Katelynn Urness Named 2023 Outstanding Senior

Each year, the SMSU Alumni Association presents an Outstanding Senior Award. This honor recognizes an individual who has made the most of their college experience, both in and out of the classroom.

The Outstanding Senior for 2023 was Katelynn Urness of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She was recognized in a surprise announcement during the 55th commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 6, 2023. She was highly recommended to the selection committee for her academic accomplishments, her engagement in the classroom, her campus involvement, and her enthusiastic attitude.

“This award means a lot to me because I have worked very hard over the last four years being involved and trying to make a difference in our school. I was involved in many different areas across campus, and I believe that I gained lots of experience and was able to do more than if I had stayed with one club or one organization,” said Urness. “I am also a first-generation college student so to win this award is truly an honor.”

Urness graduated with a double-major in Biology and Environmental Science. One of her nominating professors said that her passion for biology, conservation, and the environment shown in her academic performance, extracurricular, and community involvement.

“There are several people who have impacted my life at SMSU, but Dr. Alyssa Anderson stands out over my four years. She was one of my advisors and professors whom I not only TA’d for in the BIO 201 lab, but I also traveled to a research conference with her in Fall 2021, and recently on the study abroad trip to the Bahamas,” said Urness. “Dr. Anderson has been such an amazing professor who pushed and challenged me to be the best that I can be. She has provided me with guidance and numerous opportunities to gain experience for my future. My time at SMSU would have been drastically different without her in it, and I am so grateful for her.”

Urness stood out as a natural leader in the classroom serving as a student teaching assistant in two semesters of Biology 201 course. She immersed herself in research projects that included bird mortality on campus and the prevalence of plastics found on beaches she observed while studying abroad this spring. She spent the past two summers in two highlycompetitive internships with South Dakota Game Fish and Parks.

In addition to classroom and research work, Urness served as president of the Environmental Science Awareness Club for the past two years organizing community engagement programs like monarch butterfly tagging. She is also involved in Enactus with Compost Project and Mindful Meals initiatives.

Urness also found time to work in the Natural History Museum on campus. She served as an orientation leader helping welcome new students in the fall, volunteered as a student ambassador giving tours to prospective students, and worked in the office of admission all four of her years at SMSU.

One of her nominations read: You will not find a more kind, thoughtful, hardworking, mature, and responsible team player. She has a bright future ahead of her.

“This summer I will be working at a greenhouse back home in Sioux Falls and volunteering at the Butterfly House and Aquarium in my free time,” said Urness. “I will go to grad school eventually, likely studying conservation science, but for now I would like to gain experience and solidify my plans before that.”

The SMSU Alumni Association and Southwest Minnesota State University congratulate 2023 Outstanding Senior, Katelynn Urness.

–Haywood Boston

2023 Commencement Speaker: Haywood Boston, Jr. ’78

Haywood Boston, Jr., Class of 1978, was chosen to deliver the 2023 commencement address.

A North Carolina native, Haywood Boston, Jr. came to Southwest to play basketball for the Mustangs. Dale Honeck had been hired as the head coach and recruited Boston to move to Marshall, Minn. Boston joined teammates Sam Leggett, Carl Harris, Peter James, Willie Bond, and Garry Mercer from the same junior college in North Carolina. Boston found Marshall to be welcoming and not unfamiliar to him.

“The experience was great. People welcomed us into their homes. I didn’t feel like a stranger at all.” Boston played basketball for the Mustangs from 1975-77. Boston met his wife at Southwest. He is married to Jean (Jorgensen), 1980 alumna, Marshall native, and daughter of Dick Jorgensen, a lifelong friend of the University.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without Jean,” said Boston. “And my father-in-law, Dick was a great mentor to me. He embraced me and taught me at the same time. To this day, I still miss him.” Boston shared a story in his speech. He was unable to travel home to North Carolina and spent Christmas with the Jorgensen family. As the gifts were passed out, first one gift, then another, and another were placed in front of him.

“I went back to my dorm and looked at those gifts and I started crying. Being a poor, backwoods kid, I never had a Christmas. I realized someone cared about me,” said Boston. “That experience helped me become a man and that’s what coming to Southwest meant for me. It changed my life.”

In addition to Jean and the Jorgensen family, he mentions Mike Sterner and Lew Shaver as being positive influences on him as a student in the physical education program. He graduated with a degree in Health and Physical Education in 1978.

His first job out of college was teaching and coaching in his home state of North Carolina. He worked for a time with the Burger King corporation, overseeing 15 stores on the East Coast. However, he found his way back to Minnesota for graduate school to study sports psychology and serve as an assistant coach at Minnesota State—Mankato.

He worked at Hoover High in Des Moines, Iowa for more than 20 years. After taking some time off for health reasons, Boston moved to North High School in Des Moines, an inner-city school district that hadn’t had a winning season since 1983.

“People told me ‘You’re such a good coach. Why do you want to go there?’” he recalled. “If I am a good coach, then this is where I can make an impact.”

“I was tough. If their GPA wasn’t where it should be, they didn’t play,” he recalled. “My first year, I went from having 45 kids on the team down to six. But I reminded them that the sign in front of the building says North High School, not North Basketball.”

“I knew if I went the extra mile for them, they would go the extra mile for me,” he said.

Boston went on to take the North High School girls’ basketball team to three winning seasons in a row, including an 18-3 record and conference title in the 2022-23 season. He plans to coach the team as long as he can. He retired this summer after a 45-year career in the classroom. He and his wife, Jean, are the parents of three grown children: Cassondra, Chad, and Olivia, and the grandparents of two.

His advice for the class of 2023: “I hope that because you have a college degree you aren’t saying to yourself ‘I’m done learning,’ because if you cease to learn, you cease to live. Living a great life involves learning every day. Never have a closed mind to information or advice. The young, the old, the educated, and the uneducated all have something to offer.”