Concordia celebrated Founder's Day on Wednesday, Nov. 18. On that same date 115 years ago Rev. George Weller was installed as the first professor and a new building, which much later would become known as Founders Hall, was dedicated.
Music was provided by a church band from Arlington and choirs from Seward and Fremont sang at the event. "The day of dedication was a dark, gloomy day, but the hearts of the participants were full of light and joy," according to E. W. Gradowske, one of the dozen high school students who began classes the week following the dedication.
Seward won the battle for the school, edging out nearby towns like Staplehurst and Lincoln. It is not so clear why The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod chose Seward as the site for Concordia, especially since Lincoln, Neb., was the favored of five contending sites. Some say Lincoln’s offer of land may have had too many strings attached, and the big city harbored dangerous temptations for Concordia’s students.
Certainly Seward had its attractive features including nine Lutheran churches, an elementary school and a railroad station with service from three rail companies. Besides helping bring the school to Seward, the town gave the school flour, potatoes and other food that lasted the entire first year.
Seward’s Blue Valley Blade newspaper of Oct. 18, 1894, predicted of Concordia, “It will bring families and students here by the hundreds from all parts of the United States, and be the means of a large increase in our trade and population.”
Today Concordia has more than 1,700 students from 43 states and foreign countries. Several hundred of those take classes online or at Concordia's Lincoln campus, home to its College of Graduate Studies.
See also: Concordia History 101