This was especially true in Burkina Faso and Malawi where I served as the U.S. Ambassador. Upon retirement, I joined the Board of Advancing Girls Education in Africa (AGE Africa). My journey with AGE Africa deepened in April of this year when I visited our programs in Malawi.

I met extraordinary young women whose determination and resilience embody the mission of AGE Africa. Through scholarships and CHATS — our peer-led life skills program — these girls are breaking barriers, building confidence and carving out futures that once seemed unimaginable. Sitting with them, hearing their stories, I realized that AGE Africa is not simply providing education. We are nurturing agency, courage and leadership in a new generation of Malawian women.

What struck me most was the multiplier effect of our work. CHATS does not end when the session closes; it spills over into families, schools and communities. Younger children watch and learn. Parents take notice of their daughters’ newfound confidence. Villages begin to shift their expectations.

AGE Africa is not just educating individuals — it is reshaping cultural landscapes and creating generational change.

Serving on the AGE Africa Board is more than governance or oversight. It is a commitment to walk alongside these girls as they pursue dreams once denied to so many before them. It is an opportunity to amplify their voices and to invest in their potential.

My visit to Malawi reaffirmed what I already believed: that empowering girls through education is the best way to build a more equitable, prosperous world. AGE Africa is doing exactly that—and I am honored to be part of it.

A sign in my office says: “May many futures flourish because of you.”

Thanks to �㽶��Ƶ for the education that allowed me to flourish and in turn, help others flourish.

By Jeanine Jackson ‘71

This article originally appeared in the fall 2026 edition of HC Today.

The gift is part of a broader pattern for the couple, who in recent years have stepped up their philanthropy across Hastings, from investments in the Hastings Community Foundation’s new workspace, to support for the Hastings Symphony Orchestra and other civic initiatives. But for both Karen and Roger, �㽶��Ƶ remains a touchstone.

Karen’s interest in civic engagement started as a student. She served as a page in the Nebraska Unicameral, later worked in government and even ran for Adams County Commissioner.

“Those experiences taught me that democracy only works if people step up,” she said. “Students need to learn, listen and speak with a critical mind and an open heart. That’s what I hope this Center will encourage.”

The Doerrs were inspired by conversations with �㽶��Ƶ leaders about the role civic engagement plays in the College’s mission. For Karen, the idea resonated immediately.

“Roger and I have always believed that giving back isn’t optional; it’s a responsibility. We wanted to create something that would help students connect their education with their communities for the rest of their lives,” she said.

For Dr. Wayne Riggs, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean, the Doerr Center is a natural extension of �㽶��Ƶ’s identity.

This story originally appeared in the 2025 HC Today.

“Our mission is to send forth creative, curious, caring students who thrive as citizens and leaders of their local and global communities,” he said. “The Center for Civic Engagement makes that mission tangible.”

Riggs said he envisions a dual focus. Internally, the Center will support students’ growth as leaders through service learning, academic connections and community problem-solving. Externally, it will position �㽶��Ƶ as a regional hub for civic dialogue, hosting speakers and public programs that draw people from across central Nebraska.

“In five to 10 years, success will mean civic engagement is ingrained in who we are,” Riggs said. “That �㽶��Ƶ is the place where business, political and community leaders gather to wrestle with big issues, and where our students learn by engaging alongside them.”

For student Carrie Brosman, a history and political science double major from Aurora, Nebraska, the Doerr Center represents opportunity. A fourth-year student active in Model United Nations and a recent study-abroad participant in Argentina, Brosman is already immersed in civic and global conversations.

“It’s exciting because so many high schools don’t emphasize civic education. The Center gives us a way to change that,” she said.

Brosman hopes the Center will help students across all majors connect their passions with community life.

“If you’re in business, science or the arts, there are countless ways to engage civically, through nonprofits, local government and religious organizations,” she said. “You don’t have to change the world. You just need to put yourself out there. Small changes all add up.”

Her experience working with a local poverty reduction program illustrates the point.

“My job was to sit with kids, color, sing, eat graham crackers, so their parents could attend meetings they otherwise couldn’t,” she said. “It was simple, but it made a real difference. That’s what civic engagement looks like.”

Roger Doerr’s dedication to �㽶��Ƶ has spanned more than four decades, including serving as professor, head coach of the men’s golf team and seven years as president of the �㽶��Ƶ Foundation.

In reflecting on the Center, he emphasizes that while the couple provided the initial funding, the future direction belongs to the College.

“Karen and I are giving the money. We have the vision. That’s where it stops,” he said. “We don’t want to interfere in what the College does with our funding. This is the College’s opportunity to move it ahead as they see best.”

Karen adds that the Center is not just about �㽶��Ƶ students, but about building a culture of responsibility.

“Civic engagement isn’t about politics alone, it’s about caring for your neighbors, contributing to your community and realizing that your time and talents matter,” she said.

The Doerrs’ hope is that the Center will be lasting, with an endowment ensuring permanence and with civic engagement integrated into the academic and co-curricular life of every student.

For Karen and Roger, the Center is both a capstone to their decades of civic involvement and a gift to future generations of students. For �㽶��Ƶ, it is a way to live more fully into its mission at a time when higher education faces profound challenges. And for students like Brosman, it is an invitation to step into leadership with confidence.

“I want students to leave Hastings believing they can make a difference, whether in a small town, a large city or anywhere in the world. That’s the heart of this Center,” Karen said.

By Lottie (Fryer) Nilsen ‘95

“We enjoyed and learned from demanding courses taught by caring professors; we built many friendships that continue to this day; we were able to create a healthy balance between our academic lives and extracurricular activities; and we both felt securely comfortable in an incredibly supportive, positive and collegial environment,” Doug said.

In gratitude for all �㽶��Ƶ provided them, the Andersons have kept the College among their philanthropic priorities.

“We both profited from and are grateful for our wonderful liberal arts education,” Doug said. “We’ve always felt good about being able to annually give back to the institution that gave so much to us.”

And this couple knows education.

After graduating from HC, Claudia taught for a year in Americus, Kansas, four years at Watson Elementary School in Hastings, while also earning her master’s degree at Kearney State, and nearly 15 years in the Tempe, Arizona, elementary school district. She also taught as an adjunct at Arizona State University, before serving as an instructor of education at Penn State University from 1999 until her retirement in 2012.

Doug worked five years at the Hastings Daily Tribune, earned his doctoral degree at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, taught journalism at Nebraska-Omaha for two years before spending two decades at Arizona State as a journalism professor and administrator in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He then served as dean of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State from 1999 until his retirement in 2014.

Currently, this donor couple, whose first date included attending the late Theatre Professor Dr. Hal Shiffler’s reading of “A Christmas Carol,” lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, close to their two grown daughters and twin granddaughters.

“I had a nice interview with Charlie Gardner, the director at the time,” said Archibeque, who graduated from �㽶��Ƶ magna cum laude with a degree in sociology. “I credit a lot of my work, my success and my profession to Mr. Gardner. He really took me under his wing. I talked to him about entering the profession, and he gave me advice about how to do it.”

In February 2019, Archibeque was honored with the Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, more commonly known as REFORMA.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving to receive this national award than Orlando,” said Camila Alire, former president of the American Library Association. (A high compliment indeed considering Alire also received REFORMA’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award.) “Orlando’s work and dedication to REFORMA and to all its efforts in serving the Spanish-speaking communities in the United States is admirable and noteworthy,” she said.

The mission of REFORMA, an affiliate of the American Library Association, is to improve the full spectrum of information services for Latinos, Hispanics and Spanish-speaking persons in the U.S. That includes recruiting bilingual library staff and advocating on behalf of the Latino/Hispanic community in meeting their information needs. The association developed out of the protest movements of the 1960’s as a way to challenge the norms of librarianship, Archibeque said.

“The profession was and still is very white and middle class,” he said. “REFORMA challenged that idea by recruiting Latino and Spanish-speaking students to become librarians and providing support once they entered the profession.”

A founding member, first president and current treasurer of the Colorado chapter of REFORMA, Archibeque is on the planning committee for the chapter’s annual conference. He also co-chaired the successful 4th national REFORMA conference in Denver, which attracted more than 500 “reformistas,” as they affectionately call each other.

After giving numerous presentations across Colorado, Archibeque and Alire, his longtime mentor, were approached by a publisher and asked to write a book on diversifying library staff and services. Their book was called “Serving Latino Communities: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians.”

“It was used in library graduate programs as a model for developing resources and services for minority communities. We felt really good about that,” Archibeque said.

From New Mexico to Nebraska

A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Archibeque learned about �㽶��Ƶ at a college fair.

“Hastings was there and made a good impression on me. In fact, it was so good, I didn’t even do a campus visit. I thought, ‘This sounds like the place to be,’” he said.

Professors like Robert Stockton, Charles Evans and Dennis Storer left their mark on Archibeque, a young man in an unfamiliar place who was searching for mentors and a career. Language professor Doug Benson, also a New Mexico native, invited Archibeque to his home and made him part of his Nebraska family. After Archibeque decided to become a librarian, Charles Gardner advised him to get a master’s degree in a subject area in addition to a master’s in library science.

“Based on his advice, I went to the University of Hawaii right after Hastings and earned a master’s in American studies,” Archibeque said. “Then I went to the University of Denver and got my master of arts in librarianship and information management. I’ve been in Denver ever since.”

An academic librarian in the Mile High City

A senior instructor and researcher support librarian in the social sciences, Archibeque works for the library at the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver, a campus that serves 55,000 students from three schools: University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and Community College of Denver.

“I’m a collection development specialist,” he said. “I work with faculty and students to determine their information needs and try my best to meet those needs.”

Days off from the library might find Archibeque playing a game of pick-up hockey or joining 2,000 other biking enthusiasts for a high-elevation excursion.

“I just finished a 434-mile, one-week bike ride called Ride the Rockies in the mountains of Colorado,” he said. “It’s a great way to enjoy my beautiful state.”

The passion that stays closest to his heart, however, is finding new and better ways to serve the Spanish-speaking people who seek knowledge and inclusion in the nation’s libraries.

“Our Latino and Hispanic communities really need access to information,” Archibeque said. “The way to do that is to recruit and support Spanish-speaking librarians, to learn from each other and to go out into communities and serve our people.”

By Judee Konen ‘85, Associate Vice President for College Advancement

Mike Tushaus ’98 was eight years old the first time he met Dr. Robin Koozer ’76.

The Hastings, Nebraska, youngster was taking part in a week-long summer enrichment program for the arts, and Koozer spent a day working with the children’s choir.

“I remember it to this day very vividly. It left its mark on me,” Tushaus said.

While the boy remembered the conductor, he never expected the conductor to remember him, just a kid in the crowd.

But a decade later when Tushaus was deciding his post-high school plans, Koozer, the �㽶��Ƶ professor of music and department chair, did remember.

“He found out I was considering Hastings, and he was so excited. He was beaming about it,” Tushaus recalled. “He said, ‘I remember having you in that summer enrichment class long ago.’”

Once again, Koozer made an impression, and Tushaus enrolled at �㽶��Ƶ, eventually double majoring in music and theatre. Tushaus, who is now an actor, producer and composer in Las Vegas, said he always felt Koozer was rooting for him and the other music students.

“He wants to see you succeed because your success is his success,” he said.

Hannah Jensen ’15 said that, like Tushaus, Koozer made an impact on her long before she attended �㽶��Ƶ.

“In fact, his passion for the college and for the Music Department in particular is what originally drew me to �㽶��Ƶ,” said Jensen, whose father, Dr. Byron Jensen, is a music professor at �㽶��Ƶ and will take Koozer’s place as department chair in January 2017 when Koozer transfers to the �㽶��Ƶ Foundation. “I was lucky enough to see from a very young age how hard he worked to create and sustain an atmosphere where people are valued, students are pushed and inspired, and where a deep love of music is the center of it all. Being immersed in that environment at a young age made my decision of which college to attend very easy.”

Jensen lives in Hastings where she has a private piano studio, teaches music classes and accompanies for Adams Central High School choirs and �㽶��Ƶ Choir.

“(Koozer) did all that he could to provide guidance and support for us — not only for us individually, but also for the music groups and ensembles we were involved in,” Jensen recalled.

“And he greeted each person with a smile and an open heart. I am so grateful for his presence in my life.”

Town and Gown

Time and again, Koozer has shown himself to be a champion of the arts. Whether at the college, in the community, or one on one, he encourages both the pursuit and enjoyment of music.

His passion extends beyond the boundaries of the campus and into the community.

HC singing groups perform at local churches. Students and faculty members perform in the Hastings Symphony Orchestra. The HC Bell Choir performs with the symphony and at other community venues. HC’s Melody Roundup Parade at Homecoming draws high school bands from around the area. The music department hosts and assists with the South Central Nebraska Children’s Chorale. The list goes on and on.

“There’s always been a nice town and gown relationship with the college,” Koozer said.

A community event is what drew the longtime professor to �㽶��Ƶ in the beginning. Internationally known opera singer Charles Austin ’75 recalled that he and Koozer attended �㽶��Ƶ’s honor choir together while they were in high school. Austin was from Seward, Nebraska; Koozer from Broken Bow, Nebraska.

Soon after, the two enrolled at �㽶��Ƶ and lived in Bronc Hall together. (Koozer’s dorm was the spot for card games and hanging out late at night. As one of the only guys with a refrigerator in his room, Koozer was very popular.) At the time, �㽶��Ƶ’s music department had a strong emphasis on classical literature. Austin recalled German and Italian art songs — but never a Broadway show tune. The music department was the second largest department on campus at the time with 150 majors. A third of the campus participated in music in one way or another.

This was the tradition into which Koozer was initiated. Music was everywhere, and �㽶��Ƶ had a reputation for taking its polished sound into the community and elsewhere.

Tradition and Duty

After graduating with a degree in music education, Koozer taught a year at Superior Public Schools, a year at Hastings Junior High and nine years at Hastings High School as the choir director. Lin Warren ’82 was Koozer’s accompanist while Warren was attending �㽶��Ƶ.

“I just remember him being so engaged and just loving the students,” said Warren, who has been choral director at Hastings High School in Hastings, Minnesota, for 32 years. “I got a lot of things from Robin, but what I pulled was, your kids realize if you really care about them. He was a parent to them, and they loved him back. That’s something I’ve carried with me my whole career.”

After earning a doctorate at Arizona State University, Koozer returned to �㽶��Ƶ in 1988 as department chair.

“I was very much excited to return,” Koozer said. “Millard Cates, my mentor, kind of handed the baton to the next generation. I think back on that time period, and that was an important thing, to have that continuity of tradition.”

Specifically, that tradition is one of quality musicianship. It’s one of the ways �㽶��Ƶ has made a name for itself.

“Oftentimes if you mention �㽶��Ƶ, you’ll hear, ‘They’re known for music,’ or ‘They’ve always had a great choir or a great band,’” Koozer said.

As a music department within a liberal arts college, he said, �㽶��Ƶ has a duty to serve minors and majors; the college community, as well as the Hastings community; and South Central Nebraska.

Austin, who now lives in Seattle and continues to sing in operas around the world, said Koozer has continued the �㽶��Ƶ music tradition of his youth; he hasn’t forgotten where he came from.

Tushaus said Koozer also hasn’t forgotten the people and the community around him, either — even while busily tending to �㽶��Ƶ duties. When Tushaus’ father, Bernard Tushaus, a former communications and theatre professor at �㽶��Ƶ, died last year, Koozer was there once again, continuing the journey alongside his student.

“He was there for my dad’s memorial. He’s been there so many times in my life,” Tushaus said. “Not many students can go to just any school and have a story where this professor has been a part of your life so many times throughout your years. It was a good journey with him.”

Story by Amy (McGraw) Palser ’99

His office at Scott Studio Theatre belies the fact that he’s been teaching in the �㽶��Ƶ Theatre Department for 17 years, with the last four as department chair. There are no massive piles of papers, no haphazard stacks of books, no totes stuffed with costumes and props.

What there are, however, are pictures: framed portraits of college students standing on stage, the casts of so many musicals and plays, lining the walls of his office and trailing down the hallway.

During an interview, Fritzler studied the portraits, remembering students of years gone by — some in faraway places on famous stages, others close to home in roles as teachers or writers or pastors. He remembers them all. He knows where they started and where they’ve landed.

He keeps an eye on them, just like he did when they were young college students looking for direction — both on stage and in life

“Jim is not the typical professor. One of the things that I admire about his teaching style is that although he may not come across that way, he cares,” said assistant theatre professor Annette Vargas, who is in her fifth year of teaching alongside Fritzler. “He worries about them at night.”

This is a fact Fritzler’s students are never told but eventually absorb. Caring doesn’t have to involve nice words.

“He can be really caustic and very sarcastic,” said Bryce Wiebe ’05. “You would be scared to get a compliment from Jim. That just wouldn’t feel right.”

Wiebe, however, knew his professor was silently rooting for him and the others. He remembers one opening night when Fritzler came to the green room five minutes before actors were to go on stage. With keys and bag in hand, he said he was going home to do laundry.

“He trusted us and trusted our work, or at least that’s how we chose to take it,” Wiebe said. “He didn’t need or probably want the applause and the handshakes. The work was enough. He left us with his trademark encouragement—‘Don’t screw it up!’—but in more colorful language. And then we started the show.”

Wiebe was a business administration major at �㽶��Ƶ, but his interest in theatre meant many hours on stage under Fritzler’s direction. After graduating in 2011 from Yale Divinity School, Wiebe now is director of special offerings for the Presbyterian Church USA in Louisville, Kentucky.

He continues to act, performing every year in local theatre and using the tools Fritzler gave him. But he also digs into the Fritzler toolbox for his job with the Presbyterian Church. It goes back to working hard and getting it right. Period.

“Jim is focused on the work—on it being its absolute best. I learned a lot about artistic process from Jim, but about process for work in general: Go to work. Hit your mark. Give the line,” Wiebe said.

Packing Resumes

Becca Holloway ’14, a theatre major who is now a stage manager at Oil Lamp Theater in Chicago, describes Fritzler’s teaching style as direct and to the point.

“Theatre is a tough business. He was very clear about that,” she said. “There was a phrase: If you can see yourself doing something besides theatre, do that. Once he could see you had that passion, he took you under his wing.”

After Holloway declared her devotion to theatre, Fritzler gave her chances to learn all aspects of the business, even the ones she didn’t care about.

“He gave me incredible opportunities as an actor, as a stage manager and as a director,” she said. “The biggest thing I took from Hastings was how incredibly rounded I am.”

She surprised everyone at the Oil Lamp Theater when she could adeptly run a light board, something for which she directly credits Fritzler. In two years’ time in Chicago, Holloway has been stage manager for over a dozen plays, and she made her professional directorial debut this fall with “44 Plays for 44 Presidents.”

Vargas said that’s precisely the way Fritzler has designed the program.

“We have 30 to 40 kids at a time, and those 30 to 40 kids get to do everything. Their resumes are packed,” she said. “They basically run the gamut. I make my actors do tech work. I make my technicians go on stage, even though they may not like it.”

That proved fortuitous for David Sharp ’04, a stand-up comedian living in Los Angeles. In a state that boasts 10,000 stand-up comedians, Sharp supplements his act with six or seven other gigs: acting in an improv-style dinner theatre; writing general internet content, both serious and funny; hosting a podcast called “Midnight Breakfast;” doing ticket and box office work at a comedy club; and taking freelance jobs that come along.

“All the stuff that I’m doing now, Jim was one of the people who gave me access to everything I’m doing,” said Sharp, who earned a master’s degree in performance studies from Southern Illinois University. “It’s not until afterwards that you really get that perspective.”

Sharp had mixed feelings about pursuing theatre professionally until Fritzler, a veteran of both theatre and film, joined the staff in 1999 after teaching at Southwestern University in Georgetown,

Texas, and St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. That was Sharp’s sophomore year, and Fritzler cast him in the role of Dr. Gibbs in “Our Town.” The young actor had never been so emotionally affected by a performance.

“He did all these really crazy outside-of-the-box things that somehow got deeper to the heart of the play,” Sharp said. “That was one of those shows that showed me clearer in my head what the perfect show was. When I went to grad school for performance studies, it was to study the stuff that Jim started me thinking about.”

Life Lessons

To this day, Sharp counts Fritzler’s lessons as some of the most life-altering. Wiebe agrees.

“My friends and I involved in theatre would quote Jim, and to this day quote Jim,” Wiebe said. Personal favorites are “This ain’t math, it’s feeling,” and “Show up on time — you’re no star!”

And that distinctive voice, Sharp recalled: “Texas is in there, Colorado is in there, and years of smoking cigarettes and screaming at idiot actors.” Sharp added, “He makes cantankerous fun and likable.”

Fritzler said there is nothing special about his department, save for one thing: “I don’t B.S. students.” He doesn’t tell them they’re great and take their money, he said, like some schools do. “We’re pragmatic.”

But the theatre graduates say there is indeed something very special about the �㽶��Ƶ Theatre Department: Jim Fritzler.

“Jim is a true gem of the college,” Wiebe said. “He’s low-key brilliant. He’s talented. He will chide you mercilessly if you ever tell him so.”

Story by Amy (McGraw) Palser ’99

When many people envision the work of U.S. diplomats such as U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Jeanine (Mathew) Jackson ’71 and other Foreign Service Officers (FSOs), they think of glamorous dinners and glitzy cocktail parties. 

Few consider the importance those events play in furthering United States’ national interests by providing U.S. officials opportunities to establish relationships with diplomatic representatives of other countries.

A diplomat’s day-to-day duties include many activities, all requiring strong interpersonal skills.

The work of an FSO extends well beyond a country’s capital. During her first five weeks as Ambassador to Malawi, an assignment she began following her confirmation by the U.S. Senate on June 30, 2011, she spent nearly three weeks working outside of Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe.

The Long Way to Lilongwe

This was “not at all” what Jackson expected to do with her life. 

“I thought Nebraska and Colorado were a long distance apart,” the Sheridan, Wyo., native said. 

However, an interim trip to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and a choir/band tour through the Midwest opened Jackson’s eyes to the world. 

After graduating with an Art Education degree, she began her life-long commitment to public service as a school teacher and entry-level civil service worker with the U.S. Department of Defense in Vietnam. After the war ended, she received a U.S. Army officer commission. She met her husband, Mark Jackson, when they were both Army Officers in Germany.

In 1980, they individually signed up for the series of examinations that mark the path to acceptance in the Foreign Service. By 1985, they defied the odds and were entry-level diplomats.   

About that Degree from HC

Jackson remains an artist. While in Burkina Faso, she served as accompanist for two school productions: Grease and Oliver!.

Whether playing the piano for school musicals or dancing with women in remote villages, Jackson connects with people through the arts.

Reflecting upon a life that has taken her to more than a hundred countries, Jackson said that they have remained closest with the friends they made through her love for the arts and his love for waterskiing.

Ambassador Jackson is willing to correspond with current �㽶��Ƶ students and alumni at jeaninejackson@gmail.com.