Concordia Guild holds 52nd annual meeting
The Concordia Guild elected new national board members, discussed scholarship funds and made business decisions that will affect the Concordia University, Nebraska community during the Guild’s 52nd annual meeting on April 20, 2015.
The Guild elects national board members for the upcoming year during its annual meeting. The 2015-16 board members are:
- President: Ruth Wright of Lincoln, Nebraska
- Vice President: Pat Holle of Seward, Nebraska
- Recording Secretary: Glenda Dobbertien of Seward, Nebraska
- Treasurer: Janice Beck of Lincoln, Nebraska
- Corresponding Secretary: JoAnn Renner of Hallam, Nebraska
- Board member: Emma Lutringer of Seward, Nebraska
- Board Member: Karen Schmieding of Lincoln, Nebraska
- Board Member: Marilyn Walz of Bennington, Nebraska
The group also made decisions on the disposition of funds for the 2014-15 academic year. It also decided on a scholarship goal of $9,000 for the 2015-16 academic year.
Professor of Sociology Dr. Kathy Miller was the keynote speaker for the meeting. She and several students spoke about the service learning project that is part of her Family class each fall. Students may select to interview a relative or local person about their life story or a loss in their life. Students meet with their person multiple times and write the story, and the person interviewed receives a copy. The class also shares some of the stories from the interviews in public settings. The stories shared last fall included topics like childhood, work, growing up, dating, marriage, children and World War II.
"What we're trying to do is express that our lives and stories are important and need recorded,” said Miller in her keynote address. “This is a message not only for those being interviewed, but for all of us to record these stories while people still remember."
The annual meeting also included greetings by Concordia’s Student Body President Alexander Scheiber and Vice President for Institutional Advancement Kurth Brashear. Scheiber gave special thanks for the cookies and cakes that the Guild provides to students for special occasions, and Brashear shared an overview of recent accomplishments and recognition that Concordia has received. Brashear also thanked those in attendance for their support of Concordia’s educational ministry.
Other activities during the meeting included a “bakeless bake sale” to benefit the Concordia Guild Scholarships, chapel service, a tour of the new Holthus Family Plaza with Concordia President Brian Friedrich, lunch at the Janzow Campus Center and installation of the new officers.
The Concordia Guild completes many projects for Concordia University, Nebraska. Since the Guild’s inception in 1962, it has given nearly $400,000 to Concordia. The group’s major project is to provide financial aid to students. This national organization also has an endowment fund, Adele Frey Endowment. The fund stands at more than $57,000 and supports students attending Concordia.
Funds also go toward sponsoring various community-building activities such as the Birthday Cake for Students project where parents can order cakes for their student’s birthday with a donation to the project fund. The program began in 1962, and more than 12,500 cakes and orders of cookies have been baked, with related gifts amounting to more than $122,000.
The date for the next annual Guild meeting is Monday, April 18, 2016.
