NEW ULM, Minn. – The Martin Luther College baseball team was awarded the Team Academic Excellence Award by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

The award is given to high school and college teams that finish the school year with a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher.

MLC was one of 217 total high school and college programs across the country to earn the honor, and was one of just 57 in NCAA DIvision III.

The Knights finished with the highest team GPA (3.076) in the UMAC during the 2017 season.

To see the full release from the ABCA, click here.

Financial Literacy Coordinator JoElyn Krohn earned Honorable Mention in a national Financial Educator of the Year Contest. This year Mrs. Krohn met with 279 first-years, transfers, and seniors, assisting them with budgeting, loans, credit cards, and debt management.

One senior wrote: “The budget plan JoElyn created was a great tool. Although I know I have a lot more to learn, this was most beneficial in preparing for my financial future with my husband and in taking the necessary and appropriate steps for healthy financial living.”

As the school year comes to a close, the following individuals conclude their service to the college:

• Professor Joyce Diels enters retirement after serving the Mathematics-Science Division of the college since 2008. She plans to move to West Bend, WI, early this summer.
• Dr. James Grunwald will retire after 19 years of service as director of academic computing at the college. He and his wife Karen will continue to make their home in New Ulm.
• Prof. Earl Heidtke will retire as a member of the History-Social Sciences Division, having served the college since 1992. Recent service also included a role as academic dean for Educational Studies. He and his wife Pam will also continue to reside in New Ulm.
• Dr. Kermit Moldenhauer is retiring after service in our Music Division since the inception of Martin Luther College in 1995. He and his wife Laura will move to rural Waupaca, WI, in the near future (see below for details).
• Dr. Kenneth “Chip” Rupnow has served as a member of our Mathematics-Science Division since 2000. He and his wife Judy will retire to North Carolina with the exact location to be determined as their search for a new home progresses.
• Mrs. Tarah Beduze has served the past year as a lead teacher at our Early Childhood Learning Center. She and her husband Jarred will move to the Wausau, WI, area where she will teach at Key of Life Christian Childcare and Community Center, Weston, WI, and Jarred will teach Spanish at Northland Lutheran High School of Kronenwetter, WI.
• Tutor Isaac Crass has served the college as a dormitory supervisor and instructor for the past two years. Isaac returns to the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary assignment committee for reassignment this week and will marry Sarah Frost later this summer.
• Mr. David Roekle has served MLC the past two years as an admissions counselor. He and his wife Hannah will move to the Downers Grove, IL, area where he was recently assigned to serve as teacher of grades 7-8 and principal apprentice at Good Shepherd Lutheran School.
• Seminarian Julius Buelow served as instructor of Hebrew this past school year. Julius, his wife Nicole, and newborn daughter Eliana return to Mequon where he will attend Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary for his senior year.
• Director of Women’s Service Wendy Ristow has retired after 9 years at the college and is moving out of Augustana Hall. She will continue to reside in the New Ulm area.
• George Schimmele will retire on June 30 after 37 years in our Environmental Services department, serving as its director for most of the past 10 years. He will continue in a part time, advisory role through the end of December. George and his wife Margaret will continue to make their home in New Ulm.

A grateful campus family joins to say “thank you” for the faithful service of these valued colleagues. May God richly bless them as they move on to the next phase of their lives.