Erin Hemme Froslie ’96
Instructor of English and Multimedia Journalism
Faculty Advisor,

Since graduating from Å·ÃÀÊÓƵ in 1996, Erin Hemme Froslie has worked in journalism-related fields.

She has been an English instructor at Concordia for the past six years. Previously, she spent 12 years as a journalist for both a daily and weekly newspaper; however, the tight deadlines and endless assignments pushed her to take a break and explore.

This led her to join the staff in Concordia’s Communications and Marketing office, where she focused on writing for alumni audiences. She continued to employ her interviewing, reporting, and writing skills, but the pace was a bit more relaxed.

“And then, like most things in life, you’re ready for something else,” she said. “Sometimes you just do things until they don’t work anymore.”

With the encouragement of people close to her, Hemme Froslie started a writing and editing business called Whistle Editorial where she focused on nonprofit and corporate clientele. Eventually, the English department at Concordia went through a round of retirements and needed a faculty advisor for The Concordian, the campus’ student-run newspaper. She agreed to take the position and said everything snowballed from there. Starting this fall, she will be moving into a full-time faculty position.

A Growing Community

She said that she never expected to live and stay in the Fargo-Moorhead area while she attended college but that the amazing community convinced her to stick around.

“We’re in a place that is still thriving. It’s at an intersection of industries (agriculture, healthcare, technology, higher ed), and it’s all happening right here. I think we forget how vibrant of a community we live in,” Hemme Froslie said. “It’s easy to dismiss this area as being a part of the northern plains. We’re not just here in the northern plains; there are some really exciting things happening and we need to own that.”

She continued, “I also love that there’s a lot of media presence here because I think communities are better when there is media holding elected officials accountable and informing the community about what’s happening.”

She is involved in the community through her church, children who attend public school, and her service on the Lake Region Arts Council covering west central Minnesota. The council gives grants to artists throughout the region, making sure all forms of art are represented from literature to visual to theatre to music. She also has been a part of the same book club for 23 years.

She returned to Concordia because of her deep respect for the institution’s mission and its focus on liberal arts with a purpose.

“There’s something about having a purpose for getting an education, really thinking beyond ‘I’m just getting a job,’” she said. “There’s a calling here.”

There’s a calling to use your gifts for the benefit of the world.

She explained that since COVID-19, students have faced, and will continue to face, issues and challenges that the rest of the world hasn’t yet considered. A liberal arts education provides a strong foundation to apply knowledge while teaching students to ask critical questions and look for answers and solutions.

“Who knows where we’re all going? I’m mid-career and still don’t know what the next 25 years of life will look like. And yet, I’m not scared. I’ll figure it out,” she said. “There’s something about the liberal arts model of education that does a good job preparing students for that.”

Postgraduate Preparation

Hemme Froslie says her favorite aspect of working at Concordia is watching her students grow — from the first semester she teaches them to seeing the strong leaders they become years later.

“You get to nudge them over the edge a little bit and show them, ‘you can interview people, you can make cold calls, you can do this,’” she said.

She sees much potential in her multimedia journalism students. Their creativity, empathy, intelligence, and connection are traits she notices year after year.

“I’m always somewhat humbled by students because they’re much smarter and more worldly than I remember being at 18, 19, or 20,” she said.

She teaches News Writing, Feature Writing, Investigating and Narrating the News, Mass Communications Law and Ethics, First-Year Seminars, and Writing to Engage. It’s nearly impossible for her to pick a favorite, but she conceded that Feature Writing is the most fun to teach.

“There’s something when we see that blend of playing with words and playing with language while still having a purposeful story. It’s a place where we can actually learn how to attract people to journalism,” she said. “I also love the readings in that class and I love some of the longer-form pieces we look at each year.”

There’s a discussion in each class she teaches that focuses on a case study for students to learn the different issues that arise when reporting. She hopes that exploring the ethics of journalism through events happening right now will help students understand that these are not abstract issues but ones that impact how events are reported every day.

“Students can discuss what questions the reporter may have asked, if the article was ethically written, and how the values of truth and accuracy balance against the idea of minimizing harm,” she said.

In the professional journalism world, there is an expectation that students will have experience in multiple forms of storytelling. It’s important to understand how the different avenues of storytelling interact to determine the best way to tell a story — whether audio, visual, written, or a combination.

She believes that the multimedia journalism major at Concordia prepares students with valuable skills and experiences they will need after graduating. She acknowledged that journalism is an industry in transition but that does not mean there are no jobs.

Especially regionally, employers are looking for graduates interested in journalism. She added that even if you don’t want to be a journalist per se, there are so many opportunities available in related fields.

“It’s not about teaching students for a specific job, although there are certainly jobs that this can translate into. It’s about teaching students how to think, how to ask questions, and how to process that information and share it with others,” she said. “I think it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, you’re just learning to interview and writing these 400-word stories,’ but actually what you’re doing is a lot more in-depth. It’s really hard to find the right person to interview and ask them the right questions to get the information you don’t even know you need yet.”

She also commented on the value of journalism in a world where many people turn to social media for their news. She said the problem is that we don’t always know where information is coming from, who’s behind it, and whether it’s true.

Multimedia journalism introduces students to what good information should look like and how to obtain it while interviewing. It also opens up conversations about the nuances of the world.

“We are in an information glut. Everywhere we look and turn, we are being invaded by information. My hope is that students studying multimedia journalism begin to understand and build empathy for other worldviews,” Hemme Froslie said. “You get to explore worlds you might not feel like you have permission to jump into normally and share what you learn with others while having an excuse to ask all the questions.”

Experiential Extracurriculars

There are also many opportunities outside of class for students to participate in that are related to the multimedia journalism program. (the TV station), , and are all student-run. Students determine the issues that are discussed while applying what they learn in the classroom.

As faculty advisor for The Concordian, she has more experience with that specific co-curricular program. She works with the leadership team, the editor-in-chief, and the business manager to help ensure budget expectations are met and good writers are recruited.

“I am there as a resource and cheerleader, but most of the work is done by the students themselves,” she said.

The newspaper is supported through student fees, making it the students’ paper. Experience doesn’t matter and all students are welcome to join. There is also flexibility with time commitments. Some students write weekly while others write monthly. Each year, an editor is appointed to the paper by a committee that includes student representation.

On Sunday nights, meetings are held for students to pitch story ideas and get assignments. The intention is that everyone gets to work on something they are passionate about.

Hemme Froslie’s experience as a writer and editor helps her empathize with students while continuing to challenge them in their writing.

“I know what it’s like when sources don’t get back to you. I know what it’s like when somebody doesn’t answer the question the way you expect,” she said. “But I also know what is possible when you push yourself.”

A new Pivotal Experience in Applied Knowledge (PEAK) opportunity will be offered through The Concordian this academic year.

The focus is on publishing and gaining experience working on the newspaper. There’s a variety of options for the PEAK. Students choose their expertise (for example, photography, writing, designing, or copyediting) and produce a portfolio at the end of the year. During the second semester, there will be monthly check-ins with her to reflect on their work. Students will also need to interview with a professional whose job they find interesting. This is meant to open up ideas for future careers the student may want to pursue.

“After completing the PEAK, I hope students will feel like they’ve accomplished something amazing. Sometimes I think we forget when looking at a portfolio all the work that went into it. It gives you a certain amount of pride,” she said. “I also hope it allows students to articulate what they have actually learned and experienced.”

A Love of Learning

With extensive journalism experience, it may surprise some to learn that Hemme Froslie majored in English literature and minored in what was then called women’s studies while she was at Concordia.

She chose English literature because of her love for learning. She could learn about many different topics and earn credits for reading — something she already loved to do.

As she entered her senior year, she decided not to pursue graduate school immediately. To enter the workforce following graduation, she knew she would need writing samples that were not from academic papers so she took a journalism class on a whim.

“For me, being tied down to just one topic is not all that much fun. I think that’s what drew me to journalism too,” she said. “I am never bored because whatever I’m interested in or think is the next thing I want to explore, I decide to do a story on it. You become like a mini expert in that world.”

Years later, she has now completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Bennington College.

She has three pieces of advice for students considering graduate school.

One, it’s OK to wait.

“There is more than one path forward and just because you don’t do something right away doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen,” she said. 

Two, use experiences from Concordia to boost your application.

And three, talk to people who have experience with graduate school.

“Be able to answer your ‘why’ because grad school is an amazing experience and opportunity, but it’s not the only experience and opportunity. You need to make sure it’s right for you,” she said.

For students considering Concordia, Hemme Froslie said, “As I look at other liberal arts schools, something that sets us apart is that we truly are a community. It’s really easy to get involved in Fargo-Moorhead — from internships to sending students to city council meetings for class. There are places where that would not be easily accessible. We want to support students and make sure they succeed. With my classes, if I know I have a lot of students who share an interest, I can tailor my reading list to reflect that. It’s one of the things that’s so fun about Concordia; we can do that.”

^{Published September 2024}