Top News
Thank You, for Opening Doors
16 Oct 2012 by Father Dennis Dease / No Comments
Five years ago, as St. Thomas announced its Opening Doors campaign, I reflected in a column about how my dad became the first person in his family to attend college. He had the misfortune of enrolling at St. Thomas in 1929, the first year of the Great Depression, and he could scrape together enough funds to stay for only two years.
Junior Heaven Fekadu Studies and Paints Peace Across Minneapolis With Local Nonprofit
15 Oct 2012 by Kelly Engebretson '99 M.A. / 2 Comments
Over the summer, Fekadu conducted a research project that studied the painting of street murals over gang-tagged Minneapolis businesses with artist Jimmy Longoria, the only Chicano/Latino/Hispanic to be awarded a Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship.
The Power of Pardon: Law Students Advocate for the Incarcerated.
11 Oct 2012 by Mark Osler, J.D. / No Comments
Jacquelynne Sutton is serving a 10-year prison sentence, thousands of miles from her family. She believes she deserves a second chance.
So do Nancy Ly and Vicky Wanta from the new St. Thomas Commutations Clinic.
Depth of Field: Eye in the Sky
09 Oct 2012 by Mike Ekern '02 / 14 Comments
There’s something about being a photographer at St. Thomas that feels just a bit like cheating. You work at an institution that is comprised entirely of beautiful architecture surrounding what is essentially an arboretum.
And every few years the place rents you a helicopter.
Around the World in 40 Years (and 196 Countries)
08 Oct 2012 by Kate Metzger / 1 Comment
John Rheinberger ’70, ’90 M.B.A., has traveled to every country in the world and has a story to tell about each one.
Rheinberger was strolling through the main square in Dakar, the capital of the western African nation of Senegal, when he asked a passerby to take his photograph. Having traveled alone to dozens of countries, this was something he had grown accustomed to, and usually he found people to be accommodating. But this time, the passerby refused, which put Rheinberger on alert: something was amiss.
Kramer Announces Medical Leave as Dean of the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling
04 Oct 2012 by Doug Hennes '77 / 4 Comments
Dr. Bruce Kramer announced today that he is taking a leave of absence, effective immediately, as dean of the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling in order to deal with his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Kramer told a luncheon meeting of CELC faculty, staff and advisory board members that he believes he no longer can work because of the progression of his ALS, which was diagnosed in December 2010.
The Scroll: Civil Discourse Needed More Than Ever
03 Oct 2012 by Dave Nimmer / 2 Comments
Dave Nimmer is tired of what he calls the “mean season” of politics, where candidates for public office run ads that, in his words, “stretch the truth” at the least and “trample it” at the worst. He remains hopeful, he writes today in The Scroll, that civility might yet prevail.
Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?
02 Oct 2012 by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper ’89 and Brian Bellmont ’90 / No Comments
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper ’89 and Brian Bellmont ’90 chronicle the lost toys, tastes & trends of the ’70s and ’80s in their book Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? Among their recollections is the Generation X dog hero, Benji.
My View at 1,000 Feet
28 Sep 2012 by Carl Baumgaertner '48 / 1 Comment
Carl Baumgaertner ’48 was the photo editor of the Kaydet, the St. Thomas Military Academy yearbook. He snapped the first aerial photo of campus on Dec. 6, 1941, from a J-3 Piper Cub piloted by George Kell, a fellow student who ran the Kaydet’s darkroom. St. Thomas has grown and changed since that photo was taken, and those changes have been documented from the sky above campus.
‘Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts’
25 Sep 2012 by Doug Hennes '77 / No Comments
Bruce Kramer always had been in excellent physical condition, and he was proud of it. In the summer of 2010, he noticed he had a “floppy” left foot and thought it might be a pinched nerve or sciatica. During his regular physical examination, he mentioned he was “walking a little funny” and the doctor suggested he should see a neurologist. He procrastinated until he took a couple of falls in October, when his left leg collapsed.
“Counselor, Confessor, Confidant”: Monsignor James Lavin Remembered
21 Sep 2012 by Jim Winterer '71 and Doug Hennes '77 / No Comments
Mourners gathered Friday in a crowded Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas to celebrate the life of Monsignor James Lavin. Homilist Father James Stromberg recalled Lavin’s life as “a series of good deeds.”
The Making of a Spy Catcher
20 Sep 2012 by Jim Winterer '71 / No Comments
When Randy Thysse ’85 was growing up in the Minneapolis working-class suburb of Brooklyn Center, it was suggested that he learn a trade, like neighbors who were plumbers or glaziers, or maybe he could follow in his dad’s footsteps and learn carpet laying.
The trade he settled into, and which he never once considered while growing up, is sometimes called spycraft.
Monsignor James Lavin, Part of the St. Thomas Community for More Than 75 Years, Dies at 93
17 Sep 2012 by Doug Hennes '77 and James Winterer '71 / 33 Comments
Lavin died of natural causes at the end of an early-morning Mass celebrated in his room by Father Joseph Johnson, pastor of Holy Family parish in St. Louis Park. Johnson had anointed Lavin and given him Communion shortly before he died.
The Scroll: A Fond Farewell, Steve Trost!
17 Sep 2012 by Dave Nimmer / 3 Comments
Steve Trost retires Wednesday as greenhouse manager at St. Thomas. Dave Nimmer, writing in The Scroll, talks about his buddy’s 32 years of working magic in flower beds and collaborating with biology students and professors.
Depth of Field: A Brief Visual History of Tommie-Johnnie Football
13 Sep 2012 by Tom Couillard '75 / No Comments
Saturday in Collegeville “The Big Game” kicks off the MIAC schedule for both St. Thomas and St. John’s University. The Tommies have taken two straight from the Johnnies. Both teams are 2-0, the Tommies are ranked No. 6, and the Johnnies are unranked. Take a trip back to Tommie-Johnnie match-ups from the past by experiencing the Depth of Field visual history.
St. Thomas Moves Up Slightly in U.S. News’ ‘Best Colleges’ Rankings
12 Sep 2012 by Doug Hennes '77 / No Comments
St. Thomas ranks No. 113 of 281 schools in the magazine’s National Universities category, up from No. 115 a year ago.
Smooth Operation: Engineering Professor, Student Study Peanut Grinder for Local Nonprofit
10 Sep 2012 by Kelly Engebretson '99 M.A. / No Comments
School of Engineering professor Dr. Jim Ellingson and junior Noel Naughton spent the summer grinding 25 pounds of peanuts in a project that aims to help small farmers in developing nations produce food more efficiently.
Depth of Field: Behind the Scenes at a Football Photo Shoot
06 Sep 2012 by Mike Ekern '02: Video by Mark Brown / No Comments
Watch a five hour football photo shoot in a minute and a half and see what went into the making of this year’s schedule poster and media guide cover.
Tommie Traditions: March Through the Arches
05 Sep 2012 by Kate Metzger / No Comments
On Tuesday, Sept. 4, the University of St. Thomas class of 2016 was welcomed by the campus community at the 12th March Through the Arches. Members of this year’s freshman class gathered on Summit Avenue, passed through the Arches and were met with applause from administrators, faculty, staff and upperclassmen as they made their way to Schoenecker Arena for the interfaith blessing for the new school year.
Dease Reminisces About His Presidency in Academic Convocation Address
04 Sep 2012 by Father Dennis Dease / No Comments
Father Dennis Dease reflected on his 21 years as president of St. Thomas in his academic convocation address Tuesday afternoon in OEC auditorium. It was Dease’s final convocation speech, as he will retire next June 30.
Bruce Van den Berghe Announces Retirement
31 Aug 2012 by St. Thomas Newsroom / No Comments
After 30 years of service to the University of St. Thomas, Bruce Van den Berghe, associate vice president for auxiliary services, will retire effective Oct. 5. “Bruce has been a key player in this institution for a long time,” said Mark Vangsgard vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer. “Most people do not realize that he is responsible for so many things.”
The Weigh-In: Lance Armstrong and the Complex World of Anti-Doping Arbitration
29 Aug 2012 by John T. Wendt, J.D., M.A. / No Comments
Armstrong claims the system was biased, and chose to no longer fight the doping charges leveled against him. “There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” the seven-time Tour de France winner and Olympic bronze medalist said in his announcement. “For me, that time is now.”
John Wendt sheds some light on the arbitration process and why Armstrong may have made his decision.
Mark Your Calendar for These Time-Honored Welcome Week Traditions
28 Aug 2012 by Tom Couillard '75 / No Comments
The traditional March Through the Arches will be held at 11 a.m. this year, on Tuesday, Sept. 4. New first-year, transfer and international students will gather on the Summit Avenue side of the Arches at 10:45 a.m., and that’s also a good time for all of the applauders to gather in the lower quad.
An Apiarist’s Sweet Summer
24 Aug 2012 by Kate Metzger / No Comments
St. Thomas junior Matthew Schmidtbauer is an electrical engineering student with aspirations of someday working for a high-performance electric car manufacturing company. The subjects of his pastime, however, are not motors or revolutions per minute, but tens of thousands of honeybees that he cares for each summer.
Fair Game
21 Aug 2012 by Kelly Engebretson '99 M.A. / No Comments
Jerry Hammer’s earliest recollection of the fair is fleeing from it when he was three years old. “We were watching a [midway attraction] … where a man sits in a cage, and a light bulb above his head turns off. When it turns back on, there [was] a guy in a gorilla suit standing in the cage where the man used to be. I remember looking out the window to see if the gorilla was chasing us home. … My 6-year-old brother [Robert ’74] just laughed.”