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:

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.

Concordia will host the 19th Woodlands and High Plains Powwow beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, in Memorial Auditorium. This annual Tri-College event celebrates the heritage of American Indians and is themed “Honor and Remember the Wisdom of our Elders.” It will feature dancers, drummers, and traditional American Indian food.

A powwow is a traditional custom that involves the gathering of American Indians to socialize and celebrate their culture. The more modern powwow celebrations usually involve both American Indians and non-native Americans.

This year’s celebration was organized in conjunction with the Daughters of the Earth, a nonprofit organization in Moorhead, and is open to the public.

The Kilimanjaro Elephant Research and Conservation Project has invited the college to select two biology students to participate in researching elephants. The African Wildlife Foundation, of which Gregg Mitchell ’76 is vice president for philanthropy and marketing, funds the elephant project, located in the Arusha region of northern Tanzania just below the equator. mitchell has been instrumental in linking AWF and the college with the elephant project.

Concordia Language Villages has plans to establish a Global Language Village to teach English at the Maasai Girls Lutheran Secondary School, also located near Arusha. The college has maintained close relations with MGLSS since 1995 and eight graduates of the school have come to Concordia to study.

The Global Language Village opportunity will be similar to villages run by Concordia Language Villages in China and Mexico, where adults and college students volunteer to teach conversational English and also travel within the country.

Dr. Per Anderson, division chair of Global Education, says initial planning for developing new programs in Tanzania is being well received by faculty and administrators.

“It’s a smart, good move because of all the multiple connectivites we have in Tanzania,” says Anderson. “We’ll benefit from Dr. Ron Nellermoe’s many biology may Seminars there and Dr. Bill Snyder’s participation in the LCCT consortium and the Summer Field Study program. Also, the 50 years of mission work of David ’51 and Eunice ’52 Simonson is well-known throughout Tanzania.”