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Campus ConnectionAn update from the president to alumni and parents
Switching to Saint Mary’s was one of the best decisions of her life
Awar Ongach knows that a life-changing decision can be made by clicking on an “apply” button.
Ongach had been studying in a nursing program that didn’t feel like the right fit. After hearing about Saint Mary’s from her uncle, she investigated program opportunities further.
The B.S. (Bachelor’s Completion) program in Healthcare Management caught her attention. “I liked that you could complete the program at your own pace and tuition was less expensive than other schools I looked at,” she said. “It was between Saint Mary’s (and another school in the Twin Cities), and Saint Mary’s had more to offer and more certificates. I knew I didn’t want to just stop at the B.S., so there’d be different opportunities for growth.”
Ongach also liked that the B.S. in Healthcare Management curriculum was broad enough, it would apply well to a variety of career paths. When she completes her degree in August, she hopes to obtain a certificate in healthcare analytics from Saint Mary’s as well — while she uncovers what area of healthcare she’s most interested in for a future career.
“I’ve always been an education-driven person,” she said. “Eventually I want to move on to get my master’s as well. With a bachelor’s degree, you have more opportunities to find more jobs, so that’s why I wanted to complete my degree.”
Ongach currently works for Twin Cities Orthopaedics as a patient service representative, checking in patients, registering new patients, doing referrals, and scheduling appointments. She has already found her courses applicable to her job, particularly a cultural competency course, which she said has helped her see things from a different perspective.
“I would recommend Saint Mary’s because it’s a good school. I tell my friends all the time this is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life, to switch schools,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time. And I’m taking classes that I’m interested in. I actually enjoy completing school work and completing classes, so I would recommend it to many people.”
Ongach said the things that set Saint Mary’s programs apart also include faculty, whom she describes as super nice and helpful and the flexibility of the course.
“The staff, you can tell, they actually like their job, and they’re willing to help students,” she said. “I like that you can complete the program at your own pace. Many people may think that completing all the work in eight weeks is too much, but I’ve found it’s a good amount of time to complete work. I do work full time, so I would say it’s very manageable. They give you your syllabus and you can plan ahead. It’s very flexible, so as long as you communicate with your teachers, they’re open to helping you succeed and find a plan that’s best for you.”
Bitten by research bug
After his first taste of field research, Mark Leonard B’19 was bitten.
And now, the biology major has built a career studying and controlling dangerous mosquito populations.
Leonard’s end goal, as a research scientist at Iowa State University, is to control populations of these vector species, because they can transmit diseases to us and to animals. According to the World Health Organization, vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases, causing more than 700,000 deaths annually.
If he gets bitten in the process, it’s a risk he’s willing to take.
“You get used to it,” he said. “You develop a habit of not itching them.”
Armed with long sleeves and long pants, and typically walking around marshy areas in humid conditions, Leonard also battles the heat, various weather conditions, and many interesting people who are wary of him being near their property.
But Leonard wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The biggest focus is making sure people are safe, keeping diseases out of human circulation, as they can be chronic and even lethal,” he said. “And they’re often underreported. There’s lots of risks out there, but the work being done is definitely helping.”
Leonard came to Saint Mary’s with the goal of becoming a veterinarian.
After taking standard biology courses, he realized the versatility of a biology degree. And, after working on tick research with one of his professors, Dr. Jeanne Minnerath, and observing woodpecker scavenging behaviors with his adviser, Dr. Benjamin Pauli, he became fascinated with field research.
His work with Dr. Pauli was published in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
“That was my first time ever doing highly detailed scientific writing for a journal, and it was a big learning experience. I found it exciting,” he said.
The summer before grad school and during the summer of 2020, he began working with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) as a control technician and inspector. “Most of what I did was fieldwork, going to various sites around the Anoka-Hennepin area, doing treatments and surveillance for both larval and adult mosquitoes. I also went out to wetlands with dry material in trucks and applied the material treatment. And I determined where and how much material should be distributed aerially by helicopter,” he said.
Leonard continued in public health entomology, graduating early from the University of Minnesota, earning a Master of Public Health degree in 2020. In grad school, he and colleagues came up with a concept for a sampling tool, and he ended up making a prototype; the results of this process were published in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association.
In 2021, he became a vector control director/GIS manager for Lake County Health Department in Crown Point, Ind.
“There I was in more of a directorial position,” he said. “I was responsible for leading a small crew of technicians who did what I did at MMCD and made bigger decisions for control methods. I also processed the data generated and what was reported to the state.”
Since June, Leonard has been working at Iowa State University, where life has come full circle and he is now working with students on research.
“In the summer months when it’s warm, we have a handful of counties who collect mosquitos with their own health departments and send them in for identification,” he said. “I work summers with another colleague and students to identify these samples and log them into a data form so at the end of the season, my colleague and I can pick up on patterns, determine where to sample in the future, and make recommendations.”
Looking back, Leonard says the hands-on learning he received with Saint Mary’s faculty set him up for a successful graduate experience, as well as career.
“It is one of, if not, the strongest bricks in the foundation that was laid in my professional academic life,” he said. “Having the opportunity to work in that capacity and work on projects affiliated with the internship and working with Dr. Pauli on the publications and in general with my thesis, it set a lot of really strong precedents, habits, and ways of thinking as I moved through my education and into the professional working sphere.
“The Biology Department is great. Professors are amazing. They do a great job teaching. If someone has an interest in life sciences or chemistry or biochemistry, I would definitely recommend Saint Mary’s.”
Saint Mary’s receives $25 million gift commitment, the largest benefactor investment in school’s history
MINNEAPOLIS/WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is announcing a $25 million gift commitment — the largest gift in the university’s 111-year-history — from an alumnus and his family. This unprecedented donation, directed to the university’s endowment, will support current efforts underway to revitalize the university and cement the vision recently laid out by the president and university administration to position it for a strong and successful future.
“We are forever grateful for this truly transformational gift to Saint Mary’s. Such a generous and major investment inspires and motivates us to advance our inspirational Lasallian Catholic educational mission, benefiting students and, in turn, society, as they work, lead, and serve others,” said Father James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D., Saint Mary’s president. “In these challenging times across higher education, this gift affirms that we are setting the course necessary to continue to serve students for decades to come.”
While the benefactors wish to remain anonymous, they shared they felt compelled to invest in Saint Mary’s, stating how much they appreciate the hard work of the president and administration to boldly address the future course of Saint Mary’s. They see the university as one of the few that have a clear plan to steer through the turbulent waters facing all in higher education today.
“Saint Mary’s has refocused its program offerings to directly meet workforce needs while maintaining a liberal arts core,” said Father Burns. “We know that today’s students (both graduate and undergraduate) are looking for a solid return on their investment, which is why our university is partnering with health care and other major industry leaders to ensure that Saint Mary’s can continue to respond to the evolving marketplace. We must ensure our graduates, who are tomorrow’s leaders, have the right skills for both work and life including problem solving, critical thinking, and communication. This is because our liberal arts foundation remains central to our undergraduate experience thus providing students with a well-rounded perspective that will benefit them throughout their lives. Our work is guided by our identity as a Lasallian Catholic community, which calls us to be student-centered, welcoming, and forward thinking.”
As a stipulation of the gift agreement, in order to inspire others to step forward to provide support, the family has challenged the university to raise an additional $100 million between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2024. The family also has set an expectation that the university will make significant progress toward increasing undergraduate enrollment from 800 to 900 during that same timeframe. Both stipulations are intended to further position the university for the future.
“In addition to the historic magnitude of the gift, it is special for other reasons as well,” said Gary Klein, vice president for advancement. “The benefactors’ primary goal is to grow the university’s endowment from $70 million to close to $100 million and — with the match — close to $200 million, an increase of 180%. They believe strongly that with this solid foundation, and guidance by Father President James Burns and the Board of Trustees, many generations of students will benefit from a Saint Mary’s education — and, in turn, society will benefit from graduates who are both skilled and demonstrate strong moral and ethical character.”
Previous record gifts to the university included $8 million in April of 2014 to our First Generation Initiative and an unrestricted gift of $7 million in June 2000.
Board Chair Terrence Russell said, “We are grateful beyond words to this family for their gift. It is now a challenge for all of us who want to see our beloved Saint Mary’s thrive and flourish in the future to step forward and make a philanthropic commitment to help us realize this gift. Our president has set a course that is innovative, visionary, and grounded in our faith-based mission. We could not be better poised for the future with his leadership and those of his team along with our faculty and staff to create the best learning environments for our students now and into the future. We are blessed.”
Former Viking, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page to receive Saint Mary’s University’s Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Former Minnesota Viking and State Supreme Court Justice Alan Page (retired) has been named this year’s recipient of Saint Mary’s University’s Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership; he will receive the award Tuesday, April 18, at the university’s annual Hendrickson Forum.
Alan Page, recipient of Saint Mary’s University’s Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership
Page, a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, started his football career at Notre Dame University and went on to play for the Minnesota Vikings for 11 years from 1967 to 1978. While still playing for the Vikings, he attended the University of Minnesota Law School and received his Juris Doctor. Page officially retired from football in 1981, after three years with the Chicago Bears.
After practicing law for a number of years, Page was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1992, becoming the first African American man to serve on the state’s highest court. Page served on the court until his retirement in 2015.
Dedicated to education, Page has been a proponent of the Page Amendment initiative in Minnesota, which would amend the state’s constitution and mandate “that quality public education is offered to all people.” The amendment is named in Page’s namesake.
In 1988, Page and his wife, Diane Sims Page, founded the Page Education Foundation. It provides financial and mentoring assistance to students of color in exchange for those students’ commitment to further volunteer service in the community, an idea suggested by their daughter Georgi.The Page Education Foundation has awarded grants to more than 7,500 students, who in turn have given more than 475,000 hours of their time to young children.
Recipients of the Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership have made significant contributions to the Twin Cities community and exhibit ethical leadership that is globally oriented, innovative, and creative. Further, recipients advocate for engaged citizenship that significantly improves the lives of others’ appreciation for diverse ideas and perspectives. Past medal recipients include Tony Sanneh of the Sanneh Foundation; Mary Jane Melendez of General Mills; Brad Hewitt of Thrivent Financial; Rhoda Olsen of Great Clips; Inge Thulin of 3M; and Mary Brainerd of HealthPartners.
The keynote for this year’s Hendrickson Forum is political analyst and author David Brooks, presenting “Navigating the Road to Character.”
Brooks has a gift for bringing audiences face to face with the spirit of our times with humor, insight, and quiet passion. He is a keen observer of the American way of life and a savvy analyst of present-day politics and foreign affairs. He holds several prestigious positions as a commentator including bi-weekly op-ed columnist for the New York Times and regular analyst on PBS NewsHour and NPR’s All Things Considered. His New York Times bestseller, The Road to Character, “explains why selflessness leads to greater success. He tells the story of 10 great lives that illustrate how character is developed, and how we can all strive to build rich inner lives, marked by humility and moral depth. In a society that emphasizes success and external achievement, The Road to Character is a book about inner worth.”
The Hendrickson Forum, which begins at 11:30 a.m. in Saint Mary’s Event Center, 2540 Park Ave., is open to the public. Tickets are available at smumn.edu/hendricksonforum.
Student affairs organizational changes announced
Several organizational changes in the student affairs area are taking place, effective immediately. All of the changes below continue to emphasize how we can best serve our students and meet our mission to awaken, nurture, and empower learners to ethical lives of service and leadership.
Ann Merchelwitz, J.D., senior vice president and general counsel, will add student affairs for the undergraduate residential experience to her scope of responsibilities. As a constant presence on campus and at student events, Merchlewitz will be a valuable resource for student affairs and students in Winona. This change will provide an opportunity for Marisa Naryka, Ed.D., to concentrate her work on mission and ministry, as well as adding responsibility for inclusion and human dignity and a focus on the student life experience for our adult students.
Student affairs update
- Merchlewitz will oversee undergrad student affairs, including the dean of students (who manages campus safety, residence life, and the mailroom), in addition to the R.I.S.E. coordinator, director of club sports, Chartwells, student senate, and health and counseling.
- Athletics will move under the president, a transition that recognizes the importance of student athletes and the leadership role our athletes play in student life at Saint Mary’s. It also affirms the contributions of our student athletes to our enrollment growth efforts and is a natural transition as Father James Burns, IVD, Ph.D., is the current chair of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (MIAC) and serves on the Division III NCAA President’s and Chancellor’s Advisory Council. Cardinal athletics continues to grow in reputation and impact in the MIAC. Dr. Naryka will continue to support athletics in the transition at the direction of Father Burns and will be in regular contact with athletics for the foreseeable future. Father Burns also looks forward to now being able to engage athletics in the university character initiative directly.
- The key initiative around co-curricular arts offerings to the full undergrad student body, which moved from academic to co-curricular last year, will continue to be managed by Dr. Naryka, Merchlewitz, and Max Bonilla, SSL, STD, newly appointed provost, who will support this student enriching and critical effort along with Lynette Johnson, recently appointed senior director of arts and events services.
Mission, ministry and inclusion, and human dignity update
- Dr. Naryka, vice president for mission and ministry, will add responsibility for our inclusion and human dignity efforts with the recent departure of Leon Dixon. Given the initiative is grounded in our Lasallian Catholic mission of respect for the dignity of each person, this alignment is intentional and will help advance the work.
- Related to mission and ministry, Dr. Naryka will put together a plan and execute it for our adult students in Minneapolis and online. She will be able to devote concentrated time on serving our adult students as a student affairs professional and through mission and ministry offerings, both key to initiative one of our strategic plan. A recent survey of our grad students will inform this work.
The talented and committed people working in student affairs will continue their efforts with our students under the new leadership, and these changes are expected to be as seamless as possible.
Update on general education
One of the major academic planning initiatives identified by leadership last May was the revision of the general education program.
On Jan. 13, faculty voted to support a general education revision proposal approved by the curriculum committee. Faculty, academic advisers, coaches, and other staff will soon have all of the information needed to answer student questions and support their learning goals.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to creating this revised program in time for implementation for fall 2023, which should continue to serve our students well.
This plan — now referred to as the General Education Program — eliminates several elements of the previous Integratus program that were not sustainable with current staffing and resources. It is also transfer friendly, key to our critical goal to grow enrollment.
Under the new General Education Program, students will take 39 credits in the following:
- First Year Experience – 9 cr
- INT101 First Year Seminar (3cr, reduce from 4 cr)
- E130 First Year Writing (3 cr)
- TH111 Thinking Theologically (3 cr)
- COM202 Communication Fundamentals or COM204 Professional Public Speaking – 3 cr
- Disciplinary Distribution requirements – 24 cr
- Arts, Communication, and History (3 cr)
- Computer Science & Natural Sciences (6 cr w/ 1 lab)
- Literature (3 cr)
- Mathematics/Statistics (3 cr)
- Philosophy (3 cr)
- Social Sciences (3 cr)
- Theology (3 cr)
- INT499 Interdisciplinary Capstone course – 3 cr
Eliminated are:
a) the Integratus minor requirement
b) the Integratus minor offerings
c) the Integratus minimum upper division credit requirements
d) Wellness Experience requirement
e) Cultural Engagement Experience requirement
The changes will not directly affect current students since they are under a different catalog year, and because the university will continue to teach-out those in the Integratus program, unless they decide to change catalog years through the registrar’s office.
On that front, we continue with our teachout implementation for majors and minors that are being phased out, which will now include the Integratus minors.
Our primary goal is for faculty and advisers to have what they need to best help students. The Student Success Center is always a resource for advisers. They can reach out to advising@smumn.edu with questions.
Saint Mary’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts announces an evening of one-act plays
WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts is inviting the public to an evening of one-act plays. Two productions — featuring Saint Mary’s student actors and designed and directed by Saint Mary’s students — will run Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 16-18 in the Studio Theater, located on the second floor of the Performance Center. Pick a night and attend both shows, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free but seating is limited.
- “The Drowning Girls” by Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson and Daniela Vlaskalic, directed by senior Livy Potthoff — This haunting play highlights three brides who share two things in common: they all married the same man, and they are all dead. Emerging from the clawfoot bathtubs they were drowned in, Bessie, Alice, and Margaret share the evidence against a murderous man in a chilling ghost story that recounts the shocking crimes. “Reflecting on the misconceptions of love, married life, and the not-so-happily ever after,” Playwrights Canada Press writes, “The Drowning Girls is both a breathtaking fantasia and a social critique, full of rich images, a myriad of characters, and lyrical language.”
- “The Stonewater Rapture” by Doug Wright, directed by senior Emma Paquette — In this poignant and funny emotional journey, we watch as two teens, Carlyle and Whitney, growing up in a conservative Texas town with a big high school football program, grapple with the pain of adolescence, sex, religion, and the pressure of living in a small town. In the second scene, according to dramatists.com, “Carlyle seeks Whitney’s help after she has been the victim of a sexual assault. Rather than face the grim reality of her experience, Carlyle transforms the attack from an act of violence to a vision of glory, in which the bodies of her assailants become the angels torn from the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the alcohol they forced upon her becomes the blood of Christ. As Carlyle’s delusions grow, Whitney must convince her of the unfortunate truth. Together they struggle to wed their simplistic religious doctrine with the often painful complexity of the real world.”
Mature Content: Mention of violence and sexual assault. Viewer discretion is advised.
Update: Feb. 18 cross-country ski races canceled due to snow conditions
Update 02/15/2023:
Due to snow melt, the cross-country ski races planned for Saturday, Feb. 18, have been canceled.
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The general public is invited to the Saint Mary’s Winona Campus on Saturday, Feb. 18 for the university’s annual cross-country ski race.
In-person registration will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Saint Yon’s Valley, where the race will take place. Skiiers can also register at smumn.universitytickets.com.
The races will begin at 11 a.m. A full list of races and the time they begin can be found below:
- 10k classic race – 11 a.m.
- 5k classic race – 11 a.m.
- 1k children’s race – 12 p.m.
- 10k skate race – 1p.m.
- 5k skate race – 1 p.m.
Entry is free for Saint Mary’s students and $15 per race for non-students.
For more information, contact Nick Pritchard at 507-457-1618 or npritcha@smumn.edu.
Advocating for education
In his current position as a policy adviser for Third Way, Chazz Robinson B’16 says he’s always thinking about low income students, racial minorities, anyone who could be left out of the conversation.
He can’t forget them, because he once was them.
As a young man growing up in poverty in inner city Milwaukee, Robinson describes himself as someone who was too quick to anger and frequently in the principal’s office. School wasn’t a priority.
“My upbringing, in a tough environment, was rough around the edges,” he said. “I didn’t even know a world existed outside of my neighborhood.”
Ironically, in high school, Robinson transferred to a charter high school, primarily so he didn’t need to walk so far from his home, and it ended up being a step in the right direction. There he was required to wear a dress shirt and tie every day, and for the first time, his grades became a priority.
Suddenly, college seemed like an option as a way up and a way out.
“I was the first one in my neighborhood to go to college, to get away,” he said. “It was a big weight to carry but was something I wanted to do. It changed my life, just leaving and going to Saint Mary’s.”
For two years as a young teen, Robinson said his family moved up to middle class, back when his mother’s job as a realtor was flourishing. Then, with a 2008 recession, they lost everything. “We had moved to a different neighborhood. We had a nice rec room in the basement,” he said. “It was enough of a taste. When the recession hit and we lost it all, I was still motivated to get that back.”
He credits Saint Mary’s for accepting him and for giving him the confidence and support he needed to further his studies and his career.
“Education changed my life, short and sweet,” he said. “I didn’t really have any confidence, didn’t know if I could do a degree in general, didn’t know if I could do college. At Saint Mary’s, I had the supportive faculty and staff to encourage me and build confidence in me, saying ‘You can do this!’ After a while, you start to believe it a little bit. Saint Mary’s was big for me, because it was so close knit. Every office knew me.”
Robinson also credits his mother for instilling the importance of education in him. In fact, she started college at the same time as he did; the two graduated on the same weekend.
And now, the young man who once dreaded school has never left school — earning a B.A. in Psychology from Saint Mary’s in 2016, and an M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from the University at Buffalo. He then went on to receive the Arthur A. Schomburg Fellowship and become a Presidential Fellow at the University at Buffalo, where he is currently completing his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy.
At Saint Mary’s, Robinson studied psychology because he was fascinated by human behavior. “I used to wonder why people did the things they did and think the things they think,” he said. “I enjoyed learning how our environments play a big role in the things we accomplish. “
His background in psychology and in education are pairing well in his new position at Third Way, in which he is working to improve student outcomes, particularly for low-income students. Third Way is a national think tank which provides information to legislators and federal policy makers. Its website describes the organization as “fighting for opportunity, so everyone has the chance to earn a good life; progress on social issues, so all have the freedom to live the lives they choose; and security, so we are protected from 21st century global threats.”
His most recent research has been on graduate student debt. He is delving into topics like the true return on investment for graduate students and for taxpayers. Seven months into his job, he’s learning more about the intensive political divide. “No one size fits all in this work,” he said. “That’s probably the hardest pill to swallow. There’s not a policy or bill in this world where everybody says, ‘We all love it.’ ”
He puts his psychology knowledge to good use regularly. “It’s important to question why someone, even those people you are not fond of, feel the way they do. People think how they think based on how they are raised, their environment. People may be different from me politically and racially, and we can still have a good conversation. I might not agree with you, but I can understand your perspective.”
It all starts with a conversation, and Robinson wants other youths to know he’s there for them. “Now when people reach out to me, it’s a full circle moment,” he said. “Those are very dear to my heart, because people were there for me.”
The Rev. James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D.
President
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
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