FALL 2019 / WINTER 2020
ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
MORE INSIDE:
OPIOIDS: CRISIS, EVOLVING TREATMENT, RECOVERY St. Cloud State accepting the challenge
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Introducing the “It’s Time” strategic initiative
Celebrating our humble beginnings and beyond
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20 Husky Plaza was dedicated this September as part of the sesquicentennial celebrations. Read about the University’s continuing history on page 20.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FROM THE PRESIDENT 4 It’s Time —
Introducing a new initiative
NEWS 5 Homecoming 2019 8 Eastman reopens
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with new wellness mission 10 Lessons in lesson planning 11 New traditions greet incoming Huskies 12 Celebrating new spaces
#FEATURES 14 Opioids: Crisis, evolving
treatment, recovery 20 Beyond 150 26 Protecting the Great Lakes
ALUMNI NEWS 30 Class notes 31 Revisiting memories at Alnwick 32 Giving back through mentorship 34 Celebrating alumni success and service
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FROM THE PRESIDENT
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IT’S TIME: LOOKING FORWARD TO TH… N…XT 150 Y…ARS
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The crescendo of our Sesquicentennial year this fall was a rousing success, with a series of homecoming activities and dedications of state-of-the-art facilities and resources for our students and the region. We had opportunities to connect and reflect on our history and heritage, celebrate our solid foundation of strength and progress and pay tribute to some extraordinarily generous supporters. Some of the remarkable new programs and facilities for students we launched this past few months will play a significant role in implementing ideas for adapting to change shared by our educational, business and community partners. They build on the many ways we already as a university provide hands-on experiences, including: »» Collaboration with Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation and St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce to inspire joint ventures between St. Cloud State and local firms. »» Financial Markets Lab, a remarkable, high-tech new resource for business students and the campus community, thanks to generous gifts from Ron ’69 and Bonnie ’68 Swenson. »» Maciej Nursing Education Suite funded by an extraordinary gift from graduate Jim Maciej and his wife, Ann Marie, a nurse, who have been generous supporters of facilities that will keep our nursing program state-of-the-art. »» CentraCare/St. Cloud State partnership through the $1.5 million commitment from CentraCare that will help establish a Graduate Nursing Education Program and the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research on our campus. »» New Anoka Ramsey/SCSU partnership, a collaboration between ARCC and the General Business major in the Herberger Business School. »» Remodeled and reimagined Eastman Hall, home of the Center for Health and Wellness Innovation to serve our students’ academic, mental and physical needs and well being for decades to come.
»» Husky Plaza and introduction of our bronze husky dog to celebrate our heritage and pride in St. Cloud State University and be a gathering place. Alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the university purchased 500 bricks inscribed with personal expressions of fond memories and Husky spirit, raising $80,000 for scholarships. These and other innovations contribute to the many aspects that distinguish St. Cloud State from other schools and help us offer an education relevant and true to our mission of preparing students for life, work and citizenship in the 21st Century. Now we turn our attention to the future and the tremendous opportunities and possibilities for reimagining St. Cloud State — to begin the next 150-year chapter. Higher education and St. Cloud State currently are experiencing one of the most accelerated and disruptive social, demographic and technological changes that comes only once in a generation. New realities include fewer high school graduates throughout Minnesota and the Midwest, as well as significantly more choices for higher education — 150-plus higher education options in Minnesota alone, including online colleges that offer new approaches to delivering knowledge and information. Our new reality also includes a change in how students begin and complete their university experience. A decade ago, students enrolled directly from high school as freshmen, spent four years in college, graduated and worked in a career for 25 years and then retired. A new trend of learners looping in and out of higher education is emerging. Many are taking a “gap year” before they come to college. A significant number of our students are now entering with enough credits from a community college or concurrent enrollment in high school to be classified as juniors. A remarkable 70 percent of undergraduates are considered nontraditional, including those over age 25, veterans of military service and mid-life career changers.
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IT’S TIME. It’s time to take proactive steps to boldly alter the way we operate to better serve this new generation of students. We will reimagine what it means to be a regional comprehensive university and build on our strengths. St. Cloud State is an outstanding university that offers the vast resources of a larger university and the benefits of a smaller college: small class sizes with professors who are teacher/scholars who mentor and inspire students to think critically, seek and apply knowledge, engage in a diverse and multicultural world, communicate effectively, integrate technologies and act with personal integrity and civic responsibility. This past year I have had many opportunities to talk with alumni and other folks around the region. Our graduates share good memories of professors who made a difference and programs that gave them the preparation they need to succeed. Many of those graduates are in leadership positions in our community, teaching in our schools, working in our businesses and our hospitals. St. Cloud State had a tremendous impact on their lives, and as we restructure and shift the way we operate we will continue to make a difference to future generations of students as the vital, thriving, relevant institution it always has been – alert to the needs of students and ready to move forward with big, positive changes. IT’S TIME.
Robbyn Wacker President, St. Cloud State University
Brother Ali performs at the Red Carpet downtown St. Cloud Saturday night after the football game.
HOMECOMING 2019 Thousands of students, families, alumni and community members covered campus in red and black Sept. 25-29 for Homecoming 2019. The week included a bonfire, pep rallies, shows, reunions, dedications, Fan Fest tailgating and athletics, all filled with St. Cloud State pride and Huskies spirit. Homecoming week started with Husky Kick-Off on Sept. 25 on the Atwood Mall with 1,300-plus students participating in activities from trampolines and games to T-shirt dying and food for students as they passed between classes. The day was followed up with the Husky Bonfire that night, which saw more than 450 people attend. Friday night featured Blizzardshack, where 650-plus students took to the Atwood Mall for games, mini-golf, roasting marshmallows, music and an inflatable zipline. Saturday featured many events including tailgating at Huskies Fan Fest and club/ sports reunions where nearly 500 people showed up to reconnect with other alumni, have a cookout and get ready for the football game. The Homecoming 5K Run/Walk along the Beaver Islands Trail had more than 200 runners take part.
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B A. Senior wide receiver, John Solberg, Cambridge, looks to the crowd and celebrates after a touchdown reception in the second quarter. B. Students gather for various activities during Husky Kick-Off on the Atwood Mall. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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ST. CLOUD STATE STUDENTS AND FANS donned their red and black clothing for Fan Fest before the football game
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Even though Huskies Football lost in a heartbreaker, falling 20-17 to Northern State, our fans showed up to the tune of 3,470, packing Husky Stadium to cheer on our Huskies and celebrate with post-game fireworks. A crowd of 245 saw Women’s Hockey carry a shut-out win over the University of Regina, blanking the Cougars 3-0 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The University radio station, KVSC, hosted the Brother Ali concert Saturday night at the Red Carpet in downtown St. Cloud with about 300 students, alumni and friends showing up to jam out. View photos and video: https://scsu.mn/2VrnT5V
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C. Runners pace themselves at the start of the Homecoming 5K Run/ Walk. D. Senior women’s hockey forward, Hallie Theodosopoulos, Brookings, South Dakota, tallies a goal in the 3-0 win over University of Regina. E. The Husky Sports Band rallies students at the annual Husky Bonfire. F. St. Cloud State football fans cheer on the Huskies after a scoring drive versus Northern State.
Editor Adam Hammer ’05 Contributing Editor Matt Andrew Content Producers Anna Kurth Nick Lenz ’11 Mitchell Hansen ’17 John M. Brown Terri Mische Tom Nelson Design Marie Madgwick ’91 Gary Bailey Contact us: ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY 720 Fourth Ave. S. St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498 University Communications ucomm@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-3152 stcloudstate.edu/ucomm Alumni Relations alumni@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-3177 or 866-464-8759 stcloudstate.edu/alumni St. Cloud State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, status with regards to public assistance, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or status as a U.S. veteran. The Title IX coordinator at SCSU is Dr. …llyn Bartges. For additional information, contact the Office for Institutional …quity & Access, (320) 308-5123, Admin. Services Bldg. Rm 102.
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EASTMAN REOPENS MORE THAN 88 YEARS AFTER ITS DEDICATION, A BUILDING WITH “GOOD BONES”, WAS HAILED AGAIN WITH A RE-DEDICATION AS THE NEW HOME OF THE CENTER FOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS INNOVATION THIS AUGUST. EASTMAN HALL RE-OPENED AS A PLACE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS’ MIND, BODY AND OVERALL WELLNESS.
Artist Stacia Goodman ’89 incorporated reclaimed pieces from the gym floor and pool into mosaics that hang in the Eastman Hall lobby and open-air staircase. Read more: scsu.mn/2GnFODD
Students, faculty, staff, community members and Minnesota state legislators, past and present, who supported the project gathered for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the building’s new life and public tours were conducted during Homecoming. The renovation was completed thanks to $18.6 million in renovation funding approved by the Minnesota Legislature in 2017. The building houses health services, academic classrooms, training and research labs, and student life organizations — including the new Recovery Resource Center that serves students seeking recovery from an addiction disorder. The purpose of the Center for Health and Wellness Innovation is to serve the whole student as an innovative approach to establish a collaborative environment that promotes whole-person care and prepares the health care leaders of the future. Learn more: stcloudstate.edu/healthwellness
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NEWS $1.5 MILLION COMMITMENT TO DRIVE RESEARCH, ADVANCED NURSING DEGREE St. Cloud State University has received a $1.5 million commitment from CentraCare to help establish a Graduate Nursing Education program and the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) at the University. The Department of Nursing Science is committed to advancing the preparation of registered nurses across the region. The Graduate Nursing Education program will increase access to high-quality healthcare, leading to optimal patient outcomes for patient populations in rural and underserved communities throughout the Central Minnesota community. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for the nursing program here at St. Cloud State University to develop a high-quality program directly tailored to the healthcare needs and workforce demands of the region,” said Shonda Craft, Dean of the School of Health & Human Services. The CHOPR integrates academic and professional growth of both students and faculty with cutting-edge research on public health care topics throughout Minnesota. The commitment from CentraCare will assist in establishing a collaborative and innovative research culture across both institutions to seize opportunities and quickly address challenges when and where they may arise.
EASTMAN HALL GYM FLOORING FINDS NEW HOME The center court of the former Eastman Hall gym lives on in a dedicated wall display in Halenbeck Hall near the second-floor overlook of the main gym. The SC logo is known by generations of St. Cloud State students. It was added to the Eastman Hall gym floor in the 1950s. The floor served as the home court for the Men’s Basketball team until 1965 when the team played its last game in Eastman — a 78-73 win over Minnesota State University, Moorhead. After Halenbeck Hall opened, Eastman Hall’s gym continued to be used for intramurals and fitness activities. The flooring is believed to be the original floor installed in the building prior to its 1930 grand opening. The gymnasium was an active place hosting homecoming dances, convocations, concerts, athletic contests, physical activities and other highlights of student life. When renovation started in Eastman Hall, the center court logo was preserved. It was installed in Halenbeck Hall this summer to serve as a testament to the university’s century-long commitment to the physical health and well-being of the university’s students, faculty, staff and the greater St. Cloud area community. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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NEWS School of Health and Human Services Dean Shonda Craft gives a welcome to students.
Sarah Miller ’19 and Joe Nagel ’19 presented on sociology curriculum they developed for a senior class project as part of Huskies Showcase 2019.
LESSON PLANNING PREPS SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS FOR CLASSROOM Hands-on learning assignments at St. Cloud State University prepare future social studies teachers for the classroom by getting them involved in lesson planning in their final semester before student teaching.
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Students create an 18-week curriculum plan that incorporates state standards, assessments, teaching strategies and use of technology, among other things. Sometimes these lessons are incorporated in their classrooms after graduation. Students in the social studies education program are carefully guided through curriculum planning, literacy, special education modifications and research. Professor Cynthia Fitzthum stresses to her students how curriculum planning for grades 5-12 is crucial to getting through all of the state standards. Sarah Miller ’19 and Joe Nagel ’19 teamed up to develop a fall curiculum plan for a 12th grade U.S. government class last year. What stood out most to Fitzthum about Miller and Nagel’s work was the “focus on interdisciplinary social sciences throughout their lessons and planning, such as adding economics standards into the political science curriculum,” she said. Stephanie Olson, a December 2018 graduate of St. Cloud State, landed her first teaching job at Tech High School in St. Cloud. She teaches 10th grade world history and practical law and ethnic studies for grades 11 and 12. While the curriculum was set for world history at Tech High School, Olson is able to use curriculum she created at St. Cloud State for her practical law and ethnic studies class. Assigned a curriculum theme of social issues, she created a lesson plan based on immigration and inequalities like race, gender and LGBTQ issues. Having gone through the curriculum process at St. Cloud State, Olson is able to more easily plan backwards and prepare for lessons and units – providing a calendar outline for students.
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NEW TRADITIONS GREET THE CLASS OF 2023 ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY’S CLASS OF 2023 BEGAN A NEW TRADITION AUG. 23 — A TRADITION DESIGNED TO KEEP THE INCOMING CLASS FOCUSED ON THEIR GRADUATION. STUDENTS GATHERED ON THE HUSKY PLAZA INTO THEIR COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS, AND THEN, AFTER A HUSKY HIGH FIVE FROM BLIZZARD, FOLLOWED FACULTY TO RITSCHE AUDITORIUM AND NEW HUSKIES CONVOCATION — A NEW TRADITION IN A HISTORIC YEAR.
As they entered Stewart Hall for Convocation, they entered to cheers and applause from faculty, staff and administrators. President Robbyn Wacker began her remarks by noting on the University’s history, and the history these students were making. “Over our 150 years we’ve had students here every fall just like you who go on to do amazing things,” she said. “We are a St. Cloud State University Husky family of over 100,000 in Minnesota, the United States and across the globe.” This year, the students joining that family were the first class of a new future, with new traditions — Husky Plaza, New Student Convocation and the Husky Pledge. The pledge asks students to devote themselves to their studies, get involved, act with integrity and treat others with respect. St. Cloud State has a diverse set of students, and those students come from small towns and large cities. They come from Central Minnesota and from across the globe, but they are all Huskies. Wacker encouraged the students to learn from one another and engage authentically as they come together as a community. And she encouraged them to challenge themselves. “Never stop learning,” she said. “Never stop seeking greater insight about the world around you.” At the instruction of Provost Dan Gregory, students opened their envelopes and pulled out their future – a tassel that points forward to their graduation. He encouraged them to keep the tassel where they can see it and get inspiration when times get tough. New Students Convocation was part of Huskies First Four, a series of orientation events to welcome students to campus and make new connections. In Huskies First Four students danced at Huskychella, enjoyed fireworks at Red Black and U, and explored majors at Gear Up. Faculty members cheer on students as they arrive at Stewart Hall for New Student Convocation. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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NEWS
RIBBON CUTTINGS ON CAMPUS $1.6 MILLION IN INVESTMENTS provide new opportunities for students
A Donors and members of the public helped celebrate the dedication of the new Huskies Hockey Performance Center in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center this fall. The a new state-of-the-art facility that was funded by $600,000 in gifts from over 100 donors, including 57 former student-athletes. It features a variety of training equipment, a turf and agility area and a shooting and stickhandling space for the men’s and women’s hockey players.
A. Huskies Hockey Performance Center with goal target shooting training area B. Dedication ribbon cutting. From left to right, Men’s Hockey Head Coach Brett Larson, President Robbyn Wacker, Athletic Director Heather Weems and Women’s Hockey Head Coach Steve Macdonald. C. Huskies Hockey Performance Center entrance
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Dave Harris, Dean of the Herberger Business School, left; Teresa Bohnen ’81; faculty emeritus Howie Bohnen ’72; Sherry Smith ’83; Bonnie Swenson ’68; Ron Swenson ’69 and St. Cloud State President Robbyn R. Wacker cut the ribbon marking the dedication of the Ron ’69 and Bonnie ’68 Swenson Financial Markets Lab.
HERBERGER BUSINESS SCHOOL DEDICATES NEW LAB St. Cloud State University dedicated the Ron ’69 and Bonnie ’68 Swenson Financial Markets Lab Sept. 27. The glass-walled lab features 20 computer stations, presentation capabilities and a stock market ticker running constantly around the outside showing stocks, including the Husky Growth Fund, allowing students to see in real-time how their choices impact the fund. The lab, located on the first floor of Centennial Hall, is equipped with two full-glass walls that can be frosted to allow for privacy when classes are in session. Work on the lab was done by Terra Construction with architecture work done by JLG and ISG. The lab is being used for investment-related classes as part of the finance curriculum — especially Husky Fund classes. It is the center for all department databases related to investing. The lab is made possible by a $1 million donation from alumni Ron and Bonnie Swenson of California. The donation combines their individual passions for finance and education with their shared passion for helping others.
The Swensons wanted to create a resource for students that would give them hands-on learning opportunities in investing 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 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 will also support the purchase and maintenance of investing software for years to come. Technology for the lab was also made possible in part through a donation from Sherry M. Smith ’83. “It allows us as a department to expand our investment offerings and research and update technology skills,” said Joe Haley, chair of the finance, insurance and real estate department.
With the implementation of the Ron and Bonnie Swenson Financial Markets Lab, the department is able to further its offerings surrounding financial data to better prepare students for job market skills and database skills. “What we’re doing now is a first step toward growing into a more technology-based curriculum,” Haley said. When the Swensons decided to give back to St. Cloud State, they visited campus and saw the investment recently made in labs for engineering and science. They visited the Northwestern Mutual Sales Lab and saw the benefit a dedicated lab space can have for business students. “To bring that kind of lab to the finance and investment part of the school will be of great benefit,” Ron said. Opportunities for hands-on learning helped Bonnie and Ron develop the critical thinking skills they would use throughout their careers when they attended St. Cloud State, and they are happy to help provide those same opportunities for today’s Huskies, Ron said. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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Crisis, evolving treatment, recovery
he opioid addiction crisis is taking the lives of more than 130 people in the United States every day. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Today, students, employees and alumni at St. Cloud State University are responding to the crisis by preparing students for the field, working each day to serve people in recovery, and focusing on their own recovery to earn their education and inspire others. Tayler Waldvogel ’19 works with a treatment court in Morris. Jim Vener ’12 ’17 works with in-patients in Alexandria. Eleana Lukes ’19 helps sex trafficking victims in St. Cloud. Krista Tomford ’19 helped launch St. Cloud State’s new Recovery Resource Center as an undergraduate and is now pursuing her rehabilitation and addiction counseling master’s degree while continuing her own recovery from alcohol and opioid addiction. Dan Pearson lost his son to opioids and is now a driving force in Central Minnesota trying to prevent others from dying from opioids by supporting initiatives at St. Cloud State and throughout the region through his Justin V. Pearson Foundation Fund. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that opioid misuse costs $78.5 billion each year in lost productivity, treatment costs and criminal justice expenses, according to the National Institute on Drug Research. The current opioid crisis began in the late 1990s when healthcare providers began to prescribe opioid medications at increased rates after pharmaceutical companies assured them users wouldn’t become addicted. The increase in prescriptions led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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THE OPIOID ADDICTION CRISIS IS TAKING THE LIVES OF MORE THAN
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NEW FORMS OF TREATMENT With the widespread misuse of opioids, new forms of treatment are being developed that are leading to an evolution in the way counselors are treating multiple addictions, said Peter Eischens, St. Cloud State faculty member and coordinator for the chemical dependency and addiction specialist programs. “They are looking at the opioid crisis and saying ‘how can we approach this problem differently’,” Eischens said. Harm reduction is becoming embraced and is changing the way counselors view addiction and recovery. Harm reduction doesn’t require abstinence from all chemicals or all behaviors as is the case with traditional addiction treatment. “It’s really individualizing goals for people to help them be as successful as they can in what they have determined to be recovery for themselves,” Eischens said. These methods are being used to treat alcohol and meth addictions, which are also increasing.
Meth is once again growing to an epidemic level in rural Minnesota, Eischens said. “It’s back and it’s cheaper and it’s stronger,” Eischens said. “We’re seeing a focus on opioids because it’s more of an urban problem and meth is more of a rural problem. We need to know both.” To prepare students, Eischens incorporates tactics for counseling in both urban and rural areas. Demand is high for addiction counselors — especially in rural areas, Eischens said. “What I like about this school is we get a lot of students from Central Minnesota, and they want to stay in Central Minnesota and we have that need right now,” he said. Most graduates from the program end up in treatment programs in Minnesota in both rural and urban clinics. THREE PROGRAMS ONE PROFESSION St. Cloud State University has three programs that prepare students to work with
PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES EVERY DAY. SOURCE: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DRUG ABUSE
people with addiction disorders. The chemical dependency program is an undergraduate program that prepares students to work as addiction counselors and earn their Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) licensing. The program is changing its name to addiction counseling in the spring. The addiction specialist program is a graduate certificate designed for those seeking LADC licensure. The rehabilitation and addiction counseling (RAC) program is a master’s degree that prepares students to become counselors with both their Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and LADC licenses providing vocational rehabilitation for clients with addictions and other disabilities. The RAC program is unique. Launched in 2015, it’s only the second program like it in the United States. RAC Program Director Dr. Amy Knopf sees the program as a first step toward further professionalizing addictions counseling in the state of Minnesota.
With the widespread misuse of opioids, new forms of treatment are being developed that are leading to an evolution in the way counselors are treating multiple addictions. Peter Eischens teaches a class for the chemical dependency program. The students are learning new techniques for addiction counseling inspired by the opioid crisis in harm reduction. HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2019 / WINTER 2020
– PETER EISCHENS, ST. CLOUD STATE FACULTY
DEDICATED TO STOPPING THE DEATHS “Addiction is a disability,” Knopf said. “It’s a disabling condition. People still need help to be able to get back to their life, get back to work and be independent and contribute to society.” “The number of people with addiction diagnosis is on the rise, and counselors are not well-equipped to be able to serve that population,” Knopf said. The majority of people who don’t fall into addiction after being prescribed opioid pills following an accident or other physical condition have a mental health condition, she said. ADDICTION — ONE DISABILITY AMONG MANY Lukes earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from St. Cloud State. She’s now pursuing an addictions certificate so she can better serve the women at Terebinth Refuge, a shelter for victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. She works to teach the women she serves how to move from being a victim to being a survivor. “The women don’t want to be trapped in addiction for the rest of their lives,” she said. “They want to get out of active using.” In her program Lukes is learning behavior therapy skills such as mind-
Dan Pearson is dedicated to stopping deaths from opioid overdose. His Justin V. Pearson Foundation Fund has helped provide naloxone, also known as Narcan, to St. Cloud State University and police and fire departments in St. Cloud and surrounding counties. “Narcan can’t hurt anybody,” Pearson said. “There is no harmful effect whatsoever.” Naloxone works by replacing opioids on the opioid receptors on the brain to allow for someone who is overdosing to breathe again. It has no effect on someone who does not have opioids in their system. He also is a big supporter of getting Narcan on campus.
All you hope is, by any efforts, you can keep one family from facing what we did.
The Recovery Resource Center offers Narcan training, and Public Safety is equipped with Narcan. Pearson founded the Justin V. Pearson Foundation Fund after losing his son, Justin Pearson, at 24 to an overdose on Christmas Day in 2006. Justin first encountered opioids through a prescription after a serious accident and later obtained pills online.
– DAN PEARSON
STEPS TO STOPPING OPIOID DEATHS
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“All you hope is, by any efforts, you can keep one family from facing what we did,” Pearson said. Pearson’s first target was to make opioids harder to get by advocating for a law to stop the flow of pills online without a prescription. Today he’s working to help end the stigma of addiction. People in recovery struggle with rebuilding their social networks because they may have lost friends during their addiction and need to distance themselves from friends who are still using, Pearson said.
A prescription drug drop box in the campus pharmacy collects medications to keep them from being abused or contaminating waterways. The drop box was donated by the Justin V. Pearson Foundation.
Dan Pearson Photo courtesy of Dan Pearson
That’s why Pearson is a big supporter of the Recovery Resource Center and Recovery Community at St. Cloud State — they serve as resources to connect people who are in recovery to new friends and sources of support.
Make opioids harder to get »» Justin’s Bill, passed in 2008, required medications sold online to require a prescription »» Pearson supported drug take-back events in St. Cloud and on campus, including the Prescription Drug drop-off box in the Medical Clinic and Pharmacy
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Stop overdose deaths »» The Justin V. Pearson Fund supports efforts to provide access to Narcan throughout Central Minnesota including on campus
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Support those in recovery »» Pearson supports efforts to improve access to recovery throughout the community »» He supports the Recovery Resource Center and Recovery Community at St. Cloud State as a way to help people in recovery get their lives back ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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fulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal relationship strategies and emotional regulation that she can teach her clients to help them cope with their addiction, while using her counseling skills to help them address their trauma. Lukes has worked at Terebinth Refuge since the shelter opened in St. Cloud a year ago. Many of the women became addicted to substances, including opioids, because they’ve experienced trauma, Lukes said. In recovering from their addictions, they need to learn new ways to deal with the emotions caused by their trauma and that’s where counseling comes in, she said. Vener also sees a need for counselors who can work with multiple disabilities. Vener works as a counselor for New Visions in Alexandria and was among the first graduating class of the rehabilitation and addiction counseling program in 2017. There’s a huge need for counselors who can work with both mental health and chemical dependency because they’re often co-occurring; both carry a stigma, Vener said. The majority of clients Vener works with have methamphetamine or alcohol addictions, but about 20-30 percent have an opioid addiction — some have more
than one addiction, he said. New Visions, where Vener works with Waldvogel, has been moving more and more toward a person-centered, harm-reduction model of care. “We can’t expect people who have been in active addiction for years to come into treatment and lose all their addict behavior,” he said. In the past treatment was regimental, concentrating on client weaknesses or faults. Today it’s more strength-based and person-centered, focused on helping the client on their journey through recovery, he said. CHANGING THE STIGMA Another new focus is efforts to reduce the stigma around addiction and recovery. Part of the changing way addiction is viewed and treated is the move to treatment courts, which bring together people from the courts, medical profession and counseling to support people through treatment with less stigma and more empathy. As part of her role as an outpatient counselor for New Visions, Waldvogel works with the treatment court in Stevens County. “We basically all work together in trying to provide services,” she said.
NEW VISIONS STAFF: Four St. Cloud State University graduates and one intern are among the staff at New Visions treatment center in Alexandria. Kaylee Richards ’18, Tayler Waldvogel ’19, Jim Vener ’12 ’17, Kari Gritz ’19 and Samantha Baumann work every day to make a difference in the lives of their clients. HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2019 / WINTER 2020
Treatment courts aren’t new, but they’re spreading to rural counties in Minnesota and are a new way of working for people in criminal justice who interact more with the offenders in treatment court. The work Waldvogel is doing is outside of the regular work done by New Visions, but it’s something she does for her clients because it gives them a second chance, she said. As one client graduated from treatment court this fall, the judges took off their robes and joined the team and client for ribs and cheesecake to celebrate. “They get to see them as regular people,” she said. “It’s just a part of trying to get the whole community together to support those in recovery — trying to get the stigma off it.” Changing the stigma is one goal of the new Recovery Resource Center in the renovated Eastman Hall, said Thaddeus Rybka, Recovery Resource Center director. “We have students who are very empowered and who really embrace the narrative and going out and putting their face and voice to recovery and that’s helping destigmatize addiction recovery,” Rybka said. “That’s really cool to see the students taking it upon themselves to do advocacy initiatives.” Students in recovery at St. Cloud State hold Recovery Month events each September to spread the word about recovery and an Opioid Awareness Week each January to share the dangers of opioids with the campus and St. Cloud area communities. This fall, the Recovery Resource Center co-sponsored the Walk for Recovery at the Capitol in St. Paul. Its members also visit treatment centers in town and sober high schools throughout Minnesota. Rybka spreads the word by providing recovery ally trainings to help faculty and staff members better serve students in recovery and understand that it’s a form of mental disorder and not a moral failing, he said. “We have a lot of partners on campus,” he said. “I’m trying to break those silos and collaborate across campus because there are a lot of students in recovery, and recovery takes a lot of different forms.”
Photo by Nick Lenz ’11
A NEW PLACE FOR RECOVERY, EDUCATION The Recovery Resource Center opened this fall in the newly-renovated Eastman Hall as one part of the Center for Health and Wellness Innovation. The center supports students who have struggled with substance misuse and addiction who are now committed to sobriety while also leading campus efforts in education to spread awareness about the dangers of addiction and the availability of recovery resources on campus. St. Cloud State’s recovery services began as a residential Recovery Community in 2012. Housed in Coborn Plaza Apartments, it was the first residential-based collegiate recovery program in the Upper Midwest. In 2013 the Students Taking Action in Recovery and Service (STARS) student organization launched to give students a visible presence on campus to spread the word about recovery and reduce stigma. Students in recovery were able to connect through STARS, but there was no physical space for them to connect, said Jen Johnson, interim director for Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention at St. Cloud State. “Now it’s amazing for them to come and connect with others and feel supported,” she said. One of the students making connections today is Krista Tomford ’19, now a graduate student in her first semester in the rehabilitation and addiction counseling program.
As an undergraduate she interned with the Recovery Resource Center and helped to plan for the center’s launch. She advised on guidelines for the center, helped choose books for the resource library and made suggestions about features to be included. Tomford began her undergraduate career at St. Cloud State in 2010. She got caught up in the party scene and her grades started slipping. She stopped going to classes and her problematic behavior became a habit. She fell into addiction to both alcohol and opioids and took a break from school. “When I started back it was fall 2017, and at that point I’d been sober about nine months,” she said. “My first year along it was just about acclimating back into the school climate.” At the end of that first semester a friend introduced her to Recovery Resource Center Program Coordinator Thaddeus Rybka. “The next year I came in and said ‘I want to be involved’, it was really good to kind of hold me accountable,” she said. “I also saw that there was a real need for someone to step up and be a student leader.” She rose to the challenge and in her senior year she served as an intern for Rybka and the Recovery Community.
This semester she is a graduate assistant working with Healthy Huskies and Peer Wellness.
NEW CENTER REACHING MORE STUDENTS With the expansion to a center this fall, even more off-campus students are able to connect to recovery resources because of greater awareness and the ability to serve other types of recovery such as recovery from eating disorders and those affected by loved ones with substance use disorders, Rybka said. It also gives students who are thinking about recovery a chance to explore because there aren’t restrictions attached. It’s a welcoming, fun environment. The center then offers support groups, sober activities, resources and a place to relax and study. “I’m a true believer that no student should have to sacrifice their education for recovery or their recovery for education,” Rybka said. “A lot of these students are getting a second chance, and it changes their perspective on life and where they’re going.” Krista Tomford ’19 interned with the Recovery Community during her undergraduate career to help plan for the Recovery Resource Center. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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BEYOND 150
We had a wonderful year of Sesquicentennial celebrations that engaged students, alumni and community members in a celebration of St. Cloud State University and its contribution to the state of Minnesota.
We concluded our celebrations with Homecoming 2019 and the dedication of Husky Plaza, a gift by alumni, donors and friends of St. Cloud State to this institution and in service to our students.
The celebration started with a nod to our founding with an appearance by the institution’s first president, Ira Moore, portrayed by Communication Studies Chair Jeff Ringer, at convocation in 2018. This year we celebrated old traditions, reveled in renovations and hailed our newest graduates.
An emblem of the Sesquicentennial celebration, bricks laid in the plaza contain the memories of past students and current employees that express the significance of this institution in their lives and serves as a hallmark of the new traditions that will foster the university toward its next 150 years.
St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis ’89 declared September St. Cloud State University Sesquicentennial month as the city got into the celebration’s spirit.
As you read Part II of our look at the University’s first 150 years, please celebrate our past and read with an eye to the future. Think about the challenges we’ve faced as our guide and see the promise of the future that our students will bring to this state as we continue our mission that began 150 years ago to “prepare students for life, work and citizenship” in Minnesota and beyond. See our 150 video at: scsu.mn/2MDeXaX
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Stop by Husky Plaza and rub the husky’s nose for good luck
WANT TO SHARE YOUR HUSKIES MEMORY? Make your brick order to be included in the second install. Learn more at scsu.mn/bricks HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2019 / WINTER 2020
Grand ambition, humble beginning:
PART II: EVOLVING TO MEET MODERN NEEDS By Anna Kurth
See Grand ambition, humble beginning: Part I about the institution’s first 100 years at scsu.mn/35TOgpW
A
s St. Cloud State University entered its 11th decade serving the people of Minnesota, it did so after a decade of unprecedented growth in the 1960s. In the 1970s, the university’s enrollment stabilized and its population began to expand in diversity and service to older students. St. Cloud State was then the second largest university in Minnesota and was part of Minnesota’s reputation as a national leader in education. St. Cloud State’s program offerings continued to expand in the 1970s, with the university issuing more degrees for programs outside of education for the first time in 1974. A final name change to St. Cloud State University in 1975 reflected the university’s growth into a leading educational institution in the state. The university’s growing excellence in programming outside of the field of education was recognized in 1977 when the College of Business earned accreditation from the American Assembly of
Undergraduate Programs. More than 40 years later, the Herberger Business School continues to hold accreditation from AACSB International. With the university’s growing alumni body, the university opened its development office in 1976 and later organized a President’s Club to honor donors and friends of the university. St. Cloud State closed out the decade by establishing its Center for Continuing Studies to offer learning opportunities for non-traditional students. The program’s enrollment tripled in its first 10 years to serve 3,500 students in evening courses. The 1970s was also a decade of protest across the nation in the wake of the Vietnam War, and students and faculty members joined in with a march in downtown St. Cloud that blocked traffic on Division Street. The university responded with two days of classes devoted to discussions of the war and other major issues along with a campus
declaration for a “Day of Peace” in 1972 and a student march to Lake George where speakers denounced the war. EXPANDING DIVERSITY AT HOME AND ABROAD St. Cloud State’s dedication to its expanding diversity of service and student body led to many changes on campus including the establishment of a small business initiative and the university’s first Minority Cultural Center in 1972. By the end of the decade, the Small Business Administration had chosen St. Cloud State to house one of 16 small business development centers in the country. The LGBT Resource Center opened in 1988 followed by the opening of the Women’s Center in 1989. The American Indian Center was founded on campus in 1993. The university also sought to better serve younger students with the addition of Senior to Sophomore courses in 1996 ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
“Let us consider some of the realities and changes we must face in preparing students for the 21st century. ... Universities not emphasizing technological literacy and analytical skills will produce graduates who are ill-prepared for the high technology environment permeating their lives.”
1970 Mass registration for classes in Halenbeck Hall begins and continues until the 1990s when the university offers telephone registration
- PRESIDENT BRENDAN J. MCDONALD, 1983 INAUGURAL ADDRESS
1970s
22 that certified high school teachers throughout the state to teach college-level courses in high schools so students could enter college with St. Cloud State credits on their transcripts. This expanded on the PostSecondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) population of high school students taking courses on campus following state legislation to provide the option in 1985. This diversity was seen in the classroom with new requirements beginning in 1988 that new students earn at least 12 credits in courses that expose them to multicultural, gender and minority concerns. By the 1990s, St. Cloud State’s growing diverse student body recognized the need for additional support with the student group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Atzlan leading a Hunger Strike at the end of spring quarter in May 1995 to call for cultural training for all students and a legal advocate for students, among other demands. The strike led to the creation of the
1974 / For the first time, St. Cloud State awards fewer degrees in education than in other disciplines heralding its transformation from a teacher’s college to a comprehensive university
1976-77 / 50 students spend the year studying abroad in Alnwick Castle in northern England for $1,800
Multicultural Resource Center, the Student Cultural Center and the Latin American and Chicano/a Studies programs. In addition to attracting a diverse student body, St. Cloud State worked to diversify its faculty throughout the 1980s by recruiting women and minorities. Administration diversified with President Roy Saigo serving as the university’s first Asian president in 2000 and President Robbyn Wacker serving as the university’s first permanently-appointed female president in 2018. St. Cloud State also increased funding for women’s athletics and worked to provide better access and assistance to students with disabilities. In addition to welcoming a more diverse body of students and faculty to campus, St. Cloud State expanded outward by beginning its first study abroad programs in the 1970s with the Denmark program in 1973 when students studied abroad in Frederica, Denmark under faculty supervision. The program later moved to Aalborg,
Denmark, and included extensive Western European travels and stays in Danish homes. The program continued until 1992. Another study abroad program started in the 1970s continues to give students new experiences. The Alnwick program began in 1976 and continues to house students in an English castle where students live and study for a semester each fall and spring. The program celebrated 40 years in 2016 and alumni returned for a reunion at Alnwick as part of the Sesquicentennial this past summer. As the university moved into the 1980s, Professor Donald Sikkink earned a Bush Foundation Grant to internationalize the curriculum leading to the university’s international relations program being established and an increase in both the number of international study abroad programs available and the number of international students attending St. Cloud State. In 2003 Lawrence Hall was reopened to serve as a residential hall for international students
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1980 / The Learning Resource Center was the second largest academic library in Minnesota with holdings exceeding 1.5 million items. The library became one of the first in the nation with an automated library system when it computerized the card catalog in 1982.
1988 New students are required to earn at least 12 credits in courses that expose them to multicultural, gender and minority concerns
1980s
1983 / A $1 million grant from the state legislature plus other matching funds develops a new electrical engineering department on campus with equipment donated or discounted by industry partners.
and domestic students to live together and exchange culture. As of fall 2018 more than 1,400 students from 92 nations were enrolled at St. Cloud State. The university’s study abroad programs expanded outward from Europe to Asia when it became a sister school with Akita University in Japan in 1984. Two years later, St. Cloud State hosted a Chinese drama troupe from Nankai University in Tianjin. This was the first time Chinese university students had performed a Chinese play in English in the United States. St. Cloud State reciprocated a year later by bringing a performance of “The Wizard of Oz” to Chinese audiences at the invitation of the Chinese government. This exchange spurred a partnership that continues today. In 2016 the first cohort of students from Nankai University Binhai College arrived on campus to attend classes at the Herberger Business School through a new 2+2 Bachelor of Science in Finance program. Students in
this program complete two years of courses at Nankai University Binhai College and complete their final two years at St. Cloud State to graduate with a degree from both universities. St. Cloud State’s ties with China also continue to remain strong through the establishment of a Confucius Institute on campus in 2013 that promotes Chinese language and culture. Staying true to St. Cloud State’s original mission as a teacher’s college, the Confucius Institute on campus is focused on the development and sustainability of Chinese immersion programs in Minnesota bringing exchange teachers to teach in Minnesota P-12 classrooms and promoting education abroad in China. Study abroad expanded to Africa with a partnership with Nelson Mandela University in South Africa in 1998 and is now available on six continents through more than 30 semester and short term programs.
23 TECHNOLOGY LEADS TO CHANGES The 1980s brought an ending to St. Cloud State with the closing of the lab school in 1983. St. Cloud State had hosted a lab school since its inception more than 100 years earlier, but, as the focus switched from student teaching and observation to an emphasis on research and experimentation, the lab school was no longer viable. The school closed with more than 260 students still enrolled. It was the last of its kind in the State University System. After the lab school vacated, the building was repurposed into the Engineering and Computing Center as technological advancements led to an increasing need for skilled workers in these areas. The center was renovated and became the home of the Electrical Engineering Department, which offered its first classes in fall 1983 with donated equipment from industry partners — within a year the department had achieved national accreditation. Facilities for broadcasting also expandST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
1992 95 computer terminals are installed in the Engineering and Computing Center for student use in a lab still known as the Beehive
We prepare our students for life, work and citizenship in the twenty-first century ST. CLOUD STATE MISSION
1990s
1993-94 / The Financial Aid office provides $39 million in financial aid to more than 10,000 students as tuition rises in the 1990s
24 ed in the early 1990s with the expansion of Stewart Hall to add on Ritsche Auditorium and studios for UTVS and KVSC. Enrollment once again reached a record high in 1990 with more than 17,000 students studying at St. Cloud State. The 1990s were also a time of financial strain for both students and the university as tuition increases outpaced inflation causing students to take out loans to cover their costs and graduate with tuition debts while simultaneous declining enrollments in the late 1990s led to deficits and the need to tighten budgets. Professional offerings expanded to include St. Cloud State’s first doctoral program in 1994 in collaboration with the University of Minnesota. Students took courses at St. Cloud State that led to a Doctor of Educational Administration degree awarded by the University of Minnesota. Today St. Cloud State offers two Ed.D. degrees in educational administration and leadership and higher education administration.
In 2009 St. Cloud State expanded its graduate programs to better serve its students from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area with the opening of the Twin Cities Graduate Center and the addition of new programs in medical technology to meet demand for workers with advanced skills in the region’s medical technology industry. The facility moved to Plymouth in 2017 and is now called St. Cloud State at Plymouth. NEW FACILITIES AND CELEBRATIONS IN SPORTS St. Cloud State’s athletics offerings expanded after the institution of Women’s Athletics in 1969. Thanks to the influence of legendary coach Herb Brooks, the university’s men’s hockey team entered Division I hockey in 1987-88 and the physical campus expanded to include the 7,000-seat National Hockey Center in 1989. Women’s Hockey began in 1998. Huskies Athletics footprint expanded again in 2004 with Husky Stadium is also
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the home for Huskies Football and Huskies Soccer. The former football stadium, Selke Field now serves as the home field for Huskies Softball and is also used by several intramural teams. Huskies Stadium is also the home field for Huskies Softball where they play the first games of the season under a large inflatable dome that covers the field each winter. Huskies Wrestling brought home the university’s first Division II National Championship in 2015, following it up with additional championships in 2016, 2018 and 2019. The team has been a lead contender in NCAA Division II wrestling for a decade. Other teams also found success with Men’s Hockey making a Frozen Four appearance in 2013, Softball placing third in the nation after advancing to the NCAA finals in 2004, Women’s Basketball advancing to the Final Four in 2006, Men’s Basketball advancing to the Final Four in 2010, and Volleyball advancing to the Elite Eight in 1995.
2019 St. Cloud State dedicates Husky Plaza as a place to start new traditions for students and alumni as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations
2000s 2000 / The James W. Miller Learning Resources Center opens to house the university’s library as well as computer labs, electronic classrooms and other technology to serve students
2004 / Huskies Stadium opens as the home field for football and soccer. The softball team plays spring games under the stadium’s inflatable dome.
SERVING NEW NEEDS St. Cloud State was an early adopter of the technology that is continuing to transform higher education and the world. The Learning Resources Center computerized its card catalog in 1982. It was one of the first libraries in the nation to have an online automated library system. This focus on technology found a new home with the opening of the Miller Center in 2000, which houses both the University Library and IT services. Centennial Hall was renovated to serve the Herberger Business School, one of several building renovations in the 2000s as the university took the time and effort to preserve its historic structures while ensuring they continue to serve modern needs. The Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility opened in August 2013 to grow offerings for students in engineering and research. The building houses laboratories and research spaces for engineering, computing, biological and health research, experiential learning and innovation. It of-
2015 / Huskies Wrestling brings home St. Cloud State’s first ever national championship. The team followed up the accomplishment with repeats in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
fers students and faculty a place to discover solutions to real-world business and STEM research needs. Enrollment increased again to record levels in 2010 with more than 18,000 students, including almost 2,000 graduate students, studying and learning at St. Cloud State. Since that record level, St. Cloud State has seen declining enrollment as the university responds to the new realities of decreasing state funding, smaller numbers graduating from Minnesota high schools and new forms of competition from out of state and online institutions. As the university looked forward to celebrating its sesquicentennial and responding to this new reality, the sudden death of President Earl H. Potter III and the resulting upheaval in university leadership led to the need for change. Change that continues today under the leadership of President Robbyn Wacker who is reimagining how the university can best serve the needs of students in the
25 21st century as the university of choice in Minnesota. Students coming to campus now have a need for lifelong learning and new disciplines as companies throughout the world continue to adapt to globalization and the digital age, and St. Cloud State looks forward to its next 150 years. This new way of serving students is evident in the re-opening of Eastman Hall this fall. What began as a space for physical education training is now the Center for Health and Wellness Innovation designed to serve the whole student needs of academics, health, wellness and wellbeing.
SOURCE: “LOYAL TO THY FINE TRADITION: ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY – 125 YEARS IN WORDS AND PICTURES – 1869-1994” PHOTOS COURTESY OF ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
Student researchers help federal officials research, clean up the Great Lakes BY JOEL HOEKSTRA
PROT…CTING TH 26
Dr. Heiko Schoenfuss Biology professor and founder of St. Cloud State’s Aquatic Toxicology Lab
It varies from year to year, but we have averaged about a quarter-million dollars in grant funding each year, for a total of about $6 million. – HEIKO SCHOENFUSS
In May, students Chryssa King ’18 and Elizabeth Solarz went on a fishing expedition of sorts. With a specially-equipped Mobile Exposure Laboratory Trailer in tow — a rarity in scientific work — the students traveled to Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Michigan as part of a federal program to improve water quality and wildlife habitats in the Great Lakes region. King, a graduate student in cell and molecular biology at St. Cloud State, and Solarz, an undergraduate in biology, spent the next three weeks visiting various locations in the Twin Rivers watershed, collecting water from different streams. They transferred the water samples to aquariums in the trailer with fathead minnows and observed, studied and recorded what they found to determine the condition of the water and its effect on the laboratory-raised fish. “I never in my life dreamed that I’d ever have any interest in working with fish,” King said with a laugh. “It’s definitely not glamorous work.” This field work by King and Solarz may
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not be glamorous, but it’s a highly rewarding opportunity and extremely important part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that seeks to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world. To advance this massive project, the federal agencies involved with the initiative have partnered with dozens of nonprofit, municipal and academic organizations, including St. Cloud State’s Aquatic Toxicology Lab. The lab, in turn, relies on student researchers like King and Solarz to do field work, specimen collection and data analysis. Located in the Wick Science Building, the Aquatic Toxicology Lab is devoted to investigating the impact of chemical pollution on aquatic life. After 21 days in the field, King and Solarz returned to the lab, where samples from the fish they exposed to waters from the Twin Rivers (and their offspring) were examined for changes in normal biological function. The objective? To identify how chemical exposure affects the reproduction and growth of new minnows — and by extension, to identify the potential risks of exposure to human
PHOTO BY RUBIN SAGAR / SHUTTERSTOCK
H… GR…AT LAK…S health. “I was planning to be done with my education after earning my bachelor’s degree, but now I’m doing graduate work and planning to pursue a Ph.D.,” said King, who got involved with the lab as an undergraduate. “I fell in love with the people and the work I’m doing.”
LAB LEADS TO OPPORTUNITIES St. Cloud’s Aquatic Toxicology Lab was founded by Dr. Heiko Schoenfuss in 2003. German by birth, Schoenfuss studied biology at the University of Bayreuth before coming to the United States, where he earned a master’s degree in veterinary anatomy and a Ph.D. in evolutionary morphology — both from Louisiana State University. His interest in anatomy eventually led Schoenfuss to the intersection of biology and chemistry — and, from there, to minnows and Minnesota. In the 1990s, scientists became alarmed by the number of deformed frogs and fish that were turning up in wetlands and waterways in developed countries. The exact cause of the problem was unknown, but
several clues pointed to man-made chemicals called endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruptors are compounds that alter the normal cellular process in an organism or its offspring. Most often these altered mechanisms belong to the endocrine system, which produces hormones that regulate metabolism, growth, reproduction and a host of other essential processes. “It was really reports about feminized male fish — organisms that were hermaphroditic that got people’s notice and moved Congress to pass legislation asking the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the problem,” Schoenfuss recalled. “The EPA collaborated with scientists in academia, which essentially launched my career.” Schoenfuss was hired as a biology professor at St. Cloud State in 2001, and shortly thereafter founded the Aquatic Toxicology Lab. The purpose of the lab is multifold. In part, it supports the professor’s own research — and Schoenfuss has managed to land dozens of high-profile grants to fund his work. Dollars from the EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
and the state’s Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment have helped him purchase aquariums, fish food, freezers and other equipment and materials for the lab. “It varies from year to year, but we have averaged about a quarter-million dollars in grant funding each a year, for a total of about $6 million at this point.” Schoenfuss and the lab have also partnered with public agencies that monitor water quality in Chicago and Los Angeles, creating additional collaborations that support the research conducted in the lab. In launching the lab, Schoenfuss also saw opportunities to advance research on campus. Various faculty members are now associated with the lab, including Dr. Satomi Kohno, a specialist in toxicology who studied crocodiles in Florida before moving to Minnesota to join the faculty. “We were very lucky to be able to attract him to St. Cloud State,” Schoenfuss said. “We couldn’t have done that without the lab.” But the greatest opportunity the lab could offer the university, Schoenfuss believed, was to give graduate and undergradST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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uate students a chance to do research. “Research is a very abstract concept,” Schoenfuss said. “Students really don’t know what to expect when they start doing research. We’re not officially a research university — we’re focused on teaching — so there are fewer opportunities for students to spend time in labs and to conduct research. For some of them, research experience is beneficial because they’re going into professions that involve lab and research work. In other cases, I think, there’s a more personal and even social benefit to research work. “Research generates facts. And in a place and time when we as a society are questioning the value of facts more and more, I think that understanding where facts come from is helpful to making sound decisions.”
STUDENT RESEARCHERS
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The work of the Aquatic Toxicology Lab has changed since it was launched in 2003. Partly, the science surrounding endocrine disruptors has grown and basic questions have given way to more complex questions. “We have shifted from looking at single chemicals to more and more complex chemical mixtures that are getting closer and closer to reflecting what’s actually in the environment,” Schoenfuss said. “It isn’t just the pesticides used in agriculture that contaminate our water, it’s also household chemicals and pharmaceuticals and industrial pollutants. In our research, we’ve shift-
Charles Christen, biomedical sciences undergraduate student.
Chyrssa King ’18 is pursuing her master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology.
ed to looking at mixtures of compounds.” The work has also moved beyond the walls of the lab and into the field, giving students yet another opportunity to broaden their horizons. In 2012, the lab was approached by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials to participate in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. St. Cloud State students are now collaborators in helping pinpoint regions where chemical mixtures — a blend of contaminants used in everything from fertilizers to household cleaners — come together in the environment to form potentially harmful hot spots. “We’re looking at environments to see what chemicals show up frequently and how they affect organisms,” Schoenfuss said. “Do the compounds and endocrine problems in fish co-occur in some sort of a predictable fashion?” Which brings us back to King and Solarz. The pair were sent to do field work in Two Rivers because the area aligns with several of the suspected chemicals that lab researchers have identified as harmful. If their theory is correct, the region’s fish may be more likely to be affected by endocrine disruptors than organisms found elsewhere. This information could prove key to helping federal officials decide on next steps as they seek to clean up the Great Lakes. Two other St. Cloud State students were dispatched in the summer to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to collect more samples with the Mobile Exposure Laboratory Trailer. Charles Christen, an undergraduate student majoring in biomedical sciences, signed up to participate in the field work because he thought it would enhance his education. “I saw this as a chance to apply the skills I’m learning,” he said. “We learn things in chemistry classes, but we don’t
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Research generates facts. And in a place and time when we as a society are questioning the value of facts more and more, I think that understanding where facts come from is helpful to making sound decisions. – HEIKO SCHOENFUSS
apply that much to the world around us. In the mobile lab, we’re applying our skills to actual problems in real-life settings.” James Gerads, another graduate student involved with the Grand Rapids field work, said he signed up simply because he was intrigued by the idea of a lab that could be deployed into the field. Several students have used their experience with the Aquatic Research Lab to help publish papers, which is a significant honor to add to a resume. Others simply say they’re glad to have the opportunity to see behind the curtain and get a glimpse of what research looks like, from first inquiries to funding to publication. “Even if they don’t go into aquatic toxicology research after they leave St. Cloud State, these students will have a firm grasp of the scientific method, how science progresses and how science is communicated,” Schoenfuss said. King agreed and cited her time in the lab as critical to her growth as a student. “I don’t think I would’ve been as successful in my college career without these experiences,” she said.
JOEL HOEKSTRA IS A FREELANCE WRITER BASED IN MINNEAPOLIS.
Opening doors by wading in By Mitchell Hansen ’17
When Chryssa King ’18 first arrived at St. Cloud State University in 2015 she wasn’t quite sure what career path she wanted to follow or what kind of job she would want after her academic career. As an undergraduate student, King began studying biomedical sciences and became introduced to biology professor Dr. Heiko Schoenfuss and the University’s Aquatic Research Lab. “Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing when I got to St. Cloud State. I was told by a graduate student in the Biology Tutoring Center that if you want to do anything that is worthwhile, do research,” she said. “It just so happened to be Heiko’s lab, and I started working in there and I just kind of fell in love with it. It just worked.” Ever since that moment, King was hooked and never left, eventually graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences in 2018 and is now in pursuit of her master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology. “The biology department, I love this department. There are so many professors that are more than willing to help out. It has opened so many doors for me, given me so many opportunities and kind of solidified what I wanted to do,” she said. “I fully intended on getting my bachelor’s degree and getting out of school. Now, I’m looking at Ph.D. programs and it really changed my outlook.” From taking part in various experiments in a laboratory setting to being able to gain hands-on experiences out in the field, students within the biology department are able to obtain the lessons necessary to prepare them while moving forward in life. “I have been able to enjoy and experience a lot of opportunities like this research. It has helped set me up and prepare me to where I want to go after college,” said Charles Christen, an undergraduate student majoring in biomedical sciences. “This program and being at St. Cloud State has offered me the ability to connect with the professors. They are great resources, have a lot to teach and I’ve learned a lot from them. They also have the ability to point me in the right directions after college.” Since starting his tenure as a biology professor at St. Cloud State in 2001, Schoenfuss has taken great pride in teaching students both information, skills and life lessons that science has the ability to provide. “It’s not just taking pride in it, but also recognizing that we rely to a large degree on that next generation of scientists to solve some of the problems that we are facing right now. Having students that are well-trained and know how to conduct themselves professionally, as well as achieve the kind of goals that need to be achieved to advance, that’s a great success for our laboratory. “There are a number of life lessons and professional skills that come out of conducting and participating in this kind of research.” ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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Births and adoptions Marriages and commitments Unless otherwise noted, cities are in Minnesota
’70s
Joseph Wicker, Clearwater, daughter, Cassandra, 7/15/2016. / ’04 KYLE LEE, Scottsdale, Arizona, is head golf professional at Alexandria Golf Club. / ’04 KERRY (TOSO) CARLSON and Kevin Carlson, Brooklyn Park, son, Owen, 1/22/2014. / ’04 AMANDA (BRANDT, GRANING) CUNNINGHAM and Ryan Cunningham, Hermantown, 4/8/2018. / ’05 ANNIE DECKERT, Elk River, is executive director of the Greater Fergus Falls Corporation. / ’05 AMY (HINES) KRAMER , Albany, New York, is president of New York for AT&T. Kramer will now oversee all New York state legislative and regulatory affairs. / ’05 GRAHAM RUPPEL and Kellsey (Andries) Ruppel, Cumberland, Wisconsin, son, Finley Andries, 9/9/2015. / ’06 ERIC ATHMAN, Crystal, is a major in the Army National Guard. He serves in dual roles as an operations officer of an Infantry Battalion, and as the state military auditor. / ’06 KATHRYN (SKINNER) ANDERSON and ’08 ’11 ERIK ANDERSON, Sauk Rapids, daughter, Ariana L., 1/2/2019. / ’07 WILLIAM FLYNN, Los Angeles, California, plays Chad DiMera on NBC’s “Days of Our Lives.” / ’07 WILLIAM FLYNN and Gina Compar, Los Angeles, California, 10/1/2016. / ’07 AARON GROSS , Blacksburg, Virginia, is assistant professor of entomology in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. / ’08 ANDREW SANDHOLM and Elizabeth Casasnovas Sandholm, New York, New York, daughter, Isabella, 1/11/2019. He was also named first vice president, head of marketing communications at IDB, a private bank in Manhattan. / ’08 ASHLEY (MOSHER) SHEEREN and Michel Sheeren, Spring, Texas, daughter, Emma, 6/8/2015. / ’09 JAYSON HRON, Sartell, is Port Authority’s director of communications and marketing. / ’09 JORDAN WOLFRUM, Columbus, Ohio, is head swimming coach at UCLA. / ’09 ’12 ASHLEY BEEMAN, Minneapolis, is associate director of Student Support Services at Hennepin Technical College. / ’09 DYLAN EDWARDS and ’10 ’14 BRETTA (BERGSTROM) EDWARDS , St. Cloud, daughter, Arwynn Lily, 5/23/2019. / ’09 ETHAN WITTROCK and Courtney (Kroska) Wittrock, St Joseph, twins, Eleanor Lucille and Alton Henry, 10/26/2018.
’73 CAROL ANN (NORD) RUSSELL , Bemidji, is the author of four books of poetry, including “The Red Envelope,” “Silver Dollar” and “Gypsy Taxi.” / ’75 MICHAEL MUELLER , Melrose, retired after teaching 41 years as an elementary teacher in Independence, Wisconsin, and 39 years in Red Lake Falls. / ’77 DESTA (JENSEN) LUTZWICK , Fergus Falls, retired as director of probation with Otter Tail County after 38 years. / ’77 EARL MAUS , Baxter, retired as Minnesota’s 9th Judicial District Judge after 11 years on the bench and nearly 30 years as a prosecutor. / ’77 JANE (POWELL) SANCHEZ, Redwood Falls, retired from Redwood Valley Middle School after 38 years as an educator. / ’78 SHARON (SCHORN) BOMSTAD, Willmar, celebrated her 40th anniversary at the West Central Tribune.
’80s
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CLASS NOTES KEY:
your milestones, experiences, changes or recent additions to your family. Visit stcloudstate.edu/alumni to update your profile.
’80 RANDAL ZIMMER , Milaca, is a 2019 Inductee to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame — Minnesota Chapter. / ’81 STEPHEN MARTINSON, Hershey, Pennsylvania, surpassed 1,000 coaching wins this season for Allen Americans of the ECHL. / ’81 JEFFREY PASSOLT, Eden Prairie, retired as a news anchor at Fox 9 in Minneapolis. Passolt joined KMSP in May 1996. / ’82 MARK HERZOG, Red Wing, retired from coaching after 29 years as the Wingers’ head girls golf coach. / ’84 JOHN GLISCZINSKI, Le Center, is Sibley county’s county administrator. / ’84 DAVID HINNENKAMP, St. Cloud, was named Bergan KDV’s new CEO on July 1. He has been with the company for 34 years. / ’84 HOPE (ERKENBRACK) NADEAU, New Richmond, Wisconsin, retired from teaching fourth grade after 33 years in the New Richmond School District. / ’85 SUE (ANDERSON) IVERSON, Plymouth, retired from Wayzata High School after 33 years. / ’85 DAVID SCHEER , White Bear Lake, was a featured speaker on Characterization and Remediation of Fractured Rock at the Remediation Technology Summit in Denver, Colorado. He was also a featured speaker at a fractured rock workshop for visiting scientists from South Korea at the University of Minnesota. / ’85 ’92 BRADLEY DETERMAN, Minneapolis, was appointed to BLM Technologies’ Board of Directors. Determan is executive vice president of HNI Corporation. / ’87 KEVIN NOKELS , Omaha, Nebraska, was named CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth. / ’89 MICHAEL HATTEN, St. Cloud, earned the second annual NCHC Media Excellence Award. / ’89 BRIAN LOMMEL , Sartell, is the owner of Bitstream Productions in Sartell.
’90s
’90 CLAY DODD, Bloomington, is director of valuation and advisory services at CBRE Group, Inc., a commercial real estate services and investment firm in Minneapolis. / ’90 CARMEN (HOFF) MIHELICH CPA, Frisco, Texas, is partner at Copeland Buhl & Company, a CPA firm located in Wayzata. / ’90 ’12 LINDA (HALBUR) HOISETH, Paynesville, moved from the American School of Doha (Qatar) to the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India, and has been teaching internationally for 26 years. / ’91 COREY BUNTING, Dundee, and his wife, Lori, are recognized for their Century Farm in 2019. / ’93 PAULA (STEIL) HENRY, St. Cloud, is superintendent of Lake Park-Audubon Public Schools. ’93 BRAD HOFFARTH, Osakis, is principal at Osakis High School. / ’93 CONNIE (LUNCEFORD) LAHN, Hopkins, was elected by the American College of Bankruptcy to its 30th class of Fellows. Lahn is managing partner of Barnes & Thornburg’s Minneapolis office. / ’96 RACHEL (STORMS) POLSON, Greenfield, is the 2019-2020 chair of the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants (MNCPA) Board. / ’97 MICHELLE (MILLER) MEITNER , North Hollywood, California, is the director of career services at West Coast University. She and her team won the 2018 Best School Award from the AAMN association. / ’97 JACQUELINE MILLER , Weston, Wisconsin, is business development manager with S.C. Swiderski, LLC. / ’97 ’02 ’08 ’13 JASON STOCK and Tracy (Johnson) Stock, St. Cloud, daughter, Anna Rose, 7/26/19. / ’99 WILLIAM HOLMGREN, Big Lake, is executive director of business services at Lakeville Area Public Schools.
’00s
’00 GREGORY BATES and Kristyn Bates, De Pere, Wisconsin, daughter, Braelyn Louis, 12/21/2018. / ’00 RACHEL (SWANSON) ERDMAN and Christopher Erdman, Afton, 4/7/2018. / ’01 SHEILA (TYE) EARP, St. Paul, is the new owner of Picture This paper crafting store in Eau Claire. / ’01 SCOTT MITTELSTADT, Burnsville, is sergeant of the Eden Prairie Police Department. / ’02 LAURA (ATHMAN) ARNDT, Rice, is principal of Sartell Middle School. / ’02 MATTHEW HENDRICKS , Deephaven, retired from the National Hockey League. / ’02 JONATHAN PAUL , Marina Del Rey, California, is senior consultant at JND Legal Administration for the company’s mass tort and lien resolution service lines. / ’02 MELISSA (GANJE) KRAMOLIS and Jeremy Kramolis, Ashland, Wisconsin, son, Jaxon, 3/12/2016. / ’03 MICHAEL KAKUK , Helena, Montana, joined the Helena office of the U.S. Attorney’s for the District of Montana. / ’03 MALINDA WICKER and
HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2019 / WINTER 2020
’10s
’10 JENNA MASCHINO, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is transformational ministry coordinator and communications manager at Love in the Name of Christ. / ’10 CHRISTOPHER PAPE, Vermillion, South Dakota, is assistant coach in charge of diving at the University of South Dakota. / ’10 CHRISTOPHER SCHLEICHER , Minneapolis, was named a Rising Young Professional by Finance and Commerce
magazine. Chris is a Tax Manager at Baker Tilly. / ’10 ELIZABETH (MILLER) ROGNESS and Erik Rogness, Carver, son, Lincoln Perry, 6/23/2018. / ’10 ANDREA (HEINCY) WELLS and Nicholas Wells, St. Cloud, daughter, Zoe Elizabeth, 4/4/2018. / ’11 LISA (SAARI) LAWSON and Josh Lawson, Clearwater, 9/1/2018. / ’11 ERIC WHEELER and Kathryn Salvatore, Roseville, 2/14/2019. / ’12 SAMANTHA (SEARL) ERPELDING and Michael Erpelding, Sartell, daughter, Charlotte, 8/4/2018. / ’12 LUKE JORDAN, Maple Plain, hiked the 2,200 mile Great Plains Trail from West Texas to the Canadian border. / ’12 NASH MELAND, Minneapolis, is associate managing director for Principal Financial group. / ’13 CHRISTINA (CHRISTIANSON) OWEN and William Owen, Minneapolis, 6/15/18. / ’14 MICHAEL DEW, Madison, Wisconsin, is a helicopter mechanic with the Wisconsin Army National Guard. / ’14 KEVIN GRAVEL , Kingsford, Michigan, signed a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL. / ’14 RACHEL OHMANN, Albany, is an advanced practice clinician with Willmar Orthopedics. / ’14 MARIE PFLIPSEN, Sauk Rapids, is community development director for the city of Becker. / ’15 AMANDA TEN NAPEL , Sibley, Iowa, is a mental health clinician and outpatient therapist for Creative Living Center in Sheldon and Rock Rapids. / ’15 ’17 CARLEY JEFFERY, St. Cloud, is assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Sioux Falls. / ’16 HAYLEE (KNISKERN) BROOKS , Stillwater, is web anchor for KARK, Channel 4, and KLRT, Fox16. / ’16 RYAN CONNOLLY, Vadnais Heights, is featured as a Rising Young Professional in Finance & Commerce magazine. / ’16 ETHAN PROW, Sauk Rapids, signed a two-year contract to play for the Florida Panthers in the NHL. / ’17 ASHLEY (AKERSON) ANDERSON and Sander Anderson, St. Cloud, 10/20/2018. / ’17 CHRISTOPHER FENSKE, Cottonwood, was recognized as a 2019 Administrator of Excellence by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. / ’17 NATHANIEL GWOST, St. Cloud, is a senior accountant at Conway, Deuth & Schmiesing PLLP. / ’17 KELSEY LEESON, Taylorsville, Utah, is assistant swimming coach at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. / ’19 SPENCER SCHACHT, Luverne, joined the ABC FOX Montana team in June 2019.
NONGRAD
MATTHEW CULLEN, Moorhead, retired after 21 seasons in the National Hockey League and has joined the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey operations department in a player development role. / NICHOLAS DOWD and Paige Kraemer, Arlington, Virginia, 8/11/2017. / MICHELLE (SPUDE) HAWKINSON and Bryan Hawkinson, Maplewood, daughter, Taylor Nicole, 3/3/2019. / ANTHONY SCHWARTZ , Sauk Rapids, was named head boys’ swimming coach at Rocori High School.
FORMER SWIMMING STANDOUT NAMED NEW HEAD COACH AT UCLA Jordan Wolfrum ’09, a former St. Cloud State University swimming standout, was named the new head coach of the UCLA women’s swimming and diving team in July. Wolfrum, who majored in mathematics, is one of just three women in charge of Top 25 Division I women’s swimming and diving programs throughout the country.
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REVISITING MEMORIES WITH ALUMNI RETURN TO ALNWICK For years, Krista McPherson ’99 and her husband Pat discussed the idea of returning to England and the Alnwick Castle, but ultimately never ended up making plans to do so. That was until Krista received news that the Alumni Relations office, in collaboration with the Center for International Studies, was offering alumni the opportunity to return to England and Alnwick Castle as part of the Alumni Alnwick Experience. “We talked about going back to England and financially we were talking about how we could do it. I wanted to go back for the last 10 years, it just hadn’t gotten to the point where we could plan anything,” said McPherson, who studied in the castle in 1997-98 as a St. Cloud State student. “Then an email came up about this trip and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. “It was the perfect time for us. That’s why we had to jump on the train – literally.” The Alumni Alnwick Experience brought McPherson and other alumni back to the castle from June 30 to July 6. Features of the trip included a six-night stay at Alnwick Castle, various excursions and lectures led by British faculty member David Young and Dr. Gareth John, professor of British studies at St. Cloud State, endless exploring and much more. ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
WEIS ’98 CONTINUES TO GIVE BACK AS AN IT DIRECTOR AT OPTUM, KENT WEIS ’98 CONTINUES TO GROW WITH ST. CLOUD STATE. BY REMAINING IN CLOSE CONTACT, HE MENTORS STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE THEIR CAREER GOALS WHILE ACTING AS A TEAM LEADER.
Ever since he graduated from St. Cloud State University, Kent Weis ’98 has continued to focus on staying in close contact with his alma mater. “The reputation of the school has really grown in a positive way, which I appreciate because I want it to be recognized as one of the best schools in the world,” Weis said. “When I was going to school there, it was fun. I really enjoyed the environment and camaraderie on and off campus. I go back and it’s gorgeous, it’s a school that is really advancing.” Weis, who earned his degree in computer science, is currently an IT director at Optum, which is the fast-growing part of UnitedHealth Group and is a leading information and technology-enabled health services business. Since graduating, Weis has maintained contact and has worked with St. Cloud State students within the computer science and information systems programs to help promote the Optum brand and serve as a mentor while conducting lectures and info sessions for students in those programs. He
acknowledged the strengths of the technology programs at the university and often works to help hire St. Cloud State students out of those programs to join Optum. At Optum, where he has worked for 15 years, Weis wears a lot of different hats while primarily serving as a leader of teams, he is a culture ambassador and is responsible for leading 11 cross-platform IT support areas, among other duties. “Every day I am doing something different. One of the things I really liked (when I went to St. Cloud State) was that I took a lot of business-focused electives to round myself out on the business side,” Weis said. “the opportunity that you have at the Herberger Business School, not only was I getting a great education in business, but that has helped me in my career today.” Now residing in Maple Grove, Weis often comes through the St. Cloud area to this day when heading to a cabin in Alexandria or playing in his band CandyStore. Read more: scsu.mn/weis
OPTUM HAS HIRED ABOUT 500 SCSU GRADUATES Weis helps St. Cloud State students with their career goals through an e-mentoring program with technology clubs on campus. Students and St. Cloud State alumni at Optum email to stay in touch and talk about their career paths and the career field.
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ALUMNI NEWS
THE SCSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
ST. CLOUD STATE ALUMNI help power the state economy. 103,499 alumni over a 40-year span will contribute nearly $61.2 billion to Minnesota’s economy. Learn more: scsu.mn/2RSu6ow
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ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
ALUMNI NEWS ALUMNI AWARD HONORS
ABOVE: The Alumni Association and St. Cloud State University Foundation honored four alumni for their accomplishments and dedication to the university during Homecoming in September. Award winners are (from left to right) Diane Moeller ’77 ’82, Distinguished Alumni Award recipient; Emmanuel Oppong ’13, Alumni Service Award recipient; Dr. Nirjal Bhattatai ’08, Graduate of the Last Decade Award recipient; and Dennis Mergen ’93 ’12, University Leadership Award recipient, pictured here with President Robbyn Wacker at the annual President’s Club Gala.
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LEFT: Jim ’73 and Ann Marie Maciej accept the St. Cloud State University 2019 Visionary Award from President Robbyn Wacker, right, for their philanthropy to the School of Health and Human Services with the naming of the Maciej Nursing Education Suite in 2018. Read more: scsu.mn/2mgzzvl
In celebration of the sesquicentennial, St. Cloud State University has developed
You can purchase an engraved brick for the plaza in honor of 150 years of St. Cloud State. Now accepting orders for Summer 2020 placement.
scsu.mn/bricks HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2019 / WINTER 2020
HUSKY PLAZA
– a new gathering place on campus Husky Plaza features a bronze statue of a Husky designed by a commissioned artist.
PREPARING STUDENTS TO TRAVEL THE WORLD WHEN CHANDLER WILSON ’09 FIRST ARRIVED AT ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY IN 2005, HE INITIALLY HELD GOALS OF TRYING TO ADVANCE HIS FOOTBALL CAREER AS A LINEBACKER WITH THE HUSKIES. WHEN A PAIR OF KNEE INJURIES PUT A HALT TO HIS ATHLETIC AND FOOTBALL CAREER AT ST. CLOUD STATE, WILSON QUICKLY SHIFTED HIS FOCUS TO ACADEMICS AND WHAT HE WANTED TO DO ONCE HE EARNED HIS DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY.
Graduating from St. Cloud State while majoring in political science prepared him to travel the globe and land a unique opportunity with one of the world’s largest banks in London, England. Wilson, a Chanhassen native who graduated from Chaska High School before coming to St. Cloud, is currently the head of Data Science Innovation at HSBC Bank, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations. HSBC serves more than 40 million customers and covers 65 countries and territories through four global businesses, including Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Private Banking. As the head of Data Science Innovation, Wilson’s job requires him to combine a lot of different tools he began learning while at St. Cloud State, currently overseeing machine learning and alternative data – among other duties – for HSBC. “I’ve always been about learning rather than doing, and I always liked numbers,” he said. “It’s an interesting career and I have kind of been able to define it on my own.” Wilson eventually attended graduate school and later earned an opportunity to work at the European Commission and European Parliament. After holding positions throughout Belgium and around the United States, Wilson landed in London in his current position with HSBC. And when it comes to the preparation that helped boost him to where he is today, that stems back to his time at St. Cloud State. Wilson’s time as a Husky provided him with a good stepping stone to prepare him for life beyond his initial athletic and academic aspirations. “I would definitely recommend St. Cloud State. You can go anywhere that you want from St. Cloud,” he said. “If you put in the time and become a master of your craft, St. Cloud State can set you up to do whatever you want to do in life. That’s what’s most important.”
ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE
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