Emerson Pieper, staff writer 

When Paul Pribbenow first arrived, he witnessed plenty of doubts about what Augsburg could become. Some saw it as a small college in the middle of the city, short on money and facing too many challenges to become something larger. Twenty years later, that perception has become very different.

As he looks back on his presidency, the changes that matter most are not necessarily the ones that can be measured in building or fundraising totals. What makes him proudest is the diversity of Augsburg’s students. During his first semester as president, 18% of students were students of color. In recent years, that number has reached almost 80%.

Augsburg has positioned itself to educate the next generation of leaders in an increasingly diverse country. He sees that as part of a much older Augsburg tradition: meeting students where they are and adapting to what they need.

“For 157 years, we’ve essentially done the same thing,” he said. “It’s just that the population looks very different because of what’s happened in our country.”

That change also challenged another perception he encountered when he arrived. Augsburg had long been associated with preparing teachers, preachers, and social workers, rather than students who wish to enter in business or entrepreneurship. But the university’s business school is now its largest, and some of Augsburg’s major donors have built careers as business owners and entrepreneurs.

Pribbenow shared that there have been profoundly glamorous moments: such as traveling internationally, meeting senators and legislators, hosting distinguished guests and even traveling to Norway to give the King an honorary degree.

He acknowledged his privileged position and expressed great gratitude for his tenure, but behind those experiences is the reality of running a large institution. Augsburg has a roughly $140 million budget, about 500 employees, 3,500 students and extensive property around the world; it is essentially running a big business. “I will miss the place, but I won’t miss the job,” he said.

The job of a university president requires knowledge of nearly every corner of university life, from admissions and finance to fundraising and academics. It also requires making decisions when the consequences are not always clear. He describes himself as someone who tends to say yes, largely because he believes people should be willing to try new things. Not every partnership or idea has worked exactly as planned, and his philosophy is not to avoid those mistakes, but to learn from them. “I sometimes have to say, ‘okay, I learned from that and what am I going to do now?’” 

“The job of a university president requires knowledge of nearly every corner of university life, from admissions and finance to fundraising and academics. It also requires making decisions when the consequences are not always clear.”

Emerson pieper

That willingness to adapt became especially important during the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike many crises, there was no playbook and little information about what would happen next. There were many days when he felt that he did not have a clue about what was going to happen. The Augsburg administration leaned on other private colleges in Minnesota, whose presidents met regularly to compare what they were learning, as well as assistance from the state health department.

Other crises followed, including the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and Operation Metro Surge. Each came with different circumstances, but they taught him the same lesson: sometimes preparation cannot account for everything.

Pribbenow expressed that the administration had thought ahead extensively about what they could do in terms of campus safety during Operation Metro Surge, but after a student had been detained that first weekend in December last year, Pribbenow had seen that all of their protocols did not work as he had hoped.

For him, the response was not about having every answer. It was about adapting. Augsburg’s resilience, he said, is one of the university community’s defining characteristics. When nearly 400 students felt they could not safely return to campus last spring, faculty and staff came together and built schedules allowing those students to take online classes in a roughly two-week time frame.

This showed him that this place understands why he is here and what they are here to do. After years of balancing those responsibilities, retirement brings a surprisingly simple answer to the question: “What will you miss?” He will miss Augsburg itself.

He described the campus and surrounding neighbourhood as an “extended classroom.” He will miss how deeply Augsburg’s identity is connected to its location in Minneapolis. To him, the setting of the university is all part of the education students receive.

When he imagines what he will remember twenty years from now, he does not hesitate to say that the opening of Hagfors Center is his pride and joy. When he arrived, Augsburg had been trying to raise money for a science building without much success. Instead, the university developed a broader vision that brought science, business and religion together under one roof. The project began during the 2008 recession and took years to complete. 

“It transformed people’s belief that we could actually raise that much money,” he said. The building has also changed the geography of the campus, replacing a collection of rundown houses with state-of-the-art facilities. It became a real magnet for prospective students while giving students, faculty and staff a new space to work and learn. It was a moment when Augsburg’s sense of possibility became tangible. After more than two decades, that is the clearest thread running through his presidency. 

Paul Pribbenow has spent 20 years at Augsburg, and he acknowledges that the job has only become more difficult. He hopes the next president will come to Augsburg willing to love the institution as it is: a little messy, a little gritty and deeply grounded in its neighbourhood. He also hopes the next president will embrace Augsburg’s tradition of faith. The university no longer requires its president to be Lutheran, but he believes its Lutheran heritage and the faith surrounding the university remains an important part of what makes Augsburg distinct in the emphasis on vocation and commitment to its neighbours.

“[Paul Pribbenow] hopes the next president will come […] willing to love [Augsburg] as it is: a little messy, a little gritty and deeply grounded in its neighbourhood.”

emerson pieper

Pribbenow strongly believes that Augsburg can become more than what people expected it to be, provided it remains willing to meet its students where they are. That is his legacy.