Rich Glas begins his duties as men’s basketball coach April 1 after earning a unanimous recommendation from the search committee looking for a successor to Duane Siverson, who coached the Cobbers for the past 17 seasons.

“Rich Glas brings a wealth of basketball experience and knowledge to the job,” says Dr. Larry Papenfuss, athletic director. “He is also a tremendous person who is a good fit with our athletic and academic philosophies.”

Glas is a former head coach at the University of North Dakota and for the past two years has been director of basketball operations at the University Northern Iowa.

“It’s an honor to be here. it’s an honor to be part of the Concordia College family,” says Glas. “Concordia, for me, is the right place at the right time.”

In 18 seasons at UND, Glas compiled a record of 335-194, the most wins in school history. He posted eight 20-win seasons and guided the Sioux to eight NCAA Division ii national tournament appearances. in 28 years as a college head coach, Glas has compiled an overall record of 490-302.

“A coach of Rich Glas’ caliber comes along once in a lifetime,” says papenfuss. “He wants to lead the program to the top of our conference and onto the national scene. This is a very exciting time for the future of Cobber men’s basketball.”

Glas was also head coach at the University of Minnesota, Morris, (1974-79) and Willamette University in Oregon (1979-1984). He spent one year (1984-85) as a volunteer assistant coach on lute Olson’s staff at the University of Arizona and two seasons (1985-87) as an assistant coach at the University of Hawaii before going to UND in 1988.

A native of Bemidji, Minn., Glas received his bachelor’s degree from Bemidji State University in 1970 and a master’s from Western illinois University. He and his wife, Sandy, have two children and one grandchild.

Glas succeeds Siverson, who resigned after coaching for 30 years. He will stay on in the physical education and health department. Siverson is the winningest coach in Cobber basketball history having accumulated 338 total wins with both the men’s and women’s programs, including the 1988 national championship for the women’s team. He was named the NCAA Division iii National Coach of the Year in 1988.

Members of both the speech and debate teams are going on to compete nationally. Qualifying debate team members include Tony Tracy ’09 and Tyler Simmons ’08. Speech team members advancing are Jennifer Pagh ’11, Kelsey Raasch ’11, Jessica Strending ’11, Anne Syvertson ’10 and Stephanie Villella ’11.

Dr. Fred Sternhagen, associate professor of CSTA, has coached the forensics program since the 1980s and believes today’s students are motivated by the great achievements of past forensic competitors at Concordia.

“The students know that the program has had success, which i think leads them to believe that they too can achieve that kind of success,” Sternhagen says. “That leads them to a lot of hard work.”

The National Debate Tournament will be hosted by California State University, Fullerton, March 27-31. Simmons and Tracy are the 28th Concordia team to qualify for the National Debate Tournament.

The American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament will be April 4-7 at the University of Texas at Austin.

At the invitation of the Hollings Center for international Dialogue, Dr. Per Anderson, director of Global Education, participated in a conference at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco March 7-9 to discuss strengthening study abroad opportunities in the Arab world.

As interest in the Middle East, islam and Arabic grows on campuses across the United States, and as Arab universities become more internationalized, it is expected that more American students will be interested in studying in Arab countries.

According to recent survey data, the number of Americans studying in the Middle East increased by 31 percent in the past year, representing the largest percentage increase of any world region.

Anderson says discussions explored the current landscape of study abroad opportunities in the Arab world, and key political, socioeconomic and cultural factors in the region that affect the environment for Americans studying in Arab countries.

“The key purpose of the conference was to explore best practices in creating more linkages with Arab universities,” says Anderson. “There was general agreement that increasing the number of American students spending extended time in the region, and promoting ongoing academic exchanges, are some of the best ways to deepen U.S. understanding of the Arab world.”

Anderson was one of only 30 study abroad directors from the U.S. and various Arab universities invited to the conference.

The Outreach Center will soon be renovated to create the new Welcome Center for campus. The renovated space is intended to be a more welcoming experience for all students who interface with Admissions and Financial Aid, which will be housed in the new space.

“The entire building will be dedicated to creating the right experience, especially for our visitors,” says Omar Correa, vice president for Enrollment.

One key feature of the location is parking, Correa says. Visiting students and their families will have ample parking as well as an easy location to find if they are unfamiliar with campus. The Welcome Center renovation is on schedule for completion in November.

People currently using the Outreach Center have been moved to temporary locations until permanent space is ready for them.

Here are the current locations:

Limana Solaiman and Rubayat Khan traveled more than 30 hours to attend the Nobel Peace Prize Forum March 7 and 8. Solaiman and Khan, both students from the independent University in Bangladesh, attended through a cultural exchange sponsored by the Hollings Center for international Dialogue, a nongovernmental organization that provides a forum for better communication between citizens of the United States and Muslim nations.

The students were excited to hear keynote speaker and fellow Bangladeshi Dr. Muhammad Yunus speak at the forum about the Grameen Bank, a lending organization he created to help bring people out of poverty. Concordia students hosted Solaiman and Khan, who attended Forum sessions and stayed a few extra days to meet with Concordia students and take in some classes.

“I enjoyed (hosting) because it gave me new insight into their culture that i don’t think i could ever find in a book,” says Mallory Vogel ’10.

Aside from learning about the day-to-day similarities between Concordia and Bangladesh students, Vogel appreciated the larger implications of talking with peers from the other side of the globe.

“I think it strongly illustrated that young people around the world care about peace and made us feel like this event wasn’t an isolated issue,” Vogel says.

Dr. Christine Schulze (CLV) was recently elected vice chair of the executive committee of the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange, a Washington, D.C.-based association of nongovernmental organizations comprising the exchange community in the United States.

Dr. David P. Eyler (music) served as percussion coach for the National High School Honors Orchestra in Albuquerque, N.M., as part of the American String Teachers Association conference Feb. 28-March 1. The group was comprised of junior and senior high students from throughout the U.S.

Dr. Peter Schultz (art) presented two invited lectures in February at Dartmouth College: “image, Anti-image and the Frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike” and “Sculptors, Agencies and Economies of Style in late Classical Greece,” which showcased new reconstruction drawings of the temple of Asklepios at Epidauros by professor David Boggs (art).

Dr. Douglas Anderson (mathematics and computer science) and Lisa Moats ’10 had their paper “q-dominant and q-recessive matrix solutions for linear quantum systems” published in the Electronic Journal of Qualitative Theory of Differential Equations.

Elena Atitsogbui (French and Russian) presented a paper titled “language power and Self-Expression as a National Awareness” at the Hawaii international Conference on Arts and Humanities Jan. 11-14 in Honolulu.

Please send scholarship and activities submissions to kappes@cord.edu.

Learning the basics of finance can be challenging, but some elementary students got a hands-on lesson recently at the Dr. James Carlson library in Fargo. Concordia Students in Free Enterprise presented a program called “Tips from the piggy Bank” for 7- to 10-year-olds by using books and crafts.

“SIFE members read three different children’s books that had lessons about money management to the kids and did activities with them to reinforce the things they learned from the books,” says Angie Kacans ’09, co-president of Concordia SiFE.

Whitney Werner ’09 organized the event that engaged students through financial stories and activities such as decorating a “money box” and drawing pictures of what they would do if they had a million dollars.

“When we read the book ‘My Fantastic Fieldtrip’ about saving, many of the kids had ideas about why we need to save money, such as ‘to buy things we want,’ ‘for food,’ ‘to pay the bills,’ but no one could figure out one of the main reasons we need to save is for the future,” Werner says.

Many of the children better understood that concept after the main character in one of the stories had to walk because he hadn’t saved money to buy a car, Werner says. SiFE is a nonprofit group that presents financial literacy projects to groups of all ages in communities around the world.

A new weeklong summer camp at Concordia is aimed at teaching children about healthy food choices and exercise. The WeCan! program for children ages 7 to 12 will be June 9-13. it will focus on having healthy eating habits and how children can involve parents, families and the community to support them.

“Our goal is to teach kids the skills they need to live a healthy life,” says camp director Vanessa Berg. “They will learn how to eat right, reduce screen time and be physically active.”

Two personal trainers, six dieticians and a chef will work with the students to teach them healthy habits. The program is a partnership with MeritCare Health System and is partially funded through a grant from General Mills. More information and a registration form are available at www.ConcordiaCollege.edu/wecan.