We hope you have had a great fall season. Our Homecoming was last week. It was such an exciting place to be with the vibrancy and activities of our students, faculty, alums and community members. Thanks to all who joined us at the various events and especially your support in helping to fill the hockey arena. Our team did not disappoint with two very physical and victorious games.
Our Golden Eagle athletics has been in full gear this fall, and seen team improvements and individual successes.
• Our men's cross country runners have set many of their best times in program history as a team, including Noah Revels setting the school's 8K record at the Dordt Holiday Inn Classic in Sioux Center, Iowa. The women's cross country team has done the same on the course as well setting team marks, with Anna Grabowski and Madison Hilliard both breaking the previous 6K mark last weekend in Sioux Center.
• On the golf course, our student-athletes have been performing at an exceptional level. Clara Hanson was just named NSIC Golfer of the Week, a first-time accolade for any Golden Eagle golfer, and she won the USF Invitational. Anaka Lysne has been performing at a top level, including a second-place finish at the Tracy Lane Memorial in Bemidji. The team also shot their second-best round in school history late last month in Marshall, Minn. Golf had a lot of their successes in between having a full-time head coach. We are excited to have Brady Heppner on now to lead this wonderful group of student-athletes. On the men's golf side, our team had a second-place finish in a packed field of NSIC teams at the CSP/MSU Fall Brawl in Hudson, Wis. The Golden Eagles shot four of their best rounds as a program to open the season at The Mule in Warrensburg, Mo.
• In trap, Lily Krona has done a fantastic job as she has throughout her career. Lily is in the top five females in the entire USA College Clay Target league after three weeks.
• We are also very enthusiastic about the growth we have seen in the volleyball and soccer programs. Both teams are extremely young but have been more competitive in their field of play. We were excited earlier this fall when Jordan Metz of the soccer team became the first goalkeeper to be named NSIC Goalkeeper of the Week since 2014. In volleyball, we play in the toughest conference in America, but Coach Nick Meseck has his team competing at a high level including taking a set off Augustana.
It is finally official. Last week the System released official census enrollment figures, and we on the Crookston campus are looking good! Overall, our degree-seeking enrollment for Fall 2024 is 1729, an increase of 5% over Fall ’23 enrollment. This comes off an enrollment increase of 10% last year. There are 675 students enrolled on campus, up 6% from the 634 enrolled in 2023. We welcomed 191 new first-year students and 43 new transfers to campus. Going forward, recruitment is looking to enhance successes. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education Direct Admissions program and our new partnership with Niche for Direct Admissions is helping us. These Direct Admissions programs take much of the “work” of completing an application out of the students’ hands, by offering conditional admissions to those students whose high school grades would be generally accepted. Renewed efforts on finding two-year partner programs should increase our in person transfer numbers.
Online enrollment is at 1,054, up 4% from the 1,016 in Fall '23. We continue to see students coming from our partnership with a firm called Guild which provides services to corporations to enroll students, but increasingly students are finding us online. This is likely from our improved work in the digital marketing space. Our overall increase is equally attributed to improving retention rates. Retention for fall-to-spring last year was the highest in my time here at the University of Minnesota Crookston. Students are coming here, liking it and staying. Your commitment as a community to welcome and provide a warm and welcoming environment is impactful and makes a difference in our student’s lives and ultimately in the number of students on our campus.
We are celebrating Indigenous Month at U of M Crookston. Our campus sits on native lands and we acknowledge it through our land acknowledgement statement that can be found at https://crk.umn.edu/land-acknowledgement. We work closely with the members of our American Indian Advisory Board https://crk.umn.edu/chancellors-office/american-indian-advisory-board to create an environment which is welcoming to our native students and foster stronger relationships with our native nations across our region. Our board is represented by members of the Red Lake, White Earth and Leech Lake tribal nations. Internally, we will have professional development education for our faculty and staff on October 25 featuring a conversation on "Belonging" followed by presentations with speakers Floyd Jourdain and Naabek Liberty. Jourdain is a former Chairman on Red Lake Nation and current Director of Equity, Cultural Education & Archives at Red Lake Nation College. He will present on tribal sovereignty. Liberty is a Ojibwemowin faculty member and knowledge keeper at the White Earth Tribal and Community College. He will present on the history, culture, and traditions of the Ojibwe people of this region. Everyone will also enjoy a regional Native American meal served in Brown Dining.
We have some events coming up that you're invited to such as the UMC Teambackers Tailgate Friday, October 18 from 2:30-5 p.m. during the soccer match which starts at 3 p.m. at our soccer field. On October 23, we will have a conversation and book signing with Minnesota author Sarah Stonich at 4 p.m. at the Fournet Building downtown (101 N. Broadway) in the second floor atrium. October 30, Golden Eagle Entertainment is bringing in the Moon Family for a unique Halloween event. Learn about their paranormal adventures and ghost hunting equipment with a special presentation in Kiehle Auditorium at 7 p.m. $10 cash admission for community members. On Halloween, October 31, our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will host their 7th annual Trunk or Treat event from 4:30-7 p.m. on the Campus Mall. Our athletic programs and campus clubs decorate cars or floats and hand out candy. Join us on campus and follow our events calendar here https://events.crk.umn.edu/.
Chancellor Mary
