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FRIDAY, OCT. 5 • Brown & Gold Spirit Day • Alumni Awards Luncheon Noon • Alumni Heritage Gallery Grand Opening - 1:30 p.m. • Alumni Art Exhibit 2:00 p.m. • 40th Anniversary Fun with the Johnny Holm Band
A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS OF SOUTHWEST MIINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
Isiah Whit lock, Jr.
SATURDAY, OCT. 6 • Parade Alumni Hospitality Tent 9:45 a.m. • Homecoming Parade 10:00 a.m. • Charter Class Reunion Luncheon 12:30 p.m. • Tailgating in the Stampede Zone 3:00 p.m. • Ag Bowl Barbecue 4:00 p.m. • Night Football Game 6:00 p.m. • 40th Anniversary Fireworks After the Football Game
SUNDAY, OCT. 7
CHARTER CLASS REUNION
• Fall Classic Alumni Baseball & Softball Games 12:00 p.m.
Celebrating the classes of 1969 – 1971 w w w. S o u t h we s t A l u m n i . c o m / h o m e c o m i n g
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A magazine for alumni & friends of Southwest Minnesota State University
Spring 2007 volume 27 number 1
CONTENTS 2 southwest news 4 get to know us 5 campaign for southwest 6 feature story - Isiah Whitlock Jr. 10 alumni spotlight 11 alumni connections 14 athletics Message from the President Dear Alumni and Friends, This issue of Focus celebrates Southwest Minnesota State University’s past, present, and future. As you will read in the following pages, the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University have been building on our past successes to enhance SMSU’s present and to help create its bright future. This edition of Focus contains a number of articles highlighting the success of alumni and the expectations of faculty and staff. You will also read about the thoughtful visit of George McGovern and his challenging vision for the future. As to the present, the campus is engaged in a number of exciting ventures, not the least of which is our thirty-ninth commencement. With President Jon Wefald as our commencement speaker, Southwest Minnesota State University’s past, present and future will surely be addressed. Dr. Wefald brought great vigor and life to the campus in the late 1970’s and was fundamental to insuring the future of our institution.
President Dr. David C. Danahar Vice President for Advancement Dr. Vincent M. Pellegrino Executive Director of Foundation Bill Mulso ʼ93 Director of Alumni Relations Tyler Bowen ʼ95 bowent@SouthwestMSU.edu Designer Stacie Mulso ʼ94 mulsos@SouthwestMSU.edu
Senior Writer and Photography Jim Tate tatej@SouthwestMSU.edu Contributors Stacy Frost ʼ93 Sara Granheim ʼ02/MBA ʼ04 Crystal Kruger Kelly Loft ʼ97 Andy Schlichting ʼ06 Dr. Ruthe Thompson Cover Photograph Todd Finlo, Prairielight Photography
Digital graphics courtesy of CottageArts.net Focus (USPS 565-770) is published twice each year for alumni and friends of Southwest Minnesota State University by the Alumni Office. Opinions expressed in Focus do not necessarily reflect official University policy. Send correspondence, name changes and address corrections to: Focus, Alumni Office, Southwest Minnesota State University, 1501 State Street, Marshall, MN 56258 or call (507) 537-6266. Focus is not copyrighted. Unless otherwise noted, articles may be reprinted without permission if credit is given to Southwest Minnesota State University. Southwest Minnesota State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action educator and employer. Southwest Minnesota State University is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. This document can be made available in alternative formats to individuals with disabilities. Please make your request by calling 507-537-6266, 1-800-260-0970, or through the Minnesota Relay Service at 1-800-627-3529.
I know that you will join me in celebrating our past, in honoring our present and in working toward our future.
FOCUS MAGAZINE
SPRING 2007
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southwest news
2006-2007 Alumni Board of Directors
President Jason Hoffman ’99 Faribault, MN Vice President Bruce Bossuyt ’96 Sioux Falls, SD Secretary/Treasurer Karen VanKeulen ’87 Ghent, MN G. David Peterson ’75 West Des Moines, IA Paula Wolter ’91/’00 Windom, MN Sedric McClure ’94 Brooklyn Park, MN Chuck Larsen ’75 Minneapolis, MN Jason Mortvedt ’78 Blue Earth, MN Carole Toft-Ness ’80 Hendricks, MN Dr. Jim Walters ’89 Rochester, MN Michelle Anderson ’88 Rochester, MN Amanda Romaine ’03 St. Cloud, MN
NBS Awards Southwest Minnesota State University members of the National Broadcasting Society (NBS) won 14 awards at the recent NBS Heartland Regional Convention in Madison, Wis. That showing continues a string of successful years for the NBS chapter, which continues to be recognized for its excellence. SMSU members won four first-place individual awards at the regional competition, four first-place category awards, and six second-place category awards. That outstanding showing qualified several members to compete for honors at the national NBS convention in Chicago, Ill., March 27-April 1. SMSU had two national finalists in production categories: Andrea Kopfmann (sr., Alpena, S.D.) for “KKCK Takeover” in the Audio/Music Entertainment category, and “Mustang Volleyball,” with Krystle Lundgren (sr., Clarkfield, Minn.) and Chelsea Young (sr., Stratford, S.D.) in the Play-byPlay category. Several members qualified for individual national honors as well. Ron Olson (sr., Madelia, Minn.) was a Communications Coordinator of the Year finalist, and Alex Peterson (sr., Marshall, Minn.) was a Rookie and Member of the Year finalist. Chapter advisor Mike McHugh was a finalist for Advisor of the Year, and the entire NBS chapter was nominated for Chapter of the Year, as well as consideration for Model Chapter designation. “The recognition our students receive, both at the regional and national level, is a testament to the day-in-, day-out work that they do,” said McHugh.
Rasmusson Leaving “Home” Rev. Steve Rasmusson recently left the Campus Religious Center after nearly 20 years as the Lutheran campus minister. He has accepted an assignment to work with the Winds of the Prairie Ministries, a group of rural Evangelical Lutheran churches in Ivanhoe, Arco, Ruthton, Lake Benton and Minneota. “It’s a new idea,” he said. “A multi-point, multiple staff group.” He will be joined by two other clergy, and together they will tend to the spiritual needs of the five parishes. “After you’ve been at a place for 20 years it feels
Jan Nelson ’73 Redwood Falls, MN Robert Walker ’98/’04 Marshall, MN Deb Mitlyng ’85 Marshall, MN Executive Director Tyler Bowen ’95 Marshall, MN bowent@SouthwestMSU.edu
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like home,” he said, recalling the day — August 15, 1987 — when he came to Marshall. “It’s been a wonderful stay.” In his new position, Rasmusson will also be working to establish a leadership model for rural ministries. “We have something called Societies in Ministries, which is for those individuals with a bachelor’s degree who, with some training, are certified to work within the church. The way it is set up now, that training occurs in an urban setting, so what you have are people who grow up in a rural setting, get their training in an urban setting, and then come back to a rural setting. What we hope to do is to train them in a rural setting — it’s a more indigenous form of learning, a more contextualized education.” Rasmussen will miss the on-campus vitality the Campus Religious Center brought to his life. “I have a great relationship with alumni — former students who were active within the CRC,” he said. “I literally have friends all over the world.” He’s been busy planning events surrounding the CRC’s 40th anniversary next year. “We’re getting responses form alumni from all over,” he said. “We invite everyone back for the anniversary.”
www.southwestmsu.edu/CRC
southwest news
Undergraduate Research Conference The first annual SMSU Undergraduate Research Conference was held at SMSU this past winter, an event that featured the work of Environmental Science, Biology and Chemistry students. “It was our first attempt at it, and it was a success,” said Dr. Emily Deaver, Associate Professor of Environmental Science. “Our students have done interesting and important research on a variety of topics, and this was a way to highlight their efforts.” The event was held in the Conference Center on campus. Twenty students each gave 10-minute oral presentations about their respective scientific research projects they conducted during the past year. Twenty-seven posters were also displayed throughout the day highlighting other research topics conducted by SMSU students. The students were on hand to answer questions posed by those in attendance. “The people who attended were very impressed with the quality of the students’ research,” said Deaver. “I think it was a great opportunity for them to show to others the types of research being done by SMSU students.”
www.southwestmsu.edu/science
Ending Hunger in Our Time Former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern gave a talk on “Ending Hunger in Our Time” on Sept. 12, 2006. McGovern’s appearance was part of the campus First Year Experience theme of “One Person Can Make a Difference.” The topic is an important one to McGovern, who has been a lifelong leader in the battle against world hunger. He was appointed the first director of the Food for Peace Program by President John F. Kennedy in 1960, and was instrumental in founding the World Food Program in 1963. From 1998-2001 he served as ambassador to the United Nations’ Agencies on Food and Agriculture in Rome. He was appointed the United Nations’ Global Ambassador on World Hunger in 2001. McGovern spoke with passion about ending world hunger, and gave unique insights into possible solutions and barriers that must be overcome. His appearance came less than a month before the George and Eleanor McGovern Library and Center for Leadership and Public Service was dedicated at his alma mater, Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D. “What a rare opportunity it was for our students and for people in the region to come and hear first-hand a man who has truly made a difference in the fight against world hunger,” said Barb Springer, coordinator of the Office of Civic Engagement and one of the event organizers.
www.southwestmsu.edu/civicengagement
SMSU Loses a Scholar and Friend Eric Markusen, one of the Dr.world’s leading genocide scholars, passed away on Jan. 29, 2007 after a short battle with cancer. He was 60. Markusen was an assistant professor of Sociology at SMSU from 1983-85, and returned in 1990, where he taught until his passing. He also taught Sociology at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va., and Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis. Markusen had an international reputation outside of SMSU, serving as the research director of the Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Copenhagen. He published extensively on genocide. He was the co-author, with Robert Jay Lifton, of The Genocidal Mentality: Nazi Holocaust and Nuclear Threat. His research took him to former Soviet satellites, Cambodia, Croatia,
Bosnia, Poland, Serbia, Rwanda and Chad. At the time of his death, he was researching genocide in Darfur, Sudan. He was a member of the U.S. State Department’s Atrocities Documentation Team that interviewed refugees from Darfur. Markusen’s research was sited by then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Markusen shared his knowledge with SMSU students and the region. He brought many genocide speakers to campus, and organized conferences that addressed the topic of genocide. A memorial service for Markusen was held on Feb. 18 at the Campus Religious Center. A second memorial was held April 15 in the Twin Cities to accommodate the many friends he had around the world. Markusen is survived by his wife, Randi, of Marshall; daughter Maria of Minneapolis; stepmother Jean Erickson of Rapid City, S.D., and brother Paul of Wayzata, Minn. Memorials can be sent to the SMSU Foundation, 1501 State St., Marshall, Minn., 56258. FOCUS MAGAZINE
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get to know us
Andrea Kopfmann involved at SMSU
A
Andrea Kopfmann
ndrea Kopfmann knew every senior in hher graduating high school class quite wwell. After all, there were only nine. Kopfmann is an Alpena, S.D. native and senior Radio/TV major and Theatre minor. She’s very involved in campus, serving as the KSSU-TV news director and president of the SMSU chapter of the National Broadcasting Society. She was the president of the Radio/TV club last year, and is also active in Drama Club. Her people skills are evident. She was approached in her junior year to temporarily fill a job in the Office of Admissions for a semester. She recruited high school students in Wisconsin and South Dakota. She has also done many radio ads for SMSU.
Her first exposure to SMSU was when she was a junior and attended a summer basketball camp. “I liked the campus, and then I visited and really loved the faculty and staff,” she said. “I like the one-on-one attention, especially coming from a smaller high school. And the distance was good for me too — far enough away, and close enough to home.” Her future plans are open, though she is gravitating toward work in sports broadcasting. “SMSU has really been a good experience for me,” she said. “I’ve been able to pursue my academic passions freely here, in a great environment, and I’ve met people who will be my friends my entire life.”
Christine Olson bringing service to Southwest
D
Christine Olson
r. Christine Olson grew up in a family where service to others was a priority. The daughter of a retired Lutheran minister, she spent her early years in Brazil and brought with her a worldly view of the term ‘service’ when she arrived at SMSU in 1999. Olson is an associate professor of Psychology and is the faculty coordinator of the Office of Civic Engagement. “Outside of the classroom, civic engagement is where I spend most of my time,” she said. The Office of Civic Engagement works with administration and faculty by incorporating service projects into established classroom curriculum. By this collaboration, students come to more fully understand the importance of the opportunities and needs that exist in society today. Most recently, the Office of Civic Engagement has
worked collaboratively with the First Year Experience Committee to develop civic engagement opportunities. They helped bring former South Dakota senator and presidential candidate George McGovern to campus to speak on world hunger as part of this year’s First Year Experience theme of “One Person Can Make a Difference.” McGovern appeared with Kory and the Fireflies, a regional band that works closely with McGovern to fight hunger. Administrative support has been a key in advancing the idea of civic engagement and service learning. “Trying to get civic engagement to be a part of the discussion across all disciplines on campus takes a commitment from the administration, and we have that at SMSU,” she said.
Jefferson Lee supporting students is priority #1
F
Jefferson Lee
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or Jefferson Lee, the satisfaction he receives from his position as the TRIO Program director is repeated every day he goes to work at SMSU. “I enjoy the opportunity to see students come here who might not have a clear path of where they want to go in life and helping them establish what they want to achieve, help them develop the skills to achieve their goals,” he said. Lee is a Minneapolis native who came to SMSU to earn a sociology degree. He was recruited by Dave Simpson. “He came to my high school (Minneapolis Roosevelt) as part of an effort to recruit a more diverse student population,” said Lee. “He recruited seven or eight of my classmates.” After graduating in 1996, Lee earned a master’s in counseling and human resources, with an emphasis in student personnel, from South Dakota State University. With his master’s in hand, he got a position in Learning Resources at SMSU, then left
FOCUS MAGAZINE
for 18 months to care for a terminally ill aunt, returning in 2002. He has since been the assistant to the TRIO Program director, the TRIO program coordinator and most recently, associate director of Learning Resources and TRIO Program director. The Federal TRIO Programs are educational opportunity programs designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. TRIO includes six programs targeted to serve and assist low-income first-generation college students and students with disabilities to achieve their academic goals. He enjoys working at an institution where there is a clear direction and focus. “There is a commitment to students of color, a movement to make SMSU an all-inclusive university. It’s an exciting time to attend SMSU.” Lee and his wife, Sarah (Friedrich, SMSU Class of 1999), are the parents of three children.
campaign for southwest
Mukomelas leave their Legacy
K
en and Gwen Mukomela will never live in another town that does not have a college. “If we ever leave Marshall, it will be to a town with a college,” said Ken, who retired from SMSU in 1996 after 28 years as a Business professor. “I came here the second year of the university — 1968. It was fun to be a part of helping build the Business program. It was like breaking ground at a place that had so many opportunities to offer.” Ken and his wife recently established through the SMSU Foundation the Ken and Gwen Mukomela Endowed Scholarship, which will be awarded to a student-athlete majoring in some area of business. “It’s payback,” said Ken. “There is a need for scholarships, and I have a benevolent sense about me.” “We’ve lived here for so long, and we wanted to do something for the University,” she said. “There’s always a need for scholarships.” The Mukomelas have been active with the university since their arrival. Ken is a Langdon, N.D. native and was a football and basketball player at Mayville State. He quickly joined the Mustang Booster Club when he came to SMSU, and is currently that group’s vice president. He is also serving his second three-year term on the SMSU Foundation Board of Directors. Gwen is a Devils Lake, N.D. native and met Ken when they were students at Mayville State. She is an active Mustang Booster Club member, and enjoyed her time in the Faculty Wives Association. Both are well aware of what a university means to a community. “It bring so much more,” said Ken. “Theater, music, athletics, literature. We try to be active in all of that.” “We really like the small-town atmosphere here,” said Gwen. “We’ve had an opportunity to know many people, and it’s been fun getting to know many students, too.”
They are hopeful that their scholarship can help a deserving studentathlete get his/her degree. “I can certainly attest to how important scholarships are to students, especially today as higher education costs escalate,” said Ken. “They’re very important, and we’re glad to be of help in this small way.” Ken is currently active with the American Legion, Mustang Booster Club, the University Foundation, and the YMCA. Gwen volunteers at Avera Marshall hospital, participates on the Park and Rec Board, and takes classes through Senior College. The two have also organized the “North Dakotans” living in the Marshall area. Ken and Gwen are the parents of five grown children: Kristi, Rick, Mark, Kari Lee and Karla Baird.
Campaign for Southwest The Campaign for Southwest, a $17.2 million dollar fund-raising campaign to build support for Southwest Minnesota State University, is gaining momentum. With the generosity of our alumni and friends, this campaign will provide additional resources essential to the continued success of our gifted and talented students. Additional resources will assist the University in continuing to build distinctive, signature programs suited to students’ talents and aligned with the workforce needs of a diverse and knowledge-based society. While supporting student and faculty opportunities for research, networking, and interactive learning, the campaign will also focus on modernizing facilities to enhance all of the University’s learning environments. The Southwest Minnesota State University Foundation is proudly committed to raising funds in support of SMSU. With the help of countless alumni, friends, faculty and staff we can continue to achieve great things at Southwest. Your gift is vital to Southwest and now you can have an impact on your favorite program or activity. For more information on how you can make a contribution to The Campaign for Southwest, contact the SMSU Foundation at 1-800-260-0970 or via the web at www.smsufoundation.org
Story
by
Dr.
Ruthe
Thompson
Isiah Whitlock Jr. SMSU Grad Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (1976) credits Southwest with inspiring and motivating successful film, stage and television career
starring Katie Holmes. Director Peter Hedges, who wrote the movie, and authored the novel “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” as well as its screenplay, “told me to look as if I’d just gotten up that morning to prepare Thanksgiving dinner, so I just rolled out of bed and went over without combing my hair,” Whitlock recalls.
I
The actor played a serial killer on “Law and Order,” and performed as Agent Flood in Spike Lee’s “25th Hour,” a role he reprised in Lee’s “She Hate Me.” He also had character parts in Woody Allen’s “Everyone Says I Love You” and the film “Eddie” with Whoopi Goldberg.
t’s a long way from South Bend, Indiana, to starring roles in New York theater, a series regular on the hit HBO series “The Wire,” recurring characters on television shows such as "Law and Order" and "The Chapelle Show", and most recently as the Dad ‘who got hosed’, in Verizon’s 2006 holiday commercial. Whitlock can claim starring roles in films directed by Martin Scorsese, David Mamet and Spike Lee, and SMSU graduate Isiah Whitlock, Jr. has found success as a professional actor, but credits the Southwest theater department for giving him his start. “Southwest prepared me,” the 1976 theater and speech communications graduate said in a recent telephone interview from his Manhattan apartment. “When I went to get my master’s at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, I got into the fire of (acting) and out of the protection I felt in college, but when I look back, I think the instructors at Southwest were just as good as those I’ve met anywhere, and I’m even talking New York. I don’t think we realized just how good we had it,” Whitlock said. Full of stories from the industry, Whitlock remains the kind, fun-loving and unassuming man who sang and danced in the SMSU student band Clutch and the Shifters, where he was nicknamed “Sugar Bear” by founder Joe Keyes, another SMSU alum who has gone on to professional television work. Today, Whitlock gets a fair number of autograph requests and grateful compliments from viewers moved by his work.
Fans of “The Wire” can see Whitlock play the morally bankrupt Senator Clay Davis with an oily panache. He chuckles when told he is good at looking mean. “You’re the third person who told me that today,” he says, describing the surprise of a theater marketing manager at meeting him to find he was not an evil recluse. ‘I took psychology classes at SMSU,” he said. ‘If you believe as the character that what you are doing is right, you can play the hell out of it. People say I’m nasty as Agent Flood when I bust Ed Norton in “25th Hour,” but I say ‘hey, he was selling drugs,” and when I was promoted from DEA agent to an SEC officer in “She Hate Me,” I remind people that I was going after a guy who was suspected of insider trading. What about Enron?’ Characteristically humble, Whitlock downplays his success in an industry where few actors make it, even those with superb talent. “It’s all relative,” Whitlock says of his acting career. “It’s all the things you hear—cut throat and more.
During early readings of the script for Martin Scorsese’s film “The Color of Money,” Whitlock was invited to contribute his talent. “I walked in, and Paul Newman, Martin Scorsese and Tom Cruise were sitting in Paul’s living room with a few other members of the Actor’s Studio,” to which Whitlock belongs. “You get used to rubbing elbows with well-known professionals in the industry,” Whitlock said. “I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such talented people.” Scorsese remembered him from the reading and gave him a part in “Goodfellas,” where he played a doctor. Whitlock performed in “A Small Melodramatic Story” by playwright Stephen Belber with the New York-based Labyrinth theater founded by Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is a friend. Whitlock appears in the 2006 film “Kettle of Fish” with Matthew Modine and Gina Gershon, recently returned from England where he filmed a role in the upcoming Stephen King film “1408,” with John Cusak and Samuel L. Jackson. Isiah was cast in a pivitol role in the well-received and highly-acclaimed independent film “Pieces of April,”
Clutch & t he Shifter s
Theatre Pro duction of PURLIE
an & I Dustin Hoffm
“But there is something kind of charming about acting, and something I love. I think if you get a certain amount of experience, you get to know people in the industry and they get to know you. You understand how people work and react; they know how you work, and it becomes a little easier. You can still get burned and you can still have bad days. You learn how to navigate it,” he said. Raised in South Bend as the fifth child in a family of 11 children, Whitlock came to SMSU as a football recruit, but a series of injuries convinced him that a future in professional athletics was not for him. “As a kid all I ever wanted to be was a baseball player and I can’t play for shit,” said the actor, who tends to pepper his conversation with colorful language, most typically “What the hell.” He tried working in the steel mill where his father worked one summer, but “it was hot and smelly and dangerous and the fumes nauseated me. Flames shot out of the equipment and one day my pants caught on fire and I was jumping around like the Scarecrow in the “Wizard of Oz,” he said. “I knew I didn’t want that, and even though I’d been bugging my father about getting me the job so I could earn some summer money, he agreed with me. He said he couldn’t understand why I wanted to work there in the first place, and that I should do something else,” Whitlock said. While Whitlock had never considered acting or any artistic career as a youth—“We just tried to stay out of trouble, because we knew our folks couldn’t bail us out,” Whitlock notes—he realized early as a Mustangs defensive lineman that “it didn’t have to be all about football. I only weighed 180 pounds, which is not that small, but small enough,” Whitlock explained. “I was getting concussions and injuries, and I thought, I’m getting really banged up and I can never really see myself playing professionally, so what’s the point?” But as his acting career illustrates, Whitlock, the only member of his family to attend college, is no quitter. “I never wanted to quit,” he said. “It wasn’t so much wanting to leave the team as coming to the realization that I was in college and could take advantage of the knowledge available.” Whitlock describes his move towards theater as a major change in his life, and it wasn’t easy. “I had a difficult time making the shift and being able to segue out of athletics without getting anyone upset and having people think I wanted to leave because I couldn’t take it. But then I went
Fences at SU with Xavier PastraSM no ft) and Johnny Fils-(le Aime
August Wilson’s Pulitzyerhit, Prize-winning BroadwaN. THE PIANO LESSO
to the theater to watch the auditions for Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” and I ended up getting a part,” he said. Then, Mustangs trainer R.A. Colvin, supported Whitlock’s decision. “Even after I quit the team and started acting, R.A. was someone I could talk to about anything that came up while a student at Southwest State. We stayed in touch over the years and he was always a big supporter and big fan.” His teammates also supported him. Lionel Bolden of Marshall, also an SMSU alum and now an active Booster Club member and successful Minnesota business owner, helped recruit Whitlock to campus. The two men attended the same South Bend High School, where both played football. “I talked to Isiah about coming to Marshall,” Bolden said. ‘I wanted good people on the team, and on the football field he was a tough guy. People respected Isiah’s choice to be in the theater and were proud of him. I saw several of his plays at Southwest, and he was so creative and talented: I’d say to everyone “Look at this guy. That’s the kind of talent we have in South Bend.” Retired theater professor Bill Hezlep has stayed in touch with his former student and followed Whitlock’s career closely. “It took a lot of courage on Isiah’s part to audition,” Hezlep said. ‘He was first cast in “The Crucible” and became one of our mainstays; from then on Isiah was in almost every production.’ Hezlep continues to find Whitlock’s live stage appearances phenomenal. “Isiah has a strong presence in films, but it’s nowhere near the incredible intensity that you see when you watch him in live theater. He’s dynamic. He can be doing nothing, and you’ll be watching him. Isiah is very charismatic on stage,” Hezlep said. Theater critics in New York agree. Whitlock has received numerous positive reviews of his work in all media, but was particularly happy with an article on his starring role in “Four,” a complex and controversial play about a married university professor who becomes involved with a teen boy on the Internet, and meets the youth for a date. Playwright Christopher Shinn, for whom Whitlock created the role, commented in a “New York Times” article that Whitlock was able to look below the surface of the character’s actions and see the pain beneath. “As a writer, you can indicate that in the text, but something that profound can only happen through the performance,” Shinn said.
Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Whitlock’s stage presence has not been restricted to theater. In Clutch and the Shifters, he danced and sang in a silver lame jumpsuit of his own design and construction. “I was a terrible singer,” he says, “but yeah, well, I can dance. I wanted a gold lame suit, but we could only find silver fabric, and I sewed it myself,” he said. “Sure I know how to sew. As a theater student I had to work in set design or costuming as part of the major, but I knew where the girls were. I went into the costume shop,” he said. The actor keeps a photograph of himself with The Clutch band members in the Manhattan home he shares with actress and writer Wilma Mondi, his partner of 15 years, who has visited Southwest with him and helped him prepare the commencement address he gave in 2000. “I’m looking at the photo now,” he said during the interview. “It reminds me of that time and how much I benefited from being at Southwest. Of course I looked better than I sang,” he quips, but when the band went out on tour, Whitlock stayed in school. “We were pretty popular at Southwest, but when the Shifters decided to go on tour, they had to go without Sugar Bear,” he said. Whitlock had his eye on graduation. “Graduating from Southwest was a big step for me,” Whitlock explained. “I’d promised my dad that I’d stick it out and finish. My dad came to my graduation, which was one of the highlights of my life. I remember him getting out of the car, looking around at all the cornfields, and saying "how did you get way the hell up here?" Yet Whitlock says that when it came time to leave Southwest, “I didn’t want to go. I was on my way to San Francisco for graduate school at the American Conservatory Theater. Going to that big city; you talk about a culture shock. I’m from South Bend, and we were in a different world then. I was just horrified. I didn’t think I was going to make it from day to day. But I found my way. I was in ACT with some of the most amazing actors in the business, and I just dealt with the tension and learned to survive it all,” he said. When ACT members decided to found a theater company in New York City, Whitlock went to Manhattan, where, in an attempt to save money, he slept in the theater. “Yeah, I guess I was homeless in New York,” he said. “It wasn’t that I didn’t have any money, but rents were high and I figured that I was paying $40 a month for the theater space and I had a key, so why not just sleep there? I remember one night the technical crew was hanging lights for a production and I had to spend most of the night in an all-night diner until they finished about 4:30 a.m. I kept going back and checking until they finished, and then just fell asleep on the floor.”
Photography
Bill Hezlep, J acob Swanson and during my rec ent visit to S I MSU. Times have changed for the actor. His work is known and recognized by enough people in the industry that he has no trouble finding roles, and he works on it constantly, meeting with producers and directors and acting on stage. But he keeps in touch with his roots, visiting his numerous siblings and their children regularly and contributing to his alma mater, where he was honored with the Alumni Achievement award in 2004 and recently spent a week on campus teaching master classes, meeting with high school and college students, and leading the SMSU theatre department Readers Theatres’ production of August Wilson’s “Fences”. SMSU senior Jacob Swanson appreciates Whitlock’s attention to Southwest. “As an African American working his way into the field of theater, it’s inspiring to have a role model like Isiah, who has made it in the industry, not only as an SMSU grad, but as a fellow actor of color,” Swanson said. For his part, Whitlock says he can’t do enough to demonstrate his appreciation for the school. “I wish I could do more,” he said. “Southwest was a wonderful place for me; it was a safe environment. Yeah, there wasn’t much to do on the weekends, but we had fun. I was there to learn, and I did.”
c o n t r i b u t e d by To d d Fi n l o , P r a i r i e l i g h t and Peter Donaldson
Photography
A lumni Spotlight Jayme McGhan Theatre Arts, 2003
About his career ayme is one of the most decorated Theatre majors ever to graduate from Southwest Minnesota State uuuuuUniversity. After graduating in 2003, he was accepted into the prestigious Playwright program at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he earned an MFA degree. Just two students are accepted into the program each year, and there are never more than six at one time. “You get five productions of your work, and you write a massive amount of plays,” he said. “I was lucky enough to get accepted.” His resume for acceptance into the UNLV program was helped by work he did the summer of his junior year at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Summer Playwrighting Intensive in Washington, D.C. He was one of 10 selected from across the country for inclusion in that program. McGhan had many options upon graduation, but chose to return to the area with his wife. “She wanted to get back in the area,” he said of his wife Nicole, a Willmar native. “Part of the reason, too, was the cost of living. There is affordability here, and I was sick of living in big cities.” He currently teaches English and Speech at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D. and is the technical director of the Theater Department there. He also teaches Theatre at the Willmar
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campus of Ridgewater Community and Technical College. Jamie works closely with The Playwright Center in Minneapolis, is a member of the Writers Guild of America, and is a member of two writers unions. He continues to be a prolific writer when he’s not teaching. “I’m trying to get a play off Broadway,” he said, referring to “Ragtown,” his critically acclaimed UNLV thesis play about an Irish immigrant family’s life in a shantytown of blue collar workers who toil to construct the Hoover Dam in 1931 Nevada.
About his time at SMSU “The experience I had as far as theater goes rivals any school in the country,” he said. “The freedom you have here is amazing. I have a ton of friends at Yale and New York University and other big schools and they all have maybe a quarter of the experience on stage that anyone gets at SMSU.” “At SMSU, everyone helps. You stay up until 4 a.m. working on a set and lighting, everyone pitches in. It was a really good theatrical education — you learn a lot by doing, and they give you the hands-on freedom to do that.” “I had never been involved in theater at all, not until I attended SMSU.” He appeared in over 20 productions and produced 5 plays while at SMSU. Former SMSU Theatre professor Bill Hezlep was a major influence on his career, and he speaks often with his former mentor. “Bill has helped me in so many ways,” he said. About his family Jayme and his wife, Nicole (Pregler) live in Marshall.
Mary (Haller) Frandson Elementary Education, 1971
About her job ary is a fourth-grade teacher at Holy Redeemer School in Marshall, a K-8 institution. She is in her 24th year. “I taught one year at Holy Redeemer after college, and then I was a stay-at-home mom until Jason, my youngest child was in the second grade. I then returned to teaching at Holy Redeemer.” She finds the learning environment at Holy Redeemer supports her teaching beliefs. “My philosophy for students is to do the best with every gift God has given you,” she said. Being a teacher at Holy Redeemer has kept her professionally happy. “I like the faith community we have,” she said. “We have wonderful support from both the faculty and parents. It’s a wonderful learning environment.”
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About her time at SMSU Before there was a Homecoming at SMSU, there was Founders Day. And Mary was the first Founders Day queen at the university. “There wasn’t a king for a few years at the start,” she recalls. A charter class member from Hopkins, Minn., she heard about the university from a family friend who told her about a new school rising from the cornfields of southwest Minnesota. Her degree is in Elementary Education, but she started out in 10 FOCUS MAGAZINE
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Business Education. “It evolved into Elementary Education,” she said. “I love kids, and I thought the opportunities might be better in that area.” Mary feels fortunate to have been in the charter class. “It was a groundbreaking experience, attending a new university that had not been shaped before.” Personal attention is what she mentions first when she recalls her days at Southwest Minnesota State College, as it was known then. “The smallness of the university, the one-on-one attention, those are things that are an asset to this day. I think we felt like a part of the growth of the university.” She gives SMSU credit in her development as a student, and as a person. “It really gave me confidence in myself and encouraged me to try new things,’ she said. “Whatever you wanted to try, you could. I was the lead in West Side Story, and tried new things I hadn’t before. It was a new university, a new experience for all of us.” She appreciates what SMSU means to the region. “It gives so much life to the area, and affords so much opportunity,’ she said. “It draws people from all over the world to this part of the state.” About her family Mary (Haller) Frandson and her husband Gary, an associate professor of Business Administration at SMSU, live in Marshall. They are the parents of three grown children and grandparents of four grandchildren.
alumni connections
CO N N E C T I NG A LU M N I , S E RV I NG S O U T H W E ST The SMSU Alumni Association is dedicated to serving the University and its diverse alumni, students, and friends.
S
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ince its founding in 1973, the Southwest Minnesota State University Alumni Association has had a vital dual role, providing opportunities for alumni to stay connected to the university and serving Southwest in its efforts to be a university of choice. You’re undoubtedly familiar with some of our work. Twice a year, the FOCUS Alumni Magazine fills mailboxes with news about the university and stories about its remarkable alumni, students, faculty, staff, and administrators. We engage alumni and friends through numerous events throughout the region, state and country. Our Web site provides alumni access to an online alumni directory— perfect for finding old classmates and many other online offerings. You may not be as familiar with other roles the Alumni Association fills within the university community. We partner with the SMSU Foundation, last year raising over $140,000 for student scholarships and innovative programs. We also play a vital role in organizing Homecoming, Commencement, and other university events. We continue to expand our programs and services to offer alumni an opportunity to receive benefits and savings by being connected to the SMSU Alumni Association. In May, we will be launching a partnership with Liberty Mutual to offer discounted Auto and Home
Insurance and we are also excited to announce our new University Ring program which we hope will be a new tradition for current and future alumni of Southwest. The SMSU Alumni Association is dedicated to serving the University and its diverse alumni, students and friends. By connecting alumni, students and friends through communications, activities, programs and services the Alumni Association helps SMSU by supporting its missions and traditions. Make your connection to SMSU by attending an upcoming alumni event, telling a high school student about the SMSU experience or make a contribution to the current Alumni Fund Drive. Better yet, make that long overdue journey back to Marshall and help us celebrate 40 years of SMSU during Homecoming 2007, October 1-7.
Tyler Bowen ’95 Director of Alumni Relations
2006 DISTINGUISHED
alumni connections
ALUMNI
Alumni Achievement Award
ROSS ZIRLKE ‘78, ART Zirkle recently passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. He was an associate professor of drawing and printmaking at the University of Kentucky. He was one of 60 master printers in the world, having gone through the rigorous and prestigious Tamarind Institute at the University of New Mexico.
KURT GRENIGER ’87, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Greniger, a staff reliability engineer for British Aerospace Engineering Systems in Fridley, MN,
Deeann Griebel ’80
Jo Ann Buysse ’76
Ross Zirkle ’78
Kurt Greniger ’87
Presented to SMSU alumni who have distinguished themselves personally and professionally since graduation.
played on two USA basketball teams during his career, and has been involved in wheelchair softball, track, swimming and marathons. He is a player and executive chair of the Minnesota Region Wheelchair Sports group which supports the Rolling Timberwolves.
DR. JO ANN BUYSEE ‘76 HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION Buysse is currently the director of the Sport Studies: Sport Management graduate program in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota. At Southwest she participated in
volleyball, basketball and softball for four years, and is enshrined in the SMSU Athletic Hall of Honor.
DEEANN GRIEBEL ‘80 ACCOUNTING Griebel, currently a Director of Investments for Wachovia Securities in Mesa, AZ, has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and 60 Minutes 2 with a reputation as a corporate whistleblower. Deeann has established the Griebel Endowed Scholarship to support students in SMSU’s Accounting program.
Honorary Lifetime Membership Awards
MAX LORD Lord, an electrician with the SMSU Physical Plant, has been at the University since 1979. Max and his wife, Mary, are avid Mustang Booster Club members.
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Sheldon & Marge Haaland The Haalands are longtime supporters of the University, and were honored for their unwavering commitment and dedication to SMSU. Sheldon is active in the SMSU Foundation and Mustang Booster Club. Marge is a retired educator with service in Montevideo, Marshall and SMSU.
Lloyd White
Max Lord
Sheldon & Marge Haaland
presented to individuals who did not graduate from southwest, but who have shown their commitment through their years of service and support to the university.
LLOYD WHITE White retired as a SMSU German professor after 36 years of service. Lloyd grew up in South Lebanon, Maine, and received his undergraduate degree from Colby College in Waterville, ME, and his master's from the University of New Hampshire. He taught at the New York School for the Education of the Blind for four years. Lloyd and his wife, Kathy, continue to live in Marshall.
Alumni Connections
L to R: Jack Warnemunde ʼ73, Fran Filzen ʼ84, Craig Porter ʼ79 enjoying the pregame basketball social in Winona. L to R: Kirsti Hendricksen, Barbie Hentges ʼ90, Tara Taggart ʼ90, socializing before the Wicked alumni event at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.
SMSU TO CELEBRATE 40 YEARS Throughout the 2007-2008 academic year, Southwest will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary. Join us for the many events and activities to celebrate 40 years of Southwest.
Brad Engebretson ʼ76 having a great time during Homecoming 2006.
L to R: Tessa (Hess) Krueger ʼ03, Christy (Kubat) Brusven ʼ02, Heidi Peterson ʼ07 hang loose at the Hawaiian Night post-game luau.
Visit www.southwestalumni.com for more information.
Alumni Authors Minnesota: On-the-Road Histories interlinkbooks.com
John Radzilowski ʼ89
Road of Five Churches rainmountainpress.com
Thin Enough: My Spiritual Journey Through the Living Death of an Eating Disorder newhopepublishers.com
Stephanie Dickinson ʼ76
Sheryle (Berger) Cruse ʼ94
The SMSU Alumni Association does not sell or distribute alumni books, unless otherwise noted. Please visit the provided Web Sites for ordering information. To have your book considered for our next issue, please send a complimentary copy and description of its contents to: SMSU Alumni Association, Attn: Alumni Books, 1501 State Street, Marshall, MN 56258
Mustang Flashback Mustang Athletics
VAL ROMBERG Sports at SMSU Swimming
Chris Hmielewski Athletic Director SMSU
Chris Hmielewski speaking at a press conference.
S
outhwest Minnesota State University president Dr. David Danahar recently announced that Chris Hmielewski has been named director of athletics at SMSU. The 36-year old Hmielewski has served as interim director of athletics at SMSU for seven months following the departure of Dr. Howard Gauthier, who resigned on Aug. 10, 2006. Hmielewski, who was named interim director of athletics on Aug. 17, 2006, had previously spent eight years in the SMSU admission office, including serving as the associate director of enrollment since 2005. "Mr. Hmielewski has done an excellent job as interim AD and I'm very pleased to make him the permanent director of athletics," Danahar said. "Chris has the personality and skills essential for success in the position. I'm very confident in our athletics department, studentathletes and university at large." Hmielewski is no stranger to SMSU athletics having worked in the department for nine years. He served as the pitching coach for the SMSU baseball program for eight years (19972004), before taking over the position of
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hitting coach for the 2005 season. He also spent four years as the athletic department's director of advertising from 1997-2000. "I am excited to continue with the work we started seven months ago in building Mustang athletics through the development of positive relationships and collaborative fund raising efforts," Hmielewski said on Thursday. "I have been embraced by a great group of coaches and staff members who together I feel can enhance the tradition and spirit of Mustang athletics on our campus, within our alumni, in the Marshall community and throughout the region." A native of Franklin Park, Ill., Hmielewski played three years of college baseball at Kansas State University before signing a professional contract with the Montreal Expos organization following his junior season in 1991. He began his pro career as a first baseman, where he was an All-Star during his second season, before being moved to the pitching mound for the next three seasons and advancing as high as Class AA Harrisburg (Eastern League) in 1995. An arm injury forced his retirement following the 1996 season. "I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of Mustang athletics over the last seven months," Hmielewski said. "With the possible expansion of the NSIC, we will need continued support in raising athletic scholarships and to move our teams into the upper half of the NSIC. The growth of the SMSU Athletic Scholarship Endowment Program will be the main focus our fund raising efforts." Hmielewski, a graduate of Southwest Minnesota State University with a degree in English, earned his master's degree in education leadership from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2003. Chris and his wife Mary Jo (Miller), have three children, Andrew (9), Ashtin (7) and Matthew (4).
Graduation Year 1978 Major Physical Education and Health Sports Memories “Being the first SMSU female swimmer to place in the top 6 at the State meet, RA Colvin and the training room, and traveling with Geri Madden to Duluth for a MAIAW meeting are some fond memories. Some others are Don Palm, traveling to swim meets throughout the state, qualifying for a Regional meet in Nebraska but not being able to attend due to insufficient funds at SMSU. I remember the Men's swimming program, the National NAIA swim meets held at SMSU, and especially the bond with other athletes, coaches and instructors that is possible with the smaller school setting.” Since Graduation “Since graduation I've been involved in Masters Swimming, competing in Iowa and Indiana State Games, as well as, the 1989 Pan-Pacific Nationals. I started running in 1999 and have completed 10 half-marathons and 4 full-marathons. In 1992 I was inducted into the SSU Hall of Honor. In the year 2000, we Celebrated 30 Years of Women's Athletics at SSU and I was recognized as one of the top 30 Women athletes. I have attended SMSU Homecoming every year since graduation and would encourage other grads to make the trek back to Marshall in October!” Personally “I was formerly married to David Romberg and moved from Marshall to Des Moines, IA for 9 years before coming to Indianapolis in 1987. I have worked as an Aquatic Director for the YWCA and an Aquatic Director for a residential facility that provides services to Developmentally Disabled children. I’ve worked as a Case Manager coordinating services for Developmentally Disabled adults and have worked for The Walt Disney Company. Currently, I am working for The Limited Brands as a co-manager at Victoria's Secret.” Athletic Involvement Today “I continue to run and will be competing in the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon (in conjunction with the Indianapolis 500) in May 2007, and the Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge at Walt Disney World in January 2008. The race includes a half-marathon on one day and a full-marathon the next.
2007 Hall of Honor Inductees
L to R: Deb Denbeck, Lillie (Brown) Arndt, Jeff Loots, Alvin Ashley, Troy Mentzer, Darrel Wiener
Front (L to R): John Sterner, Scott Weischedel, Don Massa, Joe Korkowski, Tony Monroe, Rich Rhinesmith, Mike DeWitte, Todd Lendt, Tom Stenzel, Dave Pederson, Burl Keating, Kyle Johnston, Scott Gilbertson, Mike O'Halloran, Randy Weischedel, Coach Gary Buer. Back row: Blaine Schnaible, Jerry Weiland, Tim Alcorn, Greg Huisman, Jim Osland, Tom Quackenbush, Craig Tilbury, Dave Seidler, John Pitlick, Chuck Jensen, Robert Lipsey, Thomas Williams, Bruce Saugstad, Tucker Noomen, Steve Elzenga, Chad Boom (In attendance, but not pictured: Andy Pepper. Arriving later in day: Brad Winkelman)
UPDATE • UPDATE • UPDATE • UPDATE • UPDATE • UPDATE • UPDATE Senior linebacker Jon Kubat (Dawson, Minn.) and sophomore tight end Matt Fischer (Marshall, Minn.) were each named to the Football Gazette third team All-Northwest Region team. Kubat led the Mustangs this past fall with 10 tackles and three interceptions and finished 12th in school history with 252 career tackles. Fischer led the team with 39 receptions. Both players were named first team All-NSIC. Joining Kubat and Fischer with post-season honors were seniors John Kunelius (Waterville, Minn.), Brendan Osuocha (Madison, Wis.), Tom Yarbrough (St. Cloud, Minn.) and sophomore Scott Talcott (Sioux Falls, S.D.), who were all named second team All-NSIC. Junior nose guard Brad Wolf (Brunswick, Ohio), was the NSIC’s Defensive Newcomer of the Year. SMSU had 13 players earn Academic All-NSIC honors, the secondhighest total in the conference. The Mustangs were 4-7 overall and 3-5 in the NSIC, good for sixth place. Junior Erin Contons (Apple Valley, Minn.) continued to pile up accolades this past fall for the Mustang volleyball team, earning second-team All-America from two publications and being named first team All-North Central Region and first team All-NSIC. She set SMSU single-season records with 737 kills and 5.85 kills per game in 2006. She already
Matt Fletcher (North Branch, Minn.), who averaged 12.4 points per game. holds the school career kills record with 1,924 with one season to go. Senior Megan Wendorff (Kenyon, Minn.) was also named first team All-NSIC this past fall. SMSU had six players earn Academic All-NSIC. The Mustangs finished with a 27-9 overall record and 144 in the NSIC, and made the NCAA tournament for the third-consecutive season. SMSU soccer had two standouts this past fall. Seniors Noelle Bergman (Lehigh Acres, Fla.) and Liz Schiesl (Eden Prairie, Minn.) earned honorable mention AllNSIC. Schiesl led the team with three goals, while Bergman had two goals and two assists for the year. They also had six players earn Academic All-NSIC. The team was 3-10-2 overall. SMSU men’s basketball senior center Jeremy VanKlompenburg (Canby, Minn.) reached the 1,000 point club at SMSU on Mar. 4 and became the 13th player to reach the milestone. VanKlompenburg was also named third team All-NSIC and earned Academic All-District V College Division second-team honors. Two SMSU men’s basketball juniors were named second team All-NSIC: guard Travis Krenske (Fairbault, Minn.), who lead SMSU in scoring this past season with 13.5 points per game and guard
The Mustang women’s basketball team was led this past season by freshman guard Kady Telschow (Oostburg, Wis.) who averaged 11.2 points per game and led the NSIC the three-point shooting percentage at 49 percent. SMSU’s lone senior, center Betsy Tasca (Dakota, Minn.) finished her career with 390 points and 388 rebounds. SMSU women finished the season 7-21 overall. The Mustang Wrestling team finished sixth in the NCAA Division II North Regional. Sophomore Tyler Johnson (Harrisburg, S.D.) at 174 pounds, finished with a 23-12 record. SMSU had three individual fifth place finishes in the North Regional: Kurt Smith (Aurora, S.D.) at 125, Michel Barrie (Westbrook, Minn.) at 133, and Luke Giese (Slayton, Minn.). The SMSU wheelchair basketball team finished the 2006-07 season with a 23-9 record and a third-place finish in the national tournament. Senior Nathan Peitz (Hartington, Neb.) was named second team All-America, while Peitz and teammate Thomas Abrahamson (Mankato, Minn.) were both finalists for Academic All-America. www.SMSUMustangs.com
CONGRATS TO THE ROLLING MUSTANGS 3RD PLACE NATIONAL FINISH!
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Spring 2008 Known as the “City of Lights”, Paris is perhaps one of the most romantic destinations in the world and also one of the most exciting and diverse. Vibrantly alive both day and night – there is so much to experience in this cosmopolitan city that people return time and time again to sample its famous landmarks, cultural treasures, chic boutiques and excellent restaurants.
INCLUDED FEATU?RES: • Round-trip transatlantic air transportation to Paris, France • Seven nights superior first-class accommodations in Paris • Continental buffet breakfast daily • Round-trip transfers between the airport and hotel via deluxe motor coach
For more information visit SouthwestAlumni.com or call 1-800-260-0970
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FRIDAY, OCT. 5 • Brown & Gold Spirit Day • Alumni Awards Luncheon Noon • Alumni Heritage Gallery Grand Opening - 1:30 p.m. • Alumni Art Exhibit 2:00 p.m. • 40th Anniversary Fun with the Johnny Holm Band
A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI & FRIENDS OF SOUTHWEST MIINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
Isiah Whit lock, Jr.
SATURDAY, OCT. 6 • Parade Alumni Hospitality Tent 9:45 a.m. • Homecoming Parade 10:00 a.m. • Charter Class Reunion Luncheon 12:30 p.m. • Tailgating in the Stampede Zone 3:00 p.m. • Ag Bowl Barbecue 4:00 p.m. • Night Football Game 6:00 p.m. • 40th Anniversary Fireworks After the Football Game
SUNDAY, OCT. 7
CHARTER CLASS REUNION
• Fall Classic Alumni Baseball & Softball Games 12:00 p.m.
Celebrating the classes of 1969 – 1971 w w w. S o u t h we s t A l u m n i . c o m / h o m e c o m i n g
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PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE