Members of The Augustana Choir and The Augustana Band are preparing for performance tours of the Midwest ahead of the spring semester.

High school student artists from around the region were recognized earlier this month at a reception in honor of the High School Invitational, an exhibit currently on display at Augustana's Eide/Dalrymple Gallery.

Four Augustana juniors are hoping to turn a crosstown rivalry into a benefit for those in need. The "Sioux Falls Showdown" will place "Augustana" and "USF" food collection barrels inside Hy-Vee stores throughout Sioux Falls from January 17-24. Food donations will benefit Feeding South Dakota.

Augustana has released its 2012-2013 Impact Report, an annual report of the state of the College and an honor roll of those who made gifts during the last fiscal year (August 1, 2012, through July 31, 2013).

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2014 Covenant Awards, five honors that recognize students who exemplify and illustrate Augustana's core values: Christian, Liberal Arts, Excellence, Community and Service. Nominations are due by Thursday, Feb. 20. Submit a nomination.

A $125 million gift from philanthropist T. Denny Sanford will establish Sanford Imagenetics, a first-of-its-kind program integrating genomic medicine into primary care for adults. The program will include initial partnerships with Augustana and the University of South Dakota to develop new academic programs which will train the next generation of doctors, nurses and scientists in genomic medicine. Read more in this Argus Leader story.

The Augustana College campus will be OPEN for normal scheduled events and classes on the first day of Augustana’s January Interim, Monday, Jan. 6. College housing re-opened at noon on Sunday, Jan. 5.

As we often say, Augustana alumni understand how to live a life of meaning and purpose. In this issue of The Augustana magazine, we feature some “faces” of our alumni who are doing just that – individuals who are living out their dreams and making a difference in the world through contributions in a variety of sectors.

Students have been named to the Dean's List for the fall semester of the 2013-2014 academic year. The Dean's List recognizes full-time students who have a minimum of 12 credit hours with grade-point averages at 3.5 or above (on a 4.0 scale).

Augustana Men's Basketball Coach Tom Billeter closed out the 2013 calendar year on Saturday with a 77-55 win over Wayne State heading into the holiday break. The following story appears in the Sunday, Dec. 22, edition of the Argus Leader with his winning formula for the Vikings.