Our Story
Our History
Born out of the urgency of the urban crisis in 1968, HECUA developed an approach to higher education that connects students with communities and the challenges shaping society.
Explore the storyThe Beginning
Born in Fire
The roots of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs trace back to the 1968 unrest in North Minneapolis following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The urgency and turbulence of the situation prompted Ewald (Joe) Bash, National Youth Director of the American Lutheran Church, and Joel Torstenson, an Augsburg College sociology professor, to build a unique program for college students to understand the nature of the urban crisis.
“I count those years as the most exciting of my academic life. The classroom became a kind of community of shared affection. We realized we were in this together, and there were no easy answers, but there are complex answers.”
A New Model for Education
The Crisis Colony
The program, called Crisis Colony, presented an audacious challenge to institutions of higher education at the time: take students out of the classroom and into the streets, where their learning could be tested by and connected to the urgent issues of the times.
Although experiential-learning programs were uncommon at the time, Torstenson wanted American colleges to respond to the urgent challenges of contemporary civil rights struggles, anti-war protests, and urban decay.
With Augsburg College's support, Crisis Colony began in June 1968. Eighteen students from several area colleges lived together for eight weeks in a vacated Jewish synagogue in North Minneapolis, a historically under-resourced and majority African American neighborhood.
Students became closely involved in community activities, from forming a neighborhood newspaper to participating in neighborhood churches and working in public housing. Local community leaders and Professor Torstenson taught seminars on urban issues.
HECUA's Inequality in America program grew out of the ideas and framework of Crisis Colony.
The Crisis Colony House
Most years, Crisis Colony students lived and worked on the Northside of Minneapolis. For one year, the Crisis Colony House was based in South Minneapolis, in Whittier. The house at 2620 Harriet Ave. was “occupied” during that year.
An Expanding Vision
Growth and Development
The following decade was marked by challenge, change, and growth for HECUA.
Crisis Colony evolved into the Metro Urban Studies Term, now Inequality in America, joining a small group of similar programs across the country that helped students explore conflicting perspectives on cities.
In the 1970s, HECUA grew into an established inter-institutional organization with academic programs in the Twin Cities and San Francisco.
For six years, HECUA ran a short-term program on “Issues in the Reform of the Criminal Justice System.”
HECUA also developed international programs to explore similar questions in other countries: how societies define and provide quality of life for their citizens, and which institutions and values influence these decisions.
1968
Crisis Colony Begins
With support from Augsburg College, 18 students began an eight-week experiential learning program in North Minneapolis.
1970s
Organizational Growth
HECUA became an established inter-institutional organization with academic programs in the Twin Cities and San Francisco.
Six-year program
Criminal Justice Reform
For six years, HECUA operated the short-term program “Issues in the Reform of the Criminal Justice System.”
1973
Scandinavia Program Introduced
The Scandinavian Urban Studies Term, now The New Norway, was introduced to explore community-building and urban planning in Scandinavian cities.
1977
South American Program Developed
The South American Urban Studies semester, now Community Partnerships in Latin America, was developed to explore development, urbanization, and contemporary Latin American issues.
A Legacy of Experiential Learning
Learning Beyond the Classroom
HECUA's history reflects a commitment to connecting academic learning with real-world experiences, community engagement, and the complex questions facing societies.
From Crisis Colony in North Minneapolis to programs exploring urban inequality, criminal justice, Scandinavian society, and Latin American development, HECUA has continued to connect students' education with communities and contemporary social issues.