Three of the nation's leading economic thinkers will participate in the March 4 Winter Institute at St. Cloud State University.

A Federal Reserve bank CEO, a cooperative competition theorist and an Oxford-educated business strategist will present to students, educators, business executives and community leaders.

The Winter Institute is an annual gathering of economic and business leaders.

Register online by Feb. 19 for the free morning sessions.

Residential Life staff will host model apartment tours at Coborn Plaza through Feb. 6.

The 455-student housing complex is under construction at the former Coborn's grocery store site at Fifth Avenue South and Ramsey Place. The apartments are slated to open in August.

Register online for 30-minute tour.

A lease sign-up event for current students is 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 3 in the Alumni Room, Atwood Memorial Center. View the sign-up event flyer (PDF).

A nationally known crusader for human, environmental and economic justice is headlining the Jan. 29-31 "Power in Diversity Leadership Conference."

Speaking at the Saturday evening dinner is Winona LaDuke, an Anishinaabe Minnesotan with an extensive resume of books, projects and campaigns to her credit.

The conference promises to enrich leadership skills through workshops, speakers and a variety show.

In the midst of a stagnant economy and a massive state budget deficit, President Earl H. Potter III shared upbeat news and a vision for the future during a mid-year address to university faculty and staff.

"We face real challenges, but despite these real challenges, we will continue to work together to achieve our overarching goal -- making St. Cloud State the finest university of its kind in the Midwest," said Potter.

Students, parents and local educators will come together with business and higher education leaders to build regional coalitions and promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education at the second annual STEM Summit.

The conference is 8 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28 in the Atwood Center Cascade Ballroom.

View the event flyer (PDF).

The “Music at St. Mary’s” choral concert tradition continues with performances by four choirs, a guest organist and the crashing, smashing sounds of thunder and lighting, courtesy of the Percussion Ensemble.

A signature St. Cloud State event, "Music at St. Mary's" is 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

The concert will open with "O Clap Your Hands," by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). Accompanying will be organist Charles Echols, a faculty emeritus with more than a quarter-century of experience playing the St. Mary's pipe organ.

Craig Howe will re-tell American history from a unique perspective.

Howe, an Oglala Lakota, presents "Hate Speech, Horses and Hostages: The Untold Story of Lewis & Clark in Teton Territory" 7 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Miller Center Auditorium. A reception will follow.

He is director of the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS), on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Martin, S.D.

Students from 87 of the world's 193 recognized nations are attending St. Cloud State University this semester.

Top countries sending students to St. Cloud State include Nepal (293), China (134), India (118), Saudi Arabia (57), Malaysia (55) and Republic of Korea (45).  

View a Center for International Studies document (PDF) that details the university's international student body. 

Financial institutions deemed "too big to fail" must be regulated to avoid financial crises, James Bullard told a packed Atwood Theatre audience Oct. 9.

"If you just let the large financial firms fail, as we learned last fall, panic ensues," said the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. "These firms are not necessarily banks. One of the big issues in this financial crisis has been the rise of the shadow banking system -- largely unregulated, much less regulated than your ordinary, corner bank."

The St. Cloud State graduate argued that financial reform should include regulation of systemic risk, a mechanism for shutting down failing financial firms and systems for global cooperation.

The university saw increases in domestic new entering freshmen, new entering transfer students, students of color, graduate students and participants in the Senior-to-Sophomore and Post Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) programs, according to Mahmoud Saffari, associate vice president for enrollment management.

This is the largest student body since the school was founded in 1869, eclipsing the 1990 mark of 17,076 students.