Welcome to the Fall 2024 issue of McCarthy Magazine As I reflect on our history, I am incredibly grateful for your support and the involvement of the wider McCarthy Center community For nearly twenty years, the McCarthy Center’s record of bipartisan involvement has shown a pathway for constructive collaboration to improve understanding of each other, our institutions, policies, and cultures
The pictures and articles on these pages reflect the vibrant spirit of our students, staff, faculty, and community partners. We welcome debate and dialogue and encourage widespread engagement on and off campus While elections can increase tribalism and polarization, we encourage curiosity rather than contempt. As you will see in this publication, our programs offer diverse ways to learn, connect, and thrive as a student and community member.
Our work is as important today as it was eighteen years ago No one party, person, or place can fix the problems we face as a community. As we look forward to 2025, the McCarthy Center will continue challenging students to dream big while giving them the skills, knowledge, and connections to succeed
Thank you very much for your support throughout the years. Working with such a brilliant and committed team of students, staff, faculty, and supporters is an honor and a privilege. As always, we look forward to hearing more of your ideas and feedback in the coming year Enjoy this edition of McCarthy Magazine!
A Message from Dr. Ted Gordon
Director Initiative for Native Nation Relations and the Joe Farry Professor
As the Joe Farry Professor, it was a humbling Fall semester for me, filled with reminders that my service is part of a much bigger movement to restore the power of Indigenous communities.
As Project Director on our new $157,000 grant from the Minnesota Humanities Center, I organized teams from White Earth, CSB+SJU, and the University of Minnesota, Morris, to collect boarding school archival records and oral histories, to assist the White Earth community in telling its own story.
I had the joy of facilitating “Journey to Justice: Indigenous Partnerships at CSB+SJU,” that brought together a panel of recent graduates who co-founded the Indigenous Students Association, along with their mentor and White Earth activist, Joe LaGarde. Each realized the need to
organize and they called on everyone in the audience to do their part and join in
I served on the Ptanyetu Powwow planning committee, continuing CSB+SJU’s cosponsorship of the powwow into its third year The Powwow, held November 2 at Apollo High School and hosted by Saint Cloud Technical and Community College, continues to serve as both a celebration of Native traditions as well as a reunion of sorts for Native communities across the Upper Midwest, with over 100 dancers and drummers coming together.
And, this Fall, I was part of a group effort to repatriate the remains of four Ojibwe boys who died while attending the St John’s Industrial School in the late 1800s At the request of White Earth’s Tribal Council and with support of these each boy’s next of kin, Saint John’s Abbey, the team at Saint John’s Physical plant, the Hamline University Center for Anthropological Services, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the White Earth Nation, worked together to return these boys from the Abbey Cemetery to be reburied with the community at White Earth. Joe LaGarde is the next of kin for one of the boys who returned home. When asked at the “Journey to Justice” event about why repatriation is important, he said, “ my family doesn’t leave anyone behind ” It was a humbling reminder that civic engagement can restore past wrongs
Written By: Macy Ellis and T Meier, INNR Student Researchers
Writing on behalf of the INNR student research team, we are pleased to share our progress. This past summer, Macy Ellis earned an undergraduate summer research position for the Initiative for Native Nation Relations (INNR), and T Meier received a fellowship from the McCarthy Center to serve White Earth’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Both joined with fellow INNR researcher Meg Nelson and recent alum Savannah Supan (CSB ’24) cataloging items for repatriation. Together, we photographed and cataloged several hundred items
This fall, most of our team’s hours were spent in the Abbey Archive, cataloging almost 2000 correspondence letters from the 1880s and 1890s. It's repetitive but rewarding work. And, of course, it’s just one of many fall projects and events
In September, Kathryn Schug and Dr. Ted Gordon published their article “Rights of Nature: The Indigenous-Led Movement for Sovereignty and a Sustainable Future,” in the Journal of Social Encounters about the rights of nature
INNR student researchers had the privilege of attending the Fall Drum Ceremony at White Earth and the reburial ceremony for one of the boys reinterred from the Abbey Cemetery to White Earth. In late October, it was wonderful to meet and reconnect with the co-founders of the Indigenous Students Association and Joe LaGarde for the “Journey to Justice” panel. Then, on the first Saturday of November, it was fun to again take part in the Ptanyetu Powwow, held this year at Apollo High School. The mix of research and events keeps us connected to the communities we serve
75TH STUDENT CONFERENCE
ON U.S. AFFAIRS
WRITTEN BY: CHARLOTTE WHITING
Every fall, the McCarthy Center selects two students from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University to attend the Student Conference on U S Affairs (SCUSA) at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York Saint John’s student Stanislaw Jank ’25 and Saint Ben’s student Charlotte Whiting ’27 were selected to attend the 75th SCUSA and engage with students from around the world as well as West Point cadets This prestigious four-day conference, taking place from October 2nd to the 5th, 2024, focused on a topic that addressed U.S. involvement in the international community; “Securing The Blessings of Liberty: U.S. Foreign Policy In A Multipolar World ”
The conference began with a panel discussion intended to kick-off conversations about the future of American foreign policy within the scope of innovation in our roundtable discussions. Stanislaw Jank was a member of roundtable 14, which addressed “The Effect of Multipolarity on Conflict in the Middle East.” I was pleased to be a member of roundtable 3 which was on the topic “Institutions Under Multipolarity; From the UN to the WTO ” In our meetings, we discussed the various roles the U.S. plays in international institutions, specifically the role it plays as a member of the United Nations’ Security Council, as well as various other organizations and trade agreements
We were tasked with addressing concerns of isolationist rhetoric by the U S within these international institutions and drafting a policy memorandum on how to go forward, particularly regarding an increase in U.S. involvement or a complete withdrawal
On our second day of SCUSA, we were given the opportunity to hear from distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Princeton University, G. John Ikenberry. Professor Ikenberry lectured on the importance of understanding how we can utilize “soft power ” regarding U S involvement We ended our roundtable discussions on the third day and wrote our policy recommendations, which we presented to the entire conference on our final day.
This experience was an incredible one; I learned a lot about U S foreign policy, as well as what life as a cadet at West Point is like. I encourage any student who is interested in foreign policy and international relations to consider applying to be a student delegate at SCUSA 76, as it truly is a remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Students Stanislaw Jank ’25 and Charlotte Whiting ’27 present a slideshow of their experience on Nov 4
CSB+SJU VOTES
Written by: Alexandra Hoehne ‘26
As stated by Time Magazine, “2024 is not just an election year It’s perhaps the election year ” . Globally, 2024 is the year for elections, with a combined population of 49% heading to the polls in 64 countries. This, of course, is including the 2024 U.S. presidential elections Eugene McCarthy rallied students to get out and vote, and that ethic is brought to life today and is at the center of the McCarthy Center’s mission.
The McCarthy Center partnered with the CSB+SJU Votes Coalition to create an environment around campus that encourages the whole community to get out and vote. Examples of our work include: a CSB+SJU Votes display at Alcuin Library, tabling events, free CSB+SJU Votes T-shirts and buttons, debate watch parties, group discussions, and finally an election results event.
Together with the CSB-SJU Votes Coalition, the McCarthy Center hosted Secretary of State Steve Simon on National Voter Registration Day, September 16th.
SJU Student Senate President Ben Bugbee and CSB Student Senate President Celine Ferguson with Secretary of State, Steve Simon
National Voter Registration Poster
Both campuses were stirring with excitement for his visit. Students could speak with him directly and listen to Steve Simon speak publicly several times. Johnnie-Bennie Media also interviewed him for a campus-wide broadcast
The McCarthy Center and CSB-SJU Votes strive to encourage and inform those around campus to participate and make their voices heard Sometimes, believing one ’ s vote may not matter in the election will dissuade participation. Still, we want to ensure everyone knows that no matter how small their vote may seem, it is of great significance and will be heard and acknowledged, no matter their political leaning. These activities illustrated our collective power to encourage, lift up, and accept varying and diverse political beliefs on our campus. No matter the electoral outcome, CSB-SJU is a community that will thrive through acceptance and political participation
Students gather to watch the 2024 Presidential debate
Thousands of SJU football fans saw this electric scoreboard sign thanking the 2024 election judges
The McCarthy Center CSB-SJU Votes display at Alcuin Library
THE 18TH ANNUAL MCCARTHY LECTURE: LEARNING TO DISAGREE
Written by:
Charlotte Whiting
This year we were pleased to welcome Professor John Inazu as our keynote speaker
Professor Inazu is a prominent scholar in law and religion, teaching classes at Washington University in St Louis such as Criminal Law as well as Religion and the Constitution Prior to the lecture, we encouraged the CSB+SJU community to read his latest book, Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect In his book, Inazu discussed how people with differing beliefs, backgrounds, and morals should be able to live together peacefully without needing to agree on everything.
In addition to Professor Inazu’s lecture, we invited Tane Danger and the crew from the Theater of Public Policy to perform an improv show based on the discussion. The Minnesota Star and Tribune recently described the Theater of Public Policy as similar to “watching CSPAN and having the cast of Saturday Night Live walk on stage.” Tane Danger and the Theater of Public Policy gave a quick and witty performance, with highlights being a skit about performative sympathy and another skit about crashing a college professor’s Thanksgiving dinner
Overall, this lecture was the highlight of the Disagreeing Better Week We look forward to continuing to learn to disagree better as a campus community and are excited to use the tools we gained from the lecture
Use the QR code if you would like to learn more about “Disagreeing Better at CSB-SJU,” including upcoming events.
ANNUAL MCCARTHY CENTER
HIGHWAY CLEANUP
Written by: Alexandra Hoehne ‘26
In 1984 the first highway was “adopted” by a group of citizens in Texas. For the past ten years, the highway cleanup initiative has been an integral part of the McCarthy Center’s mission of promoting community and service. This year, the McCarthy Center partnered with the Climate Justice Club to clean up a highway near Saint John’s University. Dr. Lindstrom, one alumnus, and students gathered to clean debris in the ditches of Stearns County Road 50.
Nearly ten garbage bags were collected and picked up by the Stearns County Highway Department. Afterward, students and alumni came together for a group photo, as seen above. Finally, to celebrate successfully covering the three miles, we continued an annual tradition and enjoyed brunch and lively discussion at Kay’s Kitchen in Saint Joseph This event illustrates our collective power to do good together in our own backyard.
2024ELECTIONDEBRIEF
WRITTENBYCHARLOTTEWHITING
On Tuesday, November 19, the Eugene J McCarthy Center partnered with the on-campus Economics Club, College Democrats, and College Republicans for an “Election Debrief” conversation We were pleased to be joined by Professors Dr. Whitney Court of Political Science and Dr Louis Johnston of Economics We were also excited to welcome Blake Paulson, President Trump’s State Director as well as Emmet Adam, Battleground Associate, from the Harris campaign. We kicked off the night by enjoying some bi-partisan tacos and hearing from the President of the Economics Club, Charis Birkholz, and CSB Co-Chair of College Democrats, Cecilia McNair, as they welcomed the CSB+SJU community and our panelists Throughout the night, we heard about how each of the campaigns ran, including party turnout within the state of Minnesota.
Professor Whitney Court touched on how VP candidates affect campaigns, and Professor Johnston weighed in about our economic future. Blake Paulson and Emmet Adam spoke about their experiences working on a presidential campaign, including various policies the campaigns focused on and who got out to vote in the 2024 Presidential Election
We ended the night by hearing questions from students and members of the CSB+SJU community concerning the outcome of the election, and left with more insight on who turned out to vote, who people voted for, and why people voted the way they did.
