HR0981 LRB096 21462 KXB 37976 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate the staff,
4 faculty, students, and alumni of Augustana College in Rock
5 Island as they celebrate the college's sesquicentennial; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Augustana College, an independent, selective,
7 liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran
8 Church in America (ELCA), traces its roots to the universities
9 of Uppsala and Lund in Sweden; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Augustana was founded under the auspices of the
11 Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, a national
12 church body then almost exclusively comprising recent
13 Scandinavian immigrants to America; the school's first
14 president was the Reverend Lars Paul Esbjörn, who opened the
15 Augustana Seminary in a small frame building on Superior Street
16 in Chicago on September 1, 1860; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Reverend Esbjörn returned to Sweden in 1863, and
18 the early leaders of the Augustana Synod decided to move their
19 school to an agrarian setting; in response to an offer from the
20 Illinois Central Railroad to sell 1,000 acres of farmland at a
21 subsidized price, Augustana relocated to Paxton, under the
22 presidency of the Reverend Dr. Tufve Nilsson Hasselquist; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, By 1875 Augustana moved to Rock Island, a more
2 central location among the growing number of Augustana Synod
3 congregations; more than 2,500 people assembled on October 14,
4 1875, for the dedication of the first Rock Island building of
5 Augustana College and Theological Seminary; and
 
6     WHEREAS, A second building, East Hall, was constructed in
7 1875, and the cornerstone for Memorial Hall, now known as Old
8 Main, was laid in 1884; and
 
9     WHEREAS, On July 1, 1975, Dr. Thomas Tredway became
10 president after serving for five years as dean of the college
11 and 11 years as a member of the history faculty; during his
12 tenure the library, the Science Building, and the Franklin W.
13 Olin Center for Educational Technology were all erected; in
14 recognition of his service the library was dedicated as the
15 Thomas Tredway Library in 2003; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Augustana's current president, Steven C. Bahls,
17 was installed in 2003; a document entitled "The Five Faith
18 Commitments of Augustana College" was created to articulate the
19 historic and ongoing relationship between the college and the
20 Lutheran Church, and provide context for the missional
21 priorities of Augustana, including ecumenism, global focus,
22 personal piety, servant leadership, and social justice was

 

 

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1 created during his early administration; therefore, be it
 
2     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
4 congratulate everyone involved in the 150th anniversary of
5 Augustana College and wish them the best during this historic
6 year; and be it further
 
7     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 presented to Augustana College President Steven Bahls as a
9 symbol of our respect and esteem.