{"id":48954,"date":"2023-02-02T14:59:15","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T14:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/?p=48954"},"modified":"2023-02-02T14:59:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T14:59:15","slug":"bruce-71-and-pam-santerre-believe-in-second-chances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/2023\/02\/02\/bruce-71-and-pam-santerre-believe-in-second-chances\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce \u201971 and Pam Santerre Believe in Second Chances"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bruce<\/a>Bruce \u2019<\/span>71 and Pam Santerre believe in second chances, leading them to help others who want to evolve, and that\u2019s why they give to the <\/span>StepUP P<\/span><\/a>rogram<\/a> at º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bruce, a biology and education major, said growing up in northern Minnesota he felt like there were few career paths if he stayed, but he had other plans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon visiting Augsburg, Bruce like many \u201cAuggies\u201d fell in love with the campus and city life. He would go on to enroll at the university and join the football team, playing for four years while finishing his studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike Bruce, Pam, an English major, was native to the cities. She lived in South Minneapolis, knew people who attended Augsburg, and her church had an affiliation with the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pam said she knew she wanted to go to college, but at the time there weren\u2019t many career opportunities for women. However, Pam would find her opportunity at Augsburg and work for a number of organizations while putting herself through school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe [Bruce and her] formed many lifelong friendships at Augsburg,\u201d Pam said. \u201cThat\u2019s just one of the reasons why Augsburg is at the forefront of our minds\u2019 when it comes to giving back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Santerres <\/span>met at Augsburg and were married shortly after Bruce graduated. Six weeks later, he was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, MO, for National Guard training.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When he arrived back in Minnesota, Bruce began teaching as a substitute teacher for the Minneapolis school system. And Pam was working at the Lutheran Brotherhood, now Thrivent, which started her longtime career in information technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pam received her master\u2019s degree in theology and a certificate in spiritual direction, while working at Andersen Windows, where she later retired from. <\/span>She continued her spiritual direction practice, companioning people who are <\/span>exploring a deeper experience of the divine presence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what we do is at a spiritual level and basis,\u201d Bruce said. \u201c<\/span>This aligns with a core value in the StepUP program.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While completing his doctorate degree, Bruce, now a retired high school principal, wrote his dissertation on spirituality and leadership. He said part of that experience helped him understand the impact of spirituality in our [people\u2019s] lives\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a soft spot in our hearts for the work that the StepUP program is doing,\u201d they said. \u201cSo many of those kids are overcoming some of the most incredible odds, and what we\u2019ve seen from Augsburg, in helping their students, we want to be a part of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You too can play an integral part in helping º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ students on their growth and evolution toward a brighter future. <\/span>Learn more and get involved<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bruce \u201971 and Pam Santerre believe in second chances, leading them to help others who want to evolve, and that\u2019s why they give to the StepUP Program at º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½. Bruce, a biology and education major, said growing up in northern Minnesota he felt like there were few career paths if he stayed, but he …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":506,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[183,5,188,211,4,7,3,210],"tags":[141,155,144,212,90],"class_list":["post-48954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-augsburg-fund","category-augsburg-augsburg","category-class-of-1971","category-donor-recognition","category-gift-announcements","category-giving-to-augsburg","category-stepup-program","tag-augsburg","tag-augsburg-alumni","tag-augsburg-giving","tag-class-of-1971","tag-stepup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/506"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48954"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48956,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48954\/revisions\/48956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}