September 28, 2006 Source: :
http://www.augustana.ca/include/auc_news/full_view.php?id=122 President Samarasekera Visits Augustana Campus for Staff Appreciation Tea By Lisa Gunderson Last Friday, September 15th, the University of Alberta’s President, Dr. Indira Samarasekera, hosted a Staff Appreciation Afternoon Tea at the Augustana Campus in Camrose. Although the weather outside Augustana’s Faith and Life Centre Lounge was drizzly and on the cool side, the mood inside was warm as faculty and staff enjoyed autumnal treats, classical music, and good company. In a brief introduction, Dean Roger Epp welcomed the President back to Augustana’s 1000-student campus. In her address, President Samarasekera thanked those gathered for their work leading up to the start of the new academic season. She praised the recent New Student Orientation held on the Augustana Campus last week, which saw returning students helping their 1st year classmates get acclimated to campus life. More generally, she praised faculty and staff for their commitment to Augustana. "Thanks to all of you," she said, "for your dedication, your enthusiasm for this campus, its students, and the work that we do." The President also spoke about another recent event in which over 2000 U of A students gathered in Hawrelak Park in Edmonton prior to the start of Fall classes. She mentioned that students from each U of A Faculty were required to come up with a Faculty cheer. The chants were a fun – and noisy – way for students to demonstrate pride for the unique place of their Faculty within the University, and in the University as a whole. President Samarasekera wondered aloud whether Augustana had a cheer of its own. Later, as the tea was winding down, a group of Augustana staffers – fortified with Norwegian baked goods from The Lefse House – gave a rousing rendition of Augustana’s historic, tongue-in-cheek campus cheer for the President:
Lutefisk, lefse, takk skal du ha;
Augustana, ja ja ja!
In Norwegian, takk skal du ha means ‘thanks shall you have.’ It was a fitting salutation to President Samarasekera for the cordial afternoon of fellowship and hospitality that she provided to those at Augustana.
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