Campus plans to honor student

Friends, family to celebrate life, legacy of Augustana sophomore

As the school year comes to an end, members of the campus community are looking for ways to honor a student who taught those around her the importance of perseverance, optimism and courage. 

Most everyone who knew sophomore Courtney Frohling said she radiated light. 

“She had just a way about her where it would bring a light to the room, but it wouldn’t draw all the attention to her,” sophomore Aiden Heisinger said. “She would check on everybody and ask everybody what their favorite part of the day was.”

Frohling’s roommate sophomore Macy Mailander said she found Frohling to have a bright personality. 

“She had this capacity to just light up every room she walked in,” Mailander said. “Like it didn’t matter if it was lab or if we were just hanging out with friends. She always knew how to make someone smile.”

Frohling passed away on Feb. 26 after her years-long battle with cancer. She was a biology major at Augustana and was involved in a number of activities on campus, including Augie Green and a work-study program in the Froiland Science Complex’s biology office. 

Frohling was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma when she was 15. Friends of Frohling said that after this diagnosis, she developed a “WTF” attitude, which stands for “worth the fight.” 

Sophomore Sydney Rogers, a good friend of Frohling, said when she first met Frohling in January 2023, she didn’t know about the diagnosis. 

“Even while she was going through what she was going through, you know, battling cancer as a teenager, you would never have known,” Rogers said.

Rogers remembers Frohling’s ability to comfort and take care of those around her.

“She was always the person you knew you could turn to,” Rogers said. “She was a rock for me. She was just a comfort. I don’t know if there is a better way to describe it other than just when I walked into her room, everything was off your chest.”

Mailander said she doesn’t have any siblings, but if she had a sister, it would have been Frohling.  The two first met in a Facebook group for the class of 2022. 

“I still have the messages,” Mailander said, thinking back to her first interaction with Frohling. “It was the most awkward thing I’ve ever read in my entire life, but it was still so perfect. It’s like when you meet someone and you just have that instant connection. That was it with Courtney.” 

Mailander said she hopes people will see Frohling as more than someone who was diagnosed with cancer.

“Courtney was so much more than that, and she was so much more than that to herself,” Mailander said. “She never let the fact of her diagnosis stop her from achieving any goals. That’s why she still came to college, still lived in a dorm, everything else.”

One of Frohling’s goals was to work in pediatric oncology, Rogers said. 

“She wanted to be able to tell kids, ‘You can do what you want to do. You don’t have to let [cancer] define you,’” Rogers said.

Grace Wehrspann, Frohling’s work-study boss, said she admired Frohling’s ability to always think with a glass-half-full perspective. 

“She just had such a good attitude about everything. It wasn’t like everything was sunshine and rainbows. It was more like, ‘These are the cards I’ve been given,’” Wehrspann said. 

As Augustana nears the end of another academic year, Frohling’s friends are looking for ways to commemorate her love for life.

In addition to the memorial service held on campus March 7, Augie Green donated five trees to be planted in her memory. Those trees will be planted in a forest in need to support reforestation, improve forest health and provide habitat for threatened and endangered wildlife.

Mailander and Rogers are also hoping to plan a 5k marathon in Frohling’s honor, as she was a “cross country star in high school,” Mailander said. 

With Frohling’s 21st birthday coming up this fall, Mailander and Rogers are hoping to organize a “Courage from Courtney” marathon to encourage students to continue pushing towards their goals. 

Frohling’s alma mater, Perham High School in Minnesota, began a cross country meet called “Courage for Courtney” in combination with the “Brave like Gabe 5K.” Additionally, Perham High School has dedicated a scholarship, called “Courage from Courtney,” in Frohling’s memory. 

Rogers said she also hopes the university will find a way to honor Frohling’s dedication to her education.

“I would love to make sure that something happens at our commencement,” Rogers said. “Just the simple things, like an empty chair or still read her name.” 

Em Powers, a friend of Frohling, wrote a memorial poem that was published this May in Venture, the school’s literary publication. 

“I was just kind of writing what words came to mind when I thought of Courtney,” Powers said, reflecting on the poem they wrote for Frohling. “It was a way to deal with my grief and then a way to send her love too.”

Many people who knew Frohling have said they hope campus will do something more permanent to honor her legacy at Augustana. Powers and Rogers said they want to ensure that any memorial is done tastefully and does more than simply remind people of Frohling’s diagnosis.

“This summer, I’m planning on brainstorming with her family and some different clubs to see what we can do as a more permanent memorial,” Powers said. “I didn’t want to rush anything either because I want it to be in a thoughtful way, whatever we end up doing. It’s easy to put up a plaque somewhere, but I want to keep brainstorming.”

Heisinger has his own plans to honor Frohling. 

“I really hoped that she would come back and we could restart our medical school journey together, but unfortunately I guess God had other plans for her,” Heisinger said. “So now I have the torch, and I’ll be trying my best for her.”

Mailander said Frohling wouldn’t want her friends and family to let their grief stop them from moving forward. 

“It was definitely a shock to everyone to lose her,” Mailander said. “But deep in my mind, I know that Courtney would not want me to stop. She would want me to grieve. She thought grieving was healthy. Grieving is always healthy. But she would not want me to put my life on pause. She would always want me to keep going forward.” 

Rogers said that even with the sadness of losing Frohling, she will always have fond memories of their friendship.

“I smile because it did happen. I smile about the things we did. But I still cry,” Rogers said.