Students learn of Lasallian mission work in Guatemala

Diana Lundeen with children of the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos school and orphanage.

John Delwich, Steve Schmidt, Adam Runge and Cullen Gibbons in Guatemala.




Two groups of Saint Mary’s students traveled to Guatemala in May to learn about Lasallian mission work. Chris McClead, director of SMU’s Campus Ministry, led a Serving Others United in Love (SOUL) trip with students Abby Voigt, Allison Stephens, Shannon Nelson, Rachel Elbert, John Speedling, Kelly Holt, Diana Lundeen, Ellen Bina and Emily DeWitt. Students John Delwich, Steve Schmidt, Adam Runge and Cullen Gibbons also traveled to Guatemala with Brother Pat Conway, director of vocations for the Lasallian Teacher Immersion Program.

The trips were intended to spark interest on the Winona campus for the life and work of Brother James Miller, a 1966 Saint Mary’s alum who was killed while serving in Guatemala in 1982. The Church has designated Brother James as a “Servant of God” and he is being considered for sainthood. On the two trips, these students experienced firsthand their connection to the broader Lasallian mission.

‘Summer vacation’ in the research lab

SMU students are spending their summers doing research at laboratories.

 From left: front, Thomas Briese, Jennifer Koezly; back, Brian Kasel, Timothy McDonald and Luke Baertlein.

Five SMU science students are spending their summer doing research at laboratories in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. Jennifer Koezly, a double major in chemistry and engineering physics, was accepted into the Lando/NSF Summer Research Program in the chemical sciences at the University of Minnesota. Brian Kasel, a biophysics major, landed a position in the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center Summer Fellowship Program. Luke Baertlein, a biophysics major, is working at the Mayo Clinic in the Department of Health Sciences Research - Epidemiology Division. Timothy McDonald, a double major in chemistry and engineering physics, and Thomas Briese, a biochemistry major, are both working with Father Paul Nienaber, SJ, Ph.D, chair of SMU's Physics Department, as part of the MicroBooNE neutrino experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Funding for these students is provided by a Research at Undergraduate Institutions grant from the National Science Foundation.
 “This is a singular contribution to undergraduate research in the sciences at Saint Mary’s,” noted Father Nienaber. “These students are talented and motivated, and they’ve worked hard to get where they are. Placing this many students in these sorts of research projects at major universities and laboratories speaks volumes about the quality of the science program at Saint Mary’s University.”

UN Convocation advocates for rights of children

Danielle Strebel, Shannon Nelson, Tim Gossen

Saint Mary’s students and a staff member attended the Lasallian Convocation on the Rights of the Child in April at the United Nations (UN). Tim Gossen, dean of students, and students Shannon Nelson and Danielle Strebel joined with other representatives of Lasallian schools and colleges in the United States and Toronto, Canada, in their call for universal ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC emphasizes the rights of children to survival; to develop to their full potential; to protection from abuse, neglect, discrimination, and exploitation; and to participate in family, cultural, and social life. After the conference, the students said they are inspired to work locally and challenge other Saint Mary's students to assist volunteer services that help children in Winona.

Learn more about the Lasallian Convocation at the UN

Students organize cancer fundraiser

The Saint Mary’s Colleges Against Cancer student group helped raised $20,000 during the 2010 Relay for Life in April.
 Teams of friends, families and coworkers joined together in a fundraising effort for the American Cancer Society. 
SMU and Winona community team members walked around SMU’s indoor track from dusk to dawn to represent the 24-hour fight against cancer. Activities throughout the night included a silent auction, bingo, games, and a performance by an alumni musical group, Koo Koo Kangaroo. Laurie Haase, Relay for Life team leader, said it was "moving and amazing to see our young people organize and run an event that raised $20,000 for cancer research."

Watch video footage of this event.

Week of activities celebrate entrepreneurial spirit

Staff and students pose with Dave Anderson of Famous Dave's BBQ
following his presentation during Entrepreneurship Week.

The mid-April Entrepreneurship Week on campus was hosted by the Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies to recognize and celebrate entrepreneurial spirit both at the university and in the community. Noted speakers and events included a roundtable breakfast on business ethics featuring Justin Paperny, a former UBS stockbroker and author of “Lessons from Prison”; a "Dress to Impress" demonstration; a symposium on women's challenges and opportunities in business; a session on social entrepreneurship with keynote speaker Lisa Nigro, founder of Inspiration Café; 
an inspirational talk by Dave Anderson, founder of Famous Dave’s Barbecue; and a special luncheon and celebration of Winona’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Saint Teresa Institute hosts women’s symposium

The Saint Teresa Leadership and Service Institute for Women hosted the 2010 Women’s Symposium, “Cracks in the Ceiling,” in April.
The symposium offered the SMU community a look at women’s accomplishments and progress in the United States as they move toward gender equality.
 Events began with an address by Catherine Gray, Midwest Director of Strategy and Engagement, the White House Project. Other activities included breakout sessions on women leaders in religion, women in the sciences, and women in politics. The day was capped by dinner and a keynote talk on entrepreneurship by Martha Rossini Olson, owner of Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar.

Saint Mary's University has an App for that

Two students in Saint Mary’s iPhone programming class created an SMU application (or "App") for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Christopher Engesser and Stephanie Valentine designed a working "iSMU" application that allows students, parents, alums and others easy access to SMU news and information on Apple mobile devices.
 The iSMU App is available for free download from the Apple iTunes App Store, and includes: 

campus news and blogs; live sports updates; activities calendar; performance calendar and ticket information; daily Chartwells menu options; campus YouTube videos; and an opportunity to donate to SMU. 
The iSMU App will be continually tweaked and its information updated.
 “Mobile devices give our students the opportunity to develop interesting, useful and educational applications that are accessed via their cell phones,” said Ann Smith, chair of the Computer Science Department. “The beauty of this programming class is that students can build applications for their peers from the perspective of what is important to students."

Winona commencement celebrates new beginnings

On May 8, the Winona campus of Saint Mary’s University hosted two commencement ceremonies to mark the end of the academic year.
 The undergraduate ceremony featured student perspectives by this year’s Outstanding Male and Female Seniors, David Dahlstrom of Rochester and Mariana Sanchez of Puebla, Mexico. A Presidential Award for Outstanding Merit was given to long-time SMU supporter and 1977 alum Dr. John Domanico.
 At the
Winona Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs commencement, a Presidential Award for Outstanding Merit was given to Sister Una O’Connor, president of Catholic College of Mandeville, Jamaica, Saint Mary’s partnering institution in our Master of Education - Jamaica initiative.


Watch video footage of this event.

SMU noted for its growth in lecture capture technology

Jason Spartz accepted a Tegrity Award on behalf of Saint Mary's.

Tegrity, a leading class capture web service provider for higher education, acknowledged Saint Mary’s for its use of instructional technology at its annual user conference in Louisville, Ky. During a Tegrity Innovation Awards Ceremony, Saint Mary’s was awarded a Certificate of Achievement for its growth in the number and duration of new recordings during the past year. Jason Spartz, SMU's multimedia support manager, was also invited to make a presentation on “Supporting Tegrity with Limited Resources.”

Watch Tegrity in action at SMU

Spring sport athletes receive honors

Andrew Brueggen, Ryan Wockenfus, Teri Heinze, Kellie Simons, Erin Stenseth, Katy Gannon
(Not pictured: Sara Harstad)

Mike Lunka, Robert Steingraeber, Rebecca Snyder, Bailey Edwards, Coach Jeff Halberg

Saint Mary's athletes in spring sports received multiple honors at the end of the season. In men's track and field, Andrew Brueggen was an NCAA qualifier and All-MIAC in hammer throw; Ryan Wockenfus was All-MIAC in javelin. On the women's side, Sara Harstad was All-MIAC in the hammer throw; Teri Heinzen was All-MIAC in the 100m and 200m dashes. In fastpitch softball, Kellie Simons and Katy Gannon were named first-team All-MIAC; Simons and Erin Stenseth were also named third-team All-Midwest Region. In men's tennis, Mike Lunka and Robert Steingraeber were named All-MIAC in doubles. For the women's team, Rebecca Snyder and Bailey Edwards were named All-MIAC in both singles and doubles. Tennis coach Jeff Halberg was honored as co-Coach of the Year in the MIAC.

Go to the Cardinal Athletics website

Professor Emeritus speaks at U of M symposium

Dr. Dick Kowles, professor emeritus in biology, was an invited speaker at a University of Minnesota symposium in May. The symposium was held in honor of the retiring Regent’s Professor and National Academy of Sciences member R. L. Phillips, a long-time colleague of Dr. Kowles’.
 “Fortuitous Events in Researching Amazing Maize” was the subject of his presentation that was a review of 25 years of research collaboration with Phillips. The talk acknowledged the undergraduate research work of 72 Saint Mary’s students who worked with Dr. Kowles on these projects. In addition, the abstract of the talk will be published in an upcoming issue of the "Crop Science" journal.

Students recognized at Senior Honors Banquet

Saint Mary’s recognized outstanding senior students at the annual Senior Academic Honors Banquet. Highlights of the evening included the announcement of graduate and professional school acceptances, grants and fellowships, and the awarding of the following special honors:
 American Institute of Chemists Award — Aaron Clark and Thomas Briese;
 American Chemical Society Award — Sarah Murphy; Kevin Martineau Award (business) — Agnieszka Kadej and David Dahlstrom; Outstanding Accounting Student — Katherine Drazkowski; Outstanding International Business Student — Pawel Jan Szczpkowski; Outstanding Entrepreneurship Student — Matthew Wilgenbusch; Outstanding Human Resource Management Student — David Dahlstrom.

Also: Outstanding Sport Management Student — Zhe Song; Outstanding Marketing Student — Agnieszka Kadej; Wall Street Journal Award — Zhe Song; Thomas Aquinas Award for Excellence (philosophy) — Thomas Howes; Grove Bree Holman Award for Musical Theatre — Peter Snell; Michael G. Flanagan Ghost Light Award (theatre) — William Ronchak; Gerald Sullivan Outstanding Theatre Major Award — Timothy Schmall; Brother Leo Northam Awards (math) — Stephanie Marnocha and Changyu Yang; Distinction in Studies/Academic Work Award (social sciences) — Mary Gleich; Distinction in Studies/Academic Work - Social Activism (social sciences) — Sarah Weir; Lasallian Honors Program Outstanding Senior Award — Thomas Briese and Sarah Weir.

See photos from this event.

SMU community members receive student life awards

Zhe “Scott” Song of Xi’an, China received the Student Service Award from Chris Kendall,
vice president for Student Life.

Outstanding students, faculty and staff were honored at the annual Student Life Awards Ceremony. Awards were given to those who made a positive impact on student life at SMU, including: Brother Finbar McMullen Award (for unselfishly meeting the needs of undergraduate students) — Brendan Dolan, Student Life graduate assistant and residence hall director; Charlene “Char” Tjaden Outstanding Resident Assistant — Stephanie Valentine; Club and Organization Advisor of the Year — Dr. Jeanne Minnerath; Organization of the Year — International Students Club; 

Intramural Official of the Year — Amanda Mueller; Volunteer of the Year — Beth Leister; Outstanding Student Senator — Vanessa Grams; Winona Community Service — Emily Merchlewitz; Brother James Miller Award (for a student who has spread the compassion of God and served the community) — Betsy Baertlein; Student Service Award — Zhe “Scott” Song; Outdoor Leadership Recognition Award — Gary Borash and Betsy Baertlein; Brother Charlie Burke Award (for a faculty or staff member who has made significant contributions to the Student Life office and promoted the growth of the whole student) — Jason Richter.

See photos from this event.

Fundraisers benefit Haitians and a fellow student

Students were "freezin' for a reason" at the Cardinal Plunge.

The Saint Mary’s community found creative ways to raise over $5,000 to benefit earthquake victims in Haiti and a fellow student in need.

Proceeds from the first “Cardinal Plunge” were split between Haiti relief and the family of Michael Mockler, a sophomore undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. More than 120 brave souls and warm hearts jumped into Lake Goodview, while 300 of the less-brave offered moral support. (See video of the event.)

Sales of the “Red Card,” a Winona business discount program devised and executed by students in our Entrepreneurship class, will benefit the Haiti Medical Mission of Wisconsin.

Other Haiti benefit efforts included: a faculty/staff chili cookoff; “Hope for  Haiti” student carnival hosted by volunteer mentors; “Dance for Haiti” sponsored by Campus Ministry; “Open Mic Night” in the Cardinal Club; a jewelry sale; and the “International Showcase” of student musical talent sponsored by the Inter-Cultural Awareness Association and the International Students Club. (See video of the event.)

Mayo program a great experience for students

Nine Saint Mary’s students received the educational opportunity of a lifetime through the Mayo Innovation Scholars Program (MISP). For the past five months, these students contributed to innovative medical research, associated with the world’s most prestigious health care system.

Saint Mary’s participants included: business majors Boya Hu, Agnieszka Kadej, Brittany Peterson and Matt Wilgenbusch; computer science major Emily Friedl; and biological sciences majors Melissa Wolf, Caitlin O’Conner, Thomas Briese and Phil Thomas.

The Mayo Innovation Scholars Program, now in its fourth year, is an opportunity for selected MBA students and undergraduate science and business students to research projects submitted by Mayo Clinic professionals through the Mayo Clinic Office of Intellectual Property. The Minnesota Private College Council helps to coordinate the program. MISP connects students from biology, chemistry, math, physics, pre-med and business and helps prepare them for careers in hospitals, medical research institutions and health care agencies.

Report shows Saint Mary’s athletes excel in classroom

For any student-athlete, statistics help tell the story of their individual or team successes. For members of the 21 varsity intercollegiate sports at Saint Mary’s, one statistic stands out above all the rest — 3.11. That’s the overall SMU student-athlete grade point average for fall semester, as calculated by Saint Mary’s institutional research.

The university is proud of the accomplishments of our student-athletes on and off the field of competition.  Of the 21 varsity teams, 16 boasted a team GPA of 3.00 or higher, with the women’s track and field (3.53) and the men’s cross country (3.43) leading the charge.

Of the 325 current student-athletes — who make up 25 percent of SMU’s full-time undergraduate population — 15 had perfect 4.0 GPAs, while 73 were named to the dean’s list with GPAs of 3.60 or above, and 182 finished the fall semester at 3.00 or higher. In addition, the men’s and women’s cross country teams earned U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team honors.

Valentine selected for prestigious research program

Stephanie Valentine

Stephanie Valentine, a junior computer science major, has been selected to receive a fully funded summer research opportunity. Stephanie will participate in the CDC/CRA-W Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU). One of 80 students selected from 500 applicants, she will do research with Prof. Tracy Hammond of Texas A&M University.

DREU is a highly selective program that matches promising undergraduates with a faculty mentor for a summer research experience at the faculty member's home institution. DREU’s objective is to increase the number of women and students from underrepresented groups entering graduate studies in the fields of computer science and engineering.

Athletes receive post-season honors

From left to right: Andrew Brueggen, Lukas Holland, Will Wright & Chris Palmer.

Several fall and winter athletes have received post-season accolades. Andrew Brueggen became Saint Mary's first-ever male All-American in track and field, placing fourth in the weight throw at the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships. (See video of the event.) Junior men’s basketball players Lukas Holland and Will Wright were named first-team All-MIAC. Freshman Chris Palmer was named honorable mention and selected to the All-First Year Team. Chris was also named D3hoops.com West Region Rookie of the Year.

From left to right: Jess Miller, Jessica Thone, Dy-anna Stewart, Stevie Fiek & Kaye Collier.

In women’s basketball, junior Jess Miller was named first-team All-MIAC, and freshman Jessica Thone was selected to the All-First Year Team. Junior Dy-anna Stewart, sophomore Stevie Fiek and freshman Kaye Collier were named first-team All-MIAC for women’s hockey; Kaye was also named to the All-Rookie Team.

Student researchers display results at the Capitol

Ryan Soukoup discussed his research with Minnesota Lt. Governor Carol Molnau.

Three SMU students, along with their faculty advisors, went to the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda on February 25 to present the results of their independent research and creative scholarship at the annual Minnesota Private College “Scholars at the Capitol” event.

Keith Fahrforth & Michelle Hermes displayed their research findings.

The event showcased current research projects completed by 34 undergraduate scholars from Minnesota private colleges and universities. Saint Mary’s students attending this year’s event included: Ryan Soukoup, presenting on “Cultural Change and the Dakota Uprising”; and Keith Fahrforth and Michelle Hermes, presenting on “The Effects of Atrazine on Pack Cell Volume, Gender and Development of Gallus Gallus.”

The MPCC hosted the event to publicize and celebrate the achievements of just a few of the many thousands of students who attend private schools of higher learning in Minnesota, and to share research that may have long-term implications for Minnesotans.

Heritage celebrated during De La Salle Week

Brother William with the Outstanding Senior finalists, from left to right: (front) Zhe “Scott” Song, Sarah Weir, Molly Jewison, Mariana Sanchez, Mary Gleich & Vanessa Grams; (back) David Dahlstrom, Bill Duffert, Brian Smith & Gary Borash.

The university celebrated its Lasallian heritage with a variety of special events during De La Salle Week — February 7 through March 6 — designed to engage students and deepen understanding. A highlight of the week was the Founder’s Day ceremony, the annual celebration of the founding of Saint Mary’s by Bishop Patrick Heffron in 1912, and of the university’s ongoing Lasallian heritage.

Dr. Carmelita Quebengco, executive vice president and chief operating officer of De La Salle Philippines, was presented an honorary doctorate for her work in the achievement of excellence in Lasallian higher education. She addressed the audience about developing effectiveness in a Lasallian university.

Mary Becker received the university’s Bishop Patrick Heffron Award for Service. As the administrative assistant to the president  since 1993, she has provided a daily example of service and commitment to our mission.

Brother Stephen Rusyn, FSC, Ph.D., was named this year’s Distinguished Lasallian Educator. Brother Stephen is a long-time professor of English who was chosen because of his attention and dedication to students.

The Outstanding Male and Female Senior Awards were presented to students who have demonstrated the ideals of scholarship, character, leadership and service. The Outstanding Male Senior Award went to David Dahlstrom, son of William and Rosanne Dahlstrom of Rochester, Minn. David is an accounting and human resource management major who also plays varsity baseball. The Outstanding Female Senior Award went to Mariana Sanchez, daughter of Jaime and Bernadette Sanchez, of Puebla, Mexico. Mariana is a graphic design major and a member of the varsity golf and soccer teams. (See video of the event.)

The following students were finalists for the 2010 Outstanding Senior Awards. Males: Gary Borash, son of Ron and Ann Borash of North Prairie, Minn.; Bill Duffert, son of Doug and Anne Duffert of Ramsey, Minn.; Zhe “Scott” Song, son of Shiqi Song and Haizhan Liu of Xi’an, China; and Brian Smith, son of Brad and Sue Smith of Minneapolis, Minn. Females: Mary Gleich, daughter of Peter '83 and Kathleen (Marek '83) Gleich, of Hastings, Minn.; Vanessa Grams, daughter of Jean and Gregg Grams of Little Falls, Minn.; Molly Jewison, daughter of Dan and Marie Jewison of Janesville, Minn.; and Sarah Weir, daughter of Glenn and Veronica Weir of Oswego, Ill.