SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
A message from the Board Chair
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What does a Saint Mary’s degree stand for? Our mission, reputation, and brand call on us to not only answer this question but continually validate our answer and share the outcomes loudly and proudly. Certainly, we want our graduates to leave here with current and applicable skills and knowledge. We also want our graduates to be renowned for another trait, one desperately needed in today’s workforce: character. Every industry benefits from hiring graduates with strong ethical character and virtue. It’s a lot to imbue in our students during the short time our undergraduates and graduate students are with us. Yet, we know it begins with having the right people, tools, facilities, and resources in place. Included in our “right people” focus is Leon Dixon, Saint Mary’s new vice president for inclusion and human dignity. His background and experiences in the world of inclusion support our efforts, including discussions, learning, and community on our campuses and beyond. These discussions, elevated by what’s happening right now in the world around us, have always been key to who we are as Lasallian Catholics. We’ve also welcomed Matthew Gerlach as our vice president for character, virtue, and ethics. His work will weave throughout the university. To have the right tools, we must continue listening to the needs of businesses and industry, the healthcare field, education, and other sectors in which our graduates will work. By being attentive in this way, we help our students, our communities, and our world. It’s important to note we continue to align our academic goals to ensure our student body is prepared to meet employer expectations. Our corporate partners are an essential part of Saint Mary’s strategic plan — contributing to enrollment growth and creating opportunities for innovation. With 39 formal corporate partnerships and growing, we are excited to share the new and renewed partnerships supporting our institutional work. Key academic partnerships with other institutions in the region will also benefit all our partner schools, particularly when we align our educational approach, mission, and pursuit of excellence. We have been
excited to formalize our work with Viterbo University and Catholic Virtual Academy this past year. Viterbo offers graduate students at both schools additional opportunities, and Catholic Virtual Academy offers Catholic high school students college credit at Saint Mary’s. This fall, we’ve dedicated an additional facility of learning and discovery in Winona. Aquinas Hall houses our business, science, and psychology programs, and our newest B.S. in Nursing program. Having stateof-the-art facilities helps with recruitment and aids learning. None of this would be possible without you, our generous benefactors, who provide us with the resources we need to expand and grow to meet students’ needs. Whether you have shared your time, talent, treasure, or testimony; whether you support the annual fund, building enhancements, scholarships, or particular programs or initiatives, please know how much your gifts mean to this university and our students. We are confident our graduates will be in a position to one day give back for the gifts that have been provided to them, through people like you, creating an endless circle of generosity. I urge you to share your love of Saint Mary’s by referring a student to us, touring our campuses, hiring our graduates, offering an internship, or considering mentoring. To find out where to begin, call Bob Fisher, senior director of alumni and benefactor engagement, at 507-457-6658. We look to you to help us connect with the people who can further the mission of empowering students to ethical lives of service and leadership. There’s no better investment than education. Today’s students will be tomorrow’s doctors, lawyers, educators, business leaders, and change agents. What does a Saint Mary’s education mean? In a word: more. Thank you for all that you do. May God continue to bless you richly and bless our work at Saint Mary’s University.
Terrance Russell ’76 Chair Board of Trustees
