含羞草视频

Distinguished Alumni Award

For Rachel Engebretson 鈥�98, justice is not an abstract ideal. It is a family reunited, a survivor protected, a person freed from unlawful detention, and a government held to the rule of law.

For nearly three decades, Engebretson has built her life around making those outcomes possible. An immigration attorney, federal litigator, mentor, and founder of Engebretson Law Firm, she represents individuals and families navigating some of the most complex and consequential moments of their lives. Her work spans family reunification, asylum, naturalization, removal defense, consular processing, waivers, and federal court litigation. Across every setting, she brings the same combination of precision, courage, and humanity.

That calling took shape at Augsburg. As a sophomore in 1996, Engebretson accepted her first job in the legal field from an Augsburg adjunct professor. She graduated with honors in 1998 and went on to earn her Juris Doctor cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in 2008 and practiced with Fishman, Binsfeld, & Bachmeier. By then, she had already spent more than a decade learning immigration practice from the ground up – from administrative filings and legal research to courtroom advocacy. Augsburg did more than prepare her for a profession; it gave her a community in which vocation, service, and justice belonged together. Engebretson currently operates Engebretson Law Firm, P.A., which she organized in 2019.

Engebretson’s advocacy has long centered people whose voices are too easily ignored: families separated by borders, women escaping domestic violence and gender-based persecution, children at risk of forced female genital mutilation, workers seeking lawful opportunity, and individuals facing removal or detention. She has served the Minnesota-Dakotas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, including as a liaison with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and has shared her expertise through continuing legal education for fellow attorneys. Just as mentors once opened doors for her, she now opens them for others – including the many Auggies she has hired, trained, and encouraged.

She has represented immigrants in nearly three dozen federal cases, helping clients navigate complex legal proceedings and advocating for due process and access to counsel. Her current federal litigation includes work related to immigrant visa processing affecting people from 75 countries. These cases reflect the defining quality of her career: when the stakes rise, Rachel moves toward the need.

Rachel’s Augsburg story is also a family story. Her father, the Rev. Larry Olson; her husband, Dan Engebretson, her son Mitch, her uncle the Rev. Cedric Olson, and cousins Julie Hendricks and Tom (& Laura) Olson are all Auggies. Her deepest connection to Augsburg is not found in a list of names or dates. It is found in the way she lives: thinking critically, responding faithfully, serving boldly, and using education in defense of human dignity. The doors once opened for her have become doors she opens for others – colleagues, young lawyers, clients, and the many Auggies she has hired, trained, and encouraged.听

Rachel lives in Minnesota and is married to Dan Engebretson. They have two adult children of their own, Maija (Gannon) Volk & Mitch Engebretson. Rachel is also exceptionally grateful for and proud of her extended family and dear friends and embraces her role as 鈥渁untie鈥� in the lives of many others.

Rachel Engebretson does not measure her career by cases alone. She measures it in restored lives, families made whole, and doors opened for the next generation. That is what it means to chase justice – and that is why Augsburg is proud to honor one of its own.

 

Jane Helmke 鈥�83 is the executive editor for MPR News. Jane joined MPR in 2022 as Interim Managing Editor and was appointed Executive Editor in November of the same year. She leads a team of journalists, including the enterprise/investigative unit APM Reports, all working to include, inform, and inspire Minnesotans daily.鈥�听

Before joining MPR News, Jane had a distinguished, decades-long career at NBC affiliate KARE 11 in Minneapolis, one of the nation鈥檚 top-rated broadcasting newsrooms, holding various positions from intern to news director. She served on the News Directors’ Advisory Committee of NBC News and was a founding officer of the Upper Midwest Emmy Chapter. She also co-created the curriculum for the Emmy class at the University of Minnesota鈥檚 Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication and co-authored the first National Awards for Regional Breaking and Investigative Reporting for the National Television Academy.鈥�鈥�听

Over the course of her career, Jane has been honored with several awards, including the Grand Award at the New York International Film Festival, a National American Women in Radio and Television award, multiple regional Emmys, and several other national honors for her news and documentary work.鈥�听

Jane holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in communications and physical education from Augsburg College, where she graduated cum laude.听 During her collegiate career, she played softball, served as a student worker in the women鈥檚 athletic department and as the school鈥檚 first Sports Information Assistant in public relations.听 Jane also helped launch the Augsburg Women鈥檚 Athletic Club, prior to uniting men and women in the A-Club and began served on the A-Club board.

 

Christina Olstad 鈥�00, 鈥�05 currently serves as the Dean of Students at听the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a position she has held since July of 2019.听 Dr. Olstad has twenty five years of experience in higher education administration, leadership development, residential life, and social justice education.听 She received undergraduate and master鈥檚 degrees in social work from 含羞草视频 and an Ed.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Vermont.听 Prior to joining UW-Madison, she served as Interim Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at Towson University in Towson, Maryland.

She鈥檚 also held positions at 含羞草视频, the University of New England, the University of Vermont, and Semester at Sea.听 Christina is a proud Auggie who is committed to serving future generations and supporting student success. She lives in Monona, Wisconsin with her wife, Kirsten Fricke and their two sons.

 

Mark Sedio 鈥�76 is an active recitalist, clinician, conductor, and composer who has presented hymn festivals and workshops throughout North America and Europe. He served as Cantor at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis from 2000 to 2022, at Mount Olive Lutheran Church from 1984 to 2000, and at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa, from 1979 to 1982. Over the past three decades, he has also held various adjunct faculty and instructor positions at 含羞草视频 and Gustavus Adolphus College.

From 1985 to 2008, Sedio held various positions at Luther Seminary, including chapel musician, choir director, organist and instructor in church music. An Augsburg alumnus (B.A. 1976), he served as interim conductor of the Augsburg Choir in 2011 and from 2016 to 2018. He also conducted the University鈥檚 Masterworks Chorale from 2018 to 2020 and the Cedar Singers from 2013 to 2014. In 2020, he was appointed University Organist, a position he continues to hold. He currently serves as co-Cantor at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis.

More than 100 of Sedio鈥檚 compositions for organ, piano, choral, and instrumental ensembles are available through a variety of publishers. His hymn tunes, texts, and harmonizations appear in several denominational hymnals and supplements. He has published numerous articles on worship and church music and has written Sunday School and Vacation Bible School music curricula. His love of foreign-language study and linguistics, combined with an interest in folk music and musical traditions, has fostered a particular interest in global church music.

Sedio holds an M.A. in choral conducting from the University of Iowa (1979) and has pursued studies in the M.Div. program at Luther Seminary and in the Liturgical Studies program at Saint John鈥檚 University in Collegeville, Minnesota. A charter member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, he served on the organization鈥檚 founding board and as its first Director of Ecclesiastical Concerns. He chaired the worship committee for the 2008 national convention of the American Guild of Organists and has served as a liturgical and musical consultant for
numerous denominational gatherings.

An ordained deacon (retired) in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Sedio lives in St. Paul with his spouse, Jeffrey Sartain, an ELCA pastor, and their Lhasa apso, Ibsen. Daughter Katya, son David and their families all live in the Twin Cities.

 

First Decade Award

 

Robert Harper 鈥�16 is a nationally-recognized leader in economic development, business development, workforce development, and economic inclusion. Over the past decade, he has worked across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors advancing strategies that expand economic opportunity and strengthen pathways to prosperity for historically-underserved communities.

As Senior Community Empowerment Manager for Mortenson’s Sports + Entertainment Group, Robert leads community engagement, supplier development, workforce initiatives, and strategic partnerships across some of the nation’s most visible and transformational construction projects. His work focuses on ensuring that projects create lasting economic impact through local hiring, small business participation, mentorship, and community investment.听 Robert believes that mega projects can serve as powerful engines of economic mobility when local businesses and workers are intentionally connected to opportunity. Through Mortenson’s Community Empowerment initiatives, he works to ensure that the communities where Mortenson builds are able to participate in and benefit from the economic opportunities those projects create.

As the first person in his family to graduate from college, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from 含羞草视频 and a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. His vocation is to combat the wealth gap by building bridges that help people, businesses, and communities reach their full potential.

Outside of work, Robert still loves to sing — as he did during his time with the Augsburg Choir, and remains deeply engaged in civic and community leadership. He is a proud member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., serves with several nonprofit and community organizations, and cherishes spending time with his beloved grandmother cheering on Chicago sports teams.

 

Sunny Thao 鈥�19 (she/her) is an emerging Hmong-American theater maker and proud youth worker. Her plays explore female friendships, the life of elders as youths, and the aftereffects of diasporas within the SEA collective. Her writing is inspired by 90’s anime, early Saturday morning cartoons, soapy Asian TV drama shows, and Hmong folklore. She holds a BA in Playwriting, Directing, and Dramaturgy from 含羞草视频.

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Spirit of Augsburg Award

 

Brenda Hemmingsen, III is a beloved cornerstone of the 含羞草视频 community, whose warmth, compassion, and boundless heart have left an unforgettable mark on generations of students and families.

Brenda began her passion for serving others in elementary education at Highland Elementary before bringing her extraordinary spirit to 含羞草视频 (1997鈥�2017). Throughout her remarkable twenty-year journey at Augsburg, she served as the vibrant heart of the campus. She began in the Financial Aid Office, guiding anxious students through application processes with patience and care, before transitioning to Human Resources, and ultimately serving as the Campus Visit Coordinator in the 含羞草视频 Department. In 含羞草视频, she welcomed countless wide-eyed families and mentored teams of 15 to 30 Tour Guide Ambassadors with fierce devotion, inspiring them to share their love for the campus and helping recruit some of the largest incoming classes in the university鈥檚 history.

Her dedication extended far beyond her primary responsibilities鈥攕he served as a champion for her colleagues on the Staff Senate and was recognized by her peers as Augsburg’s Employee of the Year in 2007. Following her time at Augsburg, Brenda continued her dedication to education in the Mounds View School District as a paraprofessional at Island Lake Elementary, where she recently celebrated her well-deserved retirement.

Yet, it was her extraordinary heart that earned her the cherished title of “Momma B.” To thousands of students over the years, Brenda was so much more than an administrative leader鈥攕he was a true home away from home. She was the steady shoulder to lean on, the ultimate cheerleader, a wise mentor, and a loving campus mom who embraced every single person who crossed her path. Her deep connection to Augsburg is a true family affair: she is the brimming-with-pride alumni mother of three incredible Augsburg graduates鈥擥eorge Hemmingsen IV, Gretchen Hopeman, and Grant Hemmingsen.

In her retirement, Brenda is looking forward to spending quality time with her husband of 45 years, George, enjoying their travels together, spoiling their dog Huck, and cherishing precious moments with their 7 grandchildren.

For Momma B, every day was a gift to pour love into others. She took immense joy in meeting every single visitor with her signature, radiant smile and an open heart, always ready with a comforting hug or a listening ear whenever anyone needed it most. Receiving the Auggie Spirit Award is a beautiful tribute to a woman whose radiant light, unconditional kindness, and enduring legacy will forever warm the halls of 含羞草视频.