Editor Greg Skoog (SJU ’89)
Contributors
Sarah Forystek
Michael Hemmesch (SJU ’97)
Tom Morris (SJU ’89)
Hannah O’Brien
Tommi O’Laughlin (SJU ’13)
Heather Pieper-Olson
Frank Rajkowski
Olivia Shaw ’25
To be well is to belong
If there’s one truth our campuses affirm again and again, it’s this: Flourishing – true, deep, human flourishing – requires care. Care for one another, yes. But also care for ourselves.
And here’s a quieter truth, often unspoken but increasingly clear when we really listen to students: Being well is harder than it looks.
The numbers tell a sobering story. Depression, anxiety, burnout and loneliness are not rare exceptions – they’re realities facing nearly half of all college students nationally today. But these aren’t just statistics. They’re signals. Calls for care. And for us at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s, they’re also invitations: to pay attention, to respond and to lead.
That’s why we’ve made mental health and well-being a signature initiative in our strategic plan. Why we’ve partnered with the Jed Foundation to become certified JED Campuses. Why our Be Well initiative exists – not as a set of one-time solutions, but as a sustained, campuswide commitment to nurturing a culture of care, connection and resilience.
This isn’t just about helping students during moments of crisis, though that’s essential. It’s also about equipping them with the tools, skills and support to know themselves, to navigate life’s inevitable stressors, and to seek help before challenges become overwhelming. It’s about ensuring every Bennie and Johnnie knows they belong here – fully and authentically – as they are.
This work matters. But it’s only one part of the story. Across our campuses, students and faculty in our Psychology Department are helping write the next chapter in mental health and human understanding. Their curiosity, compassion and research – especially in our EEG lab and clinical coursework – are preparing a new generation of leaders to meet one of the greatest workforce shortages in America. In a nation where nearly half the population lives in an area without adequate mental health staffing and resources, our students are preparing to make an extraordinary difference.
“And here’s a quieter truth, often unspoken but increasingly clear when we really listen to students: Being well is harder than it looks.”
They’re learning not just how to treat others, but how to understand themselves. And that’s the beginning of real transformation.
It’s the same spirit embodied by Bennie alumna Dr. Pauline Maki ’88. A renowned neuroscientist and one of the world’s leading experts on women’s mental health, Dr. Maki is helping illuminate a long-overlooked frontier: the cognitive and emotional effects of hormonal change, especially during menopause. Her work is asking – and answering – questions that impact millions of women but have gone too long unspoken.
As a psychologist and scholar, she is opening doors. As a Bennie, she is showing us what it looks like to lead with empathy, excellence and purpose.
So wherever you are reading this – in your first semester, in your 40th reunion year or somewhere in between – I hope you’ll join us in this shared endeavor: to be well. To honor your story. To seek support when you need it. To reflect, to rest and to reach out. Not out of duty, but out of reverence for your own humanity.
At CSB and SJU, we believe well-being is essential, not extra. It’s how we grow into principled leaders and women and men of character. And it’s how we flourish – together.
Brian J. Bruess, Ph.D. President, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University
AFTER THE STORM
Reunion 2025 featured some unexpectedly severe weather during Saturday night’s activities. But after all the warnings had elapsed, photographer Tom Morris (SJU ’89) captured this shot of Sacred Heart Chapel lit up under a sky still glowing with distant lightning.
Commencement 2025
“You are the class that re-established what it means to live and be in community,” said CSB and SJU President Brian Bruess in his remarks to the CSB graduating class of 2025. “You are the class that showed resilience, grit and grace. You are the class that helped reinvigorate what it means to be a Benedictine campus.”
This was the second straight year that commencement at both Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s was held on the same day (Saturday, May 17) – beginning with the 110th annual commencement ceremony at CSB Saturday morning in the Clemens Fieldhouse, followed by the 168th commencement at SJU Saturday afternoon in the Abbey and University Church.
At CSB, the cold and overcast weather outside meant graduating seniors began lining up inside Claire
Lynch Hall prior the start of the ceremony as a crowd of around 1,761 friends and family members filed into the fieldhouse.
At SJU, the graduates mingled and gathered in the Great Hall while about 1,354 of their friends and family members took their seats in the Abbey Church.
In all, a total of 369 graduates (355 undergraduate, three master’s and 11 doctoral candidates – including Chris Dirkes [SJU ’15], whose DNPFamily Nurse Practitioner degree
is believed to be the first degree awarded to a male at Saint Ben’s) took part in ceremonies at CSB while 371 graduates (343 undergraduate and 28 graduate students from the Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary) participated in the ceremonies at SJU.
The top five majors among this year’s class of graduating seniors at CSB were nursing (55), biology (51), psychology (41), global business leadership (33) and exercise and health science (28).
New Inductees Welcomed to PBK, DES
A total of 33 students from CSB and SJU made up the 2025 list of inductees to the Theta of Minnesota chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. This is the 16th cohort of students who have been inducted into the chapter, which now counts over 800 members.
Those selected are Phi Beta Kappa members for life and receive a certificate to honor their achievement.
Students are chosen based on their grade-point average (3.85 for juniors, 3.65 for seniors) and must
be a liberal arts and/or sciences major. The selection committee also looked at the breadth and depth of the student’s program and other achievements, such as a thesis or other research; interest in other cultures or languages; extracurricular activities; and academic performance.
Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest academic society. It was founded in 1776 by several students from the College of William and Mary during the American Revolution. It was originally intended to promote freedom of inquiry and liberty of thought and expression.
Also this spring, 22 Bennies were accepted for induction into the
CSB and SJU Choral Group Performs
On April 6, around 58 members of the CSB and SJU Chamber Choir, the SJU Men’s Chorus and the CSB Women’s Choir got the chance to perform at Carnegie Hall, Midtown Manhattan’s legendary concert venue.
The performance was part of a program in which the celebrated New England Symphonic Ensemble played with a wide range of participating choruses from around the U.S.
Dr. Bradley Miller, an associate professor of music at CSB and SJU who oversees and leads the choral program, was invited to conduct a portion of the performance, which featured the CSB and SJU ensemble performing Antonio Vivaldi’s
Magnificat, RV 610 and J.S. Bach’s Sanctus in C major, BWC 237.
They were joined in their segment by Cal Poly Polyphonics, the First United Methodist Church Sanctuary Choir from Appleton, Wisconsin, the Jouyssance Early Music Ensemble from Los Angeles, the St. Philip the Apostle Church Choir from Pasadena, California, and the Paso Robles High School Choir (Forte) from Paso Robles, California.
Omega Chapter of Delta Epsilon Sigma (DES).
Select CSB juniors and seniors are inducted into DES each year based on a series of criteria. Students must maintain a 3.9 grade-point average or higher on a 4.0 scale, while also being involved in the community through volunteer and extracurricular activities.
DES is a national Catholic honor society with the purpose of recognizing academic accomplishments, dedication to intellectual activity and service to others. CSB has been a member of DES since its beginning in 1940.
at Carnegie Hall
“It’s a big deal for college students to be able to learn this type of music and perform it at such a prestigious venue,” said CSB junior Sarah Barkley. “I’m so grateful I get to be part of it all.
Members of CSB+SJU choirs rehearse in preparation
2025 induction ceremony for CSB+SJU’s Theta of Minnesota chapter of Phi Beta Kappa
Alums Unite for Benedictine Day of Service
The annual Benedictine Day of Service took place this year on April 12, with CSB and SJU alums across the country rallying to take part in organized service projects at sites in their areas. In all, over 150 volunteers took part.
“It’s a great excuse for our alum community to come together and show our respective geographic locations that we truly are a
close-knit community, as well as a community focused on giving back and helping others,” said Joan Van Grinsven Doss ’13, the chair of the alum chapters committee of the CSB Alumnae Board.
Groups gathered to serve in Minnesota…
• Chanhassen
• Duluth
• Rochester
• St. Cloud
• St. Paul
And around the country…
• Dallas
• Denver
• Des Moines, Iowa
• Milwaukee
• Omaha, Nebraska
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• South Bend, Indiana
• Tempe, Arizona
• Washington, D.C.
“Benedictine Day of Service has become a steady, reliable expression of the Benedictine values and the beautiful way Bennies and Johnnies live them out in their communities on (or around) one special day each year,” said Valerie Jones ’94, executive director of alumnae relations at CSB. “Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s are grateful to the chapter leaders and project organizers who work with local nonprofit partners to organize projects that are meaningful to their community, then unite with other alums, families and friends to fulfill a local need.”
CSB Nursing Graduate Makes History
Chris Dirkes didn’t enroll in the graduate nursing program at Saint Ben’s to make history. Rather, the 2015 Johnnie (who has been working at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester since 2020) saw the program – which was established in 2021 – as a good place to pursue his Doctor of Nursing Practice Family Nurse Practitioner degree.
“Bedside nurses have a lot of autonomy and can change outcomes for patients,” he said. “But as a nurse practitioner, you have more ability to affect someone’s care. You’re more involved in the decision making as far as treatment plans and the type of medications a patient is on.
“I’d heard Saint Ben’s had started a new program, and it was a school I’m pretty familiar with. So it seemed like it would be a good fit.”
What Dirkes didn’t realize was that – as the first male to enroll in the program – his decision made him what is believed to be the very first
male to graduate with a degree from CSB when he graduated on May 17.
Over the years, many women have graduated with master’s degrees from SJU through the Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary. But the nursing program is the first graduate program established at CSB, so Dirkes is the first to get this chance.
“It’s kind of cool as a distinction,” he said. “It probably won’t be something that gets engraved on my tombstone or anything. But hopefully it helps spread the word that CSB has this great program open to both males and females.”
Bennie and Johnnie alums gathered at the Guest House of Milwaukee to prepare and serve breakfast.
Seed Coalition Awardees Have CSB and SJU Ties
One Bennie, one Johnnie, one faculty member and one organization that made an impact in the local community received 2025 Presidents’ Awards from Seed Coalition, an association of colleges and universities committed to civic and community engagement.
CSB then-senior Macy Ellis ’25 from Hutchinson, Minnesota, and SJU then-senior Canaan Cooper ’25 from Nassau, The Bahamas, received Presidents’ Student Leadership Awards.
Ellis, an English major, worked with our Initiative for Native Nation Relations since she was a first-year student, and was a critical part of the college’s partnerships with the White Earth Nation. Ellis was a key part of grants with the Council for Independent Colleges, the McKnight Foundation, the National Endowment for Humanities and the Minnesota Humanities Center.
She conducted archival and oral history research for these projects and presented her findings at the White Earth Tribal Government Center and the Stearns History Museum. Ellis’ dedication to this work made an invaluable impact as Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s continue to reconcile and foster relations with our native nation neighbors.
Cooper is a bio-chemistry major pursuing a future in medicine. In November 2024, he was selected to serve in the inaugural Bahamas National Youth Assembly for a twoyear term. Cooper is committed to making things better for the youth
in his home country, even though he could not be there physically due to his studies at CSB and SJU.
The Presidents’ Student Leadership Award recognizes an individual student or a student organization that models a deep commitment to civic responsibility and leadership, evidenced by initiative, innovative and collaborative approaches to addressing public issues, effective community building and integration of civic engagement into the college experience.
Brittany Merritt Nash, assistant professor of history, received the Presidents’ Civic Engagement Leadership Award, which recognizes a member of the faculty, administration or staff, or a group (advisory committee, task force, project team) that has significantly advanced their campus’ distinctive civic mission by forming strong partnerships, supporting others’ civic and community engagement and working to institutionalize a culture and practice of engagement.
Nash serves as faculty fellow for the Bonner Foundation’s communityengaged learning initiative grant cohort, as the director of The Bahamas Oral History Project (read more on Dr. Nash’s research
on our connections to The Bahamas in our Spring 2025 issue) and as the co-director of the Great River Covenants Project, a multiinstitution collaboration that documents identified racially restrictive covenants in Central Minnesota. This project, powered by the work of her CSB and SJU Honors students, has studied the covenants’ lasting impact on segregation and social determinants of health.
Meanwhile, the Stearns History Museum received the Presidents’ Community Partner Award, which recognizes a community-based partner or organization that has enhanced the quality of life in the community in meaningful and measurable ways and has engaged in the development of sustained, reciprocal partnerships with the college or university, thus enriching educational as well as community outcomes.
The museum has been crucial to the ongoing work our institutions are doing to provide high-impact practice opportunities for research. Through a mutually beneficial partnership, our students facilitated research on the topic of the history of racial covenants in Central Minnesota.
Macy Ellis ’25
Canaan Cooper ’25
Brittany Merritt Nash
1,400+ Alums Come Home for Reunion
Over 1,400 alums and friends returned to Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s in June to take part in Reunion Weekend 2025.
Graduates from class years ending in 0s and 5s spent the weekend reconnecting, attending alum college sessions, taking part in class gatherings and attending the allclass dinners and award ceremonies at each school.
“Reunion is such a joyful weekend,” said Valerie Jones ’94, executive director of alumnae relations. “It’s a delightful combination of nostalgia, catching up to each other’s current lives and reconnecting to these special places that played such an enormous part in alums becoming who they are today.”
This year’s CSB Reunion Award winners included Angela Untiedt Jerabek ’90 (Distinguished Alumna Award), Maxine Storr Seymour ’00 (Benedictine Service Award) and Annie Luke McCue ’15 (Decade Award).
Sister Delores Dufner, OSB, and Judy Faulkner McGuire celebrated their 65th class reunion.
Developing ‘Ultimate Trust’
Head volleyball coach Nicole Hess is cautious about predictions. She’d rather overdeliver. So she surprised even herself as the team headed into the 2024 season: “I said, we’re going to be really good.”
In mid-September though, with the team stumbling to a 3-9 record, did she second-guess her prediction?
“The coaches never freaked out,” recalled right-side hitter Brooke Andries ’27. “They just kept showing up to practice and treating us like we were good.”
Hess and assistant coach Amanda Anderson stayed the course. “We can’t control the outcome,” said Hess. “We were doing the little things right, we just weren’t finishing early in the year.”
The Bennies had a secret weapon that helped the coaches and team remain confident. For the first time ever, they had spent the season working with Jess Knecht, MS, PSY, an elite mindset coach with Max Out Mindset.
As Andries tells it, the team met with Knecht every few weeks, beginning in preseason, taking on challenging conversations and activities. “One time we went around the room talking about what we do when we’re stressed out on the court – maybe we make a face or body language gets poor – and then talked about what we need from our teammates to lift us up when they see those signs. Maybe a high-five or eye contact or just smiling and saying ‘You’ve got this next one.’ That experience really helped us fit into our roles and fit together as a team.”
Eventually, developing that “ultimate trust,” as Knecht describes it, and paying attention to process paid off. The team began winning. And when the MIAC conference tournament came around, the Bennies were playing their best ball.
The result was a Cinderella run for CSB, which outlasted No. 5 seed Augsburg 3-2 in the quarterfinals at Claire Lynch Hall, then went on the road to sweep top-seeded Gustavus 3-0 in the semifinals. Finally, the Bennies beat St. Catherine for the second time that season – both by 3-0 sweeps. CSB won its first
MIAC Tournament Championship since the 2017 season.
“At the end of the season,” said Andries, “seeing how far we had come from the beginning of the season, I was just really proud of us for persevering and figuring it out.”
“A team’s greatest breakthrough isn’t always a win,” said Knecht, “but the moment they realize their collective strength makes them unstoppable.”
Max Out Mindset has been integral in achieving 10 college and professional national championships. “I think the experience with a mindset coach helped all of us look internally at what we’re bringing to the team every day,” said Hess. “Kind of owning that a little more than maybe we have in the past.”
Both coaches and players are grateful for the opportunity to bring in an outside resource – an opportunity that was made possible by funds donated by alumnae and friends during CSB Athletics Give Day each February. “Every coach uses those dollars in different ways,” said Hess. “But I can promise you our coaches are using that money to provide the best experience possible for our student-athletes.”
Photo by Olivia Shaw ’25
BE WELL
Nearly half of college students nationwide say they experience depression, and 38% have been diagnosed with anxiety. Over 80% say mental health difficulties have hurt their academic performance, while fully a third of college students have selfinjured and a quarter have seriously considered suicide.
WELL
Student mental health and well-being are major concerns on college campuses everywhere. Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s are no exception. In 2023 we did extensive information gathering across all campus constituencies (as well as listening sessions with alumnae/i across the country) to identify the concerns and priorities of the full CSB+SJU community for strategic planning purposes.
“Student well-being, student health and wellness, student mental health, student emotional wellbeing … all of these were very, very strong themes across that entire information-gathering process,” says Jody Terhaar, dean of students for Saint Ben’s.
So when the current strategic plan was released in late 2023, and “the student experience” was identified as one of three pillars, it was fitting that one of the key supporting initiatives is “Belonging and community through mental health support.” This is a communitywide call for a communitywide effort to help our students “Be Well.”
“We have long recognized the importance of student mental health and have implemented various supports like an integrated health services program centering both physical and mental health. We offer a team of professionals to support students when they struggle and we have outstanding student accessibility services and proactive wellness programming,” says Terhaar.
Recently though, those existing resources have been stretched. Over the past five years, counseling appointments at CSB and SJU have nearly doubled. Campus data show an increasing number of students struggling with emotional distress, difficulty managing responsibilities and mental healthrelated academic disruptions.
It’s time to try something different. Specifically, the new Be Well initiative declares that “the CSB and SJU community, through education, new systems, inclusive practices, policies and funding, will promote positive, culturally appropriate student mental health and support resilience for academic success.”
Terhaar co-chairs the crossfunctional committee driving Be Well, along with Dean of Curriculum and Assessment Karyl Daughters. She explains that one of the first steps taken was the choice to partner with the Jed Foundation and begin the process of becoming certified JED Campuses.
What’s a JED Campus?
The Jed Foundation (JED) is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive. Its JED Campus program is designed to help schools evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse and suicide prevention programs.
“This is a program that is grounded in public health,” says Terhaar. “It’s not a random, one-off program. Rather, it is very much built on data, assessment and best practices.”
Currently, nearly 500 campuses are engaged in the JED Campus program, reaching more than 6 million students in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
“The college years are the age when many mental health issues first manifest, and it can be a time of significant stress and pressure,” says John MacPhee, chief executive officer of JED. “JED Campus helps schools by working with them to evaluate what their college or university is doing to support student emotional health and well-being and find practical ways to augment these efforts in a comprehensive way.”
Taking a good, hard look
This spring, Terhaar and her committee administered the Healthy Minds survey, organized by the University of Michigan, aiming to get a clear picture of mental health outcomes, knowledge and attitude on campus. “We had amazing participation from everyone – staff, faculty, students,” says Terhaar. “The folks at the University of Michigan were astounded at our response rate, particularly from students. So we feel like the information we’ll be getting back when those survey results come in will be incredibly helpful.”
At the same time, Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s were working with the Jed Foundation on a comprehensive campus scan. This is a sharp, hard look at our current state in nine categories:
1. Strategic planning: What are the systems and structures? Who’s involved in what?
2. Developing life skills: What are we doing right now to help students develop these critical skills? How is that programming offered? Is it in-person or online? How is it assessed?
3. Promoting social connectedness: What kind of culture and programming goes on in our residence halls? What athletic programs do we have? Research shows that connected students have better health and wellbeing outcomes.
4. Identifying students at risk: What’s in place now to serve students who may be at risk for mental health challenges or potential self-harm?
5. Help-seeking behavior: When students feel empowered and encouraged to proactively reach out, outcomes improve. How are we currently doing at that?
6. Providing mental health services: What do we have in place? How is that staff used? How do we assess? How do we treat? What partnerships are in place to serve students?
7. Providing substance use services: What are our policies around substance use and misuse? What kinds of support and resources are here for students?
8. Crisis management: What’s in place for students –individually and collectively –in the middle of a crisis? What about after a crisis? What behavioral intervention teams do we have? What’s our emergency response protocol? What about after-hours resources?
“We have long recognized the importance of student mental health and have implemented various supports like an integrated health services program centering both physical and mental health.”
Jody Terhaar • Dean of Students for Saint Ben’s
9. Promoting means safety: What kinds of systems do we have in place to reduce access to legal means for self-harm?
“We did our very best to assess and honestly say, ‘This is where we think we are as institutions,’” says Terhaar.
Building a plan
September on campus this year brings more than the excited hum of new and returning students. This year we’re welcoming a partner specialist from the Jed Foundation to work with the committee on developing a specific plan for our campuses.
The Be Well plan that we develop with our Jed Foundation partner will consider all the deep statistical info from the Healthy Minds survey and layer that on top of self-assessment data in those nine categories. “In each of those categories, we’ll be identifying the gaps and what we can do in those areas,” says Terhaar. “We could be looking at staffing. We could be looking at programming. We could be looking at crisis response procedures. … And once we’ve identified our gaps and our opportunities, our job will be to evaluate. What’s going to have the greatest impact here? What things are we going to do to make a difference in our campus community?
“Once that’s implemented, the cycle becomes ‘do, assess, revise, repeat.’ Our five-year implementation plan is going to be that cycle of doing things, assessing them, revising where we need to do things, assess them and revise again. And along the way, the things we find with the greatest impact, we will be able to retain those. We can continue that cycle long after our partnership with JED is completed. We will have integrated this work and it will become a sustainable part of our campus community.”
No one’s in this alone
Terhaar pinpoints the date of the wake-up call for student development professionals everywhere regarding mental health protocols as April 16, 2007. That was the day a single student at Virginia Tech went on a terrible shooting spree.
“I think what came out of that horrific incident was that people knew that young man was struggling,” she says. “There was awareness, but there weren’t systems in place that allowed the institution to have access to information or systems that provided the help this student may have needed. After this incident, many institutions –including CSB and SJU – put together behavioral intervention teams to identify students who are struggling and identify a plan to intervene and provide support. Whenever a tragedy like the one at Virginia Tech happens, a common thought is ‘there, but for the grace of God, go we’ ... We want to make sure we’re being as proactive as possible in reaching out to students who may be struggling.”
Student mental health services today aren’t about coddling young adults in the process of growing up. “There’s a normal level of stress, anxiety, frustration, sadness and missteps in college,” says Terhaar. “Working through these experiences and emotions is an important part of developing resilience. When we become aware of a student where the level of concern gets a little higher than that, we can intervene at a lower level and not a crisis level.
“Pragmatically speaking, prioritizing student wellness is an investment for us in terms of retention. Communicating with our students and parents that ‘We’re investing in your wellness and we’re going to give you opportunities and resources and support so that you can become proactive in taking care of your own health.’
“That’s a mutual relationship. And I think it’s something that can really distinguish us.”
of college students nationwide say they experience depression
of college students have been diagnosed with anxiety 38% of college students say mental health difficulties have hurt their academic performance >80% of college students have self-injured 1/3 have seriously considered suicide 25%
IS ON THE WAY
According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 47% of the U.S. population in 2022 was living in a mental health workforce shortage area, with some states requiring up to 700 more practitioners to remove this designation.
“There’s a huge mental health shortage just nationally and especially in rural areas,” explains Amanda Macht Jantzer ’04, Ph.D., CSB+SJU professor of psychology. “So we can’t possibly have too many people who want to do that work.”
That’s why it’s important that the Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s Psychology Department (located in CSB’s Main Building since 2019) continues to attract and educate top talent for the future. For the Saint Ben’s class of 2025, psychology was the third-largest major (behind nursing and biology), with 41 graduates. “It’s also the largest minor on campus,” says Jantzer.
The department attracts students with a variety of interests and intentions. “It is a widely applicable major. So most of our graduates do not go on for an advanced degree,” says Jantzer. “They could work in any number of areas – could be human resources, could be sales. … Maybe they will work as an aide in a clinic. Maybe they’ll do one-onone work with people with developmental needs.
“The trend that I’ve seen recently is we have lots of people taking our classes or majoring in psychology, not to become a counselor, but to become an occupational therapist or any number of other preprofessional programs. Lots of nursing students take our classes. They’ll often say they want to understand behavioral health, and they want to understand how to interact with a wide variety of people and understand people developmentally. So the psychology helps with general health care.”
“THERE’S A HUGE MENTAL HEALTH SHORTAGE JUST NATIONALLY AND ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS. SO WE CAN’T POSSIBLY HAVE TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DO THAT WORK.”
AMANDA MACHT JANTZER ’04, PH.D., CSB+SJU PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATES FOR THE SAINT BEN’S CLASS OF 2025.
That said, there are many psychology majors at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s who are interested in becoming clinicians and working one-on-one with people in need. Jantzer often serves as their advisor.
“The questions I often get early in the process are things like, ‘Should I get a master’s?’ ‘Do I need a Ph.D.?’ ‘What is clinical psychology and how is it different from counseling psychology – and how are both of those different from social work?’”
(For the record, there’s a lot of overlap. Jantzer says, “Traditionally, a clinical psychologist works more often in inpatient settings – typically with people with more severe psychological issues. Counseling psychologists work with people who are struggling with everyday issues. For a social worker, the licensure is often different and you might do more work in the community, or even in people’s homes, which is not as typical for clinical and counseling.”)
Early on, Jantzer and her faculty colleagues will encourage those students into certain classes and experiences. “Certain classes like Psychological Disorders or Clinical and Counseling Psychology,” says Jantzer. “Students can do role plays and actually put themselves in the role of a client and a counselor and try that on. For some students, that really rules them in and confirms this is what they want to do. For others it clarifies that this isn’t for them – which is also good to know.”
As students approach graduation, Jantzer’s advising starts to shift. “If you want to be a counselor, you do need to at least get a master’s degree. So we start to talk about what kind of graduate school they’re interested in.”
Does the student want to be in a master’s program? In that case, internships are a great way to get hands-on experience and see what this is like in the real world. Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s have a great history of getting our students internship placements at places like CentraCare.
“But if someone wants to go the Ph.D. route and become a clinical or counseling psychologist at the doctoral level, it’s critical they also get research experience. If they want to teach or do some research or do some assessment – if they want that flexibility, that’s when they need the doctoral-level research and training. And that’s why the undergraduate research opportunities we offer our students are so important.”
The need for mental health professionals is great. And the Psychology Department at CSB and SJU continues to inspire and launch Bennies and Johnnies to help meet that need. As a Bennie alumna, Jantzer knows that firsthand.
“This school just had a profoundly positive impact on my life,” she says. “Particularly the Psychology Department. I had faculty members who are now my colleagues and my friends, who helped me conceive of things that were beyond what I would have conceived for myself. The idea that I could keep going and get my Ph.D. was something they helped me reach for.”
POWERFUL UNDERGRAD RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES: ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG) LAB
During the 2019 renovation of the Main Building, the CSB+SJU Psychology Department was consolidated onto one campus for the first time. Classroom space, a comfortable lounge area and faculty offices are located on the third floor. On the ground floor though, there’s an entire wing of dedicated psychology research space.
Part of that space is the wet lab where Associate Professor Laura Sinville, Ph.D., conducts sheep brain anatomy labs for her PSYC 340 (Physiological Psychology) course. Another part of that renovated space is an area that was intentionally designed but originally left empty – the new Cognitive Neuroscience Research (EEG) lab.
OF THE U.S. POPULATION IN 2022 WAS LIVING IN A MENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE SHORTAGE AREA
“At the time of the Main renovation, we didn’t have the EEG system equipment,” says Sinville. “But we specifically designed the space for that purpose – with separate chambers for researcher and participant and with helpful add-ons like a hair-washing sink.” (The gel that’s used to improve the connection between the electrodes in the cap and the scalp can really
make a mess of your hair. The pressurized sprayer in the sink also comes in handy for washing out the caps themselves.)
Eventually the equipment came through and, in spring 2023, Sinville recruited her first cohort of 10 student research assistants. One of those original 10 was Gen Woods ’24. She and her student researcher colleagues were tasked with creating the EEG protocol that’s still in place today. “We took it as an opportunity to use the critical thinking and problem-solving skills we had built in previous classes,” says Woods.
“As STEM majors, we’re set up with the tools necessary to look at a blank slate or a list of problems and create the solution. This opportunity allowed us to put those skills to use and refine them. So the experience of creating the protocol became almost a fun puzzle to us all.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, “an electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures electrical activity in the brain. The test uses small, metal discs called electrodes that attach to the scalp. Brain cells communicate via electrical impulses, and this activity shows up as wavy lines on an EEG recording.”
Operating the equipment is complicated and takes considerable training and practice. That’s why students who commit to a research assistantship in the lab do so for a full three semesters. It’s slow work, because a single session can last up to three hours. (Preparation and clean up are also time consuming.) But the experience and the faculty/cohort connections it creates are impactful.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE LAB?
Associate Professor Laura Sinville explains that, “In the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Lab, we use the EEG data to identify the brain activity that is time-locked to a stimulus. We can do this by repeatedly presenting stimuli such as faces with different emotional expressions (e.g., angry, happy or neutral) and then extracting the brain activity that was generated precisely when each stimulus was presented.”
The ongoing current research project – led by Sinville, Linda Tennison, Ph.D., and Blaine Tomkins, Ph.D. – has student researchers like Ella Hershey ’27 measuring the brain’s reaction to – for example – angry faces by taking just the brain activity that occurred in response to each angry face image and then averaging them together.
The project is a big commitment of time and effort for students like Hershey, but the psychology major on a pre-med track loves the opportunity. “I think it’s super-important to open up doors for me and it gives me experience I never thought I could have until after graduation.”
“One component of the event-related potential that we are particularly interested in is called the P300,” says Sinville. “The size of the peak can tell us how much attention someone has paid to that stimulus. Therefore, we are able to measure attentional bias toward specific facial expressions by comparing the size of the P300 across groups and across different stimuli (in this case, emotional expressions). We have used this approach to study the relationship between hostile attribution bias and spitefulness.”
EEG research is common at large research-focused universities, but is relatively uncommon at small liberal arts institutions. “This is a great new opportunity for our students,” confirms Sinville. “In addition to gaining neuroscience-related research experience, this is also a valuable opportunity to work closely with a faculty member, spending several hours a week together for an extended period of time.”
Student researcher Karoline Curlo ’26 agrees. “This undergrad research experience has been priceless,” says the psychology major, who is currently preparing her applications for Ph.D. programs with an eye toward a career in academia. “It’s confirmed that I really do love the research process. That’s helped me narrow down my career path and figure out what I want to do with my future.”
Dr. Laura Sinville collaborates with student researchers Gen Woods ’24, Ella Hershey ’27 and Karoline Curlo ’26.
for answers to the
SEARCHING QUESTIONS
that don’t get asked enough
“The NIH (National Institutes of Health) applies a disproportionate share of its resources to diseases that affect primarily men, at the expense of those that affect primarily women.” So says
a 2021 article in the NIH’s National Library of Medicine.
And while that revelation is likely not surprising to many women, it does illustrate the importance of researchers who commit themselves to studying women’s health. The world needs engaged, curious minds willing to address that imbalance and find answers to the questions that impact half our population. Pauline Maki, Ph.D., is one of those.
DR. MAKI IS PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY AND GYNECOLOGY, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR HEALTH AWARENESS AND RESEARCH ON MENOPAUSE (CHARM) AND DIRECTOR OF THE WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO (UIC). SHE IS PAST PRESIDENT OF THE MENOPAUSE
SOCIETY, CURRENT SECRETARY AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MENOPAUSE
SOCIETY, AND ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST RESPECTED EXPERTS ON MENOPAUSE, COGNITION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING.
SHE’S ALSO A BENNIE – CLASS OF 1988.
“(Saint Ben’s) sent me a flyer and I was like, that’s it. That’s where I want to go,” Maki recalls from her high school days in Appleton, Wisconsin. “I liked that it was not in a busy city. I liked the values, and it just felt right. That’s how I chose Saint Ben’s, it just felt right.”
Maki double majored in psychology and French, and found the same Benedictine values and commitment to community that today’s Bennies discover. What she didn’t find at that time was the undergraduate research opportunities that are so available for today’s Bennies. (CSB and SJU were 2023 recipients of the prestigious campuswide Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments [AURA] from the Council on Undergraduate Research. Experiential opportunities like this are a critical part of today’s students’ development.)
She spent a summer at the University of California at Berkeley seeking those opportunities. She was eventually accepted into a University of Minnesota program for students interested in exploring psychological research, “and it changed my whole outlook on what I wanted to do,” she says. “I just loved doing the research.”
She applied to graduate school at the University of Minnesota and has been researching ever since.
A LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE
Maki is most noted for her work studying the intersection of menopause and mental health. But she bristles a bit at being confined to that box. “It’s really a lifespan perspective. It’s the whole range. Lessons you learn at one stage in a woman’s lifespan help you understand the others. So knowing a little about the biology of why women get depressed in pregnancy tells us about depression in perimenopause – because both pregnancy and menopause are states of hormonal flux.
“Hormonal changes in women are like an orchestra. You know what the melody is and it’s predictable. When chaos enters and the melody gets scrambled – whether that’s from pregnancy or menstrual cycle changes – the brain doesn’t know how to adapt.”
She also notes that, “When we get depressed at any point in life, we get kind of a scar that makes us more vulnerable to depression in the future. So if we want to understand how to prevent a hormone-related depression at midlife, backing that up and looking earlier in life can help.”
So Maki spends her time on a variety of women’s health issues. For example, she’s done important work with depression and other mental health disorders in the perinatal period (the span of time
SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS THAT DON’T GET ASKED ENOUGH
just before and after childbirth). “Most people are focused on postpartum,” she says, “but we focused on early pregnancy and can see that hormonal changes at that time are also associated with depression and anxiety.”
Since studies indicate that, compared to White women, the odds of major depressive disorder (MDD) just prior to childbirth are two-fold higher in Latinas and five-fold higher in Black women, she and her fellow researchers searched for ways to improve access to mental health care for those communities.
“Along with my colleague, the amazing Dr. Jennifer Duffecy, who’s a clinical psychologist at UIC, we developed Sunnyside for Moms.”
Sunnyside for Moms is an evidencebased cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) tool. “CBT rewires your brain by helping you understand your negative thoughts and changing thought patterns,” says Maki.
CBT is intervention that’s usually delivered face-to-face. But underresourced women face a lot of barriers to care. “And to be able to access the intervention in other ways helps them overcome those barriers. Sunnyside for Moms delivers CBT, free of charge, on a woman’s iPhone. We’re currently offering this throughout the State of Illinois to any woman who seeks it out. It’s particularly meant for women experiencing depression or depressive-like symptoms during pregnancy.”
“(Saint Ben’s) sent me a flyer and I was like, that’s it. That’s where I want to go. I liked that it was not in a busy city. I liked the values, and it just felt right. That’s how I chose Saint Ben’s, it just felt right.”
FOCUS ON MENOPAUSE
Why would a scientist like Maki choose to study menopause throughout her career? “Because, if you want to make an impact on the world, why not study something that’s very common? Something that will happen to every woman who lives to midlife?”
The perimenopause (the transitional period before menopause) can begin in a woman’s early-to-mid 40s and can extend beyond age 55 to 60 in some women. “That’s a period that coincides oftentimes with a woman’s peak job productivity and earning potential,” says Maki. “And this is a period of vulnerability for mental health.”
In general, Maki notes that there is a link between the loss of estrogen that occurs in perimenopause/menopause and mood. “Evidence-based, systematic review confirmed that women do experience a decrease in their mood as they transition through the menopause.”
But clinical depression? Most women who experience a major depressive episode (MDE) during perimenopause have experienced a prior MDE. First-time onset of major depressive disorder during this time is less common.
“So women who have a history of depression, who are now in perimenopause, have a two- to four-fold increased risk of developing major depression during the perimenopause,” she says. “Indeed, it was estimated that about 57% of women with a history of major depression will experience a major depressive episode during the transition.”
57%
of women with a history of major depression will experience a major depressive episode during the transition.
Women who have a history of depression, who are now in perimenopause, have a two- to four-fold increased risk of developing major depression during the perimenopause.
THE DOCTOR IS IN
Clearly, menopause + mental health is an area that calls for focused research. And, unsurprisingly, when Maki talks with women, they have questions. (Of course, if you’re struggling through any of these conditions and transitions, it’s important to consult your health care provider.)
1
Not many women have a first major depressive episode during menopause. But who are the women who do?
The other women are women who are very sensitive to estrogen withdrawal, similar to women who experience postpartum depression. For those women, stabilizing estrogen through menopausal hormone therapy can be helpful in terms of treating their clinical depression.
2 Are hot flashes literally driving me crazy?
There is a very strong link between vasomotor symptoms – hot flashes – and depressive symptoms. And, logically, if you think about it, a large part of that link is sleep. You get a hot flash at night, you wake up.
3 Is menopause brain fog real?
It’s not just in your head, brain fog is a real thing. We know this because studies have followed large groups of women from being premenopausal to being postmenopausal. And these women have performed objective tests of their ability to concentrate and to hold things in memory. These studies have shown that there is definitely a measurable but subtle change in their cognitive performance on certain tests as they transition through menopause.
Women have two things going on at midlife that affect their cognitive functioning. One is the fact that they’re getting older. The second is that they’re going through this reproductive transition – menopause. And both of those, independently, can have an impact.
4
If brain fog is related to the hormone transition, is it temporary? Or does it stay and get progressively worse?
I wish I could give a definitive answer to this. We think it begins as soon as a woman’s menstrual cycle begins to become irregular. When it goes away seems to differ. For some women, it is absolutely time-limited – once they transition through to postmenopause, memory actually bounces back. However, there do appear to be some women for whom the menopause transition represents a point at which their cognitive abilities decline a little bit and then kind of stay at that level.
5
What determines those two groups of women?
The answer that we have right now is that the hormones play one role, but menopausal symptoms play another role. For example, many women have hot flashes for a long time after their final period. And that can contribute directly to memory problems and indirectly to memory problems (because of that loss of sleep we talked about earlier).
Women at this age are at the peak of their careers, if they’re working women. This is when they’re earning the most. This is when their jobs oftentimes demand the most of them. And in addition to their work life, they have their home life. The demands on their cognitive function are very high. And the memory problems that they have are, therefore, a great concern.
The good news is that, for the very, very, very large majority of women, this has nothing to do with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is very rare at midlife.
6
So what can perimenopausal and menopausal women do? Play some word games?
Let’s start with the menopauserelated things women can do. My first advice, based on my own research studies, is to actually treat those hot flashes. Improve your sleep and you will likely improve your memory.
A second menopause-related issue has to do with mood. And women are at increased risk for major depressive disorder at this time, particularly if they’ve had a history of depression. So if that’s part of your medical history, make sure that gets treated. Because we don’t think as well when we’re experiencing symptoms of depression.
Outside of menopause, what can you do? Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: eat well and exercise.
7
Eat well and exercise? Seriously?
There’s actually really good data to show that the Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease. And you don’t have to go all out. Swap your snack foods for some hummus and carrots. Swap out the butter for olive oil. Enjoy a little bit of that red wine (not too much, ladies) and keep that diet healthy.
And then there’s exercise. When you walk briskly or run, your brain releases brain-derived neurotrophic factors that are proven to help keep your prefrontal cortex putting the brakes on the amygdala, that part of the brain that triggers our emotional reactions. Randomized trials have shown in some settings that aerobic exercise is as effective as antidepressants in treating these symptoms. So try to at least do brisk walking. We now know you don’t have to exercise 45 minutes in a row to get the cognitive benefits. You can do it in short stints. But you do have to do it regularly. And doing it with a friend helps even more.
The irony is, when you’re depressed, you don’t want to work out, right? But getting out there, even when you don’t want to, is really important.
8
I’m not even close to menopause yet, but now I’m feeling anxious about it. What can I do?
I give so much credit to this generation of college students and young adults for helping us to get over the hump of stigma associated with mental health disorders. Kudos to you. I love your transparency, and I’m so indebted to this generation for having us reconceptualize mental health as just another health condition. It’s been such a sea change and it’s really wonderful because we need to build up resiliency in young people as much as possible.
What I mentioned earlier about a major depressive episode early in life making a woman more susceptible to episodes
later in life means that it’s very important for our young people to take care of themselves.
So the advice about diet and exercise is applicable to younger women as well. One other thing we know is that social support is a key determinant of our mental health and also our cognitive well-being. How many friends we have and how active our social networks are can be really strong predictors. Again, when we’re depressed, we oftentimes retreat and don’t want to socialize. But just getting out there and having contact with another human is very important.
At the same time there are two things I’d recommend avoiding:
One is substituting online activities and texts for real personal connection. As a nation, we’re doing too much of this and there’s some data to suggest it’s detrimental for mental health.
The other is misuse of substances. When women are stressed, this is a trap we fall into. Binge drinking specifically will lead to much worse psychological symptoms the next day in women who are depressed than if they’re not. So there’s this mental health hangover effect that we can and should avoid.
We don’t yet know much about the effects of cannabis on this – there’s more work to be done in that area. But I think our best approaches are avoiding substances and leaning into healthy diet, exercise, mindfulness-based stress reduction and cognitive behavioral therapy. Those are really good tools. (I don’t want to say people shouldn’t go for antidepressants and medications – these are wonderful, evidencebased tools. It’s just that, too often, I think people don’t consider behavioral solutions. And I highly recommend you do.)
And lastly, be kind to yourself. Women can be very self-critical – more critical of themselves than of others. Menopause and mental health issues can be very challenging and it is important to allow yourself the same grace you would give to your closest friend.
Alicia Reif ’07, Psy.D., L.P.
REACHING STUDENTS WHERE THEY ARE
Alicia Reif set off from Saint Ben’s with her bachelor’s degree in 2007, in pursuit of her doctorate in psychology. And while that road took a few unexpected turns, she was pleasantly surprised when it led her right back here.
“I grew up in this area,” she says. “My mom was a faculty member here in the Nursing Department for 40 years.”
Alicia did a yearlong internship here and fell in love with college counseling. And, when she completed her fellowship and earned her doctorate, a staff position as a clinician opened in our Well-Being Center, she was hired in 2013 and has been here ever since.
“There are so many unique things about working on a college campus that I wouldn’t get to do if I were in private practice,” she says. One of those things is her weekly column in
The Record, the student newspaper of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.
“I wanted to do something that didn’t feel too academic,” Alicia explains, regarding her project, which began during the 2023-24 academic year. “I wanted to do something that felt approachable. And so I really have the students’ voice in mind when I’m writing my articles.
“I try to align topics with relevant things that are happening on campus. So, timing my article focusing on romantic relationships for around Valentine’s Day. A column about stress around test taking I try to align with the first round of exams in the fall. Certainly, grief, I try to line up with the end of the semester.”
Alicia’s pieces in The Record do seem to be raising awareness of counseling services in the Well-Being Center. Anecdotally, students coming into
the center are mentioning the articles as a way they’ve decided to work with a counselor.
“But the students I have in mind writing these are ones who may never come through the doors. So these are life skills about mental health and emotions and relationships. Maybe it’s something timely for you to hear, and you’ll never come in to talk with a clinician, but this can be something impactful for you. Those are the people I’m trying to reach.”
In her years on campus, Alicia has definitely seen demand for mental health services grow. Fortunately, counseling services at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s are structured to make them accessible to as many students as possible.
“There are so many barriers to mental health care,” Alicia says. “Being in a rural area, knowing there are limitations not just from insurance, but also transportation and privacy on campus. … We really feel strongly about maintaining access to our services. And one of the ways we can do that is by not charging any additional fees above what students are already paying. If they’re enrolled here, they get access to our counseling services at no cost.”
First-year residence hall Aurora
Favorite professor
Oh, that’s really hard. I think I can say Richard Wielkiewicz was one of my favorite professors.
Favorite Bennie memory
I was a player on the volleyball team, and we were able to advance to the NCAA tournament twice in the time that I played. Those were highlights for me.
Look for Alicia's columns on the Opinions page of The Record here.
Milestones
1964 Rita Hunn Frundt was featured in a Wander & Wonder MPR News article celebrating the 142-year history of Blue Earth’s first Chautauqua Literacy and Scientific Circle, March ’25. Rita is the current president of this book group.
1986 Mary Lynn Hamlin McPherson was recently highlighted in Art Business News, April ’25. The “Meet the Artist” article highlights Mary Lynn and her partner, Susan “Rennie” McPherson, sharing more about MCP2 Art Studio and the collaboration of photography and encaustic paintings.
Jill Sweiven was promoted to chief administrative officer for the state of Minnesota Health Care Administration, DHS, March ’25.
1987 Karen Tufte Van Buren was featured in a 2025 issue of “People on the Move” in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, March ’25. Karen joined the Larkin Hoffman Law Firm as its chief operating officer.
1991 Julie Hutcheson-Downwind was named the 2025 Administrator of the Year by the Minnesota Indian Education Association, March ’25. Julie is the principal at the American Indian Magnet School in Saint Paul.
1994 Barbara Weber Gibbons was named executive director of advancement for Middle Georgia State University’s Office of University Advancement & Alumni Affairs, Feb. ’25.
1997 Corie Dumdie Barry received the Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, April ’25. Bridgette Dupuch-Knudsen received her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Georgia State University, May ’25.
2000 BriAnne Erpelding Hern was featured in an article published by The Minnesota Star Tribune reflecting on how St. Joseph has been transformed over the years, March ’25. BriAnne is the co-founder of The House Food and Tap.
2002 Julie Hanson Zimny was promoted to senior vice president human resources at Cargill, Nov. ’24.
2003 Kate Ritger was featured in an MPR News article about her family and their farm in rural Minnesota, April ’25.
2004 Desiree “Desi” Sanner Murphy had a new art installation featured at a Building Community event in the Benedicta Arts Center, College of Saint Benedict, Feb. ’25.
Rachael Lundby Webb was named on Cheapism’s list of the “Best Hole-in-the-wall BBQ Joints Across America,” March ’25. Rachael owns and operates Roaming Buffalo BBQ in Denver.
2004 Shannon Verly Wiger was featured in an article published by The Minnesota Star Tribune reflecting on how St. Joseph has been transformed over the years, March ’25. Shannon has bought and refurbished six buildings in town.
2005 Ellen Hunter Gans completed the Great World Race, Nov. ’24. The challenging race consists of 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. Ellen’s incredible story has been shared in numerous news outlets, including the Minnesota Vikings website.
HEATHER
PARKER PLUMSKI
was promoted to president of Stearns Bank, St. Cloud, March ’25.
2007
ELIZABETH “LIZ” HOCHSTEDLER KEENER
was named one of the Boating Industry’s Top 40 under 40 for 2024, Jan. ’25. Liz currently serves as the senior director of dealer development at Marine Retailers Association of the Americas.
2008 Emily Coborn Wright was promoted to president of the St. Cloud-based Coborn’s grocery chain, May ’25.
Abby Stahl Zipoy has completed the premier leadership training program at Holmes Murphy – one of the nation’s largest privately held insurance brokerages – and joined the ranks of the company’s shareholders, June ’25.
2010 Ashley Ver Burg Soukup was promoted to senior brand manager of Cheerios at General Mills Corp., Jan. ’25.
2011 Brittney Helmbrecht Schoephoerster was selected to lead as principal for Riverview Intermediate School, April ’25.
Laura Wildenborg was recognized by the Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal as a 2025 40 Under 40 honoree, Feb. ’25. Laura serves as the vice president of strategic lending at Sunrise Banks.
2013 Gina Athmann Lomheim was featured in a CentraCare article sharing her story as a former NICU mom and how this shaped the creation of her nonprofit, Henry’s Heroes, to support parents in need, March ’25.
Dana Johnson Strahnson received St. Louis Park’s 2024 Human Rights Award, March ’25. Dana is the youth services librarian at the St. Louis Park branch of the Hennepin County (Minnesota) Library.
2015 Clare Johnston Brynestad co-authored a research paper published in the journal ACS Earth and Space Chemistry titled “Reductive Degradation of 4-Chloronitrobenzene by Fe(II) on Aluminum-Substituted Goethite Nanoparticles,” Feb ’24.
2017 Annie Dittberner Bushey has completed the premier leadership training program at Holmes Murphy – one of the nation’s largest privately held insurance brokerages – and joined the ranks of the company’s shareholders, June ’25.
2018 Kendra Sukke Paeper accepted a new position to practice walkin care at Essentia Health as an advanced practice registered nurse, May ’25.
2019 Sydney Robinson received the Award of Excellence at the 2025 Minnesota College Personnel Association annual conference for her proposal, “Creating a Mentor-Centered Community: The Importance of Peer-to-Peer Mentorship for Undergraduate American Women of Color,” April ’25.
2020 Paige Folkerts graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, May ’25.
Taylor Schreiner accepted a new position as general surgery nurse practitioner at CentraCare Health, Feb. ’25.
2023 Julia Geller was promoted to associate customer success manager at Kaleidoscope, May ’25.
2023 Ella Windel graduated with her master’s degree in counseling and psychological services from St. Mary’s University, Jan. ’25. Ella serves as a pre-licensed therapist at Wholehearted Healing LLC.
Marriages
2011 Blair Brookman to Jordan Quinn, Sept. ’24
2012 Kaitlin Keller to Collin Grams, Feb. ’25
2013 Jessica Hillebrand to Benjamin Quinlan, Oct. ’24
Courtney Jenderny to Joshua Bradley, Sept. ’24
Isabel Pennings to Kevin Service, July ’24
Emily Wigstrom to Alexander Payne, Oct. ’24
2014 Angelica Key to Andrew Clary, March ’25
2015 Clare Johnston to Samuel Brynestad ’16, March ’25
Olivia Rodriguez to Maxwell Faust, Dec. ’24
Katelyn Thoresen to Beau Raymond, Feb. ’25
Amberly Warner to Nicholas Servatius, Sept. ’24
2017 Alli Kosobud to Matthew Burgstahler ’18, Sept. ’24
2018 Maria Baumann to Michael Diamond, June ’24
Madeline Hawkins to Lincoln Blizzard, Sept. ’24
Gabrielle Narvaez to Corey Zumach, Nov. ’24
2018 Megan Sundstrom to Austin Bjorge ’17, April ’24
Zelda Wear to Zachary Dietz ’17, Sept. ’24
2019 Megan Gemuenden to Aaron Schwietz ’19, Jan. ’25
Kelsey Olsen to Connor Girard, Dec. ’24
Shaelee Tripp to Christopher Burg, Sept. ’24
2020 Alyssa Bjelland to Noah Taylor ’19, Aug. ’24
Natalie Brasket to Carlos Zermeno, April ’25
Lauren Lafeber to John Heller, July ’24
Sydney Sherek to Sam Schuberg ’20, Oct. ’24
JULIA PIAS TO JACOB DITTEL ’21, DEC. ’24
MACKENZIE HECK TO JOHANNA SCHMITZ ’12 , MARCH ’25 ’16
2021 Kathryn Imholte to Max Wilkinson, Sept. ’23
Alaina Robbins to Denver Link, May ’24
2022 Margo Achterkirch to Kenneth Ringler ’23, Feb. ’25
Elissa Rooney to Casey Lieser ’22, Sept. ’24
2024 Kate Gallagher to Matthew Motschenbacher, Oct. ’24
Ashley Hill to Carter Schmitz ’23, May ’25
Births / Adoptions
2007
KIERSTEN GJERSTAD DOLAN & ANDREW DOLAN, BOY, HENRY, FEB. ’25 ’07
2010 Katie Lundgren Bisping & Ryan Bisping, boy, Finley, Nov. ’24
ASHLEY THEISEN EISENBEIS & BRITAN EISENBEIS, GIRL, ARIA, JAN. ’25 ’10
2011 Katherine Windschitl Brolsma & Matthew Brolsma ’11, girl, Ramona, Feb. ’25
Megan Wolf King & Zachary King, boy, William, Feb. ’25
ANNA BERGSTROM
URLICK & RYAN URLICK ’11, GIRL, KATHERINE, NOV. ’24
2012 Maggie Burgart Elenz & Daniel Elenz ’12, boy, Henry, Oct. ’24
Katie Elmquist Grausam & Andrew Grausam ’11, girl, Mila, Jan. ’25
Kristin Hobscheid Lokrantz & John Lokrantz, girl, Charlotte, Feb. ’25
2014 Abigail Jarnot Gertken & Dylan Gertken ’15, girl, Maribelle, May ’25
2015 Megan Murphy Carlson & Cody Carlson, girl, Sydney, Sept. ’24
TARA MAAS TESSMER & BRYCE TESSMER, GIRL, BROOKE, JULY ’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.
GRETCHEN OSDOBA & DAVID KIRKHOFF, GIRL, ELLA, MARCH ’25
MAKENZIE KRAUSE & JACOB LANTHIER, GIRL, CECILY, DEC. ’24
Ashley Winden Hansen & Jack Hansen ’16, girl, Emilia, Feb. ’25
Rylee Pool Lynch & Andrew Lynch, girl, EllaRae, Dec. ’24
Briana Plantenberg Stang & Cole Stang ’17, girl, Carmen, Feb. ’25
2017 Nicole Flesch DeWitt & Patrick DeWitt ’16, boy, Wesley, April ’15
Alison Newton Kendall & Alex Kendall ’17, boy, Cooper, May ’25
Rachel Nelson Pfahning & Steven Pfahning ’18, girl, June, Feb. ’25
Theresa Wenner Schiebel & Derek Schiebel ’17, girl, Mia, Nov. ’24
Anne Frank Wittman & Luke Wittman ’16, girl, Adelaide, Nov. ’24
GABRIELLA WEBER & JACOB CHRISTENSEN ’17, BOY, MACKLAN, JULY ’24
2018 Alexandra “Lexi” Plessel Olson & Brodie Olson, girl, Delaney, Sept. ’24
Allison Cwikla Valerius & Samuel Valerius ’18, girl, Ava, March ’25
2019 Molly McGrane Martin & Max Martin ’19, boy, Thomas, May ’25
2020 Heidi Geislinger Dollerschell & Calvin Dollerschell, girl, Lillian, Nov. ’24
Paige Nathe Lara & Adam “Joe” Lara ’21, boy, Thomas, Sept. ’24
Shelby Gapinski Sandeen & Tyler Sandeen, boy, Jameson, Dec. ’24
2025 Rebecca Daniels, boy, Merlin, Dec. ’24
Deaths
1944 Anna “Anne” Bouska Lukes, March ’25
1946 Rita Oys Olson, April ’19
1947 Mary Heaton Gietzen, March ’25
Elizabeth Zehnle Pritchett, Feb. ’25
1949 Lorraine Westrup Cofell, mother of Mary Cofell Herbert ’76, Ann Cofell ’77 & Jeanne Cofell ’79, Jan. ’25
Joan Ulrich Twomey, Dec. ’24
1950 Colleen Shanahan Kridle, March ’25
1951 Lorraine Baumler Kensok, April ’25
1954 Roy Bernick, spouse of Colleen Burns Bernick, Feb. ’25
1955 S. Dorothy (Perpetua) Heinen, OSB, April ’25
Ruth Altmann McNamara, mother of Louise McNamara Neese ’91 & Anita McNamara Sonnek ’95, Jan. ’25
Mary Nelson Stackpool, mother of Ann Stackpool-Gunderson ’86, March ’25
1956 Margaret Pattison Hels, Jan. ’25
Sylvia Muggli-Emmons, April ’25
Marvel Lee Pryor, March ’25
1957 Charles Pfannenstein, spouse of Joan Marthaler Pfannenstein, Dec. ’24
Margery Fickbohm Squires, mother of Lori Squires-Birdsell ’81, April ’25
1959 Barbara Lorge Lahr, March ’25
1960 Katherine “Kay” Keefe Busch, mother of Kristin Fruth Muyskens ’85 & Katherine Fruth Trafton ’92, April ’25
S. Lawrence (Rita) Fischer, OSB, May ’24
Joan Emmel Walkowiak, Dec. ’23
1961 Ruth Dynan Gensman, March ’25
1962 JoAnne Thomas Havelka, May ’25
Kathleen Wild Witt, mother of Jonelle Witt Burnham ’91, Nov. ’23
1963 Ruth Marczak Mortier, March ’25
Patricia Hiemenz Reinardy, March ’25
1964
Dennis Hansen, spouse of Diane Smith Hansen, Jan. ’25
Karen Solheim Maloney, March ’25
Rosanne Thene Marberg, April ’25
Martha Rocheford Rasure, March ’25
1965 S. Ardella Kvamme, OSB, Feb. ’25
1966 Barbara “Barb” Nelson Whitlock, Nov. ’24
1971 Cathleen Sand Kuduk, Feb. ’25
S. Rose Mary (Edane) Kuklok, OSB, May ’25
1972 Mary Musielewicz, Sept. ’24
1975 James Hood ’74, spouse of Karen Matsko Hood, July ’24
Marlene Pershke, Feb. ’25
Barbara Schroeder, Oct. ’11
1976 Viola Borgerding, mother of Marian Borgerding Brunette, Yvonne Borgerding Cullen ’79 & Ann Borgerding Sieben ’86, March ’25
Robert Kierlin, spouse of Mary Burrichter, Feb. ’25
1977 Elizabeth Nilles, mother of Patricia Nilles Clark & Catherine Nilles ’78, April ’25
Calvin Ryan-Mosley, spouse of Claudia Ryan-Mosley, father of Erin Ryan-Mosley ’16 & Allison RyanMosley ’18, March ’25
1978 Ronald Hagberg, spouse of Carol Franta Hagberg, Jan. ’25
1979 David Brockman, spouse of Carol Kaiser Brockman, March ’25
Dr. Clarence Flynn, father of Mary Flynn, Jan. ’25
Carl Musielewicz, father of Janice Musielewicz Naegeli, April ’25
Kristin Schelske-Moening, Jan. ’25
Douglas Homolka, spouse of Pamela Rethlake-Homolka, May ’25
1980 Jolene Rutten Bergman, Feb. ’20
John McMahon, father of Mary McMahon, Margaret McMahon Poley ’80 & Siobhan McMahon ’83, Feb, ’25
Mary Margaret McMahon, mother of Mary McMahon, Margaret McMahon Poley ’80 & Siobhan McMahon ’83, March ’25
Mary Jane Lauerman, mother of Michelle Lauerman Miller & Julie Lauerman Guetzke ’82, March ’25
1981 Roger Baumgartner, father of Kellie Baumgartner-Paredes, Jan. ’25
Rebecca “Becky” Borrell, Dec. ’24
Dolores Koch, mother of Susan Koch Goettl, Cindy Koch Erickson ’82 & Therese Koch ’84, April ’25
1981 Mary Rivard, mother of Laurie Rivard & Suzanne Rivard Collins ’87, Feb. ’25
Donna Brewers, mother of Lisa Brewers Walther & Michelle Brewers O’Leary ’83, Feb. ’25
1982 Marliss Costanza, mother of Marina Costanza, Sept. ’24
Jerome Gordon, spouse of Karen Novotny Gordon, Feb. ’25
Bruce Hauger, spouse of Angela Rosenburg Hauger, father of Erika Hauger Bakke ’04 & Lily Hauger ’17, July ’24
Oliver Lesnick, father of Mary Lesnick Schreiner & Karen Lesnick McMullen ’84, April ‘25
1983 Roy Holm, father of Julia Holm Deetz, Nancy Holm Callas ’84 & Christina Holm Yokanovich ’92, April ’25
James Kluegel ’53, father of Barbara Kluegel Hanson, Nov. ’24
Maureen Burns, mother of Sheila Burns Zat, May ’25
Robert “Rob” Burns, father of Sheila Burns Zat, May ’25
1984 Lorraine Doroff, mother of Maryrose Capko, Jan. ’24
1985 George Sedivy ’57, father of Ellen Sedivy Crocco, Sara Sedivy ’86, Kathryn Sedivy Dison ’87 & Patricia Sedivy Gerkins ’90, Feb. ’25
1985 Sandra Schwegman, mother of Amy Schwegman Willard, Feb. ’25
1986 Alfred Danzl, father of Lynnette Danzl-Tauer, March ’25
Elizabeth Hessburg, mother of Susan “Soozi” Hessburg Hampton, April ’25
Juliana Howard, mother of Ann Howard Heymans, Feb. ’25
Michael Kennedy, father of Holly Kennedy, Joy Kennedy Kamano ’87 & Ivy Kennedy Carroll ’90, March ’25
Elinor Nicklawske, mother of Ann Nicklawske McGee & Mary Nicklawske ’89, April ’25
Berta Roder, mother of Arleen Roder-Campeau, Feb. ’24
1987 Linda Boucher, mother of Jackie Boucher, March ’25
Eunice Ruff, mother of Caroline Ruff Hickethier, April ’25
Elizabeth Buermann, mother of Kimberly Buermann Krutchen & Kristy Buermann Heying ’90, April ’25
George Crow ’53, father of Julia Crow Plum, Nov. ’24
1988 Eileen Brama, mother of Kathleen Brama Bodene, March ’25
James Pasch, father of Stephanie Pasch Clark & Jolene Pasch Crosby ’98, Feb. ’25
1988 Lorraine Reiter, mother of Ann Reiter Graham & Lisa Reiter ’96, Oct. ’24
1989 Gerald Carlson, father of Christine Carlson Pounds, March ’25
Thomas Igel, father of Mary Igel Trudell, April ’25
1990 Sandra Gould, mother of Rachael Tolson Gould, March ’25
David Fait, father of Mary Kay Fait Kaiser, May ’25
James Giyan, father of Terri Giyan Kallsen, May ’25
Sharon Bemboom, mother of Jacquelene Bemboom MosquedaJones & Kristine Bemboom ’92, April ’25
1991 James “Jim” Byron, father of Martha Buntrock, May ’25
Kimberly Hermann Burke, Feb. ’25
1992 Sharon Masloski, mother of Kimberly Masloski Bourgerie, April ’25
Ken Maehren, spouse of Kris Huberty Maehren, father of Mickaela Maehren ’22, May ’25
William Murphy, father of Paula Murphy, March ’25
Dale Everson, father of Kristina Everson Newell, Feb. ’25
•
•
•
1992 Joyce Wong, mother of Sandra Wong, Jan. ’25
1993 Kenneth McNamara, father of Tonya McNamara Dolezal, Jan ’25
Christopher Olinger, spouse of Darla Pierskalla Olinger, Feb. ’25
1994 Jeffrey Hitchcock, spouse of Kari Monnens Hitchcock, March ’25
Marguerita Marschall, mother of Janine Marschall Paulson, Nov. ’24
Muriel Zumbusch, mother of Mary Zumbusch Schoen, April ’25
1995 Arlyn Grussing, father of Ginna Grussing, March ’25
Virginia Ohmann, mother of Amy Ohmann Hull, April ’25
Terrance Pauls, father of Melanie Pauls, Tina Pauls Lieser ’97 & Nicole Pauls Holthaus ’99, Dec. ’24
1996 Kathryn Schug, mother of Stephanie Schug Bruggers, Feb. ’25
Regina McCarthy, mother of Louise McCarthy, Dec. ’24
Dennis Munson, father of Kelly Munson, Dec. ’24
Jennifer Schmidt, Jan. ’25
1997 Janet Hope, mother of Elizabeth Hope, April ’25
1997 Gerald Langsweirdt, father of Rachel Langsweirdt Radermacher, March ’25
Josephine Valiant, mother of Melissa Valiant Sackett, Jan. ’25
Joseph Tasto ’97, spouse of Erin Beckers Tasto, April ’25
1998 Phabe Wartman ’55, father of Sara Wartman Dooley, April ’25
Diane Burns, mother of Angie Fischer Orthel, May ’25
James Chesemore, father of Amy Chesemore Skramstad, March ’25
1999 Betty Bergerson, mother of Paula Bergerson, April ’25
2000 Nancy Fredericksen Rossman, March ’25
James Nelson, father of Jennifer Nelson Sullivan & Elisha Nelson Shaughnessy ’02, April ’25
2001 Renae Moxey, March ’17
Stanley Wendland, father of Kjerstin Wendland Quinn, March ’25
Karin Wessel, mother of Leticia Wessel, Jan. ’25
2003 Jeremy Leif, spouse of Linh Kieu Leif, March ’25
Robert Braun, father of Katherine Braun Wolf, April ’25
2004 Steven Oxley, father of Julie Oxley Kazeck, Feb. ’25
2005 Peter Ferber, father of Katherine “Katie” Ferber Knutson, March ’25
Robert Reinsmoen, father of Holly Reinsmoen Robinson, April ’25
Ronald Michels, father of Nicole Michels Storm, Jan. ’25
2007 Stella Johnson, mother of Kristen Johnson Cotten, Feb. ’25
Randy Hermanson, father of Nicole Hermanson Gergen, March ’25
2008 Robert Beutz ’64, father of Mary Beutz Eggers, Feb. ’25
David Donnell, father of Christine Donnell Sederstrom, April ’25
Dennis Yaritz, father of Amanda Yaritz Sutherland, March ’25
2013 Terrance Dolan, father of Hannah Dolan Schilling, March ’25
2014 Salvatore LoBianco, father of Margaret Becker-LoBianco, Sept. ’24
2015 Ricarda Kelso, mother of Erin Kelso, April ’25
2021 Peter Lennington, father of Anna Lennington-Chaffee, Nov. ’24
1 Bennies all over the nation are taking care of the environment, including Susan Hulbert ’76 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
2 Benedictine Day of Service at Meals From the Heartland in Des Moines, Iowa. L to R: Mari Maliszewki, Anders Maliszewki, Simon Maliszewki, Steven Maliszewki ’03, Stephanie Meyer Maliszewki ’04, Timothy Solinger ’78, Susan Solinger, Lisa Grefe ’00, Joan Van Grinsven Doss ’13, Robert Doss ’13, Ceci DeMarais, Heidi Abfalter DeMarais ’07, Lynly DeMarais and Adam DeMarais ’07.
3 These 2013 Bennies have been getting together monthly for over 10 years. They are grateful to Saint Ben’s for bringing them together! Clockwise from left: Laura Kennedy, Jenna Franklin Choe, Ali Felix Clintsman, Rachel Ziegler, Kyra Knoff Ischer and Coco Behne Elfering. Not pictured: Sarah Spencer Salminen.
4 CSB and SJU art majors Laura Ruprecht ’09, Alicia Peters ’96, Steven Lemke ’08, Oanh Vu ’08 and Weijue Wang ’14 connected at a puppetry workshop and artist talk led by Oanh in February at the SJU Art Center.
5 Benedictine Day of Service at Second Stork in St. Paul.
6 Benedictine Day of Service at Food for Thought in Denver. Food for Thought provides PowerSacks to 75 Denver-area schools, helping to fill the weekend hunger gap.
7 Benedictine Day of Service at Open Arms of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. Alum volunteers helped in the kitchen by preparing, portioning and packaging food for medically tailored meals, delivered at no cost to critically ill Minnesotans and their loved ones.
9 BriAnne Hern ’00 and Jennifer Barta ’92 at The House Food and Tap in St. Joe. BriAnne and her husband established The House, and Jennifer has been serving as a consultant.
7 8
10 Benedictine Day of Service at Feed My Starving Children in Chanhassan, Minnesota. Alums packed 144 food boxes, which equals over 82,000 meals.
11 Benedictine Day of Service at Food Insecurity in the Heartland in Omaha, Nebraska. CSB and SJU volunteers helped make sure their neighbors have access to healthy food.
10 6 9 11
8 CSB and SJU alums connected recently for a visit to Freeport, Grand Bahamas: Brian Schmidt ’89, Andrew Forbes ’89, Jeanne Gleason Schmelzer ’89 and Bill Schmelzer ’88.
Good for All of Us
Lisa Olson Torborg ’91 had an easy choice when it came time to select a college. “CSB was a given for me,” she laughs. “My mom was an alum, my older sister was a Bennie, and as a vocalist, the music program was a definite draw for me.”
She took advantage of that music program and majored in music – vocal performance. She even considered graduate school for music.
But she had another calling.
“I knew at an early age I wanted to be a psychologist,” she says. “At the time, I didn’t know for sure what that would entail, but I could see my future self doing the work.”
And she got right to work toward becoming a licensed psychologist, taking on a double major: music and psychology.
“I had extraordinary mentors at Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s –excellent professors,” she recalls. “They helped me see the path to becoming a psychologist was a realistic possibility for me and so I knew early on during sophomore year that I was headed to grad school, and started thinking in that direction.”
She earned her master’s degree and laughs, “then I realized how much I still wanted to learn.” So she launched immediately into a doctoral program. Her career has spanned large health care systems, college counseling, administrative and leadership roles, and private practice. For the last 10 years, she and her colleague Carrie Kobienia have created Torborg & Kobienia Psychological Services in St. Cloud, where “we provide individualized, high quality, attuned, specialized, mental health services.”
Through it all, Lisa has maintained a strong tie to Saint Ben’s. “I selfidentify as an unofficial member of CSB+SJU Admissions,” she says proudly. “I most enjoy meeting with current or past students, whether it be to discuss grad school applications, internships, decision-making, employment opportunities … whatever. I always make time for them.”
She and her husband Joe (SJU ’91) have also always made room for Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s in their philanthropic plans.
“I remember after graduating getting a pledge letter inviting 1991 grads to give $19.91 per year for the rest of your life,” she says. “I thought, that’s easy! That’s what got me started. And then for both Joe and I, it’s never been ‘if’ we’re going to give to Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s each year, it’s always been ‘how much?’ and ‘how can we make sure this gets to students who need it?’”
In the last few years, Lisa and Joe have made the “easy” choice to turn that regular giving into a named annual scholarship. Lisa recalls her own experiences as a student receiving scholarships. “For me, meeting and thanking the actual people who invested in me made an imprint. I’ve not forgotten.”
When she was a student, “I received a music scholarship,” she says. “And I remember attending a donor banquet and having the opportunity to meet the donors that had made my scholarship possible. It was a grandma and grandpa from a Stearns County farm family, and I was able to thank them in person, which really had a profound impact on me. These were just regular, hardworking people who valued education, and were committed to generosity.”
As a psychologist, Lisa knows how experiencing and expressing gratitude is “like taking an antidepressant.” She was extremely grateful as a scholarship recipient and now it brings her and husband Joe much satisfaction knowing a student might have the same experience. “Generosity and gratefulness; it’s good for all of us.”
You can learn more about establishing a named annual scholarship at Saint Ben’s by contacting Tara Maas Tessmer ’14, Executive Director of Major and Planned Gifts, at tmaas@csbsju.edu or 320-363-5078
South
Joseph, MN 56374
