Jonathan Lofgren receives the Collegiate Recovery Cornerstone Award for Student Support

Using his personal story of recovery and not having a place on-campus to support him while he was in school, Lofgren was inspired to create a space for the students he worked with. “They [didn’t] have a place on campus where they can just be themselves and not really worry about stigma,” said Lofgren. “And get the kind of peer-to-peer support that is so vital to academic success, but also really vital to recovery success.”

The College’s Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP) founded by Lofgren in 2017 is the 1st CRP at a 2-year institution in Minnesota. Lofgren said he was also inspired by Augsburg University’s collegiate recovery program and eventually the university became a partner for Minneapolis College’s Program. The CRP is coordinated by the Dean of Students and employs a part-time addiction counseling professional, two part-time student workers as well as multiple individual personal recovery coaches.

Earlier this year, Lofgren received the Collegiate Recovery Cornerstone Award for Student Support from the Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE) for his work at Minneapolis College.

“It’s really a big affirmation that the program I was fortunate to have founded, done the research for and started here at Minneapolis College is having the kind of impact that somebody would recognize,” said Lofgren. He also teaches in the Addiction Counseling Program at the College and serves as CRP Coordinator. “It’s one of those collaboration awards that is so deserved by the whole team that’s involved with our Collegiate Recovery Program.”

With over 30 years of experience in long-term recovery and behavioral health and education experience, Lofgren says the students are his biggest motivator to continue his work in the field.

“Just seeing them come through our program and take their place in the community, that’s really a reward,” said Lofgren. “Now they are bosses of programs and they're getting interns from our program. Former students are sending their own clients to be in the Collegiate Recovery Program to learn how to be a counselor or learn another trade. It’s a big motivator to see them take a place in our field.”

Lofgren also served as the chair of a committee dedicated to creating more educational opportunities for students of color at the school, specifically black male students.

“When I first started here at Minneapolis College there was a big disparity with education outcomes for first-time, full-time black male students in particular,” said Lofgren. “Service to my community is really important, especially to the underserved.” This committee created the Students of African American Brotherhood and Students of African American Sisterhood which eventually became the African American Education Empowerment Program (AME). 

For more information, visit the CRP webpage.