Paul Vang’s Departure Leaves a Hole in our Hearts
Yan Urrizalqui, layout editor
Paul Vang just left Augsburg after serving as a Multicultural Life (M-Life) Student Specialist for almost three years. He made a huge impact on the department and all the students at Augsburg, including the three organizations he was advising. He joined Augsburg at the same time as me, and he was already making a difference the moment he arrived.
When I first came to Augsburg, I remember receiving an email from Paul inviting me to a movie night he organized. As soon as I entered the auditorium, he greeted me, and I was surprised that he knew my name. I felt a sense of warmth and familiarity. That experience made me want to get more involved and learn more about the community at Augsburg. Since then, I started becoming more involved in the community and with M-Life. I have been going to events and have joined organizations that have made me connect with many people from whom I have been able to learn a lot. Many of those people have become close friends, and as an international student far away from home, M-Life and Augsburg have become a second home now.
I joined the Augsburg-Asian Student Association (AASA) and Pan-Asian Peer Mentoring Program (PAPM) after that, where he was the advisor for 2 years, and we are incredibly grateful for that. He was supportive in every aspect of our lives and has always been willing to help even if it involved going out of his way to do so. Paul Vang was an example for many, not only as a leader but also as a person. He was a reference for students, faculty, and staff. Students have described him as kind, considerate, thoughtful, present, collaborative, empathetic, and inspirational; all qualities that you can definitely agree with, even if you only met him for a short period of time.
Paul was passionate about his job and was someone who genuinely cared about students and each one of us. He engaged with us and always came to our events and supported us. He became not only our advisor professionally but also someone whom we could trust and turn to whenever we had any concerns or needed advice, whether that was help or advice with time management, general concerns, events, budget, or even building a resume.
He became not only our advisor professionally but also someone whom we could trust and turn to whenever we had any concerns or needed advice, whether that was help or advice with time management, general concerns, events, budget, or even building a resume.
yan urrizalqui
Something I really appreciate about him is that he let us get to know him at a personal level, which made our relationship with him closer. We connected with him in many aspects, and it was fun getting to know him outside of just being an advisor, as we got to see him having fun with us playing sports and games, cracking jokes and engaging in conversations and stories. Some of the experiences that I really enjoyed with him were the Oyate Retreats, Transitional Retreats, and the many events we and he have hosted over the past years, such as Noodle On It, Gym Night, Legacy Celebration, and many more.
We are sad to see him leave but also happy to see him thrive in his future endeavors. We are grateful for having had the opportunity to meet and work with him. We really appreciated his commitment and willingness to make our community better, spread awareness, and create a space where we could have open conversations about important topics.
He taught us many things, and we are better leaders because of that. We all know that he made a huge impact on our community, and we are confident he will thrive in any opportunity he takes. Paul Vang definitely left a legacy in our community, and we will forever be grateful for that.