Full Text of HR0981 096th General Assembly
HR0981 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to congratulate the staff, | 4 |
| faculty, students, and alumni of Augustana College in Rock | 5 |
| Island as they celebrate the college's sesquicentennial; and
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| WHEREAS, Augustana College, an independent, selective, | 7 |
| liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran | 8 |
| Church in America (ELCA), traces its roots to the universities | 9 |
| of Uppsala and Lund in Sweden; and
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| WHEREAS, Augustana was founded under the auspices of the | 11 |
| Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, a national | 12 |
| church body then almost exclusively comprising recent | 13 |
| Scandinavian immigrants to America; the school's first | 14 |
| president was the Reverend Lars Paul Esbjörn, who opened the | 15 |
| Augustana Seminary in a small frame building on Superior Street | 16 |
| in Chicago on September 1, 1860; and
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| WHEREAS, Reverend Esbjörn returned to Sweden in 1863, and | 18 |
| the early leaders of the Augustana Synod decided to move their | 19 |
| school to an agrarian setting; in response to an offer from the | 20 |
| Illinois Central Railroad to sell 1,000 acres of farmland at a | 21 |
| subsidized price, Augustana relocated to Paxton, under the | 22 |
| presidency of the Reverend Dr. Tufve Nilsson Hasselquist; and
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| WHEREAS, By 1875 Augustana moved to Rock Island, a more | 2 |
| central location among the growing number of Augustana Synod | 3 |
| congregations; more than 2,500 people assembled on October 14, | 4 |
| 1875, for the dedication of the first Rock Island building of | 5 |
| Augustana College and Theological Seminary; and
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| WHEREAS, A second building, East Hall, was constructed in | 7 |
| 1875, and the cornerstone for Memorial Hall, now known as Old | 8 |
| Main, was laid in 1884; and
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| WHEREAS, On July 1, 1975, Dr. Thomas Tredway became | 10 |
| president after serving for five years as dean of the college | 11 |
| and 11 years as a member of the history faculty; during his | 12 |
| tenure the library, the Science Building, and the Franklin W. | 13 |
| Olin Center for Educational Technology were all erected; in | 14 |
| recognition of his service the library was dedicated as the | 15 |
| Thomas Tredway Library in 2003; and
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| WHEREAS, Augustana's current president, Steven C. Bahls, | 17 |
| was installed in 2003; a document entitled "The Five Faith | 18 |
| Commitments of Augustana College" was created to articulate the | 19 |
| historic and ongoing relationship between the college and the | 20 |
| Lutheran Church, and provide context for the missional | 21 |
| priorities of Augustana, including ecumenism, global focus, | 22 |
| personal piety, servant leadership, and social justice was |
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| created during his early administration; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 3 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 4 |
| congratulate everyone involved in the 150th anniversary of | 5 |
| Augustana College and wish them the best during this historic | 6 |
| year; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 |
| presented to Augustana College President Steven Bahls as a | 9 |
| symbol of our respect and esteem.
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