Editor Greg Skoog (SJU ’89)
Contributors
Sarah Forystek
Michael Hemmesch (SJU ’97)
Jordan Modjeski
Tom Morris (SJU ’89)
Hannah O’Brien
Tommi O’Laughlin (SJU ’13)
Heather Pieper-Olson
Frank Rajkowski
Photo by Jordan Modjeski.
Introducing the True North Journey
At Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s, we’ve never been content to stand still. Our call has always been to listen deeply, adapt wisely and act boldly to ensure our mission flourishes for generations to come.
Not long ago we partnered with the Art & Science Group – a national consulting firm with deep experience in higher education strategy and positioning – to help us understand, empirically and urgently, how we are perceived, where we have strength, where we face challenges and how we can act now to ensure a thriving future.
Their work affirms much of what many of us have long sensed – and adds important evidence-based clarity. We now have a clear and compelling opportunity to shape how we show up in the world – to more powerfully tell our story, to more deeply connect with the students we’re called to serve, and to ensure that our missions are not just preserved but energized for a thriving future.
In response to the Art & Science findings, we are building a unified framework that articulates our distinctiveness, elevates our competitive strengths and guides how we present ourselves to the world.
Let me be clear: This is not just about messaging. It’s not about clever taglines or a surface-level rebrand.
This is about substance – ensuring how we show up in the world reflects who we truly are. This alignment will shape everything we do: from academic planning and enrollment to the student experience, advancement, marketing and beyond.
Our work is rooted in mission-centered practice – in Benedictine wisdom, Catholic intellectual and social traditions, the liberal arts and residential community living. These are not just historical footnotes. They are living, breathing practices that form students who are discerning, grounded and ready to lead with compassion and character.
This is the CSB and SJU story.
When we tell it with power and precision, it resonates. It attracts the students we’re called to serve, engages their families, mobilizes our alums and advances our mission.
That’s the work ahead: refining, aligning and amplifying that story in ways that enhance the student experience, improve learning outcomes, grow enrollment, increase revenue and expand our reach.
This work will require us to be both bold and Benedictine: to take risks, to adapt with integrity, to amplify our mission and educational essence, and to stay grounded in what has always made these places so distinctive.
The future of CSB and SJU won’t simply happen to us. We are shaping it – together.
We’re ensuring that future Bennies and Johnnies, and the world around us, know that these are:
• Places that form and empower students and produce graduates of character .
• Places that prepare principled leaders who are ready to serve and to flourish
• Places where students from every background belong and thrive
• Places that stand out for their missions , their outcomes and their impact
• Places that are well understood , deeply trusted and aligned with the needs of our time
In this issue of Saint Benedict Magazine, we introduce you to the brand promise we make to our students: a True North Journey
Whether students are discovering their direction, testing their passions or preparing for what’s next, the True North Journey ensures their time here leads to more than a major.
It leads to a life of impact, confidence and meaning – shaped by who they are and what they’re called to become. The True North Journey is how we deliver on our promise to make a CSB+SJU education mean more
Brian J. Bruess, Ph.D. President, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University
Hands-On Learning
Things heated up in October with the most recent firing of the Sister Dennis Frandrup Kiln at Saint Ben’s. The kiln was built in 2012 by art professor Samuel Johnson and named in honor of Sister Dennis – a professor of ceramics for over 30 years. Student volunteers partnered with professional artists to staff the kiln around the clock.
Shown here are student volunteers Luke Harris (SJU ’28), Aleah Hanson ’26 and Haley Redding ’26.
2025-26 Academic Year Opens With All-College Convocation
The All-College Convocation on Friday, Aug. 22, in the BAC’s Escher Auditorium, officially opened the 2025-26 academic year. It’s a year President Brian Bruess told this year’s group of incoming students would be challenging, yet full of opportunities.
“Here, at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s, students … you’ll be challenged and supported in
your educational journey,” Bruess said. “You’ll be expected to take responsibility for your growth and your role in our sense of community. You’ll be encouraged to think critically, to work diligently and care deeply. Here, you will learn about yourself. You’ll learn with and from others. And in doing so, you’ll help shape our shared future.
CSB Senate President Alex Smith and SJU Senate President Kobe Forbes also stressed the importance of taking in a wide swath of campus life and exploring the surrounding community.
“That’s one of the beauties of being a Bennie or a Johnnie,” Forbes, a physics major on a pre-engineering track, told incoming students. “The opportunity to involve yourself
in many different activities that will offer you an extraordinary experience beyond the books and pens.”
“This is a time in your life when you get to experience changes,” added Smith, a biology major on a premed track. “Be unsure and confused. Make mistakes. Feel lost. Feel happy and discover who you are. There is no other time in your life that is meant for such constructive chaos. Embrace it.”
The CSB and SJU classes of 2029 …
• Represent 23 states and seven countries.
• Include 120 Honors Scholars, 27 Women in STEM Scholars, 25 Intercultural LEAD Scholars and dozens of others who have earned academic scholarships.
• Feature more than 300 Bennie and Johnnie student-athletes and more than 80 students who will be part of musical, theatrical and visual arts productions and exhibitions.
Outpost Staffed by CSB and SJU Nursing Students Now Serves St. Cloud’s East Side
Graduate and undergraduate nursing students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University are now getting hands-on clinical work as part of a new community outpost on St. Cloud’s east side.
The health-focused Salem Community Outpost – which is being housed in the Salem Lutheran Church Building – is a community partnership between Salem, the CSB and SJU nursing department, CentraCare, the Public Safety Foundation, the St. Cloud Police Department and various other community counterparts.
It includes a free medical clinic, which is staffed by nursing
department faculty members and graduate students with the help of St. Cloud Hospital’s Project H.E.A.L. Senior undergraduate students also assist, engaging in preventative and educational health activities.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday, Aug. 14, at the facility, which also features space for the St. Cloud Police Department and emergency health services.
“Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s have a long history of being of, with and for the community,” said CSB and SJU President Brian Bruess during his remarks at the ceremony.
Mary Zelenak, a registered nurse and professor in the department, praised the partnership that led to the opening of the outpost and clinic, which she said will bring needed health care resources to the east
side while also preparing students for future careers.
“We came together and have developed a shared goal of reducing health disparities, looking at social determinants of health and also educating our nurses to provide strong future leaders,” she said.
Alex Smith ’26 and Kobe Forbes (SJU ’26)
2025 Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winners
Celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit is the idea behind the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, presented annually by the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship.
The CSB and SJU awards “recognize the achievements of a Johnnie and a Bennie who best exemplify the ideals of entrepreneurship by starting and successfully managing one or more businesses in a way that demonstrates notable entrepreneurial characteristics and achievements while practicing Benedictine values in the workplace and in their lives.”
This year’s CSB Entrepreneur of the Year is Heidi Hovland ’88, a leader in the communications field who has been a trusted advisor
to well-respected companies like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Celebrity Cruise Lines, IHOP and Chobani. After decades of agency leadership, she founded her own – Altitude Co – a year ago. (See our profile of Heidi in the Winter 2024 edition!)
This year’s SJU Entrepreneur of the Year is Brian Roers ’01, the owner and co-founder of Roers Cos., which was founded in 2012 and has grown to have 400 employees – listed as a USA Today Top Workplace. Roers Cos. is also
currently nationally recognized as a Top 25 Developer and Builder as ranked by the National Multifamily Housing Council.
This year’s CSB and SJU Social Entrepreneur of the Year is Fr. Mike Schmitz ’97, the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, as well as the chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He is also host of the popular podcasts, “Bible in a Year” and “The Catechism in a Year.”
CSB Earns Reaccreditation as a Service Enterprise
“The ambitious goals CSB (and SJU too) has laid out in our Strategic Plan, and the initiatives we are building to reach those goals, make it clear we will not achieve them by ourselves,” said Valerie Jones ’94, executive director of Alumnae Relations at CSB.
“That’s why it’s important that we place such emphasis on missionfocused volunteer engagement – so we can draw on the talents and skills of every one of our constituents (from community partners to students to current staff to parents to alums) and do mutually beneficial work that supports student success.”
It’s because of that recognition of the importance of volunteer engagement that, in 2017, Saint Ben’s became
the nation’s first college or university to earn recognition as a Service Enterprise – a nonprofit organization that strategically integrates volunteers to achieve its social mission.
The Service Enterprise initiative is fueled through collaboration among the Association of Leaders in Volunteer Engagement (AL!VE), the Points of Light Foundation, and training and implementation partners across the country (in this
case, the Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement [MAVA]).
On campus and throughout the community, volunteer relations are guided by our Partners in Mission (PIM) team. The PIM is a crossfunctional team that ensures all staff and faculty have access to the tools, resources and knowledge for effective volunteer engagement. “This work is absolutely missionfocused,” said Jones. “It lives above turf issues and is bigger than any one department, individual or process on campus.”
In May 2025 Saint Ben’s was reaccredited as a Service Enterprise, meaning the college will carry this distinction through 2028.
Heidi Hovland ’88
Brian Roers ’01
Fr. Mike Schmitz ’97
Six Bennies and Johnnies Included in Pioneer Class at U of M/CentraCare Medical School
Alarie Chu ’23 has been part of history before. The 2019 St. Cloud Tech High School graduate was a member of the last class to graduate from the old Tech High School building. From there, she went on to Saint Ben’s, graduating with a degree in biology on a pre-med track.
Now Chu is making history again as part of the first class of aspiring physicians at the newly opened University of Minnesota Medical
School’s CentraCare Regional Campus St. Cloud. The school is a partnership between the U of M and CentraCare, the largest health care provider in Central Minnesota.
It marks the first expansion of the U of M’s medical school since the Duluth campus opened in 1972, and its mission is to train students interested in pursuing careers in rural health care – ensuring more doctors in areas where the need is only expected to rise in the coming years.
The first class of 24 students began classes in August, and six of that group – including Chu – are CSB and SJU graduates.
Joining Chu in the first class are fellow 2023 graduate Abigail Widmer, 2024 graduates Emma Lundgren, Peyton Kopel and Connor Veldman and 2025 graduate Grayson Kobluk.
“The success of our students in their applications to UMMS-SC reflects their academic excellence and their commitment to the ideals and principles that led to the establishment of the UMMS CentraCare campus in St. Cloud –making rural life healthier,” said Mani Campos, a biology professor and advisor for pre-med students at CSB and SJU for well over 25 years.
Coming Together to Support Bennies
This year’s Give CSB Day – Wednesday, Oct. 22 – saw Bennie alumnae, parents, faculty, staff, students, friends and matching donors come together in support of valuable programs and crucial scholarships for today’s Bennies.
$856,462 CONTRIBUTED IN ONE SPECIAL DAY!
938 TOTAL DONORS
23 GENEROUS MATCHING DONORS
Watch your inbox and our social feeds for info on CSB Athletics Give Day coming up on Feb. 11 ! Athletics Give Day gifts will help fund the programs and teams that let our studentathletes shine in the sports they love.
The inaugural class of the University of Minnesota Medical School’s CentraCare Regional Campus St. Cloud
Distinguished Leaders Join CSB and
SJU Boards of Trustees
New members were named to the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Boards of Trustees, effective on July 1.
You can find bios of these and all our trustees using this QR code.
New Board Members Named to CSB Alumnae Board
On July 1, six Bennie alums joined to serve on the Alumnae Association Board of Directors.
Erin Naughton Berg ’91
“I am interested in taking my current involvement and becoming more involved as an active member of the CSB Alumnae Board to further strengthen the relationship among alumnae, the current students and CSB community.”
Jennifer Fontaine Modeen ’94
“As an alumna and first-generation college graduate, I have supported the college throughout the past 30 years and I am looking for another way to serve and offer my leadership lens to the board.”
Angie Schmidt Whitney ’97
“CSB has been part of my life in various capacities for 30 years. Almost 15 of those years included employment at CSB. Although I have transitioned to other employment, CSB is, and always will be, part of who I am.”
Dakotah Dorholt ’20
“The College of Saint Benedict was an integral part of my journey and I love the opportunity to assist current and future Bennies on their path, whatever that may be.”
Katie Neunsinger Walter ’00
“I am interested in the opportunity to connect with CSB in a more meaningful way, to bring the spirit of my CSB experience into my career now, and to amplify the CSB experience so more people consider attending CSB.”
Bella B. Brinkman ’23
“Through my time at Saint Ben’s I grew in my leadership, found my voice and grew into the woman I am today. I owe this development to the amount of support I had in my time. As I now stand as a graduate, I want to use these skills to support our current and future Bennies, to allow them to have the same experience.”
Jeanne Marie Lust ’73, OSB Denis McDonough (SJU ’92)
Mike Anderson (SJU ’05) Saint John’s Alumni Association President
Chris Coborn (SJU ’81)
Kathryn Enke ’05 Saint Ben’s Alumnae Association President
Kristen N. Hodge-Clark
Pam Wheelock
CSB and SJU Mourn the Loss of Warren “Boz” Bostrom
On Oct. 9, Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s lost one of the community’s biggest boosters. Warren ‘Boz’ Bostrom – a professor of accounting and finance –passed away after battling illness.
The 1995 SJU graduate spent nine years in Big 4 accounting, specializing in international tax and finance, before returning to his alma matter to join the faculty in 2004. He earned tenure in 2011 and was promoted to full professor status in 2020.
During his 21 years as a faculty member, he became a campus icon and one of the most passionate promoters CSB and SJU had. He developed strong bonds with the students he taught, serving not just as a professor – but as a mentor and a friend. And he used his wide social media audience to tirelessly advocate for the two schools.
He was a fixture at campus events throughout the school year, and an especially avid follower of Bennie and Johnnie athletics. His love of teaching and his students was evident by the way he continued to teach even as he battled health issues in his final weeks.
The CSB and SJU communities came together on Sunday, Oct. 19, in Clemens Stadium at SJU to celebrate and remember him.
“Boz loved this community,” CSB and SJU President Brian Bruess told the crowd, which filled the track in
front of the podium and a good portion of the main grandstand on a sunny afternoon when the fall colors on the surrounding trees were finally beginning to show.
“He loved this stadium. And he loved each and every one of you. That was the thing about Boz. Even if you’d never met him, or had him in class, or were an advisee. Even if you didn’t know him well, he loved you all the same. Boz embodied a brand of enthusiastic love for students. A love for the Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s community. A love of life and of being everyone’s champion.”
Bostrom’s wife Kacey spoke of how her husband tried to get the most he could out of everyone he came in contact with.
“One of his strengths was being a maximizer,” Kacey said. “When he saw a spark in you, he would do all he could to fan that into a bonfire to benefit the community.”
The ceremony also included the reading of a message from Mary Jepperson ’80, a professor emerita and former accounting and finance department chair.
“There are four types of people in this world,” Jepperson’s message said. “People who see their glass as half full. People who see their glass as half empty. People who believe someone stole their glass. And people, like Boz, who are convinced their glass is overflowing. The best way we can honor my dear and wonderful friend Boz is to find joy and give joy. Boz found tremendous joy in his work. He loved, loved, loved everything about being here at Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s.”
Flag Football is Here at Saint Ben’s
In October, Saint Ben’s announced a partnership with the Minnesota Vikings to launch flag football, starting with an inaugural team this spring.
The Bennies will join the Midwest College Women’s Flag Football League, which begins its second season in 2026. Augsburg, Concordia-Moorhead, Bethel, Gustavus, Northwestern (Minnesota), Augustana (South Dakota) and Wisconsin-Stout all fielded teams in the league’s first year.
“As an institution, we want to be on the front end of what this sport is going to be,” said CSB Athletic Director Kelly Anderson-Diercks. “Because it’s going to be exciting. It will already be an Olympic event in 2028 (in Los Angeles).”
Since 2022, the Vikings have invested more than $1 million in growing girls and women’s flag football at the high school and college levels in the Midwest. Reaching out to current and prospective students with opportunities in intercollegiate athletics and club sports – opportunities like this new flag football program – is just one more way Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s
are working to bolster and expand enrollment. Right from the start, during the campus involvement fair in September, 25 first-year Bennies had stepped up and expressed interest in joining the team.
“I’m so happy to be part of a team of girls who are excited to play football and who are ready to work their hardest and bring something new to Saint Ben’s,” added first-year student Alaina Pundsack, an All-State pick at Mounds View High School during the first season of Minnesota high school flag football last spring and a leader in getting the sport going at CSB.
“We’re committed to continuing to grow enrollment through athletics and club sports,” Anderson-Diercks said. “This is another awesome opportunity to bring great young people to these incredible campuses. Saint John’s already has a long and storied football history in its own right. Now it’s time to start some Bennie football history as well.”
Flag football is the nation’s fastest-growing emerging high school sport. As of the summer of 2025, 17 states have girls flag football sanctioned at the high school level while 17 other states are in the pilot program stage of growth.
Lily Ryan ’29 and Alaina Pundsack ’29 are ready for some football.
Making Sure It Means More
The search for true meaning in a CSB+SJU education begins with looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary. (It’s a very Benedictine approach to life and living.)
In the best of circumstances, every simple element in our community aligns with care, intention, deep listening, nurturing and steady, stable action to create something extraordinary – through the power of community and the dignity of work.
A student’s progression from first year through commencement takes ordinary experiences like coursework, high-impact practices and mentoring and alchemizes them into graduates who change, lead and serve our world. The magic comes in the pieces that are truly ours: our Benedictine values, our deeply rooted community, our enduring connections to each other and our mission.
It’s a wonderful thing when a student finds and explores all those pieces of our campuses. Here’s the problem though: We aren’t providing universal access for all students.
Some percentage of our students are not getting those advantages. There are obstacles keeping them from making the most of Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s. The obstacles – they could be finances or self-confidence or just awareness of the opportunities – keep them from chances to discover paths and directions that could influence their whole lives.
Clearly, just making opportunities “available” isn’t enough. We need to create a structure and establish a culture throughout our campuses that not only ensures all students find and understand the opportunities available to them – but also makes sure each student can picture themselves succeeding and thriving in those spaces.
This education has to mean more than a major. It should be a uniquely powerful four-year experience. To that end, we have strengths and tools available:
Community
For many of us, this is one of the first words that comes up when we try to describe Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s. And that makes sense: The communal nature of our Benedictine monastic origins gives us truly specialized insights into a long, strong tradition of building and living in community. This is and should be a strength of ours. But what does it mean and how do we ensure its advantages for more students?
Mentorship Connections
Our faculty is top-notch – amazing educators who truly care about their students – in the classroom and in their faculty advisor roles. There are innovative and valuable career development services being offered right now in our Experience and Professional Development (XPD) office. The Bennie/Johnnie alum network is legendary in the ways it shows up with advice and a helping hand for students and young alums.
Experiential Learning
Just about every college has realized and embraced the value of high-impact, outside-the-classroom learning experiences. CSB and SJU were early adopters. We’ve explicitly placed a curricular emphasis on experiential learning for our students since the 1990s. For decades, we’ve been national leaders in the number of students who study abroad. Our undergraduate research programs are so strong they were recognized with a prestigious AURA award from the Council on Undergraduate Research in 2023. In fact, 30% of our students each year will complete a research or creative project. We do experiential learning well. Nearly all our students take part. Can we encourage and empower them all ?
There are a lot of great chances for Bennies and Johnnies to find that advice and mentorship – from their student employers, their coaches, the monastics. That’s an advantage that shouldn’t be left to chance. We need to structure those many chances our students have for advising and mentorship in ways that make sure those interactions happen for all.
We do a lot well. But it’s time for us to do a better job of making those strengths available and attractive to students – for two reasons:
1. Those of us who know and love these institutions know what’s possible for our students. We never like to see them leave valuable opportunities unexplored.
2. Given the enrollment challenges facing all of higher education right now, we need prospective Bennies and Johnnies to see the things we do well for them as both powerful and accessible. They need to see themselves in this experience.
We All Arrive in Search of Direction
At Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s, we believe college should mean more. More than rigorous academics. More than a major.
We believe a student’s college experience should be guided by purpose – helping discover who they are, what they value and how they can lead a meaningful life. It should be a journey in search of direction. It should be a True North Journey
What is a True North Journey?
The True North Journey will be a signature four-year experience at CSB and SJU – a purposeful path built around mentorship, reflection and real-world learning that prepares students for tomorrow’s workforce.
It’s not a set of requirements, it is a promise to intentionally integrate four-year developmental academic and career preparation and provide guaranteed experiential learning and mentorship experiences that students shape based on their goals and interests.
“True North” serves as a metaphor for one’s deepest sense of purpose – an internal compass that guides decisions and direction with clarity and integrity, even during times of uncertainty.
The Four-Year Experience
Chart
Explore your strengths, values and aspirations, and start to discover who you are.
This is where the journey starts, with curiosity, reflection and a sense of possibility. In their first year, students will discover their strengths, connect with guides and advisors and begin shaping the story that’s all their own. This is where direction starts to take form – rooted in purpose, supported by community and built to grow over the next four years.
Test
Consider bold ideas, push at the edges of what’s possible and grow your confidence.
By this point, students have started to discover their direction. Year 2 is where they put it in motion. They’ll take risks, test their strengths and stretch into new spaces – with mentors and peers supporting every step of the way.
This is a central theme that runs through the True North Journey framework.
That doesn’t mean we are necessarily doing more, it means we are going to do things differently, with intention, to make students’ experiences mean more. There are already incredible things happening across our campuses. But not all students are gaining the benefits of those opportunities.
The True North Journey promise is a call to guarantee that all students will find and take advantage of access.
What Makes This Different?
There are three key elements that will make the True North Journey a unique signature experience for Bennies and Johnnies.
THE TRUE NORTH TEAM
From the day a student says yes to CSB and SJU, they’re connected to their personalized True North Team – a dedicated group of mentor navigators matched to their interests, goals and academic path – who will guide them all four years. This isn’t just an advisor students meet occasionally. It’s a powerful support system that helps them navigate decisions with confidence and build a future that’s uniquely their own. (Learn more on page 14.)
MENTOR-CENTERED COMMUNITY
Every student will define their purpose in relation to the world’s needs through meaningful relationships with mentors. As part of their True North Team, a student’s Network Navigator will help connect them with developmentally appropriate opportunities from first-year meet and greets to more profound one-toone mentor relationships beginning as a sophomore. With support both for the student and alums and industry partners, we can make the Bennie/Johnnie network even more powerful throughout your lifetime.
(Learn more on page 16.)
YEAR 3
Build
Round out your skills, expand your reach and lead the way forward with clarity.
This is the year a student’s purpose gets sharper. They’ll take everything they’ve learned so far – their interests, their experiences, their strengths – and begin assembling something big. Through hands-on learning, real-world impact and mentorship that expands their network, they’ll step forward with confidence and clarity.
REAL ACCESS TO EXPERIENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Every student will transform classroom concepts into real-world action. Primary opportunities will still be internships, study abroad, undergraduate research and community-engaged learning. We’ll take some steps to smooth out logistical and financial roadblocks that have kept some students from embracing these opportunities. But beyond that, we’ll be speaking –through True North Team advisors and peer resources – more consistently, more frequently and with more encouragement about experiential learning.
When we help students to see themselves as the type of student who takes on these challenges, we give them the confidence to engage. Today, roughly 90% of Bennies and Johnnies will take on a major experiential learning role. And that’s great. But we want every student to get these high-impact experiences to apply their learning in the real world.
(Learn more on page 18.)
Launch
YEAR 4
Take big steps to transition toward postgrad life –you’re ready for this!
By senior year, students have clarified who they are, what they care about and how they want to show up in the world. With their sense of purpose sharpened, their network growing and real experience behind them, this is the year they’ll launch – into work, into community and into the life they’re ready to lead.
Everything is Cool When You’re Part of a Team
One of the most innovative and impactful aspects of the True North Journey will be the creation of each student’s True North Team.
Big journeys like college call for strong guides. That’s why, moving forward, every Bennie and Johnnie – from the time they’re enrolled – will be assigned their own team of advisors to help connect purpose to realworld action.
The True North Team is a dedicated group of mentor navigators matched to a student’s interests, goals and academic path – a group that will guide them all four years.
This isn’t just an advisor students meet occasionally. And it’s not a replacement for the role of faculty advisors – those connections will remain. The True North Team is a powerful support system that helps students discover what matters most for them, navigate every decision with confidence and build a future that feels meaningful and uniquely their own.
From exploring majors and choosing internships to clarifying values and preparing for the evolving world of work, this is how CSB+SJU will deliver on the promise to
prepare every student for tomorrow’s workforce –equipped with real skills, a clear sense of purpose and the confidence to lead lives of impact wherever their path takes them.
What’s New About This?
Identifying a consistent core of advisors with whom a student can build trust and rapport over four years is a new approach. This has shown to be an encouraging and reassuring selling point for prospective students.
These institutions are built on community. Support services like Academic Advising and our Experience and Professional Development (XPD) office have been campus fixtures for years. So the general ideas of an Academic Navigator and a Career Navigator aren’t new. Connecting them directly to students rather than waiting for students to initiate contact is.
That idea of finding students with our services rather than forcing them to find the services they may not realize they need is a big part of the True North Journey.
The other thing that’s new and exciting about the function of the True North Team is the role of the Network Navigator. Mentorship opportunities are everywhere on these campuses and throughout the global CSB+SJU community. The Network Navigator will be the conduit who can connect a student with those opportunities – explain the process and encourage the connections. (Read more about the Network Navigator on page 16.)
Career Navigator
A proactive partner who helps students translate their interests and academic experiences into realworld opportunities – internships, career exploration and preparation for tomorrow’s workforce.
Academic Navigator
A dedicated resource for guiding the academic journey – from exploring majors to building a four-
Network Navigator
A specialized connector who cultivates pathways between students and the broader professional community. The Network Navigator leverages the vibrant Bennie/Johnnie alum network and professional partners to create personalized connections, mentorship opportunities and career insights tailored to each student’s aspirations.
Why Does It Matter?
Being connected to their True North Team throughout their college journey will give a student time and opportunity to build some familiar, trusting relationships. Bret Benesh is a professor of mathematics and has been working on pieces of the True North Journey for over two years. As he puts it, “This advising has to be relationship-based. When I want advice about things that matter, I don’t go to people I see twice a year. I go to people I’ve spent hours with. I don’t think students are different.”
Those connections, and the threepronged advising approach, are also going to create a core accountability component for students. They’ll have wraparound support to help them navigate, find and engage with the right thing. It’s putting more intentionality behind these services and helping to connect them with a student’s purpose.
Mentors Matter
One of the defining characteristics of Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s is that we’re blessed with a dynamic community of alums, monastics, faculty, staff and neighbors.
But, as Kevin Clancy (SJU ’00), assistant dean for experiential education and member of the team that’s been working to create this new “mentor-centered community,” says, “I think we’ve been operating under the assumption that students will somehow be able to find this community and this community will somehow be able to find them.
“We have that community, but we haven’t found a way to really connect them in a sustainable, structured way. And this is the attempt to do it.”
For a certain percentage of our students, finding mentorship and guidance on campus and beyond has been great. A recent assessment found at least 10 mentoring programs in existence right now, helping students connect.
However, connecting with those connectors has too often been accidental and left to chance or instinct. The True North journey will make mentorship accessible and equitable for the whole student body, should they choose to participate, through the Network Navigator team.
Network Navigator Team
Every Bennie and Johnnie will be assigned a Network Navigator as part of their personalized True North Team. This is a new role on the campuses – a group that will source and manage a large pool of people who are looking to participate and engage with our students.
Network Navigators will be the professionals who will make sure we’re engaging the larger community, and that we're also engaging the students. They’ll serve as a form of quality control to make sure we’re following up with students who aren’t responding, and that we’re following up with mentors who aren’t responding. Because if we don't do that, both mentors and mentees will lose interest and burn out quickly.
The pool that our Network Navigators will manage is going to include a lot of alumnae/i. That’s the type of focused volunteer engagement that makes Saint Ben’s a certified Service Enterprise. (See page 5.) But it will also include monastics, staff, coaches – people who work around students on a regular basis, but haven’t had a specific way to really walk with them on their journey.
A Scaffolded Approach
As Network Navigators begin working to connect students with these resources, they’ll be structuring it in a scaffolded way. So, for first-year students, that’s going to mean a lot of networking opportunities.
We don't want to assume all students in their first year can jump right into a mentorship. Part of the idea of “charting” in the first year is to have a range of different, shorter experiences – like networking events where they can meet a variety of people from a variety of backgrounds. Then, in the second year, they can begin transitioning to a more one-to-one mentorship.
It will also be important for students to indicate the type of mentorship path they want to take. One student may be looking for something in political science, another is looking for something in business, a third is looking for spiritual development... Student choice will be important, and they’ll be able to work with their Network Navigator to find the right connections for them.
This mentor-centered community will also be built in a scaffolded way for mentors. As we build the pool of interested participants, there will be some community members who are just looking to come to campus and network with students for a day. And that’s amazing. We will have networking opportunities for them.
But there will be others who really feel open to having something more like a monthly conversation with a student – whether that be in person or virtually. Those opportunities will be open to alums and friends throughout our global community.
The mentor-centered community will mean meeting the mentees where they are, but also offering incoming community members the chance to engage in the ways they want to.
Making It Mean More
To create meaningful connections, there's going to have to be an onboarding process for mentors – and an onboarding for mentees, defining what it means to be in this exchange and what are the appropriate things to do as a mentee.
The Benedictine Institute is another campus resource that could be tapped for input in that area, says Clancy. “We want everyone to understand, when we talk about mentorship and community, what it means to look at that through a Benedictine lens – how we exist in relationship with each other.”
For Professor of Political Science Pedro dos Santos, who has been a key contributor in developing this mentorcentered community, the essential part in building these relationships will be making them reciprocal. “It’s not a one-way interaction. It’s symbiotic – we’re all getting something out of it. You’re getting something, you’re giving something. You’re connecting with the alums, but they’re also gaining you as a connection. You’re getting something from the alum network, and then when you become an alum, you give it back in the same way.
“The most exciting part of this is that it’s very in line with our mission. We’re leveraging that mission to create this new way of thinking about how you go about your four years here.”
Experience M akes the Difference
Experiential learning is nothing new at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s. We’ve recognized the value of some key high-impact practices for decades and emphasized that value to our students. Our Experience Hub works across both campuses to promote experiential learning and make sure exceptional opportunities are available to all students.
That’s worked well. Experiential learning is a strength here. Roughly 90% of today’s Bennies and Johnnies will complete a major experiential learning project –usually an internship, study abroad or undergraduate research – before graduation. But 90% means there’s room for improvement.
Within the structure of the True North Journey, “We’re going to guarantee that every student will get an experiential learning opportunity,” says Kate Bohn-Gettler, associate dean of assessment and chair of the True North Journey subcommittee that’s been developing Conference Days. (Learn more about Conference Days on page 21.)
Bohn-Gettler explains, “In the first couple of years, those will be more exploratory experiences as students are figuring out some of the different experiential learning components and what’s out there. Then, in the last two years, it will be more transformative. Studying abroad, doing a distinguished thesis, engaging in an internship … something that’s more intensive and really hands-on.”
What’s Different?
In some ways we’ll be working to remove obstacles that have historically kept some students from engaging.
The intentional, relationship-based advising of a student’s True North Team means there will always be someone to reassure them and show them that a semester abroad can fit in – even with the most intense of majors.
The growth in popularity of short-term embedded programs means more students are discovering the way those programs can lower the cost of studying abroad. An embedded course is a creditbearing course that students take as part of their regular semester course offerings. The embedded course takes place over all or part of the semester, then has an international field component (usually a few weeks) during or after the semester.
The real difference when it comes to experiential learning along the True North Journey will be one of marketing and promotion. We need to do a better job making sure that students know what opportunities are out there – and, just as importantly, making sure that students can see themselves in those opportunities.
“The difference,” says Karyl Daughters, dean of curriculum and assessment and chair of the True North Journey subcommittee focused on experiential learning, “is that it’s going to be embedded throughout their experiences both inside and outside the classroom.
“We’ll see it in the messaging and the intentional kind of mentorship that we’re going to provide to help students understand what the opportunities are and what resources they need for those opportunities –then we set them up for success to achieve them.”
Bringing It to Life
Every journey worth taking has some sights to see and some milestones to hit along the way, and the True North Journey is no exception.
For Bennies and Johnnies, as this new structure takes shape, there are three key points where they’ll feel the impact:
• Basecamp – A reimagination of newstudent orientation
• Conference Days – A yearly outsidethe-classroom workshop centered on purpose, life skills and professional development
• The Lookout – An update to a threecourse series in our curriculum that every student will take before graduation
Basecamp
When fully implemented (over the next four years), Basecamp will extend the scope of orientation to stretch from the time an accepted student places a deposit through the end of the first semester. For fall 2026 though, Basecamp will focus on the traditional arrival orientation.
The first step, according to Associate Provost for Student Success Mary Geller, chair of the subcommittee developing Basecamp, was to determine, “What do students really need to learn in those four days?
“Orientation – at every school – tends to end up as kind of an information dumping ground on a captive audience. So we’ve cleared the table and asked what they really need to know to be successful when they begin classes on that Monday.”
Beyond that, Basecamp will begin to take orientation out of a one-size-fits-all perspective and give students agency to choose for themselves. “Some students are outdoorsy, some students are more spiritual and some just aren’t as social and want to go someplace quiet,” says Geller. “We’re designing an afternoon where it’s a choose-your-own-adventure chance to get to know the community at their own pace.”
Basecamp will be our first chance to engage students and get them on board for the opportunities in front of them. “We really want to set the tone that you get out of this what you put into it,” Geller explains. “If we can hook them during orientation and get buy-in on the whole approach, they’re much more likely to follow through with that mindset throughout.”
Conference Days
Conference Days won’t begin to roll out until fall 2027. But when they do, this will be an instructional day where students will not go to class but will attend workshops sequenced to where they are in their college journey. They’ll be scheduled sometime in the second half of September – far enough into the year that students are settled in, but early enough in the year to still effectively set goals.
“Students will work on professional development skills and learn about experiential opportunities, all in the discernment and pursuit of purpose,” says Kate Bohn-Gettler, associate dean of assessment and chair of the True North Journey subcommittee that’s been developing Conference Days.
The format and agenda are still under development. And Conference Day content will grow and build by class year. But it might look something like this:
• Keynote speaker
• Interactive workshops (financial literacy, professional development skills…)
• Opportunity events (experiential learning fairs, major/minor fairs, career fairs...)
• Goal setting, mapping the coming year and reflection on connecting purpose with career
• Closing celebration
• Networking events into the evening
The Lookout
The Lookout refers to all the ways we’ll be weaving the True North Journey into existing general education courses: Integrations 105, which is the College Success course; Integrations 100, Learning Foundations; and Integrations 300, which is the capstone of the general education curriculum, taken in a student’s last two semesters.
The exact changes to the syllabus of each of those courses are still in development. But Professor of Political Science Pedro dos Santos, who currently teaches Integrations 300, sees that course in particular as critical to a complete liberal arts education. “I tell students, in this class, the four credits aren’t coming from you reading a lot of stuff and doing formulas. You’ll earn those credits spending the cognitive capacity you need to reflect on your time here.
“The heavy lifting comes from their own emotional preparation to really think about who they want to be in the future and who they are right now – as they approach completion of their college journey.”
Someone Believes in You
“ I would have failed as a sister if I ever let her limit or doubt herself.”
And so, Samantha Lundgren DeChene ’22 didn’t. She poked, prodded, invited and inspired her younger sister – offering guidance, advice and mentorship that led Emma Lundgren ’24 all the way to medical school.
Getting not just information but encouragement from an advisor and mentor can change the world for a student. And while we can’t guarantee a big sister for every incoming student, Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s are committed to our best approximation with the personalized advising of a True North Team.
When future Bennies and Johnnies arrive on these campuses to begin their new True North Journeys, they’ll be packing two critical tools to help them along the way – focused, relationship-based advising and mentorship from that True North Team and highimpact, hands-on experiential learning.
While the True North Journey format is a radical reimagining of the way we deliver those experiences and services, neither of them are new here. We’re making moves to make sure each of our students not only finds those opportunities but can see themselves thriving and succeeding in them.
That matters. And anyone who doubts the impact of personal advice and hands-on learning can just ask Emma.
Start Exploring Early
Emma didn’t start out at Saint Ben’s on a pre-med track. Her big sister picked up on that pretty quickly.
“She was like, why?” recalls Emma. “Why don’t you want to do the pre-med route?”
Emma was hesitant. In part, she was reluctant to copy her big sister as a pre-med – she’d already followed her to CSB. But beyond that, she wasn’t sure if she even had it in her. It meant a lot when Samantha told her, “I think you could go all the way if you wanted to.”
So Emma began exploring. She discovered that the Saint John’s EMT Squad offers training pathways to EMT certification for volunteers and “kind of on a whim” she layered those classes on top of her firstyear class load.
“Through that I kind of got to feel what it was like to be an actual provider of care and make decisions – having some degree of autonomy.”
At the same time, Samantha was working as a scribe in the emergency room at St. Cloud Hospital. Emma remembers, “She said ‘You should come do this with me and see if you like it. You get to see and
describe what a physician does – you’re basically their shadow and you write down everything they do.”
Emma continued volunteering with the EMT Squad and working as an ER scribe throughout her time at Saint Ben’s.
Looking back, “It was really beneficial for me to start scribing freshman year versus senior year because it showed longevity in a position and that I was dedicated to staying there,” says Emma. “It’s those kinds of things that you have to do to set yourself apart to get into med school. And I had no idea, had Samantha not told me.
“Experimenting at the beginning of college – that’s where you figure out what you like and what you’re interested in. Getting the EMT certification and doing the scribing was how I found out I wanted to go premed instead of nursing. And I don’t think I would have figured that out just by whether I did well in my chemistry classes or not, because that has nothing to do with whether I would like my profession.”
Professor and pre-med advisor
Mani Campos and Emma Lundgren ’24
Hear Those Voices Everywhere
Samantha was in Emma’s ear a lot in those early days. “She was encouraging me the whole time,” says Emma. “I didn’t understand what I was doing in chemistry –the road maps and the horrible PSAs – and I’d go to her apartment saying ‘Help me, teach me, I don’t know what to do, I’m not smart enough for this…’ And she was like, “No. You are. 100%.”
But as influential as her sister’s voice was, it wasn’t the only guidance Emma was receiving.
Professor of biology and pre-med advisor Mani Campos was able to steer her course load in directions that are paying dividends now. “I was a biology major,
so there were a number of classes I could have taken,” she says. “He was there to tell me ‘Here are the ones you’re going to want to have seen before med school.’ And looking at it now, they make learning them a second time a lot easier.”
Campos was a steady voice in pointing out what is possible and making things work. “The fact I was able to pack a pre-med program, the Honors program, a Hispanic studies minor and a semester abroad (in Chile) into four years was like a puzzle to him,” she laughs. That semester in Chile ended up leading Emma to connect with another important mentor. Kim Tjaden, MD, is a family medicine doctor at CentraCare in St. Cloud, who does volunteer work with free health clinics in Central Minnesota sponsored by Fe y Justicia.
“Her daughter and I were friends as young kids, we go to the same church. I’ve known her forever, and she’s totally been a mentor for me,” says Emma. “And I reached out because I wanted to shadow her for family medicine. She said, ‘Oh my gosh, you speak Spanish, you should come with me and interpret for us.’”
The experience not only provided another standout point on her medical school application, but it also fueled the curiosity and passion she had developed around immigration and social justice during her time in Chile.
Put It All Together
As Emma rolled into her senior year, Campos was there to show her the MCAT practice tests that were available to her. Samantha was there with hard-won tips on how to fill out a winning application to medical school.
The resources, opportunities and advice had all been there – and she’d grabbed hold of a lot of them.
In the end, Emma was accepted into the inaugural class of aspiring physicians at the newly opened University of Minnesota Medical School’s CentraCare Regional Campus St. Cloud. The new campus’s mission is to train students interested in pursuing careers in rural health care – ensuring more doctors end up in areas where the need is only expected to rise in the coming years.
“When I saw this school was opening up, it seemed to check all my boxes,” she says. “There is such a great need for medical students who want to practice in rural areas, and I really like the fact that rural medicine has less specialization. It allows you the
chance to practice a broader scope of medicine. That fits with the picture I’ve drawn for myself when it comes to where I want to end up.”
Beyond that, she was named the first-ever recipient of the CentraCare Foundation Scholarship for Rural Medicine. The scholarship covers full tuition for four years of medical school.
“I want to serve smaller communities not only as a provider, but also as a listener, advocate and innovator. While resource limitations in rural settings present real challenges, those same constraints create opportunities for creative, impactful solutions.”
Through it all, Samantha (who, we’re proud to mention, is a second-year osteopathic medical student at Des Moines University) is just happy she could be there for her sister. “It meant everything to me,” she says. “At an age when most little sisters don’t really need their big sister anymore, mine needed me the most. I’ve honestly never been more proud of anything or anyone in my life.”
Hear more from Emma on the journey that led her to her True North!
Liz Keenan ’83, Lisa Pettitt ’89, Monica Medina McCurdy ’92, Maggie Weber Utsch ’00 and Michelle Eberhard ’10
TAKING CONTEMPLATIVE ACTION
In summer 2020, Saint Ben’s put out a call for alumnae to form “contemplative action groups” (kind of a ramped-up version of an online book club) as part of the transformational inclusion work funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
That was how Liz Keenan ’83, Lisa Pettitt ’89, Monica Medina McCurdy ’92, Maggie Weber Utsch ’00 and Michelle Eberhard ’10 first met.
“There was so much going on during that summer after George Floyd’s murder, and at the time there weren’t many opportunities to have conversations like this
because a lot of places were still locked down,” recalls Pettitt, who works with youth organizations and also does retreat planning at Compassionate Dharma Cloud Monastery in Colorado.
“This really became a great place to work through who we were and what was happening at this moment in history.”
Indeed, whatever brought them together, these five Bennies have remained active ever since –evolving into a professional and social support resource.
“All of us work in roles where we have leadership responsibility,” says
McCurdy, a physician assistant and an assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
“We’re in positions where we can be called upon to navigate difficult situations. I really like having this sounding board. Everyone is an amazing listener and asks great questions. I think that really helps us think about things a little differently.”
“Our conversations often seep into personal stuff as well,” says Utsch, the director of annual giving at CSB. “Dealing with aging parents, things like that.
“The word sisterhood captures a lot, but what we have built feels even deeper. We come from different class years and we’re in different professions, and may not have met otherwise. But the bond we share here is something truly special and life-changing.”
Eberhard, the director of refugee services at the International Institute of Minnesota in St. Paul, echoes that sentiment.
“For the first 10 years after I graduated, I didn’t feel a reason to connect back to Saint Ben’s,” she says. “But because of this group, and the values that we share, I’ve been able to reconnect. It’s made me want to explore more.”
Keenan, a professor of social work at Southern Connecticut State University, says she frequently brings strategies and practices from the group into her work and everyday life.
“We share different spiritual practices, or other things that work for us at different times,” she says. “It’s helpful to be able to generate possibilities and learn from one another.”
This summer, all five members of this contemplative action group happened to be in Minnesota at the same time – allowing them to meet on campus (the first time McCurdy had returned to campus since graduation in 1992!) and gather in person for the first time.
Milestones
1974 Sue Kaiser Nordquist was inducted to the Rainy River Community College Hall of Fame for Academic Excellence, Aug ’25.
1980 Sandra Thomson Scipioni co-authored the book “God’s Friends” that was published by Bronze Bow Publishing, Jan. ’24.
1985 Allyson Mycklewhyte was recognized in The Bahamas at the Excellence in Education 2024 Awards by the Ministry of Education, March ’25.
1988
JANE KUEBELBECK WILLIAMS, chief financial and administrative officer for the Denver Center for Performing Arts, was recently named Nonprofit CFO of the Year by the Denver Business Journal, Sept. ’25.
1989 Carmen Brezinka Welinski was promoted to executive director of culinary services at the College of Saint Benedict, Aug. ’25.
1992 A nastasia Willette McKenna was celebrated by Twig Bookstore in San Antonio for her 25 years of storytelling, May ’25.
1993 Glennis Werner was named athletic director at Peru State College, Aug. ’25.
1994 Lori Blenker Melander was named the chief people officer for Medica, June ’25.
1995 Stacy Haakonson Lund was honored as one of the 2025 inductees to the Sauk RapidsRice High School Athletics Hall of Fame, Sept. ’25.
Molly Minturn received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Nebraska Methodist College, Aug. ’25.
1996 Margret McCue-Enser recently published a book, “Indigenous Activism in the Midwest: Refusal, Resurgence, and Resisting Settler Colonialism.” Margret is a professor at St. Catherine University, where she was appointed the Sister Huber Endowed Chair for the Liberal Arts (2025-2028) along with being honored with the Faculty Teaching and Advising Award, May ’25.
2000 Krista Cleary Carroll is the co-founder for Latitude, a strategic creative agency. Latitude was honored as one of the “Best Places to Work” in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Aug. ’25.
2002 Dana Kelly Fitzpatrick was recognized as the 2025 Best of Bainbridge Best Realtor (for the fourth time) and Best Real Estate Team, Oct. ’25.
Melinda Knutzen Wolff was featured in White Bear Press for her artistry, Aug. ’25.
2006 Mary Winzenburg Uran was named the executive director of the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, Sept. ’25.
2007 Carliene Quist stepped into a new career as a school-based mental health therapist with the community nonprofit Change Inc. at Fridley Middle School, June ’25.
2008 Tena Rytel Monson was featured in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Business Journal’s section, “People on the Move” as a new hire of US Solar as its senior vice president of project development, July ’25.
2009 Paige Batcha was featured in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal article “Fractional CFO finds fulfillment after leaving traditional career path,” Aug. ’25. Laura Ubani Collins was promoted to partner at KPMG US, Oct. ’25.
Ashley Hendricks Kaplan was named the K-4 curriculum and EL coordinator for Austin (Minnesota) Public Schools, June ’25.
LAURA RUPRECHT had an art exhibition in the Gorecki Gallery, CSB, showcasing her hand-cut stained-glass mosaics, Sept. ’25.
2012 Taneisha Dean was recognized as one of the Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential & Successful Bahamians, June ’25.
Adia Zeman Theis received the “Living the Mission” tribute award from the Bonner Foundation, July ’25.
Jen Sexton Voigt and her husband, Chis Voigt ’11 , created Ninjas United, an American Ninja Warrior training facility that is home to over 600 athletes in the metro area, May ’21.
2013 Sydney Klinker Andringa earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership from St. Catherine University, May ’25.
2014 Taylor Reaves recently started as the Washington chief of staff for U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN-06), who represents Stearns County, Aug. ’25.
2018 Emily Goerdt Hagen started a new position as manager, premium experience for the Minnesota Vikings, Oct. ’25.
2019 Lauren Mathews Hanson was inducted to the Faribault Sports Hall of Fame, Oct. ’25.
Danica Simonet was appointed multimedia producer for KSMQ Public Television, April ’25.
ERIN WESTLUND DRAPE was honored as the 2024-25 Teacher of the Year at West Grand Elementary School in Kremmling, Colorado, May ’25.
MARIA DETERMAN received the Bishop Joseph A. Francis Award for her record of service to the local community in the Denver area, May ’25.
2023 Jordyn Swoboda was promoted to head softball coach at Ridgewater College, June ’25.
2024 Emma Lundgren was awarded the first-ever CentraCare Foundation Scholarship for Rural Medicine, covering her full tuition for all four years of medical school, Sept. ’25.
Marriages
2010 Katelyn Erickson to Daniel McCourtney, March ’25
2011 Maggie Berg to Sean Duffey, Oct. ’24
2013
BRIDGET DEUTZ TO JOE MCCOY, JUNE ’25 ’13
2015 Claire DesHotels to Colin Madigan, Sept. ’25
Margaret Paul to Alex Jarosz ’15 , Nov. ’24
Amanda Urbanski to Frank Zellner ’15 , Sept. ’25
2016 Emma Johnson to Alan Hergott ’17, June ’25
2017 Liz Ellens to Andrew Plys, Feb. ’25
Molly Lax to Cody McKown, June ’25
Hannah Lynch to Joshua Roop, Aug. ’24
2017 Laura Nielson to John Brielmaier, May ’24
Kelly Olzenak to Alex Niederloh ’16 , Sept. ’24
PEYTON MEADE TO MICHAEL MANTHEY ’17, JUNE ’25 ’17
2018 Shanna Grambart to Wade Nedderman, Sept. ’23
Stacy Hurrle to Ryan Oberman ’15, Aug. ’24
2018 Morgan Merritt to Thomas Bartel, Sept. ’24
2019 Bridget Erickson to Troy Douglas, Aug. ’25
Ina Ronnebaum to Neil Borga, Sept. ’23
Abigail Rottjakob to William Gillach ’19 , July ’25
2020 Genevieve “Quinn” Brakob to Kendra Krebsbach ’20, Jan. ’25
Hannah Delmont to Dextan “TJ” Hodge ’21 , Dec. ’24
Emily Forbrook to Nathan Stone ’20 , Sept. ’25
Karly Hennen to Aidan Cassidy ’20 , Aug. ’24
Lauren Herker to Micheal Gottwalt, Sept. ’24
Abigail Jansen to Brennan Hoffman, Sept. ’24
Martha Koenig to Michael Sulaiman ’21 , May ’25
Haley LaValle to Brent Borgen, May ’24
Michelle Martinez to Beau Lepper, July ’25
Rachel Swisher to Vincent Kahlhamer ’21 , Aug. ’25
Caitessa Venables to Colin Thorp, Sept. ’25
Erin Westlund to Dane Drape, July ’23
2021 Abigail Braun to Vincent Nguyen, Sept. ’24
ALLIE DOLAN TO ANDREW WINGERD ’21 , JUNE ’25 ’21
Sophie Faust to Edward “Trey” Cavello ’21 , Feb. ’22
Anna Koehl to Tyler Hatlestad, Aug. ’25
Gianni LaPanta to Peter “Zach” Omann ’20, June ’25
Grace Laudenbach to Ryan Heslop, Aug. ’25
Isabella Lovinger to Peter Goldsmith ’21 , Sept. ’25
Molly Mahowald to Gavin Gillman ’20 , Aug. ’25
Johanna Parker to Austin “AJ” Flowers ’19 , June ’25
Caitlyn Shipp to Michael Proietta, Jan. ’24
EMMA GORMAN TO MASON HENNEN ’21 , JUNE ’25 ’21
2022 Theresa Koll to Joseph Salonek, Aug.’25
Samantha Lundgren to Evan DeChene ’22 , June ’25
MaKayla Pool to Joseph Stenslie, Aug. ’24
Claudia Schuler to Abe Havelka ’22 , Sept. ’25
Megan Schuler to Ethan Roe ’22 , Aug. ’25
Grace Swenson to Andrew Pape, June ’25
Brynn Wilson to Jacob Carley, Aug. ’23
2023 Emily Kieke to Kasey Brinker ’23 , Sept.’25
Margaret Krutchen to Evan Kalsow ’24 , May ’25
Kendell O’Leary to Brock Hildenbrand ’23 , Aug. ’25
HANNAH ENNIS TO ANDREW PULLEN, MAY ’ 25 ’23
Mary Ridgeway to Ethan Huber ’23 , July ’25
2024
BAILEY EAKINS TO ETHAN STARK ’24, JULY ’25 ’24
2024 Leah Fraher to Carl Balfanz ’24 , July ’25
Kierra Hellermann to Tyler Pohlmann ’25 , Sept. ’25
Molly McGowan to Darrien McAllister, May ’25
Maggie O’Donnell to Michael Petron, Sept. ’25
Kaylee Ringstad to Rohan Callaghan, Oct. ’25
Births / Adoptions
FIRST & SECOND COUSINS: KATIE MUELLER STINSON ’05 & ERIC STINSON ’06 , BOY, JACOB, JAN. ’25 & ANNE GATHJE BIBLE ’16 & JAKE BIBLE, GIRL, MAEVE, APRIL ’25 ’05
2007 Susan Jacoby Ziegler & Preston “Zach” Ziegler ’07, boy, Josh, April ’25
2008 Emily Powell Broeffle & Xander Broeffle, girl, Clementine, Oct. ’24
HOLLY WOLTJER PINGER & DAIN PINGER, GIRL, MARGO, AUG. ’24 ’08
2010 Rita White & Oumar Cherif ’10 , boy, Kylian, Sept. ’25 2012
ELIZABETH ROBERTS RAUHAUSER & MATTHEW RAUHAUSER, GIRL, ROSIE, JAN. ’25 ’12
Catherine Luckemeyer-Holmers & Jonathan Holmers ’12 , boy, Matthew, Sept. ’25
Kaycee Knutson Miller & Gavin Miller ’12 , girl, Kollyns, July ’25
2014
KATHERINE MURNANE KORTE & MATTHEW KORTE, GIRL, EVE, JULY ’25 ’14
2015 Laura Fox Hall & Brennan Hall ’15 , boy, Crosby, March ’24
Erika Rodby Mahoney & Daniel Mahoney, girl, Madison, March ’25 2016
EMILY HILLE HAWKINS & JOE HAWKINS ’16 , GIRL, CECILIA, APRIL ’25 ’16
2017 Liz Ellens Plys & Andrew Plys, boy, Maverick, July ’25
Ashley Radatz Uphus & Stephen Uphus ’17, boy, Callum, April ’25
ROLL CALL
You raised your hand then to serve your country. Will you raise it again now to help us celebrate your service and honor the sacrifices of Bennies through the years?
Visit the Saint Ben’s Military Honor Roll today at apps.csbsju.edu/csb-military-honor-roll or use the QR code. Add your name if you’ve served, then spread the word to other Bennies in the military.
Thanks for your service!
ALLISON “ALLY” EIKMEIER DITTBERNER & TREVOR DITTBERNER ’18, GIRL, SCARLETT, AUG. ’25 ’18
CHRISTINA STREIFEL
LABINE & SAMUEL LABINE ’18, BOY, LANDON, APRIL ’25 & BONNIE TRIPLET
ELLINGSON & PATRICK ELLINGSON ’18, GIRL, ELSIE, APRIL ’25 ’18
MORGAN KESSLER RUSSEK & ANDREW RUSSEK ’18, GIRL, MARLEY, APRIL ’25 ’18
Meredith Jarchow-Olson & Samuel Olson ’18 , boy, Elwood, Sept. ’25
Samantha Athmann Jokela & Luke Jokela, boy, Cohen, Aug. ’25
Andrea Loftus Stanton & Thomas Stanton ’18 , boys, Charles & Elliot, April ’25
2019 Jenna Degen Davis & Logan Davis ’18 , boy, Henry, July ’25
Amanda Jacques Gertken & Nathan Gertken, boy, Greyson, Aug. ’24
Katarina Podewils & Samuel Johnson ’19 , boy, Theodore, June ’25
Elizabeth Hoppe Storm & Turner Storm, girl, Sloane, April ’25
MACKENZIE KUHL & JAMES GATHJE ’19, GIRL, ROSE “ROSIE,” AUG. ’25 ’19
2020 Haley LaValle Borgen & Brent Borgen, girl, Olive, Sept. ’25
GRETA WINKELMAN TEMPLIN & TAYLOR TEMPLIN, GIRL, ELLE, JULY ’25 ’20
2022 Erin Narloch Stuber & Sam Stuber, boy, Bodie, Sept. ’25
2023 Leah Lyngen , girl, Violet, May ’25
Let’s start the conversation now, so your voice can carry on through generations. A legacy gift of any size pays exponential returns. It’s an investment in ambitious, promising women – women who will honor your legacy with transformative, worldchanging impact. Make a bequest through your will or trust, name CSB as a beneficiary, or establish a charitable gift annuity.
Deaths
1948 Mary Spaetgens Lammers , Nov. ’12
Rose Vandal Ormberg , Aug. ’25
Teresa “Terry” Blatz Walker, June ’25
1949 Eulalia “LeMay” Wagner Bechtold , mother of Brigid Bechtold ’74, Mary Ruth Bechtold ’78 & Joyce Bechtold Christianson ’84, Sept. ’25
Mary Germscheid Hanlon , March ’25
1950 Patrica Schindler Gilchrest, Dec. ’24
Rita Bauer Rank , July ’24
1952 Martha Schmidt Becker, July ’25
James Gregg, spouse of Lyla Korb Gregg , Nov. ’24
Evelyn Keefe Sexson, Jan. ’25
1953 Sister Anne Marie Geray, OSB , March ’25
Donna Scherer Zitur, mother of Mary Zitur Miley ’79, Amy Zitur ’82 & Joan Zitur Carter ’84, Aug. ’25
1954 Marilee Zachman Cripe, Feb. ’25
Rudolph Lorbiecki, spouse of Marilyn Schneider Lorbiecki, father of Kathryn Lorbiecki Moher ’83, July ’25
Lorraine Fenno Wieser, Aug. ’24
1955 Donal Maeyaert, spouse of Donna Van Keulen Maeyaert , March ’19
1957 James Gellerman, spouse of Janeene Mahoney Gellerman , Jan. ’25
Janis Heinz Hoy, Aug. ’25
James Krysan, spouse of Carole Zender Krysan, June ’23
Lynn Johnson White, May ’25
1958 David Franklin, spouse of Karleen Wollmering Franklin , May ’21
Kathleen Lutgen Matthews , Nov. ’24
1959 Cecelia Burgwald , Sept. ’25
LaVonne Schnieder O’Connor, mother of Margaret O’Connor Tressel ’82 , Joan O’Connor Goossens ’84, Susan O’Connor Schommer ’90 & Barbara O’Connor Grube ’94, Oct. ’25
Barbara Gish Ulliman, Feb. ’25
1960 Thomas Weber, spouse of Phyllis Moen Weber, Sept. ’25
1962 Kenneth Ahlstrom, spouse of Harriet Keenan Ahlstrom , father of Margaret “Peg” Ahlstrom Turnquist ’86, Aug. ’25
Geraldine Luke DeAnda , Feb. ’24
Darlene Axtman Goven, July ’24
Karen Tell Skwira , mother of Anne Skwira-Brown ’86, July ’25
1963 Irwin Armstrong, spouse of Lorraine “Lori” Armstrong, Jan. ’23
1963 Daniel Eller ’65, spouse of Pamela Honer Eller, Oct. ’25
Susanna Presseller, Sept. ’25
Joan Dummer Rosenhamer, mother of Brenda Rosenhamer Duesman ’90, Sept. ’23
1964 Bernard Funk, spouse of Mary Maiers Funk , Aug. ’23
Kathryn McMahon, March ’25
John Wolkerstorfer ’64, spouse of Marilyn Pink Wolkerstorfer, July ’25
1965 Corey Loney, spouse of Julienne Solheim Loney, Sept. ’24
Sister Suzanne Slominski, OSB , Aug. ’25
1966 Mary Karen “Karen” Welle Bellmont , July ’25
Patricia Johnson Davis , Aug. ’25
Mary Ann Kennedy, mother of Kathleen “Kate” Sullivan Goeddeke ’94 & Amy Sullivan Ricker ’95, Aug. ’25
James “Jim” Mahoney ’64, spouse of Berteil Johnson Mahoney, Oct. ’25
1967 Sister Benet Frandrup, OSB , Sept. ’25
Peter Kostiuk, spouse of Maureen Karels Kostiuk , April ’23
1969 Richard Armstrong, spouse of Florine Weller Armstrong, April ’25
Sister Lauren Keppers , OSB , Aug. ’25
1970 Michael Grausam, spouse of Kathleen Piehl Grausam , Feb. ’20
Charles Krekelberg ’67, spouse of Patricia Schlosser Krekelberg , Sept. ’25
Thomas Partyka, spouse of Joyce Scholl Partyka , June ’25
1971 Francis “Frank” Barnett, spouse of Sheryl Hess Barnett , May ’25
1972 Bernadine Vilina, mother of Judith Vilina Hart & Anne Vilina Volkmann ’81 , June ’25
Dr. Peter La Roche, spouse of Mary Noske La Roche, May ’24
1973 Anthony Crea ’73, spouse of Mary Rian Crea , father of Michelle Crea Tapley ’07, Sept. ’25
1974 Martha Gaetz, mother of Mary Gaetz-Scholtz , Sept. ’25
Deanna Wesley Hagger, Sept. ’25
Suzanne “Suzy” Jansen, Feb. ’25
1975 Cheri Norbeck Spoo, July ’25
1976 Jane Sinner, mother of Mary Katherine Sinner Eustice, Margaret Sinner ’79, Barbara Sinner Wieland ’80, Rita Sinner Diamanti ’81 & Monica Sinner Goodwin ’85, Sept. ’25
1976 Donna Anderson, mother of Susan Anderson Johnson, Jan. ’22
Willard Leinonen, father of Sharon Leinonen Lucas , Gail Leinonen
Sindt ’80 & Gwenn Leinonen
Elmblad ’86, Aug. ’25
1977 Winifred “Marguerite” Maloney, mother of Joan Maloney Paulson & Nancy Maloney Williams ’82 , June ’25
1978 Sister Ena Albury, OSB , Sept. ’25
Larene Hark, mother of Mary Hark , July ’25
1979 Carol Bishop, Aug. ’25
Peggy Gagliardi, mother of Nancy Gagliardi Little & Gina Gagliardi Benson ’84, Sept. ’25
1980 Joyce Dowswell, mother of Jane Miller & Ann O’Toole ’88 , Feb. ’20
Charles Gray, father of Catherine Gray O’Mara , May ’22
Victor Kurpiers, father of Ellen Kurpiers Pinkowski, Jill Kurpiers Gromberg ’84 & Joyce Kurpiers ’92 , June ’25
Kathleen Tobin, mother of Margaret Tobin, July ’24
1981 Arlene Koble, mother of Karen Koble Koch & Sharon Koble Dodson ’82 , Jan. ’25
1982 Elizabeth Harkwell, mother of Cynthia “Cyndy” Harkwell Clark & Mary Harkwell Prosser ’84, June ’25
Marguerite Lawler, mother of Laurie Lawler Cummings , Sept. ’25
Joyce Schirmers, mother of Carol Schirmers , July ’25
Edward & Audrienne Vidmar, parents of Nancy Vidmar Torrison, May ’25 & Sept. ’25
Martin Wagner, father of Julie Wagner Warrington, Catherine Wagner Loge ’83, Mary Wagner Kloss ’85, Karen Wagner Schowalter ’86, Claire Wagner ’88 & Patricia Wagner ’90, March ’25
1983 Richard Hall ’52 , father of Mary Hall, Aug. ’25
David Jirikovic, spouse of Melissa Byersmith Jirikovic , April ’24
Thomas Mulrooney, father of Lynn Mulrooney Kerber, June ’25
Mary Patnaude, mother of Carolyn Patnaude, Sept. ’24
Robert Burns, father of Sheila Burns Zats , May ’25
1984 George J. Bieniek, father of Brenda Bieniek Dobis , June ’25
Julie Lassegard, mother of Coleen Lassegard & Ann Lassegard Ogren ’87, April ’25
John “Jack” Bartek, father of Margaret Bartek McCaslin & Cecile Bartek ’91 , Jan. ’25
Walter Kerber, father of Constance Kerber Splett , March ’22
1985 Dr. Anthony Baraga, father of Toni Baraga & Kathleen Baraga ’88 , June ’25
Kathryn “Kathy” Drew, mother of Lucinda “Cindy” Drew Dockendorf, June ’25
Mary Tarnowski, mother of Sister Marie Vianney, June ’25
William Weitzel, father of Jennifer Weitzel, March ’25
1986 Frances Wolfe, mother of Teresa Wolfe Bird , Aug. ’25
Edward Kocourek, father of Anne Kocourek Larson & Jennifer Kocourek ’92 , June ’25
Patricia Thurmes, mother of Terry Thurmes Stong & Brenda Thurmes ’90, Sept. ’25
1987 Alois Clasemann, father of Dona Clasemann Carlson, Nov. ’24
Kristin Dummer Hughes , May ’25
Frank Munshower ’87, spouse of Susan Meyer Munshower, father of Ellen Munshower ’19 & Audrey Munshower ’25, July ’25
William Remme, father of Jamie Remme Olson, Aug. ’25
Frances & Thomas Hutson, parents of Ann Hutson Sirianni, Nov. ’23 & Sept. ’22
Barbara Kok, mother of Katherine Kok Southwick , Sept. ’25
1988 Fern Rau, mother of Cathy Rau Christianson, March ’24
Barbara Fandel, mother of Mary Jo Fandel, Aug. ’25
Richard Fontaine, father of Laurie Fontaine Junker, Feb. ’25
John Arndt, father of Peggy Arndt Kelly, Stacey Arndt Penk ’95 & Amy Arndt Fedie ’99, June ’25
Michael Hendricks, father of Mary “Kate” Hendricks Reschenberg , May ’25
Eldora Boldt, mother of Julie Boldt Schulke, Aug. ’25
1989 Robert Bruton, father of Kathleen Bruton Gora , Sept. ’25
Eugene Osland, father of Deborah Osland Kozak , Kathleen Osland Stehr ’91 & Patricia Osland Dummer ’94, Sept. ’25
1990 Terrence “Terry” Hull, stepfather of Katherine Wells Chevalier & Meredith Wells ’97, Aug. ’25
Audrey Breid, mother of Peggy Breid Fast , March ’24
William Goedker, father of Penny Goedker Loftus, Sept. ’25
Darlene Raleigh, mother of Rose Raleigh, May ’25
1991 Dolores “Dee” Samson, mother of Bobbi Blackwell, Jan. ’25
1991 James Gels, father of Tracey Gels Reichert , Sept. ’25
Robert Fulton, father of Lisa Fulton Szromba , Aug. ’25
Jasper Thompson, son of Michelle Paripovich Thompson, June ’25
Howard Young, father of Ann Young , June ’25
1992 Timothy Breider, father of Lisa Breider Brueske, Sept. ’25
James Close, father of Tamara Close & Jamie Close ’96, Dec. ’24
Mary Court, mother of Christine Court Jackson, Feb. ’25
John Kolar, father of Deborah Kolar, May ’25
Thomas Muellner, father of Ann Muellner Panian, Aug. ’25
1993 Peter Prindle, father of Melissa Prindle Brager, Emily Prindle Roehrich ’98 , Catherine Prindle Sternberg ’02 & Angela Prindle Palen ’04, Aug. ’25
Dr. Marlin Mueller, father of Karen Mueller Fuecker, Oct. ’25
Michael Ryan, father of Susan Ryan Gelinske, July ’25
Elizabeth Formanek, mother of Lisa Formanek McMullen, May ’22
Kathleen Halverson, mother of Kate Halverson O’Connell & Molly Halverson Christensen ’96, June ’25
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1993 Arleen Moulzolf, mother of Heidi Moulzolf Ruth, Sept. ’23
Marlys Standfuss, mother of Anne Wendinger, Feb. ’24
Marlene Kampa, mother of Karen Kampa Wurzer & Wendy Kampa Hinnenkamp ’97, Aug. ’25
1994 James Ulwelling, father of Alicia Ulwelling , Lani Ulwelling Pettebone ’97 & Mesa Ulwelling Roth ’01 , July ’25
David Vickers, father of Kristin Vickers & Kerri Vickers ’97, April ’24
1995 Edward Harter, father of Rebecca Harter Faulk , Sept. ’25
Anita “Faye” Heykants, mother of Krista Heinzig , Jan. ’21
Barbara Mengelkoch, mother of Jean Mengelkoch, July ’25
Jeanne Haehn, mother of Michelle Haehn Nelson & Jodi Haehn Schlichting ’02 , July ’25
Theos “Art” Grove, father of Lara Grove Zuleger, Sept. ’25
1996 Cecelia Zimmermann, mother of Deborah Zimmermann Chaika & Diana Zimmermann Storm ’01, June ’25
Bruce Dressen, father of Tiffaney Dressen, June ’25
1996 John Weingart, father of Kathleen “Katie” Weingart Lawrence, July ’25
Orland Niemeier, father of Julie Niemeier, Sept. ’24
James Bjork, father of Susanne “Sue” Bjork Rueber, Aug. ’25
1997 Alice Jarstad, mother of Sarah Jarstad Beuning , June ’25
Jeanne Fier, mother of Stephanie Fier, July ’25
Kelly Furda , Aug. ’25
Evelyn Jones , June ’24
1998 Bonnie Schaefer, mother of Shannon Schaefer Meyer, May ’25
1999 Wallace Bergerson, father of Paula Bergerson , July ’25
Marilyn Lieser, mother of Heidi Lieser Riley, Feb. ’25
2000 Roland Flynn, father of Meghan Flynn Laughlin & Kathleen Flynn Benscoter ’03, Oct. ’25
Spencer Sawyer, father of Kristin Sawyer Lyman & Ganeane “Ginny” Sawyer Contreras ’03, July ’25
Diane Wisniewski-Grzybowski, mother of Kelly Wisniewski Schepers , July ’25
James Nelson, father of Jennifer Nelson Sullivan & Elisha Nelson Shaughnessy ’02 , April ’25
2001 Michael Young, father of Lyndsey Young Kolesar, Sept. ’25
2002 David Heinen, father of Kristie Heinen Elghazi, May ’25
George Sniezek, father of Amber Viehauser Kansou , July ’25
Thomas Harris, father of Lora Harris Smith & Natalie Harris ’06, Aug. ’25
2003 Marlene Busch, mother of Brianna Busch Klein, March ’23
2007 Karon Kolles, mother of Rochelle Kolles-Fernandes & Janelle Kolles Hengel ’13, Aug. ’25
Patricia Taragos, mother of Jessica Taragos Pasek , July ’25
2009 Kirby Schwarzkopf, father of Sarah Schwarzkopf Brenholt , April ’25
Eugene Wright, father of Makenzie Wright Terlson, Aug. ’25
2018 Paul Flanagan ’18 , spouse of Hannah Manley Flanagan, child of Peri Aksoy Flanagan ’88 , Sept. ’25
Benjamin Hoscheid, child of Melissa Rose Hoscheid , Aug. ’25
2019 Timothy Mahan, father of Megan Mahan, June ’25
2022 Sean Zadoo, father of Colleen Zadoo, Nov. ’24
1 Celebrating their 60th birthdays this past year, these ’87 Bennie friends took a trip to Hamilton, Montana. Back row (L to R): Judy Price Ashby, Ann Laumann Rogers, Maria Isaacson Sullivan and Karen Sieben Backes. Middle row (L to R): Mary Lilly Wozniak, Suzy Rivard Collins and Jodi Bartholomew Jorgenson. Front row (L to R): Mary Stoner Feyereisn, Pam Morrow Zender, Julie Wagner Modjeski and Lori Bodensteiner Zumwinkle.
2 A group of Bennie and Johnnie alums proudly represented Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s during the teacher/staff social at Fridley Middle School on June 4, after the last day of school. L to R: Carliene Quist ’07, Elise Walgren Mulville ’08, Katie Kaletka Shook ’05, Zack Bobick ’04, Drew Reiter ’06, Jessica Argabright ’06 and Chelsea Clark ’09.
3 Bennie Day in Duluth! L to R: Anna Tritch ’25, Kate Helou ’25, Joan Goossens ’84, Laura Saumer ’10, Angela Tate ’10, Toni Roberts ’06 (holding flag), Jenny Boran ’10, Rose Kapsner ’77, Rita Rosenberger ’89, Kelsey Berg ’04 (holding flag), Bridget Douglas ’19, Mary Schoenfelder ’16 and Tara Fouts ’14.
4 Students studying abroad in Vienna visited with alumna Julia Petron ’20. L to R: Charlotte Whiting ’27, Kendyl Olson ’28, Erin Thom ’27, Julia Petron ’20, Aaron Freier ’27 and Cecilia McNair ’27.
5 Elaine Nistler Omann ’81 and her husband, Joe Omann ’82, purchased this vintage firetruck from Saint John’s a few years ago. Elaine and 10 of her Bennie friends took it out recently for a nostalgic ride to Milk and Honey Ciders in St. Joe. On ground (R to L): Elaine Nistler Omann ’81, Josette Baker ’81, Kirsten Hendrickson Berkowitz ’81, Julie Samuelson ’81, Ruth Schulzetenberg Hartman ’81, Lisa Peterson Moschkau ’81, Caroline Hillman Warden ’81 and Lucy Barrett Bednar ’81. On truck (L to R): Sue McGuigan ’81, Rebecca Bossenmaier Johnson ’81 and Darla Theisen ’81.
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6 Former college roommates from 20 years ago gathered at El Bodegón in Minnetonka on Bennie Day to celebrate! L to R: Kelsey Robinson Wiechman ’06, Beth Beesch Misson ’06, Sara Panzer Gustafson ’06, Maria Carrow Ryan ’06 and Jody Roers Powell ’06.
7 Bennie Day in Des Moines! L to R: Stephanie Meyer Maliszewski ’04, Lisa Grefe ’00 and Joan Van Grinsven Doss ’13.
8 Bennie Day in Dallas! L to R: Natalie Mancia ’16, Carmen Brown ’15, Lauren Currie Billman ’14 and Ana Belmonte ’16.
9 Bennies from the class of ’77 celebrated Bennie Day in Portugal with friendship, adventure and breathtaking views. L to R: Joan Maloney Paulson, Sara Hillen Boevers, Colette Dick Krueger, Peg Engleson Palen, Julie Herges Gapstur, Chris Fisher Fahey and Mary Jo Klabunde Mahowald.
10 Bennies gathered for an evening investigating the Science of Female Friendship at The Coven Northeast in Minneapolis. Carol Bruess, CSB+SJU scholar in residence, explored how meaningful connections with women enhance well-being. 9 6
Home Advantage
“If you think about it, when the golf coach is bringing a recruit and their parents to campus, what do you show them on campus when you don’t have a golf course?”
It’s a good question, and CSB Athletic Director Kelly AndersonDiercks had been searching for an answer. (No, she has never officially proposed building a golf course on campus.)
“For golf and hockey, I’ve been asking for a room for a long time,” says Anderson-Diercks. For varsity teams like these, not only are there not venues on campus, there aren’t designated locker rooms. These are teams just in search of a home base.
Welcome to Richarda Hall –conveniently located right next to the Haehn Campus Center. It was originally constructed in 1960 to serve as dormitories for high school students at Saint Benedict’s Academy (in what’s now the Henrita Academic Building). Since then it has served as dormitories for female students at Saint John’s Preparatory School, it’s been faculty offices and classrooms and last served as
classroom and simulation space for the nursing department during the renovation of the Schoenecker Nursing Education Center in the Main Building.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to have a golf room, equipped with the best technology,” says Daryl Schomer, head golf coach. “Our donors have been very generous through the years, and that’s allowing us to take advantage of this opportunity right now.”
Gifts given during past CSB Athletic Give Days (watch for the next one coming on Feb. 11!) provided Schomer some funds to work with. Then a generous gift from Bob (SJU ’65) and Joanne Neis helped cover the rest of the expense of equipping the new golf team room with not just a relaxing study lounge area, but a Foresight GCQuad golf simulator.
Bob Neis notes that, “When playing on the SJU golf team, we didn’t have any practice facilities. We went out behind the old gym and hit short-range practice balls. (And had to wait until snow melted in the spring.) When Joanne and I were asked to support an indoor facility at Saint Ben’s, we didn’t hesitate.”
For sophomore golfer Kenna Henriksen, the opportunity holds big possibilities. “I’m looking forward to the off-season work to help me get ready for the spring, but also for the many laughs that will come from spending time with the team.”
In addition to golf, the Bennie hockey team now has a skillstraining room with dry-land training flooring and a tarp at which to shoot. The tennis, cross country and flag football teams also now have dedicated spaces.
“Not only from a recruiting standpoint, but from our studentathletes’ experience perspective, these spaces are game changers,” concludes Anderson-Diercks.
Bennie golfers Maggie Roth ’26 and Sophia Anderson ’28
Shae Stinnett ’27 tests the shooting surface in the new Bennie hockey room.
Boosting Alum Connections for Career Development
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