March 6, 2009

CHICAGO – A Lutheran college alumna working as a journalist in Tehran may soon be released from an Iran prison where she's been held since late January, according to March 6 news reports quoting an Iranian official.

Roxana Saberi, 31, is slated to deliver the May commencement address at her alma mater – Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. Concordia is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

"We have her in our prayers," said Dr. Pamela M. Jolicoeur, Concordia president.

For the past six years Saberi worked as a freelance journalist in Tehran, filing reports for National Public Radio, the BBC and other news outlets. Iranian officials said they revoked her journalism credentials three years ago.

Reza Saberi, 67, told the ELCA News Service his daughter also has been writing a book and attending school in Iran. She planned to move back to the United States "for good" in the spring.

"We are very grateful for everyone's concern and their prayers," said Saberi, an Iranian who moved to Fargo, N.D., in 1980 with his wife Akiko, who is Japanese.

Roxana Saberi was born in the United States and grew up in Fargo. After earning a degree in mass communications from Concordia, she pursued graduate degrees from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., and Cambridge University, England.

Dr. Donald E. Rice, an ELCA member and Concordia professor who mentored Saberi, called her a remarkable talent. "She was always very interested in the news," he said.

Saberi was crowned Miss North Dakota in 1997, while a 20- year-old student at Concordia. She then placed in the top 10 at the Miss America pageant. A newspaper called her "the pageant brain" after she won the first-ever Miss America Scholar award for her 3.97 grade point average.

Lois Erdmann invited the young pageant winner to speak about her faith at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Bismarck, N.D. "She was a good speaker for as young as she was," Erdmann recalled.

The Rev. Charles A. Olmstead, pastor of Hope Lutheran Church, Fargo, said Saberi attended church events during junior high though she wasn't a member. "She was an articulate, energetic young woman," he said. "She was as involved with us as other kids."

Reza Saberi said his daughter isn't a Lutheran. "I don't know what faith she is," he said.

He last heard from his daughter Feb. 10, when she called and told him she'd been arrested. "We waited and worried. We had no news," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and journalists publicly called for Roxana Saberi's release. Sen. Bryan Dorgan, D- N.D., an ELCA member, is among U.S. congressional members involved.

The United States severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979 in response to the Islamic Revolution.

Concordia College said Saberi was chosen as its commencement speaker because of her knowledge of international relations – an emphasis of the school. "Roxana encourages students to broaden their horizons in that way," Jolicoeur said.

ELCA News Service