St. Cloud State Magazine - Fall 2018/Winter 2019

FALL 2018 / WINTER 2019

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

HOPE FOR A NEW FUTURE MORE INSIDE:

BOOM TOWNS St. Cloud State at the center of the Twin Cities real estate boom

RETURNING HOME Celebration and reunions at Homecoming 2018 celebration

150 YEARS Celebrating our Sesquicentennial

Dr. Robbyn Wacker, President, St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University unleashes greatness in our students and alumni around the world, and since 1978 we’ve told that story through Outlook Magazine. Now after 40 years, and in celebration of the university’s 150th birthday, we are making changes to become simply St. Cloud State Magazine.

twitter.com/stcloudstate facebook.com/stcloudstate youtube.com/stcloudstatehusky instagram.com/stcloudstate

You’ll notice some editorial changes in how we tell our story – your story – as well as more news, features and information that we hope you’ll share in celebration of your alma mater as we look to the future.

As a proud alumnus and editor, I’d love to know what you think of the changes we’ve made and what you’d like to see in future editions.

Adam Hammer ’05 Editor aehammer@stcloudstate.edu

Go Huskies!

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1931-32 St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey team on the ice at Lake George. Read about St. Cloud State University’s start on page 20. Photo courtesy of University Archives.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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FROM THE PRESIDENT 4 Celebrating 150

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by looking to the future

NEWS 8 SCSU at TedXStCloud 2018 8 Discovering history 10 Students take on real world

challenges in Huskies Invent 10 Science meets brews 12 Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics celebrates 50 years 13 Ruby Cora Webster Hall unveiled

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FEATURES 14 Boom towns 20 Grand ambition, humble

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beginning: The first 100 years

ALUMNI NEWS 30 Quick thinking alumna saves

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Montana youngster

32 Basketball star overcomes breast

cancer fight

33 Alumnus earns 3M Innovative

Economics Award

33 Mass Communications alumnus

earns journalism award

33 5 earn Alumni Awards 34 Million-dollar gift benefits

nursing students

35 Keeping at San Diego Zoo

Safari Park

FROM THE PRESIDENT

CELEBRATING 150

BY LOOKING TO TH… FUTUR…

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I am pleased to introduce the new St. Cloud State Magazine!

As part of our sesquicentennial celebration, the University Communications and University Advancement teams have been hard at work re-envisioning the university’s twice annual magazine. This new iteration of St. Cloud State’s signature institutional magazine is a shining example of the work that is taking place to make St. Cloud State a university of first choice in Minnesota.

It is clear that St. Cloud State is an exceptional university. For 150 years, St. Cloud State University has been educating tomorrow’s workforce and the next generation of leaders. From humble beginnings training teachers as the state’s third normal school, we have progressed to serving students from over 90 different countries, with more than 200 undergraduate programs and more than 60 graduate programs. As the world evolves, we evolve with it.

In 1869, we educated students on slates and chalkboards (see page 20 for part one of three St. Cloud State Magazine features on our history). Today our students are working with professors to uncover Minnesota’s history (“Archaeology” page 9).

Our alumni around the world are further proof that St. Cloud State has already been a university of choice for more than 122,000 alumni who were looking to unlock their potential and find a gainful future.

But being a university of choice is about more than just saying it. We must build on the good work already underway and take charge of our future – and be bold.

So how will we become a university of first choice in Minnesota?

First, we will reclaim our preeminence in the higher education landscape by providing our high-quality education to an expanded marketplace of students — first-time students in the region; students who need non-traditional opportunities to complete degrees or pivot into new careers, including online and accelerated degree options; students who want to transfer to and from St. Cloud State; and we will extend our reach to students from other countries.

Second, we will rebuild our capacity to respond to challenges and invest in the strategies and infrastructure we need to be successful. One of the newest investments is in the creation of a Strategic Enrollment Management division that is leading and coordinating a campus-wide approach to strategic enrollment strategies.

Our student success efforts to retain more students have been successful – this year we saw a 5.2 percent increase in third semester retention. We will also be requiring most new freshmen to live on campus – a strategy that has been proven to increase retention.

Third, we must respond by unleashing innovative thinking to build on our

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DrRobbynWacker successes and re-imagine how we serve a changing student demographic with skills that will last them a lifetime.

We are in the business of preparing students for not only their first job after graduation, but also their last job years from now – which will likely be in a career that does not exist today. The key to preparing our students’ success is building on the community partnerships we have in place. These partnerships are necessary to ensuring that we know what programs and competencies our students need to be successful, to advance technology transfer and to facilitate economic development in the region.

This is an incredible university and community and we have a bright future ahead of us. I am looking forward to working with you in the future as we advance our university and community.

Robbyn Wacker President, St. Cloud State University

show up to witness an offensive show as the Huskies took down Upper Iowa 34-14, while men’s hockey flexed their way to a 5-0 shutout in front of 4,619 fans.

The Homecoming 5K Run/Walk along the Beaver Islands Trail had more than 200 participants registered, and saw 151 cross the finish line.

On Sunday, women’s soccer finished what they started and completed the athletic sweep of the weekend with a 2-0 win over Southwest Thousands of students, Minnesota State in front of families, alumni and a crowd of 285. Athletics community members packed drew a grand total of 12,865 campus Oct. 17-21 as fans through the five home Homecoming 2018 delivered on events. pep-rallies, shows, gatherings, To cap off the weekend, events and athletics to cap off more than 100 student-atha memorable weekend. letes gathered Sunday morning to complete a post-Homecoming clean-up throughout campus, organized by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

Also during Homecoming, St. Cloud State hosted its biggest open house, Discover Red and Black, where more than 400 prospective students and their families attended.

HOM…COMING 2018

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omecoming Kick-off on Oct. 17 featured a ferris wheel, pep-rally and food for everyone and had 1,000-plus students, faculty and staff in attendance, while Blizzardshack that evening garnered more than 700 students for rides, games and activities.

The Homecoming comedy show, featuring former “Full House” Uncle Joey star, Dave Coulier, drew a 500-plus crowd.

Four hundred and fifty RSVPs were made for our five alumni reunions and the Alumni Association Awards reception, about five times more than in 2017.

Family Weekend registered 269 students who brought more than 750 guests to campus for the festivities. Almost 200 came out to see the theatre department stage “The Revolutionists.”

Friday featured athletic events starting with women’s soccer shutting out the University of Sioux Falls 2-0 and drawing 292 fans in the route. The pep-rally bonfire saw a turn out of more than 200 before our nationally-ranked men’s hockey team dominated Northern Michigan 4-1 for their first of two weekend games in front of 4,098 fans.

Fan Fest and Huskies football on Saturday saw more than 3,500 people

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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HOM…COMING 2018

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A. The Alumni Association honored 2017-18 alumni award winners during halftime of the Homecoming football game. Learn more about the winners, pg. 33.

B. Dave Coulier performs in the Homecoming Comedy Show.

C. Homecoming kicked off with a pep-rally, ferris wheel and fun events for 1,000 students, faculty and staff in attendance.

Mark your calendar for HOM…COMING 2019, Sept. 25-29

Huskies Soccer, Men’s Hockey and Football won in all five Homecoming 2018 games.

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Editor Adam Hammer ’05 Contributing Editor Matt Andrew Content Producers Jeff Wood ’81 ’87 ’95 Anna Kurth Nick Lenz ’11 Celest Stang ’03 ’05 John M. Brown Terri Mische Tom Nelson

1,000+

ATTENDED FAMILY WEEKEND CAMPUS ACTIVITIES.

Design Marie Madgwick ’91 Gary Bailey

(STUDENTS & GUESTS)

Contact us: ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY 720 Fourth Ave. S. St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498 University Communications ucomm@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-3152 stcloudstate.edu/ucomm

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Alumni Relations alumni@stcloudstate.edu 320-308-3177 or 866-464-8759 stcloudstate.edu/alumni St. Cloud State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, status with regards to public assistance, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or status as a U.S. veteran.

The Title IX coordinator at SCSU is Dr. …llyn Bartges. For additional information, contact the Office for Institutional …quity & Access, (320) 308-5123, Admin. Services Bldg. Rm 102.

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NEWS SCSU AT TEDXSTCLOUD 2018 St. Cloud State employees spoke at a Tedx event this October at the Paramount Center for the Arts, St. Cloud.

Student Sylvia Sandstrom works in an excavation unit at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.

Data-visualization evangelist Mark Gill and social justice activist Beth Berila were among six participants in the event, which sought to spark conversation, connection and community.

Independent and voluntary, Tedx events are modeled after the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) online talks that feature great thinkers such as Elon Musk, Jane Goodall, Sergey Brin and the late Stephen Hawking.

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Berila directs the Gender and Women’s Studies program, located in Webster Hall. A professor and yoga teacher, Berila uses intersectional feminism and mindfulness to help communities more fully embody social justice.

Gill directs the Visualization Lab, located in the ISELF Building. Among other things, the lab helps campus units and community organizations visualize data. Gill also teaches software engineering courses.

DISCOVERING HISTORY ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY ANTHROPOLOGY STUDENTS WERE BUSY THIS SUMMER UNCOVERING MINNESOTA’S PAST WITH EXCAVATIONS IN SAUK CENTRE AND THE SHERBURNE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.

Flaked off during tool making, this flint is found in western North Dakota. Its presence at the Sherburne site indicates trade or travel.

Other speakers included Cynthia Terlouw, an advocate for trafficked and exploited girls; Wm. Blair Anderson, St. Cloud chief of police; Jolene Singh, CentraCare surgeon; and Eric Sannerud, hop farmer.

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This Madison Point is a Woodland Period-style arrowhead that would have been made 1,200-1,400 years ago from sandstone only found in northwest Wisconsin.

A sharp volcanic rock, obsidian is found in areas of volcanic activity, such as the Yellowstone region of Wyoming and Montana.

Its presence at the Sherburne site indicates trade throughout the Great Plains.

This damaged Plains or Prairie Side-Notch arrowhead was made, then repaired and sharpened, 1,000-500 years ago.

A glass decanter stopper points to what was likely the officer’s quarter’s portion of the site because enlisted men at the Sauk Centre fort wouldn’t have had the means to afford such items.

NEWS In August small blue and white flags dotted the front and back lawn on Birch Street in Sauk Centre. The block is filled with houses, garages, gardens and a brick church.

But when St. Cloud State Associate Professor Rob Mann and his students looked around they saw barns, stores, officers’ quarters and troop lodgings. They saw the outlines of a military post built in the aftermath of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War. Mann and students Mike Penrod, a cultural resources management graduate student, and Courtney Kujala, an anthropology student, spent two weeks in July doing preliminary searches for evidence of the fort near a stone marker at the corner of Birch Street and Seventh Avenue in Sauk Centre.

The year-long investigation of the post was funded by a $10,000 Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant from the Minnesota Historical Society.

The investigation is important in an archaeological sense because military sites built during the U.S.-Dakota War period are not well known, Mann said.

“There’s probably only one other military fort from the U.S.Dakota War of 1862 along the size and scale of this one that has been investigated,” he said. “These were built for the 1862 crisis.

That makes them unique archaeologically.”

Other well-known forts from the time period such as Fort Ripley, Fort Ridgley and Fort Snelling have been well documented, but were built before the U.S.-Dakota War. Built in 1862, the Sauk Centre fort was used by the U.S. Army until late 1865 when the Army moved to forts further west.

Artifacts collected have pointed to the military nature of the site. Among the artifacts they’ve recovered are a metal buckle for an officer’s gun sling.

Additionally, they’ve found pieces of white ceramic dishes typical to the fort’s time period and animal bones that can point to the diet of officers and enlisted men and evidence of the structures including nails and glass shards. In all they’ve uncovered hundreds of artifacts that they’ve taken back to analyze.

In June, anthropology students working with Professor Mark Muñiz went to Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, where St. Cloud State first began investigations in 1968 under professor emeritus Richard Lane.

Naturally-occuring, ocher was used

by Minnesota’s first residents as paint to decorate, to preserve hides and to prepare the dead.

It was in reviewing reports from those first decades-old studies that Muñiz came across a reason to investigate the site.

A report from a 1974 field study contained a note that the location should be investigated further because of reports of artifacts found in the area. There was no indication that the site was investigated at the time, so Muñiz included it in the 2018 summer session field study.

In one unit, students Sam Mick and Kylee Glen found a sherd of cord-wrapped, stick impressed pottery that features design elements from the original pot, evidence of occupations that have lain undisturbed for up to 1,000 years.

“When we find pieces like that it is really exciting for us because when you get to the decorative portion of the pot, that helps you narrow it down to … who made it,” Muñiz said.

The field was once part of a farmer’s field, so students had to look down below the plow line to find artifacts with historical significance that can reveal clues about Central Minnesota’s past, Muñiz said.

Through the study they sought to answer questions about how big the site is, how old it is, what cultures occupied the site and how they used it, he said.

With each artifact they uncovered they came closer to the answers. In just a few weeks on site, the study revealed arrowheads, flakes of rocks left over from making stone tools, pottery sherds and fire cracked rock.

Designs on pottery sherds can be studied to reveal which culture made the designs and flakes and arrowheads made from stone not common in Central Minnesota can point to trade taking place among people, Muñiz said.

Student Silvia Sandstrom found an arrowhead made from Hixton silicified sandstone, a stone found only in western Wisconsin. In another excavation unit, students found flakes of obsidian, a rock from the Rocky Mountains that was traded throughout the Great Plains and into the Western Great Lakes.

“We’re getting some really interesting connections to other parts of North America with just the raw materials we’re finding here,” Muñiz said, adding that the field study will return to the site for more in-depth investigations in the future.

Professor Rob Mann and student Courtney Kujala record findings at the Sauk Centre investigation site.

Cut nails popular in the 19th century help researchers know they are in the right spot for the fort.

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NEWS STUDENTS TAKE ON REAL WORLD CHALLENGES IN HUSKIES INVENT Apps that can identify parts, a robot that can screw in bolts on giant parts, and a laser that can search for flaws in newly cut parts are among the solutions that St. Cloud State University students suggested during the first ever Huskies Invent Nov. 14-16.

SELKE PALE ALE SUPPORTS STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS In celebration of St. Cloud State University’s sesquicentennial Beaver Island Brewing Company has launched a speciality beer. Selke Pale Ale was designed by Christopher Laumb, brewmaster at Beaver Island Brewing and is a hoppy, citrustextured ale that features local malt from Malt Works in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

A portion of the sales from the kegs and 16-ounce cans will fund student scholarships through the St. Cloud State University Foundation.

Students pitched their solutions to professionals from Park Industries after spending 48 hours coming up with their solutions, building a prototype and preparing their presentations.

The event started with a presentation

by Park Industries of five problems they face every day at their plant.

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In all, 35 students from nine majors participated in the event designed to give students the chance to tackle real-world industry problems while working in teams that drew their members from different academic disciplines.

“Every group came up with a solution and had working prototypes,” said Lyle Pedersen, Park Industries manufacturing manager.

“We’re actually already looking at some of the solutions they came up with and looking at implementing variations of them here,” he said. “It gave us lots of ideas to help solve the problems.”

The U.S. PATENT OFFICE

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NEWS

SCIENCE MEETS BREWS ALEC SYVRUD AND TYLER SCHREIFELS SPEND THEIR DAYS THINKING ABOUT BEER. HOW IT LOOKS. HOW IT TASTES. AND HOW ONE MATCHES UP TO THE NEXT. THEIR EMPLOYER COULDN’T BE HAPPIER.

The College of Science and Engineering students, Alec Syvrud and Tyler Schreifels, are interns in the quality control office at Beaver Island Brewing Company.

The pair is responsible for checking the beer at its different stages of fermentation, checking the oxygen content, collecting data and maintaining the microbiological state of the beer. They also help to make sure the cans are up to specification.

Beaver Island Brewing Company is a St. Cloud company that has been making beer since 2015 at its storefront facility. It opened its canning facility in 2017. The company gets its name from the Beaver Islands, a series of islands on the Mississippi River some of which are part of St. Cloud State University.

“Beaver Island has made an investment in quality control equipment in an effort to consistently put a quality product in the market, and student interns bring knowledge of new techniques to the company,” said Brewmaster Christopher Laumb.

Syvrud and Schreifels are interning at Beaver Island through SciTechsperience, a state program that connects college students with paid internships in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) fields at small to mid-sized Minnesota businesses.

Syvrud is a biochemistry and molecular biology major from St. Cloud. Schreifels is a biomedical science major from St. Cloud.

The program helps the companies find qualified candidates and offers a matching stipend to cover a portion of the interns’ wages.

“We have decades of experience in the industry, but we don’t have the biochemical background,” Laumb said. “It’s nice that we can have these students come in and teach an old dog new tricks.”

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

NEWS A

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A. Coach Gladys Ziemer served as the first women’s athletics director at St. Cloud State University organizing the university’s intercollegiate teams and serving as coach for volleyball, softball, C basketball and gymnastics. B. A standout basketball player, Sue Wahl Storbeck also starred on women’s volleyball, tennis and track teams in the 1970s setting numerous team and individual records. She earned All-American honors in basketball and All-Region honors in volleyball, basketball and track. She was the first woman collegiate basketball player in Minnesota to both score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds during her career. C. Karissa Hoehn is the all-time strikeout leader in softball and was an All-American for the Huskies in the late 1990s-early 2000s. She It’s been 50 years since St. Cloud State University first organized an intercollegiate women’s gained All-American status twice during sports team and the Huskies are celebrating through this year. her college career and was a four-time In the spring of 1969, softball, the first women’s intercollegiate team was formed. On All-NCC award winner and three-time NCC May 3, 1969, the Huskies defeated Bemidji State 7-4 at Vet’s Field in St. Cloud. That Most Valuable Pitcher Award winner. She marked the official beginning of St. Cloud State women’s athletics as we have come to recstill owns most of St. Cloud State pitching records including most career strikeouts, ognize it today.

1,381, and most career victories, 113.

From those humble beginnings, the St. Cloud State athletic program has grown over the

WOMEN’S INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

THE FIRST OLYMPIC GAMES to feature female athletes was the 1900 games in Paris.

years to 11 intercollegiate women’s sports teams competing in basketball, volleyball, cross country, golf, hockey, nordic ski, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field.

St. Cloud State women’s athletics was originally affiliated with the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women before joining the NCAA in 1982. St. Cloud State now competes as an NCAA Division II affiliate in every sport except women’s hockey, which plays as an NCAA Division I affiliate.

The Division II teams are members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference except for the Nordic ski team, which competes with the Central Collegiate Ski Association.

The hockey program is a charter member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

In previous years, St. Cloud State competed as a member of the legendary North Central Conference from 1984 to 2007 before becoming a member of the original Northern Sun Conference for women.

Read more: scsu.mn/2RTYm3c

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NEWS RUBY CORA WEBSTER HALL OFFICIALLY UNVEILED

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Standing on the site of Old Main, one of St. Cloud State’s original academic buildings, the campus community joined the family of Ruby Cora Webster Oct. 15 in dedicating the 51 Building as Ruby Cora Webster Hall.

“I’m excited that Ruby Cora Webster Hall will now serve as a constant reminder of how our students drive our past and our future,” said St. Cloud State President Robbyn Wacker. “It will also serve as a reminder that this university is more than a collection of buildings – it is where dreams and goals become opportunities and reality.”

When Webster attended the then State Normal School and graduated in 1909, there were only three buildings on campus, four if you include the dormitory.

“It is fitting that this building is the one we name in Ruby’s honor, a location that was once at the center of her educational experience,” said Mark Springer, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

“It is also an important and enduring designation that is significant and meaningful to the Webster family, St. Cloud State and its students, staff and faculty, and the people of Minnesota.”

Since 2007, the former Business Building has been known by its street address, the 51 Building. At its simplest and most basic level, that has served the function of giving the bricks and mortar an address. It now houses the Department of English, St. Cloud State’s Writing Center—The Write Place—and the Intensive English Center. It also is home to the Department of Political Science and the Department of Ethnic, Gender and Women’s Studies, where Professor Christopher Lehman serves as chair.

Lehman made the proposal to rename 51 B to recognize Webster, St. Cloud State’s first known African American graduate, in December under the university’s newly-implemented NonDonor Related Naming Policy. The proposal garnered significant support from the community. Prior to submitting his proposal, Lehman collected more than 2,200 signatures in support, and the St. Cloud State Student Government, St. Cloud State Faculty Senate and a number of academic departments, including those that reside in 51 B, adopted resolutions in support of the naming.

“I commend and applaud Dr. Christopher Lehman for his initiative in researching and bringing to light the significance of Ruby Cora Webster to our school’s history and the importance of naming this building after her,” Wacker said. “Ruby is someone from our university’s early history that exemplified hope, courage and resilience and who believed in something greater than herself.”

A: Ruby Cora Webster’s great nephew Mark Cooper helps unveil the monument sign that identifies Ruby Cora Webster Hall. B: President Robbyn Wacker presents Ruby Cora Webster’s granddaughter Sue-Ellyn Rempel with a memorial plaque. C: Descendants of Ruby Cory Webster attend the building naming ceremony. Photos by Adam Hammer ’05 ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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ST. CLOUD STATE PREPARES GRADUATES FOR MIDWEST’S HOTTEST COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET

OM TOWNS

BY RENE KALUZA

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

MULTIFAMILY UNITS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND

OFFICE, RETAIL AND INDUSTRIAL ARE ALSO IN HIGH DEMAND

THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE MARKET IN THE TWIN CITIES AREA IS BOOMING AND ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ARE LEADING THE WAY.

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After all, the majority of the 650 people the university’s real estate program has graduated since it was founded in 1980 work there, according to Dr. Steven Mooney, holder of the Minnesota Chair in Real Estate at St. Cloud State.

Most work in property management; mortgage banking; sales and leasing of office, industry and retail space; appraisal and development.

“I probably had four different alums who have annual incomes with two commas (in the last three alumni surveys),” Mooney said.

“One of our early grads was the overall manager for constructing the Vikings new training site. Appraisal grads have appraised Target Center and Target Field. Another one of our grad’s first job was appraising the 3M complex in St. Paul.

“These are big deals,” Mooney said.

Mooney, who will retire at the end of the school year, can list among the program’s graduates several who have put their mark on major real estate development projects in the Twin Cities and dozens who own or hold leadership positions in major commercial real estate-related companies in Minnesota. Others also lead trade organizations such as the Minnesota Shopping Center Association, the Building Owners and Managers Association and the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.

When that success is laid against benchmarks that indicate a bright future for the commercial real estate market in the Twin Cities, it’s evident St. Cloud State graduates are positioned to continue to push it forward.

A TOP MARKET The Minneapolis/St. Paul commercial real estate market earned the highest “Local Outlook” score among 13 Midwest cities that included Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Des Moines and Cleveland, in the “Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2018” report. The report, and the survey it’s based on, was produced by the Urban Land HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2018 / WINTER 2019

Institute and PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), an international professional services firm.

Additionally in the report, Minneapolis/St. Paul ranked above the Midwest average in all commercial categories — office, retail, industrial, multifamily, hotel and housing. It had especially strong scores in office, retail and hotel sectors.

“I would characterize the Minneapolis/St. Paul commercial real estate market as healthy overall,” said Dave Anderson ’92, senior vice president at Frauenshuh Inc., a Minneapolis based corporate services and commercial real estate development, investment and management firm. “With regional job growth continuing to rise, along with a balance of large, medium and small business growth in diverse sectors, the greater MSP region demonstrates strong fundamentals for sustained market growth.”

Anderson is a graduate of St. Cloud State’s local and urban affairs program, but works extensively with commercial real estate and is active in a variety of industry trade organizations.

Reports from The Federal Reserve of Minneapolis support his and PwC’s assessments. Its “Beige Book” reports for March, April, May, July and September of 2018 state that commercial real estate grew either “moderately” or “modestly” between each report.

The Minneapolis Reserve monitors and collects information on current economic conditions in Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, part of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula eight times a year.

“Among Midwest regional peers, it is positive to see the Minneapolis/St. Paul regional market lead the rankings and it makes sense,” Anderson said. “That said, markets are dynamic and collectively, Minnesota and its business sectors need to continue to remain focused, cultivate innovation and new business formation while addressing challenges to the region’s ability to sustain and grow in an increasingly global market.”

CONTINUED IMPACT St. Cloud State grads have been, are and will be poised to have a significant impact on those markets.

The key to continuing to produce those graduates, say students, faculty and alums, is working from two angles — students and faculty working from the inside out and alumni working from the outside in.

They cite three primary strengths in St. Cloud State’s program: core academics, mentoring and real world experience.

They all come down to relationships — students with faculty, students within organizations, faculty with alums, alums with other alums, alums with interns, interns with mentors.

Mooney is often at the intersection of those relationships.

“The educational piece is fundamental to understanding the business, but the relationships are what are going to last a lifetime,” said Kyle Delarosby, president of the student-run Real Estate Association on campus.

Last school year, the group arranged a student trip to Texas for a conference focused on thriving markets in Dallas, Houston and Austin. This year, Phoenix might be on the horizon.

REA members are invited to activities organized by the Real Estate Alumni Association for opportunities to meet people who work in different aspects of the business, set up job shadowing or meet potential mentors or even begin conversations about future internships or employment.

Mentoring partnerships are a big factor in the real estate students’ development.

Once again, Mooney is at the crossroads.

MAKING CONNECTIONS Each fall, the school hosts a Mentors Banquet and pairs real estate majors and minors with alums.

“I match them up based on their interests and where they think they want to work and where the mentors work,” Mooney said.

This year, 200 alums served as mentors; 145 of those had a mentor when they were a student.

The pairings give some students an insider’s view of the area they think they’d

like to work in. Sometimes, they help students see why a path might not be right for them.

In some cases, mentorships may lead to internships, another key component of the program’s success formula.

“Employers start contacting me in January, hoping to find someone to start in the middle of May,” Mooney said. The biggest areas of interest are property management, brokerage and appraisal.

Often the internship helps them to fine-tune their interests. Some change their emphasis afterward.

That was true for Jesseka Doherty ’02, vice president of project leasing at MidAmerica Real Estate — Minnesota, a boutique specialty leasing company for retail only.

She had a brokerage emphasis during her college years, and found an internship with what was then Welsh Companies (now Colliers).

“My internship was industrial brokerage. It made me realize a bigger company like that was not for me and that my area was retail, not industrial.”

Delarosby’s internship was at Newmark Knight Frank, where the senior managing director is John McCarthy ’86, a St. Cloud State alum.

“It was really a diverse internship from the standpoint of projects,” Delarosby said. And, it gave him a chance to connect with McCarthy, who was also a judge for the 2018 NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development competition in which Delarosby and a St. Cloud State team earned third place for their work to determine the most profitable yet feasible project for the Ramsey County Riverfront Property (formerly home to West Publishing and the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center) on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul.

Internships help students sort out what they want to do, Mooney said.

“For some it’s a match, and when they graduate they get a job at the same company.”

Between 90 and 95 percent of the real estate graduates had jobs lined up when they graduated, said Mooney, citing figures from his survey.

St. Cloud State’s grads are well prepared

THE CONNECTOR

Steve Mooney Minnesota Chair in Real Estate and St. Cloud State professor

If he had a superhero persona, Steven Mooney might be known as The Connector.

Ask students, fellow faculty, friends and colleagues in the real estate industry for his greatest asset and to a person they cite his ability to connect them to the people, the jobs and the career paths that have suited them.

More importantly, he stays connected to them.

They also – like his wife, Kate – make a point of mentioning his sense of humor.

Mooney, who teaches and holds the state university system’s Minnesota Chair in Real Estate at St. Cloud State University, will retire at the end of the 2018-19 school year.

He downplays the connector role, saying that he has simply created situations for people to find the right fit.

But, that sense of humor is evident when you sit with him to talk about his life and career and he jokes about how he first met his wife or why he hasn’t sought to become a college dean.

Read more: today.stcloudstate.edu/theconnector

I match them up based on their interests and where they think they want to work and where the mentors work.

- STEVE MOONEY ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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to work in the market, in part because of the emphasis on internships, said Stefanie Meyer, ’95, a principal and senior vice president at Mid-America Real Estate – Minnesota. She encounters them in trade organizations and finds that sometimes they are her competitors.

“To have finance and appraisal and all of those classes is great,” Meyer said, “but I feel strongly about an internship that gets you into an office and working with a group so you can see what goes on every day. There’s no class that can prepare you for that.”

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TOP CHOICE Kelly Jameson ’98 also teaches real estate classes at St. Cloud State. Before returning to St. Cloud State to teach 15 years ago, she was an alum who worked in property management for Twin Cities companies.

Jameson says the program’s reputation precedes it and makes it easier for qualified grads to find the jobs they want and for employers to find the qualified employees they want.

“People in the industry come to us, saying ‘who’s graduating that we need to hire’,” Jameson said. “St. Cloud State’s program is just well-known and respected.

They’re coming with more requests than we have graduating.”

The program graduates about 20 students a year. “Before the real estate debacle of 2008, we topped out at about 85 students in the program, with 40-43 in each

class,” Mooney said.

For alumni whose companies are hiring for positions, Mooney offers a book of resumes they can examine for candidates.

The beauty of the mentor and internship connections with alumni is the easy connection when a student goes looking for a job.

“If they get a reach out from an upcoming graduate, they’re going to get back to them,” Doherty said of alumni association members. “It’s just that connection.

You’re going to give your time to them first. You know they’ve gone through the program.”

With growing demand, recruiting more students into the program is a significant goal. Many find their own way.

Keith Sturm was studying to be a CPA until he went to a seminar called “How to make a Million Dollars in Real Estate” led by George Karvel, the holder of the Minnesota Chair in Real Estate at St. Cloud State before Mooney.

“I changed my major,” Sturm said.

The real estate principles course required for business majors is often a catalyst when students see what they could accomplish, he added.

The industry tends to attract two kinds of people, Mooney said. Quantitative people fascinated by the numbers and people who are more socially geared and good communicators.

“There’s something for everyone.”

What’s the Minnesota Chair in Real Estate at St. Cloud State?

Steven Mooney holds the Minnesota Chair in Real Estate at St. Cloud State University.

The chair was was established in 1980 and held by George Karvel. At the time, St. Cloud State was the only Minnesota school with a real estate major.

When Karvel left the university in 1996, Mooney was named to the position.

The impetus to create the endowed position came from charitable gifts to the St. Cloud State University Foundation from the Minnesota Association of Realtors, the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the State of Minnesota.

The University of Minnesota was offered the chair, but turned it down. Cy Kuefler Sr., a St. Cloud area Realtor, past president of the Minnesota association and an advocate of education, lobbied to have it established at St. Cloud State.

St. Cloud State is one of two universities in Minnesota that offer a real estate major and the only public university.

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SCSU REAL ESTATE CONNECTIONS RUN DEEP

The affiliations on the 300-strong membership list of St. Cloud State University’s Real Estate Alumni Association read like a directory of Minnesota’s finest commercial real estate companies.

Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq, Frauenshuh, Upland Real Estate Group, Colliers International, CBRE, MidAmerica Real Estate – Minnesota, Schafer Richardson, Newmark Knight Frank, to name just a few.

While many are large and well known, small companies are not lost among the giants. That’s the point. It’s the St. Cloud State University connection that links them, not the size of their company.

It is one of the keys to the success of St. Cloud State University’s program in real estate, its graduates and their career development.

Of primary value are the networking opportunities and connections it promotes through the continuing education sessions, social activities and gatherings it organizes.

“Our competitors in the market are friends that we graduated with. Some are clients, some are competitors,” said Stefanie Meyer, principal and senior vice president of tenant representation at Mid-America Real Estate-Minnesota. “When I need it, somebody is going to call me back because of that connection.”

A St. Cloud State graduate serves as an officer or has an influencing connection in most major firms in Twin Cities commercial real estate, said Keith Sturm, a 1986 graduate of the real estate program and former president of REAA. St. Cloud State graduates are involved with most major projects in the Twin Cities in some shape or form, he said.

Steven Mooney, echoes the assessment, citing graduates who have worked on elements of Target Center, Target Field, the new Vikings training center and the 3M complex.

“The St. Cloud connection was pivotal in my ability to build my company,” said Sturm, who launched Upland Real Estate Group Inc. in Minneapolis in 1995.

Sturm has hired St. Cloud State graduates for his company. Some of those now

MEET THE TEAM REAA LEADERS

NEWSLETTER

STUDENT RELATIONS

Jessica Lindquist ’10 President, CBRE

Brent Adams ’04 Ameriprise Financial

Emily Culpepper ’10 Ryan Companies Jake Scheeler ’06 JP Morgan Chase (not pictured)

Mitch Borgen ’12 Vice President, Vanquish AP

Paige Morton ’16 Cushman & Wakefield Liz Cody ’12 Goldstein Law (not pictured)

Brandon Doyle ’08 Treasurer/Secretary, RE/MAX Results

connect with the mentor and internship efforts that also are part of the alumni group’s link to the university.

A good measure of that connection comes with the group’s annual social activities — happy hour gatherings designed for networking and discussing industry trends and a winter banquet where awards and scholarships are announced and students can meet and discuss career options, mentorships or internship possibilities with potential mentors and employers.

In early October, REAA hosted its annual Golf Classic at the Brookview course

Keith Sturm ’86 Owner of Upland Real Estate Group Inc. and former president of REAA

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The St. Cloud connection was pivotal in my ability to build my company.

- KEITH STURM ’86

in Golden Valley for 80-90 graduates and students. For members, it’s a chance for fun and to make connections with alums that work in other aspects of the industry.

In most cases, their foursomes included a St. Cloud State student, to give them an opportunity to pick the brains of those operating in the market or their field of interest.

Alumni also often become the hosts when the Real Estate Association, a student organization at St. Cloud State, organizes tours of real estate projects in the Twin Cities or other metropolitan areas.

“In general the alumni are very proud of where we come from and are always willing to help and pick up the phone knowing they can help,” said Jesseka Doherty ’02, a former president of the alumni association and vice president of project leasing at Mid-America Real Estate – Minnesota.

It’s a closeness and camaraderie that is fun as well as useful.

“We jokingly call ourselves the St. Cloud real estate mafia,” Sturm said.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

Grand ambition, humble beginning:

PART I: THE FIRST 100 YEARS

JOIN THE CELEBRATION Attend one of our signature Sesquicentennial events FEB. 15-17.........KVSC’s 50-hour Trivia Weekend: “Trivia University” FEB. 23..............St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra Concert APRIL 23............Huskies Showcase MAY 10...............Commencement MAY 13...............International Gathering at Alnwick JUNE 27............Lemonade Concert and Art Fair SEPT. 25-29.......Homecoming 2019 & Sesquicentennial Celebration

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O

By Anna Kurth

pening just 11 years after Minnesota became a state, the Third State Normal School in St. Cloud was founded to provide a workforce of educated teachers to staff elementary and rural school classrooms in Central Minnesota and beyond.

The spark that would lead to St. Cloud State’s founding was one of the first acts of the Minnesota legislature, which voted on Aug. 2, 1858 to direct the governor to appoint a board of instruction to establish three normal schools.

St. Cloud Normal School was the third school established by that legislative act, following the opening of schools in Winona in 1860 and Mankato in 1868.

The St. Cloud community provided the $5,000 needed to secure the site for the school. Stearns Hotel was chosen out of four sites considered by the State Normal School Board. The site, just north of where Riverview now stands, was chosen for its beautiful location on the bluffs over the Mississippi River and because the hotel, with just a few updates, could serve as a temporary school.

When the school opened Sept. 15, 1869, it was housed completely within the converted three-story hotel. It had a large open space for classes on the first floor, a two-classroom model school on the second floor and student living spaces on the third floor.

The first class of 50 students included 40 women and 10 men.

Tuition was free for all students who agreed to teach in Minnesota for at least two years after graduation.

The curriculum was two years and covered subjects equivalent to the first two years of high school. True college-level courses wouldn’t be added until 1894.

The university’s early history is one of a struggle for funding and survival, opposition and advocacy. Then came growing pains, war, economic collapse and record enrollments as veterans returning from wars sought higher education, and the growing college strove to provide for the state’s needs beyond educating teachers.

A STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE Throughout the first decade, St. Cloud Normal School struggled for its existence. The first hurdle was the temporary nature of the Stearns Hotel as Gov. William Marshall continually vetoed funding for normal school construction. It wasn’t until 1873 when funds to build a permanent building were approved. Old Main opened in 1874 and would serve the institution through numerous expansions until 1948.

The second obstacle was opposition to normal schools on several fronts. Some opposed spending state funds on education. Others opposed state funding for high school-level education in just three communities — despite the majority of students at all three schools coming from outside of St. Cloud, Mankato and Winona. Private colleges opposed public funding for competitors, political infights ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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The opening of Old Main gives students a permanent institution designed for teaching and learning.

“I came here because I was hungry, intensely, passionately hungry for something-yes, everything. I wanted to go to school somewhere, and through the influence of Dr. W. A. Shoemaker, then president of this school, I came here.

I found what I was looking for.”

- ALICE HENDERSON, “A TRIBUTE TO THE ST. CLOUD NORMAL SCHOOL,” APRIL 1918 NORMAL SCHOOL RECORDER

1880s

1870s

Despite the need for men’s housing at St. Cloud Normal School, the state legislature wouldn’t provide funding for men’s housing until the 1950s.

22 and a lingering belief in an innate teaching ability kept the Normal School Board and St. Cloud’s resident board member busy advocating for the need for normal school education.

NEW CENTURY, NEW OPPORTUNITIES The turn of the century brought with it growth for the St. Cloud Normal School with the rebuilding of Lawrence Hall after a 1905 fire, the addition of a second women’s dormitory Shoemaker Hall and a new model school building in 1906 with the opening of the Old Model School, which transitioned into a university library in 1911 with the opening of Riverview.

A witness to this growth was Ruby Cora Webster, the first known African American student to attend St. Cloud Normal School. She graduated in 1909 and was honored this October when the University renamed the former School of Business Building, also known as 51, Webster Hall in her honor. Along with the physical

growth of campus was the increase in quality of the student body, by 1912 the normal schools were fighting for the right to award bachelor’s degrees, and high school classes were eliminated between 1915-1917.

Their efforts paid off and by 1921 the newly-named St. Cloud State Teachers College and the other state normal schools were authorized to grant bachelor’s degrees.

The United States’ entrance into World War I coincided with a drop in enrollment that reflected not only students leaving for war service, but also the elimination of secondary school courses and a demand for workers on the farms and in the war industry. The drop in enrollment was temporary, but the 1920s would signal the struggles that lay ahead for St. Cloud State Teachers College and its students as the Great Depression took hold.

In the 1920s students formed a variety of clubs and organizations including the Rho Tans, a student club for redheads formed in 1926, said Kasey Solomon, who

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Room and board cost $2.75 a week and 30-60 minutes work a day for women living in the Ladies Home. Men rented rooms in private homes in St. Cloud at a rate of $3.50 to $5 per week.

studied St. Cloud State in the 1920s for a public history project.

“Students participated in clubs for academics, fine arts and athletics, but they also formed political and social groups that celebrated their different interests and identities,” she said. “Student organizations were a huge part of student life in the 1920s.”

The 1920s also saw a major push toward a four-year curriculum and the expansion of offerings to prepare students for junior high school, administration and special fields including industrial arts, physical education, music and fine arts.

As it did across the country, the Great Depression brought hardships to St. Cloud State Teachers College. Employee salaries were cut, tuition was charged for the first time and equipment, land purchases and construction were prohibited.

Enrollments dropped by a third as students found it difficult to pay for school.

President George Selke instituted student work positions to help students stay

Additions to Old Main in the 1890s and renovations completed in 1902 added science classrooms, a gymnasium and laboratories for biology, physics and chemistry — courses that weren’t offered when the school was founded .

1890s

1900s

The Normal School curriculum was revised to include a two-year offering for the preparation of rural school teachers, a three-year curriculum for teachers training for elementary school education, manual arts, home economics and music.

1910s

23 in school by doing janitorial and clerical work, while others requested aid from the Emergency Relief Administration.

For the first time, graduates were having difficulty finding placements after graduation as practicing teachers delayed their marriage plans to stay in their positions and school boards increased class sizes, eliminated subjects and cut teacher rolls to cut tax rates.

The college established the Placement Bureau, a precursor to today’s Career Center, in 1928 to help new graduates and alumni secure work.

The harsh conditions of the Great Depression also proved a boon for St. Cloud State Teachers College as falling land prices and tax delinquencies freed up tracts of land near the college. During this time, St. Cloud State grew to include the Ervin House, Hilder Quarry – now George Friedrich Park — and a number of the Beaver Islands.

It was also a time of growing interest in

the wider world, said Kyle Imdieke, who studied the 1930s campus life for a public history project.

St. Cloud State’s first fraternity, Al Sirat, was founded in 1931 based on Muslim cultures instead of the usual Greek.

And in 1933 a Muslim leader of India’s independence movement, Maulana Shakurat Ali visited St. Cloud and spoke on campus to more than 1,000 people as part of what the “Chronicle” described as the first lecture tour of the United States by a great Muslim leader.

There was also an interest in the original people of Minnesota with the attendance of the school’s first known Native American students Lillian Eveln Moore, described as being of Sioux descent, and Alma Lillian Baird, of Oneida descent.

Baird became an advocate of Native American cultures on campus before her graduation, when she took a position at a Case County school.

HARDSHIP AND SERVICE World War II brought with it the largest drop in enrollment in school history as men left for the service and women left for high paying jobs in business and industry. Faculty left to serve in the war and for military research and civilian defense positions. Among them was President Selke who would become one of the Monuments Men tasked with protecting cultural property in war areas.

Prior to leaving for service, Selke anticipated the drop in enrollment a war would bring and sought to find a role for St. Cloud State in the war effort. The college contracted with the federal government to train pilots for the Civilian Pilot Training course, worked to train B-1 Naval program men prior to entry into active military service, and contracted with the Western Flying Training Command of the Army Air Force to house and train military personnel in physics, mathematics, physical education, history, geography and English.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

THIRD STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 1869 ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

16 Y…ARS OF AG… OF GOOD MORAL CHARACT…R Pass an examination in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, and the elements of grammar

1920s

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1930s

Student activity blossoms with the formation of literary societies, religious organizations, hobby clubs, and the precursor of today’s Student Council with the Men’s Council and St. Cloud State’s efforts the student’s belief that beWomen’s Council.

earned it a Certificate of Award for meritorious service rendered to the Army Air Forces.

The campus supported the war efforts in other ways as well. Faculty and student committees promoted the sale of war stamps and bonds and collected scrap metal and tin cans. The 1942 Homecoming saw the dedication of a service flag, and students participated in Red Cross activities, served in the USO canteen and donated blood. War became a focus in the classroom as well with students studying war and post-war problems.

The student efforts stood out to history student Kayla Stielow who researched student life on campus during the 1940s for her public history course and master’s thesis.

“Between helping with home front based activities, finding ways to both promote and help each other to both follow and live with wartime rationing, as well as

coming educated and receiving their degrees would help them continue to serve their country and their community even after the war would end, the students really took on personal responsibility for assisting with the war and mobilized the campus,” she said.

To help with morale as students worried about classmates, family members and friends in the service, St. Cloud State organized a speaker’s bureau to issue war information and victory books and offered correspondence for students and alumni serving in the war. The college celebrated its 75th anniversary in October 1944 with a week-long celebration in conjunction with homecoming featuring presentations by faculty and students each day.

Participating were six Japanese-American students who were attending St. Cloud State as part of a program for college-age Japanese Americans to attend classes in lieu of internment.

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Students in danger of dropping out for financial reasons took on-campus jobs doing janitorial and clerical work to stay in school. Students swept buildings, cared for tennis courts and playgrounds, mowed lawns, shoveled snow and stocked books in the library.

1940s

The war’s end was heralded with the listing in the 1946 Talahi, a student yearbook, of the names of 32 students who had died in service and three listed as missing in action. Before long St. Cloud State was serving veterans returning from the war.

POST-WAR BOOM Enrollments doubled pre-war numbers in the late 1940s as St. Cloud State and other teacher’s colleges stepped up to meet demand after the University of Minnesota called a conference to find solutions as applications there vastly outpaced its capacity.

This post-war veterans’ boom was St. Cloud State’s first step out of the realm of teachers college to begin offering pre-professional programs in other disciplines.

Business was the most popular subject comprising 20 percent of the student population and foreshadowing the important place the Herberger Business School now holds on campus. St. Cloud State also sup-

“The opportunity to study the place that has had such a big impact on my life has been great! I have found that through learning about the history of the campus it has added more meaning to my own education and experiences on campus.”

The Speech and Drama Department is formed and a student production of “Wonderful Town” tours the Air Force Northeast Command and “Pajama Game” tours in Germany.

Theatre L’Homme Dieu forms in 1961 in Alexandria, Minnesota.

- KAYLA STIELOW, 2018 PUBLIC HISTORY GRADUATE STUDENT ON STUDYING STUDENT LIFE DURING THE 1940s

1950s Students and alumni serving as soldiers and sailors in World War II could register their name, rank and address with the president’s office to receive correspondence while they served.

1960s

Enrollment drops due a drop in the birth rate during the Great Depression and students leaving to serve in the Armed Forces during the Korean War — 150 students left in just the month of January 1951.

ported World War II veterans by working with the Veteran’s Administration to set up a testing, counseling and guidance bureau on campus to advise returning veterans about their employment and college and vocational training options.

This also began another period of growth as the campus moved out of Old Main and into Stewart Hall, Kiehle library was built in 1952 and veterans married housing was opened on Selke Field in 1947.

With the further expansion of careers outside of teaching to include journalism, audio visual education and drama, the college sought to drop “Teachers” from its name. The request was granted in 1957 for all the state teachers colleges. The college reorganized in 1962 to establish the schools of Education; Business and Industrial Arts; and Science, Literature and Arts.

The campus footprint grew dramatically from 1957-1965 with the addition of eight buildings and additional expansions

to existing buildings. The buildings were needed as enrollment leapt from 2,060 students in 1952 to 6,729 in 1965.

In the midst of all this growth students furthered their own knowledge through debate and student activities.

“There was a major debate on the relationship between religion and science that happened in the editorial section of the College Chronicle,” said Blake Johnson, a public history graduate student who studied 1950s student life at St. Cloud State.

“It was interesting to look back and see what ideas were popular and that the student body was willing to discuss differing points of view in a way that we don’t see as much. Namely, the use of the newspaper.”

This growth continued throughout the 1960s at a time when events and student activism was also growing, said Lance Sternberg, who studied St. Cloud State in the 1960s for a public history class.

“Events on campus and student activism reached feverous heights when it

25 came to hot button issues such as Vietnam and Civil Rights,” he said. “Some of these events may seem surprising to us now, as we look back, but I really found the student community to be a microcosm of society at large. Just like we could expect, and have experienced during current times.”

As the university closed out its first 100 years, it celebrated its centennial under the theme “A Heritage of Excellence” and kicked off the celebration with the groundbreaking of its newest building — a new library to be named Centennial Hall.

The first 100 years took St. Cloud State through some rough years and saw it grow in quality and reputation as it sought to serve the state of Minnesota and adapt to the needs of the state and its citizens.

Learn about St. Cloud State’s continued growth in part II: 1969-2019 in the next edition of St. Cloud State University Magazine.

Sources: “History of St. Cloud State Teachers College”

by Dudley S. Brainard and “A Centennial History of St. Cloud State College” by Dr. …dwin Cates.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

By Rene Kaluza

HOPE FOR A NEW FUTURE Like her mother, Robbyn Wacker rises at 4:30 a.m. most days.

Alta Wacker, an administrative assistant, selected and then called substitute teachers for the school district at that time of day.

Robbyn Wacker prepares to lead a university of more than 13,000 students and 1,500 faculty and staff.

26

“I spend my time from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. catching up on work, answering emails, and getting ready for the day,” Robbyn Wacker said.

“I’m usually in the office by 8:30.” Wacker carries her lunch because it’s more efficient to work through lunch and get things done.

Her aim is a commitment to doing good work and making a difference equal to that of her mother’s. “She would say, ‘I want to make sure that whomever I select to be in that classroom is the right fit and will do a good job for our students’,” Robbyn Wacker said.

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T

he seeds of learning, inquiry and adventure were planted early and deep by Wacker’s parents and early teachers.

They encouraged her desire for learning, to explore new experiences, and she aspires to continue seeking those goals even when she eventually closes the doors on her career as a professor.

“My parents were very instrumental in my life and my outlook,” said Wacker, who was inaugurated as St. Cloud State University’s 24th president this October.

“They were guided by a principle, though they never said it, that they wanted to make sure that I had the opportunity to experience things they never had the chance to experience.”

She had the bicycle her mother never had, and her mother made sure she had music lessons, participated in every sport available at the local park and recreation (even baton-twirling class), and went to summer camps.

“They made sure I was able to experience so many different activities and those experiences explain why I like adventure, trying new things and am someone who wants to be involved in a wide variety of activities.”

Her father, Reinhart, was a truck driver who delivered freight to businesses in Colorado Springs. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was kind and generous.

He was a father that never limited what his daughter did because of her gender.

Because of that Wacker knows how to change the oil in the car, mow the lawn, and fix most anything around the house.

They also supported her desire to play flag football in the fifth grade and run for student body president in the sixth grade.

It was a lesson in self-sufficiency and confidence that is still with her today.

“He was never that articulate or explicit about it, but the message I got was that I could do anything. I shouldn’t be limited by my gender,” Wacker said.

“They were just so open and supportive of my exploration in all kinds of things.”

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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For Wacker, that easily translates to her life today.

“It’s how I view life now, with a sense of inquiry and curiosity. I want to learn everything I can, whether it’s trying to learn Italian or Mandarin,” she said. “It is simply the joy of learning. That is something they instilled in me, and I’m very appreciative of that.”

She can name teachers in elementary and high school days who also encouraged her. “I remember to this day how invested (Mrs. Hutchison, Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Overland) were in my education. They were always encouraging me to excel academically, like participating in science fairs, and after school clubs.”

In high school, her yearbook advisor, Mrs. Johnson, would take her skiing and camping.

“My parents were never able to do those things growing up. They didn’t ski.

They didn’t hike. They didn’t camp. They were never afforded that opportunity,” Wacker said. “Mrs. Johnson was somebody who was just a joy to be around and she cared about my future.”

Wacker wants others to find that joy and is hopeful that she models the characteristics it takes to achieve it.

“Education truly opened doors of opportunity for me. That belief – that education is a powerful change agent, that education transform lives, that education opens doors to you that you never knew existed – is fundamental to who I am and what I try to accomplish for our students every day. It is my north star.

“It is really core to who I am, and in the true spirit of what my parents did for me, I want to pay it forward. I want to make sure that St. Cloud State University does that same thing for our students.”

As the first permanently appointed female and openly gay president of St. Cloud State, she believes she is uniquely positioned to give hope and encouragement to young people.

“I think symbolically it says to young women, that yes, you can be president, and yes, you can aspire to be a CEO,” Wacker said. “I’m proud that the search committee saw me for my experience and what I could bring to this position and was not dissuad-

ed by the fact that I was a woman.”

“I want people to see me for who I am and the quality of my character - that I’m an honest, ethical, kind person who is authentic and yes, competent. I am someone who has a kind heart and a tough spine, that I’m Robbyn, and I want people to know me for who I am in that regard.”

It’s similar with regard to being gay, she said. I don’t know that when I was growing up that I ever believed I could be in such a visible position, but I am grateful that times have changed during my lifetime. I want LBGTQ students to never give up hope or be discouraged and to know that there are people who will support you and value your contributions in life and work.

“I believe it is important to be true to who you are and being proud of who you are will serve you well in life. It certainly has me.”

First-generation college students get special attention in Wacker’s commitment.

That’s not surprising. Once, she was one of them.

“We know that a significant number of first-generation students are coming with a lot of hope and aspirations. The investment we make in those students is truly transformative,” she said. “I look at my life, and I see what it did for me. I want students to have that opportunity.”

To help achieve that, she’s a listener before she’s a talker.

“I come from a place of inquiry because I think listening to understand means you’re asking questions. How did you come to that conclusion? What were the things you were thinking about?” It is the opposite of making assumptions or jumping to conclusions, which is never constructive.”

While friends and supportive colleagues describe that as one of Wacker’s strengths, she has faced criticism for her process.

Some might say that in listening too much, she takes too long to make decisions, she said.

“I’m one of those folks who needs to externally process ideas and concepts, at least initially,” she said. “But at the end of the process, I’ll still make the decision in service to what I believe is best for the institution in consultation and after hearing

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all these different voices.”

An open university atmosphere, where lots of voices are heard, stimulates Wacker.

“Maybe I see the link to a democracy there; that people need to have opinions and express their voice and come with different perspectives,” she said. “We should welcome that, and I do welcome that.”

She hopes friends describe her as generous and kind with a good sense of humor.

“Somebody who genuinely cares about other people and somebody who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, but is serious about the work, she said.

Wacker’s typical day ends like it starts – early.

“I try to get home by 6, we have dinner and I work out on the elliptical downstairs.

I exercise for 30-45 minutes and watch something mindless like ‘American Pickers,’ or ‘Antiques Roadshow’. Sometimes I’ll listen to a podcast like ‘Hidden Brain’ or ‘On Being’.”

Saturdays are for errands and athletics or arts events at the university. She enjoys being active and outdoors and connecting with people and friends. When time and weather permits, she and spouse Jani Malkiewicz will get in a round of golf.

“I try not to do too much work on Saturdays which means I try not to check emails.”

Sundays start with a relaxing breakfast that typically includes French toast, scrambled eggs and a latte.

“Sunday afternoon I start getting back into the swing of things for work and getting prepared for the week.”

Her interests outside of work feed her love of inquiry and discovery.

“On those Saturdays when I’m not working, I try to get into my iTunes and check out new music.”

She enjoys live music from opera, folk, pop, to symphony performances.

But her last concert? Pink.

“Our musical tastes are pretty broad.

I’ll listen to just about anything.”

She and Malkiewicz enjoy the experience of a good dinner out.

“That’s a real treat to go out on a Saturday night and have a good meal, a glass of wine and unwind a little bit.”

Her reading interests center on biogra-

ALL ABOUT ROBBYN

phies and history.

She recently completed Walter Isaacson’s new “Leonardo da Vinci” biography and is finishing “Gathering Moss,” a book about the natural and cultural history of moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

She sees parallels to life in them.

“Whether I am reading about nature, history, psychology or sociology, there is always something new to learn and an opportunity to think about how the topic applies to your own life. I had no idea that mosses exist in every part of the world and are interwoven with countless other organisms. Who knew that mosses can teach us about living effectively in an ecosystem?”

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s latest book, “Leadership,” waits on the table in Wacker’s home office.

She loves to travel, exploring new plac-

CHEVY OR PORSCHE?

es and cities and culture.

“Every city has a new personality,” Wacker said. “I love downtowns, and I love bookstores. There’s something about the character and personality of bookstores that I enjoy.”

She often searches for local restaurants that are off the beaten path.

When she came to St. Cloud, she went to Kay’s Midtown Café on Division to get some local flavor.

“It’s unique and has a wonderful personality. And the people are as wonderful as are their pies,” Wacker said.

Val’s on St. Cloud’s East Side is on her list of places to visit.

For now, she looks forward to being settled in the new home she and Malkiewicz picked out in southwest

Chevy

“Totally a Chevy. Solid, not too flashy. Gets the work done.”

President Robbyn Wacker enjoys the great outdoors with her spouse Jani Malkiewicz and their two Golden Retrievers Zoe and Kemmer.

St. Cloud. It’s been a whirlwind moving more than 25 years of memories and their golden retrievers, Zoe and Kemmer, from their previous home in Greeley, Colorado.

She’s grateful for the support Malkiewicz and other family and friends showed for her decision to accept the St. Cloud State position, and for the warm welcome they have received from neighbors and colleagues and the community.

“The way we looked at the move is that we still have our friends in Greeley and elsewhere in Colorado and now we have the opportunity to add new friends and new experiences to our lives.”

secret indulgence

The layers of crispy pastry and HER LAST custard called a Napoleon from CONCERT? Patrick’s French Bakery in Maple Grove. A sure stop if time allows on trips to the “However if you look at my Cities. playlist you will see that I enjoy a variety of music.”

PINK

points of pride Of course being the President of St Cloud State, but also the fifth edition of her textbook, “Community Resources for Older Adults,” that was just completed and published.

TREASURED POSSESSION A painted chicken ornament that sat on her parents’ coffee table and the accompanying black-and-white photograph “I aspire to be well-grounded, to be intellectually, emotionally of a young Robbyn positioned nearby. and physically healthy; to be a person who is always learning, “The artifacts from our home when I was growing up have great value to me always aspiring to be a better person; and beyond work, to because I can go back in time. They continue to evolve as a person, to live an active and fulfilling remind me of family and friends.” life through supporting and giving to others and being engaged in

the community.”

- ROBBYN WACKER, ON ASPIRATIONS BEYOND HER PROFESSIONAL CAREER ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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ALUMNI NEWS SHARE WITH US

your milestones, experiences, changes or recent additions to your family.

Visit stcloudstate.edu/alumni to update your profile.

QUICK THINKING ALUMNA SAVES MONTANA YOUNGSTER

Former St. Cloud State softball player and nursing graduate, Lizzy Dwyer ’11, was in the right place at the right time to help save the life of a 4-year-old Montana boy who was critically injured in a roadside accident.

Dwyer was off duty from her job as an emergency room nurse at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center Emergency Room in Kalispell, Montana, when she witnessed a truck hit a 4-year-old boy.

She administered first aid to the unresponsive child who wasn’t breathing, which was credited with saving the boy’s life.

“I honestly felt like I was in a movie. The string of events after the accident happened so perfectly,” Dwyer said. “The combination of being in the right place at the right time, instinct, years of training, and adrenaline, made it out to be a successful outcome.”

Dwyer called 911, then ran to the little boy to call out her assessment and interventions — including using a pocket valve mask from her car that she received on her first day of nursing school — while they waited for more help to arrive.

The day following the accident, Dwyer was able to meet the victim and his mother in the hospital.

“The little boy’s mother recognized me instantly from the scene and hugged me.

It was great to meet her and hear what this spunky little boy was like in real life,” Dwyer said. “I am so thankful for her keeping me updated with his progress in rehab.

I am so grateful he is now walking, talking and able to still be a wild four-year-old little boy.”

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Read more: https://scsu.mn/2RFoVrK

HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2018 / WINTER 2019

ALUMNI NEWS

THE SCSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

ST. CLOUD STATE ALUMNI help power the state economy.

103,499 alumni over a 40-year span will contribute nearly $61.2 billion to Minnesota’s economy.

Learn more: https://scsu.mn/2RSu6ow

offers services and fun discounts to members of our alumni community.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INSURANCE NEEDS?

Contact USI Affinity at 800-922-1245 for a St. Cloud State alumnus quote on auto, home, dental, vision, long-term care or term life insurance.

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Support the SCSU Alumni Association projects by going to smile.amazon.com and selecting St. Cloud State University Alumni Association. 0.5% of your purchase amount will go to the association.

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ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

ALUMNI NEWS

BASKETBALL STAR OVERCOMES BREAST CANCER YOU HAVE BREAST CANCER. THESE ARE THE WORDS NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR. JONELLE STREED ’03 HEARD THOSE WORDS FROM HER DOCTOR ON HALLOWEEN 2017.

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SUN SHINES ON 10TH ANNUAL BREAST CANCER WALK Since 2009, the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Central Minnesota has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for breast cancer research and programs. St. Cloud State is a Making Strides sponsor. Campus has hosted the walk since 2010.

HT TP S://TODAY.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/MAG | FALL 2018 / WINTER 2019

“I found a lump while I was shaving and called my doctor the following week,” said Streed. “Immediately, I knew the situation was not going to be good.”

Streed had a mammogram, three biopsies and an MRI. She underwent a bi-lateral mastectomy in December. Chemotherapy followed in February. Another surgery in May, then radiation in June.

“There were really rough days, but that made me appreciate, then and now, the good days even more,” said Streed, who earned a bachelor’s of science degree with a major in mass communications and played 1999-2003 for women’s Huskies Basketball.

As a collegiate student-athlete, Streed was pushed by her coaches and teammates.

Her year of illness was no different.

“Chemo wasn’t easy. Shaving my head wasn’t easy. Radiation for six straight weeks during the middle of the summer was not easy.”

There is no doubt in Streed’s mind St. Cloud State prepared her for life after college.

“St. Cloud State challenged me in many ways. I grew up a lot in my four years at SCSU. Throughout my career, my teammates and coaches pushed me to be better than I was the day prior. I became a leader. I learned to work hard. I cherish my experience at SCSU,” said the Cambridge, Minnesota native.

“I learned discipline as a Husky, I learned to lead, and I learned a great deal about myself and how to expect even more of myself.”

Streed relied on her mental toughness and her supporters to persevere through 139 appointments.

“All I could do was focus on today, and that became my mantra. Any person, sick or healthy, only has this one day. I could only cope by taking my illness one appointment at a time, one day at a time, and eventually I found a way through.”

An assistant coach for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women’s basketball team, Streed is enjoying a successful season with the Eagles.

ALUMNI NEWS ALUMNUS EARNS 3M INNOVATIVE ECONOMICS AWARD Jeremy Miller ’11 is the 2018 recipient of the 3M Innovative Economic Educator Award.

He was given the award at the Oct. 25 EconFest held at the Bell Museum in St. Paul.

The 3M Innovative Economic Educator Award recognizes a Minnesota K-12 teacher who creates and implements innovative lessons that increase economic understanding. He was awarded a $500 cash prize.

Miller teaches social studies at Cambridge-Isanti High School and earned his St. Cloud State bachelor’s degree in social studies education, with a concentration in economics.

MASS COMMUNICATIONS ALUMNUS EARNS JOURNALISM AWARD Ben Birnell ’06, sports reporter for the Utica (New York) ObserverDispatch, is the recipient of the American Hockey League’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award.

Birnell, who majored in mass communications with a concentration in news editorial-print journalism and minored in athletic coaching, says his preparation at St. Cloud State University paved the way for his successful career.

L-R: Jan Bergquist Hansen ’79, St. Cloud State president Robbyn Wacker, Annie Deckert ’05, Matt Roisum ’10, Enanga Fale and Jeff Hegle ’93.

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5 EARN ALUMNI AWARDS The Alumni Association and St. Cloud State University Foundation honored five alumni for their accomplishments and dedication to the university during Homecoming in October. Award winners include Jan Bergquist Hansen ’79, Distinguished Alumni Award recipient; Annie Deckert ’05, co-recipient of Alumni Service Award; Matt Roisum ’10, Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award recipient; Enanga Fale, co-recipient of Alumni Service Award; and Jeff Hegle ’93, University Leadership Award recipient.

Read more: https://scsu.mn/2AvbMMx

BY THE NUMBERS

There are more than 122,000 Huskies Alumni worldwide.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

ALUMNI NEWS

In celebration of the sesquicentennial, St. Cloud State University is developing

HUSKY PLAZA

– a new gathering place on campus Husky Plaza will feature a bronze statue of a Husky designed by a commissioned artist.

MILLION-DOLLAR GIFT BENEFITS NURSING STUDENTS St. Cloud State alumnus Jim Maciej ’73 and his wife, Ann Marie Maciej, have gifted $1 million to the University’s nursing program.

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The gift funded the creation of new nursing-simulation labs and related technology infrastructure. It will also support the acquisition of future technologies.

You can purchase an engraved brick for the plaza in honor of 150 years of St. Cloud State.

scsu.mn/bricks

The Department of Nursing wing in Brown Hall was named the “Jim ’73 and Ann Marie Maciej Nursing Education Suite” in their honor.

“This gift will absolutely transform the experience of our students in nursing and give faculty the tools they need to ensure the success of our students. We are honored that Jim and Ann Marie have made SCSU’s nursing program their philanthropic priority,” said President Robbyn Wacker.

“As baby boomers retire from the healthcare profession it is imperative that we meet the region’s workforce needs for highly skilled and highly caring nurses,” said Shonda Craft, dean of the School of Health and Human Services. “This gift will go a long way in helping us meet that critical need in our community.”

“St. Cloud State’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing includes a core grounding in the sciences, supplemented by significant clinical experience and, increasingly, experience using highly sophisticated simulation,” Craft said.

This is the largest-ever gift to the School of Health and Human Services.

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President Robbyn Wacker and Lowell Hellervik ’56 hold the 2018 Visionary Award. Hellervik made possible the Hellervik prize, which encourages research and scholarly activity that advances knowledge on issues of importance to students, the university and society. Hellervik was honored with the 2018 Visionary Award for his commitment to St. Cloud State faculty.

ALUMNI NEWS

KEEPING AT SAN DIEGO ZOO SAFARI PARK WHEN A RECORD CROWD WALKED THROUGH THE GATES OF THE SAN DIEGO ZOO SAFARI PARK ON MEMORIAL DAY, KANGAROOS AND WALLABIES WERE THERE TO GREET THEM IN THE IMMERSIVE WALKABOUT AUSTRALIA EXHIBIT. THERE TO WATCH OUT FOR THE EXHIBIT’S MANY MAMMALS, MAKING SURE THEY STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY, WAS ZOOKEEPER BREE BARNEY ’05.

Bree Barney ’05 works with kangaroos at San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Barney looks after mammals in the zoo’s new Walkabout Australia exhibit. Photo courtesy of Bree Barney.

Bree Barney ’05 works with a sloth at Como Park Zoo. Barney has worked with a variety of animals throughout her career so far. Photo courtesy of Bree Barney

“We had an amazing turnout for this event,” she said. “Hundreds lined up to be one of the first to get a glimpse and get to hang out with the kangaroos and wallabies in the exhibit.

“I felt everyone was very excited because it was a new concept for many individuals — to be a foot away from an animal and learn about Australia.”

Walkabout Australia takes guests through four different kinds of Australian habitat — grassland, rainforest, wetland and desert. As they walk they can encounter many species including western gray kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, brush turkeys, radjah shelducks, freckled ducks and magpie geese.

As an immersive exhibit, Walkabout Australia has no barricades or fencing. Instead the guests see the animals in a way they might see them if they’d encounter them in nature, Barney said.

Other animals like the double-wattled cassowaries and the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroos can be seen in natural settings, but protected from park visitors.

“Many individuals may never get to experience the outback, grasslands, or rain forest of Australia, so this is a way they can,” she said. “I feel they also learn more because their excitement of being one on one with an animal is so strong that they learn facts and neat things about the exhibit and the species.”

Zoo-goers responded to the new exhibit in a big way.

“I felt everyone was very excited because it was a new concept for many individuals; to be a foot away from an animal and learn about Australia,” she said. “It was an amazing experience being at the gates and letting visitors go into the ‘finished Masterpiece’ for the first several days.

“It was like being a student and turning in your final project waiting to see if you will get an A, or if you will be disappointed by the outcome. I heard so many compliments and saw excitement in all of their eyes, it was definitely an A+.”

Barney is enjoying educating the public about the individual animals in the exhibit and encouraging them to help wildlife here in the United States and around the world. She’s able to do this because the exhibit isn’t just about introducing people to the animals, it’s also contributing to San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s mission to help preserve the endangered Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Cloud State University, Barney worked as a chemist and clinical research coordinator before her first role as a zookeeper at Como Park Zoo in St. Paul.

ST. CLOUD STATE MAGAZINE

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