News Archives - 2003

The State of Ohio's first lady, Hope Taft, made a special visit to Augsburg College and the College's StepUP Program on Tuesday, Sept. 23, sandwiching her visit to the College between and official stop at the State Capitol in St. Paul and the Metrodome where she threw out the first pitch in the game between the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins.

Mrs. Taft has been a longtime advocate for positive youth development through drug and alcohol prevention and community volunteerism and said she was impressed to learn of Augsburg's efforts in community service learning and StepUP, which she held up as a model that should be emulated by institutions across the nation.

In addition to nationally serving on the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, she also serves on the National Advisory Council for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and on the National Conference of State Legislatures' Advisory Committee on the Treatment of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction.

After being officially welcomed to Augsburg by Anne Frame and Patrice Salmeri, director of the StepUP program, she toured the campus and then spent nearly an hour talking with students in the program.