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is one of the best (if not the best)colleges in the nation for bright studentswith learning and/or physicalchallenges,” said Kyle. “I thought itwould be a natural place for Major tocontinue his education.” She connectedthe Bowens with Sally Daniels,Augsburg’s director of undergraduateadmissions.Jean and Allen Housh were alsoinstrumental in the decision to considerAugsburg. “While Augsburg was in theback of my mind,” Bill Bowen says, “90percent of it was the encouragement ofAllen and Jean.”Daniels and the Houshes introducedMajor and his parents to PresidentWilliam Frame and to Augsburg’s Centerfor Learning and Adaptive StudentServices (CLASS), a premier program inproviding comprehensive support tostudents with disabilities.Major enrolled in the fall as a parttimestudent with two classes—Spanishand history. Bill Bowen credits bothprofessors—Kate Reinhardt in Spanishand Don Gustafson in history—withbeing “absolutely wonderful” to Major.Gustafson wondered at first how hewould manage to teach someone withshort-term memory problems in thedetail-laden discipline of history. “Itworked,” he said, “partly because Majcame with some excellent high schoolbackground; partly because his fatherspent hours and hours going over thematerial with Maj, and Maj on his partwas not about to give up; and partlybecause one of our very remarkablestudents, Eric Maurer, agreed to tutor.“It was in our weekly meetings (andEric often was part of them) on a one-toonebasis that I got a much betterunderstanding of Major, of hisdifficulties, and of his incrediblydogged determination.”Gustafson says that Bowenended up “at the top of the class interms of effort and hours,” andearned a “very creditable 3.0” gradefor the class.Bowen’s determination also impactedMaurer. “One of the biggest lessons Ilearned from Major,” Maurer said, “is tonever give up. … I think Major’s refusalto stop until he had accomplished hisbest can be inspirational to us all. Thewhole experience was a great honor andwill remain one of my fondest memoriesfrom my time at Augsburg.”During the second semester, Bowenwas scheduled for several surgeries andwould miss a considerable number ofschool days. He arranged with Gustafsonto do a directed study in history, centeredaround the question of genocide andfocusing on Nazi Germany and the PolPot regime in Cambodia.A highlight of the semester was a fieldtrip to Washington, D.C., to theHolocaust Museum. While inWashington, the Bowens met withMinnesota Senator Mark Dayton, a friendof the family, who had been Major’sbaseball coach and who had also been ahockey goalie at Blake.The year proved incredibly difficult,but rewarding, for Major. Bill Bowenrecounts that virtually everyperson at Augsburg “gave102 percent”—nothing wasjust average concerningMajor’s experience. He willreturn to classes in the fallpart-time and then evaluatewhat the right course willbe for the future.The friendship betweenJean Housh and Majorremains strong; Bill Bowentalks of how they spendtime reading together—apractice that began duringtherapy to improve theirMajor Bowen and Jean Houshremain good friends and continueto read together, a practice thatstarted in rehabilitation.enunciation. While her story speaks tothe strength she gains from Major, BillBowen says that Major thinks Jean is“one of his angels.”It’s clear that Bowen could not havesucceeded at Augsburg without theCLASS program and without faculty andstaff who became entirely engaged inhelping him learn, as they also learnedfrom him. Even outside of class, in onesmall but significant gesture, PresidentFrame relinquished his reserved parkingspace to the Bowens so that Major’s shorttermmemory loss could not prevent himfrom always knowing exactly where theircar was parked.“Augsburg has been a wonderfulexperience for me,” says Major. “Eachprofessor has been different, but also thesame in being caring, kind, andunderstanding. They have each also beendemanding, requiring me to work hard,complete my assignments on time, to pushmyself, and to learn the subject matter.Professor Don Gustafson worked with meextensively to become more self-reliant, totrust myself, to think, and to respond. I cannever thank him enough.” ■Spring/Summer 200419