In the News

December 2020

Carrington Bush ’22 shared her thoughts about Kamala Harris being elected vice president with Alabama Public Radio

Julia Evans ’15 is mentioned in a recent New York Times article about the impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic. In 2014, Julia had a summer research grant from Wartburg to research the impact of WWI on German Americans in western Iowa. She came into contact with a woman who had a collection of letters from that era and transcribed them for her, revealing what rural Iowans more than 100 years ago experienced through a pandemic during the holidays.

November 2020

Jordan Hansen ’03 was named to the 2020 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier's 20 Under 40 list for her work promoting agriculture through her work on the family farm and as a member on numerous boards. 

La Toshia Burrell ’07 was selected to the 2020 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier's 20 Under 40 list for her work as the co-founder of Embrace, a celebration of diversity in Waverly that focuses on education and activism. 

October 2020

The college received at $31,000 grant from the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Funds to help increase and improve internet connectivty at the college, as reported by KWWL. The funds were distributed as part of the Coronavirus Aid and the Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. 

September 2020

Duane ’97 and Christy ’97 Williams are opening Big Cat's Cafe in Muscatine with their daughters, according to Discover Muscatine

Britney Hermsen Ross ’12 was named a 2020 Rising Star by the Dubuque Telegraph Herald

President Darrel Colson talked about the college's first-in-the-nation decision to offer a fifth year tuition-free in response to the current pandemic with Paula Sands of KWQC.

Hollis Hanson-Pollock ’13, an associate practice fellow with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), received the Emerging Leader Award from the Illinois CPA Society as part of its annual Women to Watch Awards. 

LaToshia Burrell ’07 and Jordan Hansen ’03 were named to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier's 20 Under 40

August 2020

The College trained 12 employees to be contact tracers as part of its COVID-19 mitigation efforts, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

"Senior Exhibit 2020: Take Two" was featured in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. The exhibit includes work from three 2020 graduates in the gallery and additional pieces from five additional 2020 graduates on the Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery Instagram account

Abhay Nadipuram ’10 was named a Business Record Forty Under 40

July 2020

President Darrel Colson talks about why he wanted to offer students a fifth year tuition-free in response to the coronavirus pandemic on KCRG

June 2020

Marquis Stephens ’11 is working to build relationships between Blacks and the police in Waverly by reaching out to an officer he knows to engage in frank conversations, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

May 2020

Tara Norberg Young ’03 is using music to get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Young, who plays piano and sings, has posted her music to Facebook daily to help others find respite from the day, as reported by the Barron News Shield

April 2020

taShi Shiimi-ya-Shiimi ’98, managing director for TaTe Diamonds, talked about his work with the company, which he hopes to grow into a fully integrated organization,  from mining to retail, with the trade publication Rough & Polished

Jeana Larson ’01 was elected to be president-elect of the Iowa Bandmasters Association, a 93-year-old organization that promotes “excellence in bands through professional development, mentorship, performance and advocacy,” according to the Northwest Iowa Review. She is the band director at Sheldon Middle School. She named Craig Hancock, Wartburg’s director of bands, as an influential mentor in her life.

Jared Pirkl ’04 is using a small 3D printer he had in his Hansen Elementary School classroom to produce face shield visors for area medical professionals fighting COVID-19, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

March 2020

Will Haksen ’20, a biochemistry major from Miles, Iowa, was awarded a $10,000 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Aaron Wernimont ’09 will be one of five inductees into the National Wrestling Coaches Associaton Division III Hall of Fame for 2020, according to the Fort Dodge Messenger

Wrestler Kyle Briggs '21 talked about lessons learned from his finish at last year's National Championships with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and how he's fired up to compete again at Nationals this weekend with the No. 2 Wartburg wrestling team.

The No. 5 Wartburg women's basketball team won its first-round NCAA Tournament game vs. Monmouth, 91-55, on March 6 to advance to the second round, where the Knights lost to No. 11 Whitman, 67-63, on March 7 in Levick Arena, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. The Knights made conference history by winning four American Rivers Conference tournament championships and regular season titles in a row.

Erica Blobaum Gallant '99 talked about her work as a thermal systems engineer with Trane to help reduce energy usage in the cooling systems she helps design. 

Wartburg was selected as one of 16 hosts for the opening round of the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament. The No. 5 women's basketball team will face Monmouth, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. 

The wrestling team will send five to the NCAA Division III Championships on March 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

February 2020

The women's basketball team earned its fourth consecutive conference championship, an American Rivers Conference record, with a 67-54 win over Loras College, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. 

Missy Buttry Rock ’05 will be competing in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta on Feb. 29. She talked about her childhood, her time at Wartburg, and her family with the Des Moines Register

The Wartburg Innovation Studio, used by engineering students, was featured in a Living Lutheran magazine story about ELCA schools using technology to enhance education. 

After getting behind early, the No. 1 wrestling team rallied past No. 2 Augsburg to win the annual "Battle of the 'Burgs" 19-14, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and KWWL

Kris Rumph ’22 is the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 133 pounds, which is quite a feat for someone who has only been wrestling since ninth grade, as told by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. 

January 2020

Ludicrous Landscapes, an exhibit by Katie Walberg in the Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery, was featured in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

The wrestling team earned its 12th NWCA National Duals championship beating Augsburg College 24-15, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Kristin Erickson Roberts ’00 was named the president and chief executive officer of the United Way of East Central Iowa, as reported by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. 

Emma Williams ’21 shared her experience with the Bridges Mentoring Program with the Mitchell County Press-News.

Stu Fritz ’88 began his yearlong term this month as president of the American Baseball Coaches Association, as reported by the Holland Sentinel

Collins Kalyebi ’20 has founded Heritage Prime Academies, the umbrella organization for the Tirinyi school he helped build in Uganda and the curriculum learning guides he is developing for its students, as reported by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Jason Bell ’03 has been rebuilding an Ethiopian primary school building for Key Amba Elementary School in Gondor, Ethiopia, as reported by the Mason City Globe Gazette

Anna Fagre ’10 is a veterinarian and microbiologist at Colorado State University. When she isn't investigating how bats transmit arboviruses like dengue fever, Zika, and West Nile, she is a musician and disc jockey who goes by the name DJ Anna Claire.