2024 Luther College Annual Report
Greetings from Luther College and from our home in Decorah, Iowa – where river, woodland, and prairie meet upon lands that have been home to the Ioway, Sac, Fox, and Dakota people and their ancestors. We are proud to share with you highlights from this past academic year that reflect our mission to educate minds and develop whole persons equipped to understand and confront a changing society. View report as PDF.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, we honored milestones in the college’s history, including the 40th anniversary of our Asian Students Association and Allies and the 50th anniversary of our partnership with the TRIO Achievement Program, which provides first-generation and income-eligible students with financial assistance and a strong on-campus support system as they navigate their college careers.
We celebrated our living relationship with our Nordic heritage, including hosting a visit from Anniken Huitfeldt, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs in September. Similarly, we took the opportunity to reflect upon our continued identity as a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, welcoming to campus the Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells, executive director of the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities, to give our Black History Month keynote address and to meet cohorts of students, faculty, staff, regents, and community leaders.
The academic year has also been uniquely focused on future-facing initiatives as we live into our grounded and global campus vision. We have launched a new Strategic Framework, a new core curriculum, a new engineering science major, and a new partnership with the University of Iowa College of Public Health to create a 4+1 bachelor’s to master’s degree.
We have expanded our Luther College Impact Award, which offers four years of free tuition for qualified students, to include not only students residing in Iowa, but also students residing in Minnesota. We have increased the amount of our academic merit scholarships, added First Generation and Campus Visit Awards, and continue to offer a wide range of merit and need-based financial aid, including the EPIC (Education Partners in Covenant) grant, which matches up to $1,000 per year in support of students from participating congregations. Annually, Luther students are gifted nearly $50 million from more than 850 different funds, reflecting our ongoing commitment ensuring that a Luther education is affordable and accessible to students and families.
We celebrate two historic gifts toward the expansion and renovation of our Regents Center, home to Norse athletics and the campus center for sports and recreation: an unprecedented $10 million gift from Michael and Nicole Gerdin and the Gerdin Charitable Foundation–the largest individual gift in the college’s history–and a $2 million gift from Dennis and Suzanne Birkestrand to support gymnasium renovations. These renovations are part of our Campus Master Plan, which envisions other capital projects, as well.
Other highlights from this year include music ensemble tours across the Midwest, Great Plains, and Southern United States, as well as summer tours to Norway and Brazil. We welcomed more than 600 high school and middle school students for last summer’s Dorian music camps, 150 alumni and friends for our adult Dorian band retreat, and more than 1,500 high school students for our annual winter Dorian music festivals - choir, orchestra, band, and keyboard. A number of our Luther sports teams recently claimed American Rivers Conference titles, including men’s and women’s tennis, men’s golf, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
It is with a spirit of gratitude, curiosity, and excitement that we continue to devote ourselves–students, staff, and faculty alike–to the pursuits of learning in community, discerning our callings, and serving with distinction for the common good. We do so ever-mindful of the challenges that face our institutions and our society, and with a deep sense of humility as we work to create a community of faith and learning for all. We are profoundly grateful for you, our partner congregations, and your ongoing support and prayers.
Soli Deo Gloria! President Jenifer K. Ward
