HR0981 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0981 LRB096 21462 KXB 37976 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the staff, faculty, students, and alumni of Augustana College in Rock Island as they celebrate the college's sesquicentennial; and

WHEREAS, Augustana College, an independent, selective, liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), traces its roots to the universities of Uppsala and Lund in Sweden; and

WHEREAS, Augustana was founded under the auspices of the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, a national church body then almost exclusively comprising recent Scandinavian immigrants to America; the school's first president was the Reverend Lars Paul Esbjörn, who opened the Augustana Seminary in a small frame building on Superior Street in Chicago on September 1, 1860; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Esbjörn returned to Sweden in 1863, and the early leaders of the Augustana Synod decided to move their school to an agrarian setting; in response to an offer from the Illinois Central Railroad to sell 1,000 acres of farmland at a subsidized price, Augustana relocated to Paxton, under the presidency of the Reverend Dr. Tufve Nilsson Hasselquist; and

WHEREAS, By 1875 Augustana moved to Rock Island, a more central location among the growing number of Augustana Synod congregations; more than 2,500 people assembled on October 14, 1875, for the dedication of the first Rock Island building of Augustana College and Theological Seminary; and

WHEREAS, A second building, East Hall, was constructed in 1875, and the cornerstone for Memorial Hall, now known as Old Main, was laid in 1884; and

WHEREAS, On July 1, 1975, Dr. Thomas Tredway became president after serving for five years as dean of the college and 11 years as a member of the history faculty; during his tenure the library, the Science Building, and the Franklin W. Olin Center for Educational Technology were all erected; in recognition of his service the library was dedicated as the Thomas Tredway Library in 2003; and

WHEREAS, Augustana's current president, Steven C. Bahls, was installed in 2003; a document entitled "The Five Faith Commitments of Augustana College" was created to articulate the historic and ongoing relationship between the college and the Lutheran Church, and provide context for the missional priorities of Augustana, including ecumenism, global focus, personal piety, servant leadership, and social justice was created during his early administration; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate everyone involved in the 150th anniversary of Augustana College and wish them the best during this historic year; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Augustana College President Steven Bahls as a symbol of our respect and esteem.