在2023年8月，12bet游戏平台收到了一份价值66万美元的遗产礼物. 唐纳德·H. 纳尔逊, who passed away seven months earlier. 虽然遗产礼物并不罕见，但这次却与众不同.
纳尔逊与奥古斯塔没有任何关系——他既不是校友，也不是以前的捐赠者. 他从未结婚，也没有孩子，所以他不是校友的丈夫或父亲. A question, 然后, 问题是:纳尔逊为什么要给一所与他没有关系的大学一大笔遗产礼物?
Enter Cindy 和 Steve Huseth, 尼尔森的侄女和她的丈夫，正在寻找同样问题的答案. Their quest, 然而, involved searching for that answer 25 more times, 因为纳尔逊列出了26个组织作为他遗产的受益人, including 12bet游戏平台.
“我想他开始回顾他的一生——每一个教堂, every school, things related to the environment. If they were, at one point, important to him, he included them in his list of beneficiaries,” Cindy 说. “一些(组织)知道他，因为他在去世前与他们有关系, 和, at a number of the schools, he had already created endowments.
“但, there were four schools, 12bet游戏平台 being one of them, 他死前和谁没有任何关系,” Cindy continued. “所以，我的部分目标是帮助他介绍12bet游戏平台和其他学校.”
纳尔逊, who was born 和 raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, retired from his 30-year career as an orthodontist in 1986. After retirement, he developed a deep passion for the environment, 尤其是他在明尼苏达州罗切斯特和诺斯菲尔德地区拥有的三个农场. 纳尔逊种植并照料了几千棵树苗，这些树苗是从明尼苏达州自然资源部(DNR)购买的。.
Before his passing, 纳尔逊 worked with Trust for Public L和, 明尼苏达州土地信托和明尼苏达州自然保护区，以确保他的农场将被转变为野生动物管理区(wma). The three WMAs, totaling 860 acres, 现在被野生动物和以娱乐为目的的游客所喜爱吗. 纳尔逊还将出售农场的收益捐赠给了他的母校圣. Olaf College, 以及路德学院和诺斯菲尔德股份，以创建支持土地管理的捐赠基金, research 和 education programs.
“He wasn't afraid to follow his passions,” Cindy 说. “作为一个家庭，我们从来没有觉得他对自己的正畸医生职业充满热情. So, he retired early. Then, one of his passions was the stock market. 我相信这是他对环境真正的热情所在. That was who he truly was.
“His faith was also a huge part of him,” added Cindy. “信仰和环境，试图把这两者结合起来真的是, toward the end of his life, what he was all about.”
在这里，胡塞夫妇和奥古斯塔娜开始把遗产礼物的一些碎片拼凑在一起. 12bet游戏平台, an institution inspired by Lutheran scholarly tradition, has put an emphasis on enhanced sustainability in recent years. Within AU’s strategic plan, Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030, 是否通过相关的学术课程对环境可持续性作出持久的承诺, 促进校园运营可持续性的倡议和负责任的投资.
In 2007, as 纳尔逊 considered the donation of his farms, he wrote in his statement of purpose, “我的愿望是，这些农场财产将永久地专门用于环境教育, research 和 recreation … to encour年龄 young students, 培养他们的兴趣和承诺，更多地了解我们的环境.”
因此, when 12bet游戏平台 received 纳尔逊’s estate gift, 它被指定为学生主导的环境可持续性倡议提供资源-正如纳尔逊所梦想的那样.
尽管12bet游戏平台和胡塞家族永远不会知道纳尔逊为什么慷慨地选择非盟作为他的捐助者之一, his legacy will extend far into the university’s future, as will the gratitude.
“He was to be greatly admired,” Cindy 说. “He was a very caring 和 loving man.”
Legacy Powers Future of AU
12bet游戏平台的学生和他们的可持续发展倡议已经看到了纳尔逊遗产捐赠的影响.
In 2022, 当时24岁的Vedant Thakkar是奥古斯塔学生协会(ASA)的参议员, 财政委员会讨论了它可能想要解决的项目. 在校园安装太阳能电池板的想法出现了，这个想法在过去已经被不同的参议员提过很多次了.
“我一直对可持续发展项目和太阳能电池板有兴趣,塔迦尔”, who graduated in January, 说. “I had an opportunity to do it, so I took on that opportunity.”
于是，Thakkar开始了将近两年的在校园里安装太阳能电池板的旅程, including researching installation companies, collecting student feedback, discussing feasibility, 与12bet游戏平台设施服务和其他利益相关者合作, as well as writing a proposal.
The panels, expected to be installed in late spring or early summer, 将位于Froil和 Science Complex (FSC)的南侧。, near the greenhouse. 将有三个4 × 8英尺的面板，可能会构成一个面向第33街的大面板.
Thakkar说:“我的目标是让这个项目开始运转。. “With having a few solar panels on campus, it’s this foot-in-the-door idea — we start one project, 和 hopefully that inspires 和 offshoots into more projects. That's why, for me, it was important to get this done.”
While the solar panels are being funded in large part by ASA, 由于该项目是由学生主导的环境可持续发展倡议，其余资金将来自纳尔逊的遗产捐赠. 而且，这个由学生领导的倡议是Thakkar在非盟经历的一个亮点.
“Because of this project, not only was I able to pivot away from my major, I was able to learn a lot of essential life skills, like how to communicate professionally 和 think strategically,” 说 Thakkar, a research specialist at Sanford Research in Sioux Falls. “That helps me today in my work because in science, we operate on grants 和 now, 我知道如何说服拨款委员会为研究项目提供资金. 我从这个项目中获得的经验可以直接转化为对研究的行政和财务部分的理解.
“That's what I appreciated is having these kinds of options; it allows students to exp和 their horizons beyond their major,塔迦尔” continued. “(这个项目)让我掌握了在现实世界中生存和发展的关键技能.”