TOP STORY: "Closing Time"

(Note: Sunday, June 30th is officially the last day on the job for Luther College president Rick Torgerson, who is retiring after 14 years in the college's top job.  decorahnews.com sat down with Torgerson recently to review the last 14 years at Luther):

Rick Torgerson will be on a golf course next week.  He won't be golfing--he'll be on hand to cheer on his oldest granddaughter, who is a very good high school golfer who has been invited to play in a meet at Des Moines.

It's a good symbol, however, of how Rick Torgerson plans to spend his time in retirement--traveling and visiting his children and grandchildren and taking things just a little easier.

Torgerson came to Luther at a time of flux for the college.  President Jeffrey Baker had lost his battle with cancer.  The school had facilities that needed to be improved, but its endowment wasn't large enough to handle such projects.

Torgerson could have immediately launched a building campaign or could have cut expenses or could have looked for new sources of funding.  Instead, he invited 125 Luther alumni, professors, staff members and supporters what their vision was of the future of Luther.  Rather than coming in with his own agenda, he asked them to help him create a joint vision of where the college should head.

"The process was transparent," says Torgerson, which got everyone to "create one vision together."

That vision called for increasing the college's endowment fund.  The organization that handles accreditation for Luther and all other colleges had pointed out that the endowment needed to be significantly larger.

The very first Fund for Luther was announced with a goal of raising $90 million in pledges and donations.  Many thought the goal was too ambitious.  But as Rick Torgerson gets ready to leave Luther, the college has raised over $215 million in 14 years.

(Next: The vision of Luther's future changes and expands)