Alumni Award nominations, an Arizona luncheon with the President, a cool planetarium video, our Athletic Hall of Fame inductees and more in the February 2008 issue of HUSKY CONNECTION, the e-newsletter for St. Cloud State University alumni.

Alumni pushing Centennial Hall progress

Funky orange couches give way to flat-panel televisions and a decor that features reds, browns, tans and grays. The new Centennial Hall is taking shape with help from alumni. The former library’s orange couches and square study pits are gone, thanks to donors like Dee Griebel ’76 and alumni at the St. Cloud office of LarsonAllen. View a photo slide show to see glass offices, smart rooms and comfy lounges slated to be finished this spring. The St. Cloud State University Foundation hopes to raise $360,000 through March 31. That amount, coupled with a $250,000 anonymous pledge, would meet the University’s $2.2 million fundraising goal. The State of Minnesota is funding the balance of the $15.2 million project. Visit our online donation page. Centennial Hall is home to the G. R. Herberger College of Business and academic student offices such as Career Services.

Alumni Award nominations

The Alumni Association is accepting nominations for the 2008 St. Cloud State University Alumni Awards. The awards recognize alumni, friends and employees of St. Cloud State who demonstrate the highest standards of integrity and character. Recipients are individuals whose careers and life accomplishments reflect positively on our campus community. View last year's Alumni Award recipients.

President to host Arizona luncheon

Join St. Cloud State's president at the Cowboy Ciao restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., for a unique culinary and conversational experience in the shadow of Camelback Mountain.

President Earl H. Potter III is hosting the Feb. 16 luncheon. Enjoy buffalo carpaccio, mushroom pan fry, red-hot chocolate and more while witnessing the bridge-building and visionary skills of our 22nd president.

Cost is $20. Registration is limited to the first 120 guests. Call 866-464-8759 by Feb. 8 to register. View the invitation (PDF).

Alumni Relations leadership changes

Marisa Adler Vette '01 is the new leader at Alumni Relations. Kurt Stelten '93 has moved over to the St. Cloud State University Foundation.

The University is conducting a national search for a director of alumni relations.  Adler Vette will serve as the interim director. She has worked in Alumni Relations for seven years, most recently as assistant director.

Stelten's responsibilities at the Foundation include management of the annual giving effort, Faculty-Staff Campaign, membership in the President’s Club and donor stewardship. Visit the Foundation Web site to see how alumni generosity is making a difference at St. Cloud State. 

Preview: Outlook magazine

Watch your mailbox in May for Outlook magazine's issue on community service. Key to this issue is a two-page map that will highlight the truly global reach of our socially conscious St. Cloud State alumni.

Do you know an alum who is voluntarily serving others in a significant way? Pitch your story idea to University Communications.

About $790,000 in renovations allows the planetarium to display 8,500 stars and 24 constellations.

Cool video

Our refurbished planetarium and its pink-and-purple projector are the subject of a new video by Jim Bertram '88, university videographer.

There are just 15 Chronos planetarium projectors in the world. Ours is in the Robert H. Wick Science Building.

The planetarium is sponsored by our Department of Physics, Astronomy and Engineering Science and directed by David L. Williams, assistant professor of physics.

Claire Koznick sports her St. Cloud State shirt during the holidays. Her parents are Jon Koznick '95 and Patricia (Armbruster) Koznick '95.

Husky logowear

Marisa Adler Vette '01, interim director of alumni relations, is looking for Husky Pride photos. Send her photos of alums, friends and family wearing St. Cloud State apparel. Mail photos to:

Alumni House
St. Cloud State University
720 Fourth Avenue South
St. Cloud, Minnesota 56301-4498

Our apparel and gifts are available at stores throughout the St. Cloud area, including the Husky Bookstore in Centennial Hall.

Science on our minds

St. Cloud State is smack-dab in the middle of a new St. Cloud area bioscience zone announced Jan. 25 by state officials. That couples nicely with the University's request for $14.8 million to expand and renovate Brown Hall into the Brown Hall Science Center -- an item on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's wish list for the 2008 Legislature.

On top of that, a proposal for a new $42 million science center on campus is back on MnSCU's list of projects to pitch to future legislative sessions.

The $11.3 million annex to the Robert H. Wick Science Building is shaping up on the west side of the building. Construction should be complete in December.

Of note is the role Tom Moore '78 will play in the new bioscience zone. Moore, who is president of the St. Cloud Area Economic Development Partnership, will use the designation as a marketing tool to recruit more science-focused firms to the communuity.

Enrollment continues to grow

Nonviolence Week underway

Register for KVSC Trivia Weekend

Gopher hockey hex continues

Mooney '82 reappointed to state board

Nordic Ski meet with plenty o' snow

Prof to publish third book in two years

Witty professor's wonderful legacy

Talk to us Class of '58

Graduates of 1958 are invited to return to campus for the Class of ’58 Golden Reunion Weekend.

The weekend will be Oct. 17-18, in conjunction with Homecoming 2008.

Last year's Golden Reunion Weekend featured a Friday evening social and Alumni Awards banquet. Saturday included a brunch, guided campus tour, Homecoming football game and reunion dinner.

A Golden Reunion Committee is forming. For more information call the Alumni Relations office at (320) 308-3177 or (866) 464-8759.

Athletic HOF inductees

Eight alumni were honored at our Athletic Hall of Fame induction banquet and ceremony in October.

The Athletic Hall of Fame honors performance, coaching or service in St. Cloud State University Athletics. Our 2007 inductees are:

Pamela Raetz Benoit '95
Swimming

Judi McDonald Larkin '85
Tennis

Karen Scott '85
Tennis

Jack Conley '43
Basketball, baseball

Grant Nelson '63
Wrestling

Jim Stanek '51
Head baseball coach 1968-78

Bob Wolff '62
Football and basketball

Jeff Passolt '81
Distinguished Service Award