Concordia College (Minnesota)

Infobox University
name = Concordia College
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motto = Soli Deo Gloria (Latin for "Glory To God Alone")
established = 1891
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type = Private
affiliation = Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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chairman =
chancellor =
president = Dr. Pamela Jolicoeur
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provost =
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faculty = 220
staff =
students = 2,815
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doctoral =
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city = Moorhead
state = Minnesota
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country = USA
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free =
sports =
colors = Maroon, Gold
colours =
nickname = Cobbers
mascot =
athletics =
affiliations = Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
website = [http://www.cord.edu/ www.cord.edu]

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Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota is a private, four year liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It is famous for its Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji, Minnesota.

History

Concordia College was dedicated Oct. 31, 1891, by some of the first Norwegian settlers to the Red River Valley region of the U.S. (North Dakota and Minnesota). Twenty-one students graduated June 7, 1893, during the college's first Commencement. A complete liberal arts college was then formally organized in 1913. From the beginning Concordia has been closely allied with the Lutheran Church. Today, it is one of 28 college and universities associated with the ELCA. There is a sculpture by the regionally distinctive sculptor Paul Granlund in the library.

Academics

There are 24 departments includes 78 majors.
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees are offered. There are also 12 preprofessional programs (including medicine, law, engineering, and dentistry).

Concordia is ranked among the top 10 U.S. liberal arts colleges for the number of students who gain global experience abroad. Concordia students study abroad at a rate 25 times the national average. According to the school's website: Concordia graduates get into medical school at twice the national average. Also, over 93 percent of Concordia graduates applying to law school are accepted. And, more than 95 percent of surveyed Concordia graduates have jobs in their fields or have been admitted to graduate school within six months of graduation.

More Concordia graduates become ordained Lutheran clergy than from any other U.S. college.

In addition to the degrees offered, Concordia is home to a number of student-run organizations. These include The Concordian, the campus newspaper, Concordia On Air, the campus television show and KORD Radio, the campus radio station. Alongside these campus-wide organizations, there are multiple niche groups. If there is not currently a group for a certain interest, it is relatively easy to form one and join the student community.

Athletics

Concordia College is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), which competes in NCAA Division III. Cobber Athletics have a proud tradition, claiming NCAA and NAIA national titles in football, tennis, swimming and diving, track and field, and basketball and the teams perennially compete at the national level with success. Sports offered include football, soccer, volleyball, golf, cross country, hockey, basketball, wrestling, swimming, baseball, softball, and track and field. Concordia has also produced professional athletes as well as olympians. Gary Larsen and Barry Bennett had successful careers in the NFL; Chris Coste currently plays professional baseball and Kris Kruehl competed in the 2000 Olympics in the discus. Former Northern Iowa and UND hall of fame Mens Basketball coach, Rich Glas is excited to begin his tenure with the Cobbers in the 08-09 season.

Former Cobber athlete and football coach Jim Christopherson was inducted in the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame in 2007. Christopherson coached the Cobbers for 32 season from 1969-2000 and compiled a record of 218-101-7. He guided the Cobbers to two NAIA National Championships (1978 & 1981), and won 11 MIAC Conference Titles during his tenure. When Christopherson retired in 2000 he was third in wins among active NCAA Division III coaches. He was among an elite group of coaches who have coached for over 30 years at the same school. Christopherson, who played for the Minnesota Vikings for two seasons, is the first player or coach from Concordia College to receive the college's games highest honor. Christopherson coached 16 All-Americans during his time at Concordia College and produced over 120 athletes that were named to the MIAC All-Conference Team, including his son Reid.

Concordia's beloved mascot is the "Cobber". The history given on the school's official website is:"Swedish students at Hope Academy, another institution in Moorhead at the time, developed a taunting cheer - in mock Norwegian -about Concordia students during the early years, playing off of Concordia's location near fields of corn:

"Corncobs! Corncobs!Hva' ska' di ha? (What will they have?)Lutefisk og lefse! (Lutefisk and Lefse)Ya! Ya! Ya!" (Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!)

"Corncobs" gradually became "Corncobbers" and then "Cobbers" as Concordia students decided to embrace, rather than avoid, the term. Today, students and alumni are proud to call themselves Cobbers."

May Seminars

Many departments including Math, History, Music, Business, Biology, French, Political Science, Russian, Theatre, Sociology, Spanish, Education and Family & Nutritional Sciences offer May Seminars. In providing the opportunity to travel abroad and visit locations of true scholarly importance, the May Seminar programs seek to bring students closer to the things they study in class. May seminars begin at the end of the spring semester and typically last four weeks.

Music

The college is also renowned for its excellent Music Department and associated touring ensembles. The Concordia Choir, critically-acclaimed as ranking among the world's finest a cappella choirs, tours annually throughout the United States as well as abroad every few years. The college also maintains four other choirs, two concert bands, two full orchestras, two handbell choirs, and chamber and jazz ensembles. World renowned conductor and composer, René Clausen, is the conductor of the choir. The choir was founded in 1920 and has performed all over the world. Paul J. Christiansen was conductor of The Concordia Choir for 49 years (until 1986).

The college also presents a well-known Christmas Concert series performed before capacity audiences in Moorhead and at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis each December, with over 20,000 in total attendance over the multiple performances. The concert features the choirs, orchestra and handbell ensemble of Concordia staged before an impressive, unique mural reflecting the theme of each yearly concert. Over 400 students perform in the concert. The first Concordia Christmas Concert was held in 1927.

The Cobber Ring

The Cobber Ring is a longstanding symbol of Cobber pride. Once a student has obtained Junior status they are allowed to purchase a Cobber Ring which is Gold and on the face it has a gold Cobber "C" with the class year inset in it on a maroon stone. As stated by Dr. Carroll L. Engelhardt, Professor of History, Concordia College, "It eventually became an important symbol and a ready means of recognition for family members worldwide." [cite video | title = Concordia On-Air | medium = Student News | publisher = Concordia College Communications Studies and Theatre Art Department | location = Moorhead, Minnesota | date = October 18, 2006]

Notable alumni

* Chris Coste - Major league baseball catcher and infielder.
* David J. Hetland - Liturgical artist
* Coya Knutson - U.S. Congresswoman
* Morrie L. Lanning - former Moorhead, Minnesota Mayor & current Minnesota State House Representative
* Adolph Murie - Biologist, author, ecologist
* Ronald D. Offutt - CEO and founder of RDO Equipment Company and R.D. Offutt Agriculture, the largest potato grower in the world, and the current chairman of the Board of Regents.
* Richard L. Torgerson - President of Luther College (IA)
* Richard Harrison Smith - choral composer and arranger, longtime conductor of the Jamestown College concert choir.
* Gary Larsen - NFL defensive tackle - Purple People Eaters for the Minnesota Vikings
* Roger Gilbertson, MD - President & CEO, MeritCare Health System
* Jim Christopherson - Head Football Coach of the Concordia College Cobbers from 1969-2000. Christopherson was also a linebacker and placekicker for the Minnesota Vikings. Christopherson was recently inducted into the college football hall of fame with others such as Bobby Bowden (Coach, Florida State University) and Emmitt Smith (Running Back, University of Florida).

Past Presidents of Concordia College

* Ingebrikt F. Grose 1891-1893
* Hans H. Aaker 1893-1902
* Rasmus R. Bogstad 1902-1909
* Henry O. Shurson 1909-1911
* Johan A. Aasgaard 1911-1925
* John N. Brown 1925-1951
* Joseph L. Knutson 1951-1975
* Paul J. Dovre 1975-1999
* Thomas W. Thomsen 1999-2003
* Paul J. Dovre 2003-04
* Pamela Jolicoeur 2004-current

Tri-College University

Students who are enrolled at North Dakota State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead can take classes at Concordia without going through additional admission procedures and paying extra costs.

Traditions

* First year students are given a bright yellow beanie hat during orientation upon arrival to campus and are supposed to wear them throughout their orientation week until the last day when everyone gathers on Olin Hill and throws them up into the air. This marks their official beginning of college. (Transfer students receive burgundy beanies and luckily don't have to wear them at all because their orientation is so short). (Also, during the week of orientation, MSUM students come to Concordia College's campus frequently to try to steal their beanies.)

* There is a long standing tradition of skinny dipping in Prexy's Pond after graduation. The most notorious occurrence of this happened on May 7th, 2007 when between 50 and 80 students were caught but not apprehended fleeing the pond unclothed/partially unclothed. No charges were filed for the swim but may still be filed regarding damage to a security guard's golf cart, which the seniors tossed into the pond. Rumors may have thrown this incident out of proportion; Different reports have said up to 200 students were skinny dipping while others have said that 20 to 50 were 'skivvy dipping' (in their underwear), and the golf cart rolled in on its own. [ [http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1153194.html Star Tribune article] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.in-forum.com/specials/century/jan3/week49.html Faith and reason: The history of Concordia College] - Craig McEwen, "The Forum," 11/28/1999
* [http://www.arcasearch.com/us/mn/ The Concordian] This online edition of the student newspaper contains complete content from 1920 to spring 2006.