Rapid City, South Dakota — West Hills Village West Hills Village invited School of Mines President Robert A. Wharton, Ph.D., to an informal social and to present information regarding the status of campus activities. Several residents of West Hills, including alumni and interested guests, gathered to meet President Wharton and other representatives from campus. Afterward, there was a question and answer time when residents inquired about our students, tuition and fees, construction, and higher education in South Dakota. There are many residents of West Hills active in the community and this was a great opportunity to bring some news from campus.
School of Mines students, alumni, and friends at West Hills Village
Phoenix, Arizona — Mines Masters In 50 to 100 years, School of Mines alumni may reflect on this fateful April day in Phoenix when the inaugural “Mines Masters” was first played. Its beginning, although with a limited field in keeping with the “Masters” tradition, may be considered small and humble by some standards, but may well mushroom into one of the most prestigious golf events in all of Mines history.
Rapid City, South Dakota — Alumni Weekend Despite a spring snow squall (one of several in April), the Alumni Weekend was another success in welcoming back graduates and friends for several events on campus. The School of Mines football team forced seven turnovers to post a 28-0 defeat of the Mines alumni team at the annual spring alumni game. Forty-year-old linebacker Ron Williams (CE92) has been playing on the alumni team since graduating, and he and the rest of the defense played a hard-fought game against the younger, larger varsity squad. In addition, 2009 Hardrocker Hall of Fame inductee Lance Mriden (ME84) has also been instrumental in supporting the annual alumni/varsity game, having never missed the event since his graduation as well. Another 80s graduate, Randy Baker (MinE86), was in the mix for festivities. So, thanks to program chair Shashi Kanth (M.S. MinE93) and nominator Larry Simonson (EE69), Randy’s 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award was presented during halftime on the field, since he could not attend graduation in December to receive the honors.
Ralph Wagner (CE75), Duff Erickson (MinE55), and Chuck Wagner
The Hardrock Fall 2009
Area Meetings
Mines Masters players and gallery
Many thanks go to the efforts of a three-time NAIA national golf participant, Hardrocker Hall-of-Famer, and esteemed alumnus Mark Lux (MinE80) and his Iowa-born spouse, Jan. They negotiated great rates for golf and dinner, drafted an announcement, made several phone calls, organized the silent auction (raising four figures for the Hardrock Club), housed and fed the Alumni Association president (at no charge), devised and conducted a closely-contested event, took photos, and awarded the winning team their “Green T-shirts” (in keeping with the Masters tradition).
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