News Archives - 2007

Jeanette Clark of Minnetonka, Minn. (graduate of Hopkins High School), daughter of John and Mary Clark, received the Marina Christensen Justice Award at commencement ceremonies at Augsburg College in Minneapolis on Saturday, May 5.

The award is presented each year to the graduating Augsburg senior who best exemplifies Augsburg’s motto, “Education for Service.”

Clark double majored in metro-urban studies and youth and family ministry, was a President’s Scholar, and participated in Augsburg’s Honors Program and Concert Band.

At Augsburg she held numerous leadership roles, including serving as a campus ministry commissioner, resident advisor, and leadership team member for The Campus Kitchen at Augsburg College (CKAC), a service program dedicated to recycling food and delivering meals to the Minneapolis community. Much of her time with CKAC involved serving meals at Peace House, a drop-in community center for adults who are precariously housed or homeless.

As a Spanish minor, Clark spent a semester in Cuernavaca, Mexico through Augsburg’s Center for Global Education, where she worked for a pre-school and after-school program.

This past year, Clark created a spring break opportunity for students staying in Minneapolis, called “Go Away Here.” In order to get students to take advantage of the city, it included service projects, visits to neighborhood organizations such as the Sierra Club and Somali Women’s Center, and social outings.

The Marina Christensen Justice Award was established in 1989 in honor of Marina Christensen Justice, daughter of former Augsburg president Bernhard Christensen and Lilly Gracia Christensen. After Marina’s tragic death, a fund was established to honor and further her vision of social justice.

The annual recipient of the award must have demonstrated a dedication to the kind of community service involvement that characterized the personal and professional life of Marina, who courageously and effectively reached out to bring equality and harmony to disadvantaged people and communities.

Augsburg College is a private liberal arts college of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, located in the heart of the Twin Cities. Augsburg’s 3,000-plus students come from diverse religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds and are enrolled at the College in undergraduate day college, Weekend College, and six graduate programs.

Founded in 1869, the college emphasizes intellectual freedom in the search for knowledge; responsiveness to the needs of society and the world; and preparation of students for service and leadership in church and society.

In the coming year Clark will serve at City South Cluster Ministries in South Minneapolis through the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, then plans to attend Seminary with the hope of serving in an urban congregation.