even a smile on every delegate. The synod voted to open an Early Childhood Education Program at 165

Amalgamation 1 DMLC. This led to an early childhood center on the New Ulm campus, and sometimes it led to 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds on the campus, looking up at these very tall men and women. Pastorsto-be, teachers-to-be, staff ministers-to-be, and 2-year-olds—a classic merism. What more would an amalgamation need?

The School Year The 2-year-olds would not be on campus for several years, so the two colleges focused on getting the colleges, the students, the staff, and everything else into a new college. They had two years to do this, 1993-1994 and 1994-1995. Everything—people, buildings, campus, curricula, and the cultures and practices of both schools—required discussion and modification, if needed. All this had to be done by the turnover date, June 30, 1995, when NWC and DMLC would end and a new college, yet unnamed, would take their place.

Shortly after the convention, interim planning groups formed to do the initial work for the amalgamation of the colleges and the combining of the prep schools. The Conference of Presidents appointed 10-person boards for the new college and the new prep school. They appointed Pastor Roland F. Zimmermann as chair of the board for the new college. The new boards were comprised of three pastors, three teachers, and three laymen, plus the president of the board. These boards then issued calls for the presidents of the amalgamated college and the combined prep schools. The college’s board called Theodore B. Olsen. The prep school’s board called Mark G. Schroeder.

They accepted in December 1993. The synod in convention in 1995 reduced the two school boards to seven members for each school when they elected the members of both boards.

These were the years of the boards of control.

• The original four boards for DMLC, NWC, NWP, and MLPS remained theoretically active until June 1995, when all four schools ended.

166

1993-1994 • The Conference of Presidents appointed two boards, one for the new college and one for the new prep school. That made six boards.

• Later, the 1995 Synod Convention delegates elected two more boards, one for Martin Luther College (MLC) and one for Luther Preparatory School (LPS). That made eight boards of control.

• Six of those boards disappeared on June 30, 1995, leaving only the two elected at the synod convention.

Some 48 men were on those eight boards. However, many of the men were the same; they just moved to another board.

Robert Hinnenthal, a lawyer in New Ulm, served on the original DMLC board, moved to the Zimmermann board for the new college, and served on the MLC board after the 1995 Synod Convention elected him. That could have been a record for a moving board member.

The DMLC Board of Control held its last meeting in September 1993, when the new president gave his report. It appears that this board turned over its operation to the board for the new college, which convened in December 1993. President Olsen presented the annual report in September 1994 to the new MLC Governing Board. The NWC board continued its oversight of NWC and appeared to issue calls during 19931994.

To bridge the time between board appointments, the BME appointed an interim committee, the Building and Housing Facilitation Committee. It consisted of members of the BME, synod fiscal office, members of the new college’s board of control, now called the governing board, the new president of the amalgamated school, and others.

This committee had the responsibility of making the necessary recommendations for the construction needed at the amalgamated college in New Ulm and the combined prep 167

Amalgamation 1 schools in Watertown. Their goal was to have the schools ready to open in the fall of 1995. The first master plan presented to the faculty in December 1993 incorporated everything: • link between Old Main and the Academic Center • link connecting the new chapel, the Academic Center, and the student union/cafeteria/gymnasium • three-floor dormitory replacing Summit Hall • boiler plant connected to the gymnasium The entire area from Old Main to the gymnasium would be one building. Later, the link between the Academic Center and the student union/cafeteria/gymnasium, the new dormitory, and the chapel were delayed for further consideration.

The critical meeting on construction was held in Milwaukee on December 22, 1993. This meeting included the interim Building and Housing Facilitation Committee, the two college presidents, the new DMLC Governing Board chair, Roland F. Zimmermann, and the BME administrator. The meeting was to review and accept the new master plans for Watertown and New Ulm. The group adopted both plans. The New Ulm campus plan included…

• student housing. (The status of Summit Hall was still under consideration.)

• Academic Center expansion.

• Old Main remodeling.

• Link construction connecting Old Main and the Academic Center, which included administrative and counseling space.

All this modified the FSC study, its recommendations to the 1993 Synod Convention, and the projected savings from the amalgamation.

168

1993-1994 A number of studies since that convention revealed needs not envisioned in 1993. Some catch-up and remodeling had to be added to both campuses. The new estimate would be in the $8 million range. Two subcommittees, one for each campus, would define the planning for the initial construction. A decision was also needed as to what items could be completed immediately and what items had to be in a 20-year plan. The chapel and the expansion of the athletic/recreational needs would be in the long-range plan.

In February 1994 a new report appeared. The total cost estimated for the new college in New Ulm was $7,300,000. The details included a master plan for the campus, something never before done. The campus, since the building of Old Main in 1884, had never had a “front door." This plan put the main entrance off Summit Avenue to a circle and parking lot on the south side of the new Link.

This link would connect the Academic Center and Old Main at a cost of $3,106,000. It would provide administrative offices, faculty offices, and classrooms. The reconfiguration of Old Main included classrooms, faculty offices, and the addition of an elevator. The estimated cost of upgrades, with no change on the outside, was $1,108,000. The Academic Center, Old Main, and the new Link would have updated utilities. Those upgrades and some smaller site improvements would cost $500,000.

The main entrance moved from Center Street to Summit Avenue.

169

Amalgamation 1

DMLC purchased Highland Manor, a nursing home, to gain student housing and renamed it Luther Manor. Men occupied the front wing (left). Women occupied the back (right). The building included a lounge, kitchen, and pool table area. Later an Early Childhood Center utilized the building. A newly-built childhood center replaced the complex in 2013.

The upgraded student housing cost would be $2,486,000, based on a thorough refurbishing of Summit Hall. The committee chose this over a new dormitory because it was cost-effective.

A new dorm would cost three million.

Additional student housing would include the purchase of Highland Manor, a former nursing home five blocks from the campus. This purchase, with some refurbishing, would provide housing for 100 students and be a future flexible building for the college.

This committee recognized that these figures were different from the projections made by the FSC at the 1993 Synod Convention. This plan also recognized that the funding provided did not answer all the on-campus issues, including…

• safety issues in the dormitories.

• the need for more athletic space.

• a new chapel.

• a link between the academic building and the cafeteria.

• deferred maintenance.

170

1993-1994 The committee pointed out that these would have to be in future campus plans.

The BME finalized the capital expenses. Some 1994–1995 projects: • Restore Summit Hall. Start in the spring of 1994. Be ready for occupation that fall.

• Start the link between Old Main and the Academic Center in the spring of 1994. Complete it in July 1995.

• Move the bookstore to Luther Memorial Union.

• Set up the newly purchased Highland Manor as a dormitory by the fall of 1995.

• Keep Centennial Hall closed for the 1993-1994 academic year for major restoration.

• Tackle parking needs.

Another interim committee made plans and cost estimates for moving the faculty from Prairie du Chien to Watertown and from Watertown to New Ulm. The Board of Trustees in

It had been assumed that Summit Hall would be torn down. Instead, scaffolding went up in 1994, and the building was remodeled.

171

Amalgamation 1 Milwaukee decided it was time to reduce the number of houses owned by the synod and used by staff in synodical schools.

The committee designed a plan providing $5000 to faculty members to purchase a synod house in which they were currently living or one that was vacant. In addition, anyone purchasing a synod house would receive a 10 percent reduction in the appraised value of the house. A number of faculty members in New Ulm and Watertown took the offer, thus reducing college maintenance for those homes and avoiding having to build new homes for persons moving from Watertown.

These new expenses would put a strain on the synod’s budget.

The Board of Trustees urged the schools to reduce expenses. The Board of Trustees also faced an increase of $500,000 over the current $200,000 for the guaranteed health benefits provided to faculty who chose to retire at amalgamation. This retirement incentive reduced the need to continue full-time support for the many faculty who would otherwise not choose to retire during amalgamation. A committee later recommended that the synod eliminate health insurance payments to future retirees. The increase was partly due to rate increases by insurance companies and federal changes, but some saw this as an unintended effect of amalgamation.

Responsibility for carrying out the synod resolution on the amalgamation of NWC and DMLC included the faculties of both schools, student representatives from both schools, a new governing board, and a new president. The BME monitored the process. In some situations, such as finances and calls, the BME had the final say. The BME also took on the oversight of maintaining both the pastoral and teacher-track integrity.

The discussions on amalgamation frequently brought up the issue of integrity, that is, will each school retain a sense of integrity in the amalgamation? A document defined integrity for the pastor track. NWC had certain criteria or requirements: 172

1993-1994 1. The pastor-track curriculum must tie into the requirements of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS), the terminal school where the graduates of NWC spend their final four years.

2. The liberal arts part of their college curriculum was to provide an understanding of humanity.

3. Advisors should be from the pastor track in order to better guide and instruct the student with his growth and development for the pastoral ministry and to assess him for fitness for the ministry.

4. The majority of the instructors in the pastor track should be pastors.

5. Admission to the pastor track should be the responsibility of the instructors and the administration of the pastor track because of the special nature of the curriculum in the pastor track.

6. Pastor-track class attendance policies, eligibility, athletic affiliation, and student supervision and discipline should be separate from the teacher track.

7. The content of the curriculum should be the sole responsibility of the pastor-track faculty and the “president� of their track or school.

8. Upon graduation, admission recommendations to WLS should be the responsibility of the instructors and the administration of the pastor track.

The integrity issue was important and sensitive. The administration of the new college had to walk a narrow path between having two completely separate colleges and a combined college where the programs would meld together.

The new board and the BME decided that each faculty member at Watertown and at New Ulm would receive a new call to the new college. This would provide an important 173

Amalgamation 1 connection between the programs, and the new school would have the opportunity to draw on the skills and experience of professors from both colleges. This would also foster communication among the faculty.

The BME and the new board structured the administration by identifying two persons as vice presidents or academic deans.

Each would be responsible for the individual tracks or schools.

Instead of calling these persons as part of the faculty of the amalgamated college, they were called for the specific school or track.

This was a change from currently selecting academic deans or vice presidents from the existing staff or calling them to the college itself. The call included a particular responsibility for the office of vice president or dean.

Some saw this change as an attempt to make two independent schools in one amalgamated college. The faculty and administration of DMLC, including one of the lay members of the board, protested this arrangement, but both the BME and the new board saw this as a way to save the identity and integrity of each of the tracks. They did concede that the term “school” should be replaced by “track.”

The individual units, such as early childhood education, staff ministry, and secondary education, would be referred to as “programs” within a particular track. The new governing board and the new president of the amalgamated college, in a teleconference on February 6, 1994, issued calls to the two vice presidents in separate tracks or schools.

The integrity issue produced an interesting debate on terminology for the new college. Universities have numerous schools within the university. Tracks are rarely used in public colleges or universities. Programs are common, but they are sort of a catchall within a college.

174

1993-1994 Some years later the Martin Luther College administration went through a reorganization. Academic deans for the two tracks, education/staff ministry and pre-seminary, were no longer called separately, and a vice presidency referred to an office responsible for the entire college, such as vice president for academics or vice president for student life.

This discussion shows that Lutherans like categorizing things. It also shows a major concern—integrity—of the amalgamation. At the time of the 1991 and 1993 votes, integrity was a deal-breaker for many, and many saw that the loss of integrity in the pastor track would also be the end of WELS. But as the amalgamated college continued, as very bright students continued to enroll, as the two equally bright faculties from different schools understood each other, as new brilliant faculty members joined the college, integrity for both tracks and programs was just there, a natural sense that God used to bless the college.

But back to the real issues: diploma types and dress codes.

Two principles guided the discussions and the decisions of the faculties and the students. First, decisions would be made by consensus. Groups from both NWC and DMLC had to agree on every policy and practice for the new school. Second, if that consensus became impossible, the president of the new school would decide the issue after amalgamation.

The two groups solved most differences easily and equitably.

No doctrinal issues had to be resolved. Other factors were familiar to the faculties and the students. The students understood such things as the absentee policy, dormitory organization, and dress codes. There were differences between the two colleges, but each understood what the other was saying. The faculties understood curriculum differences and the difference in faculty duties. Issues such as the state approval of the teacher education program were not part of these discussions. Such issues had to be resolved after amalgamation.

175

Amalgamation 1 Although there were strong feelings on some policies, after making the decisions, the faculties accepted the results. The FSC exit survey in 1992, after the districts voted, indicated that the two colleges, despite differences, would work together, and that is what they did.

One relatively easy policy decision was the type of diploma the new college would use. NWC used scrolls, rolled up diplomas, written in Latin. DMLC used flat diplomas in a frame, in English. The consensus was that all diplomas use English.

Graduates of both tracks used the scroll. This went on for several years. Then all diplomas went to the flat diploma in a frame. The vice president for academics, who was responsible for handing out the diplomas to the graduates, breathed a sigh of relief. He no longer had to stand in front of a thousand people fearful that the entire pile of scrolls would roll off the table.

One of the intractable issues for the faculties was daily chapel. NWC allowed only ordained men to be chaplains. The chaplain determined the topic and text for the chapel that day.

DMLC allowed ordained and non-ordained men to be chaplains. They followed a yearly schedule of topics and texts. The two faculties worked for two years to reach a consensus, but it always ended in a stalemate. Finally, the new president decided that ordained and non-ordained men should preside at chapel.

A faculty committee would arrange the text and focus each year.

The student committee, consisting of student representatives from NWC and DMLC, met three times—once in Watertown, once in New Ulm, and once in Prairie du Chien. The first meeting was in April 1994, the second meeting that May, and the third meeting in the fall of 1994. The New Ulm meeting featured a pig roast, a cultural event that needed no consensus.

For the first meeting in New Ulm, the students discussed general issues. They listed the things they affirmed about student life at their present campus and the things they would like to see improved. Each college group prioritized their items.

176

1993-1994 The first priority was a sense of unity with a common goal.

Although the two groups phrased it differently, both groups had similar points. The students then discussed how to maintain this in the new school and questioned how to maintain the distinction between tracks. An improvement issue was discipline and the enforcement of the rules and policies. Both student groups discussed changes and actions. This, as well as the pig roast, served as an excellent beginning. The faculty meetings might have learned from the students and started their discussions with a pig roast.

The second student meeting concentrated on specific issues such as a recommendation for the school colors and the school mascot. A notice ran in the Northwestern Lutheran asking for suggestions. The NWC student group favored black and red, the NWC colors, and Trojan for the mascot. The NWC contingent pointed out that black and red reflected the school’s German heritage. The DMLC student group preferred navy blue and silver and the Knight for the mascot. Trojan and black, red, and white became the consensus of both groups. Later, the administration decided to use the Knight as the mascot because Trojan had some uncomfortable connotations. Thus, in the end, the student groups found a compromise.

The student committee suggested that someone write an alma mater and/or a fight song for the new college. They also discussed…

• bookstore hours.

• a student planner.

• keeping the convocation program that NWC used.

• computers with internet access.

• a school network available all day in the dormitories.

177

Amalgamation 1

J. Lance Hartzell paints the new Knight mascot. It was placed over the DMLC mosaic of a Lancer.

They also agreed that Residential Assistants are not police officers, but big brothers and sisters. The student committee gave their views on the placement of students in the dormitories: 178

1993-1994 • Summit Hall: 135 male students after rebuilding • Centennial Hall: 102 women after repair • Hillview Hall and Highland Hall: 452 students, some of whom might be male students • Highland Manor, now called Luther Manor: 100 students after refurbishing Based on the information they had, the students estimated that 220 students would come from NWC, and the DMLC contingent would be 170 men and 320 women. These numbers were later found to be low. The students believed…

• men should not be housed off campus.

• first-year students should be housed together.

• sophomores should be housed together.

• women would better accept walking the five blocks to the Luther Manor dormitory.

• although Luther Manor might house both men and women, both student groups agreed that it was not good to have men and women in the same dormitory.

• students should be housed by class, not by track—an important conclusion.

The committee wanted…

1. a dormitory council with members from all five dorms to deal with issues in the dorms, such as smoking, lack of sufficient parking, shows, recycling, room standards, and living conditions.

2. a collegiate council for planning social events, such as Homecoming.

3. a good complement of intramurals with mixed leagues in softball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, and bowling—if the students wanted it.

179

Amalgamation 1 The students also asked that the new college administration keep the students informed of the progress of amalgamation.

Another student issue was dress codes, which neither school had defined. Each college had some understandings, but nothing written; students tended to watch for a frown from the professor. A general perception of the students at both schools was that the students in the all-male college (NWC) wore grubbier clothes to class. Neither school wanted a written policy. The two groups of students at this meeting believed that when the NWC students came onto the new campus, which would include women, they would clean up their apparel. The new college never studied whether this actually happened.

Several suggestions were made for the seal for the new college. The presidents of both NWC and DMLC weighed in with suggestions. The students also gave their views. One of the suggested seals included a tree—the “guardian oaks� on the hills over the Minnesota River. Others contained a drawing of Luther, an oil lamp, a heart with a cross on its center, a classic building, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the Latin words Via, Veritas, Vita, and the Greek letters alpha and omega. The board selected the seal designed by John C. Lawrenz the following year.

Faculty committees met to discuss academics, the library, student activities, athletics, graduation, admissions and recruitment, and advising and evaluating students. They began their work in March 1994 and continued through July. The paperwork was impressive. It was also like some 80 men and women got together and were told to build a new college. They tore into it with gusto. However, they still should have begun with a pig roast.

The Committee on Academics, consisting of Arthur J. Schulz, Jerald J. Plitzuweit, Paul E. Eickmann, and David O. Wendler, was responsible for setting the curriculum and the academic policies for the new college. After four lengthy 180

1993-1994

The MLC Seal was lifted from its original spot in the mall walkway between the Administration Building and the Library because it became slippery when wet.

Students and parents find its prominent position at the school entrance to be a great place to take pictures.

meetings, in June 1994 the committee reported agreement on general entrance requirements. The following were also accepted: • grading system • policy for withdrawal from courses • policy for withdrawal from college • audit requirements • advanced placement policy • academic day of eight 50-minute periods • attendance and absences process • grade point average and eligibility • graduation requirements • specific program requirements 181

Amalgamation 1 • degrees offered • diploma predicates • honors lists • diplomas • writing policy • midterm reports • tutor teaching loads • accreditation • seminary certification program • staff ministry program • assessment process • credit course load for students Some decisions were made by consensus. Others were not resolved in the meetings of 1993-1994.

Resolved: • lunch hour times • a convocation hour • sports and coaches • selection of student advisors • academic day without 15-minute breaks between classes.

Unresolved: • who would conduct a chapel service • whether one or two persons should be the athletic director and the chairman of the physical education division • whether music rehearsals could be scheduled at some time other than the eighth hour 182

1993-1994 • whether student advisors should change every year (NWC) or remain with the student through the college years (DMLC) • whether each track's faculty would determine a student’s fitness for the ministry in separate meetings For the curriculum, the divisions of both colleges dealt with the courses in the two tracks and crossovers for courses: • Religion courses were not compatible in the two tracks because of content, method of teaching, and the use of Latin, German, and Greek.

• A nine-credit course on Western Civilization could be cross-taught with the NWC eight-credit course.

• Students in both tracks could take available elective courses.

• English courses could be cross-taught in composition, speech, and literature with some changes in credits.

• Some changes could provide cross-taught classes in mathematics.

• One science course did not fit; all others could be crosstaught.

• The music program could accommodate piano and organ students from both tracks.

• Both tracks could participate in the choir program • Arrangement of credits by the music courses could be cross-taught.

• Both tracks could use the study skills program.

• Psychology courses were different; no consensus found.

• Physical education curriculum could enroll students from both tracks.

183

Amalgamation 1 “Cross-taught� in amalgamation talk meant that students in both tracks could enroll in a particular course, and professors in either the teacher track or the pastor track could teach that course. In the case of religion courses, the teacher track would have religion courses available for teacher-track students only, and the pastor track would have religion courses only for pastor-track students. The DMLC faculty requested a female member be on the recruitment committee.

The catalog committee made some interesting decisions about what should be in the catalog and how to list things: 1. List faculty members alphabetically with the particular ministerial track shown behind the name.

2. Put all courses in a single listing.

3. List courses necessary for a program under the heading of that particular program.

4. Clearly distinguish between entry requirements for students in the pastor track and students in the teacher track.

These committees gave their final reports on July 7, 1994, in the air-conditioned library, a wise move. The meeting began at 1:35 pm and continued without a break to 5:05 pm. When the faculty got home, they reminded their children and spouse who they were.

In addition to the various committees on curriculum and policies, several other committees examined and reported on various topics. A committee on financial aid studied a concern that NWC had for their students—off- and on-campus jobs.

Half of NWC students had on-campus jobs, compared to 35 percent of DMLC students. The committee suggested finding more on-campus jobs and NWC students receive priority for those jobs. A survey of NWC students indicated that 84 percent had off-campus jobs. The committee recommended finding more off-campus job opportunities. Federal and state programs 184

1993-1994 needed adjustments so that all students received equal treatment in the grants and loans.

Another committee worked out the 1995-1996 academic calendar and the academic day. The committee agreed to hold the Christmas concert on the Sunday before the midterm graduation. Review of the state and federal requirements for campus security, sexual harassment, and violence took place. The administration of the new college was encouraged to develop a campus security patrol with paid personnel. The skills/developmental education at DMLC and NWC was examined, and the process for students to use this program was established for the new college.

One committee looked at student housing. The decision to restore Summit Hall rather than build a new dormitory may have been a disappointment for the students coming to New Ulm, who expected a new dormitory. The committee created an arrangement where dormitories would be built with money that dormitories took in, thus providing funding for new dormitories. This, the committee believed, would remove this capital expense from the college budget and give the college more flexibility for capital expenses.

This committee also examined how the principles of the college affect student housing, particularly for married students.

The committee held an open house for the students to give their views on student support. The suggestions covered many areas, and the administration consulted the results in their planning.

The work of those committees was incredible for that year and a half. It also appears incredibly boring and incredibly boring writing and reading it. Nevertheless, they created the workings of a new college. This was particularly difficult because they could not start from scratch; they had two existing entities to make into one. Time restrained the committees. The committees had to do in one year what had taken each of the existing colleges 100 years to figure out.

185

Amalgamation 1 The amount of work to accomplish in the short time available precluded the exploration and addition of other ways used in other colleges and universities. A few hints were included, but we will never know what would have been in New Ulm if the committees could have looked outside the WELS school system. But the thought of it remains interesting.

Curriculum at DMLC The plan laid out in the previous academic year for DMLC was revised. The president laid out a curriculum review, “Study ’94." The faculty divided into six committees: • Major and Minors • Firming the Faith • Common Core • Opening Opportunities • Ensuring Integrity • Lifelong Learning The BME had a part in this review, and they provided the faculty with goals for the study. The committees began meeting in January 1994 and reported in March. Their reports included observations, questions, and recommendations. Some of the recommendations: • Drop the subject-matter majors.

• Offer a minor in Spanish or German.

• Expand the early field experience to students in the pastor and staff ministry programs.

• Expand student teaching.

• Expand all programs to five years.

• Move to a 4-1-4 academic year with a January interim.

186

1993-1994 • Have the synod provide a larger subsidy to the college.

• Provide continuing education programs to teachers and staff ministers.

• Expand the clientele of the synod.

The impending amalgamation may have prevented carrying out many of the recommendations.

The faculty also responded to the BME goals in the Study '94 program. The response provided the activities and the coursework that met the BME goals. It also pointed out the necessity of increased synodical funding to meet some of those goals, and an agreement to discontinue subject majors. The faculty also warned that questionable and faddish approaches to complex problems should be avoided. Finally, the faculty provided 20 suggestions that the college would explore.

The Academic Council presented a foreign language program to the faculty. The program would include 21 credits and a course in teaching a foreign language. This program would be similar to the present area of concentration, or a major. German and Spanish were the languages suggested for the program. It could begin in 1994-1995 with one language; over the program’s four years, it would need two full-time instructors and two part-time helpers. The faculty accepted the proposal and sent it on to the administration and the board.

The Staff Ministry Program director presented a detailed baccalaureate degree program for staff ministry. The faculty reviewed the program and recommended it to the administration and the board.

The Academic Council presented the courses and schedule for the Early Childhood Education Program. The initial recommendation was a five-year program that included the elementary education program.

187

Amalgamation 1

Other President Lawrenz was arguably the only college president that organized and acted in a Passover celebration, which he did on March 17, 1994, from 5:30-8:30 pm in the college gymnasium. He also was the only president on record who measured parking spaces in the parking lots.

The Children’s Theatre put on Rumpelstiltskin for several thousand children over seven performances. The staging and the acting were superb.

Kathryn M. Manthe pretends to prick her finger as she plays Missy in Rumpelstiltskin.

188

1993-1994 The president appointed a special committee to supervise a “house cleaning” of the classrooms. This cleaning included 40-year-old maps, handouts from the ’50s, a bulletin board cartoon that no one understood, an incredibly ugly photo of an unknown man, somebody’s shoes, and, the rumor was, something that no one knew, except that it seemed to be moving.

President Lawrenz visited the 12 district conventions in the summer of 1994. All the districts except the Western Wisconsin District supported the ongoing work of amalgamation. That district resolved to request a special synod convention to reconsider the vote on amalgamation. The Conference of Presidents did not accept their request.

In keeping with the policy of the Conference of Presidents, the board of control submitted to the synod office the findings of background checks of all called workers.

Student Housing The existing dormitories held all students.

• Centennial Hall housed 123 men.

• Hillview Hall housed 56 men on the fourth floor.

• Hillview Hall housed women on the first three floors.

• Highland Hall housed women on all four floors.

• Luther Manor housed women.

• Summit Hall was under renovation.

Men could still construct lofts in Centennial Hall. The smoke-free dorm policy was working, and the weekend opendorm hours appeared to be going well. Student parking lots filled to near capacity. The deans turned over to the dorm staff the job of monitoring the parking lots and handing out tickets.

The college didn’t hire campus security officers. The deans recommended dormitory residents not prop open the Hillview 189

Amalgamation 1 or Highland Hall doors after the doors were locked. Dorm room doors should be locked and money hidden. Students should avoid situations where alcohol or drugs were being abused.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: Jungle Fever • Musical: How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying • Snow Carnival: Television Cartoons • Children’s Theatre: Rumpelstiltskin • Spring Play: The Nerd • Spring Activities Banquet: Color My World

Junior Paul R. Patterson played Rick Steadman, a.k.a. the nerd.

190

1993-1994 Sports The college held membership in the National Small College Athletic Association (NSCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Athletic Conference) Volleyball: 10-2 record. NSCAA National Tournament: third place.

Cross Country: All-Conference: two runners.

Basketball: 11-10 record. Conference: third place.

Softball: 11-11 record. Conference tournament champs second year in a row.

Tennis: 4-3 record.

Track: Eight women had a respectable showing.

Men (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) Football: 3-6 record; First team All-Conference: five.

Cross Country: All-Conference: two runners.

Golf: 3 wins. Conference meet: third place. All-Conference: Scott A. Gostchock, fourth time.

Basketball: 8-16 record. A season with close scores.

Baseball: 9-7 record.

Tennis: 3-5 record.

Scott A. Gostchock

Track: A few men participated. They competed well.

Shout-Outs The Feasibility Study Committee of Herbert H. Prahl, David N. Rutschow, David J. Fehlauer, Greg R. Schmill, Tracy 191

Amalgamation 1 Linn, Martin Sell, and Ken Bow. Those men developed and presented probably the best report on the synod schools since the 1927 Moussa report. Their report convinced many that a change was good, and God guided their words to a good resolution.

Francis L. Schubkegel, an excellent organist and instructor in the music division, also, interestingly, was knowledgeable about building and construction. In the years 1993-1994 when the new college board, the BME, President Lawrenz, and others were planning the Link and the remodeling of the buildings on campus, Professor Schubkegel was the person in the middle. He received reports from the various offices to be housed in the Link and information about the reconstruction of Old Main. He provided Francis L. Schubkegel information about the need for a full basement under the Link, changing the campus driveways, the importance of a computer and telecommunications room, unloading areas for the dorms, the configuration of the softball fields, and much more. The memos from everyone on campus always headed to President Lawrenz and Professor Schubkegel.

He was a quiet gentleman who carried out his responsibilities carefully and thoroughly, including his courses and lessons.

Most people never knew the work he did to make the buildings and grounds work as well as possible.

The innumerable committees and boards that operated during these two years worked quite well without falling too often over the other committees/boards. The committee members gave of their time and their skills to bring out the physical and management parts of the amalgamation. Those committees/boards involved many people. There was a pseudo-tally made of those members. It concluded that the only three called workers who were not on one of those committees/boards were two pastors in North Dakota and one teacher in Kansas.

192

1993-1994

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: • [ Jonathan] J. Lance Hartzell (education) • John C. Lawrenz (president/religion) • Gene R. Pfeifer (education) • Cynthia E. Whaley (education) Instructors leaving: • Larry Zimmerman (music, resigned)

Larry Zimmerman

Jerald J. Plitzuweit

In May 1994, as the committees on amalgamation were concluding, the governing board of the new college issued calls to all faculty of DMLC and all faculty of NWC. Before this faculty mailing, the pastor-track academic dean, Jerald J. Plitzuweit, and the teacher-track academic dean, Arthur J. Schulz, received and accepted their calls.

President Theodore B. Olsen had also received his call before this general mailing. The board had an impressive list from which to select and issue a call for the presidency. After several votes, they chose Olsen. It was an interesting choice because Olsen opposed the closing of MLPS, where he was the current 193

Amalgamation 1 president. That closure was part of amalgamation, but Olsen did support the amalgamation.

Two current faculty members at DMLC were retiring and did not receive calls. The DMLC faculty received 53 calls. John A. Sebald, the recruitment director, and John C. Lawrenz, the dean for students, had already received calls. Adding Arthur J. Schulz, Theodore B. Olsen, John C. Lawrenz, and John A. Sebald made up the 57 current faculty members. All 53 calls to DMLC faculty were accepted.

Eighteen calls were issued to the faculty at Northwestern College. Jerald J. Plitzuweit and Philip C. Hirsch, the recruitment director at NWC, had received their calls before this.

Thirteen additional NWC faculty accepted a call to New Ulm. The number rose to 15 when Plitzuweit and Hirsch were included. Five NWC faculty did not accept the call; two retired and three placed themselves for a call elsewhere. In the summer of 1994, the combined faculty numbered 71 plus President Olsen.

Numbers • Students: 570 • Tenured Faculty: 58 • Tuition: $1,605 / semester • Board & Room: $895 / semester • Synod Subsidy: 50 percent (uncertain due to funding amalgamation)

194

AMALGAMATION 2 1994-1995 Amalgamation Theodore B. Olsen, the president of the new college, met with the governing board of the new college in September 1994. In his introduction he spoke of the blessings of amalgamation. A half-dozen years of turbulence were behind them. The faculty and administration committed themselves to be “role models for the youth while passing on to Theodore B. Olsen them the blessed heritage of the gospel." There was now a new college with a new environment and a new name.

The new board and the president had a lengthy meeting in July to hear the committees’ conclusions on the various amalgamation issues. A number of issues could not be solved by a consensus of the two colleges. The process that had been determined was that the president would make the decision, and the board provided him with suggestions at the July meeting.

195

Amalgamation 2 President Olsen referred to a popular musical, Porgy and Bess. The musical included the song, “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” which was used as a guide for the entire process of amalgamation. What the Feasibility Study Committee said, what the delegates at the convention said, and what the Board for Ministerial Education (BME) said all fell under the words of that song. The song also fit the discussions they were having at that meeting and future meetings. “Amalgamation,” he said, “is a moving, viable process which has a nasty habit of changing in order to adapt to new and unforeseen circumstances." Truer words were never spoken.

When the Northwestern College bird collection arrived, DMLC professor Paul Boehlke and his wife, Jeanette, carefully readied it for display.

196

1994-1995 A committee was set up to determine what would happen to the movable property located at Martin Luther Preparatory School (MLPS), Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC), and Northwestern College (NWC). The committee made an inventory of the movable property in order to divide and transport it.

The consensus regarding courses was announced in September 1994. No religion courses would be cross-taught.

Professors in the pastor track would teach the religion courses for the pastor track, and professors in the teacher track would teach the religion courses for the teacher track. The psychology courses could not be cross-taught. The following courses could be cross-taught: three history courses, all English courses, some Spanish courses, one math course, all music courses, and all physical education courses. The courses in the science division were under discussion. The difficulty there was that the requirement for pastor-track students was to take eight credits in science, but all the courses were three-credit courses. This credit difference became one of the difficulties in arranging for classes to be taken by students in both tracks. The problem was not so much the content of the course; it was more the number of credits that prevented a consensus. The Northwestern College (NWC) faculty requested that in all cross-taught classes, the students in the pastor track be in the cross-taught class with an instructor who was in the pastor track.

The third meeting of the student representatives was in September 1994 in Watertown. They…

• placed a notice in the Northwestern Lutheran calling for an alma mater/fight song in hopes a submission could be used for one or the other or possibly a combination.

• proposed that a design for an athletic logo be created.

• decided student organizations would have similar formats, including the name, purpose, membership, and funding for the organization.

197

Amalgamation 2

The hat on the left bears the first choice for the athletic logo. Unfortunately it was copyrighted. The second choice became the official choice.

• put into place an interim student government in the 1995-1996 academic year.

• developed individual dormitory councils.

• recommended a residential assistant for every 50 students in the dormitories.

• created 470 parking spaces with nine dedicated to the handicapped.

• proposed that eight students should provide supervision and security on campus.

On Friday, March 24, 1995, the first-year, sophomore, and junior classes at NWC came to New Ulm, where the DMLC students hosted them. A job fair for obtaining employment during the school year was provided. The NWC students were housed in the dormitories and local homes. The students held a Student Congress on Friday and Saturday.

198

1994-1995 The choir programs were worked out with some reduction of scheduled hours for rehearsal. Some of the rehearsals would be scheduled in the 8th hour, which may have had a negative effect on students signing up for choir.

The administration resolved who should conduct chapel by determining that male instructors from either track could serve as chaplains in the morning chapel. A theme and texts for the year would be provided, but individuals could make variations.

Some 30 names were suggested for the new school. Those included Luther Ministerial College, WELS Ministerial College, Castile College, and Martin Luther College. The governing board chose Martin Luther College. The college also received a new address: 1995 Luther Court.

The DMLC and NWC students received a survey on various issues for the coming amalgamation. The responses from the two student groups were quite similar: more parking spaces, better food choices, and better opportunity to obtain jobs. The NWC students felt a stronger satisfaction with their college than the DMLC students felt for their college.

As a result of amalgamation and the increase in tuition, the BME was estimating a reduction of the synod subsidy—a cut of $350,000 might be possible in the school’s budget. The administration of the new college worked with the BME to arrive at a base budget for the new college in 1995-1996. The bottom line was $7,765,472.

The BME also provided the college with a programmed maintenance policy. To give a perspective, the Board of Trustees provided an account of the total assets of the synod. For insurance purposes, the value of all assets of the synod was $135,138,810.

The value of assets of the new college was $38,193,000. The Prairie du Chien campus, which was to be sold the following year, had an asset value of $3,161,800 without contents. Unfortunately, in 1993-1994 the synod’s expenditures were nearly a million dollars over revenue.

199

Amalgamation 2 President Olsen arranged a meeting of the administration of the new college, including some 20 persons from both NWC and DMLC, to help the administration begin on the same page. The three-day meeting was held in April 1995 at the Lutheran Brotherhood offices in Minneapolis. Other than the committees of the previous year, this was the first time the two faculties talked together about the new college. Everyone knew everyone because WELS is small enough to have had nearly everyone be a relative or a school classmate.

But this was about a school, and discomfort about this amalgamation thing persisted. People spoke with caution.

The jokes were only the ones that all WELS workers know and use. The meeting met its purpose, but it didn’t solve all the issues. There was an upside, however—everyone attending got a cap emblazoned with “MLC.”

Members of the new MLC administration received this souvenir cap at their first joint meeting. David M. Gosdeck, the new librarian from NWC, contributed his to the MLC archives.

Other Curriculum Changes The education division proposed an 11-week student teaching term accomplished by overlapping the two student-teaching terms in a semester. The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools recommended this during two visits, and the board accepted that change in the calendar. The change occurred in 1996-1997 for the seniors.

The education division also proposed a remake of the professional education curriculum. A study of the current curriculum over two years uncovered an overlap of topics. Other changes reflected the changing needs of WELS schools and the requirements of the Minnesota state certification guidelines. The 200

1994-1995 division recommended the revised curriculum to the Academic Council and the faculty in January 1995.

The college prepared and distributed a survey of graduates between 1989 and 1993 as a preparation for changes in the curriculum and other issues. The survey noted that 40 percent of the graduates over those years had no debt or their debt was of little concern. The alumni were very conservative about any changes in the curriculum.

Another attempt was made to define a teaching load at the amalgamated college. Fifteen class hours with six preps a week and three courses per semester were set as the norm. The president would determine out-of-class duties, which were included in the report.

The board again advised the education division to pursue approval of the Minnesota Board of Teaching for the education program leading to licensure.

Construction The remodeled cafeteria now met legal requirements at the cost of $26,000. The board signed a new food contract with Pioneer Food Service after a review of the bids of five food service companies. Pioneer served only Christian colleges, and they were willing to put $100,000 of their own funds into redesigning the cafeteria. This would provide a greater degree of variety and quantity than was previously offered. Some saw this as a change from the typical high school and grade school cafeteria where students are given their meal. In a college setting students select what they want.

The Link was completed a month ahead of schedule, in April. The remodeling and restoration of Summit Hall cost $1,800,000. Work began in April 1994. It was ready for occupancy in October 1994.

201

Amalgamation 2

The link between Old Main and the former Administration Building became Martin Luther College’s main entrance, often referred to as the flag lot entrance.

The link holds the reception area, classroom space, and faculty and staff offices.

In December 1994 Centennial Hall received new doorframes and transoms, new windows, and an inside paint job.

The updated electrical service eliminated blackouts. Construction workers replaced the built-in desk counters, removed internal woodwork and asbestos tile, repainted the walls, and carpeted the rooms. The building once again became a women’s dormitory and was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1995.

The work on Old Main began in January 1995, restructuring the basement, first, second, and third floors, and installing an elevator for each of the floors between the Link and Old Main.

It included five classrooms, a computer lab, and faculty offices.

The building got new wiring, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and a sprinkler system. The print shop in the basement was remodeled, and an art room was built on the first floor. An early extension on the west side of Old Main (the Dog House) was removed. During the removal workers discovered an old cistern, which may have been the water supply for Old Main in the late 1800s. The hope surfaced that uncovering that extension and the cistern would reveal a huge treasure trove placed there at the turn of the century. Several faculty members stood around looking for the treasure. Nothing was found.

202

1994-1995 Faculty with offices in Old Main vacated their offices on the last weekend in February. Some moved to Hillview Hall’s basement. Others remained without an office until early August.

In May 1995 a new steam tunnel was dug between the boiler house and the Academic Center, avoiding the original connections in the Music Hall.

Hillview Hall remained a women’s dormitory. Summer brought the installation of a new water heater, work on the showers, and a coat of paint.

Access to Luther Manor was available in July 1995. The former residents of what was then called Highland Manor had moved to a new convalescent building near the hospital. The building was turned into a student residence with two dorms in the building. The front housed up to 30 college men, and the back housed 70 college women. Quarters for supervisors were built, and some rooms were made into shower rooms.

The library holdings increased with the addition of the NWC library. Before the NWC books moved to New Ulm, NWC changed their call numbers from the Dewey Decimal Classification to the Library of Congress Classification used

by DMLC. All holdings were also electronically coded. A special gift with a match from Lutheran Brotherhood allowed the reworking of the library system, a computer network for the college, a communication system in the dorms, and a new sound system in the gym.

In the Academic Center the labs were converted into classrooms. New labs were built into the Link. A new staircase was added on the east end. The faculty room on the first floor was expanded. All work was completed in the summer of 1995.

President Olsen was installed at the 1995 Synod Convention. At the beginning of the 1995-1996 academic year, on August 27, the installation of the MLC faculty took place.

203

Amalgamation 2

DMLC Seal.

NWC Seal.

The Luther Memorial Union has the NWC seal put into one of its walls. A similar DMLC seal is placed on the opposite wall. New offices were constructed for the athletic director, the assistant athletic directors, and the physical education chair.

A Bit of History and the President President Lawrenz overruled a decision the faculty made regarding a student. By so doing the president referred to a rare right that presidents of the synodical schools hold. This right was affirmed at a difficult time in the history of WELS when a group of pastors and congregations left the synod in 1924 and following. The issue was who had the final say in admitting and dismissing a student at synodical schools.

In 1924 the NWC faculty investigated some young men charged with stealing. The faculty then followed up by dismissing several students. The president was not part of that action.

When the NWC Board of Control learned of the suspension, the majority of the board overturned the faculty suspensions.

The faculty objected, but the board claimed that they had the final say on suspensions. The incident mushroomed. Some faculty members resigned, and various pastors and professors 204

1994-1995 took sides. The result was that a group of pastors and churches left the synod (or claimed an existence of protestation within the synod). The group, called the Protéstants, continue as a church body to this day, and they claim that the synod was wrong on several issues.

Thus the synod policy was clarified. Only the board could suspend or dismiss a student, and by the same logic, only the board could admit a student. For practical reasons the board’s responsibility was given to the president, whose decision then was confirmed by the board. In this arrangement the faculty could only recommend the president dismiss a student.

Every year, in its September meeting, the board of control reviews its duties and responsibilities. That document states “the Board shall accept ultimate responsibility for all dismissals and expulsions, as they are executed by the president.” Every president in every synod school knows this rule even though they may not know its history. In nearly every case presidents, wisely, accept the faculty’s recommendation regarding a student. But occasionally, the president overrules and then announces at a faculty meeting his decision in a serious, cautious statement.

The faculty or the deans never object. Perhaps they know the history. John C. Lawrenz knew the history, and he made one of those vetoes in his second year at DMLC.

Other The 1994-1995 student body anticipated changes—they knew a committee of NWC and DMLC students was meeting and discussing many things. So they looked forward to new things, but they also believed that there were things about DMLC that would never change regardless of its name: • Guys have cable; the girls still don’t.

• Mattresses in Hillview Hall are older than students.

• Sunday brunch is meat, potatoes, and stuffing.

205

Amalgamation 2 • Binoculars are on the fourth floor.

• Things to do in New Ulm never change.

• Certain professors never change their wardrobe.

• Football players never change their practice t-shirts.

In May 1995 the state of Wisconsin bought the MLPS campus in Prairie du Chien for $2,500,000, approximately the amount for which the synod had purchased the school. The state turned the school into a juvenile correctional institution for non-assaultive male youthful offenders and built a fence around the campus.

The perception arose among the students and others that there would be fewer teaching assignments in the spring of 1995, and not all students would receive a call. In response, President John C. Lawrenz proposed an option for the students called Stand Aside for Special Service to begin in 1994-1995.

He presented this plan to the seniors.

The board honored the request of the NWC juniors to move the Sprinter statue to the New Ulm campus. The Sprinter was a gift to NWC in the early 1900s in connection with the building of the first gym on the Watertown campus. The cost of moving the Sprinter to New Ulm, primarily insurance costs, prompted the board to decide that the Sprinter would remain in Watertown. The students at NWC, however, disagreed, and took the Sprinter hostage. They hid it well, but it was finally located.

A persevering student convinced the board that the Sprinter should move with the students to New Ulm. It was successfully moved without a crack.

The new board supported the president taking more responsibility for development—fundraising.

The new board agreed to rename the buildings on the campus. Among the number of suggestions, one would name all the buildings by a German name: 206

1994-1995

The sprinter statue was moved from Watertown to New Ulm.

• Old Main would be “Verlassen Sie.” • Summit Hall would be “Heimreise Hall.”

• Academic Center would be “Richter.”

• Hillview Hall would be “Erbschaft Hall.”

• Music Center would be “Muzikzentvum.”

• Highland Hall would be “Fernwohnen Hall.”

207

Amalgamation 2 The administration and the board decided this would not work because the words were hard to say and there were no Norwegian names. So… • Highland Hall became Concord.

• Hillview Hall became Augustana.

• Luther Memorial Union became Luther Student Center.

• Academic Center became Wittenberg Collegiate Center.

• Everything else stayed the same: Old Main, Summit Hall, Centennial Hall, Library, Music Center, and Music Hall.

The new names for the two tracks went through several changes. Before the amalgamation went into effect, the board and the Board for Ministerial Education (BME) rejected the terms “school” or “college." They settled on Pastoral Ministry Studies and Educational Ministry Studies, but the abbreviations didn’t work well. The names became Studies in the Pastoral Ministry and Studies in the Educational Ministry. Currently they are the Pre-Seminary Program and Education Program.

There is also a Staff Ministry Program.

In January 1995 the board accepted the makeup of the proposed administration, which included an academic council consisting of the eight division chairs. The board also approved the assignment of the 15 coaches for the 16 sports programs.

The new college, Martin Luther College, filed Articles of Consolidation with the Minnesota Secretary of State before July 1, 1995, the transfer to the new college.

The BME advised the synodical schools to consider the greater use of adjunct faculty to provide flexibility in the staffing of the faculty. Nothing came of that.

The 1995 Synod Mission Offerings, the largest source of income for the synod, were below projections. The BME and the Coordinating Council had concerns about the financial issues facing the synodical schools. This, together with a 3.8 208

1994-1995 percent inflation rate, suggested the need for at least $1,000,000 annually to carry out existing programs. Half a million dollars could be cut from the current budgets of the synodical schools.

The delayed maintenance of the schools had resulted in a need to address safety-related issues.

Following several lengthy discussions in January and April 1995, the MLC board, in August 1995, gave the administration the authority to assign female professors to classes that males attend; doing so did not violate scriptural principles.

The College Choir toured through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. They sang at 24 congregations and area Lutheran high schools. The tour included a lot of bus time.

The NWC Board of Control made a gift of a seven-foot bronze statue of Martin Luther to the new college.

The faculty recommended that 22 men in the elementary education program, eight men in the secondary education program, and 38 women in the elementary education program be assigned to WELS schools. Twelve graduates requested deferment, declined assignment, or did not receive recommendation for assignment. Twenty female graduates were married or had plans to be married. Although not eligible for assignment by the Assignment Committee, they would be available for a call near where they would live.

Dr. Martin Luther College convened its final faculty meeting on May 14, 1995, at 7:15 pm. It was a routine meeting. There were the usual student academic reviews and recommendations for eight students. Several students were added to the eligible list for student teaching. Students who had a GPA of at least 3.5 were on the dean’s list: 24 first-year students, 35 sophomores, 50 juniors, 62 seniors, and 7 secondary education students. The faculty voted that students who scored three or above on the AP test in music would be exempted from 4015, Elements of Music. President Lawrenz read a thank you from 209

Amalgamation 2

The Northwestern College Board of Control gifted both Martin Luther College and Luther Preparatory School with a Martin Luther statue.

Les Ring for the gift presented to him on his retirement from the print shop. Faculty members could take any of the bushes being removed from the end of the parking lot. At 10:41 pm the meeting adjourned with the singing of “God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage.”

210

1994-1995 Sarah M. Westphal, the 1994-1995 editor of the student publication, the DMLC Messenger, knew this would be the last issue and could not miss the opportunity to give some final words—as students are wont to do. The editor wound up and delivered the following: “What’s the big deal about amalgamating? All DMLC’s doing is dropping the ‘D’ and finding a new Sarah M. Westphal mascot! All this hoopla over a slightly altered anagram and an armored individual, right? Even if the matter is reduced to this level of simplicity, it still has repercussions aplenty. Hundreds of cafeteria trays with DMLC emblazoned on their surface, for one. Still, one can’t help but look back— nostalgia is like a potential sneeze; the tickle in our emotions is half-welcome in its sharpness. While there is no harm in teasing our senses with a wisp of poignancy, we do not want to spray our neighbors with a liberal fountain of bursting melancholy…

“One firmly established tradition is the DMLC Messenger itself, companion to countless mailboxes for nearly 85 years of DMLC’s existence. The aged bearer of news has weaned itself of the German mother tongue it once indulged in, as well as of almost every staff member of the male persuasion. Before its voice is lost entirely in the annals of time, let us give the DMLC Messenger of the past one last chance to air its vocal cords. In the spirit of a century’s worth of DMLC Homecomings and sweaty football players, the 1934 the DMLC Messenger offers an insight of enduring significance.”

At this point the erudite editor launches into a rather lengthy 1934 discussion of the Studentenwissenschaft, roughly translated as “what goes on in the huddles.” We hope that somewhere, in some school, that teacher is teaching and still writing.

Sarah A. Swift wrote in the May edition of the DMLC Messenger that students should “seize the day.” “The day” was the last Arbor Day, the last DMLC Messenger published, the last week of college, and the last year of DMLC. The writer reflected 211

Amalgamation 2 on the thousands of people who have memories of their years at DMLC. “DMLC had given each graduate a legacy to carry on, the training and commitment to teach God’s Word to his little lambs. Though our school has changed, its mission has remained the same, and we know that this will hold true as we undergo the biggest change yet.”

Sarah A. Swift

The DMLC Messenger couldn’t miss the opportunity to give some sardonic humor. The best things about the amalgamation included, “Great new pick-up lines—‘Hey babe, what’s your tract [sic]?’” “Men, no longer on the endangered species list.”

“Women: relieved from the stress associated with leadership.”

“No more student surveys.” “Herman and the Sprinter—who could ask for more?”

A sidebar: the DMLC Messenger has been an opportunity for students to hone their writing skills and to explore what they can do with words. Their English teachers read their writings, sometimes with dismay, but most of the time they read with pride, and those professors smiled because the rhetorical essay in the first-year student English class did work. All this was before texting and the ever-present iPhone.

The last Excelsior, the DMLC yearbook, had a dedication written by its co-editors. “Throughout the 111 years Dr. Martin Luther College has been in existence, thousands of people taught, graduated, worked, and grew spiritually. It is to those people Lori M. Bavuso and Patricia M. Rusert, co-editors Lori M. Bavuso of this final Excelsior, dedicate the 1994-1995 yearbook, The Last Lancer Crusade." The yearbook ended with, “…are some of you also wondering if anything will Patricia M. Rusert stay the same? …There will be nervous 212

1994-1995 freshmen and eager seniors all over campus. But all of us will have a common goal in the end—getting an education in the ministry of the Word to spread Christ’s light throughout the world.”

Student Housing • Luther Manor housed men in the front of the dormitory (east half ) until October.

• Luther Manor housed women in the back of the dormitory (west half ).

• Summit Hall opened for male students in October, just behind the painters.

• Seniors had permission to live off campus.

The meeting of the students from NWC with the students from DMLC in March recommended, and the board agreed, that each dormitory would have a specially equipped designated room for smoking.

Events and Sports Events • Homecoming: A Blast from the Past • The DMLC and NWC band combined in a concert.

• Musical: Brigadoon • Snow Carnival: Tall Tales and Heroes • Children’s Theatre: Who Can Fix the Dragon’s Wagons • Spring Play: Twelfth Night • Spring Activities Banquet: Thanks for the Memories

213

Amalgamation 2

Chrystal M. Sveom and Andrew S. Aguilar reenact Grant Wood’s American Gothic painting during Snow Carnival.

Sports The college held membership in the National Small College Athletic Association (NSCAA), an association that offered national championship competition.

Women (Midwestern Women’s Athletic Conference) Volleyball: 27-8 record and another championship title at the NSCAA National Tournament in Michigan.

Cross Country: First in conference and Nationals for the fifth year in a row.

Soccer: 4-5 record. “We kick tough! We play tough! We are tough!”

Basketball: Went to Nationals in Tennessee.

214

1994-1995 Softball: 5-12-5 record.

Tennis: A 12-member team.

Track: Though a small team, they competed well.

Men (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) Football: 4-5 record, but they defeated Northwestern 36-12—the last time those two teams would face each other on the football field. Five team members were First Team All-Conference winners.

Cross Country: Second in conference and Nationals.

Golf: Finished third in the conference finale.

Basketball: 8-16 record. Lost to Northwestern by 1 point. Again, the next time they played, they would all be sitting on the same side.

Baseball: 8-9-1 record.

Tennis: 5-4 record.

Track: A determined handful of men.

The DMLC Drama Club ended their 27 years of drama by going to Scotland and giving an excellent performance of Brigadoon. Ironically, the musical is about a village that appears for a day and then disappears, and one of the songs was, “There But for You Go I.” In the end, Tommy wants to return to the village in the Scotland highland, but he knows it is no longer there.

Students are often much smarter than any faculty imagines.

Did the students select that musical even as DMLC would disappear into the air on June 30 of that year? Did they do the play and sing the songs thinking of DMLC as they played and sang? Did anyone in the administration or the faculty realize what the students were doing? No student ever said anything, and we will never know.

215

Amalgamation 2

Mr. Lundie, played by Daniel Schultz, tells the story of Brigadoon to Jeff, played by Jeffrey D. Strehlow.

Shout-Outs There were thousands—the students, the faculty, the administration, the maintenance staff, the secretaries, the librarians, the construction workers, the people who painted the lines for 602 parking places, but as Benjamin Franklin said, art is long and time is short. So recognizing the previous list, these are the selected ones: Arthur J. Schulz: He served with five presidents—Carl L. Schweppe, Conrad I. Frey, Lloyd O. Huebner, John C. Lawrenz, and Theodore B. Olsen. Those five were wise to listen to Art 216

1994-1995 Schulz. He guided DMLC for 39 years and then went on to serve MLC for 10 more years.

He shepherded the faculty through curriculum revisions, regional accreditation, academic policies, research feedback from the constituents, and professional development of the faculty, and he chaired uncountable meetings. He never carried a grudge, and his focus was always on Arthur J. Schulz providing the students at DMLC/MLC with the best possible education and preparation for teaching. He always spoke up when the college was in danger from a lack of money or about ideas that were not suitable for the college. He did it all quietly, putting himself in back. God blessed the college through him.

John C. Lawrenz: The tenth president of DMLC was also its last. Lawrenz was a polymath. He could organize a Seder, provide a recipe for “never-fail” matzo balls, and lead a nirtzah. He was a Hebrew scholar, wrote poetry, drew designs, and took on any task.

Most important, his heart was always for the President Lawrenz students—that they would have a good learnconducts a Seder. ing environment that included God’s Word, Christian fellowship, a wide sports program, teachers who care, and a good mattress. He also presented options for graduates who did not receive a call, indicating the mission work that could be done in China. When he left MLC in 1996, he left a legacy for the college—try something new and be faithful servants to our Lord.

Tenured Facult y Changes New instructors: None The BME instructed the boards to hold up any calls until the NWC faculty and the DMLC faculty accepted their calls.

217

Amalgamation 2 Instructors leaving: • Bruce R. Backer (music, retirement) • Richard E. Buss (English, retirement) • Francis L. Schubkegel (music, retirement)

Bruce R. Backer

Richard E. Buss

Francis L. Schubkegel

Numbers • Students: 571 • Faculty: 60 (76, when including the president and the new pastor-track academic dean plus the faculty from NWC; two positions in music remained to be called) • Tuition: $1685 / semester • Board & Room: $940 / semester • Synod Subsidy: DMLC- 42 percent / new college- 39 percent

Fini President Lawrenz, with the concurrence of the faculty and administration, determined that there would be no special event marking the close of DMLC. Such an event would be uncomfortable for some. He did ask two retiring faculty members to come up with something, but nothing came of that. A special service for the graduates was arranged that year. Professor Ronald L. Shilling composed the setting for a concertato titled One, One, One with text by President Lawrenz. The seniors 218

1994-1995 wrote their own class hymn, and Lawrenz preached for the graduation. There was also a display of stories and pictures by some grade school children thanking DMLC for training teachers for 111 years.

Lawrenz’s text for One, One, One had five stanzas based on Ephesians 4:3-6, where Paul combines three ones, making 111: one body, one Spirit, one hope; and one Lord, one faith, one baptism. These are three of those stanzas: One Lord, one faith, one water Of washing with the Word; One God, the wise Creator, Whose Holy Spirit stirred In us true faith in Jesus The Savior of mankind; Who shapes us as he pleases In body, soul, and mind. *** In some he works the wonder Of apostolic sight; In some he rolls the thunder Of preaching Christ aright; To some he gives the wee ones To teach them heaven’s way; All saints he wants to be ones Who grow in grace each day.

*** One Lord, one faith, one body; One bond uniting all; No patience for what’s shoddy; No work of love too small.

In gratitude we give thanks; In hope we gaze ahead; In times of woe we close ranks; With song we praise our Head.

John C. Lawrenz 219

Amalgamation 2 There is no photo or other record that shows the stories and artwork from Lutheran elementary school children that graced the halls of the college. But it is a nice thought and in keeping with the warnings in the preface to this history, you, the reader, can draw your own conclusion.

Fini, Fini Who knows for sure what is real and what is story in those last years? Think about this: The graduation of the class of 1995 was over. The builders had left campus. They would return the next day to work on the dormitories, the Link, the Academic Center, and Old Main.

It was June 30, a Sunday night. All was quiet. A group of four persons, three DMLC faculty members and a faculty member’s wife, made their way to Old Main—where this history started.

It was near 11:00 at night. At midnight DMLC would disappear. The four went inside and up the stairs to the third floor.

Old Main was sort of dozing. Its insides had been remodeled, and it probably hurt a bit. It was also slouching, as old things do.

When the four reached the third floor, one of them, more athletic than the others, climbed a ladder and opened the locked box where the rope for the bell was stored. The administration had locked the rope in the box because uncontrolled students would ring the bell for just about anything. The bell had been there forever. At one time it rang when the dining hall was open, and students could come to Old Main for supper. Sometimes it rang for each member of the graduating class. It also rang at other times, just for fun.

With the rope free, one of the faculty members from the science department began the count. At each number the bell was rung—111 times. A new tutor came into the building to ask why the bell was ringing. When he realized the notable persons who were there, he quietly left. No one else was on 220

1994-1995 campus, the security detail was not yet functioning, the neighbors probably did not hear it, and the president was asleep.

At the 111th ring, the athletic faculty member climbed up and replaced the rope.

The four walked down and out of the building. It was 12:02 am and there was no longer a DMLC, but there was an MLC. No one looked back at Old Main, but if he or she had, he or she would have wondered. Old Main slouched no longer; the steeple was straight and tall; every window was sharp, clear, and bright.

Old Main looked like it did on November 9, 1884, after Herman Schapekahm built it.

It wasn’t 111 years old; it was two minutes old. It wasn’t part of an old school; it was part of the beginning of a new school.

And, it would watch over a new set of students for another 111 years or whatever years the Lord has in mind. Old Main would be there as a new history and new stories are written.

The original locked box still holds the bell rope that connects to the original bell.

221

1994–1995 TENURED FACULTY Ames E. Anderson Music

Bruce R. Backer Music

Paul R. Boehlke

Mathematics/Science

Drew M. Buck Education

Richard E. Buss English

Gary G. Carmichael Mathematics/Science

Lawrence J. Czer English

Gary L. Dallmann Education

John H. Gronholz Education

Beverlee M. Haar Education

Theodore J. Hartwig Religion/Social Studies

J. Lance Hartzell Education

Earl R. Heidtke

Science and Education Religion/Social Studies

Roger A. Hermanson Music

Thomas N. Hunter English

222

Charles E. Hussman Education

John R. Isch Education

Gerald J. Jacobson English

Roger C. Klockziem Mathematics/Science

Arnold J. Koelpin

Religion/Social Studies

Arlen L. Koestler English

Judith Kresnicka Music

Robert H. Krueger

Religion/Social Studies

Lyle W. Lange

Religion/Social Studies

John C. Lawrenz

Religion/Social Studies

Mark J. Lenz

Religion/Social Studies

Barbara L. Leopold Education

LeRoy N. Levorson

English Religion/Social Studies

Charles H. Luedtke Music

Irma R. McLean Education

223

Marvin L. Meihack

Science Religion/Social Studies

Rolland R. Menk Education

Edward H. Meyer Music

John H. Micheel

Mathematics/Science

Jack N. Minch Education

John P. Nolte Music

Lawrence O. Olson

Religion/Social Studies

John W. Paulsen

Mathematics/Science

David J. Pelzl

Mathematics/Science

Gene R. Pfeifer Education

Darvin H. Raddatz

Religion/Social Studies

Otto H. Schenk Music

John H. Schibbelhut Education

Timothy J. Schroeder English

Francis L. Schubkegel Music

224

Joyce C. Schubkegel Music

Arthur J. Schulz Education

John A. Sebald Recruitment

Ronald L. Shilling Music

Martin P. Sponholz Mathematics/Science

Alan M. Spurgin Education

Robert J. Stoltz Education

Gwendolyn A. Tjernagel Music

Wayne L. Wagner Music

David O. Wendler Education

Howard L. Wessel Education

Cynthia E. Whaley Education

Michael A. Woldt

Religion/Social Studies

Frederick H. Wulff

Religion/Social Studies

Harold D. Yotter

Mathematics/Science

225

APPENDIX SCHOOLS

DMLC: Dr. Martin Luther College MLC: Martin Luther College MLPS: Martin Luther Preparatory School; Martin Luther Prep MLS: Michigan Lutheran Seminary MLTC: Milwaukee Lutheran Teachers College MVL: Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School NWC: Northwestern College NWP: Northwestern Preparatory School; Northwestern Prep WLC: Wisconsin Lutheran College WLS: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary

SYNOD AND ACADEMIA

BME: Board for Ministerial Education, originally the BWT the board: DMLC Board of Control or MLC Governing Board BORAM: Book of Reports and Memorials BWT: Board for Worker Training CMO: Congregation Mission Offerings

The DMLC Messenger : 1984/85-1987 and 1989/90-1995. The Messenger : 1987/88-1989 ECE: Early Childhood Education EFE: Early Field Experience FSC: Feasibility Study Committee North Central: North Central Association of Colleges and Schools STEP: Secondary Teacher Education Program WELS: Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

226

PICTURE CREDITS 1984-1985 Children’s Literature Room, p. 2: Professor Emeritus Delmar C. Brick Werner H. Franzmann, p. 5: Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, used by permission Football player, p. 21: Amy Jo Brandel, The Journal 1985-1986 STEP logo artwork, p. 30: Professor James H. Wandersee Registration, p. 32: Professor Emeritus Otto H. Schenk Lutheran Educator, p. 34: Lois J. Bode Summer session, p. 36: Professor James H. Wandersee At Memorial Organ. p. 39: Courtney E. Meyer 1986-1987 Library, p. 54: Professor Emeritus Otto H. Schenk 1987-1988 Jukebox float, p. 74: Professor James H. Wandersee Raggedy Ann and Andy, p. 75: Mike Hatle, The Journal Basketball player, p. 77: Gary Nelson, The Journal 1988-1989 NWP Dormitory, p. 81: Professor Emeritus Jack N. Minch Princess Esmeralda, p. 91: The Journal 1989-1990 WELS Seal, p. 95: Professor Emeritus Glenn E. Bode 227

1990-1991 Campus map, p. 124: Professor Emeritus John Isch 1991-1992 MLPS chapel, p. 130: Professor Emeritus Jack N. Minch 1992-1993 Graduate, p. 140: Professor Emeritus Otto H. Schenk 1993-1994 Michigan Lutheran Seminary, p. 158: Elaine Zelenka Summit Ave entrance, p. 169: Lois J. Bode Highland Manor, p. 170: The Journal Knight painting, p. 178: Professor Emeritus Jack N. Minch MLC Seal, p. 181: Professor Emeritus Glenn E. Bode 1994-1995 Bird display, p. 196: Professor Emeritus Glenn E. Bode Athletic logo caps, p. 198: Lois J. Bode MLC souvenir cap, p. 200: Lois J. Bode DMLC Seal, p. 204: Professor Emeritus Glenn E. Bode NWC Seal, p. 204: Professor Emeritus Glenn E. Bode Sprinter, p. 207: Professor Emeritus Glenn E. Bode Luther statue, p. 210: Lois J. Bode Bell ringing, p. 221: Professor Emeritus Glenn E. Bode Additional photos courtesy of Martin Luther College.

228

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Professor Emeritus John Isch, PhD, retired after a 46 year teaching career in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). His experience includes 12 years as an elementary school teacher, 25 years as an education professor at Dr. Martin Luther College (DMLC), New Ulm, MN, and 9 years at Martin Luther College, the college’s new name after DMLC’s merger with Northwestern College, Watertown, WI. His familiarity with the WELS worker training system as a whole contributes a thorough understanding of education to his books.

Isch is and was sought after as an author, educational consultant, department chair, conference speaker, licensure officer and graduate studies director. His numerous books and professional articles address various educational themes. He authored Train Up a Child, The Generation to Come, and How a Child Learns, among others. For 17 years he edited the Lutheran Educator, a professional journal for WELS teachers, to which he frequently contributed articles. In retirement he also writes for the Brown County Historical Society in New Ulm.

229