A Welcoming Space

THE NEW CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT CENTER AT MLC

A place where the door is open. Where everyone is welcome, seen, and heard. Where you can explore and discuss issues of diversity and culture. Where “Go and make disciples of all nations” is the touchstone.

This is Martin Luther College’s new Cultural Engagement Center (CEC).

History: Most MLC students come from communities and congregations that are ethnically and racially homogeneous. They are white. But on Call Day, they will take the gospel into a world that is wildly and wonderfully diverse.

To prepare them, MLC has opened many channels of engagement and awareness. All students are required to take at least one intercultural elective. We offer majors in Spanish education and minors in Spanish and urban education ministry.

We offer short- and long-term study abroad options and a variety of teach abroad opportunities. Before COVID-19, it wasn’t uncommon for 15-20 graduates a year to choose international service. And of course, we welcome many international students each year.

These programs were fueled and facilitated by our International Services Office, begun by Professor Emeritus Tom Hunter and Megan Kassuelke in 2015. So cultural engagement is not a new concept at Martin Luther College. But the CEC is new. It builds on the current foundation and expands its reach.

Goals: Specifically, the CEC will be steered by three goals:

• provide a welcoming space for our diverse students and support them during their time on campus;
• be a venue for our entire campus family to engage in cross-cultural dialogue and understanding; and
• promote community on campus among students, faculty, and staff, regardless of ethnicity or background.

Making this happen are three talented and dedicated people: Megan Kassuelke, Aaron Robinson, and Tingting (Zhang) Schwartz.

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Mrs. Megan Kassuelke

DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT

Mrs. Megan Kassuelke brings both experience and education to her new position as director of cultural engagement. Since 2009, she had served as MLC’s international student coordinator in our International Services Office. She also served as MLC’s PDSO (Primary Designated School Official), the key liaison between the college and various government agencies: Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Immigration Service, and Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

Mrs. Kassuelke holds a master’s degree in ethnic and multicultural studies from Minnesota State University-Mankato, where she focused her research on diverse student populations on small, rural college campuses that are primarily white—campuses like MLC.

“My goal,” she says, “is to foster a sense of belonging for all by inviting the entire campus family to join in the conversation about diversity awareness and cultural competency.” This is especially important, she says, because the U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2050 the country’s population will be less than 50% white. “Our students will need to be culturally competent to effectively share the gospel and serve these diverse populations.”

Diversity in higher education has other proven benefits, Mrs. Kassuelke explains. “It is proven to expand the student’s worldview and cultural awareness, improve their critical thinking skills, reduce implicit bias, and increase tolerance toward racial and ethnic differences. The CEC is meant to be a ‘brave space’ where diversity and culture-related discussions can take place in respectful, mindful, and authentic ways.” And the benefits will reach far beyond our campus. “What our students learn at MLC impacts the entire synod,” she says.

“We need culturally competent people in our classrooms and churches who show Jesus’ love by making sure that everyone in their care feels seen, heard, and valued. We are in the fortunate position that we can make a big impact despite our small size simply by exploring more in depth what it looks like to love our neighbors.”

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Prof. Aaron Robinson

CULTURAL DIVERSITY COORDINATOR

Professor Aaron Robinson, newly arrived on campus, was baptized and confirmed at St. Marcus-Milwaukee. He graduated from Northwestern Prep (now Luther Prep) and then walked in the very first Martin Luther College graduation service in 1996.

After graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary four years later, he helped establish Sure Foundation Lutheran Church in New York City, then taught and coached at St. Croix LA and Wisconsin LHS. For the last six years, he’s served as pastor at Fairview-Milwaukee.

Along with his teammates, Professor Schwartz and Mrs. Kassuelke, he’s a licensed qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), an inventory used to promote cultural competency growth. Some MLC faculty and staff have taken the inventory, and it’s been incorporated into some graduate courses and into training for study abroad students.

At MLC, Professor Robinson will serve as the new cultural diversity coordinator. “I like to think of ministry in terms of relationships,” he says. “Our relationship with God and our relationships with one another. I think it will be important for me to develop relationships with the students as I seek to support them as they prepare to serve God. Those relationships will allow us to communicate honestly, so that we might uplift and support each other as the Holy Spirit counsels us. We will be able to ask for and receive forgiveness just as God has forgiven us.

“God has called us to serve him by going to all nations,” he continues. “It is important that we who are a part of the Christian church carry out the commission set out before us by Jesus. It is that simple. It is important for our campus to be about the Great Commission because the students we train will be in the world carrying out the Great Commission.

“Christians are to be salt in the world,” he adds, “and I put salt on everything.”

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Prof. Tingting Schwartz

INTERNATIONAL SERVICES COORDINATOR

Professor Tingting (Zhang) Schwartz was blessed by MLC’s international student services herself several years ago, and now she’s excited to pay it forward.

“With the spiritual, cultural, and academic support from Christ-like people like Professor Tom and Lisa Hunter, Dr. David Wendler, Megan Kassuelke, Dr. John Meyer, and President Emeritus Mark Zarling, I have thrived in New Ulm. I flew to the United States in the summer of 2012, intending to study at MLC for two years and return to China. Despite all the challenges, the Lord had a grander plan for me.”

Professor Schwartz (then Zhang) began teaching Mandarin Chinese to MLC students. She continues to teach intercultural electives, leads study abroad experiences in China, helps train MLC graduates who will teach in China, and now will embrace her new position as international services coordinator.

“My experiences at MLC, my immigrant experiences, and my parenting experiences of raising two bilingual and biracial children have helped prepare me for this new position. The most significant aspect is providing spiritual, emotional, and academic support for our international students at MLC. In addition, I see my new role at the Cultural Engagement Center as a bridge between international students and faculty/staff on campus and the New Ulm community.

“I pray that our new office will provide excellent services to diverse students,” she continues, “so that they will find their belonging on campus and be more equipped to share the gospel with people who are culturally the same or different from them in the church and the world. I pray the Lord will use me to be our international students’ advocate and a cultural partner for MLC, the New Ulm community, and our synod.”