After nail-biting visa difficulties, Canadian pastor Harold Ristau and his family returned to Wyoming days before the start of the first full classes ever at a new classical college Aug. 25. The unexpected revocation of the Ristaus’ visa on June 29 had the Ristaus and their four sons sleeping on mats in friends’ houses for two months and snacking for most meals to keep the fridge clean while their immigration lawyer worked with U.S. authorities.
Ristau is an internationally recognized figure for leading public prayer and singing the Canadian anthem at the famous Trucker’s Convoy in 2022. This simple exercise of free speech and religion put his family at risk of debanking, prompted death threats, and led to the loss of Ristau’s seminary professor employment due to anti-Christian government animus. Ristau is also a decorated military veteran with three advanced degrees who has deployed multiple times to support U.S. wars in the Middle East.
Luther Classical College hired Ristau last year as its founding president, and he soon obtained a visa to fulfill that employment. On that visa, the Ristaus moved to Wyoming last year for the job, where they bought a car and house. But when the Ristaus attempted to re-enter the United States in June after visiting family in Canada, U.S. Border Patrol insisted no visa he’s eligible for allows him to perform college president duties. So the college moved Ristau to a professor position and now seeks a new president.
Ristau and his wife Elise told The Federalist they firmly support the rule of law and immigration policies that prioritize a country’s national interests, but it was still painful to have their lives caught in a whiplash in U.S. politics. Reuniting with their church family in Casper has helped the family rejoice in this season of suffering, Elise said.
“[Ristau] and his family are an enormous part of the college community and the congregations here at Casper. The staff and the faculty adore him and have great respect for him,” Rev. Christian Preus, a college trustee, told The Federalist in a phone call. “… God willing, this whole tragedy God will work out to the good of the college. I have no doubt about that.”
Luther Classical is part of a wave of new institutions reshaping higher education to fit dramatic changes in American life. While existing institutions increasingly close and drop majors, new colleges like Luther Classical focus on Great Books core curriculum that celebrates the Western heritage, keeping costs low to protect students from life-delaying mountains of debt, celebrating free speech, gathering likeminded families, and rethinking broken credentialing systems.
This Wyoming startup is particularly designed to provide a matching higher education to the growing number of children educated in Lutheran classical K-12 schools, college leaders have told The Federalist. The denomination’s president has publicly endorsed classical education and existing Lutheran colleges are adding classical education teaching programs.
If Luther Classical were accredited, federal authorities told The Federalist, Ristau could apply for a visa such as an H-1B that would allow him to be a college president. But colleges can’t earn accreditation until they’ve operated for several years, making Ristau currently only eligible for a TN visa. The TN visa allows solely teaching, not administrative duties. Only accredited colleges can employ H1-B visa-holders under the new, stricter Trump administration application of U.S. immigration laws.
Preus pointed out the irony of a stricter application of U.S. immigration laws that the vast majority of the college’s constituents support creating an obstacle for the startup. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is one of the top three Republican-supporting Christian denominations in the United States, according to Pew Research.
“There’s a period of mourning that [Ristau] is going through because he loved being the president and was sincerely convinced that — and the fruit showed it — that the college was flourishing under him,” Preus said. “But it’s sadly a moot point because of the immigration laws. And of course, we as the college have no choice but to move on and to get a new president.”
Five “serious,” “well-qualified” candidates have allowed their names to stand for the newly opened college presidency so far, Preus said. The college has opened nominations for candidates until Oct. 1 and will begin interviewing before that deadline.
A summer of disruptions didn’t hold Ristau back from immediately assigning students 20 chapters of the biblical book of Job in their freshman philosophy class with him, Preus said. More than 200 people attended a cookout held the Saturday before orientation to welcome the college’s first freshman class and their families, and there were “smiles everywhere,” Preus said. Parents of new students told Preus “what [their children] are going to be learning here and the community they’re going to be in is valuable for the rest of their life. They don’t think [attending a startup college] is a risk at all.”
A hike up Casper Mountain during orientation took more than twice as long as usual “because we kept on stopping and seeing the sights and having great conversations,” Preus said. He also noted with a laugh that the students found his secret raspberry patch on the trail despite his sneaky efforts to keep them away so he could have it to himself.
Two of the Ristaus’ sons are attending Luther Classical this fall, which is available to them because of their father’s visa. Their oldest is considering pursuing the ministry after finishing at Luther Classical, which for orthodox Lutherans requires graduate school.
The new students have already made church singing louder and more polyphonic and brought Gregorian chant to the college’s opening service, Preus said. Lutherans are famous congregational singers — normal Sunday services can often include four-part harmony spontaneously sung by parishioners given a robust music education in Lutheran schools.
After a round of meat-eating with some smoked brisket and English country dancing in a barn as part of the opening festivities, Preus says the rumor is that several students have already romantically paired off. One of Luther Classical’s goals is facilitating healthy Christian marriages and families.
Typically colleges have to graduate their first full class of students before they can obtain accreditation, but Luther Classical could earn accreditation as soon as two years from now, Preus said. That’s because the college had strong financial backing for two years before students arrived, giving them an early start on demonstrating the financial viability required for accreditation.
While Ristau’s new professorship was not part of the college’s original budget for this year, Preus says the trustees unanimously approved the position to comply with the changed application of U.S. immigration laws, “For his sake, the sake of his family, for the staff and faculty who love and respect him, for the good of the college community, for our donors and supporters who expect us to do the right and Christian thing. And if it costs a little more money for a year, it’s worth it. We have full confidence our donors and supporters will step up and God will continue to bless our efforts.”