SMSU Focus Magazine, Fall 2020

A magazine for alumni & friends of Southwest Minnesota State University

THE LAST FOUNDING FATHER Fall 2020 Edition | Inside: 2019-2020 Foundation Annual Report

A Message from the SMSU President Dear Alumni and Friends, It has been a unique start to an exciting year at SMSU! Even though COVID has changed our approach to education, our HyFlex and other options are giving students opportunities to attend class on-campus and virtually. Our focus on student needs during this time has led to a 17.5% increase in first-year students. In addition, we have grown cohort retention to 74% this fall. These accomplishments are a direct result of the hard work and contributions from faculty and staff across campus.

Faculty and staff called almost every student during the spring semester, when we transitioned to online learning. We continued that initiative this fall to ensure students are getting the support they needed. I am happy to report students are doing well overall. Their health and well-being while on campus is one of our top priorities.

We are grateful for the continued engagement of our alumni and friends. Participants from 18 different states supported student scholarships through this year’s Virtual University Gala. The event raised over $60,000 for scholarships at SMSU. There are many other exciting initiatives on the horizon. We look forward to expanding investment in current and future Mustangs.

Best wishes,

Kumara Jayasuriya

A magazine for alumni & friends of Southwest Minnesota State University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

On the cover: The Last Founding Father, Page 10

President Dr. Kumara Jayasuriya

Send correspondence and story ideas to: SMSU FOCUS, Founders Hall 108 1501 State Street, Marshall, MN 56258

Vice President of Government Relations, Communications and Marketing Bill Mulso ’93

Contact the Editor: Marcy.Olson@SMSU.edu or 507-537-7374

1

Mustang Masks Project

2

Extreme Distance Learning

4

Students Engage In Democracy

6

Alumni Connections

Director of Alumni Relations Michael VanDrehle ’08/MBA ’10

10

A Tribute to Warren Quarnstrom

14

Class Notes

Focus Editor and Designer Marcy D. Olson ’93/MBA ’05

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Mustang Athletics

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Foundation Report 2019-20

Visit us online www.SMSU.edu and SMSUAlumni.com Follow the latest SMSU news at www.SMSU.edu/today

FALL 2020 | VOL. 40, NO. 1

Interim Co-Executive Directors of the SMSU Foundation and Advancement Stacy Frost ’93 Nathan Polfliet ’00/MS ’11

Senior Writer and Photographer Jim Tate Contributors Karen Kaas ’94 Kelly Loft ’97/MS ’11 Rebecca Wenisch Special Thanks Ardella Quarnstrom and the Quarnstrom Family

Volume 40, Issue 1. Published December 2020.

All cities and towns are located in Minnesota unless noted.

Year(s) after names reference degrees awarded by SMSU. Year of undergraduate degree listed first.

Year of advanced degree listed after MBA /MS. FOCUS (USPS 565-770) is published twice each year for alumni and friends of Southwest Minnesota State University by the Office of Communications & Marketing at SMSU. Opinions expressed in FOCUS do not necessarily reflect official University policy.

To make name/address corrections. call 507-5376266 or email alumni@SMSU.edu.

Feature stories may be reprinted with the written permission of SMSU. Other articles may be reprinted without permission provided that credit is given to SMSU. This document can be made available in alternative formats to individuals with disabilities. Request by calling 507-537-6255, 800-260-0970, or via the Minnesota Relay Service at 800-627-3529.

Southwest Minnesota State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action educator and employer. ADA Accessible.

A member of the Minnesota State system.

[ around campus ]

The Mustang Masks Project The Ripple Effect of a Faculty Project Impacts Students Beyond the Mask

Mask makers left to right: Linda Nelson, Liz Roy, Wanda Paluch, LeAnne Syring, Mark Fokken, Sheila Tabaka, Kris Cleveland, and John Nelson.

The Mustang Masks project garnered a lot of positive publicity for SMSU, and resulted in a generous donation that will assist in the growth of the Mustang Pathway program.

Mustang Masks was a summer initiative where a group of SMSU current and past employees banded together to sew 400 masks for new students who arrived on campus for Move-In Day on Aug. 20, 2020.

The project was spearheaded by Associate Professor of Communication Studies Mark Fokken, who contacted the Communications and Marketing office to get the ball rolling on funding and branding. The SMSU Mustang pattern was designed and the custom fabric and supplies were funded by the SMSU Foundation. Fokken enlisted the help of seven others to make the masks, pictured above.

On a story tip from the SMSU Communications and Marketing office, John Lauritsen of WCCO Television came to campus on July 23 and recorded a segment on the Mustang Masks project. (View the story here: bit.ly/smsumaskstory).

An alum saw the story on television and it triggered fond memories of their time at the University. They contacted the SMSU Foundation and had a conversation with Interim Co-Executive Director of Advancement and Foundation Stacy Frost. As they talked, the alum relived some of their positive experiences at SMSU, and expressed a desire to give back to the University. The anonymous donor pledged $50,000 to the Foundation, which resulted in support of the new Mustang Pathway program.

The Mustang Pathway program is an initiative of President Kumara Jayasuriya. It bridges the education gap and provides access to students who may not have the opportunity to go to college otherwise.

Students accepted into the program are current high school seniors who commit to a five-week summer program that provides them with the

tools and strategies needed to bridge academic and social gaps while acclimating them to their new academic environment.

The students take courses in reading, global experience, English, and a math workshop. The 5 credits are free, and participants are evaluated throughout to gauge their progress. Those completing the program successfully then enroll as freshmen.

“We had 17 participate in the first program,” said Erin Kline, Associate Director of the Mustang Pathway program and Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Once admitted, they become part of the Pathway Scholars, a yearlong cohort which includes a series of courses they take as a group, as well as others they select in an area of interest, or part of their major.

The students also reside in the residence hall Buckingham, a Living & Learning Community, where programming is in place to assist them in realizing academic and personal success.

President Jayasuriya said he’d like Mustang Pathway to grow next year. Kline recruits all areas of the state, talking to high school counselors, principals and superintendents. “The bottom line is access for these students. It offers students an access point, an opportunity they would not have considered otherwise,” she said. “The mission and goal of the Mustang Pathway program align with the Minnesota State 20-30 initiative to ‘eliminate the educational equity gaps for first-generation students, low-income students, indigenous students and students of color.’ Mustang Pathway is a launching point for students, but they are the ones putting in the time and doing all the work,” she said.

Frost said the gift will help many students in the years to come. “The gift is about people helping people,” she said. “It’s an example of one person’s dynamic commitment, which has led to much, much more.”

Dr. Erin Kline

FOCUS | 1

[ around campus ]

Center For Innovation and Entrepreneurship Launched A new initiative — the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship — has been established at Southwest Minnesota State University.

The Center will be housed within the newlyformed Department of Business Innovation & Strategy and will give students real-world Dr. George Taylor experiences that will complement their classroom work.

The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will emphasize experiential learning and will collaborate with the campus-housed Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Southwest Marketing Advisory Center (SMAC).

“The Southwest Marketing Advisory Center is student run, where students do market research for real companies,” said Professor of Accounting and Department Chair Dr. Will Thomas. “The SBDC works with clients to assist them in starting their own businesses.”

Assistant Professor of Management Dr. George Taylor, a successful entrepreneur in his first year at SMSU, will coordinate the services offered at the Center. “Someone who wants to start their own business is going to have questions about regulations, registering with the state,

Promising Numbers SMSU Enrollment Increases in Spite of COVID-19 Pandemic

SMSU welcomed 349 new first-year students to campus in Fall Semester 2020, an increase of 17.5 percent. It is the largest incoming class since 2016. Overall enrollment also increased slightly with the university serving 2,431 degree-seeking students, according to 10-day statistics.

“These numbers are very positive and a tribute to the hard work and commitment of our faculty and staff, led by our Office of Admission,” said SMSU President Kumara Jayasuriya. “A number of new initiatives including our Regional Scholars Program and Mustang Pathway are providing new opportunities for students this fall.”

SMSU is one of the few four-year institutions to show an overall enrollment increase this fall as COVID-19 has impacted enrollments across the state.

The first-year student cohort is also one of the most diverse in history with 32 percent of the students representing students of color, an increase of 11 percent over last year. An increase in student retention also contributed to the overall growth in enrollment.

In his State of the University address, President Jayasuriya said that it’s a key goal to steadily increase new enrollment while also focusing on efforts to continue increasing the retention rate.

2 | FOCUS

licensing, etc. We will work with the SBDC and will be able to offer start-up advice and the tools to support those who wish to go out on their own,” said Taylor.

“The aim is to promote entrepreneurship while also making contributions to the economic viability of Southwest Minnesota,” said Dr. Will Thomas Taylor.

SMSU now offers a minor, and a certificate, in entrepreneurship. “That is a focus area within the Center as well as other discipline degree areas,” said Taylor.

“The Center’s short-term focus is experiential learning, outreach and the expansion of curricular and co-curricular entrepreneurship programming. In the long-term, its mission is to enhance the economic viability of the 18-county area.”

Recently, the two business administration departments within SMSU were combined to form the Department of Business Innovation & Strategy. The two that were combined included Management and Marketing, and Accounting, Finance and Legal Studies. “We really see this as a benefit for the students because this adds flexibility. The objective is to develop a more entrepreneurial and critical thinking mindset among our students,” said Thomas.

Data Science and Cybersecurity Programs Added A pair of new high-demand programs will be offered at SMSU in Fall 2021.

Data Science will be offered as a major, and Cybersecurity will be offered as a certificate.

“Data Science is a field where massively huge amounts of data are analyzed to answer questions relevant to just about any discipline or industry,” explained Dr. Dan Kaiser, Professor of Computer Science.

“The discipline itself involves computational skills, a lot of mathematical skills and both verbal and visual communication skills,” he continued.

Kaiser said the new major is “a third math, a third computer science and third specifically data science.”

Kaiser said a data scientist “determines a question that needs answering. They would ID data sources that would contain the data necessary to analyze that question. It would involve doing the necessary programming to scrape the data from those websites.”

“There are data scientists in any field you can think of, from medicine to social sciences to food science, culinology, biological sciences to business and marketing. Every field uses data and people with those skills are in demand. The average base salary is $107,000,” said Kaiser.

A graduate certificate in cybersecurity will be offered in fall semester 2021 and “is another high-demand field,” said Kaiser. “There are a couple of million jobs available.”

Kaiser said it’s his hope the cybersecurity certificate “will attract people who are already working in the IT field. They could want a change of careers, or be working for a company that wants them to develop cybersecurity skills.”

Cybersecurity has many applications in today’s technology-driven world, said Kaiser.

“With these massive amounts of data, how do you secure all of that? How do you make databases safe, transactions safe? What do you do if there is a breach? It involves policies and procedures of law as well as making systems, software and data communications safe.”

The program will be delivered online, he said.

The certificate consists of four courses. There is a possibility, said Kaiser, that a master’s in cybersecurity will be offered starting in Fall semester 2021.

Anyone with an undergraduate degree is eligible for the certificate, he said, “but you need to know how to program, and you need to be competent in computer skills. We are targeting IT professions.”

He feels the certificate program, and potentially a master’s program, “have the potential of attracting a large number of students.”

[ student spotlight ]

EXTREME DISTANCE LEARNING

Sirrina Martinez is Pushing the Boundaries Sirrina Martinez takes distance learning to went to the Defense Information School, a new level. a military school in Maryland. “It was The SMSU student is finishing her senior academically intense. Basically, it is a year while deployed to Africa as a member of two-year school in three months,” she said. the Minnesota National Guard.

“I credit being able to do that with my preMartinez, a non-traditional student from existing knowledge — what I learned at Lake Benton, Minn., is taking 13 credits SMSU and my work as a civilian reporter.” online this semester, and hopes to be back The climate is warm and the days are for commencement in May, 2021. She is long for Martinez, who is the only public pursuing two majors in Communication affairs soldier attached to Task Force Studies: Public Relations and Communication Bayonet. Because of her hectic schedule, Studies: Broadcast & Digital Media. She is also she is appreciative of the fact she can finish completing a Graphic Design minor. her degrees online.

Martinez, a Sergeant, is a public affairs She left Minnesota for Africa on noncommissioned officer with the 34th Red June 17, and contacted her professors Bull Infantry Division, based in Rosemount, beforehand to see if she would be able Minn. She is attached at the battalion level to finish her senior year. “The whole with 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment, Communications area has been so which is headquartered out of Mankato for supportive of me,” she said. “Julie this deployment. “We make up the majority Walker, Rick Herder, Ben Walker, Jos of Task Force Bayonet, which is comprised Ullian and Alma Hale; Scott Peterson in of over 900 National Guard soldiers from Psychology. All of my teachers have been Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. As a task force so supportive.” She is also appreciative of our mission is here in the Horn of Africa.”

Veterans Service Officer Justin Guggisberg The Horn of Africa is a region located in for his help and support.

Eastern Africa, and is home to the countries of Having online options helps nonDjibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and parts of several other countries. traditional students. “A lot of military people have our lives get uprooted, It consists of over 772,000 square miles and is home to over 138 million but we don’t want to be 50 when we finish our degree,” she said. “By people. “Primarily, we are providing operational security,” she said. moving online, SMSU is really helping these working adults and military Originally from Texas, she moved with her father to Tyler, Minn., personnel. I think SMSU sees the value in that.” when she was 5. She graduated from what was then Lincoln HI, in She entered the National Guard because “I was a young adult and Ivanhoe. needed a challenge. I wanted to experience things outside of what I As a member of the National Guard, “I was recruiting in Marshall knew — I wanted to see what the rest of the world was doing,” she said. and noticed SMSU had a Broadcast & Digital Media program, which “I was raised in a family where you serve. I challenged myself.” had always interested me,” she said. “I had an AA degree already (from Her father, Reynaldo, lives in Tyler, and she has a sister, Christie Ridgewater College in Wieme, who lives near Ruthton.

Willmar) and I thought that Throughout her career, was a sign. I later added a Martinez has had many second major and then a assignments and experiences: minor in Graphic Design.” working as a military police “I travel between these officer and recruiter, state active countries and document what duty assignments for natural the soldiers are doing. My job disasters and flooding, and is to tell the story of the task a deployment to the Horn of force to outside and inside Africa. She has her eyes set on 20 stakeholders.” years with the National Guard.

Prior to being deployed, As far as the future goes, “I’d she worked part-time as a like to teach someday, perhaps reporter for the Pipestone one day do something at SMSU.” County Star. “I’m a In these COVID-19 times, multimedia journalist, which course delivery has taken many includes writing, video and forms at educational institutions photography. I do news and around the world, from infeature stories,” she said. person courses to distance In order to prepare for Top: Martinez. Below: Martinez photographing troops on their deployment assignment. learning. In Martinez’s case, that her public affairs duty, she first Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force Sr. Airman Kristin Savage. distance is roughly 7,864 miles.

FOCUS | 3

DISCOVER. ENGAGE. LEAD. Students Take Hands-On Approach to Politics in 2020

Bella Erickson

Carter McLaughlin

SMSU students Bella Erickson and Carter McLaughlin spent their fall semester working to drum up student interest in the 2020 presidential election.

Erickson, a senior Political Science and History double major, Criminal Justice minor, and McLaughlin, a junior Philosophy major and Pre-law, Religious Studies and Political Science minor, served as Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP) Student Fellows. They helped students register, volunteer for campaigns, educate themselves on candidates and issues, navigate confusing voting laws and promote higher turnout at the polls. They are both advocates of the democratic process.

“I’m a Political Science major so I believe in the power of democracy,” said Erickson, a Salem, S.D. native. “Students are an under-represented population. We tend to not vote as much as other age groups. I got involved because I think it’s important to have student voices heard.

Promoting voting on campus is fun.”

McLaughlin, an Eden Prairie native, said he believes that “given the state of the U.S. — where the political climate is at right now — this is one of the most important elections I’ll see in my lifetime. We do not persuade; we help students exercise their rights, and help them to know what to do.”

Erickson concurred. “It’s a non-partisan organization. It doesn’t matter who the students vote for, they just need to vote. Personal feelings don’t come into play. It’s about engagement.”

CEEP is a national nonpartisan project whose goal is to engage students in federal, state and local elections. Two fellowships were awarded to SMSU through the Center for Civic and Community Engagement, overseen by Career Services Director Melissa Scholten.

“While the initial ideas about events and voter engagement activities I’d thought about in February changed due to COVID-19 precautions, it has been wonderful to see the creative ways that Carter and Bella have created voting resources and connected with other student organizations and voting initiatives that are taking place on campus,” said Scholten.

The two started in September and finished their CEEP duties a couple of weeks after the election, when they filed their final report.

They’ve worked hard to engage SMSU students in the democratic process, and have enjoyed a rewarding experiential education in the process.

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SMSU students know how to get involved and over the years a number have jumped into politics at an early age. One of the earliest student politicians was 1974 alumnus Russ Stanton. He ran and won a seat on the Marshall City Council in 1971 as an 18-year-old. A year later, he ran successfully for the Minnesota State House. He served three terms. While serving in the legislature, he graduated from Southwest.

Alumnus Marty Seifert, a Republican, served three terms in the House representing District 21A. He also ran for governor twice. Seifert was challenged unsuccessfully in one of those House races by the late SMSU President Doug Sweetland.

This election season, Doria Drost, a Democrat, and Cory Becker, a Republican, were active participants in the democratic process.

Drost is a 2019 alumna and a current MBA student at SMSU. She ran for the House District 16A seat, ultimately losing to incumbent Rep. Chris Swedzinski.

Becker, a junior, was the regional field director for the Trump campaign. It was a paid, full-time position.

Another SMSU alumnus, Ben Dolan ’12, ran for the House District 17A seat as a Democrat, losing to incumbent Rep. Tim Miller.

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Hubert H. Humphrey with Russ Stanton, SMSU Archives.

“You can read textbooks, but like anything else, once you do it hands-on, it’s completely different.”

That’s the feeling of SMSU junior Cory Becker, who was the regional field director for the Trump campaign this past election season.

It was a paid, full-time position. The Political Science and History double major oversaw a 23-county area in southwest Minnesota. He Cory Becker hired a team of five field organizers and assisted them in recruiting volunteers to help with “door-knocking, phone-banking and getting people registered to vote,” said Becker. He also helped organize rallies and other political events.

He is a self-proclaimed “history geek” who in the second grade could name all the presidents “forward and backwards, with a biographical fact about each one,” he said. “That morphed into a passion for politics. I’ve always liked to read about history, and by working on an election the way I did, I lived that history first-hand.”

Becker represented his hometown of Gibbon, Minn., at Boys State and later served as a page for the House of Representatives.

He’s in his second year as the president of the SMSU College Republicans.

He said COVID-19 added some challenges to the campaign season. “We opened our office (in Marshall) on March 1 and two weeks later shut it down and worked remotely until the start of June. We slowly transitioned into door knocking. We wore face masks and made sure we were social distanced. If people were uncomfortable about it, we’d leave.”

Former state representative and gubernatorial candidate Marty Seifert has served as something of a mentor to Becker. “He came to the Gibbon Library on a book tour and I talked to him after his presentation. He has become a good friend. He is experienced, and knowledgeable.”

His team didn’t work just on the Trump campaign. “We worked on the campaigns of any (Republican) running — U.S. House, state Senate and House — we would help in any way we could,” he said.

The political climate across the country can be somewhat divisive, feels Becker. Fortunately, he didn’t experience too much of that during his work. “We had pretty good reception at doors. I had good conversations with Biden supporters. It was refreshing.

The narrative is we can’t get along, but that’s not who we are as a country.”

He’s cut back the number of credits he’s taking at SMSU due to the opportunity. “This semester I’m taking a couple of online courses. We worked 12-hour days seven days a week after Labor Day, so full-time classes would not have worked. I’ll graduate now in a year-and-a-half or two years.”

He’s keeping his options open when he graduates. “I’ll finish school and who knows what will come along. I’d like to run for office some time, it all depends on the timing. As far as politics go, there are a lot of things you can do.”

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Doria Drost is not the type of person to sit around complaining. That personality trait led her to run for the Minnesota District 16A House seat as a Democrat, the youngest to run for a House seat in the state.

“I learned that campaigning is a huge task and a major undertaking. Doing it during a pandemic is very, very difficult,” said Drost, who lost her election bid to incumbent Chris Swedzinski.

Drost, a 2019 alumna, was a Marketing major and Political Science minor. She is currently in the SMSU Doria Drost MBA program with a concentration in leadership, and a graduate assistant in the Student Success and Advising Center.

She discovered that she wanted to do more — to give back — while participating on the SMSU Forensics team as an undergraduate student.

She competed in several categories and qualified two years for national competition. “I got to hear about what other people my age are doing to make a difference, so I looked for ways to improve my community as well. It spurred a lot of volunteer work, and conversations about what I can do for our area,” she said. “With Forensics, a lot of discussions surround women’s rights, racial equity, and affordable health care, and I’ve done some advocacy work with Students United regarding higher education reform, as well.”

As an undergraduate, Drost was also involved as an executive member for SMSU Student Association, Residence Life, and theatre and cheerleading.

She has a full-time job with GreatAmerica Financial Services, a leasing company, and directs theater at Tracy Area High School. During the summer, she is involved with MASC performances and coordinates blood drives for the American Red Cross.

“I’m used to being busy,” she said.

Associate Professor of Communication Studies Ben Walker — who wound up being her campaign manager — was the person who first approached her about running. “We sat down at Cold Stone and talked about things we’d like to see changed, and what’s been going on in the district,” she said.

Drost is originally from Poquoson, Va., and later moved to Rushmore, Minn., with her father. She graduated from Worthington High School. She took PSEO courses her junior and senior years, graduating with her A.A. in liberal arts from Minnesota West right before graduating high school. This gave her junior status at the time she enrolled at SMSU. COVID-19 changed the way Drost had originally intended to run her campaign. “It’s difficult when you are trying to make one-on-one connections with people.” She made campaign stops in every town in the district “two or three times, but instead of knocking, we did literature drops to keep our volunteers and the public safe.” She relied a lot on social media to spread the word about her candidacy. “That turned into one of the largest parts of the campaign,” she said.

Her campaign also used “pop-up” portable campaign headquarters in various towns in the district.

“I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything,” she said.

The campaign itself had its ups and downs, but generally, “people were wonderful,” she said. Throughout the campaign, Drost did receive some negative comments on social media regarding her age and gender. “Folks can get blinded by the two-party system. I strongly believe leaders must be able to work across the aisle.”

She looks forward to the future, and says decisively, “I am running again in 2022.”

FOCUS | 5

[ alumni connections ]

Subash Yadav ‘12 Shines in the Sunny Arizona Food Scene

From top: Yadav in his Phoenix-area restaurant, Sherpa Kitchen. Close-up of the Thank You art, serving as a tribute to the customer support he received during COVID shutdown.

Yadav shown in the SMSU Culinology kitchens when he was a student

6 | FOCUS

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. In the case of Subash Yadav, those lemons are locally sourced.

Yadav is one of the hottest chefs in the Phoenix area after having been named by the Phoenix New Times as the Best New Chef in 2020 in its annual “Best Of ” issue.

The year before, his food truck, “Everest Momo,” was named Best Food Truck by the same publication.

A native of Kathmandu, Nepal, Yadav is a 2012 alumnus with a degree in Culinology. He is owner of Sherpa Kitchen, a Nepali-Indian restaurant located in Gilbert, a Phoenix suburb.

He burst on the food scene when he purchased a food truck in 2019 and immediately gained a following. “We serve Nepali-Indian food. We source locally as much as we can, and people appreciate that. It became so popular that we had a lot of requests to be open more often, and a lot of questions about where we could be found. The truck isn’t open every day,” he explained.

His food drew a large, loyal following. In his understated manner, Yadav said, “It took off quite well.”

Because of his food’s popularity, “we decided in October of 2019 to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant.” He found a location in Gilbert, and opened in February 2020.

Enter COVID-19, and all of the restrictions associated with it. “We had a soft opening in February and our grand opening was scheduled for April. COVID-19 happened and we had to close down the restaurant in March, so really, the only way people knew about us was through friends and customers. We opened for limited seating at the end of September.”

The pandemic made him think creatively. “When COVID-19 started, clearly the whole world didn’t know how to handle it. We closed for the first 10 days and had to plan according to the laws. Having a food science background from Culinology, I was equipped regarding food safety and how to properly handle things. I made the changes we had to and ran takeout only until September.”

His customers are loyal, and drive up to an hour for his Nepalese cuisine, the only available in the Phoenix area. His takeout business kept the place afloat. “We saved every ticket we got during COVID and a friend of mine, an international student, made an artwork for me. It’s hanging in the restaurant. I wanted this artwork made to show my gratitude towards our customers during one of the most difficult times.”

Yadav also used his Culinology education in another way: along with SMSU alumnus Amir Maleki, they have started a frozen and refrigerated food line, and sell frozen dumplings and bottled sauces and marinades. “We sell them at farmer’s markets. Our goal is to get them into grocery stores,” he said.

Yadav is committed to buying local and making fresh. “I want to make sustainably-sourced, healthy food easily available to the people,” he said. “We source locally and change recipes and ingredients depending on the season. I’ve gotten to know so many great farmers and I’ve found some organic and specialty farmers. I try to adapt to what we have available. Living in Arizona, there’s only so much you can grow here.”

He had to overcome a lot to pursue his dream, not the least cultural and family expectations. “When I was growing up you were either going to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer,” he said. “I didn’t know a career in the food industry was possible until I found Culinology. I liked the science and the cooking, the combination of those two.”

Yadav changed majors, from Pre-Med to Culinology, his second year, “but I didn’t tell my parents until my third year. There was a big battle, but it was important for me to follow what I love. I made the change, and my family had to be OK with it, which they are now.”

Yadav was active at SMSU. He was president of BACHHUS, a resident assistant, and worked in the call center for the SMSU Foundation. He chose SMSU because he was looking for a smaller community, and an affordable education.

Yadav enjoys the lifestyle — and warmth — of Arizona, and he’s content following his passion. “I couldn’t be happier,” he said.

He is married to Chandra, a Minnesota native who he met through her aunt, Lorene Sill, who used to work in the SMSU bookstore.

It’s been an interesting journey so far, he said. “I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

[ alumni connections ]

Cassie Williams ‘07 Empowers Workers in New Role Cassie Williams ’07/MS ’16 recently took a position as a Labor Educator at Labor Education Service (LES) in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Her job is to teach and inform workers and unions in a variety of areas including grievance training, organizing, social justice issues and labor history.

In October she gave a presentation, “Minnesota Labor History,” with a focus on building trades. It included U.S. labor history beginning with indigenous people.

She highlighted important acts and laws, such

as the Prevailing Wage Law, National Labor Relations Act, Project Labor Agreements, and the National Apprenticeship. She’s also done sessions on Op Ed Writing, and People of Color Activist Fatigue.

“I have the creative freedom to build curriculum for potential presentations and training to help, support and empower all workers,” she said. “I definitely get to exercise my love for teaching and reading. I work with an amazing group of people, but I do miss working directly with students (like I did at SMSU).”

Abbie Allison ‘10 Weathers COVID-19 Impact on Hospitality Industry Abbie Allison, Director of Revenue Management for Doubletree by Hilton Bloomington Minneapolis South, has seen first-hand how COVID-19 has affected the hospitality industry. “I live and breathe it every day,” said the 2010 alumna.

Her degree is in Hospitality Management, something she is passionate about, especially in today’s environment. “We are a convention hotel, with over 70,000 square feet of meeting space, so we thrive on those big conventions. At the start of March we were hit hard. But by being creative, we’ve been able to host some events of over 250 people. It can be done creatively, and safely,” she said.

A Minneapolis native, she came to SMSU on a Schwan’s Access & Opportunity scholarship. She had no intention of going into the hospitality industry — “I was going into education” she says — but took a class in Culinology® and was hooked. “My mother worked in hospitality,” she explained.

She’s held her current position since February 2020. Vinayaka Hospitality purchased the property in July, and she was asked to be the Director of Revenue Management at a second property in Oak Brook, Ill. What does a director of revenue management do? “I work with rate strategies, forecasting, inventory management, making sure rates are available for third parties and managing online content, among other

things. I have to work closely with all departments through strong communication, and executing the small details” said Allison.

She has worked at several Twin Cities properties, starting out in the front desk, and consistently moving up the ladder.

The program at SMSU “was so tight-knit — I loved that aspect. We had the opportunity to take a cruise, go to Las Vegas and we went to the National Restaurant Association show each year in Chicago. It was great hands-on experience.”

She was asked to come back to speak to Hospitality Management students at SMSU. “I love my work and am passionate about it,” she said. “After I spoke there was someone who reached out to me to be a mentor to her. So often it’s who you know, and I was happy to help her.”

‘Making a difference’ is a term she uses often. “Something small, a simple request, can make such a big difference for a guest. Being part of a team and helping to make a successful and memorable event is so much fun.”

And while the industry has been affected by the pandemic, she sees that as opportunity. “It’s definitely been some tough times, but that makes us stronger and better,” she said.

She’s an optimist, and knows the industry will come back. “In the future, it will come back and we can’t wait,” she said.

She will marry Dylan Smith on August 21, 2021.

Jacob Bengtson ’17 Wins Outstanding Clinician Award from Mayo SMSU alumnus Jacob Bengtson recently won the prestigious 2020 Mayo Clinic Outstanding Clinician Award for his performance in the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences College of Medicine, where he earned his Physical Therapy degree in May 2020.

The award was selected by Mayo clinical instructors for his exceptional clinical performance, as judged by the director of clinical education, clinical instructors and coordinators from assigned clinical sites.

Bengtson graduated from SMSU in 2017 with an Exercise Science degree before starting in the doctoral program at Mayo that fall. He took two years of coursework and completed almost a year of clinical experiences, cut short by COVID-19.

He recently started as a physical therapist at two facilities in Worthington this past July: South Shore Care Center and Crossroads Care Center, both long-term/short-term rehab facilities. He also is a substitute physical therapist at River Valley in Redwood Falls. All are affiliated with Superior Health Care.

He grew up on the family farm near Garvin and graduated from Tracy High School. “I chose SMSU because of the Exercise Science program and the faculty.

I really enjoyed their personalities and the way they were able to relate to us.”

He took advantage of PSEO courses at Tracy High School, which enabled him to earn his Exercise Science degree in just three years. “That was a huge advantage, I was fortunate to be able to do that,” he said of taking college courses while still in high school.

He mentions Exercise Science faculty Kris Cleveland, Brent Jeffers, Jeffrey Bell and Mostafa Hegazy as being influential during his time at SMSU. “The faculty, too, in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and my professors in my general courses. They were all accessible,” he said.

He is grateful to have found a job so close to the family farm south of Garvin, where he lives and helps with farm work.

He is engaged to SMSU softball student-athlete Emma Grote. The two will be married in May, 2021.

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[ alumni connections]

Six Receive 2020 Alumni Awards Six individuals received Alumni Association awards as part of Homecoming 2020, with a theme of “Mustangs Come Together — Six Feet Apart.”

Alumni Achievement Awards are presented to alumni in recognition of professional success and the positive reflection made on the university and fellow alumni. This year’s winners included: Lee Bush, retired Minnesota District Court Judge, Class of 1973, and his wife Pam, retired teacher/administrator, Class of 1972; Tina (Walliser) Cartwright, Senior Vice President of US Bank, Class of 1997; and Jeff Mauland, President of North Star Mutual Insurance, Class of 1978.

The Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award was given to Dr. Peter Grahn, Assistant Professor in Neurosurgery and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic, Class of 2011. The Honorary Lifetime Membership Award was presented to retired Theatre Professor Ray Oster.

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS Lee (’73) and Pam (’72) Bush Lee and Pam Bush have known each another for a very long time. They finish one another’s sentences.

Russell High School sweethearts, they grew up less than six miles from one another. They both graduated from SMSU — Pam in 1972, Lee in ’73 — and both are avid supporters of Southwest Minnesota State.

In June 2018 Lee retired as a District Court Judge for the state of Minnesota. He was assigned to the Fifth Judicial District and continues to serve as a Senior Judge, working limited hours where needed.

He graduated with a Biology degree, and the story of how he ended up a lawyer, then a judge, is an interesting one.

A driven student, Pam graduated in just three years with an English Education degree and spent her career at Chandler-Lake Wilson, Ivanhoe and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton High Schools. She taught middle school English, was

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a school librarian, and for six years, principal at RTR. As Lee was approaching graduation from SMSU, he decided he didn’t want to spend his life in a laboratory, and began to consider other careers. While still in school at SMSU, he worked on the family farm during the summers, and one day his father asked, “You’re so technical, have you ever thought about law school?”

Thus he started to pursue law, and graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School.

He returned to Tyler, and worked with attorney Dave Watson for two-and-a-half years before starting his own practice. He would be in Tyler for 25 years before applying for an open judge position.

He was appointed by Gov. Jesse Venture in 2002 and was elected in 2004, 2010 and 2016.

Lee is a past SMSU Foundation Board member and both he and Pam are avid supporters of SMSU. They have created the Pam and Lee Bush Endowed Scholarship through the SMSU Foundation.

The Bushes are the parents of two daughters, Susan Tripp, and Janet Bush. They have a 7-year-old granddaughter, Mackenzie.

The two enjoyed their time as SMSU students, and have grown to appreciate what the university means to the region. “One of the things that impressed me was the physical plant, just wonderful, and the quality of the faculty and students,” said Lee Bush.

“It was a good place to go,” said Pam. Tina Cartwright ’97 You know how people advise students not to settle too early on a major when entering college?

Meet Example A: Tina (Walliser) Cartwright, Senior Vice President of US Bank and an SMSU Foundation Board member now living in Portland, Oregon.

She had her sights set on a career in dance when she left her hometown of Rapid City, S.D. to attend the University of Minnesota.

Things would change quickly.

“I started out as a dance major, that’s what I thought I wanted to do — go to Broadway and be a ballerina. My first class was ‘A Day in the Life of a Dancer.’ I found I didn’t know some of the realities of what that life would be — nights and weekend work, auditioning for each job, and not having a permanent home.”

She went looking for a new college, a new major and a new beginning.

By the age of 23, she earned two degrees at SMSU — Business Administration in 1997, and Accounting in 1998.

While in college, she worked for Lyon Financial, a leasing company then owned

by The Schwan’s Company. They would be purchased by US Bank, and she would stay in Marshall for 10 years.

Recognizing talent, she rose quickly within US Bank, where she has held several positions, including Special Project Manager, Credit Manager, Senior Business Systems Analyst, and, most recently, Senior Vice President, Information Technology and Aps, a position she’s held since 2010.

She and her husband Chad — who attended SMSU for several years — moved to Portland in 2013, where US Bank has a strong presence.

She was immersed in her studies at SMSU and has seen the University in a different light since joining the Foundation board in 2016.

“In college I wasn’t very social — I was focused on my studies. I moved away, and have recently been drawn back in. I have reconnected with faculty, classmates and community members over the last five years, and have done a lot of reflecting on how SMSU positioned me for success.”

Jeff Mauland ’78 Jeff Mauland likes to joke that people think he’s out in left field sometimes.

In reality, he is.

The office of the president of North Star Mutual Insurance in Cottonwood is located on the second floor of company headquarters, on

[ alumni connections]

the spot where, years earlier, he had roamed left field as a baseball player for Cottonwood High School, and the amateur town team.

He’s been with the company just shy of 42 years. He took over as president in 2001, and will retire in January, 2021.

He started out as a pre-forestry and wildlife management major but found that included “too much biology and chemistry.” So he switched to Agribusiness Management, and graduated in 1978. “Having grown up on a farm I thought that may be a better fit for me,” he said of his change in majors.

“I wasn’t thinking insurance at all,” he said about how he ended up in insurance. “But my predecessor at North Star saw my name at the college placement office and gave me a call. I didn’t apply here, but went for an interview, then a second, and was hired as an inspector field underwriter.”

He would go on to become president of a company he never applied to, an irony not lost on Mauland.

“Insurance doesn’t have the greatest reputation. It’s not a fun purchase, you can’t drive it or wear it, it’s a piece of paper, it’s expensive, and you may never use it. However, since starting, I learned how important insurance is to the world’s economy. It’s different than banking and other financial services. To me, we are the underpinnings of the economy, and it’s still the best way for almost everyone to transfer the risks they face in life.”

North Star has increased its corporate support of SMSU during Mauland’s tenure. “We certainly rely on them for a good number of employees — I think there are 61 alumni that we employ now.”

Mauland and his wife, Lynn, are the parents of two adult children: Sarah, who works at North Star, and Nathan.

GRADUATE OF THE LAST DECADE (GOLD) Peter Grahn ’11 When you work in the premier medical facility in America, COVID-19 is front and center.

Such is the new reality for Dr. Peter Grahn, an Assistant Professor in Neurosurgery and

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from SMSU in 2011, with degrees in Biology and Chemistry. He earned his doctorate in biomedical research in 2016, with an emphasis in neuroscience, from Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Since 2016 he has worked with a team of researchers at Mayo to study promising new therapies for individuals with paralysis due to spinal cord injury. His academic interests in this field of research are tied to his personal experience of living with paralysis since the summer of 2005.

Freshly graduated from Willmar High School and headed to Minnesota State Moorhead to play basketball, he dove off the end of a dock on Green Lake, near Spicer, Minn., on a hot summer day. The water was shallow, which resulted in a number of injuries, including a fracture of the fifth vertebrae in his neck and injury to the spinal cord. He was paralyzed from the chest down.

While completing a year of rehabilitation in order to learn how to perform activities of daily living from a powered wheelchair, he heard about SMSU’s reputation as a highly-accessible campus. He visited and decided on SMSU. Grahn’s research team received world-wide attention for their work involving electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, combined with therapy, which helped a Wisconsin man, Jered Chinnock, who was paralyzed in a 2013 snowmobile accident, regain leg function such as standing and stepping in the presence of stimulation. The study sought to examine how the spinal cord responds to electrical stimulation, combined with intense rehabilitation, and the extent to which paralyzed functions can be recovered. The results surpassed Grahn’s most optimistic expectations and Chinnock was eventually able to walk the distance of a football field with a walker and minimal assistance from the research team.

During COVID-19, Grahn said he has received a different type of education. “Within Mayo Clinic, there are experts working across the full spectrum of the pandemic, including

virologists studying basic mechanisms of the virus in order to develop therapeutics and vaccines, to epidemiologists studying trends across local and global populations. I am grateful for the knowledge gained by having virtual access to lectures by these experts.”

Grahn met his wife Kelsey (Elbers), while they were attending SMSU. They have two children: Zoey, 8, and Rykon, 4. Kelsey’s father, Darwin Elbers, and mother, Kimberly Lehman, are also SMSU alumni.

HONORARY LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP Ray Oster Ray Oster came to the Midwest, fell in love with it, and stayed.

Originally from Denville, N.J., he received his undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Southampton College of Long Island, and began a five-year career as a dinner theatre stage manager in Florida and, later, Windsor, Ontario.

It was in Florida that he met his wife Jane. From there it was back to school in pursuit of a master’s degree, which he earned from Wisconsin-Superior. He then returned to Southampton for three years as an administrator in theatre, where he was technical director and audio-visual director.

“That was not a faculty job,” he said. “So I went looking for work, and ended up at SMSU.” He would stay at SMSU for 32 years, retiring as an associate professor in 2013. He was in charge of technical direction, scenery design, and lighting.

He’s seen talented theatre students go through the SMSU program, and delights in following their individual careers. “They started out as students and then became friends,” he said.

He said that Theatre majors at SMSU get a unique opportunity to participate in all aspects of theatre. “If you’re a major, you are immersed in everything. When you graduate, many actors start out in technical until they work their way into acting positions.”

Oster and his wife, Jane, are the parents of one daughter, Hayley, who lives in Denver.

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WA R R E N Q UA R N S T R O M ( 1 9 2 5 - 2 0 2 0 )

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Warren Quarnstrom, an original member of the Marshall College Committee when it first met in 1956 and an instrumental figure in establishing what was then Southwest Minnesota State College in Marshall, passed away on August 22, 2020.

The entire Mustang Family was saddened by the death of the SMSU icon, a man who helped get the institution located in Marshall, and a founding member of the Mustang Booster Club and SMSU Foundation. Together with his wife Ardella, they were the Mustang Couple, and he was the Godfather.

“Warren was the true embodiment of what it means to be a Mustang,” said Director of Athletics Chris Hmielewski. “Warren and Ardella were fixtures on our campus, and specifically, at our athletic events.

They supported athletics unconditionally.

Everyone who came in contact with him left with a smile, but also with an impression of how important he was to our Marshall community, and SMSU. They are a special family, and he was a special person.”

A COLLEGE ON THE PRAIRIE

Quarnstrom was a young man when he graduated from what was then William Mitchell Law School and moved to Marshall in 1955. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and was a banker for four years in the Twin Cities while taking law school classes part-time, three nights per week.

His father, Willis, a Brewster, Minn., banker, had heard of an opening in Marshall. Warren and Ardella at that time had two young children — Tom and Jill — and made their way to a city that would hold so many adventures for them. A third child, John, would come later.

When he arrived he joined a firm headed by Bruce Forbes. Lee Doering would join them in 1957. An automobile accident would take Forbes’ life in 1958, and Quarnstrom and Doering formed a new law firm that bears their names today.

“We got involved with groups right away, it was a good way to meet people,” said Ardella, who knew Warren since they were in grade school together in Brewster.

It was in October of 1956 that a group of civic-minded individuals got together in the New Atlantic Hotel to talk about the lack of a college in southwest Minnesota. Superintendent Les Frey and the Marshall School Board approved a 1956 survey that discovered that the percentage of high school graduates who went on to college from Marshall and the surrounding area was quite low compared to towns such as Mankato and St. Cloud, which had colleges. Talk would soon lead to action, and the long, winding road to the establishment of SMSU had begun.

“It was Les Frey who asked Warren to be on that College Committee,” recalls Ardella.

Warren was eager to help, and donated his expertise to the group. There was much legal work involved, and more as the years passed.

The story of how a college came to be built on the prairie is an interesting one, chronicled by fellow committee member, the late Dick Jorgenson, in his book, A History of Southwest State University: The Creation of a College and University, 1956-1996.

Warren “was all in” on the idea for a college, said his son Tom, an SMSU alumnus. He was a member of the original Marshall College Fund, a precursor to the SMSU Foundation. “Its original mission was to fund the land purchase from the McLaughlins, where the college is today,” Warren said in an earlier interview.

“After that, its mission and name were changed.”

Facing page: Warren, six years old, dressed as a cowboy in 1931. At the SMSU 50th Anniversary celebration. Above: the plot of land that would one day be home to Southwest Minnesota State University, thanks to Warren’s work on the Marshall College Committee. Inset: Warren’s high school senior portrait.

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A MUSTANG AT HEART

Warren was an outstanding athlete at Brewster High School and his love of sports continued his entire life.

“He was a big guy by the eighth grade and he was recruited to play (varsity sports),” said Ardella. “In those days, in a small town, you played everything.”

He and Ardella were married on Nov. 23, 1950 — Thanksgiving — and their honeymoon consisted of a road trip to Madison, Wis., to watch the Gophers take on the University of Wisconsin. “We ruined everyone’s Thanksgiving,” Ardella joked. “It was 22-below on our wedding day. We went to the game and were back at work on Monday.”

When Southwest Minnesota State College introduced athletics, Warren was a Mustang fan, through and through.

“I got to know Warren early on, through athletics,” said former Business professor Ken Mukomela. “I came in 1968. We would travel to away games for football and basketball with Ron McLaughlin and a couple of others. We were road warriors. He would stop at the scorer’s table and get a copy of the stats and really look those over. His son Tom is the same way — athletics and stats.”

SMSU men’s basketball coach Brad Bigler has been associated with the university since he was a player. “I guess my friendship with Warren grew after I got done playing,” he said. “As an assistant I spent time with him and Dick Jorgenson. He was always at the Booster Club and other events, and we attended the same church (First Lutheran). Over the course of time, having the opportunity to be around him, our friendship grew. His grandson Joe was our manager and our team would go over to their house for a holiday meal. They opened their doors to our players. I think we developed a genuine respect and appreciation for each other.”

The Quarnstroms would also open their doors to coaches. “We had several that stayed with us,” said Ardella. “We lived on Circle Drive then and whenever someone didn’t have a place to stay, they would stay with us. (The late basketball coach) Perry Ford stayed with us, and his kids would join him on the weekends. Some of the coaches had families living somewhere else and they just needed a room. We inherited quite a few,” she said.

They got to know the players, too. “I used to repair (equipment) straps and clothing for the players,” she said. “I’d give them something to eat, and got to know them. It’s nice to see that some have stayed in the area.”

Ardella is a St. Olaf alumna and taught home economics at several area high schools, but not Marshall. “You couldn’t get hired back then — you were taking a job from a man,” she said. “So we would carpool to area towns. Six of us went to Russell, and six went to Milroy.” She finds it ironic she was a charter teacher at Edina High School in the Twin Cities when it was first opened, but couldn’t get hired in Marshall.

THE SENSE OF HUMOR

You can’t talk about Warren Quarnstrom without mentioning his sense of humor.

“He’d say something, and you’d just pause and have to think about it,” said Bigler. “When you paused, he knew he got you. Then he’d just chuckle. I know he got me more times than I’d like to admit.”

“It was wicked,” said Hmielewski. “My first year as Athletic Director I was at a volleyball game. During that match we had two balls go into the (suspended) batting cage netting. At the break I’m walking behind the press box and here’s Warren and Sheldon Haaland. ‘What’s going on with the balls getting stuck up there?’ he asked, and he was as serious as can be. I apologized and then he said, ‘When Howard Gauthier (Hmielewski’s predecessor) was here, that never would have happened.’ Sheldon was grinning ear-to-ear, and just as Warren was about to leave, he cracks that little grin. The look on my face was priceless. I’m in my first year, wanted to do things right, and he caught me. Warren took great pride in putting me in my place that day, in a Warren Quarnstrom kind of way. Ardella and other family members tell that story a lot.”

Tim Miles, who took the SMSU basketball program to its first Elite Eight appearance and would later go on to coach at North Dakota State, Colorado State and Nebraska, recalls that humor as being ‘wicked.’

“He had a real intellect, and he also had impeccable timing. You’d have a conversation with him and he’d slip something in. The timing encapsulated the whole moment. He said once ‘Well, (Ardella and I) started dating in kindergarten or first grade and she wouldn’t leave.’ They reminded me of George Burns and Gracie Allen.”

“He had a subtle, keen sense of humor,” said former Director of Athletics Butch Raymond.

“He had this tendency at Booster Club to ask that kind of question — subtle but with a twinkle in his eye. It had a hidden humor, and was always pointed. He wasn’t bashful about putting me on the hot spot, but he did it in a comical way.”

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From the top: Warren signing the 50th Anniversary Charter in September 2017. Riding in the 1996 Homecoming parade as Honorary Alumni. Dressed up in 1968. Warren with former SMSU men’s basketball coach, Tim Miles.

Lee Raske and his wife Norma, friends of the Quarnstroms, accompanied them to San Diego for the 2016 Holiday Bowl, where the Gophers defeated Washington State. “He had that wonderful sense of humor. He was always a fine gentleman,” said Raske, also a Minnesota alumnus. Warren was honored at a breakfast the morning of the bowl game. Then-Gopher coach Tracy Claeys heard about the longtime Gopher fan and was there to present him with an autographed football.

“Dad loved a good story, but he wasn’t a good storyteller,” said Tom Quarnstrom. “He was a one-liner guy, and he was great at it.”

Even his obituary mentioned that humor. “He loved to make subtle, sarcastic remarks and wait to see if anyone took the bait. If someone thought he was making a serious comment, all the better,” it reads.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Warren was involved with so many groups and organizations, and was a community cornerstone. He served as president of the SMSU Foundation, Booster Club officer, a Marshall School Board member, church president, Athletics Hall of Honor member and Alumni Association Honorary Lifetime Membership Award winner. He was a loyal Rotary Club member, and went to extraordinary lengths to attend a weekly meeting.

“We went over to Europe and Warren found a Rotary dinner meeting. We met a guy familiar with Brewster, who had rented a farm from my mother,” said Ardella.

“He was one of those people who was not just a talker, but a doer,” said Raymond. “He and Ardella would hold socials in their home when we were interviewing coaches. They would also be one of the first couples at Booster Club meetings, or buying season tickets. He helped start the Reverse Raffle (Athletics’ largest fundraiser) from scratch.”

“Warren always made you feel better, even when things weren’t going good,” said Miles.

Kevin Anundson, an SMSU alumnus, loyal SMSU supporter and a State Farm agent in Minneota, Minn., sat with Warren at Mustang basketball games the last few years. “He had a chairback seat behind the scorer’s table, but we’d sit on the other side, in the front row with a few of his friends. He had a better view there. It got difficult for him to climb the bleachers to the chairback seats. I brought him a Nut Goodie candy bar from Gislason Hardware each game. It was fun to watch the games with them.”

Tom Quarnstrom enjoyed attending many athletic events with Warren, and describes him as a wonderful father. “I don’t remember him ever getting terribly upset and he never raised a hand to any of us. His method of parenting was quiet, but he got the point home by what he’d say. I remember once he had been trying to get ahold of my brother (at the U of M) until 11 p.m. The next day when he did get in touch with him, his opening line was, ‘I didn’t know the library was open that late.’ For him, it was family first, and he loved his community, and Southwest.”

“He was kind to everyone, no matter who they were. He was an excellent father, and I don’t think he ever raised his voice to them at all, but they knew what was what,” said Ardella.

The two established the Warren and Ardella Quarnstrom Endowed Scholarship, which is awarded to a first-year student-athlete. It is awarded based on academic leadership qualities, and is renewable for four years.

Warren and Ardella met every president since the start of the institution, and have stories about each. There were good times for SMSU, and not-so-good-times, such as when enrollment dipped dramatically after the end of the Vietnam War. Former President Jon Wefald would come to their house and take Warren on road trips to area towns in an effort to recruit each class’s valedictorian.

First SMSU President Howard Bellows, also a pilot, “came around one day and asked if he wanted to fly up to Bemidji. ‘I’m going to hire a chef for our hospitality program,’ he told Warren.

He was the right guy to be our first president,” said Ardella.

Former President Connie J. Gores lived just down the block and would pop in almost daily, said Ardella.

Warren was the last living member of the Marshall College Committee, and didn’t just witness, but participated in, the institution’s history. He had an uncanny memory for dates and events.

Warren died on Ardella’s birthday this year. They were married 69 years. What does she miss most? “When I want to tell him something and he’s not here. Something may be going on, and I know he’d want to know about it.”

It seems everyone has a story about the man. He helped build SMSU, and he and Ardella were perhaps the institution’s greatest boosters. He was a quiet and dignified gentleman, who let his actions speak for themselves.

Such was Warren’s legacy.

From the top: Warren and Ardella recognized by the Gophers prior to the 2016 Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The Quarnstrom family in 1965. Waving to the crowd at the 50th Anniversary Charter Signing event. The Mustang Couple in 2019.

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[ class notes ]

1972

Wayne Pelzel won reelection as mayor of Sleepy Eye, Minn.

KEEPING UP TRADITIONS

1974

Lee Kanten and his wife, Jeanie (Strube ’75), moved from the Twin Cities back to Ortonville, his hometown, for retirement.

2001

Ryan Sims was named the Nevada Athletic Director Association’s 2020 Athletic Director of the Year.

He is currently the athletic director at Reed High School in Sparks, Nev.

2002

Katie (Kizer) Chang is a trade compliance manager for Polaris Industries.

Sara (Granheim) Deering (MBA ’04) started a new job at E&I Cooperative Services as a member relations executive covering Minn., N.D., Neb., S.D., and Wis.

2003

Chuck Larsen couldn’t stay away. Not returning for Homecoming — even during this year’s mostly virtual events — wasn’t an option.

After all, he’d been to every Homecoming since he was a freshman at what was then Southwest Minnesota State College, in the fall of 1970.

“I’ve made them all since then,” said Larsen, who is retired from a career in the restaurant and, later, document management business.

“We usually have a big group come back for Homecoming, but then COVID-19 hit and we cancelled our hotel reservations we made last year. Then we heard there was going to be a parade, so I changed my mind and a few of us came back.”

Shown above are this year’s group, from left, Dave Sanderson ’78, Jane (Klinkner) Soukup ’80, Chuck Larsen ’75, Jason Mortvedt ’78 and Craig Porter ’79.

“There’s usually between 20 and 25 of us who come back,” said Larsen. “A lot of those people went to school at different times, and we have become friends by going to Homecoming all these years.

When I first started, it was called Founders Day, and the game was played at Legion Field.”

“I started counting when I was driving back,” he continued.

“Fifty-one straight years. It’s always been a good time seeing people.

I enjoyed my time at SMSU and have good memories.”

Amy (Knudsen) Johnson was named the director of treasury management

by Great Western Bank, based in Sioux 2006 Falls, S.D. Michelle (Marotzke) Jayme McGhan Hull (MBA ’09) has been named has joined the the new head of Mid-Minnesota the Department Development of Theatre at the Commission to University of North assist Kandiyohi and Georgia, Dahlonega, surrounding counties Ga., and has taken with recovery on the artistic from the economic and managing damage from director roles of the COVID-19.

Gainesville Theatre Alliance.

2007 Cory Isebrand (MS) is the new PE 2004 instructor at Gehlen Jason Mayer is the Catholic Schools in director of laboratory Le Mars, Iowa. services for Park Jessica (Myrvik) Nicollet Health Pearson and Services based in St. husband, Terry Louis Park.

Pearson, welcomed a baby boy, Micah, on

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May 3, 2020.

2008

Kayleigh (Booker) Karppinen and her husband, Andrew, welcomed their first child, Faye Katherine, on July 2, 2020.

Breiann (Harris) Remiger welcomed a baby boy, Malcolm, on Aug. 31, 2020.

2009

Derek Bjoraker and his wife, Charlotte, welcomed a baby boy, Nolan, in June, 2020.

Trenton Dammann has started a new role as an attorney for the city of Redwood Falls, Minn. He was formerly a law clerk

for the Fifth Judicial District, based in Redwood Falls.

Michael Leischner won two state awards during the 2019 Wisconsin Broadcasters Association banquet, including Best Continuing Coverage for a Series of Stories and Best Medium Market News/Talk Website for WSAU. com, which he maintains along with the rest of the WSAU staff.

2010

Sarah (Kelly) Smith and her husband, Dustin, welcomed a baby girl, Isla, on Oct. 21, 2020.

2011

2015

Ryan Engels married Stacy (Bottolfson) Angela Tauer on Aug. Hubert and her 8, 2020. husband, Kyle, welcomed a baby boy, Anna Surprenant married Robert Logan Riley, on May Jenson on Aug. 3, 4, 2020.

2020.

Mark Vue became 2012 the new owner Ben Dolan graduated of Bubai Foods from law school at in Walnut Grove, the University of taking ownership of South Dakota and is the grocery store in a clerk for a district March, 2020. court judge. He ran as a Democrat for the Minnesota House 2016 Rita Fonder (MBA seat in District 17A, ’18) works at Orphan losing to incumbent Grain Train, Inc. Republican Tim in Norfolk, Neb., Miller. as an international Toni (Harms) Lewis shipping and public started a new job relations assistant. in November, 2020 as the manager of perishables at Hy-Vee 2018 Mackenzie Clouse in Lenexa, Kan. married Jesse Tanner Skillings Vogelgesang on Oct. (MBA ’18) started 5, 2019. a new job at the Ryan Koopman began University of teaching at United Otago in Dunedin, South Central School New Zealand, as District in Wells, in the development September, 2020. He manager in teaches social studies. humanities.

Jeff Pryor (MS) is an enrollment officer 2013 for Galvanize Inc., Kyle Box currently Denver, Colo. serves as the city clerk for the city of 2019 Marshall.

Ya-Chi (Nicole) Chan Laura (Johnson) (MBA) is an invoice Drager (MBA ’16) administrator/analyst and husband, Mitch, at U.S. Bank. welcomed a baby girl, Eden Rae, on May 2, Amber Coleman is the executive 2020. Laura was also assistant to the selected to represent Vice President of the Mankato area at Student Affairs the 2020 Minnesota and Enrollment Young American Management at Leaders Program as Presentation College, a rising leader in the Aberdeen, S.D. region.

Danika Dahlin is an early childhood 2014 special education Kassi (Hague) Tietz teacher for grades and her husband, K-6 at Braham Area Lucas Tietz (’13/ Schools, Braham.

MBA ’16), welcomed Jayden Fleck married their second Amber Messner daughter, Tatum, on (’20) on July 11, Feb. 25, 2020.

2020.

Mai Che Vue works Alex Jorgensen at Wells Fargo Auto received a contract in Minneapolis as to play professional a business support baseball with the associate.

Joliet Slammers, a

All cities are in Minnesota unless noted. Events are in the current year unless noted.

Donavan Phoenix is an ag member team of the Frontier education teacher at Redwood League, in Joliet, Ill. Valley High School, Redwood Antonio Ledbetter works at Falls. He is also the FFA coPrairie Community Services, advisor.

Marshall, as a mental health Kritika Shah is the chief of practitioner. marketing/office manager Kelsi (Magers) Limoges is a first-grade teacher at Reede Gray at Evergreen Construction Company for the greater Elementary School, Redwood Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Falls.

Ryan Mallinger teaches fourth grade in the Flandreau School WHAT’S NEW? District, Flandreau, S.D. Share your news with us:

2020

Tyler Behrendsen is a police officer in Pocahontas, Iowa.

email alumni@SMSU.edu call 800-260-0970 click SMSUAlumni.com mail SMSU Alumni Office 1501 State St. Marshall, MN 56258

IN MEMORIAM

Myrbach

Soupir

DANA YOST ‘08 WINS CHAPBOOK AWARD Dana Yost, a 2008 alumnus, recently had a poetry chapbook, In Your Head, win the South Dakota State Poetry Society’s 2020 Chapbook Award.

The chapbook is 32 pages and all of the poems relate to music.

“They’re all connected through music somehow,” said Yost, “either a full poem about music or a reference to a song or singer.”

The book was “five or six years” in the making he said. “I was looking through my poems that have been published in literary journals and other places and it dawned on me that a lot of the poems had a musical theme to them,” he said.

The title of the book is from a song by Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer for the Irish rock band The

PICHASKE PENS NEW BOOK ON SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA PLACES

Sustacek

Eldon Baanrud ’80 passed away May 27, 2019 at the age of 71.

Todd Bartz ’87 passed away on July 22, 2020 at the age of 56.

Bridget Blomberg ’07 passed away Oct. 20, 2020 at the Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, Minn., at the age of 35.

Rhonda (Wancenried) Cousins ’76 passed away on July 20, 2020.

Dale Honeck, former basketball coach, passed away July 20, 2020.

Austin Ingalls ’12 passed away on Sept. 21, 2020 at the age of 34.

James Menk, Jr. ’82 passed away Aug. 31, 2020.

Pamela (Brown) Meyer ’77 passed away June 6, 2020.

Chuck Myrbach, long-time employee in the SMSU Research and Institutional Grants office, a former SMSU Foundation Board member, and avid Mustang fan, passed away on Nov. 6, 2020.

Thomas Lee Schwerzler ’83 passed away Sept. 6, 2020 at the age of 59.

Paul Soupir, longtime assistant volleyball coach, passed away Oct. 17, 2020. He was on the Mustang volleyball coaching staff with head coach Terry Culhane from 2004-2019, and going back to their time with Milroy High School.

Myron Sustacek, former Math professor who later worked with College Now, passed away Aug. 26, 2020. He was employed at SMSU from 1987-2017.

Warren Quarnstrom, an original member of the Marshall College Committee, a past president of the SMSU Foundation and a founding member of the Mustang Booster Club, passed away Aug. 22, 2020.

All cities are in Minnesota unless noted. Events are in the current year unless noted.

Cranberries. It’s part of a line in the book’s first poem, said Yost. One of the poems is about the late SMSU English professor Phil Dacey, he added.

“I tried to fit the poems into a manuscript that has some flow to it,” he said. “It has some of my favorite poems.”

Yost is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee for poetry and has authored five previous books. He is working on his first novel, Before I Get Old, which he describes as being “based on experiences with my grandfather that have been fictionalized.”

In Your Head is available through Yost for $11, which includes mailing. Contact him at: 922 South Colleen Lane, Sioux Falls, S.D., 57106.

SMSU English Professor David Pichaske has written an interesting book filled with photos and history entitled The Secret Places of Southwest Minnesota.

The book grew out of an idea Pichaske and History Professor Emeritus Joe Amato had over 10 years ago to highlight places in southwest Minnesota — some well-known, some not so much. It is a picture-heavy publication with text explaining the photos.

“We pitched The Secret Places of Southwest Minnesota to the Historical Society Press but they didn’t think it would have enough sales,” said Pichaske. “I had taught a GOLD College class on the subject, and the project had been sitting around for years. With COVID-19, I knew I just had to do the book, before some of the places disappeared forever.”

Some already have, said

$20.00

Pichaske. The book is split into sections featuring landscapes, villages, cemetaries, and museums.

Those living in southwest Minnesota will recognize more familiar places such as the Calumet Inn in Pipestone, The Big Store in Minneota, Carl’s Bakery in Granite Falls or the Minnesota Machinery Museum in Hanley Falls. But there’s so much more and Pichaske includes many gems.

The well-known, little-known and hardly-known are included in this 209-page book, which is available at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on campus, as well as off the publisher’s website: www.

Ellispress.com. The book is in its second printing. “There are some interesting places that are in there, and I think people will like the photos,” said Pichaske, who has edited or authored over two dozen books.

FOCUS | 15

[ athletics ]

SMSU Esports Completes First Segment of Inaugural Season SMSU’s 19th intercollegiate sport, Esports, completed the first segment of its inaugural season in October as the team closed out the fall portion of its 2020-21 season.

SMSU, which announced the addition of Esports on Dec. 11, 2019, had 30 students on the inaugural roster for head coach Spencer Louwagie, who also works as an Information Technology Specialist at the University.

The Esports team competed in three different “games” during the months of September and October versus schools from all over the country. The fall schedule had the Mustangs compete in nine games in the “Rocket League,” four matches in “Valorant League” and four more matches in “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.” SMSU will also

compete in games such as “League of Legends,”“Overwatch,” “Fortnite,” “CSGO” and “Starcraft,” which will be determined based on student interest.

SMSU’s first-ever Esports victory came in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with a 2-0 victory over Concordia-St. Paul.

The Esports team, which competes in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), has a specific practice and competition space located in the Science & Technology building on campus. The room will eventually be outfitted with 24, top-of-the-line machines and gaming stations, in order to give the studentathletes the best possible conditions to perform.

SMSU Athletes Engage in Community Service To Stay Connected

The Southwest Minnesota State University Athletics Department is proud to call Marshall and southwest Minnesota home. Again this fall, SMSU’s nearly 400 student-athletes, coaches and staff are committed to being active members within the community.

The SMSU men’s basketball team partnered again with the United Way of Southwest Minnesota in its “Read for the Record” program. The team helped facilitate virtual readings of books at more than 150 locations, including classrooms, child care centers and libraries throughout the region.

Numerous teams again this year volunteered to help with fall clean-up at homes in Marshall, including the volleyball team, pictured above. The

16 | FOCUS

work included raking leaves, cleaning garages and more.

“Our football program is committed to serving the community of Marshall,” said Cory Sauter, SMSU head football coach.

“This year we created a program called Servant Leadership Wednesday. Each Wednesday our team is involved in a community service project. We are so thankful for the support the city provides our university and student-athletes.”

Community engagement is a key part of Division II’s strategic initiatives. The effort emphasizes not only the relationship of the athletics program with the community, but also the interaction of the overall institution with the community in which it is located.

SMSU Athletics and Marshall Radio Producing Streamable Programming

[ athletics ]

The SMSU Athletics Department and Marshall Radio are pleased to produce several radio shows that air on local stations and are also available via podcast to help promote SMSU Athletics, its outstanding student-athletes and also look back at outstanding Mustang memories.

The long-standing weekly show, “Saturday Morning Mustang” returned again this fall airing each Saturday morning at 9:05 on 1400 AM KMHL. The weekly one-hour show airs with “The Voice of SMSU Athletics,” Ryan Rohlik, SMSU Director of Athletics Chris Hmielewski and SMSU Athletic Communications Director Kelly Loft, and features updates on Mustang Athletics along with interviews with SMSU head coaches.

Two additional shows were created this fall and are available on Marshall’s all-sports station, 107.5 FM The Fan. Each Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. “Meet the Mustang” airs with Rohlik conducting in-depth interviews with current SMSU student-athletes and head coaches.

On Friday nights at 5 p.m., Rohlik and Loft host “Mustang Memory,” which looks back at outstanding Mustang memories and feature in-depth interviews and stories with former SMSU student-athletes and coaches from the past 50-plus years of Mustang Athletics.

All Mustang Radio shows are available to listen and download at SMSUmustangs.com/ MustangRadio. All three shows can be heard live via streaming at MarshallRadio.net.

Mustang Radio Shows • “Saturday Morning Mustang” on Saturdays, 9:05 a.m., 1400 AM KMHL • “Meet the Mustang” on Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m., 107.5 FM The Fan • “Mustang Memory”on Fridays, 5 p.m., 107.5 FM The Fan.

Hall of Honor Postponed to 2022

The 2021 SMSU Athletics Hall of Honor induction, which was scheduled for January 23, has been postponed due to COVID-19. The plan is to induct the next Hall of Honor class in early 2022.

The SMSU Athletics Hall of Honor, presented

by US Bank, celebrates the achievements of student-athletes, coaches, teams and community members who have contributed in various ways to strengthening the athletic tradition at SMSU. To view the SMSU Athletics Hall of Honor members or to nominate an individual or team, go to SMSUmustangs.com/HallofHonor

For SMSU athletics updates, visit SMSUMustangs.com OR

FOCUS | 17

SMSU FOUNDATION

ANNUAL REPORT Greetings to my fellow Alumni and SMSU Foundation Friends!

I am delighted to report that in 2020, your SMSU Foundation was able to provide almost $3.4 million in overall support to the University, most notably including over $1.2 million in much-needed private scholarships for our students. We should take tremendous pride in this achievement— it represents a record high level of scholarship funding for the past decade. And it was achieved despite challenging economies facing higher education and, of course, the emergence of the unprecedented pandemic that continues to impact the world.

Thanks to your enduring and spirited support, the SMSU Foundation has maintained a continuous focus on enhancing educational access and campus experiences for its students. The Board of Directors is committed to ensure that this core focus will not be diminished. However, recent leadership changes — both at the University and within the Foundation itself — have all of us exploring new approaches, new tools, and new levels of engagement that will make SMSU even more relevant to a broader community going forward.

SMSU FOUNDATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Linda Baun ‘85

Jefferson Lee IV ’96/’11

Brad Bacon ‘92

Charles Myrbach

As we move forward on this new path, expect some exciting new goals and initiatives to better fill existing and emerging needs of our school and the region, including expanded nursing programs, a cybersecurity curriculum, and expanded competency-based degree programs. There will also be new focus on enriching students’ campus experiences and on the expansion of smart classrooms. As Mustangs at heart, we believe that if we can RUN TOGETHER we can start to IMAGINE SOME TREMENDOUS IMPACTS!

Julie Bleyhl ’84

Ken Mukomela

Jerry Bly ‘71

Kristi Mukomela ‘80

Vicki Brockman ’82

Mike Rich

Timothy Burns ’72

Ann Roemen ‘84

Duane Carrow

Joe Roers ’05

Tina Cartwright ’97

Bruce Saugstad ‘89

We invite you to follow closely, expect great things, and help us rise to new heights! Our sincere thanks to all of you for your ongoing passion and support of SMSU. We believe we are on a very constructive new journey that will energize and excite you while we build an even better future for SMSU and its important constituencies!

Lee French ’72

Val Swanson ‘76

Robert Gunther ’77

Diane Taylor ’75

Brian Knochenmus ‘00

Cindy Verschaetse

Jim Kontz

Neal Wahlman ‘75

Sincerely,

Dan Koster ’85

Dave Werpy ’79

Dorene Kronke-McCourt ‘73

Brad Winkelman ’91

Dave Werpy ‘79 SMSU Foundation Board President

SMSU Foundation Mission

Muna Mohamed Nur ‘18 Interim Co-Executive Directors Stacy Frost ‘93 and Nathan Polfliet ‘00/’11

We exist in order to engage alumni and friends of Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) in funding scholarships, projects and activities that benefit SMSU Students and support the strategic priorities of SMSU.

18 FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

FOUNDATION SUPPORT July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 (Fiscal Year 2020)

$3,393,803

SUPPORT OF STUDENT

SCHOLARSHIPS FY 12 $625,499

University Development $1,180,862

Scholarships $1,204,119

FY 13 $806,093 FY 14 $737,384 FY 15 $817,309

Academic and Program Support $479,445

Fundraising $529,377

FY 16 $711,302 FY 17 $991,279 FY 18 $1,008,030

$5,140,169

FY 19 $1,167,188 FY 20 $1,204,119

Support and Revenue

3,841 Individual Donors

SMSU ranked

7

th

in the nation for affordable bachelor’s degrees

$479,445

Total Academic & Program Support

$1,204,119 Total Student Scholarships

1,005 Scholarship Recipients

62%

Faculty & Staff Give

SMSU values the support of all of our donors who support our students and our mission. We thank all of the alumni, parents, and friends whose generosity makes our work possible. A complete honor roll of donors can be found on our website at

www.SMSUFoundation.org/HonorRollofDonors

FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

19

Women’s Conference Planned for 2021 The second SMSU Women’s Leadership Conference is planned for April 30, 2021. The keynote will feature a speaker who has already made a lasting impression on the SMSU Family.

Rachel Baribeau, a nationallyrecognized sportscaster and activist, will give the keynote address.

Baribeau was on campus in September, 2019 for a trio of presentations to Mustang men and women athletes and coaching staffs. Her “Changing the Narrative” presentation was geared specifically for each group. Her overall theme was about becoming a better you, and not being afraid to seek mental health assistance when needed.

She is the first known female sports reporter to participate in a professional football training camp, and brings to her speaking engagements unique life experiences, and a sincerity and passion appreciated by all audiences.

She’s looking forward to her talk at the Women’s Leadership Conference. “I never set out to bust down barriers, I never tried to be the first at anything, but somehow, I’ve done a lot of that.”

She described her Women’s Leadership Conference message as being “for all ages. If you’re a woman, and you want to keep growing, you want to keep learning, I can’t wait to meet you at this amazing conference.”

A number of alumna will offer breakout sessions on working collaboratively and lifting up one another to create an environment in which all women can succeed.

While the format of the 2021 conference is still to be determined, save the date on your calendar: April 30, 2021 and plan to participate in the conference. Details regarding the conference format will be available in early 2021 on our website: SMSUFoundation.org/WomenLead

2020 Virtual University Gala is a Success

The University Gala has been the SMSU Foundation’s signature event for 31 years. This year, a unique week-long virtual University Gala was held in late October. Over $60,000 was raised thanks to wonderful support from our Mustang Family! We are grateful for the volunteer hours, auction donations and activity, contributions matched up to $20,000, and overall participation from alumni and friends across 18 states.

20

FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

Thank you to all who supported student scholarships through this impactful event. Special thanks to President Kumara Jayasuriya, Bruce Saugstad and Muna Muhamed for providing thoughtful messages throughout the week. Even though we were unable to gather, the spirit of the event persevered and allowed us to focus on our mission of supporting and lifting up our SMSU students! To view the videos visit: https://bit.ly/smsutodayvideos

Brobst Family Gift Transforms Residence Hall

Mustang students will benefit from the generous donation to the SMSU Foundation by the late John Brobst, who passed away on Jan. 19, 2020. The Brobsts utilized planned giving to designate their gift which allowed for the updates in the El Dorado residence hall.

Jean had an opportunity to tour the Residence Halls and see the improvements firsthand this fall and was impressed by the renovations. Jean also visited with Resident Assistant, Elizabeth Zoya, who spoke about how much the students are enjoying and appreciating the updates to the kitchen, lighting and lounge furniture. “They are really nice improvements,� Jean said.

John Brobst and his wife Jean moved to Marshall in November, 1971 and have been long-time friends of the University ever since. John was an early member of the Foundation Board of Directors and a managing partner of the Hoffman & Brobst accounting firm.

The SMSU Foundation is grateful for the support, the thoughtfulness, and the generosity of the Brobst family that is making a positive impact on the daily lives of our on-campus students.

Photos, clockwise, from top: A Residence Hall lounge shown in the 1970s. Dr. Kumara Jayasuriya, SMSU President; Jean Brobst; and Jessica Bentley, SMSU Residence Life Director.

Students enjoy the updated kitchen. A student relaxes in the new lounge furniture.

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 86 Marshall, MN

SMSU Alumni Office 1501 State Street • Marshall, MN 56258 Change Service Requested

If FOCUS is addressed to a son or daughter who has graduated or no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please email alumni@SMSU.edu to provide the current address or call toll-free 1-800-260-0970 to notify us of the change.

2021 UPCOMING EVENTS Invite a student to visit and apply!

JANUARY

11 Foundation Board Meeting 29 Gold Rush Raffle FEBRUARY

TBA Farm Outlook Seminar 6 Alumni Board Meeting 8-12 Virtual Ag Bowl Scholarship Invitational 13 Mustang Ice Classic

www.smsualumni.com/MustangIceClassic APRIL

27 Foundation Board Meeting 30 Women’s Leadership Conference MAY 8 Commencement

For more information, visit: WWW.SMSUALUMNI.COM

Do you know a high schooler who would thrive at SMSU? Maybe a college student who just doesn’t feel like they fit at a larger school.

Everything you loved about SMSU continues to make it a great place to learn and grow The small classes, hands-on learning, and opportunities for leadership are what made your time special and still make our campus unique.

Help us showcase the amazing opportunities at SMSU by inviting a prospective student to visit campus!

Referred students receive: • A personal tour of campus • Application fee waived • A chance to win a $250 scholarship • A free SMSU T-shirt

www.SMSUAlumni.com/MustangReferral

ALUMNI HERITAGE SCHOLARSHIP

Through its scholarship program, the SMSU Alumni Association recognizes high school seniors and transfer students for their academic and leadership achievements.

The evaluation criterion focuses on well-roundedness.

The evaluation committee holds all of the following elements in equal value: GPA, ACT or SAT scores,

extra-curricular activities, community and volunteer activities, honors and achievements, and a letter of recommendation. The SMSU Alumni Association will award up to 10 scholarships for the academic year. These scholarships are worth $500.00 for the first year at SMSU. Visit: www.SMSU.edu/scholarships