St Cloud State Magazine Spring/Summer 2020 by St. Cloud State University

SPRING / SUMMER 2020

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

…XTR…M… W…ATH…R INFINIT… DATA Students prepare to save lives and property

MORE INSIDE:

IT’S TIME Defining the new regional comprehensive university

STRIKING A CHORD Talent, passion and degree create a perfect progression

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FROM THE PRESIDENT 4 In the midst of COVID 19 ... NEWS 9 Spring Commencement

announcement 10 Huskies Food Pantry 12 Making face shields for CentraCare 13 Professor wins Minnesota Book Award 16 All female broadcast 17 Dance team earns national title

FEATURES 5 It’s Time: defining the new regional comprehensive university 18 Extreme weather, infinite data: Students prepare to save lives and property 24 Striking a chord with Michael Shynes ’10

ALUMNI NEWS 29 Class notes 30 Sarah Smith ’92 creates cool

EXTREME WEATHER: Department of Atmospheric and Hydrologic Science students are researching new ways to save lives and protect property while earning their degree.

new camping app 32 Creating a better future for students 35 Art alumnus shares passion with community

stcloudstate.edu

FROM THE PRESIDENT IN THE MIDST OF

DrRobbynWacker

COVID-19 ...

I have never been so proud of our Huskies community. When we began the spring semester in January, we did so with enthusiasm for new classes, opportunities and a vision for what it means to be a regional comprehensive university going forward. In fact, in the fall/winter edition of this magazine, I wrote of this enthusiasm and changes on the horizon: “It’s time to take proactive steps to boldly alter the way we operate to better serve this new generation of students.” Little did we know that COVID-19 would dramatically alter the way we operate, at an unimaginable speed – but because we had laid the groundwork for reimagining St. Cloud State University we were ready to respond. For example: »» As we begin to expand our reach beyond Central Minnesota, we knew online learning would be an increasingly important component of our future in the years to come; we hadn’t fathomed that this March we’d move more than 2,000 classes and labs online. Yet that’s exactly what we did to best serve students – a Herculean effort made possible by our committed professors and students. »» We knew meeting students where they are at in their educational journey would be vital in the years ahead, whether they’re a first-generation college student, a working parent pursuing their degree part-time, a professional switching careers and seeking further training, or more. This value came into sharp focus in the early days of COVID-19, when we launched a 24/7 hotline to answer questions and help connect students to services, reached out one by one to students to ensure they had the technology they’d need to continue learning from home, held 10 virtual town halls to further connect with students, parents, faculty and staff, and automatically renewed scholarships for the upcoming academic year. The ways we connect and learn changed in a matter of days, and these new platforms and methods will be helpful tools long after this pandemic is over. »» We knew Huskies want to apply their education to their communities and the world at large. At every turn this spring, I have been deeply impressed by the lengths our campus community has gone to help one another and put our resources to use for the larger community. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, fundraisers came together for our Student Emergency Fund and Huskies Food Pantry (see story on p. 6), our Husky Make It Space churned out face shields for medical workers (see story on p. 8), our Costume Studio put their sewing machines to use for volunteers making cloth face masks, our Huskies Coaches program launched months ahead of schedule to help coach students through this time of transition, we partnered with Stearns County to plan ahead for use of our facilities if need be during this crisis, and countless other stories of kindness and community emerged that make me proud to be a Husky.

We have adapted quickly, and we have learned so much along the way that will only help us be a stronger institution in the future and even better equipped to serve our students. While video calls and Facebook Live updates may be with us to stay, I also look forward to the day when our community can be together in person to reflect on what this time has meant to us and how it has honed our focus on what’s next. I want you to know that our future is not on hold because of the pandemic. We continue to transform St. Cloud State to the new regional comprehensive university (see story on p. 25). To our alumni, community partners, students and parents: We want to hear from you now more than ever during these months of ongoing transitions, to ensure we’re doing what we can to help students and the community at large. Please send me a note at presidentsoffice@ stcloudstate.edu.

The St. Cloud State leadership team offers students encouragement via Zoom during finals week.

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IT’S TIME

BY PRESIDENT ROBBYN WACKER

In the midst of COVID-19, I have never been prouder to be a Husky.

A PHILOSOPHICAL SHIFT Robbyn Wacker President, St. Cloud State University

President Robbyn Wacker enjoys a sociallydistanced meeting with students in Garvey Commons.

Defining the new regional comprehensive university

It’s Time to take proactive steps to boldly alter the way we operate to better serve this generation of students. We will be reimagining what it means to be a regional comprehensive university and build on our strengths. In order to do this good work, we had to fundamentally transform the way we have thought and operated in a number of areas. The foundation of this new philosophy is rooted in how we have approached our institutional budget, as it is no secret that regional comprehensive universities are seeing a decrease in funding. This has led us to strictly use the budget to drive our decision making. To put it simply, our budget management strategy has been to make cuts with the primary goal of balancing the budget and

replenishing the reserves. After countless conversations with internal and external constituents, I knew that if we were to make changes, this great institution could no longer continue this way. It was time to create a new path for St. Cloud State University. And although our budget challenges are real, we will use a roadmap, which I am calling “It’s Time,” to ensure we are operating with a balanced budget and working strategically toward creating a new comprehensive university. On the following pages, I’ve outlined the It’s Time roadmap. My hope is that you are as excited as I am about the future of this great institution.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

It’s Time: Redefining the Regional Comprehensive University (RCU) TRADITIONAL

A Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | SPRING / SUMMER 2020

G& E IN NC ER IE NE SC GI D EN PLIE AP

Individualized Approach

N IO AT

One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Nationally Recognized Programs

University of Teachers & Scholars

University Primarily Teaching Focused

Academic Leadership in Four Fields

IP SH

A Distinctive Comprehensive

ER AD

Comprehensive Offerings

Teacher/ Scholar Model

Expanded Regional Definition

Individualized Student Support

TH AL

Regional

This path will clearly define us as leaders in these four areas: 1. Health 2. Leadership 3. Education 4. Engineering and Applied Science

Distinctive Programs

REDEFINED

WITH A FIRM COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION, THE IT’S TIME ROADMAP ARTICULATES OUR SHIFT TO BECOMING THE NEW REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY.

Liberal Arts Education for a New Era

Applied Research & Scholarship

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

NEWS THE NEED FOR REDEFINITION

There are many factors driving our need for redefinition, from the advances in technology to changes in public opinion of higher education. Over the past 18 months we as an institution have identified the following areas that are driving the need for regional redefinition: »» Funding squeeze - St. Cloud State has received reduced financial support from the state, while at the same time the demand for state funding from multiple sources has increased. »» Student demographics - There are fewer high school students to recruit, and we are in direct competition with other entities to recruit from a smaller pool of traditional-aged students. »» Increasing competition - Today’s students have the usual higher education choices and new choices through universities with online offerings. Students, parents and guardians are now shopping with a customer mindset and paying attention to how they are treated and how responsive a university is to their needs. »» Digital experience - The digital revolution has changed how students receive information by providing them with unlimited access online, any where, any time and from any source. »» Looped learning - Because of the choices of institutions, online options, PSEO, work options, and others, a trend of looping education is evolving. Students can loop in and out of their education experience for a variety of reasons and education is no longer a linear approach where a degree leads to a profession and then retirement. In addition, education is now a lifelong need in order to remain agile, adaptable and successful in their work. We must act in bold and courageous ways to take control of our future in this new landscape in order to survive and thrive.

It’s Time: Reexamining our operations to better serve new and varied types of students Creating programs in the four Areas of Academic Distinction will have the following characteristics: »» Individualized student learning and support - We must pivot from a one-size-fits-all approach to a set of academic, social and financial support services that meets students where they are and engages them in achieving their personal and professional aspirations. »» Lifelong learning skills and a lifelong learning strategy »» Robust external partnerships »» Engaged teacher/scholars »» Experiential and applied learning embedded in the curriculum »» Clearly aligned with career options

It’s Time: Rebuilding a sense of community and creating new traditions that will bind us together as Huskies It’s Time that we face our challenges head-on and acknowledge the need to work together to build a new regional comprehensive university, develop student-centered operations, and create a healthy community.

We must act in bold and courageous ways to take control of our future in this new landscape. It’s Time. – PRESIDENT ROBBYN WACKER

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SPRING 2020 COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY WILL BE AUG. 14 St. Cloud State University’s official Spring 2020 Commencement will be Aug. 14 due to Minnesota’s COVID-19 social distancing efforts. This May, 1,690 students from 42 countries and 33 U.S. states earned degrees from St. Cloud State and joined the university’s family of more than 125,000 alumni. The degree earners include 41 associate degree students, 1,242 undergraduate students, 399 graduate students and 8 doctoral students. Honors include 167 undergraduates earning Summa Cum Laude, 241 earning Magna Cum Laude and 234 earning Cum Laude cords. President Robbyn Wacker announced plans for the official commencement ceremony live on Facebook May 8. Deans of St. Cloud State’s colleges and schools also each shared a congratulatory message for graduates as they finished classes in early May. The official ceremony will be held Aug. 14 in accordance with guidelines for gatherings from the Minnesota Department of Health. The campus community is excited to celebrate these graduates for all of their efforts this spring and throughout their St. Cloud State career. In addition, 2020 graduates are each receiving a graduation package in the mail to help them celebrate until the official ceremony. President Robbyn Wacker rubs the husky’s nose for good luck. Read more: https://scsu.mn/2T2K1Dy

ST. CLOUD STATE RECEIVES CLASSIFICATION FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT The Carnegie Foundation has announced that St. Cloud State University is one of the 119 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective designation that indicates institutional commitment to community engagement. This re-classifies St. Cloud State and its commitment to community engagement after originally receiving the honor in 2010. The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification is the leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education. “We take great pride in creating opportunities for people from all over Central Minnesota, the region, the state and the world to join St. Cloud State in building a vibrant community,” said St. Cloud State President Robbyn Wacker. “Engagement in its broadest sense is at the center of our strategic plan and who we are, with the goal of becoming Minnesota’s 21st Century Engaged University through engagement with students, campus and communities.” Since its original classification with the Carnegie Foundation, St. Cloud State has continued to elevate its focus on community through the development of Our Husky Compact; a commitment the university makes to its students and students make to their education that will set them apart and prepare them to be global citizens of the 21st Century.

ST. CLOUD STATE EARNS MILITARY FRIENDLY TOP 10 DESIGNATION St. Cloud State exceeded Military Friendly standards on every measure. As a Top 10 school, St. Cloud State is among the Top 10 in our scoring category. Top 10 schools are seen by Military Friendly as setting “the standard for other designations and are programs that continue to improve every year.” St. Cloud State has improved policies and procedures for student-veterans and offers in-state tuition and waives application fees for all veteran applicants. Once veterans are enrolled, St. Cloud State offers free tutoring, employment help and programs to ease the transition to civilian life. “On a daily basis our campus is stepping up and filling the gaps for student veterans who may require additional guidance to reach graduation,” said Veterans Resources Director Zac Mangas. “This comes from a number of different areas around our community, and it is something we should all take pride in.”

988 Veteran/militaryconnected students ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

NEWS

HUSKIES FOOD PANTRY OPENS TO SERVE STUDENTS HUSKIES FOOD PANTRY IS A RESOURCE FOR ANY STUDENT EXPERIENCING FOOD INSECURITY.

The pantry opened in January to collect and distribute shelf-stable food items and donate personal care items to students in need. It was fully operational just in time to serve students as needs exploded during the state’s COVID-19 social distancing response. The pantry was moved from its original location in the University Library to Atwood Memorial Center and expanded its hours to meet the need of students thanks to donations of more than $54,000 from more than 490 donors. The focus on establishing a licensed food pantry became clear in fall at the urging of former Student Government President Kridish Uprety. Student Government was a big advocate for the food pantry and food insecurity was Students United’s area of focus for the school year. Uprety worked with SCSU Foundation Vice President Matt Andrew to set up a fund for the pantry. Student interns from Bridges to Community Resources helped get operat-

ing procedures set up and were trained as volunteers. Higher Education master’s student David Thompson did his practicum in support of the food pantry designing training materials for volunteers, creating a packet of resources for those interested in hosting donation drives, and meeting with campus groups and talking with people about how they can get involved. He was committed to making sure the food pantry is a resource for all students — those with different religious and cultural backgrounds as well as those with different dietary needs and preferences. At the start of fall semester University Library Director Rhonda Huisman and library staff Melissa Northenscold, Sheila Landucci and Teresa Bautch began working to secure space in the library for the pantry and attended St. Cloud’s food handler retail training and submitted licensing to establish the pantry. STUDENTS HELPING STUDENTS Uprety sees the pantry as another way for students to help students.

Higher Education student David Thompson demonstrates the weighing process students do when picking up items.

Bridges to Community Resources intern Islam Abuhadid explains the process for students visiting the Huskies Food Pantry.

“We can bring the students together on a common cause of trying to solve some of the problems that affect other students who are being affected by being food insecurity,” he said. This issue is impacting students in their academic and social lives. They are worrying about where their next meal is coming from, he said. “In order to be compassionate, that’s what I personally want to bring out in other students as well — to be compassionate toward this. Give up a $5 coffee for a day and give something to the food pantry,” he said. “That’s the sense of belonging that we’re trying to bring to St. Cloud State, and I do envision this being a way to bring together the current students and the alumni.” He sees the pantry as a beginning. He is hoping to continue developing projects to serve other needs among the student body and to join a new tradition within student governments throughout Minnesota State to host competitive donation drives. Social work major Islam Abuhadid

COLLECTING DONATIONS When the pantry first opened, donation collections began in earnest and accelerated with increased demand during Minnesota’s Stay at Home order. The pantry is partnering with Second Harvest Heartland to purchase food, which means a $1 donation can buy $5 worth of food. Physical food and other goods donations are also being collected and welcomed by students using the pantry. The pantry quietly opened with a soft launch at the beginning of spring semester as it worked toward setting up policies and procedures and securing its partnership with Second Harvest, but once the Huskies Food Pantry signs went up the donations started pouring in and students began accepting assistance. More than 4,000 pounds of food have already been distributed. The pantry is continuing to serve students during the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic this summer. St. Cloud State University would like to acknowledge and thank all of the donors who have made gifts in support of the Huskies Food Pantry! Do you want to help? Visit https://scsu.mn/33J3vBo

Library Dean Rhonda Huisman helped launch the Huskies Food Pantry when it started in the University Library in January.

NEARLY $60,000 RAISED 4,000+ POUNDS OF FOOD has been distributed

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agrees with his vision for the pantry. “We want students to be involved because it’s for all students, so we want them to be involved — students helping students,” she said. Abuhadid is a student intern with Bridges to Community Resources and volunteered with the Huskies Food Pantry spring semester. She put together information and recipes about how to make use of food available from the pantry and edited a video for the pantry’s crowdsourcing campaign in March. Her efforts were continued by university staff during social distancing who made videos of recipes for the pantry’s Facebook page. Through her work with Bridges to Community Resources Abuhadid has seen students facing insecurities such as struggling to pay for rent, food, gas and health insurance.

500+ STUDENTS served through the Huskies Food Pantry

1,200+ TICKETS to Garvey Commons distributed

Editor Adam Hammer ’05 Contributing Editor Matt Andrew Content Producers Anna Kurth Mitchell Hansen ’17 John M. Brown Kelsey Whaley Terri Mische Tom Nelson Design Marie Madgwick ’91 Gary Bailey Contact us: ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY 720 Fourth Ave. S. St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498 University Communications ucomm@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-3152 stcloudstate.edu/ucomm Alumni Relations alumni@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-3177 or 866-464-8759 stcloudstate.edu/alumni St. Cloud State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, status with regards to public assistance, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or status as a U.S. veteran. The Title IX coordinator at SCSU is Dr. …llyn Bartges. For additional information, contact the Office for Institutional …quity & Access, (320) 308-5123, Admin. Services Bldg. Rm 102.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

NEWS

HELPING BATTLE COVID-19 MAKING FACE SHIELDS FOR CENTRACARE THE ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY MAKE IT SPACE IS DESIGNED TO CONNECT STUDENTS WITH PRINTING TECHNOLOGY TO LEARN AND PRODUCE PRODUCTS. THIS SPRING IT PRINTED FACE SHIELDS TO HELP PROTECT DOCTORS AND NURSES IN MINNESOTA.

PROFESSOR WINS MINNESOTA BOOK AWARD FOR ‘SLAVERY’S REACH’ Ethnic Studies Professor Dr. Christopher Lehman is the winner of the 2020 Minnesota Book Award for Minnesota Nonfiction for “Slavery’s Reach”.

Professors Dr. Kurt Helgeson and Chuck Hentges bathe printed face shield headbands in a solution to remove extra plastic material produced during the printing process.

When the coronavirus hit, Professors Kurt Helgeson, Chuck Hentges and Mark Schroll looked for ways to use the campus 3D printers to help with the response. They got the idea to print face shields from a nurse at CentraCare. The nurse connected them with CentraCare’s Dustin Maddy, who sources material for all of CentraCare’s clinics. Maddy had been working with another maker space in Minneapolis, Nordeast Makers, to design an easy-to-print face shield. Helgeson and Schroll modified the original design and started printing with all 10 St. Cloud State 3D printers. The St. Cloud State lab printed 750 of the face shields a week, so that CentraCare would be ready if a surge of COVID-19 cases arrived in Minnesota, Schroll said. St. Cloud State and CentraCare got assistance from 3D printer manufacturing partners Stratasys and H2I Group, which discounted printing materials to use for making the shields. The shields include a 3D printed headband and the shield, made from an overhead projector transparency, which attaches to the headband. The design is lightweight and stable. They are easy to

snap on and snap off as needed. The transparencies work perfectly, Schroll said. Helgeson and Schroll worked with Provost Dan Gregory to put out a campus-wide call for the transparency sheets used in the design and were overwhelmed by the level of donations. Other faculty from the College of Science and Engineering offered to come in and help print, as did the lab’s usual student workers, and most of the nursing department students, Schroll said. “The outpouring of assistance has been beautiful,” he said. St. Cloud State sought to help other printers join the effort by making their design files and instructions available for download by anyone with a 3D printer and encouraged others with 3D printers to check with their area hospitals and clinics for needs. Schroll and Helgeson say they were happy to have found a way to help CentraCare prepare its doctors and nurses. “It’s an honor to do the work,” Schroll said. Helgeson agreed. “Working together we can make a difference during these difficult times,” he said.

ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY’S MAKE IT SPACE READIED FACE SHIELDS TO BE DELIVERED TO NURSES AND DOCTORS AT CENTRACARE The face shields were packaged in sets of 25 face shield headbands and transparency shields. Completed face shields can be reused by replacing the transparency sheet. HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | SPRING / SUMMER 2020

“Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State” brings light to the hidden history of Minnesota’s complicity in building slaveholder wealth. The book takes a look at how Minnesotans invited slaveholders to bring their wealth into Minnesota before statehood until the Civil War. Dozens of southern slaveholders, or those raised in slave-holding families, purchased land in the state and invested in Minnesota businesses, institutions and communities. It details how their investments in Minnesota in turn supported their plantations in the South.

CentraCare’s Dustin Maddy, left, collects the first batch of 300 face shields from Hentges.

The Minnesota Book Awards recognize the best works by Minnesota authors and is organized by the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library. The winners were chosen by a group of 27 judges from around the state that includes teachers, librarians, booksellers and others from the literary community. Winners were announced live virtually at the 32nd annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony April 28 on YouTube. A professor of ethnic studies, Lehman coordinates the African American Studies minor at St. Cloud State and is the former faculty adviser for the Council of African American Students on campus. He is the author of five other books. Dr. Christopher Lehman’s “Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State” earned the 2020 Minnesota Book Award for Minnesota Nonfiction. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

NEWS EASTMAN HALL PROJECT WINS MCA EXCELLENCE AWARD The Eastman Hall renovation has been celebrated on campus and now statewide with an Award of Excellence from the Minnesota Construction Association (MCA). Terra Construction won the Project of the Year award in the Government Construction Project category for its work on renovating Eastman Hall from a gymnasium into the Center for Health & Wellness Innovation.

EASTMAN CONTINUES TO SHINE WITH ACCREDITATIONS, ARTWORK AND AWARDS

The project involved renovating the 1930s-building to add a third floor and build classrooms, exam rooms, labs, and therapy rooms. The building re-opened in summer 2019 and houses health services, academic classrooms, training and research labs, and student life organizations. “The project was a really important project for the university,” said Phil Moessner, St. Cloud State assistant vice president of Facilities Management. “From that perspective it was a lot of fun to work on the project. It is great for the facility and the whole team to be recognized for creating this wonderful facility for our students.”

Left: The team that planned and completed the renovation of Eastman Hall included representatives from St. Cloud State University, Terra Construction and RSP Architects, who accepted the award in January at the Minnesota Construction Association 25th Annual Awards of Excellence Gala. Photo courtesy of Jake Anderson, Terra Construction

MEDICAL CLINIC EARNS NATIONAL ACCREDITATION The St. Cloud State University Medical Clinic & Pharmacy earned national accreditation in fall for its high quality, full medical services in its new space in Eastman Hall, home of the Center for Health & Wellness Innovation.

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STUDENT SCULPTOR INCORPORATES HISTORIC EASTMAN HALL ELEMENTS

Bigyan Lama Thing combined historic artifacts including door handles, water faucets, pool tile and gym flooring with natural reclaimed materials and an epoxy resin method to create an abstract interpretation of the Mississippi River and the Beaver Islands in his Assemblage #2076, which hangs near the south entryway to Eastman Hall. Lama Thing was chosen in a competitive process to produce the student art piece. Eastman Hall is now decorated with 45 works of art spread throughout common areas and offices in the building. The artwork is from St. Cloud State’s collections as well as alumni, students, community members and others.

EASTMAN HALL’S HISTORY HAS ONCE AGAIN FOUND A HOME IN THE BUILDING’S ARTWORK.

This makes the St. Cloud State clinic among a select national group of medical clinics accredited on a college campus. The accreditation comes as the Clinic doubled its footprint in the new center, allowing it to expand its routine and specialized medical, lab and pharmacy services for students. Since opening the new space to students this fall, the Clinic has served about 1,800 students. The accreditation comes after the Clinic completed a comprehensive and intensive process conducted by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). Accreditation distinguishes the St. Cloud State Medical Clinic from many other outpatient facilities through its adherence to rigorous standards of care and safety. Status as an accredited organization means the St. Cloud State clinic has met nationally-recognized standards for the provision of quality health care. About 6,100 health care organizations in the United States are currently AAAHC accredited.

Student art blends building’s history with modern elements.

Medical Center staff serve patients on the building’s renovated second floor.

Bigyan Lama Thing’s Assemblage #2076 incorporates historic elements from Eastman Hall’s past. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

NEWS DANCE TEAM BRINGS HOME NATIONAL GAME DAY TITLE The St. Cloud State University Dance Team earned a national title for its Game Day performance in January at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships in Orlando, Florida. The three-day competition, hosted by the University Dance Association and Universal Cheerleaders Association, is the most prestigious college cheerleading championship in the country. The team is coached by Susan Uhrich ’14, Brittany (Whittaker) Kwallek ’16 and Paige (Osmundson) Groebner ’14. All three are veterans of the St. Cloud State Dance Team, and Kwallek served as captain during the team’s 2016 national championship.

Mariah Alipate, of the Women’s Basketball team, provides color commentary during the Men’s Basketball game. Photo courtesy of Elaina Mihalik

“I’ve never worked with such a driven team as this one,” Uhrich said. “They each knew their job and what it took to get there together, and I really couldn’t be more proud of them.” The Game Day category simulates a game situation with the dancers needing to be ready to perform touchdown, timeout and offense and defense routines as the judges randomly call out situations that occur during a game.

UTVS PUTS TOGETHER FIRST ALL-FEMALE BROADCAST

The team earned first place in the Game Day Category at the College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships in January at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. Photos courtesy of the Huskies Dance Team

BY KELSEY WHALEY

Feb. 7 was a historic day for both St. Cloud State University Athletics and the mass communications department. In addition to two key Huskies basketball games being played, St. Cloud State mass communication majors Paige Jaeger and Maya Brown coordinated the first all-female broadcast team for any Huskies sporting event in UTVS history. “I’ve been employed in TV production since I was 15 years old,” Jaeger said regarding her motivation for forming the crew. “I’ve either been the only or one of a few women on a crew, and I wanted to show female representation in a male dominated field.” Jaeger and Brown had two weeks to organize the squad. “It was the biggest team collaborative effort I’ve ever been a part of,” Jaeger recounted. “It was extra cool to know you were doing it with women in sports who may not have had that exact opportunity in the past.” UTVS is a student-run media group on campus. Their goal is to generate high quality educational, informational and entertaining programing. Jaeger and Brown’s crew did just that, as they produced and broadcasted both the Huskies men’s and women’s NSIC basketball games. The crew included 26 women ranging from first years at the university to seniors. Jaeger and Brown hope UTVS will continue the tradition and put together all-female production crews. “To be able to say we did this, with the crew that we had and the time we had, it’s certainly something I’ll never forget,” Brown said. “The world is changing,” echoed Jaeger. “There are more women in sports than there’s ever been, and there is this awesome, unspoken female empowerment growing in sports. It’s a family, and all women should be able to do what they love.” HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | SPRING / SUMMER 2020

Above: Twenty-six women worked together to present UTVS’s first all-female broadcast. Photo courtesy of Greg Spaeth

In addition to its first place finish, the team took second place in Open Pom and eighth place in Jazz. The team’s Game Day and Pom routines are designed by Tribe 99 Choreographer Faymie Link and the Jazz routines are choreographed by Hannah Millar of Innovative Dance. This was the team’s best finish in Open Pom since its first place finish in the category in 2016, the team’s first time competing in three categories at the national competition, and the team’s first time competing in the Game Day category.

The team performs on stage during the competition. Photo courtesy of the Huskies Dance Team

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

…XTR…M… W…ATH…R INFINIT… DATA

IMAGE BY IGORZH / SHUTTERSTOCK

Students prepare to save lives and property BY ANNA KURTH

IN 1871

the Peshtigo Fire burned through 1.2 million acres in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan killing an estimated 1,500 people. In 1900 the Galveston Hurricane led to a storm surge and flooding that killed 8,000. In 1936 an estimated 1,700 people died across the United States and Canada as a heatwave swept across North America. Meteorologists and hydrologists across the country work each day to ensure tragedies like these don’t happen today by giving people the information they need to plan and warnings to evacuate. Their mission is to protect lives and save property. Their work is as needed now as it was in centuries past. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information 2019 saw 14 weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion in the United States. It was the fifth consecutive year with 10 or more $1 billion events. St. Cloud State graduates are helping to lead the preparation for and recovery from natural disasters like these. They have gone on to work in roles throughout the country. They are studying the effects of urban heat islands in Phoenix.

Working for power companies in California. Defending dissertations at Scripps on atmospheric rivers. And working on projects to control the water levels in Lake Minnetonka to mitigate flooding from Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis. Dr. David Novak ’00, who was a SCSU Alumni Association Graduate of the Last Decade in 2008, is director of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. At St. Cloud State University, students continue preparing to be part of the effort in the Department of Atmospheric and Hydrologic Sciences where they are learning how to make models out of vast amounts of data. Meteorology has gone from a field with too little data to too much data and that is where the jobs are going — modeling, machine learning and artificial intelligence. LEARNING THROUGH MODELING Students are learning to model the weather — from a calm summer’s day to a raging storm. They are learning modeling, so they can learn the software. Learning computer modeling helps students learn what they

Meteorology graduates generally follow one of five main career tracks: 1

BROADCAST METEOROLOGY

PUBLIC SECTOR WEATHER SERVICE OR FORECASTING

PRIVATE SECTOR METEOROLOGY

ACADEMIA

MILITARY

»» In the private sector, meteorologists forecast for specific clients such as airlines or major league sports franchises

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can do effectively and where they have sources of error — when and each plant creates more stalks, which requires more irrigation. they should have confidence in a model and when they shouldn’t. With increased irrigation more water is lost through evaporation Professors Dr. Alan Srock and Dr. Tony Hansen have been and ends up as higher moisture content in the air. Does that lead to teaching Numerical Weather Prediction for more than a decade. more powerful thunderstorms? Two years ago they updated the curriculum to make it required. It’s questions like these students are able to explore through “Most of our students were taking it anyway, and there’s cermodeling, Hansen said. tainly demand in the field for people who know how modeling They first try running a case to see if it will produce a severe works,” Srock said. “… The field of meteorology is shifting hugely storm, then they go ahead and modify the moisture level to what it toward data and processing, analysis and visualization.” would have been in the past to see the difference. A model can’t tell With satellite technology there are millions of observations now you everything, but if the moisture levels make a big difference, it’s that meteorologists need to get into a computer model and have interesting to note, he said. them output something useful. Senior Savanna Wolvin took the Numerical Weather “That is one of the big challenges in our field right Prediction class in 2018 and said it gave her a now, and we’re getting better at it, but there’s cerdeep understanding about how a model is tainly more to do,” Srock said. set up and how they deal with water and Hansen agreed. precipitation. “We adapt the curriculum to meet “Most of it was just the math of figuring out how to keep a model from the needs of the marketplace,” Hansen crashing,” she said. said. “To meet the needs and to equip If you run the model too long, the students with skills that will serve it will crash. If you make your grid them when they need to go out in the too course, it will miss key features. world.” If you make your grid too fine, you The class is helping students learn add many more grid points and modeling by teaching them how they processing takes much longer. It’s a can use the software to learn about the balancing act. weather and how human actions can influence weather in unexpected ways. Wolvin, who also served as president This spring students modeled cases such as of the American Meteorological Society student chapter, chose to model a thunderstorm the influence changing corn hybrids has on the she’d driven through the summer before. intensity of rainstorms in the Upper Midwest. Savanna Wolvin did her senior Math is what brought Wolvin to meteoroloWith new corn hybrids, farmers can plant design project studying how well gy, and it’s math that keeps her fascinated. crops in much higher density than in the past, models predict extreme cold.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

“The atmosphere is calculus. It is three dimensional,” she said. “It’s just a calculus problem, but our computers are only able to do algebra, so everything we do in a model has to be approximated, estimated — because it can only do algebra.” Because of that limitation, meteorology is always going to have to improve and find new ways to improve the models and incorporate data, she said. In 2018 Wolvin did a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at Colorado State University. She’d learned modeling in the Numerical Weather Prediction class at St. Cloud State, at her REU she learned how to apply that knowledge to research. There her project focused on using data analysis to evaluate a climate model on how well it can simulate past nighttime heat waves. “The best way for us to evaluate how well our models are doing is by modeling the past,” she said. To test the model she would take it and run it multiple times just tweaking the initial conditions by the amount of a rounding error, which can give many different outcomes. Different models were giving different outcomes, some were saying the nighttime heat waves were creeping north and western heat waves were creeping east. But that wasn’t what was seen in the actual data, she said. Nighttime heat waves are a dangerous form of extreme weather where the heat of the day doesn’t dissipate at night causing physical stress on people and animals. “At night is when your body can finally rest,” Wolvin said. “You have a heatwave all day long and you’re exhausted, but at nighttime when it cools off it gives you that time to rest and handle the next day.” But for the elderly, young children and people with heart disease, if they don’t have that cool rest period at night it can be dangerous for their health because their body isn’t as able to cool itself as a healthy adult. “I loved working on that project,” she said. “It was fun to finally take everything I’ve been learning here and get a chance to apply it early on.” Wolvin adapted that project for her senior capstone. She is researching models for winter extreme cold to see if they are accurately predicting cold spells. Extreme cold is still dangerous, but it’s dangerous in a different way than heat waves, she said. “It’s important to watch out to see if our models have accurately predicted extreme cold in the past,” she said. Feedback from recent graduates is that the Numerical Weather Prediction class prepared them when for when they went off to graduate school. Many said they were better prepared for running the models than anyone else in their class, Srock said. “The combination of what we’re doing seems to be pretty good,” he said. “We’re trying to update and stay current as much as we can.”

Maximum

115

°F

MINNESOTA RECORD TEMPS

Beardsley, 1917

SOURCE: NOAA NATIONAL CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION

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Minimum

-60

°F

Tower, 1996

Q&A THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY AND EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

Q: What are the challenges facing the insurance industry in light of extreme weather events happening across the United States and around the world? A: At Renaissance Reinsurance, we’ve focused since the beginning of our company on providing protection to insurance companies for extreme weather events. We’ve gone through a lot of different challenges over the last 25 years, but currently the largest challenge we face is not dissimilar to the whole world, and that’s the challenge of climate change. Our job is to mathematically try to predict probabilities of certain events happening and the resulting damage that has on communities and structures, such as homes on the coast of Florida. With climate change and some of the uncertainty around climate change, that requires a lot more time, energy and effort to think about the risks that we are taking as a firm.

Q: What are insurers, and more specifically Renaissance Reinsurance LLC., doing to better understand extreme weather and to model its effects on its ability to serve its customers?

A: The foundation of our company was providing coverage for extreme weather and when the company was founded, there were not a lot of external resources we felt would help us with our understanding of weather events. We formed a group that we own called Weather Predict Consulting, which contains over 20 employees consisting of anything from wind engineers, earthquake seismologists, to flood and riverine experts. With their backgrounds, we come up with our view of risk from a climate perspective globally.

Justin O’Keefe ’97 Senior Vice President & Chief Underwriting Officer at Renaissance Reinsurance Group

We’ve gone through a lot of different challenges over the last 25 years, but currently the largest challenge we face is not dissimilar to the whole world, and that’s the challenge of climate change. – JUSTIN O’KEEFE

Q: While the insurance industry cannot control the weather, what is the industry and more specifically Renaissance Reinsurance doing to assist communities to more effectively plan and manage for extreme weather events?

A: It may sound counterintuitive for an insurance or a reinsurance company to fight against things like building homes, hotels or condominiums in areas that hold high risk of extreme weather. In our view, that’s not sustainable for the insurance or reinsurance industry because we don’t believe we’ll be able to charge enough premiums for the risks we’re taking. It’s not sustainable for communities, as communities get very disrupted after catastrophe events.

We’ve seen that, whether that’s California wildfires or New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, it has a devastating impact on families. We spend a lot of time on the sustainability of communities. We’ve been a lead in a bipartisan organization called Smarter Safer, which brings parties together to fight for the same cause. An example would be building on Barrier Islands off of the coast of South Carolina. We get the National Wildlife Federation interested in that because building on the Barrier Islands is detrimental to the wetlands and the wildlife that lives on those wetlands. Insurance companies don’t want structures built on Barrier Islands because those companies may be required to find ways to insure those risks when they are really not insurable.

Q: What is the extent of the insurance industry’s influence in helping formulate government policies with respect to managing extreme weather events?

A: The influence is actually quite substantial. The amount of public and private partnership that goes on is extraordinary. There’s a lot of intelligence that sits within privately held companies that cities, states and even the federal government don’t have access to. The federal government is actually the number one risk-baring entity in the country. With all impacts of weather and uncertainties around climate change, the federal government and specific agencies such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) are very concerned about the risk that the government has, because the government has a limited amount of revenue and if they don’t get it right, they are going to be forced to increase taxes and find revenue sources which are not popular.

Q: What is the insurance industry’s role in changing building codes and material specifications to more effectively stand up to extreme weather? A: The insurance industry is very involved in things such as ways to build a house to prevent embers from wildfires enter-

ing areas of the house to start fires, for example. Ways to make shingles and siding that don’t get damaged by a hailstorm and ways to make roofs stronger with high winds such as hurricanes. That not only saves insurance companies money from claims over time, but it gets people back in their houses and makes sure their families are intact, which is very important.

Q: Over time and in your career, have you seen those codes and material specifications change due to increased technology and with various experimenting when it pertains to how to stand up to extreme weather events? A: Absolutely. Whether it’s pure technology or just the ability to bring multiple parties together to build systems in a collaborative way. One such system, the Insurance Business Institute of Home Safety, has the ability to simulate hurricane-force winds across property structures. So yes, technology nowadays has allowed that to happen. Thirty years ago, the amount of funding or the ability to do that just wouldn’t have made sense. Today, we can do that.

Q: What changes can consumers expect from their insurance providers as extreme weather becomes more prevalent? A: One thing specifically I’d expect consumers to see is insurance companies having a larger set of criteria in how they underwrite certain risks. So specifically, is the building up to certain codes? Rather than asking one question about the house, they may want 10 pieces of information that allows them to give credit for better built structures that can perform better over time. I think that’s on its way. With technology now, the ability to get consumer information is there. What insurance companies are then able to do is fill out that 10 question survey with information that is readily available on the internet. The downsides to that are regulation around privacy laws, etc., so that is something the insurance industry is working with the government on as we speak.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

HYDROLOGISTS USE MODELS TOO Dr. Andrea Thorstensen ’11 works as a forecaster at the River Forecast Center in Minneapolis. The center is part of the National Weather Service and is focused on forecasting river conditions, including flooding for all of the Upper Mississippi Headwaters, the Hudson Bay grand basin within the United States, and the Red River. She has returned to St. Cloud State as an adjunct professor teaching two hydrology courses a year. Looking at rivers is much like looking at the weather, it’s all about models and data. Data comes from weather predictions, precipitation reports, river gauges and eye-witness reports. Today the field is expanding to include more satellite data in forecasting. Satellite information can help identify ice buildup, sensing precipitation and soil moisture levels. River forecast modeling is also changing. For 30 years river forecasters have used lump modeling that monitors conditions basin by basin, but with the added data available today distributed modeling that uses small grids is being explored, Thorstensen said. River forecasters use weather models, water models and hydraulic models that predict how water will move once it’s in the

river channel. Thorstensen is responsible for monitoring the headwaters of the Mississippi down to lock and dam three at Red Wing, as well as the Rock River in Illinois and Wisconsin and the tributaries to the Mississippi River and down through northeast Missouri. Last year she issued a couple of record flood warnings on the Rock River. A lot is riding on river forecasting. “If people need to go out and sandbag based on your forecast and it maybe under performs, that town has wasted a lot of resources. On the other hand if you miss an event, that’s where you get the danger to property and lives,” she said. RESEARCHING NEW WAYS TO SAVE LIVES AND PROTECT PROPERTY The Department of Atmospheric and Hydrologic Sciences isn’t just preparing students to work with data, professors and students are also doing research. Together with research colleagues from the U.S. Forest Service, Srock helped develop the Hot Dry Windy Fire Weather Index (HDW), which is designed to give first responders and emergen-

We have meteorologists and hydrologists around the state, country and world who apply the skills they learned at St. Cloud State to protect people and their livelihoods. That’s pretty neat.

– DR. ALAN SROCK, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ATMOSPHERIC & HYDROLOGIC SCIENCES

HUSKY IN A HURRICANE

National Hurricane Center.

Mark London ’84, who majored in mass communications, has seen the effects of extreme weather first hand after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas in August 2017. The year had been a weird one in Houston with a summer of drought, followed by five days of solid rain due to Hurricane Harvey and ending with snow in early December.

A foot and a half of water covered 70 percent of the Harris County Flood Control District, which includes Houston, according to the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. One trillion gallons of water fell across the county over four days with some areas affected by the hurricane recording 56 inches of rain falling over five days, according to the National Weather Service.

The Category Four hurricane caused widespread flooding and caused $125 billion in damage making it the second costliest hurricane in the nation’s history. Across Texas and Louisiana almost 30,000 people were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere and 10,000 had to be rescued. Flooding affected more than 300,000 homes. Overall the storm affected 13 million people in five states and caused at least 68 direct deaths, according to the

Hurricane Harvey was one of just three major hurricanes of 2017 with Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria also causing extensive damage in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, making the 2017 hurricane season the costliest in U.S. history. Luckily for London his home was located in Brenham, in the hills north of Houston and

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outside of the flooding area. They didn’t lose power, but they were stuck in place with roads closed due to flooding concerns. But he did view the damage. A friend had to gut his in-law’s house down to the studs because everything was ruined from the flooding. But his office wasn’t so lucky. The Pro Shop where he was working at the time was closed during the storm. The road he took to work was flooded, and he took a photo of one of its major intersections for Bowler’s Journal International. In those places where the streets were flooded with feet of water, people could not walk in the water without protection because of the contaminants in the water. And if they did get their waders on and walk in it, it was difficult because the water was

cy management specialists a look at what days are forecast to have more dangerous weather conditions for wildfires. The goal is to give emergency managers an idea of what days they need to pay closer attention to because of what’s happening with the weather conditions. However, the HDW only helps with part of the fire-forecasting challenge because turbulent weather, topography and fuels, such as trees and grasses, also greatly affect fire activity, he said. “One of my colleagues said the HDW is kind of like a check engine light,” he said. “I like that analogy. If the index is high, we need to figure out why.” Right now the index is in its pilot phase. Srock and his fellow researchers are working with incident meteorologists — fire-weather forecasters who get deployed to active wildfires — to see how they use the index and what other needs they can seek to address next. The index isn’t the answer to all the questions, but it helps get to the bigger picture. The biggest motivation was to develop something that would help the people on the ground to save lives and property. While researching the HDW Index Srock and his colleagues applied it to data collected from historic fires to see how it performed in settings where they knew what happened and that weather was a key factor. He drew students into this research to help with entering the data and developing graphics. Students like Jessica McDonald ’17, who was lead author on the second paper published on the HDW. She earned her master’s degree at Texas Tech University and is now pursuing her doctorate there.

“She put together all of the graphics,” Srock said. “She’s the wizard behind a lot of the plots we put up on the HDW website.” Srock is enjoying including his undergraduate students in his research — an experience he didn’t have as an undergraduate. “It’s rewarding to work on research that has real-world benefits with undergraduates in particular who get a chance to be a part of something — that doesn’t happen all the time,” he said. “One of the things I like most about this job is being able to connect students with real-world opportunities and needs.” IT ALL LEADS TO KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE Everything meteorologists and hydrologists are doing with all the models and research is about keeping people safe. Wolvin believes meteorology and hydrology are forever going to improve, and practitioners will just keep working toward that goal, Wolvin said. “They always talk about how we always get it wrong, but we don’t have a snowstorm that kills 50 people like we used to have in the 1800s and 1900s,” she said. “We can watch a hurricane come all the way from close to Africa and make landfall and see it on satellite. “We can categorize how strong it is before it even hits the ground and give people enough warning to evacuate.” Given the certainty of future natural disasters, there will be many opportunities for these students and graduates to help. “We have meteorologists and hydrologists around the state, country and world who apply the skills they learned at St. Cloud State to protect people and their livelihoods,” Srock said. “That’s pretty neat.”

moving. There were warnings to “stay put, turn around, don’t drown,” London said. People came together and looked out for their neighbors, checking on one another after the storm, he said. The media provided up-to-date information on where it was safe to go, what areas to evacuate and when to stay in place. Behind those reports were meteorologists and hydrologists making predictions about the weather and flooding assisted by volunteers and emergency workers in the field feeding them data and reports on conditions on the ground. London now lives in Iowa, and says his first hurricane experience was enough. “I could handle it if we lived down there again but would certainly prefer not to,” he said.

Mark London ’84 has experienced his share of extreme weather while living in Texas including experiencing Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and a snowstorm in south Texas that same year. Pictured: Mark London holds a snowball from a rare snowstorm in December 2017 at his south Texas home.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

Talent, passion and degree create a perfect progression for Michael Shynes ’10 BY MITCHELL HANSEN ’17

STRIKING A

CHORD

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ichael Shynes’ musical career initially began like any other aspiring artist’s, with the dream of one day being fortunate enough to make a living doing something for which he had a passion. Growing up in Little Falls, Shynes saw his love for music begin after he found a bag of old cassette tapes left behind by his uncle. While listening to those tapes, Shynes recalls the emotional impact that music had on him and wanted to find ways to help others experience the same feeling. In high school, Shynes played in a small garage band with some friends, only to see that group part ways shortly after they all left for college. When he arrived at St. Cloud State University in 2006, Shynes decided to reignite his interest in music. This time around, exploring the idea of creating a career as a solo artist. “I loved how music would take me from one emotion to another. Feeling that impact it had on me made me want to have that same emotional impact on other people. That was sort of the seed of the idea of pursuing music for me,” said Shynes, who earned his business degree from St. Cloud State in 2010. “When I got to St. Cloud State, I pirated some recording software on my computer and just started recording music in my dorm room. I got addicted to recording. That really lit the fire in me wanting to do this.” When Shynes was 25 years old, a death in his family pushed him to invest more time in music. Shynes’ father lost his battle with an autoimmune disease, which persuaded him to honor his dad’s legacy by chasing his dreams. “Losing my dad, that pushed me to take the leap from doing it part time and halfway to putting everything into it. You don’t get to do this life thing for very long, life is short, so I thought why not try this thing?” he said. “If I’m going to fail at something, I want to fail at something that I felt like I was put here to do.” Little did Shynes know, his journey as a musical artist would soon take off. And it was only the beginning.

Michael Shynes performing at the Paramount Theatre, downtown St. Cloud. Photo courtesy of Michael Shynes /SavvyPhotage ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

HIS BIG BREAK When he embarked on his career journey, Shynes primarily focused on weekend gigs while working in St. Cloud during the week. For the aspiring artist, he recalls a few of his initial gigs were not well-paying opportunities. But he wasn’t complaining, he was just happy to be doing what he loved. “I worked at the St. Cloud Children’s Home part time during the week, where I was on call and would pick up shifts when I could. Then on the weekends, I would perform at different gigs. The first gig I had, I got paid $50 for four hours to perform in downtown St. Cloud, but I wasn’t complaining about it,” Shynes said. “Eventually, that went from $100 to $200 and I started to step my way up. A little while after that, I remember I played a deck bar gig in Alexandria, where I ended

up making more in three hours than I did in 80 hours and two weeks at work.” In 2018, Shynes unexpectedly caught his big break. That summer, he recorded music for Komodo – a Polish pop music group – through a job-for-hire website. Komodo ended up using his vocals for a remix to the song “I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight” by Cutting Crew, which resulted in Shynes becoming a star overseas. That song became extremely popular around the globe, ultimately resulting in Komodo asking Shynes to make a trip across the world to perform the song live. Shortly after that, Shynes found himself standing on a stage in front of over 70,000 people and having over 8 million people watching him perform the latest hit. “I performed in front of 72,000 people and had about 8 million people watch the performance on TV, which was surreal. It

felt like a movie or that I was in a different world. You can’t prepare yourself for a moment like that,” he said. “That record ended up going platinum and now triple platinum overseas and turned into a big launching pad for me.” REMEMBERING WHERE IT ALL STARTED Shynes’ musical career has taken off in ways he never could have imagined while growing up in Little Falls or while recording music in his college dorm room at St. Cloud State. He now has a total of six albums, with five still being printed. While being able to scale back on the amount of shows he performs and still bring in a similar income, Shynes has career aspirations such as having a song placed in a major motion picture or TV show, one day winning a Grammy Award

or having one of his personal songs go platinum. Even with all of his successes so far, the Central Minnesotan still holds strong ties to the area, recently moving to the South Haven area while continuing to perform in St. Cloud, the community where it all started. “St. Cloud shaped me in a lot of ways and it was a tough market for people that created original music. You have to love it and be obsessed by it. It shaped me in a way that I had to play soul-crushing bar gigs and try to find the light in all of it at the end,” he said. “St. Cloud is a community that is hard-working, honest, we like to have fun and we don’t take life too seriously. But I have always had some level of support there, otherwise I would have quit. It’s where I started, where I made my mark

and where I played some of my toughest and best gigs.” When it comes to the top moment in his career, many think it is Shynes performance in front of an endless crowd overseas in Poland. Instead, his most memorable and top moment occurred right here in St. Cloud. “Actually, the top moment of my career so far was when I was able to sell out the Paramount Theatre in St. Cloud for the first time. That was a big moment for me because this is a place I’d invested my life into and I didn’t think that would ever happen,” he said. “The hair still stands up on my arms when I listen to that show and think about selling it out. That was it for me.” Shynes also credits and looks back fondly on his time at St. Cloud State in

helping prepare him for life beyond being a Husky. After all, those lessons, those experiences and those nights spent creating music on his own in his dorm room helped set the stage for him to continue his successful musical journey to this day. “When it came to me getting my business degree at St. Cloud State, I always knew that they had a good business program. That has helped me to this day in running a business right now where I have to market and can make a living to support my whole family,” Shynes said. “I learned a lot and it was about being able to broaden your view of the world. I had the time of my life in St. Cloud.”

27 It’s where I started, where I made my mark and where I played some of my toughest and best gigs. – MICHAEL SHYNES ’10, ON ST. CLOUD

TOP MUSICAL CAREER MOMENT SO FAR

SOLD OUT Paramount Theatre Show Photos courtesy of Michael Shynes /SavvyPhotage HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | SPRING / SUMMER 2020

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’65 DAVID MEANEY, Granite Bay, California, retired Sacramento County superintendent of schools, recognized by the Mahtomedi Public Schools as the 2019 Alumni of Distinction and spoke at the Mahtomedi High School graduation in June 2019.

’70s

’76 DARCY REICH, Grand Rapids, retired in 2010 after 34 years teaching music at Cohasset and Murphy Elementary. / ’77 ’82 DIANE (GUGGENBERGER) MOELLER , St. Cloud, retired as principal of STRIDE Academy Public School after 40 years in education.

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’60s

’80s

’80 PEGGY LADUE, Richmond, is executive director at the Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center. / ’82 ROBERT BISSEN, Annandale, Virginia, with Cannae Policy Group was included in The Hill newspaper list of top lobbyists for 2019. / ’83 BRIAN MYRES , Clear Lake, is among the 2019 50 Over 50 honorees who are making significant contributions in their communities by AARP Minnesota and Pollen Midwest. Myres launched Myres Consulting and is chief operating officer at DAYTA Marketing. / ’84 DENNIS WARNER , Clearwater, has recorded 10 CDs and toured all 50 states, including a concert at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. / ’87 MICHAEL BLAIR , Shakopee, is chief financial officer and senior vice president of CentraCare in St. Cloud.

’90s

’90 KELLEEN (NESTE) RICHTER , Buffalo, is chief client experience officer at First Command, one of the leading providers of financial coaching to military families in the United States. / ’91 LEROY LINDENFELSER , Monticello, has been named 2019 chief financial officer of the Year by the Bank of Elk River. / ’91 EMMETT O’MEARA , Redondo Beach, California, is director of the Los Angeles VA Regional benefit office. / ’92 JAMES BROOKS , Boca Raton, Florida, is chief operating officer with Sunwave, a leading enterprise software provider for substance abuse treatment centers. / ’92 TAMMY (BERCKES) YACKLEY, New Ulm, is the principal for grades 6-12 in the Cedar Mountain School District. / ’92 ’99 MARC FRANZ , International Falls, celebrated the 100th win of his career as the Royals’ head football coach. / ’94 DAVID MIERS , Lincoln, Nebraska, is the counseling and program development manager for mental health services at Bryan Medical Center. /

’96 MARY (SCHERBING) PLANTE , Foley, is the owner of Scrub Me Good. / ’96 KATHLEEN (JENKINS) RYAN, Aitkin, has been named the new Aitkin County chief financial officer (CFO). / ’97 BRUCE MILLER , Apple Valley, became Eastview High School’s third principal in July 2019. / ’98 LISA (PETERS) STARK , Chaska, is U.S. Bank’s corporate controller.

’00s

’00 TRACY (NOVAK) HODEL , Foley, is the new public services director for St. Cloud. / ’01 ’04 LEANNE (WEGNER) KRUGER and Jared Kruger, Wabasha, daughter, Summit Lee, 6/28/2017. Siblings: McCoy, 8, Nolan, 11, Conway Bruno, 5. / ’03 ’08 MAREN GREATHOUSE, Nicollet, is associate director for diversity and inclusion education for the Medford/ Somerville and School at the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) campuses. / ’04 BRENT SCHOEB, Indianapolis, Indiana, is in the 2020 40 under 40 Class with Turnkey Sports and Entertainment. / ’05 KIMBERLY (CHARTIER) MCCUSKEY and Jason McCuskey, Mahtowa, son, Mya Jo, 8/9/2019. Sibling: Eli Lawrence, 4. / ‘06 TESSA BREND, Crystal, is vice president at North Mill Capital. / ’06 DEREK HARTL, DECORAH, Iowa, is vice president for enrollment management at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. / ’06 NICHOLAS TREVENA , St. Louis Park, asset manager, with Founders Properties earned his Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. / ’06 ’10 EUNICE ADJEI, St. Cloud, is the founder and board member of the St. Cloud based Jufaad Leadership Program and president of Adom Consulting Firm. / ’06 BETSY (LYGA) PETERSON and Ryan Peterson, Pigeon Falls, Wisconsin, daughter, Lila Jane, 10/27/2019. Sibling: Lucy Geneva, 6. / ’07 STEVEN BADER , Maple Grove, joined Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog Law Firm. / ’07 WILLIAM GAETZ , Maple Grove, is partner at RSM US LLP. / ’08 ROBERT BRANDL , Sleepy Eye, is superintendent for Cedar Mountain School District. / ’08 KARISSA (KUJAK) NOLL and Patrick Noll, New Hope, daughter, Pearl, 10/24/2019. Sibling: Graham Michael, 2. / ’08 MATTHEW STEPHENSON and Rochelle (Olson) Stephenson, Oak Grove, Missouri, son, Finnley Grace, 12/24/2018. Sibling: Braelyn Rae, 10, Carter David, 8. / ’08 LAUREL (WELLE) VOIGT and Caleb Voigt, Rice, daughter, Olive Diane, 9/16/2019. Sibling: Arlo Allen, 2. / ’09 JOHN HOPF, Kailua Kona, Hawaii, joined Windermere C and H Properties at the Kailua-Kona office. / ’09 KAREN MARUSKA , Sartell, is employed in the Onamia school district.

CLASS NOTES KEY:

Births and adoptions Unless otherwise noted, cities are in Minnesota

’10s

‘10 ANDREW ASKEW, Devils Lake, North Dakota, is vice president of public policy at Essentia Health. / ’10 MELISSA (STAFFORD) HJELLE, Richmond, is Toward Zero Deaths coordinator for the southwest region. / ’10 ’16 NATHAN RUDOLPH, Sauk Rapids, is interim superintendent for the Cambridge-Isanti Schools. / ’10 TAMMY (SMITH) HUTTER and Andrew Hutter, Champlin, daughter, Camryn Margaret, 8/15/2019. Siblings: Addison Sue, 6, Evan James, 3. / ’10 BREANNA (GORG) LUDWIG and Weston Ludwig, Clear Lake, son, Owen, 11/18/2018. Siblings: Aubree, 2. / ’11 ’15 MAHMOUD ABDELFATTAH, Chisago, Illinois, is head coach of the Rio Grand Valley Vipers basketball team. / ’12 RACHEL (ROBARGE) RESZCZYNSKI and Joseph Reszczynski, Greenfield, Wisconsin, son, Graham Arley, 10/15/2019. Siblings: Liam Joseph, 1, Riley Virginia, 3. / ’12 JOSEPH BENKE, Bismark , North Dakota, and his K-9 Mesa participated in an episode of A&E’s “America’s Top Dog” competition. / ’12 ’19 CONAN SHAFFER , St. Cloud, is assistant principal at Blue Earth Area School District. / ’13 EMMANUEL OPPONG, St. Cloud, is a community engagement coordinator for St. Cloud. / ’15 JULIE FRIEND, Minnetonka, is administrative assistant to the vice president, director of athletics for the University of St. Thomas. / ’15 KAYLA SANTEMA , Milaca, is a teacher in the Aitkin School District. / ’15 MICHAEL WALKER , Walworth, Wisconsin, is the lead performance coach and director of operations at Englebert Training Systems Sports Performance Center’s Coon Rapids location. / ’15 JADIE (ZICK) OHMANN and Jeremy Ohmann, Cottage Grove, daughter, Kassidy Ann, 1/29/2020. / ’16 BEN HAGAR and Megan Hagar, River Falls, Wisconsin, daughter, Brielle Elisabeth, 2/5/2019. Sibling: Liam Thomas, 2.

NON-GRADUATE

MATTHEW CULLEN, Moorhead, works for Pittsburgh Penguins in a player development role. / SANGEETA JHA , St. Cloud, works as a professor and diversity coordinator at St. Cloud Technical & Community College. / NATALIE RINGSMUTH, St. Cloud, earned the Anti-Defamation League’s “Excellence in Community Service” Community Partner Award.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

ALUMNI NEWS

7 INDUCTED INTO ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME St. Cloud State inducted a group of seven former student-athletes and coaches into the St. Cloud State Athletic Hall of Fame Oct. 5 in Stewart Hall’s Ritsche Auditorium.

THE SCSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

This is the 31st induction ceremony since the Hall of Fame was formed in 1982. This class brings the total Hall of Fame membership to 202 individuals and three teams. Read more: scsu.mn/2Q7y7cA

HELPING OTHERS TRAVEL THE COUNTRY WITH CAMPING APP Dawn Anderson, Women’s Basketball 1981-85

Cami Selbitschka Enke, Volleyball, 1993-96

Sarah Smith ’92 is helping others enjoy exploring the outdoors after creating a one-ofa-kind camping app. The Dyrt is the fastest growing camping app and No. 1 camping app in app stores in the country. Smith never envisioned she would end up starting her own business or creating a company from the ground up, but a growing issue she kept seeing around the country sparked the idea to do just that in 2013.

Brooke Gentzler, Softball, 2001-04

Phil Herbold, Wrestling, 1978-83

About six years ago, Smith – a 1992 graduate from St. Cloud State University who earned a degree in communications and a minor in travel and tourism – found an interest in camping and visiting different campgrounds after moving across the country to live in Oregon.

ST. CLOUD STATE ALUMNI help power the state economy. 103,499 alumni over a 40-year span will contribute nearly $61.2 billion to Minnesota’s economy. Learn more: scsu.mn/2RSu6ow

Whenever she looked into visiting various campgrounds, she had the hardest time finding reviews and other basic information on campsites in the surrounding area and region.

Kerry Brodt Wethington, Women’s Golf 199195; Women’s Hockey coach 1998-2002

Marissa Tieszen Rustad, Women’s Swimming and Diving, 1991-95

They created an app that would not only provide all of that information, but also assist others with similar interests in camping do the same while avoiding the frustrations she was experiencing. In 2013, Smith and her husband created The Dyrt, which is available on desktop and mobile devices and allows people to share campsite information, reviews and pictures and receive feedback from others around the country. “I remember the first time someone I didn’t know submitted something, what an amazing experience that was, Smith said. “Just to hear from people and get their reviews to help solve a problem was an incredible feeling.”

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“It was painful to try and find information on what people thought about a campground and what their review of it was. I could find the basic information, but couldn’t get the actual content I was looking for,” Smith said. “After a while, I kept saying someone should come up with an idea to help with this. After a year of saying that, we finally just did it.” Ruth Nearing, Women’s Swimming and Diving coach, 1970-80 and Track and Field coach 1972-74

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ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

ALUMNI NEWS

CREATING A BETTER FUTURE FOR STUDENTS

ALUMNI WE REMEMBER ’40s

ABDIRIZAK ABDI ’12 ’15 ’17 IS COMMITTED TO GIVING BACK WHILE PROVIDING SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND COMMUNITIES WITH A MOTIVATED LEADER.

’40 GLADYS (ORLEBEKE) PREKKER , 99, Rio Rancho, New Mexico / ’40 EDITH REED, 103 / ’40 ’57 LEONA SIMONSON, 101, Benson / ’42 ’48 WALTER HARTMANN, 97, Brooklyn Park / ’42 ’74 LUELLA (ANDERSON) PARKINS , 96, Sartell / ’43 DOROTHY (L.) CARLIN, 96 / ’44 MARY HILTNER , 95 / ’44 ADELINE (THOMPSON) MIDTHUN, 95, Thief River Falls / ’44 JEAN QUARVE, 85 / ’45 ALICE (GARDNER) BRIANT, 95, Lynden, Washington / ’45 DARLYNE (FLYNN) DUNN, 94, Rochester / ’46 ’73 ELAINE (CIPALA) JOHNSON, 93, St. Cloud / ’47 GERTRUDE (BALDY) FISH, 93, Crosby / ’48 THELMA JENSEN, 90 / ’48 EUNICE MICHAEL , 93 / ’48 DELORIS SCHANCHE, 91 / ’48 ’64 ARDUS NEWMAN, 91, Pierz / ’49 ’67 ILA (JOHNSON) PETERSON, 91, Kandiyohi

ONE OF ABDI’S CORE BELIEFS IS THAT A GREAT LEADER COMES FROM SOMEONE WHO TAKES ACTION TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. AND THAT’S WHY HE REMAINS COMMITTED TO ASSISTING CHILDREN CREATE A BETTER FUTURE FOR THEMSELVES THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.

’50s

Abdi, who grew up in the St. Cloud area and graduated from St. Cloud State University with a bachelor’s degree in management and a master’s degree in educational administration and leadership, will soon embark on a new journey as a leader in education to help give back to future generations. In July, Abdi will become the new principal at Humboldt High School in St. Paul, a position he accepted in May. “It’s really an honor to be given the opportunity to serve the Humboldt community as their new leader. I’m looking forward to being able to develop and create a clear vision for the community and guide them through the process of improving as a school” Abdi said. “I have already started the inclusive process of gathering input from staff, students and the community. I think it takes the whole community to really lead a successful vision for the school.” Prior to taking on the role of principal at Humboldt, Abdi held multiple leader-

ship roles in education and had served on multiple committees throughout his career. His prior stops have included serving students as a teacher and behavior support interventionist, serving as an assistant professor at St. Cloud State and later becoming an assistant principal at St. Cloud Apollo High School. Most recently, he served as associate principal for Irondale High School in the Mounds View Public School District. “I’ve been really fortunate to be someone who has not really focused on the job that I’ve had, whether I was an assistant principal or prior to that, but someone who is looking forward for different opportunities to grow,” he said. “I have been very fortunate to have great mentors and leaders who have helped me become who I am.” Some of Abdi’s mentorship and leadership characteristics he still holds today stem back to his time at St. Cloud State, taking part in both the management and educational administration and leadership pro-

I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING ABLE TO DEVELOP AND CREATE A CLEAR VISION FOR THE COMMUNITY Abdirizak Abdi ’12 ’15 ’17

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grams. As a student, he was also involved in student organizations and served in clubs within Multicultural Student Services. “Going to St. Cloud State opened the doors for me in my career. Not only has the education I received prepared me, but the mentorship I received from professors really prepared me,” he said. “I am really grateful for those experiences.” Abdi is committed to using his past and present experiences to try and lead Humboldt High School as its new principal. In the end, he hopes to steer the school, its students and the community towards becoming a better place for years to come. “I do want to make this a better place in the next few years and I’m really committed to that,” Abdi said. “I’m someone who believes that leadership is an action, so I want to take this opportunity because that leadership is needed. “Kids need to see they can become anything they want to be and anything I can do to help with that, I want to do. Our children and their futures need us and that’s why I’m so honored to have the opportunity to create a better future for the Humboldt students and work for the school district.”

’50 ’54 LAMBERT WENNER , 92, Salem, Oregon / ’51 BONNIE HANLON, 91 / ’51 LABONNA IMES , 88 / ’51 GENEVIEVE (SPESCHA) STANG, 89, St. Paul / ’51 LOU (LOFGREN) STRATING, 89 / ’51 ’53 MILDRED (KARSCH) REISINGER , 89, St. Joseph / ’52 JAMES DIMICK , 91, Northfield / ’52 CAROLYN (LAWSON) SCHLAGEL , 89, Willmar / ’52 ’55 RUTH (LEHNE) JOY, 87, Clintonville, Wisconsin / ’53 MARGARET STELLMACH, 92 / ’53 ’69 PAULINE (BERGQUIST) WESTLUND, 83, Plymouth / ’54 BARBARA GABLER / ’54 HARRIET (WHIPKEY) LOUDEN, 88, Roswell, Georgia / ’55 JOHN MANN, 84, Anoka / ’55 THOMAS PARNELL , 93 / ’55 ADELINE (ROSELL) RASTAS , Waunakee, Wisconsin / ’55 ROGER WESTLUND, 87, Plymouth / ’55 ’61 MARY (VASHRO) RUSS , 89, Minneapolis / ’55 ’62 DAVID FRERICH, 87, Batavia, Illinois / ’56 ’67 DONALD ERICKSEN, 85, Lake Elmo / ’56 SHIRLEY (GRUNERT) GAARDER , 84, Chaska / ’57 VIRGINIA (LANDGRAF) FIEGEL , 84, Traverse City, Michigan / ’57 ROBERT MILLS , 91, Weidman, Michigan / ’57 CARMELLA (VANHEEL) PETERSON, 84, Isanti / ’57 ’64 BEN MEUWISSEN, 90, Annandale / ’58 RONALD ARNDT, 87, St. Peter / ’58 GERALD HELLEN, 87, Prescott, Arizona / ’58 DARRELL MAIN, 84, Howard Lake / ’58 VALENTINE RILEY, 87, Eden Valley / ’59 MARILYN (HABSTRITT) MCLAUGHLIN, 82, Marshall / ’59 ROLLAND OGREN, 82, St. Paul / ’59 ’68 CAROLYN WAGNER , Tempe, Arizona

’60s

’60 JOHN SHANNON, Bellingham / ’60 SHARON (OPEM) WOIZESCHKE, 81, Champlin / ’60 ’85 MARJORIE (SCHUMANN) MEDINA , 79, Sauk Rapids / ’61 STANLEY FORD, 87, Deerwood / ’61 VIRGIL GROVE, 84, Woodbury / ’61 MARVIN MUYRES , 85, Wayzata / ’61 ’73 DANIEL TSCHIMPERLE, 84, Silver Lake / ’62 DONALD DRAVIS , 82, Staples / ’62 GERALD ESSELMAN, 82 / ’62 ORRIN JOHNSON, 93, Alexandria / ’62 PHYLLIS KABLE, 97, Bethel / ’62 JAMES LONG, 84, Coon Rapids / ’62 PATRICIA (ANDERSON) PALM, 79, Mankato / ’62 SUSAN (ROE) ROE, 79, Indian Harbour Beach, Florida /

SOROKO ’86, DITLEVSON GIVE BACK TO STUDENTS Mary Soroko ’86 and Andy Ditlevson have a lot in common, including a deep commitment to St. Cloud State University. The couple — who have been married since 1992 — both grew up in small rural Minnesota towns, attended college as first-generation students and were both employed at St. Cloud State. They also have a shared vision of giving back to the next generation of college students. That shared vision inspired Soroko and Ditlevson to look for a way to support students with similar backgrounds and interests. Together, they endowed a scholarship for the Herberger Business School, an honors scholarship for highly-motivated first-generation students. The Soroko-Ditlevson Endowed Business Honors Scholarship is one of over 530 Huskies Scholarships available to St. Cloud State students each spring. “We hope that others will follow in our footsteps and realize that you don’t have to be rich to make a difference in a student’s life,” Soroko said. “As a young person, I didn’t have many options. St. Cloud State helped me to transform my life. In addition to other St. Cloud State employees, we hope students will also follow our example and give back whatever they can when they are able to.”

CLIMBING THE RANKS AT LEIGHTON BROADCASTING Stephanie Theisen ’04, a St. Cloud State marketing major and mass communications minor, continues to climb the ranks at Leighton Broadcasting after recently being promoted as vice president of sales and marketing. Theisen started at Leighton Broadcasting as a sales intern in 2004 during her last year at St. Cloud State University, and has risen within the company throughout her 15-year career. As vice president of sales and marketing, Theisen is primarily in charge of developing revenue and top-line growth for Leighton Broadcasting, which consists of 26 radio stations in seven Minnesota markets, an events division and a digital division.

100% of 2018 marketing graduates were employed in a related field within one year of graduation ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

ALUMNI NEWS ’62 CAROL (HENNEN) WASCHBUSCH, 78, St. Paul / ’63 JOHN DESANTIS , 83 / ’63 ELI LUCAS , 83, Eau Claire, Wisconsin / ’63 ’69 JOHN HADDORFF, 78, Hopkins / ’64 EDDIE RYSHAVY, 83, Minneapolis / ’64 ’70 RICHARD WASSON, 78, Waterford, Wisconsin / ’65 JEFFREY DAHL , 76, Warren, New Jersey / ’65 MILA (BIRHANZEL) GRAHN, 90, Kandiyohi / ’65 SCOTT GRIESMAN, 82 / ’65 MARC HEBERT, 77, Welch / ’65 ’66 JOAN (KELLER) ANDERSON, Elgin, Illinois / ’66 MABEL HERMERDING, 89, Crosslake / ’67 PAMELA (WELLS) HANSON, Arden Hills / ’67 JOSEPH KEENAN, 79, Cohasset / ’67 JAMES PERWIEN, Humble, Texas / ’67 WILLIAM RUZIN, 73, Brooksville, Florida / ’67 GORDON STOBB, 83, Little Falls / ’67 RENA UNDERHILL , 87, Motley / ’69 DIANE (CYR) HEDIN, 72, Hayward, Wisconsin / ’69 GERALD WEISS , 74, West Orange, New Jersey / ’69 ’77 WILSON BARFKNECHT, 72, Cambridge

’70s

’70 DAVID BRITTON, 75, Phoenix, Arizona / ’70 DAVID GLOWASKI, 73, Or / ’70 WILLIAM LURZ , 75, Sarasota, Florida / ’70 CRAIG SHAVER , 74, Sturgis, South Dakota / ’70 GERALD SPRAGG, 70, Virginia / ’70 ’80 JUDITH GETZKOW, 71, Eden Valley / ’71 CAMILLA (STRICKLIN) CAMILLI, 67, Langhorne, Pennsylvania / ’71 DELORES (THOMPSON) JOHNSON, 92, Brooten / ’71 THOMAS JULIAN, Madison, Wisconsin / ’71 ’79 AUDREY (MALQUIST) DALIEN, 91, Becker / ’72 JANELLE (PETERSON) NUNEZ, 70, San Antonio, Texas / ’72 VIRGINIA SCHRENK , 67, Chester, Maryland / ’72 MARIANNE SENN, 69 / ’73 THOMAS FERGUSON, 70, Dent / ’73 EVELYN MIKES , 93, Willmar / ’73 JOAN (MAHONEY) STEELE, 89, Sugar Hill / ’73 ’75 MARLENE MAUS , 67, Colorado Spgs, Colorado / ’73 ’81 MARCELLA (HAWKINSON) RASMUSSEN, 88, Minnetonka / ’73 ’92 MARY (SADLER) RHUDE, 68, Spicer / ’74 JERE PHILLIPS , 68, Prior Lake / ’74 JOHN PRITCHARD, 68, Rowlett, Texas / ’74 JAN (DETER) YORK , 70, Eden Prairie / ’75 THOMAS COLLIER , 72, Williamsburg, Virginia / ’75 BARBARA (SHANKS) HAGENS , 67, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin / ’75 CAROL (KRON) LYNCH, 77, Woodbury / ’75 JOHN RADABAUGH, 71, Willmar / ’76 MARILYN (WEIS) ANFENSON, 88, Cass Lake / ’76 LYNNAE CHRISTIANSON, 72, Mora / ’76 ROBERTA (RANNEY) ELSTON, 70, Afton / ’76 ROSE (JENSEN) KLUVER , 83, Alexandria / ’76 BRIAN SAMPSON, 68, Salem, Oregon / ’76 RANDI (PAULSON) SORENSEN, 65, Mandan, North Dakota / ’76 MARK STAFFORD, 67, Ramsey / ’76 ’79 DONALD ANDERSON, 90, St. Cloud / ’76 ’00 NANCY (PENTONY) MCCULLOH, 66, St. Cloud / ’77 JON EGGENBERGER , 67, Montgomery, Texas / ’77 STEVEN FARRINGTON, 66, Minneapolis / ’78 JAMES LAROCHE, 56, Park City, Utah / ’79 KRISTEN CARLTON, 63, Minneapolis / ’79 LILA (FORTIER) CAVANAUGH, 81, Minneapolis / ’79 RONALD DAHM, 63, Shawano, Wisconsin / ’79 KAREN DONLEY, 72, Minneapolis

’80s

’80 KENDRA (HAUSKEN) BROWN, 62, Sartell / ’80 ’84 SANDI (SCHWARZKOPF) HILSGEN, 61, St. Cloud / ’81 MELODIE MEYER , 63, Austin / ’84 MARION (FAUST) DENZEN, 91, Pierz / ’84 JOYCE (KITZMILLER) GELLE, 91, Sartell / ’84 CYLE GRUVER , 62, St. Peter / ’85 CHERYL (NACHBAR) KLINKHAMMER , 58, Albertville / ’85 SHERRY (ATKINSON) MCCOY, 56, Saint Michael / ’86 SANDRA STATZ, 70, St. Cloud / ’87 THERESA GOCHE, 63, St. Cloud / ’89 PATRICIA KRUGER , 63, New London / ’89 KATHRYN (OHRMANN) NAYLOR , 73, Lafayette, Indiana / ’89 JEANNE (GREEN) VANGSNESS , 86, Glenwood

’90s

’90 JOREL JACKSON, 58, Le Sueur / ’91 TIMOTHY TOMCZAK , 65, Roma / ’92 TODD DESMARAIS , 51, Buffalo / ’92 BRIAN KOKESH, 50, Palisade / ’92 BRENDA (FRANK) SZEFLINSKI, 49, Tomah, Wisconsin / ’93 DIANE (WHITE) INGEMAN, 68, St. Cloud / ’93 ’96 RICHARD ITEN, 75, St. Cloud / ’94 LINDA (ALM) ALM, 60, Foley / ’95 CALVIN EMERSON, 70, Saint Paul / ’97 NANCY (THRUN) BLANCHETTE, 72, Rosemount / ’97 KENNETH WORDE, 62, Plymouth / ’97 ’06 JOANNE (LEONARD) ENGNELL , 85, Minneapolis / ’98 TODD RITTER , 51, Albany / ’98 ’01 DOLLIE SINCLEAIR , 32, Brainerd

’00s

’00 SHAWN OVERHOLSER , 53, Milan / ’05 KIMBERLY PERRY, 36, St. Louis, Missouri / ’05 SCOTT RADTKE,

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56, Albany / ’05 ’09 SUSAN PATTON, 44, St. Cloud / ’08 SHAUN DELAGE, 34, Crookston / ’08 DONALD KALER , 67, Savage / ’09 ANDREW SPONHEIM, 34, Cold Spring

’10s

’11 MARK VOGL , 42, Sioux Falls, South Dakota / ’11 ’14 NADIA THATCHER , 37, Sauk Rapids / ’13 REBECCA CASPERS , 39, Sartell / ’16 HUNTER SCHULTZ , 25, Alexandria

FACULTY WE REMEMBER

’51 PHILIP TIDEMAN, 93, Wahkon / ’71 MARY (TARASAR) WEISE, 78, Hopkins / ’96 VICTORIA (ARNOLD) WILLIAMS , 72, St. Cloud / SHIRLEY ANDERSEN, 96, Claremont, New Hampshire / CAROLINE BOURESTOM-DAVIDSON, Dallas, Texas / LARRY CHAMBERS, 75, Lees Summit, Missouri / RICHARD CORLISS , Sartell / MARY CRAIK , 95, Louisville, Kentucky / RONALD CURRENT, 66, New Ulm / JAMES DENNIHAN, 62, St. Cloud / ALAN DOWNES , 88, St. Cloud / WILLIAM FRAHM, 85, St. Cloud / RICHARD GYLLSTROM, Edina / MARY HEBERT, St. Cloud / GARY KONSOR , 72, Avon / RICHARD LANE , 81, St. Joseph / WAYNE LITTLE, 87, Merrifield / LUCILLE MARX , St. Cloud / ALEXANDER MCWILLIAMS , 90, St. Cloud / FRANK MORRISSEY, 73, Nevis / KEVIN PFANNENSTEIN, 80, St. Cloud / JUDY (ODAIR) ROGERS , 74, Waite Park / TIM STERN, Mesa, Arizona

ART ALUMNUS SHARES PASSION WITH ST. CLOUD COMMUNITY SOMETIMES FINDING A CAREER YOU ARE PASSIONATE IN PURSUING CAN OCCUR IN UNIQUE WAYS. FOR KEVIN ELDSTROM ’19, THE JOURNEY TO JUMPING INTO HIS CURRENT CAREER WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME ABOUT SOMEWHAT UNEXPECTEDLY, BUT HE IS SURE HAPPY THINGS ENDED UP PLAYING OUT THE WAY THEY DID.

Eldstrom, who graduated with a degree in studio arts with a 3D studio emphasis from St. Cloud State University in 2019, is the ceramics studio technician at Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud. He started in his current role shortly after graduation. Among his many duties managing the studio and firing pottery, Eldstrom enjoys the chance to continue sharing his passion for art with the rest of the St. Cloud community. “I work in the afternoon and evening time, which is the time a majority of the patrons come in. When I get in, the first thing I do is unload the kilns I loaded two days prior. Then, I reload whatever else I can reload for that day,” Eldstrom said. “After that, I take care of miscellaneous things like making sure the glazes are arranged properly, taking care of people with general concerns and other things. I really love it here.” Within his first year of working, Eldstrom won the prestigious post-graduation Jerome Grant, which helps to fund art organizations in support of emerging artists. “While at St. Cloud State, I had to do a mock grant application and I ended up taking my mock application, revised it and submitted it two days before the deadline,” he said. “... I was one of six people who ended up receiving the grant.” His love of promoting art to the broader community started at St. Cloud State. “I feel like the SCSU art department is one of those hidden gems. There’s a huge value to it and there’s something to be had for someone to check out the art department and the campus as a whole.” Eldstrom came up with the idea to start the Miller Center Student Art Show, which just completed its fourth year. The annual art show offers students a chance to display their artwork on campus, with the winner of the show having their work permanently displayed in the Miller Center.

“I proposed an idea to the Miller Center and ended up connecting with University Archivist Tom Steman about it. He and I ended up taking on the task of getting the show going. Since then, it has kind of grown from there and the students seem to like it since it’s a show outside of the art building,” Eldstrom said. “It helps push the art students to show off their work to people they are not familiar with.” “I originally wanted to recognize the desires from the arts students and wanted to make a difference. I was part of the art club and heard information from one of the teachers that the Miller Center was looking to get some student artwork to display,” Eldstrom continued. “I saw there was an opportunity for students to show off their work outside of just the art building.” Although he is done with his schooling in St. Cloud, Eldstrom continues to work in the area while sharing an interest in art within a community that helped ignite that passion during his time at St. Cloud State. “I had a great time there. I had great teachers and it was just overall a great experience. I ended up at the Paramount, which is a credit to SCSU and everything I experienced there,” he said. “Before SCSU, I was never really a person who loved the school I was at, but after going to St. Cloud State, I can say that I am enthusiastic about it and the success of it. “The big thing for me during my time at St. Cloud State was the art teachers preparing me for the world. I am forever grateful for that experience.” ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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