University President Julie Sullivan spoke and answered questions on graduation, future buildings, sports and vaccination plans, and the Land Acknowledgement Committee requested $74,000 for an art piece at the Undergraduate Student Government general council meeting on March 25.
Guest speaker: President Julie Sullivan
Sullivan announced that the university is planning an in-person graduation for the class of 2021.
“We really want the ceremonies to focus on the students, calling their names, having them walk across the stage, and I get the privilege of handing you a degree,” Sullivan said.
The university plans on holding a baccalaureate mass on Friday, May 21 at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas. On May 22, the university will hold three undergraduate ceremonies throughout the day that will be split up into 350 students based on academic unit outside on the football field. On May 23, the Dougherty Family College and graduate ceremonies will take place throughout the day, also split into groups.
Sullivan said each member of the graduating class will be able to have two guests.
“We will try to keep the ceremonies as short as possible,” Sullivan said. “We really are trying to design those ceremonies around what you said was most important to you.”
Sullivan announced that the university will return to full in-person learning in the fall but said that professors will still use online technology to their advantage.
“We will not be doing what we’re doing now, and we will not be doing what we used to do. We will be redefining what is the richest student experience of learning,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said that the university is still interested in being a vaccination site but has not gained a lot of traction due to the limited availability of vaccines. With Minnesota making citizens over the age of 16 eligible for the vaccine, St. Thomas could be used as a vaccination site.
“It is likely if we become one that they may want us to be a site not only for our own employees and students, but also for general public as well,” Sullivan said. “Our role is to facilitate our community receiving their vaccines whether that’s employees or students as quickly as we can as aggressively as we can.”
Sullivan announced that the university plans to break ground on the new Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) building in the spring of 2022.
She also said the university will look to renovate the Summit Classroom Building to accommodate the nursing program in the future.
Sullivan said new facilities for sports will most likely be built off campus. She mentioned that the university is not required to build new facilities for the move to Division I but that St. Thomas is looking to as a way to attract student athletes.
St. Thomas will look to move the men’s and women’s hockey teams from the current Saint Thomas Academy rink, Sullivan said. She said that the university is looking at locations closer to campus that could also include stadiums for the baseball and softball teams.
“We really want it to be a place that students and employees can easily get to and support our teams and that our teams can easily get to for practice as well,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the Minneapolis campus will be prepared for the outcome of the current Derek Chauvin trial but said they are not planning on boarding up the campus.
“We will be ready to prepare to react to the circumstance, but we are not proactively doing anything other than ensuring that our students and employees feel safe,” Sullivan said. “We do expect there will be people expressing their views, and we encourage people to express their views, whether they’re members of our community or outside. We’re remaining hopeful that that will be peaceful.”
There is a possibility that MIAC games will have limited in-person attendance for outdoor sports games this spring, Sullivan said.
Dakota Land Acknowledgement art piece
The Land Acknowledgement committee, which is responsible for writing the Dakota Land Acknowledgement, requested $74,000 for an art piece related to the acknowledgement. The request was passed unanimously by USG.
Director of Student Diversity & Inclusion Services Alex Hernandez-Siegel said the committee wants to put the work in the Anderson Student Center, where students will be able to see it. Hernandez-Siegel also said the committee will be working with students and Indiginous leaders to make sure the piece represents Indiginous culture.
“We also want to make sure that we create a culture and a physical presence that show that we want to see (Indiginous peoples’) culture a part of the St. Thomas culture as well,” Hernandez-Siegel said.
Club Requests
USG unanimously approved club requests for $294 to the Somali Student Association for event prizes and marketing funds, $1,596 to the Pre-Physical Therapy Club for speakers and marketing funds, $300 to the National Society of Black Engineers for additional funding for Collegiate APEX registration and $420 to Catholic Students Incorporated for a create[space] t-shirt event and marketing funds.
Scout Mason can be reached at maso7275@stthomas.edu.