Our semester opened with a renowned interfaith speaker—“Acts of Faith” author Eboo Patel—and has closed with another one: Chris Stedman, author of “Faitheist.” My first column this semester, following Patel’s opening convocation talk, opined that there was still much work to be done in order to meet the praise that Mr. Patel attributed to this…
Throughout your four years here, you have heard, or will hear at some point, the phrase “Concordia bubble.” The bubble, of course, refers to our unique Concordia atmosphere: the happenings and people that occupy 901 8th Street. The things that—to us, at least—seem important, but many times bear little relevance outside our campus. Because of…
You have likely watched a TED video before. From Bill Clinton to Malcolm Gladwell, speakers of incredibly diverse backgrounds have been invited to share their great ideas. These talks are tremendously popular, garnering hundreds of millions of views on the TED.com website. Just a few Sundays ago, Fargo hosted its own TED event. Themed the…
Downtowns across the country are benefiting from “Renaissance zones” aimed at restoring old buildings and boosting pedestrian traffic. Programs are also being implemented to encourage more walking and less driving. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in bike share programs, like Nice Ride in the Twin Cities (and the potential for a similar program in the…
Most of us are familiar with the recent brouhaha regarding Representative Collin Peterson’s visit to campus. Numerous national media outlets have covered the story, many times causing embarrassment for Concordia. College spokesperson Roger Degerman issued an official statement to the media in which he stated the whole ordeal was “an important learning opportunity.” Any observer…
It’s homecoming at Concordia. This week, the college welcomes alumni, parents, and friends to campus to celebrate our past. As a college best known for the Cobber ring—a staple on every third-year and above student and alum—we take Homecoming pretty seriously. From having a “real” Coronation ceremony to the bonfire, our strong traditions are, in…
Whenever you take a look at West Acres, you realize Fargo has a lot of work to do if it wants to improve its image. West Acres and surrounding businesses demonstrate sprawl at its worst: buildings are scattered around a large chunk of property seemingly without planning, blocks are awfully long, preventing pedestrians from walking…
All too often—during cable news interviews and throughout newspaper articles—well-intentioned commentators and journalists fool individuals with the elementary notion of representing both sides of an issue. On CNN and Fox (and other networks) two diametrically opposed guests are consistently asked to appear together, receiving questions and disagreeing with each other, selected simply because they represented…
I couldn’t help but shudder when I heard Eboo Patel praise Concordia for leading the way with interfaith dialogue at this year’s Opening Convocation. His high praise (although namely attributed to the establishment of the Forum on Faith and Life and the soon-to-be chapter of his Interfaith Youth Core’s organization “Better Together”) just did not…
In late 2008, I caught the travel bug. I didn’t really care about international travel until then. I was with my high school in northern Italy at a conference called World School, with students from 26 different countries gathered around the theme of food, water and safety. During my two weeks abroad —an experience entirely…