Eight new athletes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Oct. 14 for showing athletic and leadership accomplishments when they were students here at Augustana. This will be the 22nd induction in school history.
The induction will take place in the Gavle Room of the Gerber Center. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for those interested in talking with the new inductees, their coaches, or family members. Tickets are sold before hand, costing $35. For those interested, they can call the athletic department or head down to carver to buy tickets.
It’s a long process,” associate director of athletics, Dave Wrath, said. “We essentially start very broad when we are deciding who will get inducted. We then narrow it down by voting until we get about six to eight alums that we are happy with and proud of.”
The process of this can be very tedious, and there’s more rules to who can be nominated than one might think. First of all, there are specific years that they can pull from, and these years change year to year as the board votes on the new members. For example, in 2019, they will get a new infusion of candidates to pick from. Those will be athletes who graduated in the years 2005 to 2009.
The board also goes through what they call “open years”, which is a time period to go back to the years that have already came. This allows them to go back to nominate other athletes that they may have missed in the past.
This year, they are at a larger number of inductees than normal. The last couple of years, it has only been 6 new people initiated into the Hall of Fame.
“The committee has certain aspects that they look for in the athletes. Sometimes it’s more cut and dry than other times,” Wrath said.
Liesl Fowler, the current registrar and assistant dean, was the former volleyball coach for Julie Constien Diem, who is one athlete being initiated.
“Even as a freshman, Julie showed incredible skills in leadership and volleyball on and off the court,” Fowler said. “Most people that come in as strong as she did tend to plateau, but not Julie. She kept excelling in nearly every aspect, which is why I think she makes a great candidate for the Hall of Fame.”
The players and athletes that are being called to the Hall of Fame were indeed great athletes, but there is more to them than just being championships.
“Julie was always a top student and wanted to put her school work first. Her balance throughout all four years at Augie was truly incredible,” said Fowler. “She is exactly the kind of person that I would want to see in the Hall of Fame.”
Fowler further expressed her proudness of Diem.
“She grew up so well. She eventually went to veterinarian school, has three kids, and is happily married,” Fowler said.
As the board votes who will be inducted, these are the kind of qualities they look for. They want people who branch out of their sport, better Augie as a whole, and eventually be a contributing member to society.
“This year, the athletes were very balanced, and we felt really comfortable with who we had picked,” Wrath said. “These eight new people really separated themselves from the pack.”