St. Cloud State Magazine Fall 2021/Winter 2022

FALL 2021 / WINTER 2022

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

NEXT LEVEL

EXPERIENCE Unparalleled broadcast program prepares camera-ready media pros MORE INSIDE:

UNSTOPPABLE

UNLEASH THE FUTURE

Huskies athletes display excellence during COVID-19 season

The campaign for St. Cloud State drives innovations on campus

twitter.com/stcloudstate

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facebook.com/stcloudstate youtube.com/stcloudstatehusky instagram.com/stcloudstate

14 NEXT LEVEL EXPERIENCE St. Cloud State University Mass Communications has been preparing in-demand professionals with strong academic and real-world learning opportunities for more than five decades.

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24 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS

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FROM THE PRESIDENT 4 Unleashing graduates well prepared

NEWS 5 Homecoming 2021 8 Campus composer creates

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audio soundwalk 9 Alumni Survey 10 Preserving an African indigenous language 12 Announcing the Center for International Disability Advocacy and Diplomacy

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FEATURES 14 Next Level Experience: Unparalleled broadcast program prepares camera-ready media pros 20 Unstoppable: In a year unlike any other, Huskies overcame adversity and obstacles 24 Unleashing the Future: The campaign for St. Cloud State University

ALUMNI NEWS 28 Class notes 30 Talisha Barlow ’11 ’16

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with the Minnesota BCA 33 Alumni Awards 34 Jamie Trachsel ’01 leads Ole Miss softball 35 SCSU names notable alumni

FROM THE PRESIDENT

DrRobbynWacker

UNLEASHING GRADUATES WELL PREPARED

TO TACKLE EMERGING NEEDS IN A NEW WORLD OF HOPE AND POSSIBILITIES

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What a trailblazing past year and exciting fall we have shared on our campus! With cautious optimism for a safe, healthy new academic year we came together to welcome eager new and returning students to the full college experience of excellent classroom experiences and full-throttle Huskies activities, including a welcome return-to-Homecoming week.

We continued to salute the tremendous achievements of the past several months, including: » Notable accomplishments in athletics including the men’s hockey team’s historic season and run to the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Frozen Four, and Huskies wrestlers’ third NCAA Wrestling Championship in a row. And what a successful fall it has been as our athletes continue to shine and make us proud to be Huskies! » Outstanding performances by the Huskies Dance Team, which won its second consecutive Universal Dance Association National Championship. » A successful launch of the Unleash the Future Foundation fundraising campaign, with signature gifts from donors to fund important new resources and facilities for our students. » Faculty and student research continues to flourish with more than 60 research projects launched this year to break new ground in disciplines across campus.

It’s clear our campus community has been ready to move confidently on from the unsettling specter of the pandemic – ready to live into the revolutionary changes that have occurred as our world shifted and forced us to reimagine our priorities and our goals in education and in life. We have learned that what we do as teachers and scholars at St. Cloud State – even in the most challenging of circumstances – is exceedingly critical to the future not just of our graduates, but of our world.

Before the pandemic and before the difficult and necessary conversations about race and injustice put a spotlight on our economic, educational, health and cultural crises, we were talking about climate change, social justice, and the needs for educational opportunities to grow at every stage of life.

We knew then and we know now that the world needs innovative, creative, critical thinkers and leaders to go beyond the conventional to find new solutions to enduring problems. With the implementation of our It’s Time framework we are living in to our action plan to make St. Cloud State University the University of Choice. Our future and the future of the many lives that our graduates impact through life and work depend on our ability to be the best we can be.

You will read in this issue about some of the work that has been going on at a time when it’s more evident than ever that our students must have an education that gives them the tools to succeed in a new normal with pressing needs and issues that are getting more of the attention they deserve. When we look at the career fields that are most in demand now and in the future, St. Cloud State is building on high quality programs that will offer our students the opportunity to meet those demands. We are excelling in preparing our students for careers in health care such as registered nurse and nurse practitioner; in software engineering and information systems; in finance, sales, engineering, media and education for all levels including early childhood. These are fields that are personally rewarding and indispensable to our future.

Through It’s Time we are redefining St. Cloud State University as a new State University that is an academic leader in four areas of academic distinction: holistic health and wellness, HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2021 / WINTER 2022

applied science and engineering, education, and leadership.

With a faculty of teacher/scholars and administrators and staff boldly changing how we operate as a university, we are radically changing the student experience with on-going individualized support for all students to help them succeed in a variety of academic endeavors and life-altering activities. And with distinctive academic programs and expanded marketing and recruiting across the Midwest, the US and globe, we are telling the world what we already know, that we are an institution of opportunity and excellence for the leaders of the future.

Our world and our university are at a historic juncture at the same time, and we are ready to meet the sea change in the needs and expectations of our students with academic programs and leadership opportunities designed to prepare successful, caring citizens of the world.

I invite you to read in the pages of this magazine about the amazing things that are happening on our campus and in our alumni community. The features shine a light on our brilliant mass communications graduates who are living their dreams and telling the stories that enlighten and inform, on our superb Huskies athletes who continue to make us proud, and on some of the many exciting people and programs that are propelling us into a future of renewed purpose and endless possibilities.

Dr. Robbyn Wacker President, St. Cloud State University

7,750 FANS ATTENDED HOMECOMING SPORTING EVENTS

HOMECOMING 2021

CONCERT

MEN’S HOCKEY

Students, alumni and community members celebrated Homecoming 2021 in person Oct. 13-16 at St. Cloud State University after a virtual Homecoming in 2020.

Homecoming 2021 offered concerts, gatherings, reunions and athletics.

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ALUMNI ART SHOW

The weekend featured alumni events and reunions, virtual events for international alumni and a live from Alnwick Castle event, featuring an update from Alnwick, England where St. Cloud State students study abroad.

KICK OFF

Homecoming 2021 kicked off the first day of Homecoming Wednesday with games, tie dye T-shirts and food on campus for students inside Atwood Memorial Center.

Thursday brought the fun outside with the Homecoming Bonfire on the lawn outside Stearns Hall featuring hot chocolate, s’mores and comments from coaches and student athletes. Music students got into the spirit with the Homecoming Concert Thursday night featuring the Wind Ensemble, Concert Choirs and student soloists in voice and piano. The Alumni Art Show at the Paramount curated by KOBI featured 14 alumni artists and the Friday night reception drew 350 attendees and coincided with the Downtown Art Crawl in St. Cloud.

GALA

In total, Homecoming sporting events drew 7,750 fans throughout the weekend.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

Friday featured athletic contests by Volleyball and Men’s Soccer. Volleyball defeated the University of Mary Maurauders 3-1 in front of a crowd of 450 fans at Halenbeck Hall. Men’s Soccer earned a 4-2 victory over Purdue University-Northwest on Friday at Husky Stadium, before falling 1-0 to Davenport in a hard-fought game Sunday. Between sets at the Volleyball game and at the soccer half time Friday, the Faculty and Staff Dance Crew performed with surprise guests President Robbyn Wacker and Blizzard.

FAN FEST BONFIRE

Saturday started off early with the Homecoming 5K Run/Walk with more than 125 participants starting outside of Lawrence Hall, running along the Mississippi River on the Beaver Island Trail, and finishing at Husky Stadium.

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MEN’S SOCCER

Women’s Hockey took to the ice Saturday afternoon and beat the University of St. Thomas in a thrilling seven-round shootout in front of 620 fans. Following the game Huskies fans enjoyed tailgating, games and axe throwing at the Fan Fest before Men’s Hockey faced the University of Minnesota Gophers before a sellout crowd of 5,530 fans, losing 4-3 in overtime.

KICK OFF

FACULTY AND STAFF DANCE CREW

VOLLEYBALL

To revisit all that took place during Homecoming 2021, stcloudstate.edu/ homecoming.

FAN FEST 5K RUN/WALK

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NEWS Editor Kathryn Kloby, Ph.D.

DR. AERIEL ASHLEE BEGINS WORK ON IT’S TIME DEI MISSION

Contributing Editor Matt Andrew

By Mitchell Hansen ’17 Since arriving at St. Cloud State University to become an assistant professor of College Counseling and Student Development in 2019, Dr. Aeriel A. Ashlee has been dedicated to helping facilitate events and prioritize work surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at St. Cloud State.

St. Cloud State is working to prioritize the advancement of DEI and engage in intentional actions to address systemic inequities throughout the university as outlined and highlighted within President Robbyn Wacker’s It’s Time initiative.

Ashlee, who has spent time in higher education for more than a decade working with students of color and other underrepresented students, is just one example of that work in motion. Since arriving at St. Cloud State, she has helped facilitate and take part in numerous DEI-related initiatives, including working with the Huskies First Four Days Planning Committee to develop intentional DEI learning outcomes, helping facilitate a student-initiated virtual speak out conversation in March between students, faculty, staff and the community to come together and discuss racial injustice and inequity, and more.

“There’s so much happening in the world right now around racial injustice and inequity,” she said. “The compounding effect of the recent anti-Asian hate crimes and continued police violence against Black lives have many folks feeling emotionally exhausted, not to mention tired and isolated as we all try and navigate life during COVID. I was impressed and inspired by student leaders (during the student speak out event) who really took the initiative to say we want to hold a space for ourselves and our community.

“There were students, staff and faculty from St. Cloud State and beyond who really came together to talk about ways in which we were grieving and to share ideas, questions, and concerns, and to think about what it means to be in solidarity with one another.”

St. Cloud State’s campus and demographics is among some of the most racially diverse among institutions in the Minnesota State system. With that, Ashlee believes the campus community can help lead the state system in actively centering and prioritizing DEI and to be bold as President Wacker’s It’s Time initiative invites.

Content Producers Anna Kurth Mitchell Hansen ’17 Colleen Harrison John M. Brown Kelsey Whaley Design Marie Madgwick ’91 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.

For additional information, contact the Office for Institutional …quity & Access, (320) 308-5123, Admin. Services Bldg.

Rm 121.

IT’S TIM… IN ACTION Advancement of Diversity, …quity and Inclusion is a priority of the It’s Time framework.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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CAMPUS COMPOSER CREATES IMMERSIVE AUDIO SOUNDWALK COMPOSER AND MUSIC PROFESSOR DR. SCOTT MILLER IS OFFERING VISITORS TO MINNEAPOLIS’ MINNEHAHA REGIONAL PARK AN IMMERSIVE AUDIO EXPERIENCE, A SOUND WALK THROUGH THE PARK LISTENING TO THE NATURAL SOUNDS COMBINED WITH MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE PLACE.

BY ANNA KURTH

Photo by Kierra Lopac

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IT’S TIM… IN ACTION St. Cloud State University faculty are breaking new ground in their research, scholarship and creative work. St. Cloud State supports faculty as they integrate research, scholarship and creative work with instruction as part of the institution’s culture of innovation. Learn more at scsu.mn/itstime HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2021 / WINTER 2022

The experience is possible thanks to SonAR (Sonic Augmented Reality) II, an app developed by Miller for a smartphone that allows park visitors to bring together Miller’s composed music with the natural sounds of the park.

Augmented reality puts a layer of data onto the physical world a person is experiencing. That information can be a picture, it can be music, or it can be information or data.

Miller composed new music using the environmental sounds of Minnehaha Falls and the surrounding park as inspiration for the public to interactively experience while on a self-guided walk.

Using GPS, users follow a map on the app with a recommended path and start location. With headphones in, they hear Miller’s composition layered over the ambient sounds of the park while exploring the path. Each person’s unique movement and the sounds of the park combine to create a unique experience. The app guides users as they experience the next portion of the soundtrack. The app is available on the Apple Store and Google Play.

Listeners have an individual experience while together in a common, public space, Miller said.

“Exploring this phenomenon has taken on even greater relevance in light of the transformations that COVID-19 is imposing on our notions of art and shared cultural events,” he said.

Miller developed SonAR II with the support of St. Cloud State University’s Hellervik Prize, which is presented to a faculty member each year for research or scholarly activity on issues of importance to students, the university, academia or society.

His project built upon SonAR I: St. Cloud State University, which Miller designed in 2018 working with the Visualization and Simulation Lab at St. Cloud State. This first app explored the potential of a smartphone-based music connected to the environment through the creation of a single composition in 10 parts designed for the St. Cloud State University campus. Miller worked with student software engineers to develop the app so that he can go anywhere in the world and generate a new app with a new performance.

Miller has previously worked in the area of music in augmented and virtual reality.

Miller earned a previous faculty research grant to create virtual reality art generated with audio and was also commissioned to create a VR opera. His first virtual reality music piece was a collaborative project with Estonian new music creators Ensemble U:. In the project, the ensemble performs live while the audience wears VR headsets and watches a synchronized film. His second VR concert, Blue in the Distance, premiered last November on campus.

The piece was filmed and produced with the assistance of student workers from the Visualization Lab.

NEWS SCSU ALUMNI SURVEY SHOWS CAREER PATH OF 2010, 2015 GRADUATES St. Cloud State University partnered with Career Leadership Collective, a higher education solutions group, to conduct a national online survey of 2010 and 2015 alumni. The National Alumni Career Mobility Survey (NACM) last year surveyed alumni who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2010 and 2015.

Data was gathered from about 2,700 undergraduate alumni.

Respondent ratings show alumni satisfaction at St. Cloud State meets or exceeds participating peer or national institutions in nearly all categories.

“After years of only collecting data from graduates within one year of graduation, obtaining data from our five and 10 year alumni is a step in a positive direction,” said Career Center Executive Director Michelle Schmitz. “We now have a more comprehensive data set to guide us in building and improving our resources and services to serve the diverse needs of our student population.”

The survey collected data on current success, community engagement and level of satisfaction with their career path. The data is being used to help St. Cloud State better understand the professional pathways of graduates and optimize the education, tools and resources the institution offers students for continued and improved career success.

AFTER GRADUATION

98 % 38 % 7

on to full-time % went employment earned additional degrees

founded a company or non-profit 80% AGREE THEIR DEGREE HELPED PREPARE THEM FOR THEIR CAREER

Eighty percent of alumni respondents said that their bachelor’s degree helped prepare them for their career and helped them get started in their career. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they were well prepared when beginning their career compared to 59 percent of alumni at national institutions. Seventy-nine percent of respondents are content with their career progression and 84 percent are satisfied with their current career.

A degree from St. Cloud State also helps alumni get ahead and achieve economic mobility with 78 percent of respondents saying that they expect to earn more in the future than their childhood household compared to just 67 percent at national institutions.

The survey helped St. Cloud State identify areas where the university can improve its services including a greater focus on helping students create a career plan and network with employers. Alumni can help out by volunteering to share career advice with current students.

“We want to thank all the alumni that took the time to complete the survey,” Schmitz said. “Your responses will positively impact current and future Huskies.”

79% AGREE THEY ARE CONTENT WITH THEIR CAREER PROGRESSION

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PAID OFF THEIR DEBT WITHIN 10 YEARS ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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NEWS ST. CLOUD STATE IS MILITARY FRIENDLY St. Cloud State University has earned the 2021 Military Friendly® Top 10 School designation and is ranked No. 4 nationally in the Large Public category. The University also earned the Military Spouse Friendly School designation for the first time in 2021.

Top 10 schools are seen by Military Friendly as setting “the standard for other designations and are programs that continue to improve every year.” While the Military Spouse Friendly designation is awarded to institutions which display continued commitment, hard work and dedication to the military community and their families.

“The St. Cloud State community has come together over the years to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for veterans, military service members and their spouses and families,” said Zac Mangas, St. Cloud State Veterans Resource Center director. “We aren’t just telling prospective students we are a veteran or military-friendly campus. We are gathering data, sharing programs and discussing support systems created that help this community be successful.”

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St. Cloud State has policies and procedures to support 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.

STUDENTS HELPING PRESERVE AFRICAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE LINGUISTICS PROFESSOR DR. ETTIEN KOFFI AND COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSOR DR. MARK PETZOLD AND THEIR STUDENTS ARE HELPING PRESERVE AN AFRICAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE WHILE ALSO GIVING STUDENTS A UNIQUE WAY TO APPROACH CODING AND PROGRAMMING.

BY MITCHELL HANSEN ’17

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St. Cloud State was one of only 747 schools to earn the Military Friendly Schools designation with only 13 of Minnesota colleges or universities on the list. St. Cloud State was one of only four Minnesota colleges or universities to earn the Military Spouse Friendly Schools designation.

“It takes a community of dedicated staff, faculty and departments to ensure our students receive support in a variety of ways,” Mangas said. “This support helps our military-connected students move forward with the goal of earning a degree. We are all proud of the work this campus is doing to make that happen.”

During spring semester Koffi and Petzold led a Computational Linguistics course combining linguistics and engineering to help students understand the crucial role language plays in society and in the design of speech analysis and processing systems.

Throughout the course, students primarily studied Beti, an endangered language from Côte d’Ivoire, and documented it in coding to learn more about programming and try and preserve the language for future Dr. Mark Petzold, left, generations. and Dr. Ettien Koffi “We have students in here that love to have electives that are practical, have real problems. They are being pushed, they have to be innovative and adapt, and that’s what they hope for and enjoy with this class,” Petzold said. “They are solving real problems. It has been very good for them.”

The last known person to use Beti as their primary language died about 50 years ago. It is still spoken as a bi-lingual and tri-lingual language, but it is now in danger of becoming extinct.

DANCE TEAM WINS SECOND STRAIGHT NATIONAL TITLE The St. Cloud State University Dance team won its second consecutive Universal Dance Association (UDA) National Championship this April taking first in the Open Game Day competition at the 2021 UDA College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championships at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The team also earned the top score and was crowned the national champion in Open Pom.

“Having this class and having basic skills such as coding, it really did open up my eyes to how computers work and how to write out code,” said Connor Hanzsek-Brill, an undergraduate linguistics student. “This course really makes me feel like I’m contributing to something.”

This new linguistics course directly aligns with St. Cloud State’s It’s Time strategic framework. The one-of-a-kind course is one that isn’t offered elsewhere and allows students the ability to develop talents and skills in order to make an impact in both their personal and professional worlds.

“We do not know any other place that is doing something like this to document and preserve these languages,” Koffi said. “My hope and vision is that St. Cloud State will become a place where people will come and learn the basics of digitalizing endangered languages.”

The Computational Linguistics course is one of multiple linguistics courses offered at St. Cloud State, with other major and minor degree options that include creative writing, rhetoric and writing, communication arts and literature, and English studies.

There are also Education Abroad opportunities in Chile, England, Spain, Costa Rica, Australia, Japan, Korea and South Africa.

“I look forward to continuing on with this,” Petzold said. “We are going to continue to build tools and continue to collaborate to build out the ability to preserve indigenous languages like this.”

As for the students, they are all excited about the course and thankful to be a part of this first-time offering while learning valuable skills as they enter their careers.

“The learning (in this course), you never really get that anywhere else,” said student Annaliesa Anderson. “If it wasn’t for this class, as an engineering student, I wouldn’t be able to take anything like this. This is another area you can learn that you usually wouldn’t be able to.”

IT’S TIM… CONNECTION St. Cloud State University is offering transformative learning opportunities in engineering and applied science. Through engaged and applied learning, students are gaining knowledge of the wider world and confronting complex questions to develop their intellectual, civic, artistic and problem-solving skills. Learn more at scsu.mn/itstime.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

ANNOUNCING THE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY ADVOCACY AND DIPLOMACY

61 MILLION

ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY IS PUTTING FOCUS ON DISABILITY ADVOCACY AND THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT HOME AND ABROAD WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY ADVOCACY AND DIPLOMACY THIS FALL.

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The center is aligned with the It’s Time initiative and will serve as a hub for interdisciplinary collaborative research with faculty, domestic and international students, community members and visiting scholars.

All students will be engaged and invited to participate in center activities and scholarship work. Students from majors that serve and work with the disability community will be targeted for active involvement for activities, events, internships, education abroad and interdisciplinary research.

The first major event for the Center for International Disability Advocacy and Diplomacy is the ABILITY Event, which culminates at the 2020 World Expo this December in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Center founders Dr. Amy Knopf and Dr. Kathy Johnson are part of the World Events Disability Coalition that hosted an #EndExclusion and #PromoteInclusion Festival and Celebration Week at the Dubai Expo Nov. 28-Dec. 1. The week featured events focused on health and wellness, technology, arts and culture, education, policy and advocacy, and more for people with disabilities. The week culminated with the U.N. International Day for Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3 event held at the U.S. Pavilion at the Expo.

The center institutionalizes the work Johnson and Knopf have been doing independently to establish a strong global network of partnerships for promoting inclusion, accessibility and the rights for people with disabilities since 2014. The Center for International Disability Advocacy and Diplomacy will recognize and elevate these partnerships for promotion.

“There are other centers on disability … but there’s nothing that combines advocacy and diplomacy,” Johnson said. “That’s why this center is so unique. The diplomacy focus is ensuring the inclusion of people with disabilities in innovative cross-cultural research, people-to-people exchange, leadership training and serving on the center’s advisory board. People with disabilities will be a part of every aspect of the center.”

The Center for International Disability Advocacy and Diplomacy will develop global academies, strategic network partnerships and leadership training programs; conduct interdisciplinary research and development; and promote disability policy and advocacy.

The work of the center will be grounded in the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which St. Cloud State supports though its commitment to the

IT’S TIM… CONNECTION St. Cloud State is focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and implementing it across all of campus to provide educational access to everyone. The University also prioritizes research, scholarship and creative work that advances diversity, equity and inclusion as a teacher-scholar university.

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U.S. ADULTS LIVE WITH A DISABILITY

TYPES OF BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION Source: CDC

ATTITUDINAL SOCIAL PROGRAMMATIC TRANSPORTATION COMMUNICATION PHYSICAL POLICY

10 Basic Principles of the U.N. Academic Impact.

Even with a focus globally, the Center for International Disability Advocacy and Diplomacy will have an impact locally by giving students with and without disabilities at St. Cloud State a way to get involved in disability advocacy. The center will provide training for faculty, staff and community partners to give them the information they need to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, Knopf said.

“I wanted to have a place where students could learn more about working in the area of disability,” she said. “Where students with disabilities could feel like they could be involved. … Not only in the class, but also in events or things that are happening across campus to be full participants in all aspects of the college experience.”

NEWS 25 YEARS OF HUSKIES IN HIGH SCHOOLS

By Anna Kurth Huskies In the High School is celebrating 25 years of introducing Minnesota students to college by taking a St. Cloud State University class while studying at their high school.

The program started in 1996 as Senior to Sophomore. In recognition of the evolution of the program, the opportunities it provides, and the ties students make to St. Cloud State, the program has become Huskies in the High School.

In the program students take St. Cloud State courses with high school teachers on their high schools campuses. The teachers are partnered with St. Cloud State faculty to make sure their curriculum and standards match the rigor of on-campus classes. Teachers in the program have advanced training in their class subject and are required by state law to have graduate-level credits or degrees in the discipline. Many have specialized master’s degrees.

The program helps high school students make the transition to college by introducing them to college-level work in a familiar setting while they simultaneously earn credit toward their high school graduation requirements. They may also visit campus to engage with St. Cloud State faculty and learn about the admissions process.

St. Cloud Tech High School teacher Leanne Klett ’92 teaches Spanish through Huskies in the High School. Each year Spanish professor Dr. Luz Triana-Echeverría works with Klett and her students both at Tech and on the St. Cloud State campus.

“When Luz comes to our high school, she will teach a lesson, interact with the students and connect with them, and then hold a question and answer session. I love and appreciate that she does this all in Spanish,” Klett said. “It really builds their confidence for understanding a native speaker and using what they are learning.”

Triana-Echeverría also invites Klett’s students to sit in on one of her classes on campus. The students enjoy that experience and again

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Huskies in the High % ofSchool teachers are St. Cloud State Alumni

are proud of their abilities to understand and be successful in a college level course, Klett said.

Huskies in the High School was designed for students who wanted to participate in college classes as high school students, but had too many activities or lived too far from a college or university to be able to come to campus for classes. It is made possible by the Minnesota Post-Secondary Enrollment Option Act. The program started with just one Chemistry class at Tech High School in St. Cloud. Today more than 3,000 students participate in Huskies in the High School with students studying at 45 schools in 24 subjects, and, in all, more than 40,000 students have participated in the program since it began.

The program continues to make a difference and be a game-changer for students, said Kirby Meiners, who teaches a Huskies in the High School Chemistry class at Prior Lake High School.

“While the class is challenging, I think a lot of them walk away really feeling like they have a better handle on the expectations of a college class and have increased confidence in their ability to handle those challenges,” he said. “The other aspect that the students love, but were unable to do this year, is the trip to campus to perform a lab. They repeatedly tell me how much they enjoy the opportunity to experience a college-level laboratory environment.

Interacting with both the professor and a TA really helps drive home to them that they are, in fact, college students.”

Many Huskies in the High School teachers are alumni and the program is an opportunity to reconnect with their alma mater and give back in new ways.

40,000+ STUDENTS HAVE TAKEN COLLEGE COURSES THROUGH HUSKIES IN THE HIGH SCHOOL

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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BY MARSHA SHOEMAKER

NEXT LEVEL 14

EXPERIENCE Unparalleled broadcast program prepares camera-ready media pros

For more than five decades St. Cloud State’s Mass Communications program has been preparing in-demand professionals with strong academic and real-world learning opportunities. One of only two nationally-accredited Mass Communications programs in the state, its graduates are generous in their praise and gratitude for the running start the program’s faculty and state-of-the-art facilities have given them.

“Absolutely, 100 percent, the hands-on experience at St. Cloud State is something that set me apart when I started my career,” said Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Natalie Davis ’13. “I was light years ahead of others.”

Davis, who came to St. Cloud State in 2012 after earning a degree in chemistry at St. Olaf and winning the Miss Minnesota competition her senior year, was scooped up by a television station in Topeka, Kansas, after getting her degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Television Broadcasting. She interned both at KARE 11 and KSTP in the Twin Cities, but it was her intense experience in every aspect of broadcasting at campus TV station UTVS that prepared her for a career path that has taken her to Kansas City and Wichita, where she is morning anchor at KWCH. HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2021 / WINTER 2022

“I was able to go to a top 50 market by the time I was 25 as anchor.”

Coming to St. Cloud State was a good choice, said Davis, who credits UTVS TV Studio Manager and UTVS Advisor Derrick Silvestri with being “the best teacher and toughest critic.” During the time at UTVS she won awards from the Upper Midwest Emmy Chapter as an individual and as part of Husky Magazine and Husky Productions.

The national award-winning UTVS station began operations in 1978 under the leadership of Scott Bryce and provides local programming to more than 33,000 households in the St. Cloud and surrounding areas via Spectrum Channel 180.

Along with UTVS, campus radio station KVSC 88.1, which in 1967 began broadcasting a variety of music, news and events; and the University Chronicle, which has been printing news of events, issues and trends on campus and the world for 97 years, offer students the ability to get experience and cross training in all major avenues of media. Most of the students’ work with campus media, including with award-winning Husky Magazine and Husky Productions is done through student-run organizations.

And when they graduate, they are ready to hit the ground running with first-hand experience writing and producing news, using the same technology and facilities that they will use in their professional careers.

“We blow our competitors out of the water on that,” said Dr. Dale Zacher, professor and chair of the Mass Communications Department, referring to how rare it is for a campus to give students such a wide berth in honing their skills in excellent facilities.

“I was so fortunate to get the role of news director at KVSC,” said Chris Duffy ’11, who came to St. Cloud State to get a graduate degree in Broadcast Journalism after graduating from St. John’s University in 2004 and working for five years as a TV reporter in Eau Claire and Green Bay. “The broadcast playground that existed on campus was second to none.”

“It was the first time I had a leadership role, and I got to work with amazingly talented students at KVSC,” said Duffy, vice president of public relations and principal at Goff Public Relations in St. Paul. “I got the perfect combination of classroom learning and experience. I could go to classes where I learned critical thinking and other academic skills and then walk down the hallway to KVSC.” “I do think it’s one of the under-told stories in Minnesota — that this gem of a school exists,” Duffy said. “Amazing graduates, they’re everywhere and I’m so proud when I see a fellow SCSU grad in the media. There’s so much talent that comes out of that program.”

Duffy credits the excellence of the program to the mentorship and seasoned experience in teaching and mentoring of KVSC general manager Jo McMullen, KVSC technical director Jim Gray and UTVS’s Silvestri. “Without them and their strong leadership these programs don’t exist,” he said.

“It’s all these qualities combined that make St. Cloud State’s Mass Communications program so distinctive,” Zacher said. “Our facilities are second to none, and our academic side has earned its strong reputation for relevance and mentoring.”

A LIVING LABORATORY The students and graduates who benefit from the holistic learning experience and living laboratory offered in the program realize it.

They are equipped to excel and make a difference in various communication career fields.

“The thing the university taught me was how things work, how to deal with everything to do with the field of broadcasting,” said 2015 graduate Emilio Ramos, who has been a video journalist with Telemundo NBC Universal first in Orlando, then Dallas and back to Orlando. “The tools, resources, opportunities were all there,” he said of his time at St. Cloud State.

Because of the freedom to be creative and unleash potential that is the hallmark of the broadcast program, Ramos did breakout work at UTVS with stories about the undocumented immigrant community in Minnesota, then started a unique Spanish language broadcast.

“I created my own workshop,” he said, “It was hard because nobody there spoke Spanish. I won a bunch of awards for Spanish newscast, for breaking news and feature documentaries. It was grat-

A DREAM COME TRUE MASS COMMUNICATIONS GRADUATE BROADCASTS FROM THE ‘FIELD OF DREAMS’ The exciting world of broadcasting professional sports has been the career field of dreams for many a St. Cloud State Mass Communications students, including Emmy Awardwinning 1995 graduate Matt Gangl, who took his career to a new personal best in July when he directed the “Field of Dreams” major league baseball game.

Played on the Iowa cornfield-turned-baseball-field created for the enchanting 1989 movie of the same name, the game between the host – and winning – Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees drew just over 5.9 million viewers to become the most-watched regular season major league baseball game on any network since 2005.

“The event was like nothing I’d ever been part of,” Gangl said.

Part Hollywood, part major league sports, the game brought together devotees of an iconic film and lovers of baseball.

“I wanted to find a way to take the heart of the movie and pay homage to what it means to fans — bring that into present day,” he said. “It was a baseball game, but the setting was why the game was so special.”

Preparation was the most intense Gangl had experienced in his stellar career, which includes earning a National Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Special for his role as director during the 2018 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Lost Angeles Dodgers.

In addition to the players on the two legendary major league teams, there was the presence throughout of Oscar winner and “Field of Dreams” star Kevin Costner. The evening before the game Costner walked through the preparation and planning with Gangl and his team.

“It was a unique honor, and we wanted to be sure we incorporated his vision,” Gangl said. “So many people put their heart and soul into this magical night, it was a great pleasure to be part of it.

“Beautiful setting, beautiful weather, and a game that came down to back and forth and ended with walk-off run. We couldn’t have scripted it better.”

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Emilio Ramos Telemundo NBC Universal

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Bianca Rhodes Saint Paul Neighborhood Network

ifying as a student to get that trust,” he said.

Ashli Gerdes Overlund ’13 also was a self-proclaimed go-getter, but she had a different path to graduation and working for local news station WJON and Town Square Media. She co-hosts the morning show on Mix 94.9 with her husband and fellow St. Cloud State alumnus, Dave Overlund, and is midday host on 98.1 Minnesota’s New Country.

“I had never thought of myself in radio,” Overlund said. “I was so excited to be part of Mass Comm I would do anything – get their water – anything.” She didn’t end up writing news. “I became a music DJ and had my own show within a few months, then went from assistant program director at KVSC to program director at UTVS. I anchored the news on Fridays with Alicia Lewis ’12, who’s now morning anchor on KARE 11 and Maghan Reistad ’14, who’s in Madison now.” At the time she also was serving as Student Government senator and chair.

Overlund took on an internship at Town Square media then was offered a job because of her broadcast experience on campus.

“It’s amazing because it’s what you make of it. You can show up with a can-do attitude and immerse yourself in everything; there’s no limit to what you can learn.”

When she was offered a full-time job before graduation and still working at KVSC, Overlund’s mentor McMullen helped guide her.

“Jo was an amazing mentor of mine, even years after my time at SCSU. The radio program is so very lucky to have her,” Overlund said.

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Above: College Chronicle staff from 1964-65 Below: KVSC is an award-winning community radio state with a listening radius of 70 miles surrounding campus.

Jo McMullen KVSC Station Manager

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I got the perfect combination of classroom learning and experience.

I could go to classes where I learned critical thinking and other academic skills and then walk down the hallway to KVSC. – CHRIS DUFFY ’11, GOFF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Chris Duffy Goff Public Relations

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Ashli Overlund WJON and Town Square Media

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Lori Fisher KMSP

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GROWING ALUMNI PRESENCE Lori Fisher, an executive producer at KMSP, is a 1999 graduate in Mass Communications with a TV Journalism emphasis. “My major was supposed to be Business, but that quickly changed to Mass Communications, with a TV Journalism emphasis.” Now, she says: “I am surrounded by several Huskies. Two of my fellow executive producers, our main 9 p.m. newscast producer and morning supervisor director are proud graduates of SCSU. And a bonus! Just last winter I helped hire a producer who recently graduated from SCSU and was a reporter for UTVS.” 2005 graduate Nicole Roddy, an executive producer at KSTP, said she couldn’t even guess how many graduates work in the Twin Cities media.

“I know of four in our newsroom, but I know there are also grads who work in our radio stations,” she said.

Twin Cities newsroom veterans who hail from St. Cloud State agree their fellow graduates make the best hires, with good reason.

“It’s (their) great experience,” Roddy said. “School matters. They have an attitude of wanting to do more, of wanting to learn. People who are driven to want to learn and excited for the job, that’s what we need.”

Brooklyn Park native Bianca Rhodes ’05 chose to come to St. Cloud State in part because it was close, but “far enough to feel like I left home.” She was grateful for the welcome to campus she received through the summer Advanced Preparation Program through Multicultural Student Services that helped her be ready when classes started in the fall.

“SCSU also had a lot of really cool classes in the field that I was interested in at the time,” she said.

“I am so very proud of our award-winning Mass Comm department and all of the great students coming out of it,” said Rhodes, who stays connected with the department and has returned to talk with students through “Be the Broadcaster” and other events.

Currently production manager and venue coordinator for the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, since graduating in 2005 she has held a variety of positions on the technical or producing side of broadcasting and media.

Nichole Roddy KSTP

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Tim Johnson CentraCare

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Don McPherson 12 Geniuses

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Rhodes no longer works for broadcast news and is in community media, which she said gives the people the tools to tell the stories instead of someone who has no relationship to the issues.

Rhodes said her St. Cloud State education prepared her well for the variety of work she has done.

“We learn a little bit of everything at SCSU,” she said. “It is good to have that in the media industry. It makes you an asset.

They know that you can adapt and learn pretty quickly because you have already been exposed to a lot of different skills.”

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS Tim Johnson ’11 ’13, who earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at St. Cloud State, also took his career in a direction other than broadcasting. While stationed in Anchorage, he had worked as a radio broadcaster at a civilian station, then at a local station when he returned to St. Cloud.

“Then I realized radio wasn’t cutting it for me.” He got a job at Veterans Affairs, but as soon as the GI Bill was available to him, he knew he “had to go to college.” Knowing his radio background was going to translate best into Mass Communications, he pursued what he really wanted to do, work in public relations.

Johnson said that while broadcasting wasn’t his career path, he appreciated the opportunities he had to grow while experimenting with UTVS news.

After a few jobs where he gained good experience, Johnson said, “I landed at CentraCare putting my PR skills to good use in my job as recruiting marketing specialist.”

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platforms, advertising, writing, developing employee brand in the stages, research, planning, communications and feedback to attract staff to the health system.

“My job is to make people want to work at CentraCare … the right people who are driven to serve,” he said.

Don MacPherson ’92 is another alumnus who has combined his St. Cloud State education with creativity and passion for helping people reach their full potential. He graduated in 1992 with a double major in Mass Communications and History and hasn’t stopped learning and evolving. A five-time entrepreneur, he refers to himself as a “polymath-in-training.” He is the CEO and host of 12 Geniuses, a company based out of the Twin Cities which produces “podcasts for curious and voracious learners”.

For his podcasts MacPherson travels the world to interview renowned leaders and experts about trends shaping the way we live and work – AI, biotechnology, aging, addiction, climate change, to name a few, sharing their knowledge about “dig-deep topics” to help business leaders, volunteers, and others. He started this company three years ago and has built an audience around the podcasts.

One of the most important things MacPherson learned from his experience at UTVS was meeting deadlines — putting out five shows a week, collaborating with people from different backgrounds.

These aspects of his education prepared him to be both a leader and a follower, he said. Working with his fellow students on projects, he learned to focus on quality and the importance of design elements.

He also learned that accepting feedback, including criticism that helps him improve, is important.

“Giving and receiving it as gift and not an attack,” he said.

Mass Communications program prepared graduates in Twin Cities market for the world stage The 20-plus St. Cloud State graduates staffing newsrooms of the nation’s 14th largest U.S. television market drew on their education and experience to keep Minnesotans informed about the extraordinary circumstances and events that threatened lives and challenged beliefs during 2020-2021.

“COVID-19 changed everything — especially in the TV world,” said 2012 Mass Communications graduate Alicia Lewis, anchor and reporter at KARE 11 in the Twin Cities. “Trying to figure out how to get facts out to the viewers when the latest information from the experts was always changing is still a challenge,” she said. “As our station was adhering to the latest CDC guidelines, we had to re-invent the wheel when it came to storytelling.”

But while the pandemic was and remains an ongoing mega-story for all news markets, the murder of George Floyd put Minnesota in the spotlight in the center of the world stage,” Lewis said.

“And protests in the midst of the pandemic during a presidential election year was something journalists could never prepare for,” she said. “It was the perfect storm of big news stories and to say it was overwhelming would be an understatement.”

“It was quite a year,” agreed 2014 broadcast journalism graduate and KSTP reporter Ben Henry of the months following the killing of George Floyd. “We were the epicenter of the world.

This past year and a half has been some of the most intense work I’ve done in the field.”

Katie Storm Bally Sports North

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Paige Jaeger Vikings and Bally Sports North

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STEPPING RIGHT INTO THEIR DREAM CAREERS Among the many SCSU Mass Communication grads excelling in the exciting world of sports broadcasting are Jim Nantz Award winner Katie Emmer Storm ’19, on-air host and reporter for Bally Sports North (formerly Fox Sports North); and Paige Jaeger ’20, who is a production assistant for the Minnesota Vikings and Bally Sports North. They credit their strong academic foundation and mentoring as well as hands-on opportunities with much-honored Husky Productions for being prepared to step right into their dream careers.

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Lewis and Henry are just two of the many St. Cloud State Mass Communications graduates working in Twin Cities network television news and sports.

The unforeseen, troubling issues that surrounded the crime that shocked the world in May 2020 brought tremendous attention to Minneapolis/St. Paul, which became a microcosm of sorts for long-overdue conversations and in-depth introspection of cultural, legal and social justice issues in communities across the globe.

“I always describe it as spiritual warfare,” said 2019 Mass Communication graduate Josh Cobb, who started at KSTP and is now a news producer for KMSP. “The events that unfolded in

2020 impacted me heavily as a Black man, and I carried that with me everywhere I went. Seeing the impact it had on my family, my friends, my community that I love, and myself lit a fire in me. It was not easy by any stretch, but it fueled me to grow and cover everything with delicacy but with intentionality.

“It also showed me the importance of covering stories that are more than just stories,” Cobb said. “Whether I wanted to or not, I took work with me home and to every space I entered. I could not turn it off.

I didn’t have the luxury to treat it as a story, it was my livelihood that was on the line.

Covering around the clock breaking news, then stepping out of work and advocating for my people of the African diaspora, and then living in my Blackness was exhausting, but necessary. I’ll never take that back, and nobody can take experience from me.

I learned a lot about myself, and it set the tone for my young career.”

Cobb has a message for aspiring young journalists of color: “Stay the course. We need you. Advocate for yourself, and be a voice for the voiceless. Through my time at SCSU, and so far in my career, I learn more and more every day that perspective is everything, and you have a perspective that can transform a story, newsroom, and the hearts of many.”

“As I think about changes in the media what’s still at the core is storytelling the people,” Henry said. “The destruction, and the pain expressed by community members. All the while we were continuing to show what was going on.”

“The conversations being had in news-

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Alicia Lewis KARE 11

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Jennifer Austin KARE 11

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Ben Henry KSTP

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rooms about race relations, politics, as well as our physical and mental health were at the forefront and were needed,” Lewis said. “One thing journalists are taught is to be good listeners ... and simply listening to one another became one of our most important tools during these unprecedented times.”

Henry said the core values that make good journalism still apply in an industry that’s going to continue changing.

“The program was able to instill those values,” he said of his St. Cloud State education.

Jennifer Austin, a 2012 graduate and reporter for KARE 11 morning news agreed that her professors gave future broadcasters a good education in ethics and honest reporting.

“Rene Kaluza to this day I think was my best professor,” she said of the longtime adjunct instructor whose day job was running the copy desk at the St. Cloud Times.

“She said something I think about every day in my work — that every day someone is trusting me with the truth.”’

With the eyes of the world on the Twin Cities and network anchors broadcasting

live from her home city, Austin said she has been more aware of incorporating the issues of social justice and diversity in her work — to tell the stories about the lives and perspectives of people of color.

“We need to start going out of our way to highlight diversity,” she said.

“SCSU did a great job at bringing in professors and mentors who had experience in the broadcast journalism field to speak to the students on a regular basis,” Lewis said. “Hearing directly from those who work in the field helped prepare me for the ‘real world’ ... teaching me about the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of journalism.”

Henry also appreciated meeting someone from the industry when his reporting class brought in Twin Cities Reporter Reg Chapman.

Like his fellow graduates, he cites his education as the foundation for his successful career.

“Over the years I’ve met a lot of journalists, some from much bigger schools than St. Cloud State,” he said. “But what we were able to do was always a step above. We had a unique opportunity to get into the industry.”

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Josh Cobb KMSP

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In a year unlike any other, the St. Cloud State University Huskies overcame adversity and obstacles during the 2020-21 academic year to put together one of the most impressive seasons in school history.

From uncertainties surrounding if or when seasons would take place, to dealing with postponements and adjustments in-season, to following guidelines and mandates during a pandemic to participate in competition, and more, Huskies student-athletes experienced many challenges from COVID-19 – all while continuing their education.

Yet even with the adversity and obstacles that arose, St. Cloud State Athletics remained unstoppable and determined while displaying excellence through it all.

UNSTOPP BLE Y E A R

BY MITCHELL HANSEN ’17

UNLIKE ANY OTHER

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Photos by Dave Schwartz, St. Cloud Times

HUSKIES DISPLAY EXCELLENCE DURING COVID-19 SEASON

“The success we achieved in the COVID year of 2020-21 was exhilarating, albeit exhausting,” St. Cloud State Director of Athletics Heather Weems said. “From the very beginning, we committed to protecting the health and safety of our student-athletes, while providing them as much access to and opportunity around practice and competition as possible.”

“The lessons we all learned about adaptability, resilience, and determination will serve us throughout life,” Weems continued. “While the COVID protocols were frustrating and inconvenient, the willingness of our student-athletes and staff to flex and persist in the interest of their team and community demonstrated a level of selflessness that is indicative of the character of those who call themselves Huskies.”

HISTORIC SUCCESS The 2020-21 season resulted in historic success throughout Huskies Athletics, highlighted by the Wrestling team winning its fifth overall and third consecutive National Championship, the Men’s Hockey team reaching the Frozen Four for the second time in program history and advancing to their first-ever National Championship game, the Women’s Basketball team reaching the NCAA Regional Tournament for the second straight season, the inception of the Men’s Soccer program, many Huskies earning All-American honors, and other notable accomplishments and milestones.

“The success of Huskies Athletics is attributable to a passionate, caring and committed group of coaches, student-athletes and support team,” Weems said. “In collegiate athletics, in which we turn over a class of students every year, it is a continual cycle of recruitment, development, and empowerment that nurtures our students from inexperienced first-year students to effective leaders and captains on and off the field of play as they near graduation.”

“The mark of great programs are those that consistently achieve success and adapt each year based upon their skills and chemistry.

That has certainly been the foundation of Wrestling and Men’s Hockey with their regular presence among the very best in the country, and is also evident across many of our programs.”

Photo courtesy of the NCAA ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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CONTINUED DEDICATION Along with that success in the field, the Huskies continued their strong tradition of academic success and community service outside of competition.

“As I start my 22nd year in athletics administration, there is a simplicity I have found in the purpose athletics plays on college campuses. First and foremost, we are a center of transformation for our student-athletes,” Weems said. “With the guidance of coaches, faculty, staff, peers and mentors, our students gain valuable lessons through their successes and failures and continue to define who they are and what they are about as they transition into professional, personal and civic life. They are literally transformed through this experience and leave with so much potential to offer.”

St. Cloud State saw many student-athletes once again earn Academic All-Conference honors, including 48 spring sport athletes — tying the highest total in recent school history.

In 2020, Huskies Athletics also logged 36,174 hours of community service and outreach in roughly 1,000 service opportunities, ranking No. 28 in the nation for community service and outreach efforts. Athletics was recognized as one of the top in the nation in terms of community service by the TeamWorks Helper Competition for a third straight year.

“The second part of collegiate athletics revolves around our role in community development and spirit. As humans, we are all looking for a place of belonging,” Weems added.

“Sport has both the responsibility and privilege to provide our community – students, alumni, supporters – a place to belong, a place to dream and to celebrate something beyond ourselves. The community services our students provide to youth, veterans, civic organizations, and the excitement they bring to fans and supporters is important. Now, as much as ever, we need sport as a unifier and place of belonging.”

In an unprecedented year for many, St. Cloud State and its student-athletes rose above it all to carry on the excellence both in and outside of competition to put together one of the most successful seasons in school history.

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Sport has both the responsibility and the privilege to provide ... a place to belong, a place to dream, a place to celebrate something beyond ourselves.

– HEATHER WEEMS, DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY

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HUSKIES CONTINUE STRONG TRADITION OF GIVING BACK Criminal Justice major and captain of the St. Cloud State 2020-21 Women’s Soccer team Sally Nelson is embodying the excellence of Huskies Athletics in giving back to the community.

Nelson was the driving force behind the creation of a youth soccer clinic in 2020 to help serve kids in the Southside neighborhood near campus. Nelson coordinated coaches, free soccer balls and cleats for youth participating in the clinic.

36,174 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE AND OUTREACH

BY HUSKIES ATHLETICS IN 2020

“I definitely wanted my teammates here at St. Cloud State to volunteer as coaches at the clinic. If the kids see myself and my teammates at the clinic, I think that will help inspire them to continue playing the sport and aspire to play at the college level and get a college degree,” said Nelson, a standout midfielder who was selected All-Region and Academic AllRegion in 2019.

Huskies Athletics has a long tradition of student athletes being involved in the community.

In 2020, St. Cloud State student athletes logged over 36,000 hours of community services and outreach in about 1,000 service opportunities. Huskies Athletics ranked 28th in the nation for community service and was recognized as one of the top in the nation for community service by the TeamWorks Helper Competition for the third straight year.

For her efforts in giving back to the community, Nelson was named a finalist for the 2021 Division II Award of Excellence, an accolade recognizing initiatives in the previous year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership.

In 2021, Nelson was one of 19 recipients of a St. Cloud State Excellence in Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding graduating students for their campus leadership, community service and academic contributions. She was also awarded with the Presidents’ Student Leadership Award, which honors an individual student or a student organization that models a deep commitment to civic responsibility and leadership, evidenced by initiative, innovative and collaborative approaches to addressing public issues, effective community building, and integration of civic engagement into the college experience.

As important as success can be to the Huskies within competition, they continue to prioritize the importance by giving back every chance they have.

“Seeing the kids smile and play soccer is just as rewarding as playing the game myself,” Nelson said.

Sally Nelson Recipient of a St. Cloud State …xcellence in Leadership Award

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“Unleash the Future: The Campaign for St. Cloud State University” was publicly announced to an enthusiastic crowd of faculty, staff, alumni and donors on April 27 at Ritsche Auditorium.

The fundraising effort aims to raise $32 million to help support St. Cloud State in its goal of redefining itself as a new university. The comprehensive campaign, St. Cloud State’s first in 20 years, had already raised $31.6 million or 99% of its goal.

UNLEASHING THE FUTURE

The Campaign for St. Cloud State is helping transform the University

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BY COLLEEN HARRISON

U

nleash the Future: The Campaign for St. Cloud State is focused on the initiatives that will drive academic distinction, support the development of teacher-scholars, create student success and expand the university’s regional reach and community engagement. Scholarships, technology, faculty and staff development, interdisciplinary research, program innovation, an endowed speaker series and upgrades to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center are among the areas for which St. Cloud State — through the SCSU Foundation — is raising philanthropic support. Facilities improvements in-

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cluding new nursing simulation labs in the Maciej Nursing Education Suite, the Swenson Financial Markets Lab and the Nelson Strength and Conditioning Center are recent campaign successes.

“It’s time to recognize, celebrate and build upon St. Cloud State’s institutional innovation, forward-thinking research, advancements in teaching and overall academic excellence as we identify new ways to serve the students of today and in the years to come,” said St. Cloud State President Robbyn Wacker.

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99% GOAL REACHED

SCHOLARSHIPS Engaging students has always been one of the core goals for the “Unleash the Future” campaign. While the campaign initially started out with the goal to raise $9 million in scholarships for St. Cloud State students, that target amount has long since been surpassed and was currently at $14.5 million — 161% of the initial goal. Scholarships help students not only continue their education, but give back to their community and open up other opportunities as well.

“With these scholarships, I was able to volunteer more in

the community and campus and tutor more student athletes and multicultural students,” said Alec Hafferman ’21, who received Chemistry and Biology scholarships as well as the Vernie McDonald Ambassadors Scholarship. Hafferman completed his degree in Biomedical Sciences and is applying to medical school.

“These scholarships can give any student the opportunity to pursue any career that they want,” said Gianna Njau, a recipient of the Myers Family Scholarship who is studying broadcast Journalism as well as African American studies.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

MACIEJ NURSING EDUCATION SUITE The Jim ’73 and Ann Marie Maciej Nursing Education Suite was announced in October 2018 after the couple gifted $1 million to St. Cloud State’s Nursing program. The gift has since funded the creation of new nursing-simulation labs and related technology infrastructure, and will continue to support the program with the acquisition of future technologies.

“This gift will absolutely transform the experience of our students in Nursing and give faculty the tools they need to ensure the success of our students,” President Wacker said during the announcement. “We are honored that Jim and Ann Marie have made St. Cloud State’s Nursing program their philanthropic priority.”

The human patient simulation lab in the Department of Nursing allows undergraduates to develop a comfort level and knowledge of equipment and procedures they’ll need in professional settings. There are five simulated hospital rooms with audiovisual controls, a home care simulation room and 19 hospital bed spaces. Some of the equipment incorporated into Nursing studies are patient bedside computers and scanners, birthing simulators, electronic medical records, ventilators, geriatric manikins and video streaming, among other elements.

“In spending my career first as a nurse, and later as a nurse anesthetist, I am so impressed by the faculty at St. Cloud State and the quality and commitment of the students in the nursing program,” Ann Marie Maciej said.

26 NELSON STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING CENTER The Nelson Strength and Conditioning Center was brought to life thanks to a $500,000 lead gift from Grant ’63 and Carol Nelson -— out of the $800,000 raised for the project altogether.

The renovation of the strength and conditioning center that now bears their name satisfies a critical need for St. Cloud State’s men’s and women’s DII athletes, providing a state-of-the-art facility to support the development and preparation for athletic success as well as providing a boost to recruiting moving forward.

“Successful collegiate athletic departments are complex and require sound leadership, superb coaches and staff, and respectable facilities to be successful,” said Grant Nelson, who was a success-

ful student-athlete during his time at St. Cloud State. “The Strength and Conditioning Center has been identified by the coaches to be a critical need. Carol and I agree that, as a University, we need to make a statement that we are moving forward and not backwards. We want to do our part.”

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SWENSON FINANCIAL MARKETS LAB The creation of the Swenson Financial Markets Lab has given students the ability to research the latest financial events using cutting-edge software tools to help them bridge the gap between theory and practice. The lab, complete with financial terminals and an electronic ticker tape display, has burnished the reputation of the Herberger Business School and created a level playing field with other universities. Students and faculty have access to up-to-theminute financial information, as well as the latest analytic software for conducting financial research and making investment decisions.

Such tools help make students “first-day ready” for employment in banking and financial services.

The lab was made possible through a $1 million gift made by Ron ’69 and Bonnie ’68 Swenson. The Swensons wanted to create a

resource for students on campus that would give them handson investment learning opportunities that would also be similar to their own experiences as first-generation college students at St. Cloud State.

“In the investment world, information will be the most valuable tool you can have,” Ron Swenson said. “With the sophisticated software available now for investing, it’s important for students to be exposed to those tools for research, because they will become part of the information they use on a daily basis.”

That is why the Swensons’ gift not only funded design and construction of the lab, but also established an endowment to support the licensing of software and maintenance of hardware for years to come.

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I think we’re in an extraordinary moment in time where our donors have the opportunity to play a significant role in shaping the future of their alma mater.

– MATT ANDREW, VICE PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT

CONTINUING SUCCESS The story of St. Cloud State has always been a tale of transformation. For over 150 years, chapter after chapter recounts the ability of its students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters to adapt and innovate in the face of challenging circumstances. From normal school to teachers college to accredited university, St. Cloud State has reinvented itself decade by decade — and has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

“I think we’re in an extraordinary moment in time where our donors have the opportunity to play a significant role in shaping the future of their alma mater,” said Matt Andrew, vice president of University Advancement. “This campaign is not only designed to address the university’s immediate needs, but as importantly, it signals a change in the philanthropic culture at St. Cloud State. In the future, philanthropy will become an increasingly important part of living into our vision.”

“The ‘Unleash the Future’ campaign is perfectly suited to support the important work our campus is doing to ensure student success,” Wacker said. “I couldn’t be more grateful to our donors who have stepped up and shown how much they value our mission and want to see St. Cloud State be successful in this next phase of its service to our students and the community.”

More information about the “Unleash the Future” campaign can be found at unleashthefuture.stcloudstate.edu.

Those looking to donate can contact University Advancement via the campaign website, by calling 320-308-3984, or by mail to University Advancement, 720 4th Ave. South, St. Cloud, MN 56301.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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Births and adoptions Marriages and commitments Unless otherwise noted, cities are in Minnesota

’50s

Wildgrube, Peachtree City, Georgia, 11/8/2002. / ’96 JILL (STEINHOFER) TABATT, Clearwater, was named customer quality director for the Cargill Protein Group in May. / ’97 GREGG FARNAM, Rogers, is vice president of player health/head athletic trainer for the Minnesota Timberwolves. / ’97 JACQUELINE (MILLER) MCELROY, Schofield, Wisconsin, has been promoted to director of business development with S.C. Swiderski, LLC. / ’97 KEVIN MORRIS , Burnsville, UAS communications coordinator for the Federal Aviation Administration was the featured speaker for the Central Colorado UAS club Spring Roundup. / ’97 SUSETTE (HOFMANN) MOYER , Apopka, Florida, accepted the position of manager of business development for Tech-Talk. / ’97 ’99 LISA (QUEDNOW) QUEDNOWBICKLER , Rochester, is serving a four-year term on the National Federation of State High School Associations Board of Directors. / ’98 MONICA (HARTMAN) LAVOLD, River Falls, Wisconsin, is director of Friday Memorial Library. / ’99 TRISHA BEMBOOM, Sauk Rapids, is the Sauk Rapids-Rice girls tennis head coach. / ’99 LAURA (HINDS) HUMPHREY, Becker, owns and operates Granite Financial Retirement and Estate Planning.

’56 DAVID STRONG, Thief River Falls, was elected National President of the Antique Automobile Club of America, Inc.

’60s

’65 ’69 JOHN LIESER , St. Cloud, 1971 champion is returning to Detroit Country Club to play the Pine to Palm this year on the 50th anniversary of his victory. / ’65 WILLIAM TAYLOR , Happy Valley, Oregon, was appointed to the city of Happy Valley, Public Arts Committee for a two year term. / ’68 THOMAS BOCK , Chester, Vermont, was re-elected to the Vermont General Assembly for a third term. Bock will serve on the House Committee on Agriculture/Forestry.

’70s

28

CLASS NOTES KEY:

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’76 DENIS LARSON, Champlin, retired after 42 years at the University of Minnesota. / ’77 WANDA (RUCKS) ERICKSON, Upsala, media specialist and librarian at the Upsala Elementary School has retired after working there since 1986. / ’78 DAVID JENSCH, Esko, longtime Duluth journalist David Jensch and KBJR and CBS3 vice president and general manager retires from KBJR-TV. He started as a reporter in 1978. / ’78 MICHAEL SCHUMACHER , Altoona, Wisconsin, is a Distinguished Hudson High School alumni. / ’78 ’93 MARK HERBES , Freeport, activities director and mathematics teacher at Upsala Area Schools, planned to retire in 2014. However, when the activities director left, He decided to fill his shoes. He also teaches mathematics part-time. / ’79 CHARLES ALBRECHT, Merrifield, joined the board of directors on the Community Foundation Board in the Brainerd Lakes Area. / ’79 JAMES CARLSON, Lakeville, retired after 41 years of teaching and coaching in Lakeville. / ’79 LORI (SCHMITZ) CONNOR , Owatonna, retired after 41 years of teaching at St. Mary’s School.

’80s

’80 LORI FISHER , Ghent, moderates Fox 9’s weekly sports-talk show “Enough Said”. Fisher is a senior executive producer at Fox 9. / ’80 BILL HUDSON, Coon Rapids, longtime WCCO-TV reporter retired after 31 years at the CBS affiliate. / ’81 PAUL HANSON, Oliver Springs, Tennesse, was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2020. / ’82 DENNIS DALMAN, Rice, studied in London, England for a year where he concentrated on British literature, political science, the history of Great Britain and wrote a book-length study the

British Writer V.S. Naipaul. He has been a reporter and weekly columnist for more than 30 years. / ’82 LINDA (HURT) MCKEEVER , Duluth, retired after 37 years as a software developer at: Cargill, Duluth Clinic, Maurices Corporate Office, Allete/MN Power. / ’83 ’13 PERIAN (NORSKOV) STAVRUM, St. Joseph, received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. / ’84 JEFFREY WARNE, Nashville, Tennesse, Principal of Croesus Capital, LLC was appointed as one of four new board members at California Pizza Kitchen. / ’85 DOUGLAS MAYFIELD, Deerwood, has published his second novel, “The Saint Patrick’s Day Hero”, with Grendel’s Fen Press. / ’86 JAMES ANDERSON, Grand Rapids, records debut album with help from musicians, producers, and friends from around the world. / ’86 JOHN MCCARTHY, Eden Prairie, joined Colliers Commercial Real Estate in Minneapolis-St. Paul as senior vice president. / ’88 THOMAS ACKLEY, Bellevue, Nebraska, was elected president by the Board of Directors of Midlands Community Foundation. / ’88 KEITH HISDAHL , White Bear Lake, opened his new store, Hisdahl’s, on Highway 96 in White Bear Lake. / ’88 PATRICK LUND, Byron, KTTC’s sports director, retired after 30 years at the station. / ’89 DEBRA (WILLENBRING) BACHMAN, Bloomington, and her son, Markus, are co-authors of the book – “Embracing reMARKable.”

’90s

’90 MAUREEN (SLATER) CAHILL , Prior Lake, joined Twin Cities-based public relations agency Bellmont Partners as a partner. / ’90 NANCY HOFFMAN, Harris, was reelected chair of the East Central Regional Development Commission Revolving Loan Fund Board of Directors. / ’90 HEIDI (BERNU) HONEY, Minnetonka, is the city administrator of Minnetonka Beach. / ’90 JEFFREY SCOTT, Minneapolis, is a senior business adviser, retirement special for Alerus in Minnetonka. / ’90 ROXANNE SEIFERT, Mitchell, South Dakota, of Presentation Sisters in Aberdeen has been appointed to the Avera Health Board. Seifert is the incoming chairwoman. / ’91 ’08 PAMELA (NELSON) RADUNZ , Hutchinson, is a new board member of the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging board of directors. / ’94 TIMOTHY SANKEN, Hutchinson, was this year’s Mr. Hutchinson. / ’94 MATTHEW SLAVEN, St. Paul, is general counsel of Eagan-based MV Ventures commercial real estate company. / ’95 JASON HANSON, Livermore, Colorado, is one of the new managing partners taking over Southway Bowl in St. Cloud. / ’95 DANIEL ORTLOFF, Cold Spring, is the new co-owner of Falls Fabricating in Little Falls. / ’95 ERIC WILDGRUBE and Jolene (Focht)

HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2021 / WINTER 2022

’00s

’00 AMANDA (ARBOGAST) DANIEL , Waconia, is SkyWater’s first chief human resources officer. /

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ALUMNI NEWS ’00 RACHEL (SWANSON) ERDMAN and Christopher Erdman, Afton, son, Henry Jameson, 6/29/2020. / ’01 KENDRA EGELAND, St. Cloud, is co-author of “The One Year Daily Acts of Friendship Devotional (Tyndale)”. / ’01 JACQUELINE (HARRIS) MONROE, Evansville, Indiana, will be inducted to the Milaca High School 2021 Hall of Fame. / ’02 JOSEPHINE (TOWNSDIN) TRUDGEON, Butte, Montana, an artist and photographer, is the winner for the 2021 Sweet Pea adult T-shirt design contest. / ’02 DANIEL WILLIAMSON, Alexandria, joined the team at the Duluth News Tribune as a digital producer where he creates videos, podcasts, photos and social media content. / ’03 JESSICA (KALINA) HJELLE, Alexandria, joined the Alexandria Public Schools leadership team as director of human resources. / ’03 REBECCA (LEVINSKI) MELVIE, Buffalo, published “The Abundant Kitchen Cookbook, Recipes from the Culinary Classroom for the Family Home Cook”. / ’03 NICOLE (BECKSTROM) PETERSEN, New Hope, is a receptionist/operations assistant at Lake Region Bank in Willmar. / ’03 DIANE (SCHEIERL) SCHEIERL , Hawick, is an accountant by Dooley’s Petroleum Inc. in Willmar. / ’03 JOHN SLEVA , St. Cloud, is president of Quanex Building Products’ North American Cabinet Components Division. / ’03 ’09 HEIDI ALDES , St. Michael, was promoted to interim dean of enrollment management at Minneapolis College. / ’04 SARAH (BESEMAN) LARSON, Sartell, is as a pastor at the Zion Lutheran Church in Milaca. / ’04 ’05 AMANDA (MATHISON) PICKETT, Sartell, is the new head coach for the St. Cloud Icebreakers girls Hockey team for the 2021-22 season. / ’04 AMY (SCHMITZ) SIMON and Keith Simon, St. Joseph, 5/17/2003. / ’04 SARAH (GRANHOLT) VEITH, Maple Grove, was promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president, organizational development and human resources at United Properties. She is also a Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal 2021 “40 Under 40” honoree. / ’05 ERIN (HAAKE) DURGA , South Haven, donated her kidney to school custodian, Patrick Mertens, who was in need of a kidney transplant. / ’05 KRISTIN EGELAND, Monticello, is co-author of “The One Year Daily Acts of Friendship Devotional (Tyndale)”. / ’05 JESSICA (ABELN) HENNEN, Grove City, has joined Dooley Petroleum as director of finance. / ’05 EMILY HOFFMAN, Sartell, joined Granite Financial as planner support specialist. / ’05 KATIE (BRAMBRINK) SEWELL , Lincoln, Nebraska, was promoted from assistant director in career services at the University of Nebraska to an associate dean. / ’05 IAN WOODS and Christal (Wynnemer) Woods, Wausau, Wisconsin, son, Ferris, 1/24/2013.

Siblings: Karch, 11, Edmond Wynnemer, 13. / ’05 ’09 AMANDA SEELEN and Stacy Bauer, St. Joseph, 7/29/2015. / ’06 ’17 RYAN BARON, Karlstad, is the new superintendent at Ulen-Hitterdal Public Schools. / ’06 CHAD CARLSON, Princeton, is director of professional services at Tamarack Consulting. / ’06 MARIE JORDAN and John Pomeroy, St. Paul, daughter, Natalie Lucille, 4/11/2020. / ’06 ’17 JOY LWIZA and Mpeli Mtowa, Woodbury, daughter,

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ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

FROM BASKETBALL TO BCA AFTER FINDING HER PASSION AT ST. CLOUD STATE, TALISHA BARLOW ’11 ’16 HAS GROWN INTO A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND WORLD TRAVELER WHO INVESTIGATES CRIMES WITH THE MINNESOTA BUREAU OF CRIMINAL APPREHENSION

BY COLLEEN HARRISON

30

One St. Cloud State University alumna credits her college experience with setting her on the track to having her dream job and dream house by the age of 31.

School of Public Affairs graduate Talisha Barlow ’11 ’16 signed a letter of intent to play basketball for the Huskies from 2007-11, and originally attended St. Cloud State with the intent to pursue a degree in Psychology and Counseling in order to be a family therapist. The Roseville, Minnesota native graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Community Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice. Barlow, now 32, said she had the opportunity to play professional basketball overseas, but instead went back to St. Cloud State to pursue a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy.

During her first semester in the program, Barlow met Dr. John Campbell, a professor in the Criminal Justice department.

“Dr. Campbell shared his professional experience with me about his career with the FBI,” Barlow said. “I was intrigued by his stories and he invited me on a study abroad trip to Scotland, England and Ireland where I would have the opportunity to study intelligence and FBI profiling.”

She credits her study abroad experience with giving her the “travel bug,” and said she was inspired to travel the world and pursue a career in Criminal Justice. Barlow then withdrew from the therapy program and obtained her Master of Science in Criminal Justice.

St. Cloud State professor Stewart Wirth encouraged Barlow to begin her career with the St. Cloud Police Department.

In 2020, Barlow was hired as a special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. She is assigned to the predatory crimes unit and her role is to investigate internet crimes against children and sex trafficking. She is also assigned to the U.S. Marshals task force, where she investigates cases involving “MY EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE AT ST. CLOUD STATE PREPARED ME MENTALLY, PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY FOR A CAREER IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.” Talisha Barlow ’11 ’16 HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2021 / WINTER 2022

registered predatory offenders who have absconded.

“Each day is unpredictable and I love that about my job,” Barlow said. “The most challenging part of my job is investigating cases that involve children. The most rewarding part of my job is protecting people who can’t protect themselves.”

Transitioning into her new role with the BCA was an adjustment at first, especially due to the pandemic, as Barlow said she went from being “out and about” on the job to working from home and investigating internet crimes against children. It was also a tumultuous time for Minnesotans as well as the United States as a whole.

“Approximately two months into my new job, the George Floyd incident occurred and I had the opportunity to assist. This was the first time in my new career that I realized that I was at where I needed to be,” Barlow said. “I am in a position that I get to work challenging high-profile conflict cases and I am case lead on high risk operations. When I worked as a police officer in St. Cloud, I had the opportunity to serve the citizens of St. Cloud, but as a BCA agent, I serve the whole state of Minnesota.”

Her experiences have led to other opportunities outside of law enforcement as well. Based on the recognition she obtained by being recognized as the first African American female police officer to serve St. Cloud, Barlow said she was able to embrace her new platform and participate in youth initiatives. In January 2017 she was given the Justice and Equity Award by the Minnesota Women’s Consortium. Following the award, the St. Cloud State Women’s Center invited Barlow to be the keynote speaker for Women’s History Month at St. Cloud State, where she came to terms with some things she struggled with internally, which enabled her to be more transparent with the community she served.

“This led me to more speaking engagements, and in 2018 I became a motivational speaker and I complete approximately 50 speaking engagements a year,” Barlow said. “I frequently tell people that I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for my experience at St. Cloud State. ... My experiences on campus have allowed me to grow personally and professionally.

“SCSU helped me find my purpose in life, which is to help people.”

ALUMNI NEWS Bethany, 5/28/2018. Siblings: Brenda, 8, Barbara, 15. / ’06 ’19 JEREMY SARDER , Rice, passed the Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker exam (LICSW). / ’07 STEVEN BADER , Cary, North Carolina, has earned AV Ratings from Martindale-Hubbell. / ’07 STEPHANIE (NELSON) BRENDEL , Merrill, Wisconsin, is a physical education teacher at Meyer Middle School in River Falls, Wisconsin. / ’07 MALLORY (PEPER) LINDGREN, Chanhassen, is vice president of Renewables at Westwood. / ’08 MARK KRIPPNER and Mandy (Libbesmeier) Krippner, Cold Spring, son, Barrett Reid, 7/21/2020.

Sibling: Rowan Daniel, 2. / ’09 ’17 RACHEL (MEDINA) SAUER and Michael Sauer, Robbinsdale, daughter, Shelby Elizabeth, 2/21/2021. / ’09 LAURA (GULBRANSON) BUTCHER and Matthew Butcher, Fort Mohave, Arizona, 11/5/2011.

’10s

’10 TYLER JOHNSON, Albert Lea, is principal at Southwest Middle School. / ’10 ’12 LAUREN (KRZNARICH) KRZNARICH, Euless, Texas, is associate director for Experiential Learning with University of Texas at Arlington. / ’11 SHANNON HAWS , St. Cloud, is general manager of Comfort Keepers Home Health Care. Haws is also vice chair of the St. Cloud School Board and served on many committees. / ’11 ALYSSA REINHOLZ, Avon, is the new victim specialist at the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office. / ’10 MISTY (GRANHOLM) DUSEK and Brent Dusek, Plymouth, 8/1/2020. / ’11 ERIC WHEELER and Kathryn Salvatore, Roseville, son, Miles Thomas, 4/12/2021. / ’12 ZACHARY FISCH, Palmyra, Pennsylvania, is the manager of media relations and broadcasting for the Bears, an American Hockey League club.

He also works with Hershey’s NHL affiliate, the Washington Capitals, on a fill-in basis. / ’12 RAMONA MAROZAS , Minneapolis, joined Native Report, as a multiplatform producer. / ’12 ANDREW STEVENS , Atlanta, Georgia, managed the salary cap and negotiating player contracts with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the past four years. He now works with Athletes First, leading the negotiations of NFL contracts. / ’12 ’14 BRITTANY (HEMANN) BUECKERS and Matthew Bueckers, Sauk Rapids, 8/1/2015. / ’13 ALEC AUSMUS , Wichita, Kansas, is sports director at KSN-TV. / ’13 ’15 CLAYTON KAHL , St. Paul, son, Elliot Mitchell, 2/19/2016. / ’14 ASHLEY COLE, Golden Valley, joined Media Minefield as a media coach in Minnetonka, after working in the broadcast industry for seven years. / ’14 AUSTIN TIMM, Rice, is a senior project lead with Boston Scientific with the direct purchasing team in Maple Grove. / ’14 ’15 ALI (DANZEISEN) LAVINE and Steven LaVine Jr., Litchfield, 8/8/2020. / ’15 WARREN ELLINGWORTH, Waseca, is the Elk River recreation sports coordinator. / ’15 TYLER KOIVISTO, Scottsdale, Arizona, won the Northern Ireland Open in his first European Golf Challenge Tour event. / ’15 ’17 CARLEY JEFFERY, Aberdeen, South Dakota, is the women’s basketball head coach at Presentation College. / ’16 KEVIN SWEENEY, St. Cloud, son, Michael, 12/17/2020.

/ ’17 BRYAN ROHDE and Kiersten (Haaversen) Rohde, Golden Valley, 8/16/2016. / ’17 JARED KREBS , St. Cloud, is the new Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks eastern district fisheries management biologist in Glasgow. / ’18 SAMUEL STIGEN, Braham, owns Pizza Pub in Braham. / ’19 CHRISTOPHER ROCHON, Superior, Wisconsin, is a medical lab scientist at St. Cloud Hospital. working with CentraCare Laboratory Services serving multiple departments. / ’19 ’20 JENNA VOIGT, Becker, is a police reserve lieutenant with the Becker Police Department.

’20s

’20 AVIK MALLIK and Priyanka Chowdhury, St. Louis Park, 7/13/2017./ ’20 ADAM SAUTER and Amber Sauter, Maple Grove, 7/23/2016, son, Wesley Adam, 2/10/2021. Siblings: Owen Timothy, 1. / ’20 NATHAN BROWN, Glen Carbon, Illinois, is a student success coach at Southern Illinois University. / ’20 LOGAN MCLAIRD, Sauk Rapids, is a medical lab scientist at St. Cloud Hospital. working with CentraCare Laboratory Services serving multiple departments. / ’20 JUSTIN THOENNES , St. Cloud, a financial advisor with Steidl, Benzinger, Tatge, Seifert & Engebretson earned the professional designation of chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC) through The College of Financial Planning.

ALUMNI WE REMEMBER ’30s

’30 AGNES O’TOOLE, 98, Frazee

’40s

’40 ALICE (KUNTZ) NOREEN, 102, Delano / ’43 VENETTE (SKUNDBERG) GUSTAFSON, 99, Arlington, Virginia / ’46 ’50 SHIRLEY (HAMMOND) CAMPBELL , 96, Osseo / ’46 ELAINE (FORMO) MOE, 94, Granite Falls / ’47 GLADYS (RUD) NICHOLSON, 93, Litchfield / ’47 MARIE (SCHELFHOUT) SCHOENER , 95, Roseville / ’48 LOIS NELSON / ’49 Mary Riestenberg, 90, Wheat Ridge, Colorado / ’49 JAMES SCHOENER , 88, Roseville

’50s

’50 RALPH ERDRICH, 59, Wahpeton, North Dakota / ’50 LUANN KORSMO, 91, Willmar / ’50 FLORENCE (AHRENS) SCHUETH, 91, Indianapolis, Indiana / ’50 HARRIET SETTERGREN, 91, Grand Rapids / ’50 ’71 ’74 ELIZABETH (PLUDE) SEGNER , 88, Maple Lake / ’50 ’75 JEAN (MCDOWALL) NELSON, 93, Big Lake / ’51 MARIAN (LUCHT) COLLEY, 90, Minneapolis / ’51 HARRIET (BRUDER) HOLTMEIER , 90, Waconia / ’51 JOHN NEARI, 98, Winston-Salem, North Carolina / ’52 IRENE HLASTALA , 91, Redondo Beach, California / ’52 WILLIAM LUBBESMEYER , 92, Burnsville /

’52 ’53 MARY (ELLIOTT) LORENCE, 88, Excelsior / ’52 ’63 JAMES WORDEN, 92, Loveland, Colorado / ’53 BETTY (EDELBACH) BUCKLEY, 92, Yuma, Arizona / ’53 ’87 MARGERY (JOHNSON) SMITH, 88, Alcester, South Dakota / ’54 BETTY (GROOTHUIS) HUMPHREYS , 81, St. George, Utah / ’55 PATRICIA (SHOTLEY) DICKISON, 86, Cloquet / ’55 CHARLES SCHLOSSER, 87, Sartell / ’55 JEAN BRAMER , 85, Hinckley / ’55 ’63 DUANE WOLD, 87, Minneapolis / ’55 ’64 ’69 GLADYS LUNGSTROM, 97, New London / ’56 FRANCES (OSLUND) HEGNA , 86, Ashby / ’56 ROBERT PERNU, 87, Omro, Wisconsin / ’56 WESLEY ROOKER , 86, Fort Myers, Forida / ’56 LOIS (TONE) NURKKA , 87, Scottsdale, Arizona / ’56 MARGARET (LAUERMANN) TURLO, 86, Palm Springs, California / ’56 ’59 ROSEMARY (MOHAR) NORHA , 86, Gilbert / ’56 ’82 DOLORIS (BUTTWEILER) LORSUNG, 84, Alexandria / ’57 ROGER HAGSTROM, 91, Pine City / ’57 AUDREY (KILGARD) KUEFLER , 85, Maple Grove / ’57 ANDY MELROSE, 84, Charles City, Iowa / ’57 ’58 CHARLENE (DARLING) WARMACK , 84, Schaumburg, Illinois / ’57 ’60 GERALDINE (MILLER) GREENWALDT, 84, Fridley / ’58 JOYCE (ANDERSON) LARSON, 84, Coon Rapids / ’58 RICHARD LECLAIRE, Eagan / ’58 CAROL (BOLEMAN) MCINTIRE, 83, Tower / ’58 PHYLLIS (EIKMEIER) POMERENKE, 86, Okabena / ’58 ’61 JAMES PARKER , 84, Anacortes, Washington / ’58 ’66 SHIRLEY (SOLSETH) BUGBEE, 84, Willmar / ’59 DALE BUKKILA , 79, Riner, Virgina / ’59 JANICE (HERZOG) HAIGHT, 83, Lafayette, Colorado / ’59 ROBERT KLADIFKO, 86, Bradbury, California / ’59 JUNE (POGATCHNIK) NEY, 81, Albany / ’59 ’70 EARL HEBEISEN, 88, Minneapolis

’60s

’60 FREDERICK BIES , 84, Antioch, Illinois / ’60 MILTON FROEHLICH, 86, Annandale / ’60 CARL LEADENS , 89, Aitkin / ’60 DALE NORBY, 84, Point Pleasant, New Jersey / ’60 GORDON RUSSELL , 85, Lewistown, Montana / ’60 STEVEN WENTWORTH, 87, Brainerd / ’60 ’68 ’83 RALPH SCHIEMANN, 85, Green Valley, Arizona / ’60 ’79 GLENN BAKEBERG, 89, Walker / ’61 EUGENE AUFDERHAR , 88, Coon Rapids / ’61 PATRICIA HENRY, 81, Rock Creek / ’61 GERALD HILL , 88, Glenwood / ’61 WILLIAM KELLY, 87, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio / ’61 ROBERT RYTI, 83, Bozeman, Montana / ’61 DOUGLAS STEIN, 81, Ham Lake / ’61 JAMES TOMLYANOVICH, 89, Roseville / ’62 DENNIS JOHN, 83, Amery, Wisconsin / ’62 STUART LOVE, 83, Mission Viejo, California / ’62 ERNIE THARALDSON, 85, Graceville / ’62 ’65 JAMES KILORAN, 83, Princeton / ’63 BARBARA (KEARNEY) ALTO, 79, Owatonna / ’63 BARBARA (LEMKE) BEALS , 79, Annandale / ’63 JOHN KROMHOUT, 80, Dublin, Ohio / ’63 ARDEN MOHWINKEL , 83, Anchorage, Alaska / ’64 CLIFFORD BLOBERGER , 84, Maple Grove / ’64 LEO BROMENSCHENKEL , 95, Janesville / ’64 JERRY MARTINSON, 81, Wayzata / ’64 RUTH (MCDOUGALL) ROSS , 77, Plymouth / ’64 E. MERLIN SODERSTROM, 81, Milaca / ’64 ’69 PAUL NELSON, 79, Excelsior / ’65 ELIZABETH (BRUZEK) BARTOS , 78, Avon / ’65 ROGER DAWALD, 81, Mankato / ’65 DAVID ERICKSON, 78, Stewartville

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

31

ALUMNI NEWS / ’65 MIGNON (CARTER) JOHNSON, 103, Chisago City / ’65 LAURA (AAGESEN) MARTIN, 79, Bagley / ’65 LESLIE SANFORD, 78, Marco Island, Florida / ’65 LAVON (GILBERTSON) SYRING, 75, Coon Rapids / ’65 ’70 ROLAND OLSON, 77 / ’65 ’72 KENNETH ZASTROW, 77, Denton, Texas / ’66 FRED AHLES , 77, Newbury Park, California / ’66 ROGER BUERMAN, 79, Richmond / ’66 NADINE CARR , 76, Burnsville / ’66 MARY HUGHES , 76 / ’66 THELMA MONKE, 91 / ’66 ’71 GERALD OSENDORF, 78, Melrose / ’66 ’72 JOHN WELCH, Keizer, Oregon / ’67 RICHARD AHLSTROM, 75, Forest Lake / ’67 NEIL CHRISTOPHERSON, 80, Fergus Falls / ’67 CALVIN JACKSON, 79, Swanville / ’67 RONALD MCGUIRE, 78, Winona / ’67 RONALD MISENOR , 77, Las Vegas, Nevada / ’67 GARY MURTINGER , 82, Sun City Ctr, Florida / ’67 LONNIE RUBIS , 80, San Tan, Arizona / ’67 LARRY SHARRATT, 82, Waconia / ’68 JOHN GRUPE, Amelia Island, Florida / ’68 JOHN HANDY, 78, Red Wing / ’68 ’71 GARY ROLLOFF, 81, Orr / ’69 EDWARD RIBICH, 90, Sauk Rapids / ’69 ARLEN SJERVEN, 86, Willmar / ’69 JEROME WAY, 79, Almond, Wisconsin / ’69 ORVILLE WOLF, 89, Sacred Heart

’70s

32

’70 JEROME BISEK , 85, Elk River / ’70 DAVID BROKAW, 77, Charleston, Oregon / ’70 IRENE MARKLEY, 72, St. Paul / ’70 SHARRON (SEXTON) WESTROM, 73, Holdingford / ’70 DAVID WOJTANOWICZ , 73, Fairmont / ’71 JAMES BETTENDORF, 75, Minneapolis / ’71 CAROL (PETERSON) KINT, 78, El Cajon, California / ’71 JOHN MILAM, 75, St. Cloud / ’71 LARRY TURNER , 81, Euless, Texas / ’71 PATRICIA (KROGH) WEISS , 71, Minneapolis / ’71 GRACE WESTLUND, 93, San Diego, California / ’72 JEAN (MOLYNEUX) CHOATE, 84, Brunswick, Georgia / ’72 RONALD HICKMAN, 70, Gold Canyon, Arizona / ’72 MARLENE MILLER , 70 / ’72 OLE STAVEDAHL , 77, the Villages, Florida / ’72 IRENE (KVETON) STERN, 90, Upsala / ’72 BRUCE WATKINS , 71, Ann Arbor, Michigan / ’73 DANIEL ALMQUIST, 83, Sturgeon Lake / ’73 STEVEN ANDERSON, 69, Medina / ’73 GARY BIRD, 75, Reno, Nevada / ’73 MARY (TRONES) CARLSON, 69, Eden Prairie / ’73 RODNEY HEIKKILA , 71, Hibbing / ’73 GERALDINE (MOE) MCFARLAND, 69, Champlin / ’73 GARY NERESON, 76, Fergus Falls / ’73 ’76 KENNETH FLETCHER , 77, Mounds View / ’74 MARY FRIBERG, 94, South St. Paul / ’74 DANIEL PALERMO, 73, Blaine / ’74 CAROL (ROZESKI) VOIT, 68, Sun City West, Arizona / ’74 ’02 JAMES GWOST, 70, St. Cloud / ’75 RICHARD FALOR , 81, Maple Grove / ’75 MICHAEL GREENWOOD, St. Cloud / ’75 LYNNETTE (HESS) HANSEN, 69, St. Paul / ’75 COLONEL NEMEC , 92, St. Cloud / ’76 RONALD KEMMET, 79, Aitkin / ’76 ALICE PEPIN, 69, Stillwater / ’76 BARBARA (KRAUSE) RANCOUR , 66, Onamia / ’77 MARY (BETHKE) GOERDT, 65, Sauk Centre / ’77 GLEN HENTGES , 69, Oakland, California / ’77 EARL MAUS , 67, Baxter / ’77 SANDRA (ZYVOLOSKI) OLIBRICE, Anchorage, Alaska / ’77 MARILYN (SCHMIDT) PALM, 60, Nelson / ’78 GARY BAUCHAN, 66, Beltsville,

Maryland / ’78 MARY (YOUNG) LA ROSA , 64, Middletown, Connecticut / ’78 JAMES LIPSCOMB, Guthrie, Oklahoma / ’79 RUTH ATKINSON, 64, Monticello / ’79 COLLEEN (GARTLAND) FREY, 65, Eveleth / ’79 CONNIE (CHRISTIANSEN) ISLE, 75, Brainerd / ’79 PAUL OPATZ, 66, Saint Cloud

’80s

’80 JOHN BUTTWEILER , 64, Merrifield / ’80 STEVEN ESKRA , 64, Alexandria / ’80 TERRY JOHNSON, 70, Brownsville, Texas / ’80 ANN (BERNHARDT) MARESH, 73, St. Cloud / ’80 ’83 HOWARD SHARPE, 61, Loretto / ’81 KATHLEEN (VOTAVA) NASH, 63, Saint Michael / ’81 DEBRA (FUJAN) OWENS , 60, Prior Lake / ’82 LINDA (MILISEN) BETTCHER , 75, Apple Valley / ’82 TERRA (LEXOW) LEXOW, 64, Spicer / ’83 BEVERLY (LINDQUIST) BAIL , 83, Owatonna / ’83 RICHARD BUTLER , 63, Savage / ’83 KAREN (KEMPPA) EVERETT, 73, Saint Paul / ’83 KEVIN JOHNS , 60, Naples, Florida / ’83 THOMAS SHORTER , 57, Cannon Falls / ’84 LEEROY ANDERSON, 58, Becker / ’84 JANICE (DAVIS) LEE, 80, Pequot Lakes / ’85 JOHN BAILEY, 59, Mesa, Arizona / ’85 JERRY HEINRICH, 58, Gastonia, North Carolina / ’85 EVE (BENSE) KOEHLER , 85, Little Falls / ’85 MICHELE (KROGSTAD) STEWARD, 57, Akeley / ’85 JAMES STRATING, 59, Germantown, Tennessee / ’86 JOHN LEENAY, 63, Wichita, Kansas / ’86 MARK MERTENS , 62, Spicer / ’86 ’90 VINCENT TRAMMEL , 57, Apple Valley / ’87 STACY (AMUNDSON) CRAWFORD, 56, Savage / ’87 MICHAEL HOLM, 56, Minnetonka / ’88 NANCY (HOLTER) BJURMAN, 73, Princeton / ’88 DALE BROWN, 55, Northfield / ’88 SUSAN FISCHER , 57, Waseca / ’88 WILLIAM SALK , 62, Cold Spring / ’89 RICHARD THEISEN, 57, St. Cloud / ’89 TAMMY (BASTIANELLI) WILDE, 52, Eveleth

’90s

’90 LAURA (BUCKLEY) COMMERFORD, 64, Spicer / ’90 SUZANNE JOHNSON, 73, Eden Prairie / ’90 LAUREL (NELSON) MILLER , 75, Blaine / ’90 ELIZABETH (EISENMENGER) WELSH, 54, Hanska / ’91 LOUISE (WALZ) BORSTAD, 77, Tucson, Arizona / ’91 SCOTT LARSON, 70, Crystal / ’91 ROBYN (HANSON) SEMMLER , 52, Longville / ’92 LISA MARTINSON, 51, Ramsey / ’92 STEVEN PIPPIN, 51, Minneapolis / ’93 KAREN (HAMERLIK) EHLERT, 69, Sauk Rapids / ’93 JASON RIEDER , 51, Saint Cloud / ’94 CLEMENS TABAKO, 53, St. Cloud / ’95 JUSTIN KLOTH, 49, Minneapolis / ’95 LYNN (DOLLERSCHELL) REITER , 50, Willmar / ’97 JASON WALDOWSKI, 48, Minneapolis / ’97 FRANK ZUERNER , 50, Mc Farland, Wisconsin / ’98 DAVID DRONG, 52, Little Falls / ’98 JENNIFER PURKAT, 46, Gilbert / ’99 STEPHANIE SICKLER , 47, Eagle River, Wisconsin

’00s

’00 BROOKE BERTLING, 43, Nashotah, Wisconsin / ’02 SALLIE (FALL) BELLICOT, 39, St. Cloud / ’02 JON KAUFFMANN, 40, Maple Plain / ’04 SARAH (BACKER) GRELL , 39, Cohasset / ’04 TODD

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JOHNSON, 52, Anoka / ’04 THERESA MORAN, 41, Little Falls / ’05 DEREK SYPLES , 41, Arlington, Virginia / ’06 JESSICA BERNS , 44, Minneapolis / ’06 TIFFANY (WIRTH) SEIFERT, 36, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin / ’06 ‘08 RICK OSTBY, 46, St. Louis Park / ’07 RICHARD BOECKERMANN, 35, Freeport / ’07 JEFFERY BROWN, 45, Houlton, Wisconsin / ’07 LINDSAY (WILFAHRT) OVERBAY, 37, Maple Lake

’10s

’10 MICHAEL STANGA , 33, Elk River / ’11 MATTHEW BISHOP, 32, Crookston / ’11 DARLA (DITTFACH) LOVEJOY, 63, St. Cloud / ’12 SPENCER OTTESON, 33, Canby / ’12 DEXTER STANTON, 66, Bowie, Maryland / ’13 CASEY GWOST, 31, Randall

Non-graduate

THOMAS BYLANDER , 40, Brainerd

FACULTY WE REMEMBER

ERNA ABRAHAM, 77, St. Cloud / GERALD ANDERSON, 57, Rogers / MICHELLE BENOLKIN, 70, Foley / RON BERG, 77, Sartell / JEANETTE BISCHOFF, 92, St. Cloud / THOMAS CLAPP, 83, Cold Spring / SUSAN DUBIN, 76, St. Cloud / ANNA (BEVING) DULL , 92, St. Cloud / JACK HIBBARD, 75, Henderson, Nevada / JOHN JASPER , 73, Eau Claire, Wisconsin / AL KIRMEIER , 84, St. Cloud / BRUCE KRUSE, 90, Quincy, Illnois / BESS MARMAS , 89, Edina / RICHARD MCNAMER , 91, Brooklyn Park / WILFRED MIDDENDORF, 77, Melrose / MARY OTREMBA , 60, Foley / JIM PEHLER ’65 ’67, 79, of St. Cloud / RAYMOND PETERSON, St. Cloud / TERRANCE PETERSON, 77, Avon / BRIAN PHELPS , 55, Brainerd / CHARLES RENKEN, 77, St. Cloud / DELBERT RICHARDS , 81, Sauk Rapids / DAVID SANFORD, Minneapolis / MARLYS SEBASKY, 71, Minneapolis / LAURIANNA SJOGREN, 95, St. Cloud / SKAALERUD, 77, St. Cloud / THOMAS SKAHEN, 85, St. Paul / L. MARILYN (CAMERON) STINSON, 90, St. Joseph / GEORGE TORREY, 87, St. Cloud / JOHN TURNER , 72, St. Cloud / CHARLES VICK , 86, St. Cloud / DONALD WALDORF, 83, Waite Park / ’61 OWEN HAGEN, 85, Bigfork / ’61 EDWIN MEYER , 84, Clearwater / ’65 ’68 GEORGE ERICKSON, 96, St. Cloud

ALUMNI AWARD HONORS St. Cloud State University honored recipients of the 2020-21 Alumni Association Awards at Homecoming this October.

The awards are presented to St. Cloud State alumni who embody the spirit of St. Cloud State, who have shaped the world and those who have strengthened our global alumni community.

Nominations for Alumni Association Awards are accepted year round. To submit a nomination, visit scsu.mn/2SunNrH GRADUATE OF THE LAST DECADE Abdirizak Abdi ’12 ’16 ’17 is one of the few Somali principals in the state of Minnesota. During his time at St. Cloud State, Abdirizak enjoyed spending time at Multicultural Student Services and participating in school organization leadership roles. His accomplishments and leadership has been recognized by many including the media. He has served on the Education Quality Committee for the Commissioner of Education and has received recognition from organizations for his service to the community.

UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP AWARD Kristy Modrow ’03 ’05 ’17 is the experiential learning and outreach director in the School of Public Affairs, and was a member of the SCSU Alumni Association Board for six years from 2014-20. Her job is to enrich student experiences at St. Cloud State through internships, service learning, education abroad and other opportunities outside of the typical classroom setting. She goes beyond in her service to students to make sure they have an ally on campus and have the opportunities and resources they need to reach their goals.

ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD Heidi Everett ’92 ’94 is the assistant professor of Strategic Communication at St. Cloud State. She has shared her knowledge on numerous committees in the community and in education in the St. Cloud area. She is active politically and serves as editor of two local newspapers: the SartellSt. Stephen Newsleader and the St. Joseph Newsleader. She was appointed by a federal judge to serve as the Antioch Litigation Trust co-chair from 2009-2017 and in that role she represented the voices of more than 100 former employees of Antioch who lost their retirement funds.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD Jessica Lourey ’96 ’98 ’06 is an instructor of Creative Writing and Sociology at Alexandria Technical College, and is the author of 19 novels and novellas — including the bestselling “Unspeakable Things.” Her works have garnered a number of very positive reviews in regular bookreviewing publications like Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus, and the San Francisco Book Review. She is the recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching Fellowship and has done a TEDx talk.

THANK YOU SCHOLARSHIP DONORS! BECAUSE OF YOU IN 2019-2020:

992

SCSU students were awarded

$1.16

MILLION

in scholarships ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

33

SOFTBALL COACH UNLEASHES POTENTIAL IN STUDENT-ATHLETES DI SOFTBALL COACH JAMIE TRACHSEL ’01 IS EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS AT OLE MISS

BY COLLEEN HARRISON

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Picked to finish dead last in the 2021 SEC Preseason Coaches Poll, Ole Miss softball exceeded all expectations in Jamie Trachsel’s first campaign at the helm as head coach. The Rebels collected a 36-22 overall record, including a 12-12 mark in SEC play — good for an eighth-place finish and the second-most conference victories in program history. Ole Miss received its fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament bid for its work, earning the No. 2 seed in the Tucson Regional.

Jamie Trachsel ’01 earned her Bachelor of Science in Sports Management in 2001 from St. Cloud State University before earning a Master of Education in Athletic Administration from North Dakota State University in 2006.

A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Trachsel played softball at St. Cloud State from 1998-2001 and led the team to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. As a freshman, Trachsel helped the Huskies win the North Central Conference title — their first in program history — and was named to the NCAA North Regional All-Tournament team as a sophomore in 1999.

Additionally, Trachsel was a two-time recipient of the NFCA Academic Award and helped St. Cloud State win 164 total games during her career.

“My four years as a student-athlete at St. Cloud State helped shape and define the person and coach I am today. The experiences I had and relationships I formed as a member of the Husky softball team are some of the best memories of my life,” she said. “I’m proud to have played with so many talented players and incredible people, and for a head coach who was equally invested in who we were as people as much as our success as athletes.”

Trachsel has an impressive coaching resume, with stints at the University of Minnesota, Iowa State University and North Dakota State University. In three seasons with the Gophers, Trachsel com-

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piled an overall record of 102-40-1 with two 40-plus win seasons in 2018 and 2019. Under her guidance in 2019, Minnesota posted a 46-14 record and made its first ever trip to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, finishing the year as the No. 8-ranked team in the NFCA Division I Coaches Poll — the highest ranking in the program’s history. The Gophers defeated two Southeastern Conference powerhouses along the way, taking down Georgia in the regional round before besting LSU in a bestof-three Super Regional one week later.

Prior to her time with Minnesota, Trachsel made stops at both Iowa State and North Dakota State, leading both teams to program milestones. She led the Cyclones to their best record since 1994 in her one-year stint with the program and helped the Bison reach the NCAA tournament in five of her six seasons as a co-head coach at NDSU. In April 2020, Trachsel was named head coach at Ole Miss.

Entering her tenure at Ole Miss, Trachsel held an overall record of 346-184-1 as a head coach.

In her first season as head softball coach for Ole Miss, she guided the Rebels back to the NCAA Tournament for the program’s fifth-straight season in 2021.

Under Trachsel’s guidance, four Rebels received SEC postseason honors, tied for the most in a single season in program history. The 2019 NFCA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year has collected 11 conference regular-season and tournament championships, developed 47 all-conference honorees, and guided her teams to the NCAA Tournament in eight out of her 10 total seasons.

“Life has taught me a couple things; you never get where you are alone,” she said. “You never want your best to be behind you.

And never forget where you come from. I am and always will be grateful for my experience at SCSU and proud to be a Husky.”

ALUMNI NEWS SCSU NAMES 2020-21 NOTABLE ALUMNI The Notable Alumni program at St. Cloud State recognizes and spotlights young St. Cloud State alumni who have made notable advancements in their careers. Their stories are shared in the Admissions Center in the Administrative Services building to inspire prospective students and other visitors with their success.

Visit scsu.mn/notablealumni to nominate a recent graduate as a notable alumni.

Sarah E. Smith ’92, co-founder, The Dyrt

Carl Osterlund ’96, engineer in charge, Mobile TV Group

Jamie Trachsel ’01, head coach, Ole Miss’ softball

Stephanie Theisen ’04, vice president of sales and marketing, Leighton Broadcasting

Michael Mathiason ’11, social emotional learning coach, Lincoln Elementary School

Benneth S. Sheeley ’11, entertainment attorney, Jackoway Austen Tyerman, et al

Stacey Weinstein ’11, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, Federal Law Enforcement Twin Cities

Brent Jacobson ’06, attorney, Anderson O’Brien Law Firm, and mayor Mosinee, Wisconsin

Teresa Gazich ’11, senior global sourcing manager, Boston Scientific

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Abdirizak Abdi ’12 ’15 ’17, principal, Humboldt High School

Whitney (Paulson) Wacholz ’14, deputy sheriff, Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office

Trevor J. Brink ’17, executive officer, Minnesota Army National Guard

Lauren Shnowske ’17, speech-language pathologist, Univ. of Kentucky Voice and Swallow Clinic

Sruthi Shankar ’18, attending University of Minnesota Medical School

Kabao Yang ’20, English arts teacher, Community School of Excellence

HUSKY PLAZA

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A Mosaically compilation of team and fan photos from the historic 2021 Men’s Hockey run to the final game of the Frozen Four.

View and interact with the compilation at scsu.mn/21FF-fans.

A PICTUR… IS WORTH...

Do you have a photo that captures the spirit of St. Cloud State? CONTRIBUT… a photo for consideration to editor Kathryn Kloby, Ph.D. at kathryn.kloby@stcloudstate.edu for “A picture is worth...”