Saint Mary's Newsroom

Photo caption: More than 130 students from Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep visited campus earlier this month for team building and orientation sessions.

The Winona Campus buzzes with activity during the summer months as Saint Mary’s hosts a variety of programs for both youth and adults. Coordinated by the Winona Office of Event Services and Camps, these activities increase our visibility by introducing our campus and staff to thousands of potential students and enrollment influencers. Events for groups of all ages also generate revenue and help us optimize the use of our facilities and resources between academic semesters.

Here are just a few of the diverse groups and events that have happened on campus this summer, many of which included overnight guests: Communion and Liberation Catholic (involving a group of about 60 adults and 30 children growing in their faith through prayer and lectures); Diocese of Winona-Rochester Ministry Days (involving about 150 Catholic educators); the Trinona kids triathlon (which hosted 150 youth); hockey camps (with more than 130 players); and Girl Scouts STEM classes. Additionally, approximately 90 Fellowship of Christian Athletes participated in athletic activities and Bible study; Saint Mary’s hosted Philanthropy and Development Residency; and numerous organizations used facilities for lunches, retreats, reunions, and weddings. The University Center on the Twin Cities Campus is used for banquet rentals for both internal and external events throughout the summer as well.

Lasallian education strives to make quality education accessible and reach students where they are. At Saint Mary’s, that’s lived out through flexible programs such as the Doctor of Education in Leadership. Offered through the Graduate School of Education, the three-year program (not including dissertation) is offered in a traditional face-to-face format and in a blended online format. Learners in the blended cohort follow the same curricular path as those in the more traditional model, but the majority of the coursework is completed online. More than 35 students in the program gathered July 9-19 on the Twin Cities Campus for an eight-day residency, an opportunity for students to be immersed in leadership, research, and dialogue. Three cohorts of students, almost all of whom are in the online program, spent time together building community while participating in activities such as classwork, social gatherings, networking, and dissertation-writing workshops. The annual residency helps build stronger relationships among peers, faculty, and advisers which informs their work when they return online for the rest of the year.

2018 Midwest District Mission Congress participants. Photo courtesy of Paco Gonzalez and Lewis University.

Perpetuating the Lasallian Catholic heritage and identity, three Saint Mary’s delegates attended the 2018 Midwest District Mission Congress at Lewis University July 18-20. Ann Merchlewitz, executive vice president and general counsel; Benjamin Murray, vice president for Financial Affairs; and Timothy Gossen, vice president for Mission and Student Life, took part in this event that strengthens our core mission and brings together Lasallian leaders. The Midwest District Mission Congress is an opportunity for delegates from all ministries in the District, together with the District Council and the Lasallian Mission Council, to come together to create the strategic direction for the District. Since Brother Larry Schatz will conclude his term as Visitor in July 2019, this year’s Mission Congress will provide guidance to the new Visitor and his team on the voice of the direction of the District.

From left, Rendón Fernández Margarita Rosa, faculty member in Universidad de La Salle’s School of Education; Dr. Shannon Tanghe, Saint Mary’s program director of M.A. in ESL; Daniela Sierra Parra, Universidad de La Salle’s international mobility coordinator for the International Affairs Office; Guillermo Londoño Orozco, Universidad de La Salle’s dean of the faculty of Educational Sciences; Brother Cristhian Diaz Meza, Universidad de La Salle’s former dean of Education and Saint Mary’s Ed.D. alumnus; Dr. Rebecca Hopkins, Saint Mary’s dean of Education; and Dr. Jack McClure, Saint Mary’s director of the Ed.D. in Leadership program.

Dr. Rebecca Hopkins, dean of Education, Dr. Jack McClure, program director of Ed.D. in Leadership, and Dr. Shannon Tanghe, program director of M.A. in ESL, traveled to Bogota, Colombia, last month to participate in the International Symposium on Teaching Experiences of University Educators at the Universidad de La Salle. The symposium was an opportunity for higher education faculty to share research and build the international Lasallian network. Dr. McClure presented “Learning and Relationships in a Blended (Online with Residency) Doctoral Program,” and Dr. Tanghe presented “Collaborating to Promote Reflective Teaching.” Brother Cristhian Diaz Meza from the Latin American Lasallian District of RELAL presented on an 8-country collaborative research project created with Dr. Hopkins titled “Research on teacher preparation programs in the context of the International Association of Lasallian Universities (IALU): An international experience of collaborative leadership.” Brother Cristhian also helped extend collaborative discussions with the deans of Education and Universidad de La Salle’s office of International Initiatives.

Students Brianna Jacobson ’21 and Jordan Malikowski ’21 along with Colleen Dunne, director of Campus Ministry, attended the national Catholic Relief Services (CRS) SALT Summit in Baltimore July 16-18. Working with CRS University Engagement and joining 60 other colleges and universities from across the country, students spent time learning about what CRS does, advocacy, fair trade, systematic solutions to poverty, and global disaster relief. In addition to a day of workshops on the campus of Loyola University in Baltimore, they also spent a day at the CRS national offices in Baltimore and in arranged meetings with their state representatives in Washington, D.C. Saint Mary’s participants were joined by students and staff members from four other Lasallian colleges and universities, including Lewis University, La Salle University, Christian Brothers University, and Manhattan College.

Saint Mary’s University has an active chapter of CRS Student Ambassadors working to bring awareness to issues of global injustice and disaster relief. On our Winona Campus, CRS Student Ambassadors sponsor Fair Trade coffee every Friday morning in Saint Mary’s Hall in partnership with Chartwells. Over the last year the group has focused on human trafficking, climate change, and ethical trade. Fair Trade coffee will continue to be offered in the fall semester, and the ambassadors also plan to focus on developing programs for recycling on campus and bringing awareness to issues of environmental justice.