Photo by Michael Zimmerman Meet Dawn Randall (’25), a multilingual teacher, who recently graduated in the Leadership in Innovation and Continuous Improvement (LICI) program at Concordia University Wisconsin.
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of stories highlighting a few Concordia’s uncommon graduates. Faculty and staff submit candidates for consideration. Stories are posted in the days leading up to or after commencement. View more uncommon graduates here.
As a current third, fourth, and fifth grade teacher at Longfellow Elementary in Sheboygan, Wis., Dawn Randall has had quite the extensive journey to receiving her doctorate degree at CUW. She began her pursuit of a degree in the Language and Literacy program back in 2015 at Cardinal Stritch University, which closed its doors permanently in 2023.
Then, the entire world faced a pandemic—the COVID-19 virus—spanning from March 2020 until May 2023. Dawn’s degree was delayed several times over a 9-year period, but she continued to move forward.
“I did get to the point where I thought, ‘You know what, if I never finish this, that’s okay.’” She believes that it’s really important to be content in life. Those years of uncertainty really cemented the notion that in life, “whatever God has for you, that’s enough.” So, for her, that eventually meant finishing the remaining two chapters of her dissertation. It just wasn’t how she envisioned it.
A bit of background
Dawn Randall is a full-time mom to three daughters and a full-time elementary teacher. She has a bachelor’s in English as a second language and a master’s in Elementary Reading and Literacy. Prior to working in elementary, she was teaching at a middle school in 2005, which is where she realized that no other faculty members had the training to teach beginning reading to the middle schoolers, especially the multilingual students. As a result, students were coming in unprepared and Dawn felt compelled to obtain her master’s in literacy.
For her, getting the doctorate felt like the natural next step to growing spiritually, becoming a better teacher, and a better person. She decided on Cardinal Stritch to pursue a degree and began her dissertation on first grade writing. “I wanted to do my own experiment,” says Dawn. “Unfortunately, for me, it happened during the whole 2020 quarantine … I had to change some things to make it quarantine-friendly.”
So, following Cardinal Stritch’s quietus, she enrolled in CUW’s LICI program with only chapter four and chapter five left to go. The focus of her dissertation had already digressed from her original plans in order to suit life during a pandemic. She ended up collecting data from the first semester of first grade instead of her goal to begin with kindergarten, go through the summer, and then end with first grade.
A God-wink scenario
Meanwhile, a professor she previously had at Cardinal Stritch was already working at CUW …
Dr. Heather Pauly, assistant professor from the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and coordinator of the Child Language and Literacy Center, ended up reconnecting with her. Dawn invited Pauly to be on her dissertation committee. Small world?
According to Pauly, God obviously had other plans for Dawn as she felt Him present in the situation. “God put us on each other’s paths ten years ago as Dawn began her doctoral coursework … then He guided our paths to cross again this past year as she finished her research,” says Pauly.
“It was a blessing and a gift to serve on Dawn’s dissertation committee at CUW as she completed her work and earned her doctorate.”
What is also unique about Dawn’s path to CUW is that this was not her first time on the campus. Something very special happened for her here many years prior.
“When I learned that her husband was a CUW alumni and they were married at the CUW chapel, I knew without a doubt that the Lord was at work in her process,” says Pauly. “Her research was meticulous and her contribution to the field of writing is a needed step forward in what we know about the development of written language in young children.”
So, not only did Dawn’s husband graduate from Concordia, but they were joined in a sacred union at the Chapel of Christ Triumphant in July 1995. God wink?
What’s next for Dawn Randall?
Dawn doesn’t have any immediate plans for her doctorate and says she really likes “being in the trenches” with the younger students. “K-12 to me is where it’s at!” she notes. She is, however, extremely grateful to Concordia for helping her complete the program.
“There’s never a good time to pursue a doctorate,” she giggles. However, the feeling of having one is unlike anything else. Dawn felt as light as a cloud. “It’s really amazing. It feels like I can breathe again.”
She is currently praying about what God has planned for her future. Obviously, He had other plans for her past. “It’s not ironic at all that I somehow still ended up a Concordian graduate,” she smirks. “I think it was meant to be.”
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Inspired by a Christian worldview, stewardship, and service, the mission of the cross-disciplinary LICI doctoral program is to prepare and equip individuals to be lifelong learners and exceptional leaders who will make a positive impact and add value to their vocations and communities.