This author talk will describe the remarkable trajectory of Augsburg University as recounted in "Radical Roots: How One Professor Transformed a University" (Myers Education Press, 2023). The book describes how Joel Torstenson, a sociology professor at Augsburg in the mid-1960s, challenged the university to embrace its urban location and transform its curricular, co-curricular, and community engagement programs at the intersection of mission and place. Lessons learned at Augsburg over the past sixty years offer important insights for all colleges and universities seeking to live out commitments to the democratic purposes of higher education.