Welcome Cobbers!
This website is dedicated to the graduating class of 2003 from Concordia College. Throughout the website you will find information about the daily life of Cobbers in 2003, a rephotography of a photograph comparing then and now, personal interviews from actual graduates from 2003, along with information about national/global news that happened while the students were at Concordia. Please take the time to explore all that this website has to offer and post any additional information you would like to add in our blog section!
As the class of ’03 came into their freshman year at Concordia College, President Clinton had recently been acquitted of his impeachment trials. Students also were recovering from the devastating shooting that happened in April of their senior year in high school; the Columbine shooting. Students probably began their freshman year more focused on making friends and getting through their first couple weeks of classes than they were on national events. As the New Year drew closer, focus on campus turned to the “Y2K bug.” Concordia had been preparing for this for over a year by updating their computer software but they did talk about a plan to start second semester late, just in case of any issues. Thankfully, there were only minor defects and the semester started on time.
The next fall coming into their second year at Concordia students were diving into the Presidential election. In early November, Al Gore won the popular vote but no one had won the electoral vote so a recount was ordered in Florida, which was the deciding state. In December, the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling resulted in George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States. As the New Year turned a new head football coach, Terry Horan, a former Concordia graduate, landed the job.
In the fall of their junior year, terrorists crashed two planes into towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Students and Faculty watched the events unfold on the big screen in the centrum. Classes were canceled around the nation but at Concordia, students still attended classes and had discussions about the attack. Less than a month later, U.S. forces declared war on Afghanistan with air attacks to take down the Taliban. The Winter Olympics of 2002 were held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Concordia wasn’t represented by athletes but by two women, junior Alexis Read, and a ‘01 graduate Cassie Hanwell, who carried the Olympic Torch.
In February of their senior year, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry killing all astronauts on board. There was a professor on campus who used to work for NASA. Heidi Manning, who is now a Physics teacher on campus, was very devastated by the accident. Also there was a student, senior Luke VanRoekel, who spent a year the summer before interning for NASA. He was not surprised by the events because he was aware of how many things that need to go as planned for a NASA mission to be successful. On March 19, 2003, the war in Iraq officially began bringing up mixed emotions on campus.
Popular artists during this time period were Brittany Spears, Christina Aguilera, the Backstreet Boys, Nsync, and Beyoncé. Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings were also very popular at this time. Popular TV shows of the time were CSI, Gilmore Girls, Survivor, Fear Factor, and American Idol. A student at Concordia was actually on American Idol and made it to the 3rd round.
As the class of ’03 came into their freshman year at Concordia College, President Clinton had recently been acquitted of his impeachment trials. Students also were recovering from the devastating shooting that happened in April of their senior year in high school; the Columbine shooting. Students probably began their freshman year more focused on making friends and getting through their first couple weeks of classes than they were on national events. As the New Year drew closer, focus on campus turned to the “Y2K bug.” Concordia had been preparing for this for over a year by updating their computer software but they did talk about a plan to start second semester late, just in case of any issues. Thankfully, there were only minor defects and the semester started on time.
The next fall coming into their second year at Concordia students were diving into the Presidential election. In early November, Al Gore won the popular vote but no one had won the electoral vote so a recount was ordered in Florida, which was the deciding state. In December, the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling resulted in George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States. As the New Year turned a new head football coach, Terry Horan, a former Concordia graduate, landed the job.
In the fall of their junior year, terrorists crashed two planes into towers of the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Students and Faculty watched the events unfold on the big screen in the centrum. Classes were canceled around the nation but at Concordia, students still attended classes and had discussions about the attack. Less than a month later, U.S. forces declared war on Afghanistan with air attacks to take down the Taliban. The Winter Olympics of 2002 were held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Concordia wasn’t represented by athletes but by two women, junior Alexis Read, and a ‘01 graduate Cassie Hanwell, who carried the Olympic Torch.
In February of their senior year, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry killing all astronauts on board. There was a professor on campus who used to work for NASA. Heidi Manning, who is now a Physics teacher on campus, was very devastated by the accident. Also there was a student, senior Luke VanRoekel, who spent a year the summer before interning for NASA. He was not surprised by the events because he was aware of how many things that need to go as planned for a NASA mission to be successful. On March 19, 2003, the war in Iraq officially began bringing up mixed emotions on campus.
Popular artists during this time period were Brittany Spears, Christina Aguilera, the Backstreet Boys, Nsync, and Beyoncé. Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings were also very popular at this time. Popular TV shows of the time were CSI, Gilmore Girls, Survivor, Fear Factor, and American Idol. A student at Concordia was actually on American Idol and made it to the 3rd round.
Photograph from:
Concordia College's Class of 2017 Facebook Page, accessed December 5, 2012, https://www.facebook.com/concordia2017.
Concordia College's Class of 2017 Facebook Page, accessed December 5, 2012, https://www.facebook.com/concordia2017.